Regional News

Gov. Charlie Baker declared Tuesday that Massachusetts will soon roll back a single step within the current phase of its economic reopening plans, as cases continue to spike across the state.

The coronavirus pandemic has isolated a lot of us, but it’s also brought community institutions together in a new way. In New Hampshire’s North Country, a daily Zoom call has become essential for leaders managing the fallout of the pandemic.

When the coronavirus shut down just about everything in March, including schools, Gorham Superintendent David Backler got on a call with his counterpart in Berlin, and staff from the hospital and local health centers.

A text message invitation to bet on the location of next year’s first homicide in Hartford has resulted in a major shakeup within the city’s police department.

Like many people who get COVID-19, Maddy Alvarez, a 35-year-old Revere resident, can’t be certain how the coronavirus got into her home. But once it did, it was uncontainable.

First, her husband Marco came down with it. He had muscle aches and a fever, but he had also experienced those symptoms just a few weeks prior. He tested negative then, so they didn’t worry too much or take any special precautions.

“It was funny because he thought he had it. He had all the symptoms, but he tested negative,” Alvarez says. “So, this time we weren’t that worried.”

Gov. Ned Lamont announced an expansion Friday of unemployment eligibility rules expected to channel more than $1,800 this winter to each of about 38,000 residents, most of whom lost low-paying jobs.

By spending $7.5 million from the state unemployment trust — which is already in debt — to slightly boost state benefits to those residents, Connecticut could leverage $55 million in additional federal benefits for its jobless.

For decades, millions of tons of trash have been put on a truck and shipped to the banks of the Connecticut River in Hartford.

There, inside an incinerator, trash from dozens of communities is burned and turned into power. But recent years brought problems to the plant, as age, mechanical failures and ever-changing energy market forces aligned to cause the plant’s operator to threaten permanent closure.

Early in the pandemic, Xiomy De la Cruz was working at a fast-food restaurant when her work hours were cut back. She is a Peruvian refugee and a single mother with two children and another on the way. Like many families, she found herself in various pantry lines to make ends meet.

Black and Hispanic communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. A new study from Yale finds Hispanic and Black children are hospitalized for COVID-19 at even higher rates than adults.

The federal government could grant emergency use authorization to COVID-19 vaccines as soon as next week, potentially getting doses in the hands of Connecticut hospitals by mid-December.

While official statewide distribution plans are still being finalized, health providers do know enough about the upcoming vaccines in order to take some immediate steps in preparation, with little time to spare. 

As COVID-19 drags on and advocates continue to pressure state officials to release people from prisons and jails, the Board of Pardons and Paroles has a tool that, in the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, gives them “unfettered discretion” to commute a person’s sentence and shorten the length of time spent behind bars.

Update: The most recent special master report from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirms the men’s deaths were not listed as COVID deaths that occurred while in custody. The report released Friday, which tracks cases and deaths due to the virus in correctional facilities through Dec. 2, lists 139 current active cases among DOC prisoners and 135 positive correction officers.