WORCESTER — Looking to address the digital divide that exists in the city, the City Council Urban Technologies, Innovation and Environment Committee Thursday night called for the establishment of a task force to look at the feasibility of implementing a municipally owned broadband network.

As the state’s public schools begin to open, many urban systems will do so entirely online. That can be problematic for many low-income students who don’t have internet access at home. Districts that will offer some degree of in-school instruction, like Lowell, have given those children with special needs and other specific learning needs priority for in-person classes.

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The state’s highest court heard arguments Friday in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of emergency powers used by Gov. Charlie Baker during the pandemic.

WORCESTER — After the district had to scramble this summer to provide internet to families to support its remote learning model, a school panel on Thursday voted to ask city leaders to look into bringing municipal broadband to Worcester.

THE COVID-19 CRISIS has thrown into relief the need for us to reassess the use of technology in education, public access to digital devices, and robust, reliable broadband as we make the shift from face-to-face to remote solutions for teaching and learning.

Worcester’s middle class has shrunk in the past decade, with more households often finding themselves in or near poverty, according to a report by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau.

A lack of reliable, consistent internet access has been an issue for many in Worcester for years, but the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, forcing employees and students to work and learn from home, has put a spotlight on the issue.

WORCESTER - A Worcester Regional Research Bureau forum examining the possibility of municipal broadband internet service began Thursday afternoon with participants testing their download speeds.

WORCESTER — The economy is in tatters.

Hank Stoltz discusses Worcester Municipal Broadband with Paul Matthews & Tom Quinn of the WRRB.