Marilyn Schairer

1 week ago | wgbh.org | Marilyn Schairer

Cambridge leaders and local experts say a $2 billion federal funding freeze to Harvard could have broader impacts on the surrounding community. As the city prepares its budget for the next fiscal year, officials are anticipating the ripple effect of those cuts — and any additional reductions that could come later. Cambridge City Councilor Patricia Nolan, chair of the finance committee, said the city is making contingency plans.

1 week ago | wgbh.org | Marilyn Schairer

April 14, 2025 In 2008, Shaun Grady of Lexington learned he had a brain tumor. He was 50 years old, a medical device engineer and married with children. “I got scared,” Grady said. Grady’s condition was serious. The tumor, he said, was the size of his fist. “It was shock and dismay,” Grady said. He had two successful surgeries to remove the tumors, but was left with a traumatic brain injury requiring years of treatment.

1 month ago | wgbh.org | Marilyn Schairer

March 24, 2025 Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner faces pressure to resign after he was named in an alleged ongoing high-end brothel network that operated in Cambridge. On Friday, Toner was among a handful of men identified at a Cambridge hearing for allegedly buying sex through the brothel ring. Court filings allege he sent more than 400 texts to the brothel operator and paid for sex more than a dozen times in 2023. “I caused pain for the people I care about most.

1 month ago | wgbh.org | Marilyn Schairer

March 14, 2025 The Brookline School Committee took the controversial step Thursday night of eliminating the district’s Office of Educational Equity as it looks to close an $8 million deficit in next year’s budget. The 5-4 vote is viewed by community advocates as a setback for equity programs that Public Schools of Brookline had previously embraced and that provided protections and support for students from diverse backgrounds.

1 month ago | wgbh.org | Marilyn Schairer

March 12, 2025 Cities and towns across Massachusetts are keeping a close and wary eye on the federal government as they shape their municipal budgets for the new fiscal year that starts this July. Local leaders say federal funding cuts pushed by the Trump administration would force tough spending decisions at the municipal level, with housing, healthcare and education all seeing potential impacts.