Stories
As Maine schools enter their third pandemic-affected year, they have a new tool that officials are hoping will lead to fewer interruptions. It’s called “pooled testing” and is designed to identify COVID-19 cases early, and keep more students in the classroom. But in some districts, a shortage of labor and supplies has already challenged…
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Leon Amaya normally gets up early to plan. Over the summer, he usually wrote in his journal in a restored mill in Nashua. The space is part of Step Up, Step Down, a new program for people in a mental health crisis. The program has three furnished bedrooms, brightly colored walls and communal couches. But…
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COVID-19 has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated, who are driving up case numbers and landing in hospitals. In Maine, vaccination rates vary widely from county to county. Cumberland has the highest at 74%. The lowest rate is in Somerset County, where a little more than 50% have received a final dose. Efforts to boost…
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Primary care has been under stress for years. It’s a medical field with high demands and relatively low incomes, at least among doctors. When COVID-19 arrived, those practices took a huge hit. Despite measures to make up for lost revenue, many are still struggling. On a recent morning, Amy Jewitt of Hadley, Massachusetts, brought her…
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As the new school year begins and students head back to the classroom, some immunocompromised families feel left behind. That’s because many districts across Connecticut aren’t offering a remote learning option, and for many families, returning to the classroom is like choosing between their education and their health. Ten-year-old Lane Mayville is used to tearing…
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Part of the exciting promise of modified mRNA technology that built Moderna and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines was an assurance against variants that might one day evade the vaccines’ protection. If any troublesome mutations arose, researchers said, manufacturers would be able to reprogram the string of genetic code inside the vaccines to counter that. Manufacturers have…
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Karen Gillis’ son Danny was killed by Pittsfield police in 2017. Investigators say Danny had a knife and provoked police into shooting him — a phenomenon known as suicide by cop. Gillis said Danny was drunk that day and had struggled with mental health problems for years. But she thinks her son might still be…
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The Manchester-based band Happy Just To See You has been practicing in person since May, when they were all finally able to get vaccinated for COVID-19. But since two band members recovered from COVID in the past year, they’re staying responsible and cautious, though as their name suggests, they’re happily reunited. The musicians, including frontman…
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Residents and business owners have been complaining about syringes littering the streets of some Boston neighborhoods for years. Perhaps nowhere more so than the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard in Boston — often called “Mass/Cass.” But a new program to clean up the needles appears to be making a difference. The program, known…
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