Editorial Roundup: New England

Boston Globe. March 4, 2021.

Editorial: Winter is almost over. Almost.

Positive signs abound in the state’s fight against the coronavirus. But it would be premature to let our guard down.

America is entering a dangerous phase of the coronavirus crisis: jumping the gun.

Yes, three different vaccines against the disease have been approved. Millions of the most high-risk Americans have been inoculated. Both new infections and deaths are trending down, and statistical models are promising. The weather will soon improve, which should reduce infections.

But that doesn’t mean the country, or Massachusetts, should declare victory quite yet.

A cautious reopening, laser-focused on the unacceptable number of schools that remain closed, is going to require a bit more patience from a public that’s understandably tired of sacrifice. Leaders, including Governor Baker, should take heed of the warning from newly installed CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and put a temporary pause on business reopenings for just a little longer while vaccinations continue.

The next phase of the Commonwealth’s reopening, according to Baker, begins March 22 - the second day of spring. Baker says going forward with that phase is contingent on continued positive public health trends, but his office didn’t directly answer a question from the Globe about whether there were specific thresholds that the state needed to meet to proceed, saying in a statement that the administration “carefully monitors all available metrics to gauge COVID prevalence.”

In weighing those numbers, though, Baker should err on the side of caution. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s top infectious disease adviser, said Wednesday it was “ill advised” for states to relax their limits.

Indeed, some public health experts were already uncomfortable with the last round of the state’s reopenings, which included loosening some restrictions on restaurants. The state got rid of its capacity-based limit while leaving rules on distancing and time diners could remain at a table in place. Those changes still left Massachusetts with some of the country’s strictest guidelines, according to a state-by-state guide maintained by the AARP. (As of next week, Texas, for instance, is lifting all its business restrictions.) But after the Commonwealth announced its latest step toward reopening, both Fauci and Walensky made statements urging states to hold the line.

The next round in Massachusetts, if it goes forward, would involve allowing indoor and outdoor stadiums to operate at 12 percent capacity, permitting dance floors at weddings, letting exhibition and convention spaces open with restrictions, and raising the maximum size of public gatherings.

Because the state has focused its vaccination efforts on its oldest and sickest residents (sometimes to the consternation of transit workers, funeral directors, and others clamoring for the vaccine), it’s arguably in a stronger position to ease back on closures.

But there’s a wild card: variants, mutations of the virus that spread more quickly and may respond differently to the vaccines. Healthy young people are not as likely to die from the virus, but the more of them that get it, the more chances it has to mutate. That’s a reason to keep limits in place; the protections that vaccines provide to at-risk populations won’t mean much if vaccine-proof variants get a chance to emerge and spread.

None of which is to minimize the real harm done by closures and other restrictions on businesses. Since the pandemic began last year, states have been forced to make no-win trade-offs between public health, the livelihood of millions of their residents, the viability of thousands of businesses, and the civil liberties of everyone. This has at times felt arbitrary, confusing, and unfair. What made liquor stores so critical to society that their employees had to accept the risk of going to work, but not day-care facilities? Is a dinner that lasts 90 minutes really safer than one that lasts two hours?

But for all the confusion, shutdowns have worked, saving millions of lives across the globe.

What the ultimate exit strategy from the pandemic lockdowns looks like is still unknown. Waiting for zero infections isn’t realistic; it’s unlikely that COVID-19 is going away, even when the vaccines are fully distributed. At the same time, shutdowns can’t go on forever. The grim reality is that, like flu deaths and traffic fatalities, this is going to be a constant threat we may have to learn to tolerate to get on with life.

For now, though, the state should ask residents for just a little more patience. Delaying further reopening, to buy time for more vaccinations and to limit the spread of variants, will be worth the sacrifice.

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Connecticut Post. March 4, 2021.

Editorial: In-person learning Cardona’s top priority

The confirmation of Miguel Cardona as U.S. secretary of education this week was a moment of pride for all Connecticut. During his swift rise from teacher to administrator to state education commissioner to the pinnacle of his profession, Cardona has consistently displayed the qualities we’d all like to see in our educators.

As he made clear in his return this week to Meriden, where he began his career, he knows the hard work is only now beginning.

Though there are many issues that demand attention at the federal Department of Education, top of mind is the status of schools during the pandemic. Many students went months without in-person learning as districts took whatever means were necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus. While technology allows instruction to continue online, the toll it has taken on a generation of students may not be fully known for years.

Children need to be around each other. They need every part of school - not just the curriculum, but the socialization, the physical activity, the chance to be around their peers and to get out of the house. When they are denied that, the price they pay in terms of their mental health can be substantial.

Through it all, teachers have persevered. Though some small-minded critics have taken them to task for the prevalence of online learning, teachers should instead be thanked for keeping the system running as well as it has. Often they have no idea from one week to the next - even one day to the next - whether they will be in-person or online, and so have to create separate lesson plans and make changes on the fly. No one wants the return of in-person learning more than teachers.

But just as clearly, they want to know it is safe. With the state carving out vaccination opportunities for educators amid its strict age-based formula released last week by Gov. Ned Lamont, there should be a greater feeling of well-being on the part of teachers, who are on the front lines every day in facing potential infection.

Administrators have been faced with a near-impossible task over the past year of trying to ensure community safety from the virus while also making certain that children are still learning and not suffering mentally. Many Connecticut districts are now back to full, in-person learning, some even five days a week, and the good news on vaccine availability in coming months has many people hoping to avoid any more backsliding.

Cardona said he plans to use Meriden, which has been in-person for months, as a model for the rest of the country. That may be easier said than done, as not every state has been as steadfast about wearing masks and keeping socially distant as Connecticut has been. Some states are prematurely declaring victory by removing mask mandates, against the advice of every health professional.

This is the difficult job Cardona faces. In-person schooling is vital to our society’s well-being, and he has been tasked specifically with ensuring the country is on a path toward ending remote learning. By following medical advice, we can get there.

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Portland Press Herald. February 28, 2021.

Editorial: Mainers in need can’t afford austerity budget

This is no ordinary recession, and state spending should reflect that.

Gov. Janet Mills delivered her state of the budget address Tuesday with a big dose of optimism.

Even when she was cataloging the hard times Mainers have faced over the last year – especially those caused by the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout – the governor said that the end was in sight and perseverance would get us through.

There is good reason to be hopeful: The collapse in state revenues was not as severe as forecasters had predicted, in large part because of the money spent by the federal government to support unemployed workers and keep small businesses afloat.

And with two effective vaccines being distributed across the nation, and a third on the way, we can look forward to a post-COVID economic rebound in the second half of the year.

But despite the governor’s optimistic tone, the budget she has proposed looks like she is bracing for hard times ahead.

The budget is balanced, as the state constitution requires. It doesn’t raise taxes and it adds to – rather than borrows from – the state’s “rainy day” fund. While it maintains spending on all the most important functions of government, Mills leaves the more ambitious investments in the state’s future, like rural broadband, child care centers and job training, to a bond package that may or may not get enough Republican support to reach the voters.

Without those bonds, this two-year budget could represent a missed opportunity for Maine families who have been hit hard by the COVID recession. Without help now, many of them will not be able to take advantage of a post-COVID recovery, leading to long-term economic fallout.

It’s important to remember that this recession is not like any other in recent memory.

People who were able to work remotely saw no disruption in their income because of the pandemic, and people who g0t some or all of their income from the stock market ended up having a good year despite an early shock.

In a typical downturn, the state loses tax revenue on sales of cars and building supplies. But construction did not slow down in 2020, and car sales were strong in the second half of the year and into 2021. Home sales were up 31 percent in December over the previous year and prices were up 15 percent, with one out of three sales going to an out-of-state buyer, bringing new money to local economies.

But not everyone has been so lucky. Unemployment is still high, with nearly 50,000 claiming jobless benefits last week, a number that has held steady for three months.

That doesn’t even count the people who have been out of work so long that they are no longer considered part of the workforce – including parents who have had to stay home because the pandemic has disrupted in-person school and day care for their children.

The longer people go without a job, the harder it is for them to get back in the workforce. That does permanent damage to their ability to earn a living and slows down the speed of economic recovery for everyone.

The rosy overall picture hides the fact that, like the downturn, the recovery is not affecting everyone equally. One in eight adults and one in five children experience food insecurity. Food pantries are coping with record demand.

According to Maine Equal Justice, more than 60 percent of extremely low-income Mainers pay more than half of their income for rent, and as many as 40,000 households report being behind on their rent and at risk of eviction.

All of these poverty indicators disproportionately affect families of color.

Some may think it’s time for the state to put money away for a rainy day. But for these families, it’s raining now, and they can’t wait.

We have good reason to expect that Maine can afford to be less cautious.

Aside from the positive economic trends, President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill is moving on a fast track through Congress. It includes $350 billion in aid for state and local governments and $170 billion to help schools reopen, it extends unemployment benefits and it would send $1,400 stimulus checks to most people.

The Legislature does not have to guess what Maine will get from the bill. It’s on schedule to be signed by Biden in mid-March, well in advance of the state’s June 30 budget deadline.

We supported Mills’ effort to compromise with Republicans and offer a double tax benefit to almost all the small businesses that received federal aid through the Paycheck Protection Program, because it targeted relief where it was needed.

That kind of creative work needs to be done on the budget, getting more help to the people who need it most. Whether it’s through new revenues or spending reserves, Maine should give all of its people reason to hope in 2021.

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Rutland Herald. March 2, 2021.

Editorial: Good news

Were those high winds that ripped across the region actually the winds of change?

In a day, we seemed to have been faced with a news cycle that provided optimism for the coming months. It was welcome news on a frigid day.

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adult Americans by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved vaccine.

With the bolstered supply, Biden also announced he would use the powers of the federal government to direct all states to prioritize vaccinating teachers. Also, he said the federal government would provide the doses directly through its pharmacy program. He challenged states to administer at least one dose of the vaccine to all teachers by the end of March as part of his administration’s efforts to reopen more schools across the nation.

In turn, Vermont officials announced Tuesday that teachers, child care workers and older Vermonters with high-risk health conditions can start signing up for a vaccine appointment starting next Monday.

According to reporter Eric Blaisdell’s account of the governor’s news conference Tuesday, the state is ready to ramp up its vaccination efforts with the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson receiving emergency-use authorization from the FDA over the weekend, as well as more doses from Pfizer and Moderna.

On March 15, Vermonters 16 years old and older with high-risk health conditions can sign up to get vaccinated. Those conditions include current cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, heart disease, a weakened immune system, severe obesity, pregnancy and diabetes.

Vermont is opening vaccinations to anyone who works inside a school building or has contact with students, such as coaches. Educators at private schools and early childhood educators are eligible as well.

The president said his goal is for every pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade educator, school staff member and child care worker to receive at least one shot by the end of March.

To achieve this, Biden announced qualifying individuals will be able to sign up this month to be vaccinated at a pharmacy near them. Biden said while schools are safe to reopen even before staff members have been vaccinated, “time and again, we’ve heard from educators and parents that have anxieties about that,” so to “accelerate” the safe reopening, teachers should be prioritized.

As Gov. Scott noted, the announcement comes as the White House looks to speed the production of the single-dose J&J vaccine and accelerate the nation’s plans to reach “herd immunity” in the U.S. and begin returning to normal life after the pandemic. Biden said the vaccine supply was only one bottleneck toward that goal, and the new challenge will deliver doses into arms as swiftly as possible.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration told Scott and his fellow governors to prepare for their supplies of vaccine to continue to climb during the coming weeks. Moreover, additional doses are heading toward a federally backed program to administer doses in more accessible retail pharmacies.

The administration has promised states there is more vaccine in the pipeline. Previously, federal officials have cautioned that setting up the highly specialized manufacturing lines to produce vaccines would take months.

The White House said Merck would devote two plants to the production process. One would make the vaccine and the other would handle inserting the vaccine into vials and ensuring strict quality controls. The Biden administration was using its powers under the Defense Production Act to help Merck retool to work on the production.

According to the Associated Press, in the scramble to create COVID-19 vaccines, the three Western drug makers who’ve dominated the vaccine industry for decades - Merck & Co., Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline - surprisingly all fell short.

Regardless of the blips of the past, the news offers a bit of relief. Across the world, people suffer from COVID fatigue. And there have been mounting concerns about what the long-term effects of the pandemic would be - especially on young people who have not been able to attend school in-person.

We join the chorus wanting the economy to restart, and for there to be some semblance of normal once again. It will still take time, but at least yesterday’s news felt more like light at the end of a tunnel and not another oncoming disaster.

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Caledonian Record. March 5, 2021.

Editorial: Another Good Week

Over the past week we’ve enjoyed reporting on the vast and varied achievements of local people improving our community.

Danville senior Autumn Larocque is leading a constructive, respectful and community-wide discussion about the school mascot as part of her senior service project.

Local teachers are on deck to get vaccinated in the North Country.

Penny Chamberlin is the new superintendent at Orleans Central Supervisory Union.

Sam Begin, Josh Finkle, Parker Paradice, Stephen Lucas, Michael Maccini, Cam Tenney-Burt, Matt St. Cyr, Brandon Laundry, Korey Champney, Reese Petit, Sage Smith, Samantha Howe, Tia Martinez, Kelsey Graham, Olivia Sarkis, Emily Prest, Carson Rancourt, Julian Kenison, Chris Corliss, Mitchell Poirier, Bryce Gunn, Cooper Brueck, Christian Young, Elijah Flocke, Brody LaBounty, Avery Hazelton, Ava Marshia, Rylie Cadieux, Cole Banks, Murphy Young, Cayde Micknack, James Sanborn, Isaiah Baker, Jadon Baker, Logan Young, Elizabeth Duranleau, Courtney Lewis, Nina Seeman, Hayden Wilkins, Tommy Zschau, Cody Van Dine, Olivia Corrigan, Hannah Brown, Colleen Flinn, Riann Fortin, McKenna Marsh, Kadienne Whitcomb and Brooke’lyn Robinson were all named Daily Top Performers by our sports staff.

The children of the Yeti Defense League signed a peace accord with local Yetis.

Grafton County Sheriff Department Detective Justin Charette-Combs was named top forensic examiner for 2020 by the U.S. Secret Service National Computer Forensic Institute.

Local residents improvised and held successful town meetings.

Colebrook’s dynamic duo, senior guard Sage Smith and senior forward Samantha Howe, both eclipsed the 1,500-point career scoring milestone.

North Country Healthcare and affiliates plan to vaccinate 2,200 local residents this weekend.

Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital announced that the DiaSorin Simplexa Analyzer, which analyzes lab specimens for COVID-19, is now up and running.

Moderator John McClaughry oversaw his 55th Town Meeting in Kirby and was a picture of efficiency.

Kingdom County Productions recently received a $5,000 grant from the Vermont Community Foundation’s Northeast Kingdom Fund. The grant will help produce a number of new Writers for Recovery workshops and special projects in the NEK.

Peacham Elementary students named the town trucks and got valuable lessons in local democracy at the same time.

Carson Rancourt joined the 1,000-point scoring club in Colebrook.

Littleton Regional Healthcare staff rallied again and turned a last-minute vaccine delivery into a mass inoculation drive that successfully vaccinated 1,170 local people.

Rebecca and Ben Christie got a blast from the past when their home renovation uncovered dozens of D-Day editions of old Caledonian-Records.

David Perron, of Glover, won an ice shack worth $5,000 in the Newport Recreation Committee’s SnoPro Ice Shack raffle.

Readers chose North Country’s Cayde Micknack and Lyndon Insitute’s Kadienne Whitcomb as our Athletes of the Week. St. Johnsbury’s Lizzy Jones and Littleton’s Parker Paradice won the honor last week.

Eric Skovsted and his wife Mary built a rink on their land at Joe’s Brook Farm and are successfully hosting the Caledonia Hockey Club for the season.

Nightshade Contemporary, a new art gallery, opened in Littleton.

Bryson Lamontagne, Michael MacMahan and Charity Dionne were honored at the North Country Charter Academy.

A record-breaking turnout highlighted last weekend’s 11th annual Eli Goss Memorial Ice Fishing Tournament held at Seymour Lake in Charleston, and on Lake Memphremagog. The tournament memorializes the giving character of Eli Goss, who was a senior at United Christian Academy when he passed away in a motor vehicle accident on Sept. 17, 2010

Better than ever, the Fairbanks Museum reopened to the public after its annual closure.

Local artists have gotten creative in pursuit of their passion during the pandemic.

The North Country Falcon basketball program was awarded the 2019-20 Mona Garone Outstanding Sportsmanship Award.

Heart Space Yoga founder and owner Andrea Thibaudeau was chosen St. Johnsbury Business Person Of The Year in online polling.

Kay Hausman, CNM joined the Women’s Wellness Center at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital.

We congratulate and thank them all … both for their efforts and for allowing us the privilege of sharing their great news.

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