Healey tells data centers: not without the town's blessing.

Governor Maura Healey signed an executive order Tuesday that effectively hands Massachusetts communities veto power over big data centers — the electricity-guzzling, water-hungry facilities powering the AI boom that have become the "not in my backyard" fight of the moment. Any project pulling more than 25 megawatts (enough to power roughly 20,000-25,000 homes) can't get a state permit unless it first signs a community benefits agreement with its host town. The order also bans the secretive NDAs that have let some of these deals get negotiated in the dark.

This is Healey's third swing at the industry since June, when she paused tax breaks for data centers and rolled out a framework requiring developers to bring their own clean power instead of straining the grid. The timing isn't subtle — she's running for reelection against Republican Mike Minogue, and energy costs are shaping up to be the defining pocketbook issue of the race. "Unless a community says yes to a data center, we're saying no," Healey said at Tuesday's press conference, which is the kind of line that plays well on a lawn sign and also happens to reflect genuine, bipartisan local anger from Devens to the South Shore about facilities that promise little in local jobs while demanding huge amounts of power and water.

What happens next: developers now have to actually win over local officials and residents before the state will even look at their paperwork, which could slow the pipeline of proposed projects considerably. Expect the tech industry and its lobbyists to push back hard, and watch whether legislators try to codify (or undercut) this executive order once the Legislature returns to session. Full story at Boston Globe →

Recount begins in the Brownsberger-Lander state Senate race. Longtime Senator William Brownsberger holds a razor-thin 34-vote edge over challenger Daniel Lander, the Mayor Wu-backed political newcomer, in a Suffolk-Middlesex district race that's become a referendum on Wu's clout outside City Hall. Election officials start the official recount today. Boston Globe →

Springfield schools stay closed after a "severe" cyberattack. Mayor Dominic Sarno says the district is dealing with a "level 4" incident that's knocked out access to student health records, transportation data, and email. Schools were shut Tuesday and Wednesday, with officials warning they may stay closed longer while the district works to contain the breach. WBUR →

Healey won't say Tompkins should get his old job back. Asked about Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins' plans to return to work following his acquittal on federal extortion charges, the governor stopped well short of an endorsement, telling WBUR he "needs to think about what's in the best interest of constituents." Tompkins stepped away at Healey's request over a year ago. WBUR →

Lindsay Clancy's lawyer wants the case tossed — permanently. After last week's mistrial in the Duxbury murder case (jurors split 11-1), defense attorney Kevin Reddington says he'll file a double jeopardy motion on Sept. 29, arguing there wasn't sufficient "manifest necessity" to declare a mistrial in the first place. WBZ / CBS Boston →

Old South Boston bank gets new life as a courthouse. The Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved Cedarwood Development's plan to convert the 1948 South Boston Savings Bank building at 460 West Broadway into the new home for South Boston District Court, complete with a two-story rear addition and bike parking. Universal Hub →

Minogue says his $2 billion campaign filing was a joke. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue is walking back the eye-popping spending figure his campaign disclosed in required public-financing paperwork, calling it sarcasm aimed at drawing attention to a lawsuit over a Springfield courthouse project. His finance chair says "sarcasm requires a fact sheet" now, apparently. Boston.com →

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