Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chappell Roan's fans welcome the 'Midwest Princess' to Kansas City

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 8h

Chappell Roan stopped in Kansas City, Mo., over the weekend as a part of her pop-up tour. https://www.wgbh.org/news/national/2025-10-08/chappell-roans-fans-welcome-the-midwest-princess-to-kansas-city

Photographer Katie Currid captured fans attending Chappell Roan's tour stop in Kansas City. The Missouri native said bringing joy to the Midwest's queer community is deeply meaningful to her.

Top Ten Spooky Public Radio Tales

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 9h

Sure, they said. Buy the creepy devil sculpture at the flea market, they said. What could go wrong? That and 9 other spooky public radio tales for a shiver of scary delight: https://www.wgbh.org/news/lifestyle/2018/10/30/top-ten-spooky-public-radio-tales

Seasonal frights and shivers — public radio style.

Mass. state reps say they can afford to spend more as they override Healey's budget vetoes

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 10h

When Gov. Maura Healey signed this year’s state budget, she vetoed about $130 million in spending. Lawmakers in the Massachusetts House voted Wednesday to add back more than half of that money, calling it “absolutely necessary.” https://bit.ly/430M3Is

Votes Wednesday would restore more than half of what Healey cut from the state's $60 billion budget.

Why Do We Carve Pumpkins Into Jack-O'-Lanterns For Halloween?

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 11h

I’ll bet you or someone you know has carved a pumpkin. But do you know why we carve them? https://bit.ly/3Q9yxLs

It's a tale thousands of years in the making.

Judge sets $10K bail for pro-Palestinian protester accused of breaking BPD officer’s nose

gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 15h

A Tufts student accused of assaulting a Boston police officer in connection with a pro-Palestinian demonstration in downtown Boston was ordered held on $10,000 bail Wednesday. https://bit.ly/4oaWuBi

13 face charges following Tuesday night’s protest that started on Boston Common.

White House floats no back pay for some furloughed federal workers despite 2019 law

gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 1d

The Trump administration has started to suggest it will cheat federal workers out of back pay they are owed and by law should be paid once the government shutdown is over: https://bit.ly/46FRL4O

A new draft White House memo suggests a 2019 law signed by President Trump that guarantees that federal employees get paid after a shutdown ends would not apply to furloughed workers.

Why some federal workers aren't scared by the threat of shutdown layoffs

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 1d

“As a federal worker, I am here to tell you that every awful thing that would happen in a shutdown — shuttering programs that Americans rely on, damaging our economy, firing federal workers — all of this is already happening." https://bit.ly/3J47UId

Some federal workers support the government shutdown, even as President Trump threatens to use this moment to lay off employees and cut funding to programs.

Burlington Town Meeting votes to condemn ICE center

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 1d

There's an ICE office that's become a detention center right next to the Burlington Mall. Burlington's town government wants to "investigate and take corrective action." https://bit.ly/46X0jDj

Effort seeks access to inspect the facility and enforce zoning compliance.

Students of color twice as likely to attend substandard schools, new report finds

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 1d

Low-income and students of color in Massachusetts are almost twice as likely to attend schools with unsatisfactory conditions than their white counterparts, according to a new report from the Boston-based nonprofit MassINC. https://bit.ly/472ujh3

The report from MassINC highlights the inequities in the educational settings for urban areas compared to suburban areas.

How Growing Places is keeping Mass. communities fed — even in challenging times

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 1d

“Feeding people in need, supporting farmers, connecting schools for healthy foods — I can’t speak enough wonderful things about her...each time there’s been a clawback — federal grants and stuff — she has managed to find other ways. I think she doesn’t stop.” https://bit.ly/46IqNK0

The nonprofit supports farmers and makes fresh produce accesible to families across 27 communities.

How flights are impacted by the government shutdown. And, James Comey's arraignment

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 1d

The government shutdown is now on day with no end in sight. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4odM588

Air traffic controllers are facing a staffing shortage and the government shutdown is making it worse. And, former FBI Director James Comey appears in court today to face felony charges.

Local anti-trafficking advocates say federal actions put victims at risk

gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 2d

Anti-trafficking activists in Massachusetts say that the on-the-ground actions of the Trump administration are hurting, not helping, the most vulnerable victims of sex and labor trafficking.

https://bit.ly/433Ugvt

Funding cuts, layoffs and uncertainty are making the work of getting survivors stable harder, advocates say.

New England's last coal plant has stopped operating, according to its owners

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 2d

The last coal-fired power plant in New England, Merrimack Station, has stopped running.

With the closure of that facility, the region is poised to become the first in the United States without a coal plant on its grid. https://bit.ly/4nxOcna

Merrimack Station has been winding down its operations for years. But in September, they announced they would cease operations of their coal-fired generators.

Somerville OKs Israel divestment question on 2025 ballot

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 2d

Somerville for Palestine collected more than 8,000 signatures to advance the measure that will ask if the city should end investments and contracts with companies that “engage in business that sustains Israel’s apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine.”

https://bit.ly/3IN3ZiY

The decision comes as peace talks begin on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

France's prime minister resigns after less than a month in office

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 2d

France’s new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned less than 24 hours after naming his government. https://bit.ly/3KEDrAU

Facing criticism from all sides, France's new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned less than 24 hours after naming his government and after less than a month in office, plunging the country into ...

Bari Weiss joins CBS with a mandate for 'balanced and fact-based' news

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 2d

CBS News is planning to take another step to appeal to right-of-center viewers by installing Bari Weiss as editor in chief. https://bit.ly/4o4XmHA

CBS' parent company is buying The Free Press and installing Bari Weiss, its contrarian founder, as editor in chief of CBS News.

Civil rights jobs have been cut. Those ex-workers warn of ICE detention violations

gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 2d

“More people are going to die in custody." Advocates warn that employee cuts to the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will have consequences to those held in detention centers. https://bit.ly/4mU2AVP

After layoffs, it's unclear how many people are policing civil rights violations inside the Department of Homeland Security, even as the Trump administration ramps up ICE detention.

Why do women live longer than men? A study offers clues to close the gap

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 3d

Ever wonder why women are more likely to outlive men? https://bit.ly/47cdod5

Women have an evolutionary advantage when it comes to living longer. They outlive men by about five years. This gender gap is true for many mammals, but a new study shows how human males could narrow it.

Why Did The Framers Give Lifetime Tenure To Supreme Court Justices?

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 3d

Lately, do you ever sit around and think, "So why DO Supreme Court justices have lifetime terms, anyway?" Here's how it got that way: https://bit.ly/4o35KHN

Was there ever serious thought given to doing it a different way?

Why Is There A 'Strand Of DNA' On Massachusetts License Plates?

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 3d

The rise, and fall...and rise? of Necco Wafers: https://bit.ly/3WrQwA5

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 3d

nobody:
Me: So why is there a strand of DNA on Mass. license plates?! https://bit.ly/4h8BUyz

Here at the Curiosity Desk, we love nothing more than when we hear from our listeners about the things — large and small —that are rousing their…

Why Do We Carve Pumpkins Into Jack-O'-Lanterns For Halloween?

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 3d

Have you ever stopped and thought about just how bizarre it is that we carve scary faces into big orange vegetables at Halloween? https://bit.ly/3Q9yxLs

It's a tale thousands of years in the making.

Top Ten Spooky Public Radio Tales

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gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 3d

Sure, they said. Buy the creepy devil sculpture at the flea market, they said. What could go wrong?

That and 9 other spooky public radio tales for a shiver of scary delight: https://bit.ly/3Fx0ngN

Seasonal frights and shivers — public radio style.

The Man Who Disobeyed His Boss And Opened The Berlin Wall

gbhnews @gbhnews.bsky.social · 4d

On this day in 1989, the Berlin Wall separating Soviet-controlled East Germany and West Germany came down. This is the man who defied his superiors' orders and opened the gate: https://bit.ly/4mQHHKV

To many Germans, Harald Jaeger is the man who opened the Berlin Wall.It's a legacy that still makes the former East German border officer uncomfortable 25…