Gardner Man Pleads Guilty to Tampering With Hospice Opioids

WORCESTER — A local man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to tampering with oxycodone meant for hospice and memory care patients at a Fitchburg healthcare facility, federal prosecutors said.

Andrew Milgrim, 41, of Gardner, pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a consumer product.

U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman scheduled sentencing for Jan. 7, 2027. Milgrim was charged in July.

Prosecutors said Milgrim diverted oxycodone from patients in the skilled nursing and dementia care units of the facility between September 2024 and February 2025. He initially took 5-milligram oxycodone pills prescribed for patients on an as-needed basis and consumed them himself instead of administering the doses, according to prosecutors. He then began replacing the missing pills with loratadine, an allergy medication similar in appearance to the oxycodone tablets.

In January 2025, Milgrim also diverted 10-milligram oxycodone pills from an elderly memory care patient and replaced them with levothyroxine, a thyroid medication, prosecutors said.

The charge of tampering with a consumer product provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Mass. Consumers Eligible for Generic Drug Settlement Payouts

BOSTON — Massachusetts consumers who bought certain generic drugs over the past decade may be eligible for compensation under a multi-state antitrust settlement, the Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday.

A federal judge in Connecticut this month granted preliminary approval of a plan to distribute settlement funds from generic drug manufacturers accused of conspiring to inflate prices. Massachusetts joined 47 other states and territories in the case.

Consumers who purchased an eligible generic drug between May 2009 and December 2019 can check their eligibility and file a claim here, by calling 1-866-290-0182 or by emailing info@AGGenericDrugs.com. A list of covered drugs is posted on the settlement website.

The distribution plan draws on roughly $96.5 million in prior settlements with manufacturers Glenmark, Lannett, Bausch, Apotex and Heritage, along with Heritage’s parent company, Emcure.

The settlements stem from four antitrust complaints the state coalition has filed since 2016 against generic drug makers and executives. The first complaint named Heritage Pharmaceuticals and 17 other corporate defendants over 15 drugs. A second, filed in 2019, targeted Teva Pharmaceuticals and 21 other manufacturers, along with 16 senior executives. A third complaint, the first scheduled for trial, covers 80 topical generic drugs and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individuals. Attorneys general filed a fourth complaint in February against Novartis AG and Sandoz, and later announced a $400 million settlement in principle with Sandoz.

Investigators built the cases on cooperating witnesses, millions of documents and phone records that they said showed competing executives regularly communicating to divide markets and hold prices steady, using terms such as “fair share” and “playing nice in the sandbox,” according to the complaints.

The following states and territories joined Tuesday’s announcement: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Healey Marks First Veterans Suicide Awareness Day in Mass.

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey marked the state’s first Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day on Tuesday, Sept. 22, a designation she signed into law in 2025 to honor service members and veterans lost to suicide and raise awareness of mental health resources.

Veterans Services Secretary Eric Goralnick and the Executive Office of Veterans Services hosted the first official remembrance ceremony at Memorial Hall in the State House. Families who have lost loved ones to active-duty or veteran suicide joined state leaders, veterans advocates and community partners for the event.

“When our service members come home, we want Massachusetts to set the standard for how we support them and their families,” Healey said in a statement. “That means making sure veterans can get mental health care when they need it, expanding suicide prevention and peer support, and recognizing that women veterans and military families may have different needs and experiences.”

In Massachusetts, one in nine suicides in 2020 involved someone with current or past military service, according to the administration.

“Service members, veterans, and their families face unique pressures—from the demands of military service to difficult transitions, loss, and the challenges of asking for help in a culture that focuses on strength and self-reliance,” said Veterans Services Secretary Eric Goralnick. “Creating a culture in which people feel safe speaking up, checking in on one another, and seeking help without stigma, can strengthen our military community and help save lives.”

Healey’s office says her -Driscoll administration has taken several other steps aimed at veteran suicide prevention:

• Signed the HERO Act, which expanded access to outpatient behavioral health treatment and increased benefits for disabled veterans.
• Strengthened the Statewide Advocacy for Veterans Empowerment program and established a Suicide Mortality Review Committee to identify risk factors.
• Awarded $2 million to 15 community organizations for behavioral health and peer support programs.
• Trained Veterans Services Officers and distributed firearm safety devices carrying crisis line information through a statewide lethal means safety initiative.
• Launched a $20 million campaign to end veteran homelessness that has helped more than 1,000 veterans secure housing.

State agencies will hold the annual Governor’s Challenge conference on suicide prevention this week.

Worcester Schools Hold Steady in 2026 Accountability Data

WORCESTER — Worcester Public Schools retained its overall state accountability classification of “not requiring assistance or intervention,” with a designation of “making moderate progress toward targets,” according to 2025-26 school year data released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Of the district’s 44 schools that received accountability classifications, 31 were designated as not requiring assistance or intervention, while 13 were classified as requiring assistance or intervention.

Four Worcester elementary schools — Columbus Park, McGrath, Midland and Worcester Arts Magnet — were named Schools of Recognition for 2026, a designation the state gives each year to a limited number of schools showing notable progress toward accountability targets, with particular emphasis on achievement and growth in English language arts and math.

The state’s accountability ratings rely heavily on student performance on the MCAS exam. Statewide, MCAS scores declined in English language arts and held flat in math this year. Worcester’s results largely mirrored that pattern, with scores remaining flat in grades 3-8 and declining in grade 10. A 2024 ballot initiative removed a passing MCAS score as a requirement for high school graduation.

Superintendent Brian E. Allen said the accountability data helps the district identify where to focus its efforts.

“Accountability data gives us the urgency to look under the hood,” Allen said in a statement. “State testing gives us one piece of the picture. We must stay the course with our core academic strategies, focusing on areas that are working well, and pinpointing learning gaps to target support where it’s most needed.”

The accountability report also shared the following information for Worcester Public Schools as a whole:

• The four-year graduation rate remained at about 86%, the same as the year prior. The statewide average is 89%.

• The dropout rate remains unchanged from the year prior at 2% in 2026.

• The advanced coursework rate increased from about 52% in 2025 to 54% in 2026.

• English Learners in grades 1-8 exceeded targets on English language proficiency attainment, gaining 7 points since the prior year; high school students declined by 3 points in this area.

• The chronic absenteeism rate remains essentially unchanged from the year prior: 19% for grades K-8 and 34% for grades 9-12.

District-wide MCAS scores show the following:

• English Language Arts, grades 3-8, meeting or exceeding expectations:

  • 2026: 25%

  • 2025: 26%

• English Language Arts, grade 10, meeting or exceeding expectations:

  • 2026: 26%

  • 2025: 33%

• Math, grades 3-8, meeting or exceeding expectations:

  • 2026: 24%

  • 2025: 24%

• Math, grade 10, meeting or exceeding expectations:

  • 2026: 20%

  • 2025: 24%

School-Level Summary

• Of the 44 district schools subject to accountability designations, four schools “met or exceeded targets,” 19 made “significant progress,” 18 made “moderate progress,” and 3 made “limited or no progress” toward their 2026 targets.

• 21 schools increased their overall accountability scores from last year. The following schools increased by at least five percentage points:

  • Flagg Street Elementary

  • Lake View Elementary

  • Wawecus Road Elementary

  • Midland Street Elementary

  • Worcester Arts Magnet Elementary

  • Columbus Park Elementary

  • McGrath Elementary

The following schools met 75% or more of their annual progress targets in 2026.

• Columbus Park Elementary School: 98% of targets met in 2026

• Worcester Arts Magnet School: 90% of targets met

• Flagg Street Elementary School: 89% of targets met

• Francis McGrath Elementary School: 89% of targets met

• Worcester Dual Language Magnet School: 80% of targets met

• Elm Park Elementary School: 78% of targets met

Mass. 2026 MCAS Results Show Mixed Math, ELA Performance

EVERETT — Massachusetts students showed mixed results on the 2026 MCAS exams, with math scores holding roughly steady and English language arts scores declining, according to results the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released Tuesday, September 20.

In math, 41% of students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations, about the same as 2025, while grade 8 math showed the sharpest improvement of any tested grade or subject, rising 4 percentage points to 42%. Grade 10 math results were roughly flat compared with last year.

In English language arts, 40% of students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations, a 2-percentage-point decline from 2025; grade 10 ELA scores also fell. Grade 8 science scores rose 2 percentage points to 39% meeting or exceeding expectations, while grade 5 and high school science scores declined. Grade 8 students took the civics assessment for a second year, with 40% meeting or exceeding expectations, roughly consistent with last year.

Fourteen districts have now returned to or exceeded their pre-pandemic performance in both math and English language arts for students in grades 3-8, the DESE said, with additional districts matching pre-pandemic performance in one of the two subjects.

Education Secretary Steve Zrike pointed to the state’s Literacy Launch initiative and recently passed legislation requiring districts to adopt evidence-based early literacy curricula as reasons for confidence in future English language arts performance. “With this strong focus and support on early literacy, I am confident that we will see improved outcomes in our English language arts performance,” Zrike said in a statement.

The DESE also highlighted a new online tool, the MCAS Family Portal, which for the first time let families view their children’s preliminary MCAS results before Tuesday’s statewide release. Commissioner Pedro Martinez said the release would let families learn more about how their schools and districts performed as a whole.

Results continued to show a link between school attendance and academic performance. Chronically absent students scored substantially lower than their peers. The state made reducing chronic absenteeism a priority, providing $10,000 grants to 175 districts, launching an attendance-focused public awareness campaign called Your Presence Is Powerful, and creating an initiative aimed at improving high school attendance and engagement. The state also made broader investments in universal school meals and student mental health services.

Chronic absenteeism fell to 17.1% statewide in the 2025-26 school year, down from 22.2% in 2022-23, according to the DESE.

Separately, the DESE released 2026 school and district accountability results, which assess schools using measures including student achievement and growth, graduation rates, English learner progress and chronic absenteeism.

Eighty percent of schools were designated as not requiring state assistance or intervention, and 53% met, exceeded or made substantial progress toward their accountability targets.

The department also named 56 Schools of Recognition this year for strong improvement or overall achievement, spanning schools from Cape Cod to Berkshire County.

The results come as the state continues developing a new statewide graduation framework following a 2024 ballot measure that eliminated a passing MCAS score as a graduation requirement. In response, the administration created the K-12 Statewide Graduation Council, which released final recommendations this spring calling for rigorous coursework, end-of-course assessments, postsecondary planning, career and work-based learning opportunities, and expanded access to coursework aligned with the state’s MassCore standards as part of a broader approach to determining readiness for a diploma.

Detailed MCAS Results

English language arts: English language arts results declined for grades 3-8 combined and declined in grade 10 compared to 2025.

Science: Science results were mixed, with an increase in grade 8 and declines in grade 5 and high school.

Math: Compared to 2025, the percentage of students scoring Meeting or Exceeding Expectations in math was unchanged in grades 3-8. The percentage of students who scored Meeting or Exceeding Expectations in grade 10 also remained unchanged.

Civics: Compared to 2025, the percentage of grade 8 students scoring Meeting or Exceeding Expectations on the civics assessment remained flat.

Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)

Audit Finds Widespread Mismanagement at Mass. Unemployment

BOSTON — A state audit released Monday found widespread mismanagement at the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA), including hours-long call center wait times, mishandled complaints, delayed benefit payments and unlawful gaps for in-person service, according to State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office.

DUA administers the state’s unemployment insurance program, determining eligibility, collecting employer contributions and processing claims for residents seeking temporary income support between jobs.

The audit examined DUA’s operations from July 2022 through June 2024, a period during which the auditor’s office said it received numerous complaints about claims stuck in “pending” status for months, long call center hold times, and claimants unable to get in-person help.

“When hardworking people lose their jobs, unemployment insurance becomes a lifeline that allows them to continue to pay bills while they search for a new job,” DiZoglio said in a statement. “When those benefit payments are delayed, job search resources are unavailable, and complaints are not tracked and prioritized appropriately, the system fails job seekers and taxpayers alike.”

The audit found DUA never established performance standards or monitoring procedures for its call center, despite collecting call data, leaving the agency unable to evaluate wait times or make service improvements. More than half of callers were kept on hold longer than 30 minutes, the audit found, and about half of those waited more than an hour before reaching an agent or an automated prompt.

The agency also violated state records retention requirements by failing to keep call log data for the required three years, auditors said, further limiting its ability to track and correct performance problems.

Auditors also found DUA treated most claimant contacts — by phone, text, email, mail or its online portal — as generic correspondence rather than potential indicators of problems with a claim, and recommended the agency adopt a centralized system to track and identify patterns in complaints.

The audit found DUA failed to meet federal Employment and Training Administration timeliness standards for claimants’ first benefit payments, a shortfall auditors said stemmed partly from the agency’s failure to identify recurring causes of delay or build system alerts that would let claimants fix errors before submitting claims.

Continued noncompliance puts DUA at risk of losing federal funding, according to the audit.

Auditors also found DUA violated state law by not providing in-person assistance at three regional offices — in Lawrence, Brockton and Springfield — leaving Boston’s Re-Employment Center as the only location offering face-to-face help. That gap forced claimants elsewhere in the state to either travel to Boston or call DUA’s already-strained phone lines, according to the audit.

The audit also identified more than 33,000 email exchanges between DUA and state legislative offices in which lawmakers intervened on behalf of constituents struggling to obtain benefits, a volume auditors said raises questions about DUA’s ability to resolve claimant issues without legislative help and about equity for claimants unaware that such intervention is possible

Mass. Gas Prices Jump 7 Cents this Week, 36 Cents this Month

WESTWOOD — The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in Massachusetts rose 7 cents over the past week to $4.41, according to AAA Northeast’s weekly survey released Monday.

That’s 36 cents higher than a month ago and $1.31 higher than this time last year, when the average stood at $3.10. Massachusetts’ average remains 6 cents below the national average, which climbed 16 cents over the past week to $4.47 a gallon — also up sharply from $4.10 a month ago and $3.18 a year ago.

AAA attributed the increase to disruption in global oil markets tied to the ongoing war involving Iran, now in its seventh month. Oil prices settled above $100 a barrel for a second consecutive week before easing slightly Friday and falling about 3% over the weekend, following reports of higher-than-expected oil flows out of the Middle East and signs that a Saudi pipeline damaged in earlier attacks might return to service sooner than initially expected.

“Pump prices have been under increasing pressure as the war approaches its seventh month with few signs for an end to the conflict and resolution of global oil supply concerns,” said Mark Schieldrop, senior spokesperson for AAA Northeast. “Instead, ongoing attacks across the region and continued supply disruptions are keeping markets volatile.”

The Energy Information Administration reported gasoline inventories rose by 800,000 barrels to 207.7 million barrels last week, though supplies remain 5% below the five-year average. Diesel inventories grew by 1.6 million barrels to 107.9 million barrels but remain 13% below the five-year average nationally, with New England supplies particularly tight — 27% below last year’s levels and 42% below 2024 levels. Regional diesel prices have risen more sharply than gasoline and are near or above records set in 2022.

Despite higher prices, domestic gasoline demand rose by 247,000 barrels a day to 8.79 million barrels a day, the EIA reported, though demand has run about 1% below year-ago levels over the past four weeks.

Worcester County EV Adoption Grows, Still Trails State Peers

WORCESTER — Electric vehicle adoption in Worcester County grew nearly fivefold over the past five years but remains rare on the county’s roads, according to a new report, “On Track for Zero Emissions?” from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau.

The share of registered vehicles classified as zero-emissions — battery electric and plug-in hybrid models, under the state’s definition — rose from 0.44% in January 2021 to 2.21% in January 2026, the report found. Despite that growth, Worcester County ranked ninth of Massachusetts’ 14 counties in zero-emissions vehicle miles traveled per capita in 2025, trailing more urban and affluent counties to the east.

Adoption varies sharply within the county. Harvard led all 60 Worcester County municipalities in 2025, with more than 10% of its vehicle miles traveled coming from zero-emissions vehicles, while communities in the western third of the county lagged far behind. Between 2021 and 2026, the number of conventional gas-powered vehicles registered countywide fell by 1,044, even as hybrid registrations grew by nearly 21,000 and zero-emissions registrations grew by more than 12,000. Shrewsbury saw an especially sharp shift, gaining nearly 2,900 hybrid and zero-emissions vehicles while losing more than 1,800 conventional ones.

The report ties adoption patterns closely to income and education. Census tracts with higher median household incomes, more residents holding bachelor’s degrees, and more people working from home consistently showed higher shares of zero-emissions vehicle travel, a pattern the bureau said is consistent with national academic research on EV ownership.

Cost remains a barrier: the average new electric vehicle sold for $58,034 in December 2025, compared with $50,326 for the average new car overall, according to data the report cites from Kelley Blue Book. The state’s rebate program, which offers $3,500 to $6,000 toward an EV purchase, has been claimed unevenly across the county — Harvard residents alone received more than $571,000 in rebates since 2023, or $81 per resident.

Charging access poses another obstacle, the report found. More than 1,000 charging ports exist across Worcester County, but 78% are slower Level 2 chargers that can take four to ten hours for a substantial charge, and many are restricted to employees, students or visitors of the institutions that host them. The report noted that EV owners drive roughly 10 more miles a day on average than owners of gas-powered vehicles, adding pressure on charging availability.

The bureau’s recommendations call for state and municipal governments to accelerate investment in charging infrastructure, including spending federal highway charging funds that have already been allocated but not yet used, increasing the density of fully public charging stations and DC fast chargers, gathering municipal input on charger placement, and offering zoning incentives for charging infrastructure development.

The report cautions that electric vehicles alone won’t resolve the broader challenges of car-dependent infrastructure, including parking demand and traffic safety, and argues that continued investment in public transit, walking and biking options should accompany the shift to electric vehicles.

SJC Again Upholds MBTA Communities Housing Law

by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon

The state’s highest court has swatted away a second challenge to the sweeping and controversial MBTA Communities housing law. In a brisk, unanimous — and widely expected decision — the Supreme Judicial Court rejected the town of Marshfield’s bid to avoid compliance with the law on every argument it raised.

Marshfield failed to show the 2021 law, which requires cities and towns near the MBTA system to zone for multifamily housing, cost the town anything beyond ordinary administrative work. And as it relates to the patchwork of local powers and other state regulations on housing, the court declared the act to be a “valid general law.”

In a 22-page decision upholding a lower court’s dismissal of Marshfield’s claims, Justice Serge Georges, Jr. wrote that the town’s complaint “does not plausibly allege” that the act or its regulations imposed an “unfunded local mandate” – the principal argument put forward by the town. Marshfield and its select board also lacked standing to bring a constitutional claim on behalf of town meeting voters, the court wrote.

Lawmakers are not allowed to create mandates for cities and towns that would create substantial expenses without also providing a funding source for those expenses. But the court decided Marshfield did not offer specifics that would show that the MBTA zoning law imposed an impermissible unfunded mandate on the town.

As most cities and towns got into compliance with the housing law — eagerly or dragging their feet along the way — a few dozen holdouts were hoping that the state’s high court would rule that they did not have to rezone. It was a longshot bid, after the SJC already upheld the law as enforceable by the attorney general’s office in early 2025.

In a statement Friday afternoon, Attorney General Andrea Campbell applauded the ruling.

“ has a housing crisis, and it’s impacting everything from our ability to grow our workforce to the everyday cost of living,” she said. “Today’s decision by the SJC rejects Marshfield’s claim that the MBTA Communities Law is an unfunded mandate and reaffirms that the law is constitutional and compliance is mandatory.”

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The law emerged as part of a 2021 economic development bill signed by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker. His successor, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, has embraced it as a showpiece policy to tackle the state’s dire housing crunch, while Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mike Minogue has castigated the policy as an offensive intrusion into local control that he plans to eliminate.

After Campbell took the town of Milton to court over its refusal to comply, and secured a ruling from the SJC backing the law last year, the path for resistance narrowed.

Methuen, Middleborough, and Wrentham asked the state auditor’s division of local mandates for an assessment on whether the law was an unfunded mandate. In February, the office sent letters concluding that it was, because it imposed more than incidental local administration expenses on municipalities.

A group of municipalities, including Marshfield, took their case against the state and its housing office to Superior Court, arguing that implementing the law had created new costs and would lead to future cost burdens. Marshfield also claimed the law and its regulations infringed on town meeting voters’ constitutional rights, exceeded the Legislature’s authority under the Home Rule Amendment, and conflicted with the state’s Zoning Act.

A Superior Court judge dismissed the case in June, determining that the towns failed to show that the MBTA Communities law imposed an unfunded local mandate, nor did it unlawfully interfere with the town’s authority to develop and enforce zoning bylaws.

The Supreme Judicial Court took the case up directly late last year.

Justices seemed skeptical during oral arguments in March, with Justice Dalila Wendlandt prodding the town’s attorney to concede Marshfield could have complied at essentially no cost by simply opening every zoning district to multifamily housing.

Though the town argued it had to bear costs from evaluating, preparing, and presenting proposed zoning amendments, the high court concluded that Marshfield did not offer proof that those costs were involuntary or anything more than “incidental local administration expenses.”

As to arguments that the town would suffer future direct costs because of the housing law — either because of future rezoning efforts or possible infrastructure strain like increased students in need of local schools — the court said the claims were “too conclusory and speculative” to support that reading.

The SJC gave little weight to the auditor’s office determination.

It never identified any Marshfield-specific costs, and its conclusion doesn’t bind the court anyway, Georges wrote. The “ultimate legal question” on whether the town offers facts that establish an unfunded mandate “is one for the court,” he wrote.

The town also argued that the law’s zoning requirement infringes on the constitutional voting rights of Town Meeting voters. But the high court concluded that because Marshfield is just a subdivision of the state, it cannot bring a constitutional challenge on behalf of town voters.

Jake Love, general counsel for policy at the Citizens’ Housing & Planning Association, which was one of the housing groups backing the state in this suit, said that this ruling “all but slams the door on continued legal challenges” to the law.

“Zoning has for many years been left exclusively to the domain of municipalities and has resulted in Massachusetts just not producing enough homes,” he said, “which is the primary cause of the affordable housing shortage we have now.”

The state approach, “which requires cities and towns to do their part,” is “clearly working,” Love said.

As of August 31, 168 out of 177 MBTA Communities have submitted zoning plans to the state. Officials have determined 159 of them, including Marshfield, are fully or conditionally compliant, and say about 10,000 units are in the housing pipeline as a result of the transit-oriented housing law.

In an email after the ruling, Marshfield Select Board vice chair Eric Kelley said that he felt the town’s argument “was not effective on unfunded mandates.”

The way the state has approached urging cities and towns into compliance was frustrating, he said. In his opinion, based on the way former Gov. Baker talked about zoning policy, the grants conditioned on the MBTA Communities law “were to be used as carrots for the community to accept and not as a stick to beat down the community to accept” and the law itself remains painfully “convoluted.”

Beyond Marshfield’s particular circumstances, the high court reaffirmed its position on the law’s legitimacy.

Justices rejected the suit’s claim that the MBTA law deprived municipalities of meaningful authority to adopt or amend zoning bylaws, unless they adopted one that complies with MBTA Communities.

The state’s Home Rule Amendment does give municipal authority over local matters, Georges wrote, but “it does not prevent the Legislature, through a valid general law addressing a matter of statewide concern, from imposing substantive requirements that municipalities must implement through existing local procedures.”

This law is aimed at addressing the state’s housing crisis, he wrote — a matter of serious public interest not tied to any one city or town that “falls squarely” within the Legislature’s authority.

Nor does it violate procedure for local adoption or amendment of zoning laws, the court ruled. Marshfield had argued that the state Zoning Act sets out a system where the town amends its zoning through Town Meeting, but because the MBTA law requires compliant zoning it effectively forces the voters at Town Meeting to “vote yes” and approve the zoning.

The SJC again rejected the argument. Town meeting voters “retain the authority to debate, amend, approve, or reject any proposal placed before them,” Georges wrote. Rejecting one just means noncompliance.

“That authority,” he wrote, “does not include the power to exempt the town from an obligation imposed by a valid state law.”

This story was updated September 18, 1:45 p.m.

This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Clark University, Worcester Schools Sign Partnership Deal

WORCESTER — Clark University and Worcester Public Schools signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday, Sept. 17, formalizing a decades-long partnership aimed at expanding educational opportunities for city students, supporting teachers, and building pathways to college and careers.

The agreement, signed at a ceremony at Claremont Academy, one of Clark’s six partner schools, establishes a framework for continued collaboration across teaching, curriculum development, research, professional development, and community engagement.

Under the MOU, the two institutions will work together on classroom partnerships between Clark faculty and WPS educators, internships and field placements for Clark students in district schools, joint faculty research, scholarship expansion, summer and after-school enrichment programs, and dual enrollment and early college offerings. The agreement also includes a “Grow Our Own” initiative aimed at helping Worcester students, paraprofessionals and community members pursue teaching careers, and requires Clark and WPS leaders to meet regularly to assess the partnership’s progress.

“This MOU formalizes our promise of expanding and strengthening our partnership with the city, especially in the area of K-12  education,” said Clark President David Fithian. “The agreement affirms our commitment to work together to support students, e educators, and families while creating new pathways for learning and success.”

The partnership’s teacher pipeline runs through Clark’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, which the district said has produced roughly 120 of the district’s current teachers; as of last September, Worcester Public Schools employed 217 Clark alumni overall. Laurie Ross, Clark’s associate provost and dean of the college, said the partnership allows learning to move in both directions between the two institutions.

The event also highlighted Clark’s University Park Scholarship Program, which has allowed over 165 Worcester residents to attend Clark tuition-free since 2000. Clark expanded the program’s eligible zone by 26 streets in 2023, extending eligibility to roughly 1,100 additional students. This fall, eight University Park Campus School graduates and two South High School graduates are attending Clark tuition-free through the program.

Next year marks 30 years since University Park Campus School opened as a partnership between Clark and the district; students there and at Claremont Academy have been able to take classes at Clark for more than 15 years.

Speakers at the signing included Anahit Marutyan, a Claremont Academy graduate now attending Clark; Nate Kapiloff, a Clark MAT program graduate who mentors students through the Bruce Wells Scholars Upward Bound program; and Eduard Arriaga-Arango, chair of Clark’s Department of Language, Literature and Culture, who discussed the university’s Hispanic Culture and Heritage program connecting Spanish-speaking undergraduates with Worcester residents. Several of the 22 students currently enrolled in Clark’s MAT program also attended.