Stories
Burundians and Rwandans find friends – and friendly competition – at community soccer match in Maine
Barely fifteen minutes into a recent soccer match between the Burundian and Rwandan communities in Portland, Evrard Ngabirano already had a lot of celebrate. “We got a second goal on our side, the Burundian team,” Ngabirano said with a big smile. While the event was billed as a friendly matchup, the game itself was competitive.…
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Educators across Maine expected an adjustment when students returned to school full time this year, with unfamiliar routines and the enduring pandemic. But now, they’re grappling with a rise in behavior challenges, which come as studies show depression and anxiety have doubled for children and teens since before the pandemic. This week, three leading pediatric health organizations warned that…
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What do Maine and Syria have in common? Neither is an especially easy place to launch a career in hip hop. But that is exactly what one Syrian-born rapper has done, through a winding journey that began on the streets of Aleppo and led, last week, to an album release concert in Portland. In the…
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President Biden is re-imposing fishing limits in a vast undersea mountain range that conservationists say plays a vital role in the health of North Atlantic ecosystems and fisheries. That reverses efforts by former President Trump to roll back protections there and in two other national monuments in Utah. President Obama established the Northeast Canyons and…
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Biologists say that puffin chicks that hatched on several of Maine’s offshore islands this year struggled with storms, predation and food shortages, and most were unlikely to survive. After near-extirpation from the U.S. during the 1800s, Maine’s puffin population is the only one that’s been re-established in the continental U.S. Linda Welch, a wildlife biologist…
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As Maine schools enter their third pandemic-affected year, they have a new tool that officials are hoping will lead to fewer interruptions. It’s called “pooled testing” and is designed to identify COVID-19 cases early, and keep more students in the classroom. But in some districts, a shortage of labor and supplies has already challenged…
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COVID-19 has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated, who are driving up case numbers and landing in hospitals. In Maine, vaccination rates vary widely from county to county. Cumberland has the highest at 74%. The lowest rate is in Somerset County, where a little more than 50% have received a final dose. Efforts to boost…
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Federal regulators issued new rules Tuesday for lobster and other trap-pot fisheries that aim to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from harmful entanglements with fishing gear. The lobster industry and its political allies in Maine are condemning the decision, but conservationists say it doesn’t do enough to protect the whales. Among several significant measures,…
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Federal officials have issued new regulations for the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries that are designed to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglements in gear. But conservationists say the long-awaited rules don’t go far enough to save the critically endangered species. The new regulations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) require lobstermen to add more traps…
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On the final episode of NEXT, Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola talks about the evolution of her poetry, and how she uses futurism to reimagine history. Plus, protesters reflect on what has changed — or not — in the year since George Floyd’s murder. We also speak with band members of Lake Street Dive about their latest album, “Obviously.” And finally, to mark the end of NEXT, Executive Editor Vanessa de la Torre joins us to explain what’s ahead for the New England News Collaborative.
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