WBUR

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"...As long as the Greek system exists, gender-based coercion and sometimes deadly hazing will continue to thrive there. These aren’t fixable flaws in an otherwise benign social structure. They are outcomes embedded in this structure from the start." wbur.fm/4ieOu11

Under a regulatory proposal, individuals 18 and over diagnosed with a "debilitating medical condition" by a certified healthcare provider in Massachusetts can register to purchase medical marijuana — regardless of what state they live in.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Minogue raised allegations about the State Police union's endorsement of Gov. Maura Healey — which the union rejected as "categorically false" and the Healey campaign called "an unhinged rant."

ESSAY: "Forty years after the dolls debuted in 1986, the same year I was born, they’re still selling. I think what’s kept kids captivated are the stories — the ones published by The Pleasant Company (now Mattel) and the ones we got to tell ourselves." wbur.fm/4siqdLO

The settlement agreement was announced six years to the day after 14-year-old died of starvation and neglect after being found in a Fall River apartment. His death prompted an "incredibly damning" report and "sweeping changes" at agencies serving children.

The latest climate assessment from the University of Vermont finds the state's summers are warming far faster than previously thought and that climate whiplash is leaving the state ill prepared for a new normal.

Boston's Atrius Health Equity Foundation and the New York-based Undue Medical Debt announced Thursday it erased $38 million in unpaid medical bills for nearly 70,000 Massachusetts residents.

This is the second time in less than two months that Sen. Susan Collins has claimed credit for negotiating tariffs carve-outs amid President Trump's trade war with Canada. Democrats accused Collins of seeking to mitigate economic damage that she helped to cause.

Republicans redrew Congressional district lines to try to tilt the midterms in their favor. But now they are facing expensive and competitive races they had hoped to outmaneuver.

When park staff took down the summit sign noting the importance of Cadillac Mountain to Maine's Indigenous people at the orders of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, they also unraveled some of the trust that took decades to build between Acadia National Park and the Wabanaki people.

COMMENTARY: "You’ve heard talk about space weapons before. But “Star Wars,” the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) created by President Ronald Reagan, never actually culminated in sending weapons to space." wbur.fm/4ebtmaP

Voters in Idaho and Massachusetts face contrasting gun-related ballot questions that highlight the national tension between firearm freedoms and restrictions. In Massachusetts, voters will decide whether to uphold a 2024 law requiring firearm registration and banning “assault-style” guns.

Brazil's 80-year-old left-wing leader President Lula defeats Flávio Bolsonaro in a bitterly contested runoff.

COMMENTARY: "There is urgency for Haitians, who are the targets of this dehumanization, but also for the rest of us, as we watch our government continue toward a ledge where some of us are human and some are not." wbur.fm/4BjX9YF

ESSAY: Alysia Abbott's son Finn, 19, loves Start Market. He loves it so much, a visit to Star has been a weekly ritual for eight years. wbur.fm/4ivntHP

The unionized nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have rejected a tentative contract deal — prolonging a bitter labor dispute and raising the possibility of another strike.

A team of employees and a loyal patron have purchased the Somerville Theater, ending months of fraught speculation about the future of storied movie house.

Dozens of employees at Boston Dynamics have petitioned the company to stop the sale of its robot dogs to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mental health resources differ across state-funded schools in Connecticut. The University of Connecticut — the state's flagship school — employs nearly three dozen mental health professionals. Meanwhile, Connecticut State Community College started the semester with zero wellness counselors.

In an eleventh-hour reversal, the United States Postal Service has secured a lease extension that will allow the Fields Corner Post Office to remain open at 218 Adams St., canceling a planned closure that was set to take effect on Monday.

Young candidates who rent or live with parents say their generation is "in the thick" of the country's housing affordability crisis. They argue this gives them new energy to solve it for everyone.

ESSAY: When WBUR's Ally Jarmanning was 7, she saved up $82 to purchase Kirsten Larson, her very own American Girl doll. "She was brave, plucky, and self sufficient, all the traits I aspired to growing up in a sometimes chaotic home," Jarmanning writes. wbur.fm/4kggung

The justices granted a Republican-backed emergency appeal and blocked the use of student IDs as a backup method of identification when voting in New Hampshire. The court cited a longstanding legal principle that judges shouldn’t change voting rules too close to Election Day.

A first-of-its-kind cancer vaccine is helping significantly reduce the chances that melanoma patients' tumors return. Drugmakers Moderna, based in Cambridge, and Merck announced the results Thursday.

Northeastern launched a database in December to track the number of college computer science departments offering AI majors. Since then, the numbers have nearly doubled: www.wbur.org/news/2026/10... @wbur.org

The Cambridge institution’s Boston outpost, set to open this fall on Union Street, will add a cafe, a children’s area and wine at book events.

OPINION: “Citizenship without equal political voice is an uncomfortable concept,” write José Massó III and Imari Paris Jeffries. “It should be.” wbur.fm/3UDRqwg

Boston City council voted on Wednesday to subpoena MBTA general manager Phil Eng to testify over the controversial $163 million Blue Hill Avenue redevelopment project.

The “looksmaxxing” livestreamer Braden Peters, better known by his stage name Clavicular, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he raped a 17-year-old girl at his family’s Massachusetts home.

More Red Line passengers can soon expect faster travel times. The MBTA will increase speeds from North Quincy to JFK to 50 miles an hour, MBTA General Manager and Interim Transportation Secretary Phil Eng said Thursday, as he also touted higher top speeds on the Orange Line.

COMMENTARY: "It is reasonable, however, to expect our country, and our government in particular, to view Haitian people as human beings worthy of respect and dignity." wbur.fm/4i10swl

In 1970, Giovanni received a letter from Howard Gotlieb, the founding director of Boston University’s special collections. This started a decades-long relationship between the poet and the university.

COMMENTARY: "In my classes, I was pushed to think critically and question inequity. In the Greek system, I was pushed to embrace our culture’s gender hierarchy, and to surrender my power to men," writes Nicole Graev Lipson. wbur.fm/4z5yoxS

MassDOT Undersecretary of Transportation Jonathan Gulliver was selected Wednesday to lead the authority that provides drinking water and sewer services to about 3.1 million Bay Staters.

The Trump administration is asking a federal judge to let it reconsider a major federal permit granted for a large offshore wind farm off Massachusetts.

COMMENTARY: In September, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirmed that the U.S. has sent weapons to outer space, writes Joelle Renstrom. This violation of the 1967 U.N. Outer Space Treaty raises global concerns about orbital warfare, as well as security on Earth. wbur.fm/4dTDtkk

Everything you need to know about #datacenters in New England: -What they do -How big they are -What's in the works -How the region is planning (I learned so much doing this story, and I hope you learn a lot by reading it) www.wbur.org/news/2026/10... @wbur.org

Moves by state lawmakers and local residents came in response to a proposal from Amazon to deliver packages by unmanned aircraft within a 7.5-mile radius of its Westborough fulfillment center.

Lawrence residents are working to collect signatures over the next month to initiate a recall election for Mayor Brian DePeña. Here's a look at the next steps in the process.

Podcast host Karina Longworth is taking over programming at the theater, promoting the new season of her podcast "You Must Remember This" about torch singer Libby Holman. "Her story encompasses true crime, antisemitism, racial appropriation and, of course, fluid and messy sexuality."

The arrests are the latest effort to crack down on marriage fraud and come as the Trump administration has increased restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration and reduced the avenues available for people to enter the country or become a citizen.

A social media personality known for promoting extreme devotion to male beauty, Peters, 20, is accused of giving the girl alcohol until she was drunk and then sexually assaulting her when she visited him in Chatham, Massachusetts, in May 2025.