"As mosquito season heats up, bringing with it the threat of the West Nile and Zika viruses, one Long Island town is taking an unorthodox approach: bats."

"Scientists hope that by monitoring the presence of whales in real-time off the coast of New England they can protect them from colliding with shipping vessels."

"The New York City department charged with overseeing day care centers routinely failed to test the centers’ water for lead — and for years falsified reports that the tests had been completed, in order for the centers to receive operating permits — according to a sharply worded audit released on Friday by the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer."

"Amid mounting alarm over how to pay for repairs to New Jersey’s roads and bridges, state lawmakers are lining up behind a potential solution once considered politically unthinkable: raising the state’s famously low gas tax."

"Gov. Paul LePage (R) stepped up his attacks on the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) in dramatic fashion this week by sending personal letters to the environmental group’s donors."

"'Rogue dirt brokers' with mob ties and criminal histories used fake documents to haul hundreds of truckloads of tainted soil and construction debris that were then dumped illegally onto environmentally sensitive sites in New Jersey, state investigators alleged Wednesday."

"The University of Massachusetts said it will divest from direct fossil-fuel holdings in its endowment, without specifying the total amount of its investment."

"The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled on Tuesday that the state must impose comprehensive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to comply with the Global Warming Solutions Act, a law passed by the legislature in 2008."

"Ashley Funk looks back fondly on her days of playing in the black hills behind her Southwestern Pennsylvania house. But when she learned more about what those black hills were made of, it drove a wedge between her and her hometown."

"The New York City Council approved a bill on Thursday to require many merchants to charge 5 cents for each plastic or paper bag taken by consumers at checkout counters, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said he intended to sign it."