Next New England

With plenty of fresh powder on the ground, we look at how climate change is changing our region’s ski industry; and learn why the sport now comes with such a high price tag. We also hear about how Providence, Rhode Island is grappling with being a “sanctuary city.” And we get inside the unique, intensely democratic process that is a New England town meeting. A view from Bigrock Mountain Ski Area in Mars Hill, in northern Maine. Climate scientists say ski resorts in northern New England may benefit from an increase in visitors as climate change shortens the ski season to the south. Photo by Martin Cathrae via Flickr Upscale, Downhill The late-winter nor’easter that dumped snow across New England on Tuesday and Wednesday was a welcome sight to the region’s ski areas, which have been seeing shortening ski seasons in the past decade, due to climate change. According to University of Waterloo climate scientist Daniel Scott, no ski area in southern New England will remain profitable after 2

This hour, we parse what’s clear, what’s changed, and what hasn’t about U.S. immigration policy and the powers of ICE, the federal immigration police. We hear what the vetting process was like for one refugee in Maine, and follow NPR’s Code Switch podcast as they trace Puerto Rican identity in a Massachusetts town. Plus, we take a look into the often-overlooked history of slavery and emancipation in New England. President Trump’s executive orders on immigration have brought renewed focus on the role of individual ICE agents. Photo by Groupuscule via Wikimedia Commons Who’s In, Who’s Out President Donald Trump’s first executive order on immigration included a temporary ban on travel from seven majority-Muslim countries. It was challenged by many states, and was suspended after a legal battle. Trump’s new order, signed Monday, is meant to achieve the same goals while passing legal muster. Lawyers in New England and elsewhere in the country have promised to fight this o

This week, we hear stories of very different places in battle with the sea. We consider a massive and expensive seawall plan that could save Boston, and coastal adaptation in New Hampshire. We speak with the author of a new book about Martha’s Vineyard — the island tourist hub that’s been slowly eroding for 20,000 years. And from the failed attempt to brand Rhode Island with the slogan “Cooler and Warmer,” to the enduring “Live Free or Die,” to the new “West Mass,” we look inside the marketing of New England. An example of the ecological diversity of Martha’s Vineyard. Adjacent a small pond and inlet on Chappaquiddick, vegetation transitions from salt marsh to shrub wetland and oak and pine forest. Photo by David R. Foster for Harvard Forest Archives, Harvard University Keeping the Ocean at Bay Sitting right at sea level, much of the city of Boston is threatened by any rise in the oceans. And with climate change fueling projections of routine floodi

This week: more stores from our series Facing Change, about shifting demographics in New England, and the impact of immigration. A reporter crosses the border to find those leaving the U.S. to seek asylum in Quebec, and we go to prep school to meet a pair of teenage refugees. We meet people trying to build political power in the region’s growing Muslim community, and visit a Spanish-language bookstore that’s open for just five more weeks. A Canadian police officer offers a hand to a migrant crossing the U.S.-Canada border near Champlain, New York. Photo by Kathleen Masterson for VPR Heading North At the Royal Canadian Mounted Police communications center in Montreal, technicians monitor live-camera screens of popular illegal border crossings. If people cross into Canada, command control can alert patrolling police. Photo by Kathleen Masterson for VPR The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are reporting surges in illegal crossings in Canada in recent months. Officials say Quebec has seen the highest in

This week, we look at how the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — the Northeast’s plan to cut carbon emissions — has been working, and what the shifting political environment might mean. We dig into a new study about plans to expand natural gas capacity in New England. On a farm in Vermont, we find out what’s really worrying the young people working the land. We also track predators, fly through the air, and dash through the snow pulled by a horse, minus the sleigh. Sliding Otters and Flying Skiers Student Xochitl Ortiz Ross observes a mark on the ice, where an otter has traveled across by sliding on its belly. Photo by Jennifer Mitchell for Maine Public Radio This month, students from College of the Atlantic in Maine are trekking across ice covered lakes and bushwhacking over frozen marshes on behalf of Acadia National Park. As Maine Public Radio’s Jennifer Mitchell reports, they’re checking the pulse of the park, by tracking it’s most fearsome predator: the river otter. Step

This week, we have updates from New England News Collaborative reporters on the impact of President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning travel from seven majority Muslim countries. Another executive order is aimed at punishing so-called “sanctuary cities” — municipalities that refuse to detain undocumented immigrants. Our guest says that’s just the first of many battles we’ll see between cities and the Trump administration. And we hear about a program at a rapidly-diversifying New Hampshire high school that aims to build understanding between American-born students and newcomers. Mazdak Tootkaboni, a UMass Dartmouth professor from Iran, greets his family after several hours being held at Logan Airport. Photo by Shannon Dooling for WBUR Travel Ban The first few weeks of the Trump administration have created confusion for thousands of New Englanders and their loved ones overseas. A ban on travel for refugees and all those traveling from a small group of mostly Muslim coun

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. 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. We also learn about the down and dirty politics of Providence, Rhode Island in the 1970s and ’80s, when city leaders cozied up to the mob, with the makers of the podcast Crimetown. And with the “Greatest Show on Earth” coming to a close, we pay a visit to a museum dedicated to P.T. Barnum in the showman’s hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut. A man walks his dog in front of vacant commercial spaces along Main Street in Fitchburg, Mass. (Credit: Jesse Costa/WBUR) 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 tex

This week, immigrants and the mayor of Boston react to President Trump’s executive actions on immigration. Plus, people in mental health crises are getting stuck in emergency rooms, sometimes for days. We consider two very different Boston-area squares that are experiencing gentrification. And finally, the New England accent that time forgot. The Abbott Building, 5 JFK Street at Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts (seen here in 2010), has been bought by the investment firm Equity One. The firm plans to turn the Abbott and two adjacent properties into a mall, but is facing opposition from locals. Photo by Daderot via Creative Commons Boston Mayor Pledges to Protect Immigrants; Rutland Welcomes First Syrian Refugees This week’s announcements and executive orders by President Donald Trump on immigration have worried many residents of New England — those here without documentation, and those who run so-called “sanctuary cities.” In one executive order, Trump followed through with h

When nonviolent arrestees can’t afford even a low bail, should the bail system be done away with? Plus, an investigation into asbestos exposure in Boston’s renovation boom. We check back in with author Colin Woodard to learn why some in the region he calls “Yankeedom” flipped from blue to red in the presidential election. And one woman remembers the 2007  ICE raid in New Bedford, MA. Chris Webber studies for his GED while held on $500 bail at the Valley Street Jail in Manchester, New Hampshire. Photo by Emily Corwin for NHPR. “Now, I Have to Gasp for Breath” On an given day in Manchester’s Valley Street Jail, several dozen people are being held on bail of $1000 or less. Most are charged with low level offenses, and would be back at home if they could pay their bail. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Emily Corwin reports on New Hampshire’s money bail system, a process some courts in other states have abandoned. South of Manchester, all across the greater Boston area, demo

Miguel Alcudia was picked up earlier this year by immigration authorities for residing in the state on an expired visa. Despite federal guidelines prioritizing criminals, there are still cases where authorities detain individuals with no record. Photo by Ryan Caron King for NENC Federal policy changes were supposed to end random deportations of people who aren’t criminals, but in parts of New England, it’s still happening. We continue our series “Facing Change” and talk to Vermont farm workers. We also hear how Boston police are enforcing that city’s pro-immigrant “Trust” act. We also explore the history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s formative time in the tobacco fields of Connecticut, and the story of how New England’s biggest mountain — home to some of the worst weather in the world — became a tourist haven. Facing Change Vermont Public Radio reporter Kathleen Masterson has been listening to the stories of immigrant farm workers for the New England News Collaborative series, “Facing Ch

A map of Cape Cod with ribbons representing those lost to substance abuse at the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod. Photo by Ryan Sweikert for the Transom Story Workshop. 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 The crisis of opioid addiction and overdose has taken hold especially hard in New England. According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – the rate of overdose deaths nationally nearly tripled between 1999 and 2014. Heroin and prescription opioids now account for nearly two thirds of dru

In January of last year, a disabled homeless man was struck and killed by a car in Concord, New Hampshire. Gene Parker’s death raised questions about the causes and effects of homelessness in that state. This week we hear from two reporters who went looking for answers. Plus, listen to what we’ve learned from 50 years in the life of an experimental forest, and what biologists are doing to help big animals move safely under highways. And last, we get an inside look at policing and race discrimination. Conchord resident 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. Photo by Jack Rodolico for NHPR Homeless in New Hampshire Gene Parker (left) with his friend “Red” Glodgett. Photo submitted by Liza Urena New Hampshire Public Radio reporters Jack Rodolico and Natasha Haverty learned a lot about Gene Parker after his death. They discovered friends who looked out for Parker and

Perhaps nowhere else in the country is the impact of recent immigration trends so pronounced as in New England, where the predominantly white population is quickly aging, and where the influx of young immigrants is changing the identity of the region. This week, we hear from employers who bank on immigrant labor, community members getting ready for an influx of Syrian refugees, and foreign-born workers training to care for the elderly. Members of the Rutland community work with a Castleton University student from Saudi Arabia (right) during an Arabic class in Rutland’s Unitarian Universalist church. Photo by Ryan Caron King / NENC Also, the Connecticut origin story of the Gun that Won the West, and a how the murder of a priest taught us all a lesson about protecting the innocent. This is the Church, This is the Steeple, Where are the People? New England is nearing a demographic crisis. That population of our six states is aging fast, and birth rates are the lowest in the nation. States have been trying to ke

This week we meet a couple who found themselves drinking water contaminated by radioactive lab waste, and a man who has to wear a hazmat suit to enter his house. We’ll also learn about the down and dirty politics of Providence, Rhode Island in the 1970s and 80s, when city leaders cozied up to the mob. Finally, immigrants to New England give us a sense of what we should be grateful for. Dan and Dawn Crim stand on the front porch of the Laconia, New Hampshire home they fled in 2014. They say shoddy construction and water infiltration led to mold and yeast, which in turn made them and their son sick. (Credit: Jack Rodolico/NHPR) Radioactive Carcasses and Mold Magnates A hand-drawn map of the Rennie Farm burial site provided by Dartmouth College for the initial clean-up. (Credit: Dartmouth College) In Hanover, New Hampshire, near Dartmouth College, there’s a macabre burial site. Lab animals and the chemicals that were used on them – were dumped by researchers in the 1960s and 70s. Now a toxic c

This week, we take a rare look a gigantic battery that’s helping to balance our region’s energy grid. Plus, we get perspective from Maine’s top energy official, who is stepping down. We also take trips to a tiny island where opioid addicts go to seek treatment, and to the city that inspires the country’s most famous horror writer. And we learn what charitable donations — or lack thereof — say about New Englanders. The road into the entry portal of the hydro-electric power plant in Northfield Mountain. At 33-feet in diameter, the tunnel is nearly a mile long and leads 750 feet deep into the heart of the mountain. (Credit: Jesse Costa/WBUR) Finding the Right Energy Mix Today’s batteries come in all shapes and sizes. The largest in New England — and once the world — was built 45 years ago and is still working. But it’s hidden, on top and deep inside a mountain in north-central Massachusetts. WBUR’s Bruce Gellerman reports from Northfield Mountain. Inside the

We dig into data showing racial disparities in traffic stops and get a play-by-play of one, 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. We hear personal stories and examine the data in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont with WNPR investigative reporter Jeff Cohen. The officer in the video above asks the driver, Paul O. Robertson, what brings him to West Hartford. “Having that li

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, and inadequate supervision resulting in runaway students, medication errors, and more. An administrative building on the Cham

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 weakne

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 secon

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