Stories

A Triple-Decker For The 21st Century: Airtight And Solar-Powered

March 12, 2021

Standing in front of her three-level house in Somerville, Lena Sheehan looks down at the construction of a new high school and transportation hub just a block away. “I can’t get over it, I haven’t been here in so long,” she says. “This is the new T — isn’t that brilliant, right beside the house.”…

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For English Language Learners, School Ties Are Key To Overcoming Pandemic Challenges

March 10, 2021

On Tuesday, the Manchester, New Hampshire School District announced tentative plans to expand in-person classes from two days a week to four, starting in May. And at Manchester West High School in Manchester, that experiment is well underway. For over a month, staff there have been encouraging students who are learning English as a second…

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‘Damn, I Have No Money’: Musician Sonni Mai On A Year Without Her Music

March 10, 2021

Chelsea-based singer Sonni Mai remembers her last real gig before the COVID-19 pandemic lock down in February of last year. “It was at Capone’s in Peabody,” she recalls in detail. “It was not as busy as it usually is — it was pretty dead. You know, sometimes we would get tips and stuff, but that…

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Each Day, Vaccine Workers Solve Tricky Math To Keep Doses From Going To Waste

March 9, 2021

On the edge of the Reggie Lewis Center’s indoor track turned mass vaccination site, Emily Rice barely seems to notice the hundreds of people getting inoculated in front of her. Instead, she’s focused entirely on the tiny vial between her fingertips. In her other hand, she eases the plunger back on a syringe, drawing 0.3…

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‘You Just Can’t Give Up’: Surviving COVID-19 With Down Syndrome

March 9, 2021

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of medical problems that increase risk from the coronavirus includes common conditions like cancer, heart disease and obesity  — plus a recent addition you might not guess: Down syndrome. People with Down syndrome are prone to serious illness — or even death — if they contract COVID-19. “I said, ‘Why…

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Children Volunteer To Test The Safety Of The COVID Vaccine

March 8, 2021

Protecting children from COVID and getting to herd immunity will depend on children getting vaccinated. But the existing vaccines aren’t designed for most kids. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines can only be given to those 18 and older, and Pfizer’s vaccine can only be given to people ages 16 and older. That’s why volunteers…

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Mapping Project Explores Links Between Historic Redlining And Future Climate Vulnerability

March 5, 2021

The rain started just before Mother’s Day, in 2006. It fell for days over the Merrimack Valley, causing the worst flooding in decades. Water reached to rooftops. Pipes burst in Haverhill, pouring millions of gallons of sewage into the rising Merrimack River. Streets flooded, highways closed, thousands of people evacuated their homes. Andy Vargas was…

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Vaccine Inequities: Hundreds Of People From Across Rhode Island Sign Up For COVID-19 Shots Meant For Residents In Hard-Hit Neighborhoods

March 3, 2021

Inside a storefront health clinic in a Price Rite shopping plaza in Providence, the regulars are mostly immigrants who speak Spanish, Portuguese and Creole. They work cleaning offices, washing cars and fileting fish in grocery stores. And nearly one in four of the patients last month tested positive for the coronavirus, said Dr. Annie De…

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Amid Climate Change Threats, Cape Planners Ask: Is It Time To Retreat From The Coast?

March 3, 2021

Catastrophic damage from climate change threatens coastal homes all over the Cape, and Islands, prompting regional planners to eye managed coastal retreat options Whenever a beachfront home goes on the market in Sandwich, it’s going to draw dozens of prospective buyers. “So this is all private beach, which people just love. They want their privacy.…

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Road Salt Is A Problem For Rivers. Adding Water May Be A Solution

March 2, 2021

A three-story-tall gate creaks open, and reveals a warehouse filled to the brim with brown crystals. It’s a mountain of rock salt. “We filled this shed this past week,” says T.J. Shea, Cambridge’s superintendent of streets. Shea is what some might call a “snow fighter.” It’s his job to keep roads dry all winter using this…

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