skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

MA: Hunger/Food/Nutrition

The Greater Boston Food Bank reports one in three households in Massachusetts experienced child-level food insecurity in 2022. That means a child was hungry, skipped a meal or did not eat for<br />a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food. (Adobe Stock)
Stalled Farm Bill puts pressure on MA food banks

Massachusetts food banks are struggling to keep up with demand as the Farm Bill remains stalled in Congress. The bill is renegotiated every five …

play audio
The child care crisis is costing the American economy $122 billion a year in lost earnings, productivity and tax revenue and putting great stress on parents, according to a new report. (Adobe Stock)
Inaccessible, Unaffordable Child Care Hurts MA Families

Massachusetts ranks first in the nation for education and children's health but a lack of quality child care poses great challenges for families…

play audio

Physical inactivity in adults age 65 and older in fair or better health increased 6% between 2018 and 2021, according to United Healthcare's 2023 Senior Report. (Adobe Stock)
MA Makes Top Ten List of States for Senior Healthy Living

Massachusetts ranks tenth in the nation when it comes to healthy senior living, according to a new report. United Healthcare's 2023 Senior Report …

play audio
In a Pew Research Center survey, 57% of Americans cited reducing the budget deficit as a top priority for the president and Congress to address this year. That's up from 45% a year ago. (Adobe Stock)
MA Activists Urge Congress to Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

Local activists will rally in Boston Common tomorrow to urge Congress to lift the debt ceiling without cuts to social programs in return. President …

play audio

Community action agencies help families with housing assistance in Massachusetts, where a critical shortage of affordable rental homes often forces low-income households to forgo other necessities<br />such as healthy food and medical care to pay the rent. (Adobe Stock)
Community Action Month Honors Agencies Across Commonwealth

Community action agencies in the Commonwealth are working with state lawmakers to ensure funding of their work to alleviate poverty continues…

play audio
Roughly 30,000 individuals across the Commonwealth access the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites, resulting in $60 million in tax credits for taxpayers each year. (Adobe Stock)
Bill to Expand Tax Credits Draws on Children's Health Data

A bill to increase tax credits in the Commonwealth is backed up by research showing the credits lead to better nutrition for working families and bett…

play audio

A Poor People's Campaign report examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic found the 300+ counties with the highest death rates have a poverty rate of 45%, which is 1.5 times higher than in counties with lower death rates. (PPC)
Advancing MLK’s Dream of Economic Justice in MA

Advocates for low-income workers in the Commonwealth said today is a reminder of the need to continue to advance Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream …

play audio
Starting in 2023, the pay rate for tipped service workers in the Commonwealth will increase from $6.15 an hour to $6.75, while time-and-a-half pay on Sundays and holidays will be eliminated completely. (Adobe Stock)
MA Minimum Wage Hike Not Enough for Costly Housing Market

At least 25 states are raising their minimum wage in the new year - including Massachusetts, where the minimum wage increases to $15 per hour…

play audio

The city-run Engagement Center is a low-barrier day facility, which serves a few hundred people each day from the nearby
Engagement Center Finding Success Near Boston’s Troubled 'Mass and Cass'

Boston's 'Mass and Cass' area, with its large homeless population and open-air drug market, remains a trouble spot for city officials, but staff at …

play audio
According to the Campaign for HIP Funding, the Healthy Incentives Program has resulted in an additional $61 million in local economic impact across the Commonwealth. (Atlas Farms)
Farmers Markets Help MA Shoppers Eat Healthier, Beat Inflation

Some low-income shoppers might assume farmers markets, with their specialty products, are out of reach. But more of these markets in the Commonwealth …

play audio

Nuestras Raíces manages nine urban community gardens in Holyoke, plus four for the Holyoke Education System, supporting over 100 families with locally grown, fresh food. (Adobe Stock)
Celebrating 30 Years of Puerto Rican “Agri-Culture” in Western MA

The Holyoke area is home to many Puerto Rican families who say they will do what they can to help people there as they recover from the latest hurrica…

play audio
Food banks across Massachusetts and the nation have been stretched thin during the pandemic. (Drazen/Adobe Stock)
Wraparound Services Spotlighted for Community Action Month

May is Community Action Month, and Community Action Agencies in Massachusetts are raising awareness about the wraparound services they provide to low-…

play audio

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021