Years ago, long before she became a powerful pol, Karen Spilka was a mom to two school-aged kids. And one day, she noticed that her son was having trouble learning to read. And now, motivated by her own experience, the Ashland lawmaker is making what she describes as “high-quality comprehensive literacy instruction,” a top priority for the New Year, she wrote in a Substack post published Wednesday.

Following the death of Uxbridge police officer Stephen LaPorta, the Massachusetts state Senate unanimously approved a new special license plate to honor the memories of fallen law enforcement officers on Jan. 15.