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Families Brace for End of Pandemic-Era Free School Meals Amid Rising Food Costs
The pandemic-era federal aid that made school meals available for free to all public school students — regardless of family income levels — is ending, raising fears about the effects in the upcoming school year for families already struggling with rising food and fuel costs
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Where Will $4 Billion in COVID Relief Money Be Distributed in Mass.?
Four billion dollars in American Rescue Plan Act money is finally going to be circulated throughout Massachusetts now that Gov. Charlie Baker has signed the federal aid bill into law. “There’s a lot of resource available in that bill to support a housing agenda we desperately need, to make big investments in water and sewer infrastructure which we desperately...
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Mass. Bill to Spend $4 Billion in Federal Relief Moves Forward, Could Be Law This Week
A roughly $4 billion spending bill advanced in the Massachusetts House on Thursday without fanfare and could reach Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk when lawmakers in both branches reconvene on Friday. After a conference committee on Wednesday night filed a 163-page compromise bill to spend American Rescue Plan Act and surplus state tax revenue funding, the House accepted its report on…
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MBTA's Recent Safety Improvements ‘Not Enough,' General Manager Says
Acknowledging in the wake of a tumultuous month that a series of safety improvements have been “not enough,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said Tuesday that the agency’s long-term financial outlook remains strained and hinted that federal dollars may eliminate the need to rush through a solution. Poftak told WBUR’s “Radio Boston” that the sizable pot of COVID-19 stimulus...
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Biden Tours Ida Damage in Manville, NJ
President Biden toured Manville, New Jersey, on Tuesday to survey the heavy damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida last week.
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Bonus Pay for Essential Workers Varied Widely Across States
About one-third of the states have used federal coronavirus relief aid to provide extra pay to workers who were considered essential during the coronavirus pandemic.
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$109 Million in Payments Going Out to Mass. Cities Shortchanged on Fed. Aid
Four Massachusetts cities that were hit hard by the pandemic but shortchanged on federal relief funding will get a cumulative $109 million on Friday, the Gov. Charlie Baker’s office announced.
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With New Aid, Schools Seek Solutions to Problems New and Old
Schools across the U.S. are weighing how to use a windfall from the federal government’s latest coronavirus relief package
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Vermont Rocker Lends Voice to ‘Save Our Stages' Push
A well-known Vermont musician lent her voice to a push to deliver federal relief money to independent concert venues hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. “If we don’t have stages to go back to, things don’t go back to business as usual,” warned Grace Potter. The Vermont-born musician was in the early performances of an album release tour this...
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‘Save Our Stages' Aims to Deliver COVID Relief in Vermont
There’s a renewed push to deliver federal relief money to concert venues, nightclubs and live theater stages amid the coronavirus pandemic which could help businesses in Vermont.
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Trump Changes Course, Approves California Relief for 6 Fires
President Donald Trump’s administration has reversed course and approved a previously rejected California application for disaster relief funds to clean up damage from six recent wildfires
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American Airlines Halting Service to 15 Small Cities After Federal Aid Runs Out in October
American Airlines said Thursday it plans to suspend service to 15 small U.S. cities with low demand in October after the terms of federal aid requiring the flights expires, a move that would cut off scheduled flights to nine destinations in as many states.
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States With Few Coronavirus Cases Get Big Share of Relief Aid
An Associated Press analysis shows that some of the least-populated states with relatively few coronavirus cases received an out-sized proportion of the $150 billion in federal money that was designed to address virus-related expenses.