Next New England

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…)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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…)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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 opioi

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 in 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. 

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 th

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

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 announc

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

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? 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.  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 worri

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 ce

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 ca

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 s

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.