Massachusetts
UMass Lowell seeks solutions to housing crisis through Massachusetts TechHubs Program
LOWELL — UMass Lowell, in partnership with local government, developers and community organizations, is looking to tackle one of Massachusetts’ biggest challenges: housing availability.
The Healey-Driscoll administration and the Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative announced Nov. 6 that Greater Lowell has been designated a Housing Innovation TechHub through the Massachusetts TechHubs Program, an initiative intended to strengthen regional innovation ecosystems across the state. The designation is part of the program’s first cohort of 14 TechHubs recognized statewide.
“These TechHubs reflect the best of what happens when local leaders, institutions and businesses work together to build on their region’s unique strengths,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. “Our administration believes that innovation doesn’t just happen in one ZIP code, it happens in every community when we provide the tools and investment to help it thrive.”
Led by UMass Lowell and funded by a $100,000 Strategy Development Grant, the Housing Innovation TechHub aims to address the commonwealth’s housing crisis through innovation in design and sustainability, zoning and policy, and manufacturing and construction. The TechHub will serve as a living laboratory for testing and scaling new approaches to affordable and sustainable housing.
“The TechHubs program represents a long-term commitment to building the next generation of innovation ecosystems in Massachusetts,” said Innovation Institute Director Pat Larkin.
“By leveraging the experiences of the different regional initiatives, we’re laying the foundation for sustained regional transformation and economic competitiveness,” Larkin added.
According to the Healey-Driscoll administration’s “A Home for Everyone: A Comprehensive Housing Plan for Massachusetts,” Massachusetts needs to increase its year-round housing supply by at least 222,000 homes over the next decade to meet demand and lower costs, the report found. The MassInc Policy Center has found the housing need is pronounced in Gateway Cities such as Lowell, which will need 83,000 new units over the next decade.
To address this challenge, the team behind the Housing Innovation TechHub, including officials from UMass Lowell, the city of Lowell, the Cambridge Innovation Center, Massachusetts Competitive Partnership and Bequall, will develop a strategic plan that delivers scalable housing solutions through the integration of cutting-edge technology, transformative policy frameworks and community-driven approaches.
“The Strategy Development Grant allows us to convene the right partners and create an actionable roadmap for housing innovation,” said Kim Holloway, associate vice chancellor for research and innovation acceleration at UMass Lowell. “Our goal is to turn research and ideas into real projects that can transform how housing is built and financed across Massachusetts.”
Centered in Greater Lowell, the TechHub will test and refine new approaches that can be replicated statewide, positioning the area as a proving ground for housing innovation across Massachusetts.
“Lowell has always been a city that leads through innovation,” said Lowell City Manager Tom Golden. “This effort builds on that legacy and makes Lowell the launchpad for the future of housing across the state, creating solutions that are affordable, sustainable and scalable for communities everywhere.”
The Housing Innovation TechHub builds on the momentum of the Lowell Innovation Network Corridor, a partnership between the university, industry and government focused on a 1.2-million-square-foot mixed-use development that will include offices, research labs, housing, retail businesses and entertainment destinations. Together, the TechHub and LINC will make the Greater Lowell region a national model for housing innovation and economic opportunity.
“The Housing Innovation TechHub represents exactly the kind of forward-looking collaboration that defines UMass Lowell,” said Chancellor Julie Chen. “Along with transformational projects like LINC, the TechHub reflects how we’re bringing research and partnerships to life to strengthen communities and expand opportunities across the region.”
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Monday is National Wine Day, where wine lovers are pouring a glass of their favorite wine to celebrate.
This alcoholic beverage is made from fermented grapes or other fruits, where yeast consumes the sugars in the grapes making it into alcohol during the fermentation process, according to the National Day Calendar. Different grapes produce different types of wine, and wine that is made from fruit or honey is often named according to the different fruits used.
It’s not the color of the grapes that gives the wine its color. It’s the tannins in the grape skins that color wine red and also the flavor. White wines are typically sweeter than red wines and are best served chilled, but most red wines are served at room temperature. However, a sweet red should also be chilled for the best flavor.
Top wineries in western Massachusetts
Yelp has put together a list of the top wineries in western Massachusetts:
- Silver Bear Distillery– 63 Flansburg Avenue, Dalton
- Mineral Hills Winery– 592 Sylvester Road, Godard’s Red Hen Farm, Florence
- Glendale Ridge Vineyard– 155 Glendale Road, Southampton
- Black Birch Vineyard– 108 Straits Road, Hatfield
- Sunset Meadow of Massachusetts– 296 South Main Street, Sheffield
- Cameron’s Winery– 1046 Millers Falls Road, Northfield
- Brimfield Winery– 35 Main Street, Brimfield
- Raven Hollow Winery – 436 Russellville Road, Westfield
- Hardwick Winery – 3305 Greenwich Road, Ware
- Echo Hill Orchards & Winery– 101 Wilbraham Road, Monson
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
(WGGB/WSHM) – With the rain continuing on Sunday night into Memorial Day, some towns across western Massachusetts have announced they will be canceling or rescheduling Memorial Day parades and ceremonies;
List is as follows:
Amherst – Parade canceled, Memorial Day ceremony moved inside Bangs Community Center at 9:30 a.m.
Belchertown – Memorial Day parade canceled, outdoor ceremony will be held at South Cemetery on 143 Mill Valley Road at 8:30 a.m., indoor ceremony will be held at 20 Park Street at 10:30 a.m.
Deerfield – Memorial Day ceremony will be hosted inside Frontier Regional School at 8:45 a.m.
Easthampton – Memorial Day parade and ceremony has been canceled
Granby – Memorial Day parade canceled, Ceremony will be held at Granby Veterans’ Memorial at 9 a.m.
Hadley – Memorial Day parade canceled, Hadley Veterans and Fire Department will still host ceremonies at these cemeteries;
- 11:00 a.m. Russellville Cemetery 442 River Drive
- 11:15 a.m. Plainville Cemetery 137 Mount Warner Road
- 11:40 a.m. Olde Hadley Cemetery 12 Cemetery Road
- 12:05 p.m. Hockanum Cemetery 199 Hockanum Road
- 12:40 p.m. Holy Rosary Cemetery 134 Huntington Road
- 1:10 p.m. North Hadley Cemetery 254 River Drive
- 1:40 p.m. Hadley American Legion 162 Russell Street
Holyoke – Parade canceled, observance ceremony will be held at the Holyoke War Memorial at 8:30 a.m.
Ludlow – Memorial Day parade canceled, candlelight vigil postponed until later date that will be announced.
Montague – Memorial Day ceremony will be held inside Montague Common Hall at 11:15 a.m.
Monson – Parade, ceremony canceled
Palmer – Parade canceled, rescheduled for June 20th to be a part of Mass. 250th anniversary festivities. Ceremony will be held inside at Amvets Post 74 at 2150 Main Street in Three Rivers at 11 a.m.
Southwick – Parade canceled, ceremony will held in held at Town Hall Auditorium at 10 a.m.
Suffield, Conn. – Memorial Day parade cancelled, ceremony will be held at Suffield High School auditorium at 10 a.m., doors will open at 9:15 a.m.
Copyright 2026 Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.
Massachusetts
In Massachusetts governor’s race, it’s the economy, stupid. For Healey, it’s abortion, too. – The Boston Globe
In a Globe interview, the first-term Democrat said preserving access to abortion is not just a social issue, but also an economic one, a framing that appears intended to tap into residents’ deep-seated concerns about being able to afford to live in a state that’s simultaneously emerged as a major national provider of abortion care.
“Make no mistake about it, abortion is economic, and the ability to access abortion care or not has real consequences for women across this country,” she said. “It has consequences in terms of their health — sometimes consequences are life or death — and it does have economic consequences.”
Healey is facing pressure to find ways to help ease Massachusetts’ high costs. Residents are leaving the state, some in search of lower-cost locales; energy bills are reaching new highs; homeownership is out of reach for many; and child care costs here are among the nation’s highest.
“Lowering costs should be the focus of every elected official in America,” Healey said during her State of the Commonwealth address in January. “It’s certainly mine.”
Scott Ferson, a Massachusetts-based Democratic political strategist, said Healey is “most comfortable” discussing protections for reproductive health care because of her background as a former attorney general who sued the Trump administration over access.
“There’s enough crises here to occupy voters’ . . . time,” Ferson said of fears over both abortion access and the economy. “And so she’s right to talk about both.”
Healey has long argued for increased access to abortion.
The state stockpiled 15,000 doses of mifepristone in 2023 amid an early legal challenge to the drug, and Healey issued an executive order in 2024 confirming access to emergency abortion care in the state. Last year, she signed a bill that bolstered protections for doctors providing reproductive health care from legal repercussions in other states.
Jane Rayburn, a Massachusetts-based pollster who has worked with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Maine US Senate candidate Graham Platner, agreed that access to abortion has economic consequences, as people consider whether they can afford to have a child.
“Restricting economic freedom, removing folks’ autonomy from making these choices on how they build their family and their family’s future, cuts right at the heart of the cost of living and affordability issues that we’re all experiencing firsthand,” Rayburn said.
Healey has tried to bring her work on reproductive rights into sharper focus this year as two Republicans battle each other for their party’s nomination.
Brian Shortsleeve, who led the MBTA under former governor Charlie Baker, said he supports the US Supreme Court’s decision to maintain, at least temporarily, access to mifepristone through the mail. He also said he supports abortion rights, including the state’s “current law as it is.”
“I wouldn’t change it,” he said.
Mike Minogue, who won the Mass. GOP’s gubernatorial endorsement last month, has described himself as a “pro-life” Catholic.
He runs a nearly $23 million family foundation with his wife, Renee Minogue, that has donated to groups that have touted pro-life stances, including $8,000 between 2018 and 2024 to Prager University, a conservative media organization whose founder, Dennis Prager, has said most abortions are not moral.
The foundation also gave $5,000 in 2015 to the Massachusetts Family Institute, an antiabortion “pro-family” advocacy group, and $55,000 between 2023 and 2024 to Taylor University, an Indiana-based Christian institution that promotes a “sanctity of life statement.”
Minogue did not respond to questions about the donations, but said Healey ”and the liberal media will try to weaponize” abortion politics.
“I cannot change the Massachusetts abortion law. Politicians approach this issue to drive hate and divisiveness,” he said in a statement to the Globe. “As a leader with faith, I have compassion and will support women with counseling, financial aid, and medical care.”
Healey cast both Republicans as threats to access here, arguing that neither will proactively stand up for reproductive rights.
“I’m going to be there to protect abortion access, and my opponents are not, and that’s demonstrated by their actions, their words, their records,” she said.
Healey’s campaign has capitalized on the abortion-related court rulings in fund-raising emails, casting a federal appeals court decision restricting medication abortion by mail as “dangerous.” (The US Supreme Court later issued a ruling preserving access to the drug.)
The Massachusetts Democratic Party has also targeted Minogue directly, dubbing him “Anti-Abortion Mike Minogue” because of his “pro-life” beliefs.
Claire Teylouni, interim executive director of Reproductive Equity Now, an abortion rights group, said voters have a lot on their minds this election cycle and accused the Trump administration of “creating chaos and uncertainty” on a range of issues, including reproductive rights.
“It might not be that abortion is the only issue shaping this race,” she said, “but we do really believe it will be a significant one.”
Voters, too, say that the Massachusetts economy is a top issue, and likely Democratic voters said cost of living should be Healey’s top focus, according to an April Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.
But they also have mounting concerns about the future of abortion access. A UMass Amherst/WCVB survey from 2025 found a decrease in the number of people – from 70 percent in October 2024 to 62 percent in February 2025 – who believed abortion would remain “safe, legal, and accessible” in Massachusetts following the US Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022 by overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.
Erin O’Brien, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said abortion, at the very least, is a good “wedge issue” for Healey. But she said the gubernatorial race will largely focus on affordability.
“Having [abortion] there helps her for turnout,” O’Brien said, “and to prevent people from going to the GOP.”
Chris Van Buskirk can be reached at chris.vanb@globe.com. Follow him on X @byChrisVan
-
Movie Reviews2 minutes agoFilm Review: “Slanted”
-
World14 minutes agoRubio says US will find 'another way' if Iran talks fail
-
News20 minutes agoClarence B. Jones, Who Helped Shape ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech, Dies at 95
-
Politics26 minutes agoHow Trump’s Cabinet Speaks to Him: Praise, Accolades and Lots of Criticizing Opponents
-
Business32 minutes agoOil Prices Fall Sharply on News of Possible Iran Deal
-
Science38 minutes agoOne-and-Done Heart Disease Prevention? Scientists Show It May Be Possible.
-
Culture56 minutes agoBook Review: ‘America, U.S.A.,’ by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
-
Lifestyle1 hour agoIs the Handbag Over?
