As we look back at this week's top stories, our guests reflect on the impact of the past year. Thursday, March 11, marks one year since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic because of COVID-19.
Panelist Dave Eisenstadter said it's affected every aspect of life.
"I think everyone's got their own dates," he said. "For me, a big one was March 24. That's when I got laid off. And since then, the [Daily Hampshire] Gazette has lost half of its staff. That's just one small piece of the enormous pandemic puzzle that has happened since then. It's been a very strange year. And it is kind of humbling to think about the fact that a year has passed."
Panelist Carrie Saldo said to wake her when it's over.
"The past year," she said, "I feel like I've just gone back and forth between being incredibly grateful — to Dave's point, to having a job, to being able to work from home, having a family that's been largely safe and healthy — and then just super angry because of the gross inequities that this has just brought to the fore. They've been there for a long time. They've been exacerbated by this."
Saldo said that thankfully, people are talking about the inequities more.
"But what we really need to now see is a response from government," she said. "Just one issue that comes to mind is the number of women who've dropped out of the workforce because of the pandemic, because we in this country don't have sufficient family-friendly policies, like paid parental leave or child care subsidies. And we really, I think, need to take this as an opportunity, moving forward as a country, to take a hard look and fix these problems."
Teachers in Massachusetts found out this week they'll soon be eligible for vaccination. Massachusetts had educators further down on the priority list, but President Joe Biden challenged states to get it done fast.
This comes as Governor Charlie Baker's administration has been pushing to reopen elementary schools for in-person learning.
Christine Alger has been teaching special needs students in-class at Holyoke's Donahue School.
"We're taking a risk every day," Alger said. "The kids are taking a risk, their families are taking a risk, so the sooner that at least the staff can get vaccinated, the safer we'll all be."
Also this week, Connecticut reached a deal with the operators of the Mohegan Sun casino to allow sports gambling. The agreement would also allow the state lottery to take bets on sports.
There's still a long way to go. The operators of Connecticut's other casino, Foxwoods, haven't signed onto the deal. And the Hartford Courant reports the state's off-track betting vendor is planning to sue.
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, state Senator Eric Lesser of Longmeadow said efforts to bring sports betting to the state are in the "second or third" inning — with many bills pending on Beacon Hill. He said Massachusetts should get moving, though, given what happened in Connecticut.
"I think that this is an issue that's time has come," Lesser told NEPM. "If Massachusetts continues to sort of try to build a wall around ourselves, or create an island, it's ultimately not going to work, because people will very easily drive to another state and participate."
Rhode Island and New Hampshire already offer sports betting.
Lastly this week, six books by famed children's author and Springfield native Dr. Seuss will no longer be published. The company that controls the late Theodor Geisel's work said the six books "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong."
Guests:
- Dave Eisenstadter, veteran western Mass. journalist
- Carrie Saldo, Worcester Bureau Reporter, WGBH
