Stories

Black Business Owner In Hartford Seeks Change For Community

September 8, 2020

Howard K. Hill wants to bring the economic, social and cultural vibrancy back to Hartford’s Barbour Street. On a hot summer day, the funeral home owner may have been the only person dressed in a full suit strolling down a street peppered with closed businesses, dilapidated housing and streets in need of a serious cleanup.…

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Machine Gun Range Proposal Has Environmentalists Up in Arms

September 3, 2020

On a tree-lined street in south Sandwich, everything is quiet. Sprinklers, birds, and the occasional landscaping truck are all that make a noise. But when physician and retired Air Force colonel Jane Ward walks through the neighborhood, she hears the quiet before the storm. “We’re pretty close to Camp Edwards or Joint Base Cape Cod,”…

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New Hampshire’s Private Schools See Uptick In Interest During Pandemic

August 31, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is creating major problems in public schools in New Hampshire. But the picture for private schools is different. Most independent schools are reopening in person, and as NHPR’s Sarah Gibson reports, interest in At Building Block Commons, a private school in Exeter, farm animals are a major part of the morning routine.…

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In Newmarket, Calls To Put Up Statue Of Black Revolutionary War Hero

August 21, 2020

With statues coming down around the country in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, NHPR’s Sean Hurley recently heard about one town in New Hampshire that is considering putting one up. Health care reporter Brian Ward is Black and 28 and lives in Newmarket. He says he’s never seen a statue honoring a…

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As More Four-Year Colleges Flip Online, Some Students Take A Second Look At Community Colleges

August 19, 2020

Sara Maria, the daughter of a school custodian in Ludlow, Massachusetts, didn’t receive as much financial as she needed last spring from her dream school, Syracuse University. “I was actually looking at it since my freshman year of high school,” Maria, 18, said. “I want to go into marketing and business management and communications, and…

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Change, Or Checking The Box? Massachusetts Companies Are On A Diversity Exec Hiring Spree

August 17, 2020

Just take a look at LinkedIn, and you’ll see plenty of job listings with titles like these: Diversity and Inclusion Manager; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager; Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Program Manager; Head of Belonging; Vice President, Inclusion and Diversity; Chief Diversity Officer. A growing list of local companies — and many across the country —…

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A First Day Of School Like No Other — Some Schools In Northern Maine Resume Classes

August 16, 2020

While most schools in Maine are still putting the finishing touches on reopening plans for September, a few communities in northern Maine that have to schedule a break for the potato harvest have already reopened this week. As part of Maine Public’s series, Deep Dive: Coronavirus, Robbie Feinberg visited one of those districts in Aroostook…

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Fishermen And Scientists Join Forces To Track Effects Of Climate Change

August 14, 2020

Last October, lobstermen fishing off the coast of southern New England noticed the lobsters getting more active. That’s fairly common, says Mark Sweitzer, a commercial fisherman out of Port Judith, Rhode Island. “It’s not unusual for there to be a big pop of lobster in September or October,” says Sweitzer. “Fall’s our best fishing.” But…

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Industry Heavyweights To Invest In UMaine Offshore Wind Project Near Monhegan Island

August 7, 2020

The University of Maine’s effort to pioneer floating offshore wind technology took a $100 million leap forward Wednesday with the announcement that two industry heavyweights are going to invest in development of the project near Monhegan Island. A subsidiary of the Mitsubishi company, called Diamond Offshore Wind, is joining with RWE Renewables to invest the…

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Sisters Challenge Culture Of Silence About Racism In Their Massachusetts Hometown

August 5, 2020

Caroline and Emily Joyner say they’re not activists or experts on combating systemic racism. But they do know what it’s like to grow up Black in a place like Southborough — a town 20 miles west of Boston that’s more than 80% white and less than 2% Black, according to recent U.S. census estimates. “I…

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