Stories
Officials in West Springfield, Massachusetts, will explore whether cryptocurrencies like bitcoin should become part of how the municipality conducts business. West Springfield’s new Cryptocurrency Exploratory Committee will look at the possibility of residents paying municipal bills with cryptocurrencies. Mayor Will Reichelt said the panel will also look at whether the town should invest in the…
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Holly Gochis, a 54-year-old hospital nurse, contracted her second case of COVID last November and is still sick. “I can’t even go down one flight of stairs without my heart rate going to 150 and myself becoming short of breath. And that’s today,” says Gochis. “It’s been a year.” A year of migraines, chest and…
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Energy is essential to our lives. It keeps us warm, powers the ventilators in our hospitals, runs the machines that package our food and helps us see through the darkness of a winter night. But our energy system carries costs — costs that are driving climate change. The energy system is complicated. And as we…
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As a military coup unfolds in Sudan, some Sudanese immigrants in Maine said they are concerned about the safety of their loved ones, and about the future of democracy in their home country. Some are calling for greater diplomatic intervention – while others take a measure of hope in the pro-democracy movement in Sudan. Sudan’s…
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Gustavo Quiñe, un peruano que vive en Derry, celebró su primer Thanksgiving en el 2016, justo después de mudarse desde Lima junto a su esposa Aurelia. Él cuenta que se quedó encantado con la mesa, especialmente, con el pie de pecanas. Pero, pensó que a la comida le faltaba sabor de casa y no se…
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In an office at Burlington High School, just off Lake Champlain in northern Vermont, Chacha Ngunga made a phone call. “Jambo jambo,” he said, greeting a student’s father in their shared language, Swahili. Ngunga is a multilingual liaison — one of 12 employed by the Burlington district. A few feet away, Noor Bulle, another liaison,…
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A federal appeals court is reinstating restrictions on fishing gear in a nearly 1,000-square-mile swathe of ocean off Maine’s coast. It’s a blow to Maine’s lobstermen and a victory for advocates for the endangered North Atlantic right whale. In October, in an effort to protect the roughly 340 right whales remaining on the planet from…
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New research on the combined threat of rising sea levels and extreme weather focuses on coastal areas in New England. By simulating hazards like flooding with computer models, the researchers say their findings could help prepare communities that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. “We’re particularly interested in looking at close to the…
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Marshes have been called the “kidneys of the landscape” because they clean pollutants from water. They also protect communities against storm surges and erosion, and are better than forests at capturing carbon, so are considered critical in the fight against climate change. But when they’re under stress, they degrade, and actually release carbon into the…
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The political scene in Vermont got a whole lot livelier on Monday after Sen. Patrick Leahy announced he won’t seek a ninth term in the U.S. Senate. Leahy’s decision could have ripple effects up and down the ballot next year, and his retirement represents the beginning of a generational transition in Vermont politics. Conor Casey,…
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