Stories
In the bedroom community of Wilmington, Mass., just south of Lowell, sits a little white house, with paint peeling from the trim and a mailbox emblazoned with the American flag at the end of the driveway. Homeowners Edward Kaizer and his wife Mary Tassone-Kaizer say the house has been in the family for generations. But…
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Papy Bangibo is the president of the Congolese Community of Maine. But when he steps onto the mat at Fournier’s Leadership Karate Center in Westbrook, he goes by a different title — sensei. Bongibo is a third-degree black belt in judo, the Japanese martial art with a name that means “the gentle way.” Rather than…
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Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series about trash incineration in Massachusetts. Part 1 looks at the perspectives of the communities housing incinerators. The roads heading to the incinerator in Haverhill, Mass., can at times look like a parade in honor of trash. Dump trucks rumble in carrying garbage bags from 24 cities and…
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I am standing in my water shoes, in the snow, behind the St. John’s Club in Burlington, Vt. I’m here with Gisela Veve. Gisela is 50. She’s lived in South Burlington for three decades, and before that, she grew up in Puerto Rico. Getting used to Vermont’s cold, dark winters took some adjustment, she says,…
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New Hampshire legislators are considering a bill that would prohibit the Department of Environmental Services from issuing new permits for landfills until they revise the state’s solid waste plan. Controversial landfill expansions, lack of leadership The state’s solid waste plan is supposed to be updated every six years, but the most recent plan is from 2003. Rep. Linda…
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Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories about the state of trash incinerators in Massachusetts. The first thing you notice in the warehouse at the Haverhill incinerator is the giant mechanical claw. It moves across the ceiling and drops into the second thing you notice: a pit of trash, 30 feet deep. The…
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Fans of Athens Pizza in Brimfield, Mass., learned the restaurant’s beloved owner was sick via Facebook. “The pizza will be closed for the rest of the week,” reads the post from Nov. 30, 2021. “Unfortunately we have been exposed to Covid.” Get well wishes poured in, but Athens Pizza will not reopen. Tony Tsantinis, 68,…
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After a 23-year-old was killed Sunday by a police officer in Springfield, Massachusetts, family members and activists are demanding better training for how officers deal with people with mental health crises. Earlene Victoria Taylor said her grandson, Orlando Taylor, had been struggling with paranoia and other mental health problems for years. She said he’d been…
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Every morning before school, Lauren O’Malley-Singh’s heart races as she straps on an N95 mask. “I feel like I’m drowning,” said O’Malley-Singh, a nurse at Brighton High School in Boston. She’s drowning in coronavirus tests. She gives upwards of 40 rapid tests a day, isolating the students who test positive, calling their parents and finding…
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Since late December, a rare, wayward eagle native to Russia and Japan has taken up residence along Maine’s Midcoast near Boothbay Harbor. The Steller’s sea eagle is one of the largest raptors in the world, weighing up to 20 pounds with an eight-foot wingspan. There are only about 4,000 of them left, and the chance…
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