Stories
As New Hampshire lawmakers prepare to consider bills aimed at banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth, local medical providers and mental health professionals are pushing back — saying the proposed legislation is not based in science and would be damaging to vulnerable young people. New Hampshire-based providers said access to medical care that affirms their…
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CT had its own witch hysteria years before Salem. Lawmakers still hope to exonerate those persecuted
Between 1647 and 1697, at least 34 people in Connecticut, mostly women, were accused or convicted of being a witch. Eleven of them were executed. Now some state lawmakers are hoping to redress this dark, early chapter in Connecticut’s History. The proposed House Joint Resolution would exonerate Connecticut citizens convicted of witchcraft and executed, as well as…
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Immigration rights advocates and lawmakers are questioning whether Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated any laws when he unexpectedly flew nearly 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard this week, catching many local officials by surprise. Advocacy groups say there are several potential legal issues with the transfer. First, some advocates say the South American immigrants were deceived…
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Outside St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown on Thursday, several young Venezuelans kicked around soccer balls, smoked cigarettes and interacted with hundreds of Martha’s Vineyard islanders who came out to donate money and supplies, and show their solidarity. Nearly 50 Venezuelans were flown to the island from Texas under what they said was a false pretense. Florida…
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About 50 migrants, most from Venezuela, including children, arrived by chartered plane on Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday afternoon. Surprised island officials scrambled to care for them. The migrants’ arrival on the island is apparently part of a larger tactic by Republican-led states to transport immigrants to so-called liberal states as a protest over the Biden administration’s…
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New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner, who earned a national reputation as gatekeeper of the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary, announced Monday that he will retire in the coming days. Gardner has held the office since December 1976, when he was elected at the age of 28. He’s the longest-serving secretary of state in the…
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Deqa Dhalac was sworn in Monday as the new mayor of South Portland, Maine, making her one of the first Somali-American mayors in the country. Dhalac was first elected to the South Portland City Council three years ago, but has long worked in community-building roles: as an activist, social worker, and currently, as the family…
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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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Boston Mayor-elect Michelle Wu is making history on several fronts. She is the first woman and first person of color elected to lead the city. But at 36, she is also about to become Boston’s first millennial mayor. Wu’s relative youth comes with opportunities and challenges. “There’s always a few people that say the wrong thing or…
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