Stories
When New Hampshire reopens parts of its economy in the next couple of weeks, the public beaches on the Seacoast will stay closed. It’s sparked debate in seaside towns like Rye over what restrictions are warranted. Last Sunday, on the first warm weekend of spring, the coastal Route 1A or Ocean Boulevard in Rye looked…
Read MoreMany Hospitals Now Sanitize And Reuse Masks. Workers And Researchers Have Safety Questions
They’ve been stolen, confiscated by federal agents, and flown in secretly from China. N95 masks are in such short supply amid the coronavirus outbreak that hospitals are now sanitizing and reusing face coverings they once tossed in the trash after a single use. But how many times can a mask be cleaned and reused —…
Read MoreA massive data-gathering operation at border crossings across Vermont hasn’t shown a major influx in the number of visitors from states with COVID-19 “hotspots,” according to the Scott administration. Scores of employees at the Agency of Transportation have been manually logging license-plate data at as many as 43 border checkpoints since April 1. Rebecca Kelley,…
Read MoreThe Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association officially shut down any hope of high school sports happening in the state this spring when its board of directors made the announcement a week ago that there would be no spring sports or tournaments. That decision didn’t come as a shock for many. What really stung was Gov. Charlie…
Read MoreCiting the risks posed by the coronavirus, the Scott administration has joined with waste haulers around Vermont to press for flexibility with the state’s recycling laws. In normal, pre-COVID times, recycling was something most of us took for granted. We separated our trash, and took it to the curb or transfer station. But studies have…
Read MoreVermont Is Trying To Shrink Its Prison Population, But 350 Inmates Are Locked Up Past Their Minimums
Prisons are like cruise ships or nursing homes: they are among the riskiest places to be during this pandemic. Today, about 350 Vermont inmates are past their minimum sentences and could be released. And while Vermont prison officials frequently mention that the department has reduced its population by nearly 300 people in response to the…
Read MoreSenior Living Facilities Are Coronavirus Hotspots. Now, Families Wonder If They Should Bring Loved Ones Home
In March, not long after Bill Passman’s parents moved into an assisted living residence in Maryland, his 94-year-old father developed a cough. At first the family didn’t think much of it, even though fears about the coronavirus had recently sent the facility into lockdown. Bill was more concerned about helping his parents figure out how…
Read MoreSaliva Test Could Help Many Return to Work
Governors in the Northeast say they need more COVID-19 diagnostic tests before people can return to work safely. Researchers at Yale are the latest to study a saliva test they say is easier to administer and more reliable than standard nasal swabs. Health care workers wear head-to-toe protection to test someone for COVID-19. They have…
Read MoreWhen The Springfield Renaissance School closed its physical doors to students in March, staff had to work fast to find a way to connect with kids and attempt to continue the academic material they were working on. For the first two weeks, teachers experimented with Facebook posts and robocalling families with assignments, which principal Arria Coburn…
Read MoreMaine Artists Worry About The Future Of Public Installations As Pandemic Threatens Funding
The artist duo of Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen have worked on public art together for the last 15 years. Most recently, they won a million-dollar public art commission for the new Washington Convention Center in Seattle. Kavanaugh told Maine Public Radio about the realities of collaborating during a pandemic while maintaining appropriate social…
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