🌥️Partly sunny and warmer, with highs around 60. Sunset is at 7:07 p.m.
Since 1999, Holden has sent its sewage through Worcester’s pipes on the way to the Upper Blackstone Water Pollution treatment plant, paying its neighbor to do so. But in 2013, Holden officials sued Worcester, saying they believed they were overpaying by about $1 million a year. A jury ruled in Holden’s favor in 2022 — these cases can take time — and Worcester continued looking for ways to appeal. The state’s highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court, said in February that it would not review the case. Now the bills are coming due: Worcester will pay Holden $10 million by Wednesday, then another $10.5 million by July 1 and another $5 million each year for the next three years. Worcester officials said the city will have to take out a loan to make the payments. Holden Town Manager Peter Lukes said residents can expect lower water and sewer bills. You can read Sam Turken and Lisa Wardle’s full reporting here.
Four Things to Know
1. Federal prosecutors in Boston have created a new office focused on investigating fraud involving social safety-net benefits, as well as voter fraud. The announcement, made late last week, followed President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, in which he called for a “war on fraud,” specifically in Massachusetts, Maine and California.
A spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey’s office said fraud accounts for less than 1% of the state’s SNAP caseload and that state officials are already working with federal authorities on fraud cases. “I’m always for prosecuting and stopping fraud. Come on. I mean that’s been my career,” Healey said. “But, you know, you’ve got to understand the environment and what’s going on here across the country and the ways in which the Trump administration, whether it’s directly through [the Department of Justice] or through local U.S. attorneys’ offices, are just trying to weaponize in an effort to distract and create issues and target political opponents or continue to push a certain agenda.”…