In the News

Groton History Center, Westford Museum receive SHARP funding By Aaron Curtis The Groton History Center and the Westford Museum were among several organizations throughout the 3rd Congressional District that were awarded funding to support the response and recovery of the cultural sector from the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic. The Groton History Center was awarded… Read more »

Lawmakers: FTC must ensure tech companies uphold youth online privacy By David Shepardson WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Three U.S. Democratic lawmakers on Friday urged the Federal Trade Commision to ensure technology companies like Facebook , Alphabet's YouTube and TikTok comply with policy changes aimed protecting young people online. The letter from Senator Ed Markey and… Read more »

Feds Award Greater Lawrence Family Health Center $1.1 Million for Capital Projects The Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, with clinics in Haverhill, Methuen and Lawrence, was recently awarded $1.1 million for major construction and renovation projects from the American Rescue Plan. Health Center President and CEO Dr. Guy Fish said he is grateful for the relief money through the… Read more »

Rep. Lori Trahan secures funding for trio of community health centers By Aaron Curtis LOWELL — The Lowell Community Health Center was among a trio of area health centers that received a total of nearly $2.8 million in federal relief funding from the American Rescue Plan. U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, announced the… Read more »

Student-athletes or student-employees? Tug-of-war continues in Congressional hearing day after NLRB memo By Tom Schad WASHINGTON — The college sports stakeholders who assembled here Thursday seemed to be united in their belief that Congress should establish some sort of federal framework for name, image and likeness. But there was little unanimous agreement beyond that. In a… Read more »

Lawmakers give Facebook a clear message: Don’t build Instagram for kids By Lauren Feiner WASHINGTON — Facebook’s testimony to members of the U.S. Senate on Thursday led to one overwhelming conclusion from the lawmakers in attendance: Instagram has no business creating an app for kids. Using Facebook’s own internal research from documents leaked to the Wall Street Journal and some… Read more »

Massachusetts lawmakers say Facebook’s ‘pause’ on Instagram for children is ‘insufficient’ By Nik DeCosta-Klipa Facebook announced this week that it is “pausing” work on a planned version of Instagram for children under the age of 13, amid scrutiny of the social media platform’s effects on young people. But according to Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Lori Trahan, “a ‘pause’ is… Read more »

Markey, Trahan Call On Facebook To ‘Completely Abandon’ Instagram For Kids Following Pause BOSTON (CBS/CNN) — Instagram is pressing pause on plans to develop a version of its service for kids under 13 after facing pressure from lawmakers to back down on the effort and new questions about the impact the photo-sharing service has on teen girls. “While we stand by the need to develop this… Read more »

The Counseling Center at MOC opens in Fitchburg By Danielle Ray FITCHBURG — Making Opportunity Count hosted a grand opening on Monday of its first outpatient mental health clinic, The Counseling Center at MOC, inside its program headquarters on Nursery Lane. The event featured remarks from Making Opportunity Count executives, Congresswoman Lori Trahan, state Sen. John Cronin,… Read more »

Ed Markey, Lori Trahan condemn ‘Instagram for Kids’ after report reveals Facebook knew about negative mental health impacts on youth By Cassie McGrath U.S. Senator Ed Markey and U.S. Representative Lori Trahan sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday calling for the big tech company to abandon its plans to develop an “Instagram for Kids” platform. This comes after a… Read more »