New England News Collaborative

Episode 17: Out at Sea

Andrea Muraskin — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 21:17:03 +0000

A report in Massachusetts found cases of serious abuse and neglect at a private special education school, illuminating a larger problem. Also this hour, we head to Block Island, Rhode Island, where the nation’s first offshore wind farm is about to get spinning. And on Soundcloud: from Brady to Big Papi to Bentley, Only A Game‘s Bill Littlefield gives us his take on New England Sports culture.

What’s Wrong With Special Ed?

Marie walks with her 13-year-old son, who has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum, as he rides his bike through their Norfolk neighborhood during the first weeks of summer vacation. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

A recent report from the Boston-based Disability Law Center found widespread abuse and neglect at a private special education school in Middleborough, a town in the southeast corner of Massachusetts. The report detailed verbal and emotional abuse by staff, inadequate supervision resulting in runaway students, medication errors, and more.

An administrative building on the Chamberlain School’s Middleborough campus. (Shannon Dooling/WBUR)

There are worries that the problems seen at Chamberlain International School might be more widespread. WBUR and the investigative journalism unit “The Eye” investigated private special education schools that serve some of the most vulnerable students in Massachusetts.

For parents, figuring out which of these schools is the right fit for their child can be a complicated maze, even as the demand for special education grows. We’re joined by WBUR reporter Shannon Dooling.

The Sea Breeze Is More Than Refreshing

Turbines at the country’s first offshore wind farm, located about fifteen miles from the coast of Rhode Island, are set to begin turning after operators Deep Water Wind get the final sign-off from regulators, expected before the end of the year. The five turbines are expected to provide most of the power for Block Island, a tourist destination and home to about 1,000 people. The Block Island Wind Farm is tiny by global standards, but it’s the culmination of many years of negotiations between wind power companies, governments, and advocacy groups.

Greg Cunningham, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, says the project represents just a taste of what’s possible for wind power generation in New England coastal waters.

U.S. Department of Energy estimates of wind resource potential (Credit: NREL)

One of the concerns about offshore wind has been the impact on the environment. Not just birds, but also fish that swim nearby. A small crew of fishermen has been working with scientists to gather data and learn how fishing will or won’t change around the Block Island turbines. Rhode Island Public Radio’s Ambar Espinoza reports.

Root for the Home Team

Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, nicknamed “Big Papi,” bids goodbye to fans after losing to the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park in October. The game marked Ortiz’s retirement. (Credit: Charles Krupa/AP)

As a region, New England is held together by history and tradition, geography and politics. But what about sports?

There are, of course, the Patriots — the only NFL team to use a region to define its territory. They’re a powerhouse, off to another great start, despite their star Tom Brady missing games at the beginning of the season due to the “deflategate” controversy. They’ve only really held a grip on New England since the 1990s, and they’re as likely to be loathed outside of our region as loved within it.

Then there’s Red Sox Nation, a fan base with a deep-seated love of the baseball team from Boston that stretches from Maine, across to Vermont, and south to (most of) Connecticut.

We wanted to find out more about the sporting culture of New England, and the role that sports can play in helping to define us…so we turned to Bill Littlefield, the longtime host of Only a Game – a weekly NPR show about sports that’s produced at WBUR in Boston.

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Shannon Dooling, Ambar Espinoza and Bill Littlefield
Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon, “Family and Genus” by Shaky Graves, “Sweet Caroline” by the O’Neill Brothers, “Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and photos of your Thanksgiving dinner to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 16: Life’s Rich Demand

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 19:28:08 +0000

We have more choices for our Thanksgiving meal than the Pilgrims could have dreamed of. But did we make the right choice when we decided to breed traits like herbicide resistance into some of our most common crops? And should we have the right to know when we’re buying foods made with genetic engineering? We hear from both sides of the GMO debate.

Later, we visit an innovative policing program that changes the relationship between police and people with opioid addiction. Plus, a reporter interviews one (in)famous pilgrim, and a tribe welcomes visitors to a new cultural district on Martha’s Vineyard.

Sweet corn that you buy at the farm stand or supermarket in the summer is not genetically modified. But genetically engineered corn is used as an additive in processed foods and included in livestock feed. (Credit: United Soybean Board)

Engineered

Writer Caitlin Shetterly suffered for years with a series of puzzling symptoms: constant colds, tingling and numbness, rashes, and all-over pain and weakness. She tried every treatment she could find, with no relief. That’s until an allergist recommended she tried eliminating GMO corn from her diet.

She managed to do so, and her health improved.

That’s what set Shetterly off on a journey — interviewing farmers, scientists, and activists — that led to her recent book, Modified: GMOs and the Threat to Our Food, Our Land, Our Future.

It’s difficult for consumers to make informed decisions on the safety of GMOs, because most of the research is either carried out by or funded by companies like Monsanto, which manufacture the modified seeds, says Shetterly.

A report published this May from the National Academies of Sciences found GMO foods to be safe. However, the report recommended testing GMO crops for residue from glyphosate, the main ingredient in the herbicide Roundup (which is routinely sprayed on GMO crops, since they are bred to be immune to the weedkiller).

The WHO’s cancer agency last year classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic.” This year, though, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and a different WHO body declared glyphosate “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans” through our food.

Campbell’s says it wants to be transparent about the GMO ingredients used in its foods, regardless of legal requirements. (Credit: Kathleen Masterson/ VPR)

With all of this confusing information, you might want to play it safe by avoiding genetically modified ingredients. Vermont, Connecticut, and Maine all have GMO labeling laws on the books. But federal legislation signed by President Barack Obama in July nullified the state laws. And advocates complain the federal law does not go far enough.

To break down the politics and economics of the GMO debate, Vermont Public Radio reporter Kathleen Masterson joins us.

Something Totally Different

John Rosenthal, left, co-founded the Police Assisted Addiction Recovery program in Gloucester, Mass. Steve Lesnikoski, right, was his first client. (Credit: Kristin Gourlay/ RIPR)

“You have to be in this absolute desperate state and just devoid of humanity to really change. And that’s where I was. I was dead inside. And I saw this beacon of light all the way across the country, and I was like, why not?”

– Steve Lesnikoski, former heroin user

The opioid addiction crisis in New England has physicians, community care-givers, and addiction treatment professionals scrambling to respond.

Police departments are responding as well. Many have added the overdose rescue drug, Narcan, to their tool belts. Others have stepped up efforts to prosecute heroin dealers.

But in Gloucester, Massachusetts, there’s a program that flips policing on its head to help addicts find treatment. Rhode Island Public Radio’s Kristin Gourlay has the story. Find more of her reporting on RIPR’s health blog, The Pulse.

Legacies

Tourists walk through the Shops at Aquinnah, part of the newly established Aquinnah Cultural District on Martha’s Vineyard. (Credit: Andrea Shea/WBUR)

Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal member Berta Welch is owner of the Stony Creek Gift Shop in Aquinnah, on Martha’s Vineyard. The shop originally opened 75 years ago. (Credit: Andrea Shea/ WBUR)

Even though the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe has lived on Martha’s Vineyard for more than 10,000 years, tourists who flock to the island don’t always know about or get to experience the rich history.

But now people from the tribe and the town of Aquinnah are working together to tell that story — and to boost the local economy — with a new, state-designated cultural district.

WBUR reporter Andrea Shea takes us there. Find a text version of Andrea’s report along with photos at WBUR’s ARTery.

Buddy Tripp, a Myles Standish reenactor at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Mass. “I am afraid of nothing but God,” Tripp tells reporter Annie Sinsabaugh, in character. (Credit: Annie Sinsabaugh/ Transom Story Workshop)

Whether it’s civil war generals depicted in town square statues in the South, or the controversy over Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, Americans are grappling with the complicated history of iconic figures.

The Myles Standish Monument in Duxbury, Mass. (Credit: Scott Christy)

New England is no exception. At Yale University, students have protested a dorm named after John C. Calhoun, a former U.S. Senator, Vice President, and supporter of slavery. In the state of Vermont and the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Columbus Day is now Indigenous People’s Day.

Reporter Annie Sinsabaugh wonders if the same scrutiny should be applied to a man seen as a hero to the pilgrims: Myles Standish. Her story was reported as part of the Transom Story Workshop.

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Kathleen Masterson, Kristin Gourlay, Andrea Shea, Annie Sinsabaugh
Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon, “Mr. Farmer” by the Seeds

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads to next@wnpr.org, and tell us what you’re thankful for.

Episode 15: Election

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 19:24:54 +0000

Reliably “blue” New England turned several shades of red on Election Day, November 8. President-elect Donald Trump picked up an electoral college vote in northern Maine, and essentially tied Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire (the race has been too close to call for days). Republicans won the governors’ races in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Jenny Cheung of Braintree, Mass. was volunteering for Donald Trump in Nashua, New Hampshire and election day. Cheung told reporter Shannon Dooling she was volunteering in New Hampshire because it’s a swing state. (Credit: Shannon Dooling/WBUR)

Republicans also took some hard defeats. New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte lost her seat to Democrat Maggie Hassan. Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts worked hard on two ballot initiatives, neither of which went his way.

Meanwhile, we saw long lines at polling places and very high turnout. We turn to turn to a few of our reporters who covered the issues, and talked to voters.

Later in the show, a dying tree gets a second life in Vermont, and the Delta Blues thrives in Portland, Maine.

The Purple Zone

I felt like some people were gonna call me an idiot if I voted for one person, other people were gonna call me an idiot for voting another person. If I voted third party I was an idiot ’cause I was throwing away my vote. If I didn’t vote at all I was un-American. It was a tough election this year. – Kristen Snyder, Nashua, New Hampshire

We start up north, with the two states making the biggest national headlines and seeing enormous spending on TV ads: New Hampshire and Maine. Fred Bever reports for Maine Public Radio, and Emily Corwin is from New Hampshire Public Radio.

Marijuana legalization advocates at the Yes on One Election Night event in Portland, Maine. (Credit: Rebecca Conley/ Maine Public Radio)

First time voters at the polls in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Credit: Shannon Dooling/ WBUR)

No on 2

Voters in New Haven’s Ward 7 wait outside to cast their ballot on Election Day. (Credit: New Haven Independent)

Election Day in New England was not without hiccups. In New Haven, Connecticut, WSHU reporter Cassandra Basler met voters who had been waiting for hours — in the wrong line. And WBUR’s Shannon Dooling spoke with election monitors who told her ballots cast in the state’s new early voting system caused a holdup on Tuesday.

Massachusetts Ballot Question 2, which would have allowed for 12 new charter schools to open each year, was the most expensive in the state’s history, with about $40 million spent by both sides. Voters in both urban and rural areas rejected the measure, with 62 percent of statewide vote against.

If you haven’t been paying close attention, you might wonder why such a hard battle was fought over charters, in a state with such a strong reputation for public education. For analysis, we turn to Max Larkin, who has been covering the debate over Question 2 for WBUR’s Edify.

Mass. Governor Charlie Baker said he would “feel sick” if voters in suburban areas voted against Question 2 and voters in urban areas voted in favor. The results were quite different. (Credit: WBUR)

Putting Down (and Tearing Up) Roots

An hour into the process of felling a 109-foot slippery elm in Vermont. (Credit: Kathleen Masterson/VPR)

One of the largest remaining elm trees in New England has died. But the wood from the 109-foot-tall slippery elm tree is heading on to a new life — as custom furniture.

A percentage of the sales proceeds will support research to breed elms that are resistant to Dutch elm’s disease. The fungal disease, carried by an invasive insect, killed millions of stately elm trees across the country beginning in the early part of the last century.

Vermont Public Radio’s Kathleen Masterson reports. View more photos from Kathleen’s story.

Samuel James is a musician and storyteller with roots in traditional acoustic blues. But he’s making his mark writing new songs, as well as covering those from the past. James tours nationally and internationally. He was born and raised in Maine, and calls Portland home.

Samuel James is the producer of the web series Kitty Critic, which features Portland-area musicians playing in their fans’ homes… for their fans’ cats. His upcoming album, Already Home Recordings Volume 2 will be released next week.

The profile featured here was produced by Shane Perry at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Emily Corwin, Fred Bever, Cassandra Basler, Shannon Dooling, Max Larkin, Kathleen Masterson, Shane Perry
Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon, Samuel James

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and post-electoral ruminations to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 14: The Trail

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 18:17:06 +0000

With days to go before the election, we put New England’s changing political DNA under the microscope with pollster and University of New Hampshire political scientist Andrew Smith. We also have an update on the roadside outhouse turned voting booth from Episode 11. Plus, renewable energy is best for the planet, but reality here is a little…gassier. And we take a detour from the campaign trail and head for the hills, and mountains.

One of These Things is Not Like the Others

Should New Hampshire’s outsize roll in presidential politics be reconsidered? (Credit: NHPR)

New England is seen as reliably Democratic. Along with New York, it’s part of a big blue blob in the upper right hand corner of those election maps we’ve seen all too much of.

But it wasn’t always like this. And, as we know, there’s one state, with a famous independent streak, that has always been a little different. A poll by WBUR in Boston – taken less than a week before election day – shows Republican Donald Trump pulling slightly ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire.

While the Granite State seems like an outlier, political scientist Andrew Smith says it’s really the last state in a regional shift from Republican to Democratic that’s been happening across decades. We invited him into the studio to learn about how and why New England’s political DNA is changing.

Smith teaches political science at the University of New Hampshire, and directs the UNH Survey Center. He’s co-author of the book The First Primary: New Hampshire’s Outsize Role in Presidential Politics.

New Hampshire voters may take elections seriously, but a few weeks back we met one Granite Stater who definitely doesn’t take them too seriously. Chris Owens hung a sign reading “Official NH Voting Booth” on an outhouse at his farm stand, and invited visitors to “cast their ballots” for Trump or Clinton in one of two toilets inside. The results are in! New Hampshire Public Radio’s Sean Hurley reports.

Farmstand owner Chris Owens posted the results of his poll a week before the election. (Credit: Sean Hurley/ NHPR)

Got the urge to nerd out over New Hampshire politics? Check out New Hampshire Public Radio’s database of election results going back to 1970.

Gas Pains

For months, clean energy advocates have been anxiously awaiting the results of a contest of sorts. It was a request for proposals by the three Southern New England states, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, to build new project that would help the region meet both its greenhouse gas emissions goals – and overall energy needs.
When the winners were unveiled, there were some big surprises. First, the mix of wind and solar projects, totaling 460 megawatts, are largely located in southern New England. That means large wind farms proposed in northern Maine, and a transmission project for Canadian Hydro-Power lost out.

Pipes for a proposed natural gas pipeline in South Dakota are stacked at a staging area. (Credit: Nati Harnik/AP)

The other big surprise was that the state of Connecticut pulled the plug on another plan, to construct more natural gas pipelines in the state. It was prompted by previous decisions in Massachusetts and New Hampshire that said it was unconstitutional to pass along the cost of building pipelines to electric customers. That would have left Connecticut ratepayers on the hook – without help from their regional neighbors.

Protesters rally in downtown Pittsfield, Mass. before an injunction hearing on a natural gas pipeline in July, 2016. (Credit: Adam Frenier/ NEPR)

This might mean the end of big pipeline projects like “Access Northeast.” And, it raises questions about the need for more gas-fired power plants, including those that have met with local opposition in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

But Connecticut officials are saying, “not so fast.” Right now, New England gets more than 50 percent of it’s power from gas, and state regulatory commissioner Katie Dykes says the fuel is necessary for the region to provide reliable, year-round power – even as it invests more in renewable energy.

Dykes been part of this process in her previous role as Connecticut’s Deputy Commissioner for Energy. She told us that the decision to halt the pipelines was done to protect ratepayers in her state.

Take a Hike

If you’re thinking, that tree couldn’t have grown that way naturally, your instincts are correct. (Credit: John Voci/NEPR)

If you spend any time walking in the woods, you see a lot of strange looking trees — trees shaped by the wind, or split by lightning. And — occasionally — some twists and turns are man-made. When walking in the woods near his Putney, Vermont, home, Dan Kubick discovered a most unusual tree. New England Public Radio’s John Voci has our story.

Emma Gatewood with Thomson brothers (from left) Tom, seven; David, nine; and Peter, 11; near the Thomson home in Orford, New Hampshire, on her through hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1955. (Courtesy of Peter Thomson)

You might know someone who’s gone out looking for his or herself along the Appalachian Trail. Next year will mark the 80th birthday of the 2100- mile footpath. A third of the trail runs through New England, including its most rugged parts, ending at the summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine.

Emma “Grandma” Gatewood made headlines when she became the first woman to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, back in 1955. She was 67 years old, and wore Keds. Writer Ben Montgomery, Emma’s great great nephew, tells her story.

Ben Montgomery’s book, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk came out in paperback earlier this year.

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Anthony Brooks, Sean Hurley, John Voci, Elliot Rambach
Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon, “Roast Beef of Old England” by the US Marine Band, “Sunrise Blues” by Samuel James

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and tales from the trail to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 13: Refuge

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 18:27:01 +0000

This week, we meet some of the refugees coming to New England from Syria and Iraq. Our host John Dankosky talks Patriots, Red Sox, and more with Bill Littlefield, host of WBUR’s Only a Game. And in honor of Halloween, we learn about a New England tradition you’re probably less familiar with: exhuming vampires. (more…)

Episode 12: Built In

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 18:42:47 +0000

This week: What we know, and what we don’t, about PCBs in New England’s schools. Plus, what we’ve learned about acid rain, climate change and more from 50 years of research in a New Hampshire forest, and what biologists are doing to help animals like bear and moose to move safely around human infrastructure. And finally, a peek into the surprisingly bad-ass world of bird-watching. (more…)

Episode 11: Up in Smoke

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 18:01:16 +0000

Credit: Rachael Bender via Flickr

This week, disagreements over land and money pit neighbor against neighbor. In Vermont, the question is whether to build more wind turbines to help meet the state’s ambitious renewable energy goals. In Rhode Island, the fight is over which kinds of farmers get government help buying land. And with referendums that would legalize marijuana for recreational use on the ballot in Massachusetts and Maine, what’s the potential for a new black market in neighboring states?

Plus, we get inside the head of the kind of embezzler who makes big news in a small state, and we visit an outhouse re-purposed as a ballot box.

This Land Is Whose Land?

Residents of Windham, Vermont WIndham, look over a map of the new layout for a proposed wind development. (Credit: Howard Weiss-Tissman/ VPR)

Voters in the Vermont towns of Grafton and Windham will vote soon on a proposal by a Spanish renewable energy company to build that state’s biggest wind farm. Vermont has aggressive clean energy goals — and plans like this are a way the state hopes to meet them. But the project has become politicized — the vote comes in the middle of a race for governor. It’s also raised questions about just how far a big company can go to garner support for a controversial project.

We’re joined by Howard Weiss-Tisman, Southern Vermont correspondent for Vermont Public Radio. You can find his recent report on the wind turbine controversy here. For more, a New York Times story zeroes in on the payments energy developer Iberdrola is offering residents of the two towns where the turbines would be built.

Tess Brown-Lavoie co-founded Sidewalk Ends Farm five years ago in Providence on a small vacant lot that belongs to an absentee landlord. She supports the state’s program to help new farmers access land. (Credit: Ambar Espinoza/ RIPR)

In Southern New England land is scarce. That makes farming really expensive. In fact, Rhode Island is the most expensive place to grow food in the country. To compensate, the state government has set up a program to acquire open space, and help new farmers buy land.

But that attention paid to these new farmers — part of a “local food” movement that promotes small and organic farming — can cause a rift between them and larger family farms. Rhode Island Public Radio’s Ambar Espinoza reports on this land acquisition plan, and the questions it raises about the government’s role in setting the price of an acre of farmland. You can read Ambar’s story here. For more on the challenges of farming in New England – particularly dairy farming, check out our interview with the producer of the film “Forgotten Farms” in last week’s episode.

Pot on the Ballot: Bootleggers and College Kids

Stephens Hall on the campus of the University of Maine in Orono. Administrators there say they would increase prevention efforts on campus if marijuana is legalized in Maine. To receive federal money, public universities must prohibit marijuana and other drugs on campus. (Credit: Yassie via Wikimeda Commons)

When voters in Massachusetts and Maine head to the polls this November, they’ll be faced with ballot questions about whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Big money has flowed into the campaigns on both sides, sparking arguments about bringing an end to the failed “war on drugs,” over the science of how dangerous the drug is, and how legal pot might affect the ongoing opioid epidemic.

But, as Fred Bever from Maine Public Radio reports, Western states that have already legalized face challenges that some Maine voters are worried about. The concern is over smugglers who set up shop in a “legal” state – and export it to states where it’s illegal, untaxed, and even more profitable.

As voters, college students in Maine might play a big role in whether the ballot question gets passed. Marijuana use on campuses is at its highest level since 1980, but as Maine Public Radio’s Robbie Feinberg reports, students might not see any big changes even if the drug becomes legal.

Both of those stories are part of Maine Public Radio’s reporting series “High Stakes.”

Medical marijuana is legal in Massachusetts. But advocates for full legalization say the state’s seven dispensaries aren’t accessible for many. (Credit: Dank Depot via Flickr)

As Massachusetts considers the question of legal recreational marijuana, it’s doing so with a much different tax model than other states.

The Massachusetts plan starts with only a 3.75 percent excise tax, about half of what Colorado imposes. Opponents say the low tax won’t cover the added medical costs of legalization.

The topic was part of a debate presented by WBUR’s Radio Boston, The John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and The Boston Globe.

Small State Crooks and Scatological Democracy

Is your town’s historical society at risk for embezzlement? You might be surprised.

Do a little digging, and you’ll find no shortage of embezzlement stories around New England. There was a tax collector in Anson, Maine for 42 years, who manipulated adding machine tapes to skim the top off excise tax payments when residents registered their cars, stealing over $500,000. A priest in Manchester, New Hampshire who spent diocese money on gifts and travel for a musician he was having an affair with. Also in New Hampshire, employees in three separate towns have been caught siphoning funds from the local historical society.

When a listener of Brave Little State, the people-powered podcast by Vermont Public Radio asked the question: “What’s with the high occurrence of embezzlement cases in Vermont?”, reporter Angela Evancie started her investigation. The answer, to say the least, is complicated. Angela joins us to talk about it. Click here for her original story, along with a readable version.

The rare “two-seater” outhouse with a mannequin representing Hillary Clinton. (Credit: Sean Hurley/ NHPR)

Chris Owens always wanted an outhouse at his farm stand in Ashland, New Hampshire. Then during the construction phase, he had a Eureka moment. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Sean Hurley brings us the story. There’s more from Sean here.

Chris Owens poses with a Donald Trump mannequin outside of his outhouse. (Credit: Sean Hurley/ NHPR)

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Howard Weiss-Tisman, Ambar Espinoza, Fred Bever, Robbie Feinberg, Angela Evancie, and Sean Hurley
Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon

Get all the NEXT episodes.

We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and embezzlement tales to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 10: Back From the Edge

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 18:10:28 +0000

A map of Cape Cod with ribbons representing those lost to substance abuse at the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod. (Credit: Ryan Sweikert)

Across New England, there’s been an epidemic of opioid addiction, overdose, and death. This hour, we dig deep into the causes of this crisis with health reporter Martha Bebinger. We travel to Cape Cod to hear firsthand the stories of those affected. We also look for solutions, including for those most at risk of overdose: inmates getting out of prison. And we examine the role of New England’s traditional dairy industry in creating the landscape we love, as we remember forgotten farms.

An Increasing Death Count

These days, the opioid addiction epidemic makes headlines constantly. Nationally, opioid overdose deaths hit record levels in 2014, the most recent year for which there is data. Of those deaths, 10,574 involved heroin, and 5,500 were caused by prescription opioids. Earlier this week, the DEA announced it would cut back the production of prescription opioid drugs by 25 percent next year.

Nearly every New England state has exceeded the national average for overdose deaths, with big spikes in the last few years coming in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

In the Bay State, four to five people die of overdose on an average day. WBUR health reporter Martha Bebinger joins us to talk about some of the latest stats, and she takes us to a unique facility in Boston where drug users are being watched over by doctors and nurses — while they are high.

Tommy, a repeat patient at the Supportive Place for Observation and Treatment, at the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, says the facility has — and will continue to — save lives. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Find Martha’s original report here.

In 2015, Barnstable County on Cape Cod was ranked first in Massachusetts in terms of overdose deaths per capita.

Part of the response has been increased use of the overdose reversal drug naloxone, or Narcan, by first responders and citizens. Independent producer Ryan Sweikert brings us a story told by family members, police, and EMS workers struggling with the problem.

Piecing It Together

You may have heard of hackathons for solving computing problems. But can a room full of smart people hack the opioid crisis? That’s what doctors, counselors, current and former addiction patients, coders, and others attempted to do over a weekend in Boston last month. Ideas included sensors on bathroom floors that would send an alert when someone is lying down; a mobile syringe exchange and counseling center; and a Fitbit style blood monitor that could inject naloxone into the wearer if needed. WBUR’s Martha Bebinger covered the story.

Massachusetts General Hospital and the GE Foundation hosted a hack-a-thon at District Hall to come up with novel ideas and technologies to combat opioid abuse. (Credit: Joe Difazio/WBUR)

The group that’s most at risk for a fatal opioid overdose is ex-prisoners in the first few weeks after being released. Even those who don’t overdose are very likely to relapse into drug use within a month of leaving jail or prison.

WNPR reporter Lori Mack visited a pilot program underway in New Haven, Connecticut that takes a new approach to addiction treatment. It starts before an inmate gets out from behind bars. Read Lori Mack’s story.

More reporting on opioid addiction from the New England News Collaborative.

When the Milk Runs Dry

The harvest season in New England will wrap up soon. But for our region’s principal agricultural product, dairy, production never stops — until a farm goes out of business.

Dairy farms have been folding at an alarming rate. According to a new documentary film, “Forgotten Farms,” New England has lost 10,000 dairy farms in the last 50 years, and many of the remaining farms are struggling. We speak with Sarah Gardener, producer of the film and Associate Director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College.

“Forgotten Farms” is showing around the region this fall. To find a screening near you, visit the film’s website.

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Martha Bebinger and Lori Mack
Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon, “It’s Clearing Now” by Birigid Mae Power,” Gold Dayzz” by Ultraista

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and milk mustache selfies to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 9: Looks Like Home

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 18:10:48 +0000

Sergeant Lakeisha Phelps and colleagues at the Nashua, NH police department participate in an ice-bucket challenge to raise awareness for ALS, in August, 2014. Phelps is one of two black police officers in a force of 170. (Credit: Dean Shalhoup/ Nashua Telegraph)

This week, we bring you more stories about policing and race in four New England states. The top court is Massachusetts has ruled that fleeing from police might be legal as well as in the best interests of black men in Boston. Bridgeport, Connecticut looks to remake its police force more in the image of its population. And in Nashua, New Hampshire, a black officer deals with her own feelings about police shootings; and a young Latino man, who used to be in a Providence gang, befriends a white city police officer.

We also travel to The Big E, a massive agricultural fair that draws people from all over the region to argue over what kind of lobster roll is the best. Plus, our favorite science reporter refreshes us on the science behind fall foliage.

“They Look Like You, They Talk Like You”

When Jimmy Warren was approached by Boston police officers on the street in December, 2011, he ran. Later, he was arrested and searched. Warren had no contraband on him, but police found an unlicensed gun in a nearby yard. Warren was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, and convicted.

But last week, the highest court in Massachusetts overturned the conviction. The justices said Warren running from the police should not have been used as a basis for suspicion, citing reports by the Boston Police Department and the ACLU of Massachusetts that found a pattern of discrimination against black men by the force.

WBUR digital reporter Zeninjor Enwemeka has been covering the ruling – which she says has broader implications – and joins us on NEXT.

Cadets from the Bridgeport, Connecticut police academy practice for their graduation ceremony, earlier this month. (Credit: Jeff Cohen/ WNPR)

In Bridgeport, Connecticut, where more than 60 percent of residents identify as black or Hispanic, the city is making an effort to enroll new officers who live in town. It’s an attempt to make a police force that looks more like the city it serves. We’re joined again by WNPR reporter Jeff Cohen, who covers race and policing in Connecticut. (If you missed our first segment with Jeff on race-based traffic stops, be sure to check it out here.)

“I Stick Out Like A Sore Thumb”

In Episode 5, reporter Emily Corwin of New Hampshire Public Radio brought us her investigation into the criminal justice system in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. It’s the state’s most populous and most diverse county in what is an overwhelmingly white state. She found that blacks are six times more likely to be in jail than whites.

There’s a disparity in the police force, too. In the city of Nashua, there are only two black officers in a police force of 170. This week, Emily introduces us to one of those officers, Sergeant Lakeisha Phelps.

Jose Jose Rodriguez (L) stands with Providence Police Officer Dean Isabella. (Credit: John Bender: RIPR)

Dean Isabella and Jose Rodriguez grew up on the western edge of Providence, several decades apart. The area has long dealt with high crime rates. Isabella now works there as a city police officer. That’s how he met Rodriguez, a teenager in the neighborhood who was also an active gang member.

Years later, their paths crossed again when Rodriguez began working to stop gang violence with the Institute for the Study and Practice of Non-Violence. Isabella and Rodriguez describe how a kid from the neighborhood and a cop became close friends as part of Rhode Island Public Radio’s series “Speaking Across Difference.”

Pleasure Horses, Lobster Rolls, and State Pride at The Big E

Rider Jillian Silva introduces her horse, Indy, to the camera after winning a park horse competition. (Credit: Ryan King/ WNPR)

The Eastern States Exposition – better known as The Big E – is a massive fair that runs for two weeks in the fall in West Springfield, Massachusetts. This is The Big E’s centennial year.

The exposition was the brainchild of Joshua L. Brooks, a printer from Springfield, who also operated a farm. At the time, even as industry was booming in New England, farming was in decline – local farmers couldn’t compete with the farms out in the fertile land of the Midwest.

Pig racing at The Big E. (Credit: Ryan King/ WNPR)

Brooks’s idea was to start an event that would showcase new farming methods and technology, and establish competitive awards that would motivate farmers to produce more efficiently. Brooks got a group of businessmen together, they purchased some land in Springfield. And they convinced the National Dairy Association, which was headquartered in Chicago, to have their exhibition here instead of the Midwest.

The dairy show was held in September 1916, and by the next year, Brooks had the agricultural showcase that he envisioned.

A woman selling lobster rolls in the Maine building says Maine lobster rolls are better than the Connecticut kind. Host John Dankosky disagrees. (Credit: Ryan King/WNPR)

Today, The Big E features many attractions familiar to country fairs. There are still livestock competitions, and of course, lots of greasy fair food. But it’s also a uniquely pan-New England event. On the grounds, six permanent buildings showcase the goods, cuisines, attractions and quirks of each state in our region. As a show about New England, the state buildings were what drew us to the fair — and they did not disappoint.

There was so much to see and do at The Big E, we couldn’t possibly take it all in. For a preview, check out this video by the wonderful Ryan Caron King.

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Episode 8: A Leg Up

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 18:11:23 +0000

A man walks his dog in front of vacant commercial spaces along Main Street in Fitchburg, Mass. (Credit: Jesse Costa/WBUR)

While Boston has more than rebounded from the great recession, many of New England’s smaller cities are still feeling the pain of de-industrialization. But in Massachusetts, some of these former mill towns are plotting a comeback. We take a look at what two so-called Gateway Cities are doing to provide economic opportunity — and we consider how the high cost of rental housing in growing towns can keep some low-income New Englanders from getting a leg up.

In the second part of this episode, we continue our series about the biggest issues facing each of the New England states this election season. And finally, we remember an iconic New England restaurant chain as it fades from the region.

Gateway to the American Dream

Immigrant workers from Ireland and Germany were some of the first laborers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, filling the city’s 19th-century mill buildings with the hum of textile looms. Today, Lawrence has converted these buildings to refurbished work spaces for artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Shannon Dooling of WBUR brings us the story of how two Massachusetts towns are working to pull their economies into the 21st century.

Angie Jimenez is a graduate of Entrepreneurship for All, a business accelerator program in Lawrence. She’s starting a cooking school in a renovated mill building in the city. (Credit: Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Luis Feliciano cuts the hair of a young boy at the newly opened Brothers Barber Shop on Main Street in Fitchburg. (Credit: Jesse Costa/WBUR)

It seems that the closer you are to the boom that’s happening in Boston, the better off you are, and the same goes for cities in southwestern Connecticut, in the orbit of New York City. But economic booms bring high housing costs, sometimes far exceeding what lower-wage workers can afford. That’s especially problematic in many of New England’s coastal communities.

And as rent prices rise, assistance for those who can’t afford those rents is not keeping pace. We speak with Andrew Flowers, an economics writer at FiveThirtyEight, whose recent article on the subject profiled a family in South Portland, Maine.

(Credit: FiveThirtyEight)

Happy Fall! Can You Smell the Election?

In New Hampshire, a high-profile Senate race is racking up record spending. In Massachusetts, ballot questions like whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, and whether to lift the state cap on charter schools, loom large. And in Maine, perhaps the biggest question is whether Governor LePage’s latest outbursts will tilt the state legislature’s power balance toward the Democrats.

Our panelists are Casey McDermott, digital reporter for New Hampshire Public Radio; Felice Belman, politics editor at the Boston Globe; and Bill Nemitz, columnist for the Portland Press Herald and the Maine Sunday Telegram. (If you missed last week’s conversation on Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont, you can listen here).

Bye Bye, HoJo’s!

Howard Johnson’s began as a seaside stand on Wollaston Beach in Quincy, Massachusetts, where clams, along with rich ice cream, and hot dogs — called “frankforts” — helped make the place famous.

Hojoland.com features photos of “HoJo Ghosts” – buildings that were once Howard Johnson’s and have been converted. This one on Route 34 in Derby, CT is now a Tail Gators bar. (Credit: Hojoland.com)

The story goes that Bostonians came to love the place when Eugene O’Neill’s “Strange Interlude” was banned in Boston, and theatergoers went south to Quincy to see a performance… with a dinner intermission at the Howard Johnson’s across the street.

At its height, there were more than 1,000 HoJos locations — with their iconic orange roofs — on highway rest stops, and dotting the neighborhoods of New England, New York, and points beyond.

Today, Howard Johnson’s exists as a hotel chain, but there is just one HoJo’s restaurant left, in Lake George, New York. The last location in New England — in Bangor, Maine — closed earlier this month. To pay our respects, we invited Howard Mann, the man behind the website hojoland.com, to discuss the restaurant chain’s rich New England legacy.

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Shannon Dooling, Galen Koch, Annie Sinsabaugh
Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon, “This Must be the Place” by the Talking Heads, “Don’t Vote” by Cass McCombs, “Holland Tunnel” by John Phillips

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Episode 7: That Ribbon of Highway

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 18:08:35 +0000

In the 1950s, the automobile was king. A new federal highway system and dreams of “urban renewal” took hold. But many of those highways are now broken and in need of repair.
This hour, we look into what’s behind the rebuild of one important New England interstate, and we remember the communities we lost during the urban renewal era, including one city’s Little Italy.

Later this hour, we discuss the important issues heading into this election for three New England states. And at New England’s biggest flea market, NEXT producer Andrea Muraskin finds that the people are as fascinating as the stuff on display.

Getting There

We’ve been closely watching proposals to build new high speed rail through the region. New routes could drastically reduce travel times between Boston and New York and points south.

The Federal Railroad Administration has been considering three plans with a variety of old and new pathways for the trains. A decision on a preferred route is expected sometime this fall.

A map of a portion of the National Railroad Administration’s plan for the Northeast Corridor shows a proposed line (in purple) that would run through the city center of Old Lyme, Connecticut. (Credit: Federal Railroad Administration)

Emails obtained by a group opposing a route through the coastal town of Old Lyme, Connecticut seem to show that the FRA has had a preferred route for a while… and yes, it’s the one that goes through that town. We speak with New London Day reporter Kimberly Drelich, who has has been covering the story.

In New England, Interstate 84 is well known and, well, hated. One of the reasons for that hatred is a short stretch that cuts right through the heart of Hartford, Connecticut.

When I-84 was built, it caused two big problems. First, it meant that all the interstate traffic was bottle-necked onto a twisting, turning, elevated roadway, with a series of complicated on and off ramps infusing new traffic into the mix, commuters, delivery trucks — locals just trying to get across town.

The I-84 Viaduct cuts right through downtown Hartford. Credit Ryan Caron King/WNPR

The second problem is a common one. When highways were built right through cities in the middle of the 20th Century, they destroyed neighborhoods, and physically separated communities. For an example of what this looks like, read Ryan Caron King’s story about a historic home that was spared the wrecking ball, but not the highway noise.

But how to fix the problem? We speak with Norm Garrick, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Connecticut, and author of a recent Citylab article about Rochester, New York’s attempt to fix a 1950s planning disaster.

We also learn the story of Portland, Maine’s Little Italy. It was one of many neighborhoods across America that was demolished as a result of urban renewal. The federal program introduced after World War II aimed to clear cities of so-called slums and blighted areas, making way for improved infrastructure and commercial development. Producer Georgia Moodie has our story.

CT/RI/VT Elections Roundtable

Remember those days when we used to talk about issues during a political campaign? Yeah, us neither. That’s why we wanted to sit down with smart political observers from around New England to talk about the big issues facing their states this year. From WNPR in Connecticut, Colin McEnroe from The Colin McEnroe Show and The Wheelhouse joins us. From Rhode Island Public Radio’s Political Roundtable, Maureen Moakley chimes in, and so does Vermont Public Radio capital bureau reporter Peter Hirschfeld.

Brimfield

A lobster made from horseshoes at the Brimfield Antiques Flea Market (Credit: Ziwei Zhang)

In the 1954 film Brigadoon, the protagonists discover a magical village that only appears for one day every hundred years. Brimfield, Massachusetts is kind of like that. The town only has about 3,500 permanent residents. But for a week in each of May, July, and September, the town transforms into a bustling tent city known as the Brimfield Antique Flea Market.

The market dates back to the 1950s and today boasts over 250,000 visitors, stretching half a mile down Route 20.

At a market like this, the stuff comes with stories, and NEXT producer Andrea Muraskin found plenty on her visit over the weekend.

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Jill Kaufman, Shannon Dooling, and Jennifer Mitchell
Music: Todd Merrell, Lightning on a Blue Sky by Twin Musicom, New England by Goodnight Blue Moon

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and pictures of your own flea market finds to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 6: Surf and Turf

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 17:45:09 +0000

Lovely early fall weather means we’re spending our whole hour-long episode outside. All these sunny days, though, mean a shortage of water for crops, gardens, livestock, and lawns. Climate scientists warn that droughts interspersed with periods of heavy storms are becoming the new normal in New England. We look into how farmers and the rest of us are adapting.

We also consider what “national monument status” means. President Barack Obama just granted the status to nearly 90,000 acres of the north woods of Maine, and is considering doing the same for miles of ocean canyons and mountains off the coast of Cape Cod. And: it’s back to school time, but that means something different for the children of seasonal workers, bringing in the late summer crops.

Our Dry New England Summer

Livestock farmer Bill Fosher with sheepdog Zues. (Courtesy Bill Fosher)

It was an unusually dry summer for much of New England. Massachusetts was (and still is) the hardest-hit. This week, Governor Charlie Baker announced an emergency loan fund to help family farms and other small businesses affected by the drought.

New England Public Radio reporter Jill Kaufman has been reporting on the tentative move among New England farmers to adopt drought-friendly techniques. She joins us in the studio, and we call New Hampshire livestock farmer Bill Fosher to talk soil and water.

It’s not just farmers who have been affected by the long dry spell.

If you live in Massachusetts, your town may have told you to limit watering the lawns and garden. But as WBUR reporter Shannon Dooling found out, the rules may be different on the other side of the town line.

(Courtesy of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection)

Director of the Billerica Public Works Abdul Alkhatib points out the level of the Concord River is three feet lower than it was this time last year in 2015 due to the current drought conditions this summer. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Monuments to Nature

If you’ve ever visited the North Maine Woods, you know that it’s one of the most wild places you’ll ever see. Nearly 90,000 acres adjacent to Baxter State Park have been designated by President Obama as the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.

It’s not quite a national park, but it is protected recreational land. It was donated by Roxanne Quimby, the founder of personal care company Burt’s Bees. The donation was her family’s plan for some time.

The moon rises over Mt. Katahdin. (Bill Duffy)

Bull moose in the area designated Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument (Mark Picard)

View from Lunksoos Mountain (Bill Duffy)

Wassataquoik River at Orion Falls (Credit: EPI)

The area also has logging and paper industry history. Many politicians have fought against the protected designation, hoping that some day paper mills would return. We speak with two Maine reporters covering the dispute: Maine Public Broadcasting’s Susan Sharon, and Nick Sambides, Jr. of the Bangor Daily News.

There’s an even more remote part of New England being considered as a national monument. The New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts area, about 150 miles from Cape Cod, is (according to a Congressional letter written to the President):

“a world of canyons that rivals the Grand Canyon in size and scale and underwater mountains that are higher than any east of the Rockies. These mountains – known as seamounts – rise as high as 7,700 feet from the ocean floor and are the only seamounts in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean.”

A Paramuricea coral in Nygren Canyon, which is 165 nautical miles southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Hydromedusa in Washington Canyon.

Mussels in Nygren Canyon.

Lawmakers, led by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, want the president to use the 1906 Antiquities Act to preserve the area. This is much like President George W. Bush did when he designated a similar monument in 2006 off the coast of Hawaii. President Obama just expanded that monument.

But like loggers in Maine, many in the commercial fishing industry are fighting the designation, questioning the use of the act by the president.

We speak with Brad Sewell, Director of Fisheries and Atlantic Ocean Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is backing the proposal. We also hear from Bob Vanasse, executive director of the fisheries industry group Saving Seafood.

Maine’s Blueberry Harvest School

September means one thing for most kids in New England: an end to summer holidays and the start of classes. But for some, the school year isn’t that straightforward, because their parents chase the seasons from Texas to Maine, harvesting vegetables, picking apples, and raking blueberries.

The federally funded Migrant Education Program seeks to fill some of the gaps left by a life on the road. MPBN reporter Jennifer Mitchell spent a day with the Blueberry Harvest School in Downeast Maine.

The Blueberry Harvest School was established to teach kids whose parents are busy bringing in Maine’s $75 million wild blueberry harvest. (Jennifer Mitchel/MPBN)

To learn more about parents of these kids — the blueberry harvest workers — we spoke with Jorge Acero, State Monitor Advocate for migrant farm workers in Maine.

A teacher asks for volunteers during a class. (Jennifer Mitchel/MPBN)

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Jill Kaufman, Shannon Dooling, and Jennifer Mitchell
Music: Todd Merrell, Lightning on a Blue Sky by Twin Musicom, New England by Goodnight Blue Moon

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and pictures of your corner of New England to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 5: Power Struggle

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 18:14:49 +0000

This hour, we look at racial disparities in the criminal justice system in one of the country’s whitest states. Plus, innovations in renewable energy technology are advancing in New England, but can ye olde grid adapt? And do you know what it takes to maintain a mountain trail? A whole lot of muscle, and some mohawks thrown in for good measure.

From Arrests to Incarceration, Racial Disparities in New Hampshire Increase

Hillsborough County House of Corrections, known as the Valley Street jail, is located in downtown Manchester. (Emily Corwin/NHPR)

On our first episode, we looked at data that shows Black and Hispanic motorists are pulled over at a much higher rate than white drivers in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont. This hour, reporter Emily Corwin of New Hampshire Public Radio shares the findings of her investigation into arrest and incarceration rates in that state’s most populous and diverse county.

In Hillsborough County, Hispanics and Blacks make up only eight percent of the population. But those two groups make up 16 percent of arrestees, and 27 percent of those held in jail before trial.

We also hear from local police and leaders in the Black community on common ground — and where they diverge.

Read Emily’s analysis here.

(Sarah Plourde)

Flipping the Switch on Renewable Energy in New England

New England’s relationship with renewable energy is complicated. Our region has set very high goals for itself to reduce carbon emissions and curb climate change. We have high electric bills, and a power grid that needs constant attention and upgrades.

(ISO New England)

You’ve probably seen wind or solar projects go up somewhere near you in recent years, or you’ve heard about battles over where to put projects like these.

But all of this development of renewable resources hasn’t really changed the energy mix all that much yet.

New England now gets about half of its energy from natural gas, but less than 10 percent from its renewables, like solar and wind.

Vermont Electric Cooperative’s Dan McMullen keeps a close eye on screens that show the electrons flowing in and out of the co-op’s northern Vermont territory. (John Dillon/VPR)

As we heard last week, offshore wind power is only starting to be used, and it’s hard to find room for wind projects in southern New England States.

At the same time, political pressures are moving the debate over energy. A new energy bill in Massachusetts seems to have primed that state for more development of wind and solar, just as the state supreme court dealt a blow to new natural gas pipeline plans.

All of these stories coming together at once form the the basis of the NENC’s latest series, The Big Switch: New England’s Energy Moment.

We asked Prabhakar Singh, Director of the Center for Clean Energy Engineering at the University of Connecticut, to walk us through some of the challenges and new technologies.

The Trail “Fixing” Crew in New Hampshire’s White Mountains

The TFC in the Mahoosucs. (Bob Watts)

Remember this guy? Notice anything different?

A footpath in the forest may feel like as far away from the world of human work as you can get, but clearing and maintaining that trail takes some serious muscle. In the White Mountains, the men and women who do that work have quite the reputation.

From New Hampshire Public Radio’s podcast Outside/In, host Sam Evans Brown has this tale of the most legendary trail crew this side of the Mississippi, the TFC.

Be sure to visit Outside/In‘s website for photos galore from the crew’s 97-year history.

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Emily Corwin, Sam Evans-Brown, John Dillon, Kathleen Masterson, Fred Bever, Logan Shannon, and Cordelia Zars
Music: Todd Merrell, Lightning on a Blue Sky by Twin Musicom, New England by Goodnight Blue Moon

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and pictures of your corner of New England to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 4: Out at Sea

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 18:30:21 +0000

A new report in Massachusetts found cases of serious abuse and neglect at a private special education school, illuminating a larger problem. Also this hour, we head to Block Island, Rhode Island, where the nation’s first offshore wind farm is about to get spinning. Plus, we learn about a time when Martha’s Vineyard went rogue.

What’s Wrong With Special Ed?

Jaclyn Dinan’s son has a complicated diagnosis of autism and a condition similar to bipolar disorder. In 2014, when he was 13, Dinan sent him to Chamberlain International School. Dinan, seen here with her boyfriend and her son, says her son was mistreated at the school. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

There are worries that the problems seen at Chamberlain International School might be more widespread. WBUR and the investigative journalism unit “The Eye” have been investigating private special education schools that serve some of the most vulnerable students in Massachusetts. For parents, figuring out which of these schools is the right fit for their child can be a complicated maze, even as the demand for special education grows. WBUR reporter Shannon Dooling joins us this hour.

Links for more information:

“Report Finds Neglect And Abuse At Mass. Special Education School” – Shannon Dooling, WBUR

“‘There Is No Yelp’ : Why Parents Struggle With The State’s Special Ed System” – Shannon Dooling, WBUR

“Runaways, findings of neglect and abuse cast shadow at Chamberlain School” – Jenifer McKim and Koby Levin, The Eye

The Sea Breeze Is More Than Refreshing

Construction is close to complete on the country’s first offshore wind farm, located about fifteen miles off the coast of Rhode Island. The five turbines are set to start turning later this year. They’re expected to provide most of the power for Block Island, a tourist destination and home to about 1,000 people. The Block Island Wind Farm is tiny by global standards, but it’s the culmination of many years of negotiations between wind power companies, governments, and advocacy groups.

Greg Cunningham, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, says the project represents just a taste of what’s possible for wind power generation in New England coastal waters.

Three of five turbines that make up the Block Island Wind Farm, in waters three miles off the coast of Block Island. (Ambar Espinoza/RIPR)

Blades were attached to a fourth turbine last week. (Ambar Espinoza/RIPR)

The nacelles — the turbine electrical hubs — arrived in Newport earlier this summer on the Brave Tern vessel.

They Could Take No More

In the winter of 1977, residents of Martha’s Vineyard were outraged over a bill in the Massachusetts state legislature that was going to strip them of their state representative. The island would be lumped into a larger Cape Cod district. Vineyard selectmen proposed a solution. A radical one. Secession (complete with an original song)! Producer Sally Helm has the story.

Former Martha’s Vineyard secessionist John Alley (Sally Helm/Transom Story Workshop)

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Episode 3: On Foot

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 18:37:03 +0000

Heavily-trafficked Route 1 can be a headache for Connecticut drivers commuting to New York City, or turning into one of its many shopping plazas. But for pedestrians, it’s downright dangerous. WSHU reporter Cassandra Basler spoke with some who travel the highway by foot, sidewalk or no. We explore what it takes to transform a road system built for the car.

This hour, we also finish our story about the Housatonic River: the battle between the company that polluted the river, and the people who live there, over how to clean it up. And finally, we hear about the New England accent that time forgot.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

According to preliminary data from the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center at the University of Connecticut, there were 74 accidents involving pedestrians on Route 1, also called the Boston Post Road, from January 2015 until now.

A heat map showing pedestrian-involved crashes on Route 1 in Connecticut 2015-present, created by the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research center at UCONN. Data is preliminary.

That means more than one pedestrian was hit for every two miles of road, although most of the accidents happened in the western half of the state. Earlier this summer, activist Ray Rauth walked all 117 Connecticut miles to call attention to safety issues, like sidewalks that appear and disappear, and lack of pedestrian signals.

In this episode, reporter Cassandra Basler introduces us to Rauth, and to Jaelin McKenzie, a young man who walks a busy part of the road nearly every day out of necessity. We speak with Tom Maziarz at the Connecticut Department of Transportation, who said the state and towns are working together in new ways to create “complete streets.” And we consider what happened in Boston when the city set a goal of zero fatalities on the road. Find Cassandra’s original report here.

Jaelin McKenzie takes a bus from his home in Bridgeport to a mall in Milford, then walks about a mile on Route 1 to reach the Jos A. Bank clothing store where he works. Here, he’s standing on a particularly confusing patch of sidewalk on Route 1. (Cassandra Basler/WSHU)

The Rest of the River

The Unkamet Brook, an area contaminated by General Electric’s former Pittsfield plant is currently being restored. (Joe Difazio/WBUR)

In last week’s episode, we heard about General Electric’s legacy in the Berkshires. For about 80 years, the company operated a huge transformer plant in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It was the biggest employer in the region, and when the jobs left in the 1990s — it left a big hole — and the Housatonic River contaminated with PCBs.

GE remediated the two-mile stretch of the river that flows through downtown Pittsfield. But the company estimates that there could be up to 70,000 pounds of PCBs left in the Housatonic River today, and the EPA puts the number at 600,000 pounds.

As WBUR’s Meghna Chakrabarti from Radio Boston reports, there are a variety of deeply held opinions and disputes about how to clean up the mess downstream.

And reporter Ryan Caron King takes us on a boat ride with a canoe builder who is working to bring people back to the Housatonic in Connecticut.

The Green Mountain Accent

Brave Little State is the newest podcast from Vermont Public Radio

Here at NEXT we’re big fans of the new podcast from Vermont Public Radio, Brave Little State. Producers Alex Keefe and Angela Evancie investigate questions that the people of that state want the answers to.

One listener, a transplant from New Hampshire, was curious about why the Vermont accent sounds so different from the New England accents she was used to.

We invited Alex Keefe on our show to learn more.

Can’t get enough? Head over to vpr.net for the full story, and audio clips galore.

About NEXT

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We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and pictures of your corner of New England to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 2: A Roof Over Your Head

Andrea Muraskin — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 14:13:46 +0000

This hour, we talk with NHPR reporters Jack Rodolico and Natasha Haverty about what life is like for people like Gene Parker — who had trouble finding shelter after getting out of prison — and others living on the “edge” of homelessness in New Hampshire.

We also hear WBUR’s Meghna Chakrabarti as she explores the history of a Western Massachusetts company town still recovering after decades of PCB pollution in its river, just as that company makes plans to move to Boston. And with a growing bald eagle population and fewer available fish, Maine Public Radio’s Fred Bever tells us how America’s mascot is threatening sea bird populations in Maine. Meanwhile, VPR reporter Kathleen Masterson learns how to train a hawk to hunt for her supper.

Homelessness in New Hampshire

Gene Parker (left) with his friend “Red” Glodgett. (Liza Urena/Submitted photo)

Gene Parker had been living on the streets of Concord, New Hampshire for five years. In January, he was hit by a car and later died.

For New Hampshire Public Radio reporters Jack Rodolico and Natasha Haverty, Gene’s story led to a lot of questions about homelessness in that state, and they tried to find answers.

They discovered friends who looked out for Parker, a social worker who struggled to find him housing, and the reasons that was nearly impossible.

Liza Urena points to one of the places her friend Gene Parker slept. She brought him meals and gave him rides almost every day, and helped him find safe spots to sleep. (Jack Rodolico/NHPR)

Digging into homelessness in their state, Rodolico and Haverty also took a trip to a small town motel, where they met people with incomes, but still without permanent homes. We hear stories from their excellent series, “No Place To Go, Homelessness In New Hampshire,” and discuss possible solutions.

“We look out for each other,” Ovi Charast (right) says. That night before he and three friends had slept on the floor of one room at the PK Motel. (Jack Rodolico/NHPR)

Something Wasn’t Quite Right With the Water

This past January, a corporate announcement rocked two New England States: General Electric announced it was pulling up stakes at its corporate headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut, and moving to Boston. In Boston, civic leaders cheered. In Connecticut, they pointed fingers. At WBUR’s daily show, Radio Boston, they wondered about GE’s history in Massachusetts.

General Electric had a large plant in Pittsfield that polluted the Housatonic River, seen here, with PCBs. (Joe Difazio/ WBUR)

Pittsfield, in far Western Massachusetts, was the ultimate company town, with life revolving around GE’s transformer plant. GE employed around 13,000 people during the plant’s heyday. But by the early 1990s, most of the jobs had left, and the town had to confront another problem – the decades of contamination to the Housatonic River, which winds through the Berkshires, into Connecticut, and finally into Long Island Sound.

The contamination came from PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls. The government declared them a probable human carcinogen in 1979, and the chemicals were banned. But in Pittsfield and downstream, the damange had already been done.

In our next episode, we’ll look at where the cleanup efforts stand. But listen to this episode to hear Radio Boston’s Meghna Chakrabarti tell us a lesser-known story: about the people who worked at the GE plant in Pittsfield, and their complicated feelings about General Electric. You can find the original story and more photos on WBUR’s website here.

When Eagles Come Home to Roost

Watch this rare video of a Bald Eagle raiding our @exploreorg Osprey nest: https://t.co/cadkFVLEnB pic.twitter.com/7uROA6R9kV

— Audubon Society (@audubonsociety) August 2, 2016

The bald eagle has made a remarkable resurgence in New England. The birds were driven nearly to extinction due to the pesticide DDT. In the 1970s, DDT was banned. Today, bald eagles are thriving on the Maine coast. But the osprey, cormorants and puffins they prey on? Not so much. Maine Public Broadcasting’s Fred Bever reports. You can find photos and a text version of Fred’s story here.

“Your Hawk Was Really an Early Gun”

Master falconer Rob Waite (Kathleen Masterson/VPR)

Imagine if that marauding eagle could be coaxed to land on your arm, and employed as a weapon to kill prey you can’t even see.

That sport — or art — is called falconry: using eagles, hawks, or falcons to hunt for game. It’s been around for thousands of years. It originated in China, and is practiced widely across New England.

Vermont Public Radio reporter Kathleen Masterson went to learn more at the Green Mountain Falconry School in Manchester, Vermont. Director Rob Waite took her on a walk through the woods with two of Harris’s hawks, named Monty and Wallace.

A Harris’s hawk outfitted with “jessies,” which allow falconers to locate the birds during a hunt. (Kathleen Masterson/VPR)

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Jack Rodolico, Natasha Haverty, Meghna Chakrabarti, Fred Bever, Kathleen Masterson, Chion Wolf, Irwin Gratz, and Sarah Ashworth.
Music: Todd Merrell, and Wes Hutchinson’s “One Down Dog”

Get all the NEXT episodes.

We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and pictures of your corner of New England to next@wnpr.org.

Episode 1: The Side of the Road

John Dankosky — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 18:12:45 +0000

It’s the first episode of our new, weekly show about New England. We dig into data showing racial disparities in traffic stops with WNPR reporter Jeff Cohen, talk to historian Colin Woodard about what means to be a Yankee, and get rid of invasive plants and animals… by eating them, with chef Bun Lai of Miya’s in New Haven.

Police Traffic Stops and Racial Disparity

Getting stopped by police is a good way to ruin any driver’s day. But if you’re African American, data show these stops happen more often, result in more searches, and can break down trust between police and communities. Below is police dashcam video from West Hartford, Connecticut — where, like several other towns in Connecticut, you’re much more likely to be pulled over if you’re black or Hispanic than if you’re white.

The officer in the video above asks the driver, Paul O. Robertson, what brings him to West Hartford.

“Having that line of questioning, honestly, I was just floored,” Robertson said. “Because in my mind, I’m trying to be respectful at the same time, and not create a conflicting situation in that moment. … It is the language, the demeanor, in terms of how it’s communicated. And then, just the line of questioning made me feel like I didn’t belong.”

Questioning Yankeedom

Imagine a map of the United States that’s not divided into 50 states — a map where eleven distinct “nations” sprawl for hundreds, maybe thousands of miles, connected not by our current governmental boundaries, but by a common culture.

Credit: Colin Woodard; Tufts Magazine

Imagine a New England influence stretching across New York state, the top tier of Ohio, and into the Great Lakes. That’s an America envisioned by historian Colin Woodard in his book, American Nations.

Cooking and Eating Invasive Species

Summertime in New England means seafood — and lots of it: lobsters, clams, scallops, and for as long as it lasts, cod. Some fish, like cod, are considered “vulnerable” in New England waters. Others, like herring, are in short supply.

You might not think about herring as a fish you would eat, but it’s used as bait for those tasty lobsters, and that has lobstermen worried. Depleted stocks, warming waters, pollution, nitrogen runoff — these are all concerns that have us changing the way we think about what we eat from our waters.

Wild greens from Bun Lai’s yard. Photo by John Dankosky

That’s why a group of chefs, scientists, and fishermen gathered in Rhode Island recently to cook with what’s called “trash” fish, or “bycatch” — the unwanted residue of a commercial fishing operation.

Food like that is on the menu at Miya’s, a restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut. It’s known as the birthplace of sustainable sushi. What does that mean? Well, you can’t find the things you’re used to seeing on the menu of the sushi place down the street. Food like farmed shrimp or salmon, or bluefin tuna, or eel, are all replaced by “unwanted” fish like carp, and lots of plants.

And some of them come from Bun Lai’s front yard. We spent about 20 minutes stooped over on a sweltering day filling a basket with wild mustards, mugwort, and dandelion weeds. Bun Lai called it “lunch.”

About NEXT

NEXT is produced at WNPR.
Host: John Dankosky
Producer: Andrea Muraskin
Executive Producer: Catie Talarski
Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon
Contributors to this episode: Lydia Brown, Galen Koch, Jonathan McNicol, Kristin Gourlay
Music: Todd Merrell, and Goodnight Blue Moon‘s “New England”

Get all the NEXT episodes.

We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and pictures of your corner of New England to next@wnpr.org.

Coming Soon: NEXT

John Dankosky — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 15:26:44 +0000

Coming soon, NEXT is a weekly radio show and podcast hosted by John Dankosky, based at WNPR in Hartford, Connecticut. Our laboratory is all of New England — America’s oldest place — at a time of change. NEXT is powered by the New England News Collaborative and produced by WNPR.