Stories

Flower pots and landscaping stones mark the international border between Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vt. Inside the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, the border is marked by a line on the floor. Photo by Amy Kolb Noyes for VPR

Stage Set For Drama (And Musical Comedy) On The International Border

July 26, 2018

Next month a new theater troupe, the Borderline Players, will put on its first summer musical. You can see the show in the U.S. or Canada — depending on where in the theater you sit.

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Hurricane Maria destroyed Ramón Luis Morales's roof, but he hasn't been able to finish rebuilding because he's still waiting on supplies. In the meantime, he's helping another man in need fix his house. Photo by Ryan Caron King for Connecticut Public Radio

Waiting For Supplies For His Home, One Puerto Rican Rebuilds Another Man’s House Instead

July 23, 2018

You only have to ask Ramón Luis Morales once to know that the trauma of Hurricane Maria is still fresh.

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Plum Island. Photo by Robin Lubbock for WBUR

Plum Island Residents Weigh ‘Green’ Or ‘Gray’ Infrastructure In Struggle Against Erosion

June 28, 2018

On the northern tip of an island surrounded by river, marsh and sea, a few dozen volunteers sink shovels into a mound of sand, digging 10,000 holes to plant 20,000 stalks of beach grass.

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Jim Wilson and Steven Strong. Photo by Fred Bever for Maine Public

A Microgrid System On Isle au Haut Could One Day Be A Model For The Entire Nation

June 26, 2018

Now, tiny Isle au Haut is the laboratory with a big solution: islanders and engineers are using artificial intelligence, complex algorithms and a bootstrapping attitude in an urgent effort to design what they are calling the next, next electricity grid.

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The Springfield Water and Sewer Commission and Bondi's Island, across the Connecticut River from the Union Street combined sewer overflow or CSO. Photo by Jill Kaufman for NEPR

‘Welter Of Jurisdictions’ Complicate Efforts To Clean Up Connecticut River

June 25, 2018

A very old sewer system is still in use at about 800 wastewater treatment plants in the U.S., including along the Connecticut River. It’s called “combined sewer overflow,” or CSO. What overflows into waterways is a mix of storm water, street runoff and raw sewage.

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The porch of a cottage in the first row of houses along Roy Carpenter's Beach. This is one of the cottages that will be moved to the back in the next 2 years. Photo by Avory Brookins for RIPR

South County Beach Community In Rhode Island Continues To Retreat As Ocean Creeps Inland

June 19, 2018

The cottages in these rows are in a prime oceanfront location, but they won’t be here for long. Within the next two years, they will be moved about a quarter mile inland, because the ocean is creeping in closer and closer every year.

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CTrail's new Hartford Line, which will carry passengers between New Haven and Springfield, will begin service on June 16. Photo by CTRail

Hartford Rail Line Revives ‘Gateway To New England’

June 13, 2018

This week the new Hartford Line commuter rail will link Springfield, Massachusetts, to New Haven, Connecticut, and cities in between. For less than $16, commuters can catch more than 12 trains each day and travel speeds up to 110 miles an hour.

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This map shows Eversource's combined service area with Aquarion. The energy company now wants to buy Connecticut Water, in a move it says would complement its Aquarion merger. Photo Credit Eversource/Business Wire

Why Is Energy Giant Eversource Wading Into The Water Business?

June 13, 2018

Eversource is currently trying to buy its second water company in the past year. The region’s biggest electric utility hopes to provide water service to hundreds of thousands of customers across four New England states.

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Greg Caruso, ferryman for the Appalachian Trail. In season, he takes through-hikers across the Kennebec River, a few miles downstream from where CMP wants to build a major transmission line. He opposes the plan – even with CMP’s offer to donate land and money in compensation. Photo by Fred Bever for Maine Public

Central Maine Power Strikes $22M Deal On Transmission Project That Could Cross Kennebec River Gorge

June 6, 2018

Central Maine Power (CMP) and a group of stakeholders in the western region of Maine, where the company wants to build a major new transmission line, have struck a mitigation deal worth up to $22 million.

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Future housing at the Frank Jones Brew Yard in Portsmouth. Photo by Robert Garrova for NHPR

Housing in Converted Industrial Buildings Appeals to N.H. Millennials and Retirees Alike

June 4, 2018

In New Hampshire’s increasingly tight rental market, one area where there’s new development is conversion of industrial buildings. It’s a niche market, but one that’s attracting multiple generations of residents.

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