Karen Brown

Kicking opiate addition is always hard, even with support. Lance Rice got that help from a very unlikely source: a woman whose house he had robbed to get money for heroin.

The mild New England winter means that more black bears are up and about, looking for food — and not just in the woods. In Northampton, Mass.,they're also exploring urban backyards and residential cul-de-sacs, where finding food scraps is a lot easier than berry-picking.

Requiring all Americans to have health insurance is one of the proposals now being considered in Washington, D.C. Massachusetts already requires its residents to be insured, but people aren't always able to afford a policy, even when the state helps out.

Last spring, Anna and Peter Mohan, a young couple from Western Massachusetts, were coping with the aftermath of war. Peter has suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder since his 2004 return from Iraq. They speak again about the unraveling of their marriage — which they see as one of the many hidden costs of the war.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Education found that Springfield, Mass., schools were violating the civil rights of Somali students by failing to provide an adequate education. Ninety students shared a part-time tutor. The district says it is addressing the issues.

Bipolar disorder is one of the fastest growing diagnoses among American children. But one of the institutions on the front lines of dealing with bipolar -- the public school system -- may be ill-equipped for its role in identifying and educating children who may have the disorder.