Avery Bleichfeld

For four organizations in Boston, new vending machines won’t mean a snack to crunch on but rather access to opioid overdose-reversing medications and other harm reduction supplies.

MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng holds up a recently removed slow zone sign at a press conference at North Station, Dec. 23 announcing the elimination of slow zones along the MBTA subway system. The elimination of slow zones, which the MBTA said will save riders 40,000 hours in travel time weekly, marked the end of the year-long Track Improvement Program that required extended shutdowns across the system. PHOTO: AVERY BLEICHFELD/BAY STATE BANNER

A partnership between public health experts and local groups is looking to bring the health benefits of community connection to elders in Boston’s Black community.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital campus in the Longwood Medical Area, pictured Jan. 7. Brigham and Women’s, in partnership with the Boston-based Wyss Institute, last month received grant funding to further research looking to understand the differences between types of asthma, with the goal of personalizing and improving treatment. PHOTO: AVERY BLEICHFELD/BAY STATE BANNER

Local initiative reconnects formerly incarcerated individuals with communities they left

The Massachusetts State House, pictured Jan. 7. In the final days of the legislative session, the State House passed new health-care-focused legislation aimed at reducing drug prices, and increasing oversight of the industry in light of the Steward Health Care crisis. PHOTO: AVERY BLEICHFELD/BAY STATE BANNER

While much of the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is focused on things like workers’ rights, access to quality education, discrimination, transportation

For advocates, MLK’s work sits at the root of modern environmental justice efforts

Through an ambitious funding plan, announced last week, Gov. Maura Healey set her sights on stabilizing and improving transportation across Massachusetts.

When the Environmental Protection Agency declared the Lower Neponset River a Superfund site in 2022, community members celebrated it as a recognition of the community’s need and a way to bring faster repair to a natural resource.