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High mosquito-borne encephalitis risk prompts Massachusetts town to close parks, fields at night | CNN

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High mosquito-borne encephalitis risk prompts Massachusetts town to close parks, fields at night | CNN




CNN
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A Massachusetts town has closed its municipal parks and fields to nighttime visitors amid a heightened risk of a potentially deadly type of mosquito-borne encephalitis, according to town officials.

Plymouth, about 40 miles southeast of Boston, announced the closures Friday as the town faces a high risk from the extremely rare Eastern equine encephalitis, town officials said in a news release.

The disease can infect humans through mosquito bites and has between a 33% to 70% fatality rate, with most deaths happening from two to 10 days after symptoms begin, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

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“The recent EEE infection diagnosed in a horse exposed in Plymouth initially raised the Town’s EEE risk level to high,” the Town of Plymouth said in the release.

On August 16, the state reported its first human case of EEE of the year and the first since 2020 after a man in his 80s was exposed in Worcester County, prompting health officials to raise the risk level of the disease in nearby communities, the public health department said in a news release.

“EEE is a rare but serious disease and a public health concern,” Massachusetts public health commissioner Robbie Goldstein said in the release. “We want to remind residents of the need to protect themselves from mosquito bites, especially in areas of the state where we are seeing EEE activity.”

Around 30% of people infected with EEE die and many who survive infection live with ongoing neurological problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease is so rare, an average of only 11 human cases of EEE are reported in the United States annually, the CDC said. 

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There were 17 reported human cases of EEE and seven deaths during an EEE outbreak in Massachusetts in 2019 and 2020, according to the state’s public health department.

Public health officials and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources announced plans Saturday to spray aerially for mosquitoes in the Plymouth County area and to conduct truck-mounted spraying in parts of Worcester County, according to a news release.

By Saturday, the EEE risk level was high or critical for 10 Massachusetts communities.

At least eight municipalities in Massachusetts, including Boston, are also “now considered to be at high risk” for mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus, the state’s health department said Friday.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for Dr. Anthony Fauci said the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was recovering at home after being hospitalized with West Nile virus.

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Massachusetts

Who will take care of our older and disabled people? – The Boston Globe

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Who will take care of our older and disabled people? – The Boston Globe


Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com. To subscribe, sign up here.


I’ve been writing for years about immigrants filling jobs that Americans don’t want. Haitians in particular have stepped into the void where the work is hard and the pay is low – cleaning, groundskeeping, preparing food, caring for elderly and developmentally disabled people.

When an influx of migrants flooded into the United States a few years ago, a number of savvy Massachusetts employers opened their doors to them. Thrive Support and Advocacy, a developmental disabilities provider in Marlborough, hired 41 newly arrived Haitians, filling all its full-time direct-care jobs for the first time in a decade.

With the Supreme Court last week siding with the Trump administration’s attempts to end Temporary Protected Status for Syrians and Haitians as part of its continued immigration crackdown, Massachusetts stands to lose 10,000 Haitian TPS holders in the workforce. A decision on Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, which grants automatic citizenship to nearly everyone born on US soil, is expected today.

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But it isn’t just a numbers game. Employers continually cite Haitian migrants’ loyalty, hard work, and devotion to the people they’re helping — many of them elderly. Not to mention the ripple effects of losing these valued employees as the aging population skyrockets.

“At some point, many people will be rehab patients,” Adam Scott, CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife told me. “At some point, many people will be long-term care patients. And this impacts all of them.”

When the TPS ruling is implemented, 10,000 Massachusetts residents will be out of a job and expected to leave the country. But many of them have nowhere to go. A pharmacy tech I’ve been talking to over the past few months knew this day was coming, and she has a detailed plan in place that will allow her 14-year-old US-born son, who has autism, to stay. But she has no plan for herself. She can’t go back to Haiti, where she was kidnapped by gangs as a teenager. So she’s hoping to keep working until her employer tells her she has to go.

To where, though, she doesn’t know.

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Read: Who will care for the elderly and developmentally disabled?

Also: More than 100 Venezuelans deported from the United States just hours before the deadly earthquakes are missing. Seven children were among the group, which was taken to a hotel that was destroyed in the quake. (AP)


🧩 6 Across: Bookstore category | ☀️ 88° Hotter Wed.


Paraguay players celebrate with goalkeeper Orlando Gill, right, after winning their World Cup match against Germany.Charles Krupa/AP Photo/Charles Krupa

World Cup: Can the US soccer team beat a European national team for the first time in 11 matches and make it into the Group of 16? We’ll know tomorrow night. In a thrilling upset, Paraguay sent four-time champion Germany home at Foxborough.

Five in a row: Don’t get too excited yet, but the Red Sox followed their four-game sweep of the Yankees with a 6-3 victory over the Nationals last night. They were led by Wilton Contreras, who has been struggling with the news of the deadly earthquakes in his native Venezuela.

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Cannabis rollback: If Mass. voters repeal marijuana legalization, would that put you in danger of being arrested? We answer your questions here.

Heat wave: An Extreme Heat Watch has been declared for Wednesday through the Fourth of July. Here’s how hot it will get.

Wellesley killing: The 24-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing his father had suffered serious mental health issues and battled “to contain his demons,” family friends say.

Hiya, neighbor! Cambridge wants to build “social housing.” What is it?

What now? More people are surviving cancer than ever before. Now health providers are helping people navigate the next step.

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Duck Boat accident: Questions about equipment quality and decision-making are being raised about the accident Saturday that injured 11 people when the craft flipped in East Cambridge.

Beaches, shellfish areas closed: A sewer line break in Haverhill dumped millions of gallons of wasterwater into the Merrimack River.

He’s No. 1: Yes, but what made AJ Dybantsa the NBA’s top pick? He’s the exact type of player NBA teams are looking for.


By David Beard

Taylor Ortega and Dan Levy in “Big Mistakes.”Spencer Pazer/Netflix/Spencer Pazer/Netflix © 2025

📺 Best TV so far: A whip-smart Italian import. A New England horror comedy. A gay Lutheran minister and his sister stumble across a criminal. Check out our faves.

🏰 Home of the Week: Hail, Victorian! Brookline’s regal Webber-Bouve Mansion has hit the market for $4.3 million. Take a peek. Plus, see the 1976 home for sale that has a Revolutionary War touch.

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🍕 Riverside eats: Years in the making, the $24 million Esplanade pavilion project with a café nears the finish line.

🎻 Music as a focusing tool: The jury is out on whether music helps you study or work better or takes away focus, However, instrumental music may help more than those jumping lyrical workout tunes. (The Conversation)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Tartan adventure: A Globe reporter went to Scotland to find family history, Highland culture — and a wee dram of whisky.


Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by David Beard and produced by Ryan Orlecki.

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❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.

✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy.

📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.


Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her @ktkjohnston.





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Millions of gallons of wastewater discharged into Merrimack River due to broken pipe

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Millions of gallons of wastewater discharged into Merrimack River due to broken pipe


Approximately eight million gallons of wastewater are currently being discharged into the river per day.

HAVERHILL, Mass. (WWLP) – Those traveling for the Fourth of July weekend are being advised of a wastewater pipe break on the Merrimack River.

The Massachusetts Environmental Police stated that over the weekend, a major wastewater pipe in Haverhill broke, releasing millions of gallons of sewage into the river. The broken pipe was carrying wastewater from the main pumping station to the treatment plant.

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Police estimate that approximately eight million gallons of wastewater are currently being discharged into the river per day.

At this time, fishing in the river is not prohibited, and the estuaries and beaches remain open. However, the information is being released to the public to help community members be aware of current conditions and use caution.

To access more information on water quality testing results, you can visit the official DPH website. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

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