Stories
Coronavirus Shut Down Her Business In The Spring. Now She Dances In A T. Rex Costume
What would you do if your business plummeted in the middle of a pandemic? This is a very real scenario for a number of Vermonters, and when it happened to Burlington resident Jenny Rooke, she decided to dance — in an inflatable T. rex costume. Jenny Rooke co-owns Rookie’s Root Beer with her husband, Dave.…
Read MoreEarly Indications Suggest Far Fewer Rural Maine Students Looking To Attend College
Between remote and hybrid classes, the pandemic has drastically altered education for high schoolers this fall and left many students and parents frustrated and dissatisfied. And those feelings could be having a major impact on how many students — particularly those from rural Maine — may choose to go on to college. As the school…
Read MoreEarly in the pandemic, Xiomy De la Cruz was working at a fast food restaurant, but her work hours were cut back. She is a Peruvian refugee single mother with two children and another on the way. Like many families, she found herself in various pantry lines to make ends meet. “So I said to…
Read MoreHow One Student Juggles Work, College And A Pandemic
For a few days each week, Josh Knight goes to class on the subway. He has to: he’s on his way to work at the Charlestown YMCA. But he’s also a first-year student in the honors program at Framingham State University. It means that even as he boards an Orange Line car bound for North…
Read More‘Our Workload Is Doubled’ — Maine Teachers Are Exhausted Balancing Remote And In-Person Classes
When public schools in Maine opened this fall, many gave students options for remote learning or hybrid classes, which mix both virtual and in-person instruction. But that’s been a challenge for many teachers, who say meeting the demands of this new system has left them exhausted after only a month of classes. At Deer Isle-Stonington…
Read MoreFor most people, buying a home is not an easy thing to do. But Jennifer Brogan didn’t think it would be this hard. “I was hoping it would be like those HGTV episodes where you see like three houses and you get to pick the one you like the best, but that did not happen,”…
Read MoreWhen Marvin Moreno lost his job at a fish processing plant last spring, he knew he’d have to scramble to pay rent on the East Boston apartment he shared with his wife. He should have been OK for a while. That’s because a statewide ban on evictions was in place, to protect tenants like Moreno…
Read MoreBlack Business Owner In Hartford Seeks Change For Community
Howard K. Hill wants to bring the economic, social and cultural vibrancy back to Hartford’s Barbour Street. On a hot summer day, the funeral home owner may have been the only person dressed in a full suit strolling down a street peppered with closed businesses, dilapidated housing and streets in need of a serious cleanup.…
Read MoreAs More Four-Year Colleges Flip Online, Some Students Take A Second Look At Community Colleges
Sara Maria, the daughter of a school custodian in Ludlow, Massachusetts, didn’t receive as much financial as she needed last spring from her dream school, Syracuse University. “I was actually looking at it since my freshman year of high school,” Maria, 18, said. “I want to go into marketing and business management and communications, and…
Read MoreChange, Or Checking The Box? Massachusetts Companies Are On A Diversity Exec Hiring Spree
Just take a look at LinkedIn, and you’ll see plenty of job listings with titles like these: Diversity and Inclusion Manager; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager; Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Program Manager; Head of Belonging; Vice President, Inclusion and Diversity; Chief Diversity Officer. A growing list of local companies — and many across the country —…
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