Hallie Claflin is a Report for America corps member covering Gateway Cities for CommonWealth Beacon.
She is a Wisconsin native and newcomer to Massachusetts. She has written for several nonprofit publications in Madison, Wisconsin, and her work has been recognized by the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2023 she spent a summer at Voice of America where she covered national and international affairs for the visual content team in Washington, DC. She previously covered rural homelessness, poverty, politics, state government, and statewide elections at Wisconsin Watch.
She completed her degrees in both journalism and political science at the University of Wisconsin, where she became passionate about strengthening local news, pursuing solutions journalism, and holding state and local officials accountable. Hallie’s coverage focuses on major policy issues like housing, transportation, and education in Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities.
Our top five Gateway Cities stories of 2025
The state’s most economically distressed communities faced old and new challenges this year, underscoring the need for solutions
‘It couldn’t come at a worse time’: Legislature strips casino mitigation funds amid municipal budget woes
Gateway Cities like Springfield are set to lose millions as state lawmakers seek to offset the state’s budget pressures with the funds
State audit claims 2023 maternity unit closure in Leominster was preventable
Auditors say $6.2 million in COVID relief funding, which UMass Memorial Health says was spent on bonuses for frontline workers during the pandemic, could have been used to recruit and pay maternity staff
How incoming mayor Robert Van Campen will write Everett’s next chapter
The mayor-elect campaigned on change after his swaggering predecessor, Carlo DeMaria, was marked by scandal this year. But in some ways, Van Campen will keep DeMaria’s legacy alive
Suspension of maternity services at Mercy Medical Center sparks fears of permanent closure
Health care providers and experts worry the Trinity Health-owned hospital in Springfield could be next in a string of maternity unit closures over the last decade
Half of Holyoke’s middle school students started the year at a new school. The other half were ‘left behind.’
How Proposition 2½, strained municipal budgets, and an inequitable state funding formula have left some communities between a rock and a hard place when it comes to new school construction
Lawmaker representing Randolph seeks to loosen Gateway City eligibility criteria
A new bill would open the designation to more communities, including Boston and a town of less than 5,000 on Martha’s Vineyard
When communities lose trust: One year after Steward Health’s bankruptcy and the death of two hospitals
How Boston’s largest neighborhood and a rural North-Central town are grappling with the loss of Carney Hospital and the Nashoba Valley Medical Center
State school building program favors wealthier districts, leaving lower-income urban students in aging, dilapidated buildings, according to new study
Under the state formula, in Gateway Cities like Lynn, extensive renovation projects and new school construction are often a pipe dream
Two years after the closure of Leominster’s maternity unit, a region is struggling
What does it say about the future of maternal health care access in Massachusetts?
Report highlights persistent challenges in early child care workforce
Low wages, limited benefits, and high turnover means Massachusetts is losing nearly $3 billion annually due to inadequate child care, according to a new report
Western Mass. cities working to prevent sewer overflows amid funding challenges and intensifying rain
A video of sewage running through the Connecticut River in Suffield, Connecticut, has officials pointing the finger at Holyoke, Springfield, and Chicopee
Over 10 years in the making: Fitchburg cuts the ribbon on affordable housing project for artists
The redevelopment of three blighted buildings has brought 68 units of much-needed housing to a Gateway City banking on the arts to help revitalize its local economy
The new Seaport District? Restoration of Lynn’s waterfront has developers closing in on city’s South Harbor
The Harbor Park project turned an old landfill into a scenic waterfront, unlocking housing and retail development in Lynn’s South Harbor, which some say doesn’t do enough to address the city’s affordable housing needs
Real estate developers in Gateway Cities grappling with Trump’s tariffs
Attempting to plan projects around ever-changing tariff policies in cities where housing availability is already strained is injecting uncertainty into an already fraught market
‘Easier said than done’: Former mill cities struggle to rehab vacant, blighted properties in Western Mass.
In cities like Holyoke, developers are slowly restoring blighted buildings to meet housing needs, but barriers to conversion remain
Lynn, Swampscott team up to clean Greater Boston’s dirtiest beach
A temporary ultraviolet light system is being used to kill bacteria at long-polluted King’s Beach, but officials still seek a permanent solution
‘We are terrified’: Gateway City leaders prepare for federal cuts, changes to Medicaid
Local health officials are bracing for sweeping changes to MassHealth under the Trump administration’s tax bill
‘The ultimate underdog’: Chelsea named 2025 All-America city for sustainability projects
Community efforts look to mitigate the environmental burdens it has long faced