@will_katcher

Reporter for @MassLiveNews in Boston / Proud alum of @UMassAmherst / Always available at [email protected] or [email protected].

 Boston, MA
masslive.com/staff/wkatcher/posts.html
Joined January 2016
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At a burnt home in Needham, the scale of Wednesday’s tragic fire comes into focus masslive.com/news/2025/12/at…

At a burnt home in Needham, the scale of Wednesday’s tragic fire comes into focus

A 21-year-old woman was killed in a fire in Needham on the morning of Christmas Eve.

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“For a planned shutdown, this is huge. That’s the entire trunk [of the Green Line], basically. That’s major.” MBTA announces 15-day closure of a huge chunk of the Green Line while it replaces infrastructure from the 1890s. Details here: masslive.com/boston/2025/11/…

MBTA announces major Green Line closure to replace 130-year-old infrastructure

The MBTA will close a broad stretch of its Green Line for 15 consecutive days in December.

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Fantasy or fraud: Viral hobbit hotel startup in Mass. raises $300K — but is it real? masslive.com/news/2025/08/fa…

More questions than answers: Hobbit hotel raises $300K but for what and where?

It looks like an adorable hobbit house straight out of "Lord of the Rings," but is the hotel advertised heavily on social media actually being built? And if so, where?

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🚃⚽️🏆 Can the MBTA handle moving 20,000 World Cup fans to Foxboro per game? We're about 10 months from finding out. A look inside the T's monumental task and the extensive preparation it's doing for next summer's tournament @masslivenews masslive.com/boston/2025/08/…

The MBTA is about to face a test unlike any in recent memory

The MBTA says it can transport 20,000 fans to Foxborough for each World Cup game. It will be a massive challenge — and a chance for the T to prove itself.

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A wild tale of how the FBI discovered a Springfield Police officer had passed confidential information to a drug trafficking organization. For @masslivenews: masslive.com/westernmass/202…

A Springfield bakery, cocaine traffickers and a police officer’s downfall

A nine-year Springfield Police veteran fired in 2023 also had his license to work in law enforcement in Massachusetts revoked recently by state oversight officials.

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Chelsea is a sanctuary city. Revere is not. Yet similar fear pervades both immigrant-heavy cities. And neither is immune to federal funding cuts. A deep dive into what's at stake, via a partnership between @masslivenews and @elplanetaboston: masslive.com/news/2025/05/sa…

Sanctuary city or not, fear and lost federal funding knows no borders

Chelsea is a sanctuary city. Revere is not. Yet fear pervades immigrant communities in both, and neither immigrants nor citizens are immune to lost federal funding.

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What's on the line if Trump succeeds in freezing $2.2B in funding for Harvard? Breakthrough cancer therapies, new treatments for soldiers wounded in battle, and the potential to “significantly" reduce Alzheimer’s, MS and strokes. More here @masslivenews: masslive.com/news/2025/04/tr…

What’s on the line if Trump takes $2.2B from Harvard? Cancer research and much more

From new cancer therapies to innovative military health care and technology, Harvard's cutting-edge projects are in jeopardy as the Trump administration freezes research funding.

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NEW from me: Why a black market pharmacy in Framingham filled unmet needs of undocumented immigrants masslive.com/news/2025/03/wh…

Why undocumented immigrants in Mass. ordered from a black market pharmacy

Long waitlists, language barriers and lack of insurance coverage may have driven undocumented immigrants to seek care at an illegal pharmacy that authorities say was operating out of a Framingham...

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Massachusetts cannabis prices just keep falling. Is an end in sight? masslive.com/cannabis/2025/0…

Massachusetts cannabis prices just keep falling. Is an end in sight?

Over the last four years, the retail price of cannabis in Massachusetts has plummeted by more than two-thirds, causing some businesses to close and others to dread the possibility.

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Scenes from the Commuter Rail @MBTA_CR this morning: Applause as the first outbound train on the new Fall River/New Bedford Line leaves South Station at 6:45. To my right is Dmitry Zinoviev, who got up at 3am and drove from Lexington to ride the first train from NB at 4:27 am
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1st time in 65 yrs that South Coast cities like New Bedford & Fall River have passenger rail service. 👇@MBTA GM Phil Eng greets riders on 1st train from South Station this morning. He'll celebrate with Gov. Healey & other state leaders at E. Taunton station later this morning
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🚃 Lotta happy riders this morning
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New from @masslivenews: Massachusetts congressional delegation seeking specifics from Trump admin on federal workforce cuts in the Bay State, where 46K federal employees are based: masslive.com/politics/2025/0…

Mass. delegation accuses President Trump of “reckless purge” of federal workers

More than 46,000 federal employees are based in Massachusetts. Potential cuts to their jobs have grave implications for disaster preparedness, public health, public safety and national security, the...

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Read their letter to the head of @USOPM:
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Over two dozen Massachusetts colleges closed due to financial difficulties in the past decade. I spent the past several months @masslivenews looking at what happens when they close and whether they can be a housing solution in Mass. masslive.com/news/2025/02/co… 1/3

Could shuttered college campuses help solve the Mass. housing crisis?

As financial pressures lead to college closures, developers are converting some former campuses into housing.

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From @will_katcher: Federal officials approved a new non-opioid painkiller developed by a Boston pharmaceutical company, calling it a “first-in-class” treatment that avoids the addictive risks of opioid-based drugs. masslive.com/news/2025/01/fd…

FDA approves new type of non-addictive painkiller from Boston drug company

The drug represents a new pathway to treating people with pain due to surgeries or traumatic injuries, avoiding the addictive risks of opioids.

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🚗📸🚓 — @MassGovernor is proposing allowing @MassDOT and towns and cities to install speed cameras. For @masslivenews: masslive.com/politics/2025/0…

Cameras on Mass. roads could catch speeders under governor’s proposal

Massachusetts may align with 19 other states and Washington, D.C., in allowing speed cameras if a proposal from Gov. Maura Healey survives budget negotiations.

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Coincidentally, the NYC Dept of Transportation @NYC_DOT is out with a report today claiming a *94%* drop in speeding at locations where the city installed speed cameras xitter.cf/NYC_DOT/status/1882465…
NYC DOT
@NYC_DOT23 Jan 2025
Speeding kills. That's why speed cameras are essential. There has been a 94% reduction in speeding where we installed speed cameras. Traffic injuries and deaths have also declined. Read our new report: nyc.gov/SpeedCameras
N Y C D O T crew member actively working on a speed camera attached to a light post. Text on screen reads N Y C speed cameras save lives and lists speed camera statistics.

ALT N Y C D O T crew member actively working on a speed camera attached to a light post. Text on screen reads N Y C speed cameras save lives and lists speed camera statistics.

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MA is wading into new waters. Two new laws allow ticketing drivers for illegally passing school buses and for blocking bus stops/bus lanes. Took a deep dive yesterday @masslivenews: masslive.com/news/2025/01/bu…

Smile, you’re on bus camera: A new way of ticketing traffic violators in Mass.

Massachusetts, for the first time, will allow cameras mounted on school and public buses to catch and ticket traffic law violators.

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Boston councilor proposes new tax on sugary drinks masslive.com/boston/2025/01/…

Boston councilor proposes new tax on sugary drinks

A tax of 2 cents per ounce of sugar drinks could raise $20-30 million annually for the city while dissuading people from buying unhealthy beverages, one city councilor argues.

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