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Tag: Medicine

  • Police accuse Essex driver in hit-run that left woman seriously hurt

    Police accuse Essex driver in hit-run that left woman seriously hurt

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    BEVERLY — Police have arrested an Essex man who appears to have been the driver in a Sunday night a hit-and-run crash that left an Ipswich woman seriously injured.

    On Monday, police arrested Diego Mattos-Vazualdo, 47, of Essex, charging him with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident.

    Officers responded to 375 Rantoul St. about 10:15 p.m. on the report of a female pedestrian who had been struck by a vehicle. The victim was identified as a 27-year-old Ipswich resident.

    Upon locating the woman, police immediately began treating her and tried to make her comfortable. The woman, whose ID has not yet been released, was transported by ambulance to Beverly Hospital to stabilize her injuries — which were believed to be serious — before being Medflighted to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston.

    At this time her condition has not been updated.

    A preliminary investigation revealed the victim had walked into the street and was first struck by a vehicle moving traveling southbound.

    The operator of that vehicle remained on the scene and is cooperating with police.

    The woman was then struck by the second vehicle, operated by Mattos-Vazualdo, who was traveling northbound. He stopped for a matter of seconds, then fled the scene.

    Based on witness statements, an accurate description of the fleeing vehicle was obtained and relayed to surrounding areas.

    Essex police were able to stop a vehicle matching that description, and the operator, identified as Mattos-Vazualdo, told Essex officers he thought he may have struck something.

    He was transported by Beverly Officers back to police headquarters where he was charged. He was expected to be arraigned in court later Monday.

    The investigation remains ongoing with Beverly police and the assistance of the State Police Crash Recon team.

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    By Buck Anderson | Staff Writer

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  • Danvers siblings raise autism awareness

    Danvers siblings raise autism awareness

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    DANVERS — Brother and sister duo Jackson and Taylor Skane, of Danvers, have been advocating for autism most of their lives. On Friday, they were at three elementary schools in Peabody and Danvers to help bring awareness to the neurological disorder and kick off April as Autism Awareness Month.

    Jackson, a high school senior studying dental assisting at Essex Tech, was diagnosed with autism at age 3. His younger sister Taylor, a junior studying culinary also at Essex Tech, has been by Jackson’s side supporting him as they spread the word about autism to communities on the North Shore. On Friday, they visited students at the Brown School in Peabody and the Great Oak and Smith schools in Danvers.

    For nearly 15 years, the siblings have been strong advocates for autism in their neighborhood, schools, and with other organizations, working to raise awareness. They started by giving out blue light bulbs to friends, neighbors, and their schools, and that grew into larger events and opportunities.

    Jackson is one of two student representatives for the Essex Tech School Committee, a member of the Student Council, DECA, an advisory board member for the school’s dental programs, a National Honor Society recipient, and an assistant at North Shore Dance Academy for a class for students with a disability. He is also a youth Board of Director to the Northeast Arc’s board where he is the youngest member, speaking to the interests and priorities of young people with disabilities and autism. He has been part of the Northeast Arc since he was a young child.

    Jackson plans to study special education in college next fall.

    Taylor is a member of the Youth Board for The Rock The Spectrum, a volunteer at The Northeast Arc and Citizens Inn/Haven from Hunger, and an assistant at North Shore Dance Academy for a class for students with a disability. She will graduate next year and also plans to study special education in college.

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    By News Staff

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  • Panel shows the power of nonprofits in Gloucester

    Panel shows the power of nonprofits in Gloucester

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    No matter what you hear, nobody’s gotten to where they are totally on their own.

    That’s what Cape Ann nonprofit leaders said during a panel discussion held Friday on the state of local social justice work following the COVID-19 pandemic. and it’s why their nonprofits are so important, they added.

    “Even being able to get to work, you didn’t do that alone,” said Jill Brown, a SNAP advocate for The Open Door and panelist at the event. “You did that because there’s an infrastructure in place, which happened because of a whole bunch of people working together.”

    Held at the Backyard Growers headquarters off Maplewood Avenue, the panel was largely attended by students of moderator Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber, a Suffolk University professor and Gloucester resident.

    It’s been an uphill battle to help locals in need since the start of the pandemic, panelists said. Prior to 2020, 44% of Gloucester residents were low-income and 66% were cost-burdened, meaning more than 30% of their income goes toward housing, Brown said.

    “Things before the pandemic were not good, and a lot of people who were teetering on the edge just got pushed off it,” said panelist Leah Briere, a client services coordinator for The Open Door.

    “People were not affected equally,” she said. “Those who were already experiencing inequalities, that got even worse.”

    Poverty disproportionately affected people of color during the pandemic, and more than half a million women left the workforce at the time, mostly to care for children during online schooling and missing out on career advancement as a result. Children in poverty experienced higher learning losses than their more well-to-do classmates, Briere said.

    Creating food pathways

    The Open Door reported a dramatic increase in its number of clients during the pandemic. Requests for help are still far from pre-pandemic levels, but there’s more opportunities for those in need, Brown said.

    The Open Door started an online grocery ordering system during the pandemic that allows clients to choose what food they want from the organization, instead of receiving pre-packed bags that might include food they don’t like or can’t eat.

    There’s a new translating service that connects clients with someone who speaks their language when placing an order or requesting other types of assistance from The Open Door, rather than relying on Google Translate as the nonprofit did in the past, Briere said.

    Backyard Growers is starting a farmers market at Burnham’s Field this year that’s focused on providing healthy, affordable food from local farmers. The new spot is easier to walk to for many of the area’s low-income residents, and the market will accept SNAP benefits, said Alison DiFiore, executive director of the organization.

    Valuing skillsets

    Nonprofits have placed a larger emphasis on fostering equity since the pandemic. But creating equity doesn’t just mean promoting diversity, said Andy Allen, director of education and career pathways for Wellspring House in Gloucester.

    Equity is about valuing the skillsets of those with different backgrounds — including immigrants who are learning English, a fair share of Wellspring’s clients who take part in its housing, education and job training assistance programs.

    These clients often feel ashamed of their budding English skills even when they have degrees or worked as lawyers, doctors, engineers or in other high-paying careers back in their old countries.

    “I turn it and say, ‘You know more than one language already. You’re a valuable entity — your qualities are far beyond mine’,” Allen said.

    “You can get a much better job. Yeah, you need to have some English to help you get there, but as soon as (employers) find out that you know eight languages or three, you might be making $50 an hour,” he said.

    Being the change

    The last few years have been overwhelming for the nonprofit sector, even in Gloucester. Yet, as Allen said during the panel, “If you want to make a change, you have to be the one to make change, and you can’t do it by yourself. You need a group of people to stand up.”

    That’s what Susan Erony did when Seham Awad and her family, all Syrian refugees, arrived in Gloucester in 2016. Having fled dictator Hafez al-Assad’s regime prior to staying in overcrowded refugee camps in Turkey, the Awads came to America with next to nothing.

    Erony brought together her friends and other Gloucester residents to raise $35,000 for the Awads and a family of Afghani refugees at the time. The effort turned into The Friends of Cape Ann Refugees, and “friends” is the best way to describe what the unofficial group has become.

    Members celebrate birthdays together and bond over Seham Awad’s delicious cooking, which she’s taught to local schoolchildren through the group. Madmoni-Gerber acts as a translator, speaking both Arabic and English.

    “She loves all the people that helped her along the way,” Madmoni-Gerber said Friday, translating for Awad. “This is beyond an organization. We really love each other and it’s just a wonderful friendship.”

    Contact Caroline E nos at CEnos@northofboston.com.

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    By Caroline Enos | Staff Writer

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  • Meet the man who has tasted everything on the Cheesecake Factory’s ridiculously long menu

    Meet the man who has tasted everything on the Cheesecake Factory’s ridiculously long menu

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    LOS ANGELES — and jabbed his fork into a chunk of glistening cashew chicken.

    He closed his eyes for a moment, considering the texture of the dish, a longtime staple that, after a couple-year hiatus, would soon return to the chain’s menu.

    “Not as soft as I’d like it,” he told the executive chef, who nodded.

    Next, he turned to the seared ahi tuna salad, but he doesn’t like fish, so he took a single bite of lettuce and radish before confidently setting down his fork.

    “Nicely dressed. Great crunch!”

    Third up was Cajun salmon with mashed potatoes and corn. He dredged a spoonful of potatoes through the sauce and his lips wiggled from side to side. He nodded twice.

    “OK, delicious.”

    In the 46 years since he opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills and grew it into the behemoth of casual dining with locations across the globe, David Overton — the company’s official taster, but also its chief executive and co-founder — has built a deep trust in the profitability of his own palate.

    Overton has tasted and approved every one of the menu’s more than 250 items, which despite the factory in its name, the company likes to emphasize are prepared from scratch on site or at the company’s two bakeries.

    “What I like, millions of people like,” Overton, 77, said on a recent morning at the company’s Calabasas Hills headquarters as he weighed in on new offerings. “I have the taste buds of the common man.”

    ■■■

    Over the last few decades, as Cheesecake Factory locations popped up at malls and suburban plazas, they brought to each new corner of the country a sense that you were now in on some universal slice of Americana — a slice, it turns out, that provokes impressively fierce reactions.

    It didn’t matter if you were Tucson, Tampa or Tulsa, you, too, could now laugh with family and friends as you collectively gorged yourselves on the chain’s iconic brown bread. Before long, you, too, would come to associate the restaurant’s decor — a mashup of Egyptian-style columns, dark-wood wainscoting and ethereal murals that, when combined, exude the same over-the-top-yet-somehow-appealing vibe as a Vegas casino — with a sense of nostalgia. This would become the backdrop of birthdays and graduations and late-night meals after prom.

    You were now part of the collective experience shared by doctor and author Atul Gawande, who penned a sprawling ode to the Cheesecake Factory in the New Yorker, a Los Angeles Times food columnist, who, in a viral review in 2019, called his love of the chain “irrational and possibly pathological,” and rapper Drake, who sings about his love for the Cheesecake Factory, christening it as “a place for families that drive Camrys and go to Disney.”

    But not all of the attention is fawning.

    The chain made national headlines in 2017, when a man detonated a homemade explosive device inside a Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena. The FBI said the case remains unsolved.

    Late last year, a video went viral on TikTok of a woman refusing to get out of the car during a first date.

    “This is the Cheesecake Factory,” she says, filming herself, in what some viewers suggested was a staged scene.

    “What’s the problem with that?” he asks.

    “This is a chain restaurant.”

    Before long, someone compiled a list, which also circulated on social media, of places women should refuse to go on first dates, listing Cheesecake Factory as No. 1. (No. 2, Applebee’s; No. 15, the gym; No. 16, church.) The discourse swept the internet, earning two separate pieces in the Washington Post, and loyal fans soon swarmed to the brand’s defense on X.

    “WHO THE HELL DOES NOT WANNA GO TO THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY? BRO IF I WAS TAKEN THERE I WOULD PROPOSE,” one person posted on X (formerly Twitter).

    “I literally met my husband at the bar of a Cheesecake Factory 10 years ago,” Rachelle Tomlinson tweeted. “Stop all the slander!”

    Tomlinson, 30, was on a girls trip to Honolulu in 2014 when she visited the chain for the first time. Tomlinson recounted in an interview how she can still visualize the moment the double doors opened and she locked into a gaze with a man with hazel eyes.

    “Legit love at first sight,” her husband, Sam, recalled, saying the other thing he remembers from that night is that he drank a bunch of Mai Tais.

    Exactly a year from their Cheesecake meet cute, they got married.

    ■■■

    Growing up in Detroit, Overton said, his family could afford to eat out only once a week, usually Sundays at a deli or Chinese spot.

    His father worked at a department store and his mother sold cheesecakes she baked in the family’s basement based on a recipe found in a newspaper. Back then, there were only two varieties — original and original with strawberry topping — and Overton said he and his sister earned a penny for every bakery box they helped their mother fold.

    Years later, when Overton was in his 20s and chasing dreams of becoming a rock ‘n’ roll drummer in San Francisco, his parents, Evelyn and Oscar, tired of Detroit and a string of business ventures that never took off, decided to move west.

    They opened a small, wholesale bakery in North Hollywood, expanding their cheesecake options to include several more flavors, but the Cheesecake Factory Bakery floundered. They were in their mid-50s, working long hours and struggling to find customers who would buy in bulk.

    “I was really getting tired of all these restaurateurs that wouldn’t buy the cake,” Overton said, recalling the frustration that inspired him to start a restaurant of their own.

    On the day they opened in Beverly Hills in 1978, they began welcoming patrons at 2 p.m. and, by 2:10 p.m., Overton said, they were so busy that people had to wait to be seated — an immediate rush he attributes to divine intervention.

    “God was really watching over us,” he said. “I like to say that we had a line in 10 minutes, and it’s really never stopped for the last 45 years.”

    The company opened its second location in Marina del Rey in the early ‘80s and, in 1991, opened the first out-of-state location in Washington, D.C. The next year, the company went public — ticker symbol: CAKE — and today has more than 200 locations in the U.S., as well as several in the Middle East, Mexico and Asia.

    Cheesecake Factory locations brought in $2.5 billion of the company’s $3.3 billion in revenue in 2022, an average of about $12 million in sales at each restaurant, according to the company’s latest annual report to shareholders. (The company also owns the growing chain North Italia, acquired in 2019, as well as Fox Restaurant Concepts, whose upscale, fast casual restaurants the chain sees as a vehicle for expansion.)

    A key growth point, the report notes, has been an increase in takeout and delivery orders, which accounted for about 25% of total sales that year.

    Last year was bruising for a restaurant industry still recovering from pandemic shutdowns and buffeted by rising costs and labor shortages. But during the first nine months of 2023, the Calabasas Hills company racked up increased sales and income, and continued to expand.

    They’ve differentiated themselves with ample portions, a variety of “craveable” dishes difficult to replicate at home and the fact that they, unlike some competitors, still prepare everything from scratch at each restaurant, said Joshua Long, who follows the company in his role as managing director of the financial services firm Stephens.

    “The brand,” Long said, “has really found a spot in the hearts of consumers.”

    ■■■

    As the company grew, so did the length of the menu.

    It started as a single page, front and back, of items simple enough that, if a chef walked out on him, Overton could make them himself — a factory burger, which sold in the early days for $2.10, the Avocado Delights sandwich for $1.75, a slice of cheesecake for $1.25.

    For several years, Overton’s taste buds kept him from adding fish to the menu, and he also dragged his feet on selling steak, because of its price tag.

    “If you went on a date,” he said, “I didn’t want anybody ordering the steak and you couldn’t afford it.”

    Whenever he ate at a rival restaurant, he kept an eye out for dishes he could simplify or transform. During a meal at the Peninsula Beverly Hills years ago, he saw a menu item of cheese straws with avocado, which inspired the idea for avocado egg rolls, now a top seller.

    “How did I let the menu get so big?” Overton said. “I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. If I knew what I was doing and understood the restaurant business, it probably wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

    But it worked — and today, it’s become a key marketing tactic.

    The sheer size of the multi-page, spiral-bound menu has earned a ribbing from Ellen DeGeneres and inspired Halloween costumes and a Buzzfeed list of jokes, including one that, given the menu’s girth, and cultural relevance, compared it to the Bible.

    “We get so much PR just cause of that big menu,” Overton said, smiling. “I always say that our greatest difficulty is the size of the menu, but our greatest defense against competition is the size of our menu.”

    The menu items themselves are a cacophony of calories.

    Every year, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit health advocacy group, releases an “Xtreme Eating Awards “ list of single restaurant dishes that contain around a full day’s worth of calories. Two Cheesecake Factory items made the latest list — an Italian combo plate at 2,800 calories and a French Dip cheeseburger with fries at 2,200.

    But when you bring up calories with Overton, he looks unfazed — decadence is part of the brand and besides, he says, people rarely finish a dish in a single sitting.

    “We’re the king of doggy bags,” he says. “I don’t pay a lot of attention to calories, because we let people choose what they want.”

    But if there’s one thing America wants more than delicious, fattening food, it’s the idea — the vow — that they will soon eat less of it. Enter: SkinnyLicious, the brand’s name for menu items with fewer than 600 calories, which they added to the menu in 2011.

    SkinnyLicious items, Overton said, account for around 15% of sales.

    ■■■

    In the winter of 1993, David Gordon, now the company’s president, was looking for a job as a restaurant manager.

    He had applied to two different places, including a Cheesecake Factory on the Westside, but was more interested in the other small chain — until he had his Cheesecake Factory interview.

    The people interviewing him ate a burger in the middle of the interview — “a little strange,” Gordon says — and steered the conversation toward the intricacies and caliber of french fries. Over 20 minutes, they discussed everything from starch levels to how hollow the fries felt when you bit into them.

    “It intrigued me,” Gordon said. “This is somewhere where quality is incredibly important.”

    Early in his career at the company, Gordon recalled asking the person in charge of operations if there was a chance he would be transferred. He was planning to buy a house in Redondo Beach, Gordon explained, but didn’t want to if he might be moved.

    “No, no, fantastic, things are great,” he recalled being told.

    But a few months later, the man in charge of operations asked him to move to Woodland Hills, promising Gordon that, within a year, he would get him back to the location closest to his home. As the year mark approached, the boss kept his commitment.

    “He cared about me as a person,” Gordon said, noting that the company still works hard to live out that ethos.

    Cheesecake Factory locations are notoriously busy, so if you’re going to ask workers to be slammed all day and prepare and serve more than 200 different items from scratch, the workers need to feel a connection to the restaurant and the people they work for, Gordon said.

    Last year, the Cheesecake Factory, whose restaurants employ about 35,000 people, was one of only two restaurant chains — Panda Express’ parent company was the second — to earn a spot on both Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and People’s Companies that Care lists, which survey employees about company culture, pay, retention, opportunities and fairness.

    Their reputation for conscientiousness took a hit in 2018 when the California Department of Industrial Relations held the company and two janitorial contractors jointly liable for more than $4 million in wage theft violations after an investigation found the contractors’ employees assigned to eight Southern California Cheesecake Factory restaurants didn’t get proper rest or meal breaks, and weren’t paid overtime while waiting for kitchen managers to review their work at the end of a shift. Although Cheesecake Factory didn’t directly employ the workers, state law dictates that companies relying on subcontractors for labor can be held liable for workplace violations.

    In January, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office announced that it had reached a $1 million settlement against the company and both contractors.

    Sidney M. Greathouse, the vice president of legal services for the Cheesecake Factory, issued a statement that said “the company denies any wrongdoing and no longer utilizes the services of the janitorial companies at issue in the case.”

    ■■■

    Today, the company sells more than 30 varieties of cheesecake, but a massive painting of one of the originals — a simple slice topped with strawberry filling — hangs above Overton’s desk in his office that looks out on the hills of Calabasas.

    Sprawled across his desk are several stacks of folders each about a foot high. He’s a few years from 80, but between work and spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, he doesn’t have much down time.

    “I have no time for hobbies,” he says. “I don’t play golf. I don’t do any of that.”

    He thought back on his 20s, around the time he started the business, when he first learned that you didn’t have to print your signature literally, but could sign it however you wanted.

    He played around with it and, as he wrote, let emotion guide him, creating a flowing capital D, which then exploded into 14 looping, semi ovals that start big and trail off.

    “It’s an emotion,” he said. “I just felt like I was moving forward.”

    Through the years, a few people had mocked his signature, he said, including someone who wrote to him saying, “I’m so sorry, with a signature like that, I won’t be investing in your company.”

    But he stuck with it. His gut hadn’t failed him yet.

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    By Marisa Gerber | Los Angeles Times

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  • SENIOR LOOKOUT: A few health decisions to make before you get sick

    SENIOR LOOKOUT: A few health decisions to make before you get sick

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    April is Health Care Decisions Month. A couple years ago, when I heard of this month-long awareness campaign, I thought it was odd. I didn’t understand the importance of having an official health care proxy and discussing how I want my medical care to be handled if I become unable to make decisions on my own. I did not know that my family would not automatically be making these decisions. To ensure that my wishes are known, it was important to set up a health care proxy.

    A health care proxy is a document in which an individual appoints an agent to legally make health care decisions on behalf of the patient when they are incapable of making and executing health care decisions. While a health care proxy can be setup with a lawyer when you prepare your will and other estate documents, it is not necessary to involve a lawyer in this specific document. A health care proxy can be completed at home and only needs your signature with two witnesses. (Note: you should work with a reputable attorney that specializes in estate planning when you prepare your estate documents.)

    I downloaded my health care proxy form from the Honoring Choices Massachusetts website (www.honoringchoicesmass.com). This website will help you explore how to make care choices that are best for you. It has a step-by-step process that helps you to consider the various aspects of choosing an agent and discussing your wishes with them. It also has instructions on voiding a health care proxy, if your circumstances change.

    Once you have chosen a health care agent, you should discuss your feelings on various health care situations with your agent and your doctor(s). The Honoring Choices website has various scenarios that it suggests discussing. Copies of your signed and witnessed document should be placed in your personal files and given to your health care agent and your doctor.

    Once you have your health care proxy in place, there are other written plans you should consider (you can find these documents on www.honoringchoicesmass.com).

    Personal directive. This is a living will. It provides the person you name in your Health Care Proxy with detailed instructions as to how you would like to be cared for. This is not a legal document in Massachusetts, so you want to choose someone who will respect your wishes, even if it is emotionally difficult for them to do so.

    Durable power of attorney. This is assigning a person you trust to handle your money, property and financial matters. It does not have to be the same person you name in your health care proxy. It is recommended, but not required under law, that you complete a durable power of attorney with a lawyer who can advise you given your personal financial matters.

    Medical orders for life-sustaining treatment (MOLST). This document communicates your choices regarding life-sustaining treatments should you become seriously ill. You and your family do not complete this form unless you become seriously ill, but there is a sample document on the website.

    Comfort care/Do Not Resuscitate Order (CC/DNR).This form indicates you do not want resuscitation efforts in the case your heart or breathing stops. It is completed by you or your health care agent should the circumstances for making this decision arise.

    I was very nervous about asking my daughter to be my health care agent. I was afraid that she would panic and worry that I was ill right now. My fears were unfounded. We were able to have a conversation about how I feel about treatment options and a variety of situations. It wasn’t hard and it was a relief to know that this important task has been completed.

    Tracy Arabian is the communications officer at SeniorCare Inc., a local agency on aging that serves Gloucester, Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield and Wenham.

    Tracy Arabian is the communications officer at SeniorCare Inc., a local agency on aging that serves Gloucester, Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield and Wenham.

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    Senior Lookout | Tracy Arabian

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  • It’s OK to ask for help: A look at local Community Behavioral Health Centers

    It’s OK to ask for help: A look at local Community Behavioral Health Centers

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    Whether you’re a student juggling too many deadlines and competing commitments on campus or a police officer struggling with a seemingly no-win situation on the job — or some other level of crisis — there are dedicated places and people you can lean on in your own backyard.

    Throughout the region, behavioral health services operate around the clock as a vital area of support for those in need of help. Many are partnered with community crisis stabilization programs that accept insurance and provide a bed, individual and group therapy, and a life-changing serving of hope to anyone placing an order.

    These services have expanded greatly with the state’s launch of a “Community Behavioral Health Center” system in early 2023. The system, which can be found at tinyurl.com/3s59jpsp, is rapidly expanding with increased awareness and demand.

    “The main reason the state did this redesign from the former service programs to CBHC’s was because, well… the two main reasons were that there was an increase in boarding times, and hospital systems and hospital ERs were flooded with folks walking in for services who may not necessarily need to access the intensity of the emergency room,” said Josh Eigen, CBHC director at Eliot Community Behavioral Health, at 75 Sylvan St. in Danvers and 95 Pleasant St. in Lynn. “And folks were just waiting for placement, so CBHCs were created as an option for folks to get all of their care in the community.”

    People from all walks of life are now walking into such facilities and getting rapid access to care, and coming out well on their way toward a new lease on life.

    “One of the things the pandemic did which was good was that it did bring up conversations,” said Kristen Godin, market president for Northeast Health Services, at 199 Rosewood Drive in Danvers. “We weren’t able to use telehealth before. There was a very select number of players that would allow for telehealth, and that opened the door.

    “That, in and of itself, is a huge access point. Folks who are extremely busy — they work, bring their kids to soccer, are on the PTA, all the things they had to do in their offices — are things they weren’t able to do.”

    Reaching everyone, especially the young

    Walk into a CBHC and you enter a community of hope. Some have message boards for clients to leave notes for those entering. Others have comfy recliners for clients to relax in their lobbies as a hum of human activity comes and goes.

    “As a mental health agency, we’re providers of hope,” Godin said. “We have a hope board, so anybody can write on that board about what they’re experience has been to another person walking by who might have just started their first appointment, or is trying to decide… do I want medication? Do I want TMS services?

    “There was a young woman recently who wrote on our board, ‘I’ve been struggling with mental health for years, tried medication, been in therapy, nothing worked. I tried Spravato, and I have my life back,’” Godin continued. “For me, beyond anything else, that’s what we do this for. That’s why we’re opening 10 clinics, 10 more after that, and expanding further.”

    With CBHCs launching last January, data is now starting to show trends of their impact, Eigen explained.

    “Some of the data is showing that folks are able to access care more immediately,” he said. “It’s opening up other options for folks other than needing to go on waitlists or in the emergency room. … The data we’ve seen so far is showing people are progressing in the treatment we’re offering. We’ve been able to continue for over a year now with not having waitlists, so it’s definitely heading in the right direction.”

    But there’s still work to do to reach some subsets of the population. That includes youth and young adults heading to college, where many factors could collide and cause a drastic drop in mental health that shocks those back home — especially if it isn’t addressed before it’s too late.

    “There has to be an opportunity that mental health is brought up on every college campus, every high school, every elementary school,” Godin said. “At college campuses, the other thing we talk about is substance abuse. If we’re talking about college, there has to be an opportunity if there’s a moment on a Saturday at 4 a.m., where they’re like, ‘who do I call?’”

    Godin recalled going to college and seeing conversations around substance abuse, but not much more.

    “There was never a discussion on counseling, therapy, asking for help,” she said. “There needs to be more of that, posted in all of the guidance counselor’s offices.”

    Vicarious trauma, on the job or at home

    Then there are the others impacted by mental health as part of day-to-day life, more specifically work.

    Say you’re a police officer who witnessed a person dying by suicide, a firefighter helping a badly burned victim out of an engulfed building, or a doctor losing a patient. Vicarious trauma represents the harmful moments experienced by people as part of their daily lives — especially careers.

    It’s also something that affects those answering the phone at crisis centers. But vicarious trauma also goes deeper and can be further experienced by anyone at home, no matter their line of work or level of mental health awareness, according to Godin.

    “No one ever remembers that we’re humans,” she said. “Vicarious trauma is a real thing, and it can happen to the person answering a phone, can happen to me listening to a story, anyone watching a show or listening to the news. One of the things we try to do here at Northeast Health Services is our culture of self-care.

    “All our clinicians are licensed. I’m licensed as a clinician, and my supervisor as a chief operating officer is licensed as a clinician,” Godin continued. “If there’s a debrief that needs to happen that’s critical to make sure folks are okay, self-care regimens, boundaries… we have an EAP program for folks. If they need that, they can call it and get eight appointments right away.”

    Over at Eliot, “our staff have access to regular supervision and support,” Eigen said. “They have regular supervision with supervisors and managers, myself. Some of our teams also have group support where they’re meeting with other clinical directors to talk about tough calls or tough assessments, tough clients that they’re working with.

    “There’s so much trauma that the people we serve have been through,” he continued. “So it’s important and definitely a priority where we provide that kind of support.”

    For more information on CBHCs or to find one nearest you, visit tinyurl.com/3s59jpsp.

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    By Dustin Luca | Staff Writer

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  • Advocates renew push for permanent remote meetings

    Advocates renew push for permanent remote meetings

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    BOSTON — Good government advocates are renewing a push to make permanent pandemic-related rules temporarily authorizing remote meetings for local governing boards, but the move faces opposition from cities and towns which argue they shouldn’t be required to provide virtual participation.

    On Monday a coalition of groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause Massachusetts and the New England Newspaper & Press Association, urged lawmakers to act on a bill that would require cities and towns to provide options for officials and members of the public to attend meetings in person or remotely.

    Temporary rules adopted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed local governing boards — as well as the state Legislature — to meet remotely to conduct business as part of broader efforts to reduce the spread of the virus.

    Those emergency rules expired with the state’s public health emergency, but lawmakers extended the temporary law allowing remote local meetings and public participation. It’s set to expire next year.

    “The countdown is on: If lawmakers don’t act this session, people with disabilities or other reasons they can’t attend meetings will be completely shut out when city councils, select boards, or school committees decide to hold meetings exclusively in person,” the groups wrote in a joint statement.

    “Accessibility makes our democracy stronger, and we can’t afford to close the door on these perspectives and communities,” they said.

    The proposal is one of several bills in the current session they call for making hybrid and remote meetings permanent.

    Lawmakers are considering the changes as part of the so-called Municipal Empowerment Act, filed by Gov. Maura Healey in January.

    The legislation, which is being considered by the Legislature’s Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government, would make permanent other pandemic-era policies like authorizing restaurants to offer outdoor dining and selling to-go cocktails with takeout food.

    But the coalition is criticizing Healey’s proposal, saying it would give cities and towns the discretion to offer remote or hybrid meeting access but not require it, which “would surely limit the public’s ability to participate.”

    “By contrast, the Legislature has embraced hybrid access for public hearings and other events, demonstrating the feasibility and importance of the coalition’s proposed reforms to the Open Meeting Law,” the groups said.

    The move to make remote meetings permanent is backed by the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which argues that local governing boards in some cities and towns have not only adapted to remote meetings but found that they increase public participation. The group wants to extend the rules to town meetings and other local governing functions.

    “There are a number of municipalities already successfully utilizing remote participation,” Adam Chapdelaine, the association’s executive director, said in recent testimony. “We strongly support changes for towns to have a permanent option to conduct remote town meetings, and that this authority also be extended to open town meeting communities.”

    Communities want the flexibility to continue to offer remote access — but not be mandated to do so, according to Chapdelaine. There are more than 10,000 local governing boards in the state, ranging from city councils to planning and zoning boards. The decision to offer remote meetings is often based on public interest, access to technology, staff, space and other factors, he said.

    “Each city and town has dozens of boards, councils and commissions which hold numerous meetings a year and often simultaneously,” Chapdelaine said.

    “These municipalities continue to find the meeting mechanisms that work best for their residents, and making these flexibilities permanent will help ensure they continue to do so.”

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • This Bag of Cells Could Grow New Livers Inside of People

    This Bag of Cells Could Grow New Livers Inside of People

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    In early experiments, Lagasse found that if he injected healthy liver cells into the lymph nodes of mice, the cells would flourish and form a second, smaller liver to take over the functions of the animal’s failing one. The new livers grew up to 70 percent of the size of a native liver. “What happened is that the liver grew to a certain size and then stopped growing when it reached the level necessary for normal function,” Lagasse says.

    At the University of Pittsburgh, Lagasse and his colleagues also tested the approach in pigs. In a study published in 2020, they found that pigs regained liver function after getting an injection of liver cells into an abdominal lymph node. When the scientists examined the lymph nodes with miniature livers, they found that a network of blood vessels and bile ducts had spontaneously formed. The more severe the damage in the pigs’ native liver, the bigger the second livers grew, suggesting the animals’ bodies may be able to recognize the healthy liver tissue and transfer responsibilities to it.

    “It is remarkable to identify lymph nodes as a reproducible and fertile bed for the regeneration of a variety of tissues and organs in two different animal species,” Abla Creasey, vice president of therapeutics development at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, says of the company’s approach. “These findings suggest that such an approach could present an alternative tissue source for patients with failing organs,”

    Elliot Tapper, a liver specialist at the University of Michigan, is also excited by the prospect of turning a lymph node into a new liver. “Even though it’s not where the liver was intended to sit, it can still do some liver functions,” he says.

    The most likely benefit of the LyGenesis treatment, he says, would be removing ammonia from the blood. In end-stage liver disease, ammonia can build up and travel to the brain, where it causes confusion, mood swings, falls, and sometimes comas. He doesn’t think the new mini organs could do all the jobs of a natural liver though, because they contain cell types other than hepatocytes.

    One of the big questions is how many cells it will require for humans to grow a liver big enough to take over certain vital functions, such as filtering blood and producing bile. In the LyGenesis trial, three additional patients will get an injection of 50 million cells into a single lymph node—the lowest “dose.” If that seems safe, a second group of four will get 150 million cells into three different lymph nodes. A third group would get 250 million cells in five lymph nodes—meaning they could have five mini livers growing inside them.

    The effects of the therapy won’t be immediate. Hufford says it will likely take two to three months for the new organ to grow big enough to take over some of the functions of the native liver. And like organ donor recipients, trial participants will need to go on immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives to prevent their body from rejecting the donor cells.

    If the approach works, it could provide a life-saving alternative to liver transplantation for some patients. “If they prove it’s effective and safe,” Tapper says, “there will definitely be candidates that are interested in this kind of intervention.”

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    Emily Mullin

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  • Police/Fire

    Police/Fire

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    In news taken from the logs of Cape Ann’s police and fire departments:

    GLOUCESTER

    Sunday, March 24

    6:23 p.m.: Fireworks were reported on Macomber Road.

    4:13 p.m.: A crash with property damage only was reported at Market Basket on Gloucester Crossing Road.

    3:30 p.m.: A resident came into the police station lobby to report identity theft. The resident explained someone used his Social Security number to create an account under his name. The account showed a balance of $1.01. Police said the resident contacted the company to report the fraudulent activity and the company canceled the account. The residentreported a separate incident in October 2023 in which someone tried to initiate a purchase using his credit card and the transaction was denied, and that reported that recently, his email was logged in from Vietnam, but his account has since been secured.

    Noon: A person reported the theft of approximately $100 in cash and a check that had been placed in the car’s visor after she went to Addison Gilbert Hospital on Washington Street and parked at the nearby Seacoast Nursing Home. She parked at 10 a.m. and noticed the money was missing around 10:50 a.m. on March 21. The bank put an immediate stop on the check to keep it from being cashed.

    11:32 a.m.: Police were called to help the Fire Department make entry into a residence on Sayward Street due to a person who fell and was home alone. The person refused medical treatment.

    10:27 a.m.: A caller from a vacant lot on Main Street reported someone was spitting on him. The indiviuals were separated and police cleared the scene.

    10:17 a.m.: A caller from Granite Street reported a carbon monoxide detector had activated. The caller was advised to step outside and the Fire Department was dispatched.

    8:15 a.m.: A resident reported someone tried to get into her shed. Police saw the shed door had a piece broken off and the door handle was found on the ground nearby. Police said it did not appear anyone got into the shed because the door was frozen shut due to the rain and falling temperatures overnight.

    Saturday, March 23

    Crashes with property damage only: at 11:36 a.m. on Blackburn Circle with a person reportedly taken to the hospital; at 9:03 p.m. on Grant Circle, Washington Street and Ashland Place.

    Disturbances were reported on Poplar Street at 12:38 p.m. and Sayward Street at 2:26 p.m.

    11:11 a.m.: Smoke alarms were reported sounding at 264 Main St. Gloucester Fire Department was dispatched.

    11 a.m.: Police on Friday, March 22, learned a man had two fully extraditable warrants issued in Texas against him and that he might be living in Gloucester at his parents’ house. The offenses included making terroristic threats against a police officer/judge and multiple warrants out of Collin County, Texas. On Saturday, the Collin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the warrant service was active and fully extraditable. Police requested a warrant against the man on a charge of being a fugitive from justice. The 36-year-old was arrested at a residence on Essex Avenue on a straight arrest warrant Monday, March 25, by a detective, a deputy from the U.S. Marshals Service and a trooper from the State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section. The man was placed into custody without incident and taken to the Rockport Police Department for booking. He was later taken to court.

    ROCKPORT

    Sunday, March 31

    Traffic stops were conducted on Broadway at 6:33 and 6:56 p.m. Both drivers were given verbal warnings.

    9:58 a.m.: After an alarm was reported, the Fire Department was dispatched to a Beach Street address.

    9:52 a.m.: A police wellness check made at a Main Street address.

    7:58 a.m.: After a report was received at High Street address, a verbal warning was issued.

    Saturday March 30

    6:42 p.m.: A noise complaint was made at a Sandy Bay Terrace address.

    Medical alarms were activated on Curtis Street at 12:03 p.m. and High Street Court at 6:06 p.m. Both later proved to be false.

    5:38 p.m.: A report was made about lost and found property at a Granite Street address.

    2:08 p.m.: A report was made about road conditions on Main Street.

    1:26 p.m.: A motor vehicle crash was reported on Blue Gate Lane.

    12:09 p.m.: After a well-being check at a South Street address, an ambulance transport was conducted.

    12:04 p.m.: A report was made about a neighbor dispute on Granite Street.

    12:04 p.m.: After a motor vehicle stop on Thatcher Road, a verbal warning was issued.

    9:19 a.m.: After an alarm was reported, the Fire Department was dispatched to a Beach Street address.

    8:08 a.m.: A medical emergency ambulance transport was conducted at a Main Street address.

    Friday, March 29

    Medical emergencies: Ambulance transport to a hospital was made from South Street at 1:56 a.m. and Sandy bay Terrace at 3:38 a.m. while services were provided at a Rowe Avenue address at 7:22 p.m.

    2:13 p.m.: A motor vehicle crash was reported on Railroad Avenue.

    7:14 a.m.: After a motor vehicle stop on Thatcher Road, a verbal warning was issued.

    ESSEX

    Sunday, March 31

    Citizens were assisted on John Wise Avenue at 11:04 a.m. and 8:31 p.m., and Main Street at 11:04 a.m.

    8:11 p.m.: Suspicious activity was reported at a Water Street address.

    Disturbances were reported on Choate Street at 7:08 p.m. and Western Avenue at 7:46 p.m.

    Ambulance transport was refused by an individual who fell at a Western Avenue address at 11:02 a.m. and a patient who suffered a diabetic episode at a Main Street address at 4:52 p.m.

    4:23 p.m.: A motor vehicle crash on Lebaron Road was reported.

    10:27 a.m.: A report was made after a police investigation was conducted at a John Wise Avenue address.

    Saturday, March 30

    7:07 p.m.: A report was made after a motor vehicle complaint at a Martin Street address.

    9:04 a.m.: A welfare check was conducted at a Main Street address.

    8:54 a.m.: Assistance was provided during a community policing call at a Shepard Memorial Drive address.

    7:57 a.m.: After a report of a fall at a Southern Avenue address, a patient refused a medical ambulance transport.

    MANCHESTER

    Sunday March 31

    Traffic stops were conducted at the intersection of the northbound lanes of Route 128 and School Street at 12:41 a.m. and 1:12 a.m., when written warnings were issued, and on the northbound lanes of Route 128 at 6:09 p.m. when a verbal warning was given.

    12:13 a.m.: Suspicious activity at White Beach was reported.

    Friday, March 29

    2:54 p.m.: Community policing was provided at a Lincoln Street address.

    Traffic stops were made on at the intersection of Route 128 and School Street at 1:59 a.m., when no action was taken, and on the northbound lanes of Route 128 at 2:40 p.m., when a verbal warning was issued.

    Citizens were assisted on Central Street at 9:28 a.m. and 2:15 a.m.

    1:59 a.m.: After a motor vehicle stop at the intersection of Route 128 and School Street, no action was taken.

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  • Money flowing into jails for opioid treatment

    Money flowing into jails for opioid treatment

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    BOSTON — Money is flowing into state and county correctional facilities to help treat substance abuse disorders, putting sheriffs and jail wardens on the front lines of the state’s battle against opioid addiction.

    A first-of-its-kind report on funding for the 14 sheriffs offices across the state shows that a sizable chunk of more than $23.5 million in state and federal grants they received last year was earmarked for jail-based, medication-assisted treatment programs.

    The Essex County Sheriff’s Office received more than $2.7 million in federal and state grants for programs in the previous fiscal year, much of which was devoted to medication-assisted treatment and other substance abuse programs.

    The money was provided through grants from the U.S. Department of Justice and the state Department of Public Health, among other funding sources.

    Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger said about two-thirds of the inmate population is struggling with some kind of substance use disorder, and the demand for drug treatment is increasing.

    He has an average of about 170 inmates on medication-assisted treatment and other programs at Middleton Jail and other locations.

    The efforts are crucial to prepare inmates for reentry into the community and reduce recidivism by breaking the cycle of incarceration, he said.

    “When people get released we don’t want them to end up back in the criminal justice system,” Coppinger said. “We want to get them out of here and keep them on the straight and narrow.”

    Essex County was one of the first in the state to set up a detox inside the jail, and has expanded its substance abuse treatments over the years. It has been approved for a license to administer medication-assisted treatments.

    In some cases, inmates request medication-assisted treatment to get clean while they are incarcerated. In others, people committed to the jail are already in a community-based program receiving medication and are able to continue their treatment while they do their time, Coppinger said.

    He said the Sheriff’s Office is building a new dispensary for opioid-related drug treatments at its prerelease center in Lawrence – known as the “farm” – which also will have the authority dispense treatments without transporting inmates to an outside facility.

    “Because we have a license, we can do this now, which is going to help us substantially,” he said. “Securitywise, it’s a no-brainer. We can dispense it in-house now.”

    Sheriffs see spike in need

    In Middlesex County, the Sheriff’s Office received more than $815,000 in grants in the previous fiscal year with the majority of the money devoted to opioid and other substance abuse programs, according to the report.

    The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office received more than $3.7 million in the previous fiscal year, with more than $520,000 devoted for medication-assisted treatment and reentry services, the report noted.

    The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office reported a nearly $900,000 grant from the Department of Public Health for medication-assisted treatment programs.

    Sheriffs say while the inmate population in state and county correctional facilities has been declining for years, the demand for substance use and mental health treatment in county jails has been spiking, putting a strain on resources. The grants are intended to offset those costs, but more funding is needed, sheriffs said.

    “It’s never enough money,” Coppinger said. “But I think it’s working based on feedback I’ve received from former inmates and the community.”

    Treatment drugs, costs

    There are three types of medication-assisted treatment in use in state prisons and county jails around the state, to varying degrees.

    Methadone, which is usually dispensed to addicts who visit clinics for a daily dose, has been used for decades to treat heroin addiction. Until recently, it was one of the only options for medication-assisted therapy. Methadone, which acts to block opioid receptors in the brain, can ease withdrawal symptoms that may trigger a relapse.

    Buprenorphine, which is sold by its brand name Suboxone and typically prescribed by a doctor, has become a preferred treatment.

    There’s also naltrexone, a non-narcotic drug often known by its brand name Vivitrol, which is injected monthly.

    None of the drug treatments come cheap. While methadone treatments can cost up to $3,500 a year per patient, even the generic form of Suboxone costs two to three times as much, according to the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors. Vivitrol costs about $1,300 per shot, according to the group.

    Opioid-related overdoses killed 2,357 people in Massachusetts last year, setting a new record high fatality rate of 33.5 per 100,000 people – an increase of 2.5% from the previous year, according to public health data.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • SENIOR LOOKOUT: Tips for reducing risk of a taking spill

    SENIOR LOOKOUT: Tips for reducing risk of a taking spill

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    The fear of falling as we age is a very real concern. Most of us can tell a story of a friend or loved one who fell and experienced a life-changing injury. The National Institute on Aging reports that more than one in three people age 65 years or older falls each year. For an older person, a fall can be the start of serious problems, such as injury, a hospital stay, or even disability.

    Concern about falling can lead an older person to avoid activities such as walking, shopping, or taking part in social activities — even if they haven’t fallen previously. The irony is that the likelihood of falling increases if a person doesn’t stay active. If they allow fear to keep them inactive at home, they are more likely to fall.

    There are several factors that help explain why older people are at higher risk for falling. Poor eyesight can make it difficult to see a step, a throw rug, or a toy on the floor. Certain medical conditions or medications can cause dizziness.

    A person can lower their chances of falling. Some falls don’t “just happen.” Here are a few tips to help you avoid falls:

    — Stay physically active. Talk to your doctor about what you can do safely to stay active.

    — Have your eyes and hearing tested. When you get new eyeglasses or contact lenses, take time to get used to them.

    — Find out about the side effects of medicines you take. If a drug makes you sleepy or dizzy, tell your doctor or pharmacist.

    — Get enough sleep.

    — Limit the amount of alcohol you drink.

    — Stand up slowly.

    — Use a cane or walker if you need help feeling steady when you walk. Again, you should speak with your doctor to learn which might be best for you.

    — Be very careful when walking on wet or icy surfaces.

    — Wear non-skid, rubber-soled, low-heeled shoes, or lace-up shoes with non-skid soles that fully support your feet.

    — Don’t walk on stairs or floors in socks or in shoes or slippers with smooth soles.

    — Be careful about long dresses, slacks, or pajamas that could trip you.

    There are many ways you can make your home safer. Just a few include:

    — Keep cords away from areas where you walk.

    — Remove loose carpets and rugs or tack down the carpets and only use rugs with non-skid backing.

    — Add lights in dimly lit areas and at the top and bottom of stairs.

    —Use nightlights in bedrooms, halls, and bathrooms.

    — Clean up clutter – especially near staircases.

    — Put handrails on both sides of any steps or stairs in or outside of your home.

    — Add grab bars near the toilet and bathtub, and no-slip decals or a rubber mat in the tub or shower.

    If you are concerned about falling, you can register for an emergency response system. If you fall or need emergency help, you push a button on a special necklace or bracelet to alert 911. There is a fee for this service and it is not always covered by insurance. You can call SeniorCare’s Information & Referral Department at 978-281-1750 for a list of services available in our area.

    Always tell your doctor if you have fallen since your last checkup, even if you weren’t hurt. A fall can alert your doctor to a new medical problem or problems with your medications or eyesight that can be corrected. Your doctor may suggest physical therapy, a walking aid, or other steps to help prevent future falls.

    SeniorCare offers the free evidence-based workshop “A Matter of Balance” several times each year. The next session is scheduled for Wednesdays from April 24 to June 13, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Ipswich YMCA,110 County Road in Ipswich. A Matter of Balance educates and supports aging adults around falling and the fear of falling. Topics such as viewing falls as controllable, setting realistic goals for increasing physical activity and modifying our environments help participants create a personal plan to lessen the risk of falling.

    There is no charge to attend A Matter of Balance, but advance registration is required. For information about or to register for A Matter of Balance, please contact Abby Considine at SeniorCare at 978-281-1750.

    Tracy Arabian is the communications officer at SeniorCare Inc., a local agency on aging that serves Gloucester, Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield and Wenham.

    Tracy Arabian is the communications officer at SeniorCare Inc., a local agency on aging that serves Gloucester, Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield and Wenham.

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    Senior Lookout | Tracy Arabian

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  • Voices of Hope to reach $1M in donations

    Voices of Hope to reach $1M in donations

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    ANDOVER — At first they sang to remember, now they also sing to celebrate.

    Local nonprofit and production company Voices of Hope will hold its annual check presentation today at 7 p.m. at the group’s “Nest” at Ballard Vale United Church, 23 Clark Road.

    The check will push the group above the $1 million mark in its fight against cancer. Voices of Hope has been singing and raising money since 2009.

    “It’s been a whirlwind,” said Greg Chastain, founder of Voices of Hope.

    Money raised by the group go directly to the Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies.

    The guest speakers will include Dejan Juric, head of the Termeer Center; Casandra McIntyre, head of nursing at Termeer; Erika Rosato, head of nursing MGH Cancer Center; Jonathan and Susan Zuker, Conquer Cancer Coalition; Jordan Rich, WBZ Radio; and state Reps. Adrianne Ramos and Frank Moran.

    Voices of Hope also has an upcoming production of “Hello, Dolly!” at North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly on April 13-14. The production is based on Thornton Wilder’s comedy “The Matchmaker” and follows matchmaker Dolly Levi while she meddles in the love affairs of others while pursuing a match of her own, according to a press release from Voices of Hope.

    Chastain’s first production for the group came after losing his mom to pancreatic cancer, as a way to give back to the community.

    “Supposed to be a one-time show,” he said. “It has exploded since then.”

    Last year, the nonprofit held two sold-out shows of “The Music Man.”

    The group will also be receiving congratulatory messages via video from Cheryl Bentyne of The Manhattan Transfer; Dave McGillivray, the founder and president of DMSE Sports Inc. and race director for the Boston Marathon; Jonathan and Patti Kraft of the New England Patriots; and Sam Kennedy, president of the Boston Red Sox.

    The group’s donations over the years have been in concert with large strides in medical progress that prolonged the lives of many.

    “Since we have started working with MassGeneral, they brought 24 FDA-approved therapy drugs to market,” he said. “We are a huge part of that.”

    Their donations also fund nursing scholarships at the hospital.

    In addition to the concerts, Voices of Hope also holds a summer youth program. The program lasts for five weeks and sees about 20 participants, Chastain said.

    He said students learn a show as well as theater skills, life skills and about philanthropy.

    It also funds a ride share program to transport patients to the hospital.

    Chastain has a photo of his mother at the studio where Voices of Hope rehearses productions.

    “She is a constant reminder of why we do this,” he said.

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    By Teddy Tauscher | Staff Writer

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  • SENIOR LOOKOUT: Tips for battling viral gastroenteritis

    SENIOR LOOKOUT: Tips for battling viral gastroenteritis

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    When I was a kid, there were two types of illness in our household. If it was a respiratory illness, you had a cold. It was either a “head cold” and a minor inconvenience, or it was the dreaded “chest cold” and the victim was a very sick kid. If it was a stomach or intestinal illness, it was the “flu.” A kid with the flu was put on the sofa with a glass of warm ginger ale, some saltine crackers and a bucket.

    Now I know that what we called the “flu” was probably viral gastroenteritis, an intestinal infection marked by watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea or vomiting, and sometimes fever. Viral gastroenteritis is extremely infectious, often passing from person to person because an infected person did not wash his or her hands after using the bathroom. Viral gastroenteritis symptoms usually appear one to three days after you’re infected and can range from mild to severe. Symptoms usually last just a day or two, but occasionally they may persist as long as 10 days.

    A basically healthy person is likely recover without complications. But for infants, older adults and people with compromised immune systems, viral gastroenteritis can be deadly.

    The best way to prevent the spread of intestinal infections is to follow these precautions:

    Wash your hands thoroughly and rinse thoroughly. Carry sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer for times when soap and water aren’t available.

    Use separate personal items around your home. Avoid sharing eating utensils, drinking glasses and plates. Use separate towels in the bathroom.

    Keep your distance. Avoid close contact with anyone who has the virus, if possible.

    Disinfect hard surfaces. If someone in your home has viral gastroenteritis, disinfect hard surfaces, such as counters, faucets and doorknobs.

    The most likely complication of viral gastroenteritis is dehydration. Infants, older adults and people with suppressed immune systems may become severely dehydrated when they lose more fluids than they can replace. Hospitalization might be needed so that lost fluids can be replaced intravenously.

    To help keep a person with viral gastroenteritis more comfortable and prevent dehydration while they recover, try the following:

    Stop eating solid foods for a few hours.

    Try sucking on ice chips or taking small sips of water, clear soda, clear broths or noncaffeinated sports drinks. Drink plenty of liquid every day, taking small, frequent sips.

    Ease back into eating. Gradually begin to eat bland, easy-to-digest foods, such as soda crackers, toast, gelatin, bananas, rice and chicken. Stop eating if your nausea returns.

    Avoid dairy products, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and fatty or highly seasoned foods.

    Get plenty of rest. The illness and dehydration may have made you weak and tired.

    Be cautious with medications. If you are concerned about a medication, contact the prescribing doctor to get advice.

    How do you know when it’s time to see the doctor? If the person with viral gastroenteritis is an adult, call the doctor if the person:

    — Is not able to keep liquids down for 24 hours.

    — Has been vomiting for more than two days.

    — Vomiting blood

    — Is dehydrated. Signs of dehydration include excessive thirst, dry mouth, deep yellow urine or little or no urine, and severe weakness, dizziness or lightheadedness

    — There is blood in his or her bowel movements

    — Has a fever above 104 F (40 C).

    Viral gastroenteritis can be dangerous to older adults. The adult immune system tends to become less efficient later in life. If you have an older person in your life who develops nausea and, or diarrhea, keep a close eye on him or her. Make sure the person takes in fluids, and don’t be afraid to call the doctor if you have concerns.

    Tracy Arabian is the communications officer at SeniorCare Inc., a local agency on aging that serves Gloucester, Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield and Wenham.

    Tracy Arabian is the communications officer at SeniorCare Inc., a local agency on aging that serves Gloucester, Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield and Wenham.

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    Senior Lookout | Tracy Arabian

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  • A Man Has Received the First Pig-Kidney Transplant

    A Man Has Received the First Pig-Kidney Transplant

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    The first reported person in the world has received a genetically modified pig kidney. A transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital successfully performed the groundbreaking, four-hour procedure on Richard Slayman, a 62-year-old manager at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, on March 16. His doctors report he is doing well and expect him to leave the hospital soon.

    The surgery was the culmination of years of work transplanting kidneys from a specially bred group of pigs—which had been genetically modified to more closely resemble those of humans—into primates. Encouraged by those results, the team at Mass General Brigham—the health system to which the hospital belongs—was confident it was time to test the pig organs in the first patient.

    Slayman had received a human kidney transplant five years ago, but like so many people with kidney disease, the organ began to fail and he continued to need dialysis. Even those frequent efforts to replenish his kidney function weren’t enough, however, and his health progressively worsened. “At one point, he literally said, I just cannot go on like this,” said Dr. Winfred Williams, Slayman’s physician and associate chair of nephrology at Massachusetts General Hospital, during a March 21 briefing.

    Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Legorreta Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance, was Slayman’s kidney transplant surgeon five years ago, and he also performed the pig-kidney surgery. While more than a dozen people in the operating room watched, Kawai carefully connected the pig kidney to Slayman’s circulatory system—not an easy task, given the patient’s history of diabetes and hypertension, which had weakened his blood vessels. “The size of the pig kidney was exactly the same as the human kidney,” Kawai said during the briefing. “Upon restoration of blood flow into the kidney, the kidney pinked up immediately and started to make urine. When we saw the first urine output, everyone in the operating room burst into applause. It was truly the most beautiful kidney I have ever seen.”

    The pig donor

    The kidney came from a special group of pigs bred to produce human-like kidneys. eGenesis, a biotech company that has been studying ways to make animal tissues as human as possible, worked closely with the research team at Mass General Brigham to come up with the right genetic animal donors that would make their organs safe enough to transplant into people, and effective enough to take over their kidney function.

    Several genetic innovations over the past few decades made such a feat possible. The pigs’ cells were treated with the gene-editing technology CRISPR, which allows scientists to make very precise genetic changes in cells. These CRISPR-ed cells were then used to create pig clones so the pigs would have identical and consistent genetic changes. Their kidneys were then transplanted first into primates, and finally into Slayman.

    All told, the pig kidneys contained 69 genetic changes in three major categories. The scientists knocked out or eliminated three pig genes that trigger immediate rejection by the human immune system, added seven human genes to make the pig tissue appear more human to the immune cells, and inactivated viral genes in pig cells that could cause infections. They also used a unique cocktail of antibody treatments to further dampen the immune reaction and give the transplanted kidney the best chance of surviving in the patient.

    Next steps

    eGenesis is working on other pig organs as well. In January, the company partnered with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania to transplant a genetically modified pig liver into a brain-dead patient. That work, along with Slayman’s experience, is making a strong case for the role of pig organs in addressing the shortage of organs for thousands of patients on waiting lists. More than 100,000 people are placed on the kidney transplant waiting list in the U.S. each year, while only 20,000 kidneys are available.

    The Mass General Brigham team hopes to perform more of these transplants to get a better idea of how long the pig kidneys can function and whether they can meaningfully extend the length and quality of patients’ lives. For now, says Williams, patients on the waiting list or dialysis could potentially benefit from receiving a pig kidney temporarily as they wait for a human one. Even such bridging can be critical for patients like Slayman; while he had been on dialysis, he experienced clotting issues that compromised the blood flow required to make it effective and required dozens of surgeries to improve his circulation. Pig kidneys could become a realistic option for people like him for whom dialysis becomes too challenging.

    The long-term hope is that pig kidneys may even become a substitute for human organs if they prove up to the task. “We never anticipated dialysis would become a lifelong solution for kidney failure,” said Dr. Leonardo Riella, medial director of kidney transplantation at Mass General Brigham and lead investigator of the trial. “Yet this is the stark reality for over 600,000 patients in the U.S.; dialysis has sadly become their last resort for managing their disease. Now picture a different narrative, one where healthy kidneys are readily available for transplantation. Today we are offering a glimmer of hope that may one day be possible for many more patients.”

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    Alice Park

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  • A Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Was Just Transplanted Into a Person for the First Time

    A Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Was Just Transplanted Into a Person for the First Time

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    Slayman received his first kidney transplant in 2018 from a human donor. The donor kidney initially functioned well, but Slayman started to go into kidney failure after years of living with diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease, which can eventually result in kidney failure.

    He had no choice but to go on dialysis, a treatment that removes excess fluid and waste from a person’s blood. But the dialysis caused complications—his blood vessels were clotting and failing. Slayman wound up in the hospital regularly and endured dozens of procedures to try to fix the problem.

    “Slowly but surely, I witnessed my patient becoming increasingly despondent and depressed over his dialysis situation,” Winfred Williams, a kidney specialist and member of Slayman’s medical team, said on Thursday.

    Finally, Williams suggested a pig kidney transplant. Slayman agreed. “I saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” Slayman said in a statement released by Massachusetts General Hospital.

    The procedure was performed under the Food and Drug Administration’s “compassionate use” pathway, which allows a patient with a life-threatening condition to access an experimental treatment when no other options exist. Slayman is also receiving an infusion of novel immunosuppressant drugs to prevent rejection of the organ. His medical team is currently monitoring his kidney function using ultrasound.

    The Massachusetts team thinks the ideal candidate for a pig kidney will be a patient who was approved for a regular human kidney transplant but has a long wait time for a donor.

    The pig kidney transplant comes on the heels of a procedure in January, in which surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania successfully attached a gene-edited pig liver to a braindead person and found that the organ functioned normally for 72 hours. The liver, also from eGenesis, contained the same 69 edits as Slayman’s kidney.

    The liver is a more complicated organ because of the many functions it performs, so researchers don’t think pig livers are ready to be used in place of human ones just yet. Instead, they could be used outside the body and connected to patients who are waiting for a human organ or those who need temporary support while their own liver recovers.

    Researchers have been working up to transplanting a modified pig kidney in a person. Last year, eGenesis reported that a kidney from one of its edited pigs functioned in a monkey for more than two years. And scientists at New York University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham have transplanted gene-edited pig kidneys into braindead patients to observe how well the organs function.

    Jayme Locke, an abdominal transplant surgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who has overseen some of those experiments, was thrilled to hear about the Boston kidney transplant. “This is wonderful news, and it’s great to see it move into the clinic,” she told WIRED in an interview.

    Locke says the recent flurry of xenotransplantation experiments shows that the idea of using pig organs in people is gaining momentum and is here to stay. “I think it really has staying power and it’s going to really revolutionize the field and hopefully offer organs to all those in need,” she says.

    Locke’s team is also looking to do pig-to-human kidney transplants. She said she has several patients in mind for the procedures and is just waiting on the FDA to give the greenlight. “We’re ready to go.”

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    Emily Mullin

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  • Lawmakers seek to finalize gun control bill

    Lawmakers seek to finalize gun control bill

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    BOSTON — House and Senate lawmakers huddled on Wednesday to begin negotiations on a gun control proposal that calls for updating the state’s bans on “assault” weapons and setting new restrictions on the open carry of firearms.

    Both the state Senate and House of Representatives have approved legislation banning untraceable firearms or so-called “ghost” guns, authorizing tracking systems for handguns, and setting tougher firearm licensing requirements.

    But differences between the bills must be worked out by House and Senate negotiators before a final version heads to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for consideration.

    On Wednesday, a six-member committee that includes Sens. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and Joan Lovely, D-Salem, held its first meeting to kick off the negotiations. The panel voted to close the meeting to the press and public to conduct deliberations behind closed doors.

    A key sticking point in the talks is likely to be differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill dealing with where lawfully owned firearms can be carried.

    The House’s bill drew strong opposition from the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, which cited concerns that include provisions which limit where gun owners may bring their weapons. But the association has backed the Senate’s plan and voiced support for the changes.

    Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Tarr, sought to amend the bill by increasing criminal penalties for gun-related crimes and improving reporting on illegal gun seizures. Most were withdrawn or rejected.

    But Democrats joined with Tarr and other Republicans in supporting a bipartisan amendment “grandfathering-in” firearms and long rifles that would be added to the “assault” weapons ban under the proposed legislation.

    Under the amendment, if the owners lawfully purchased the firearms before the bill’s passage, they would not be subject to enforcement of the ban. Tarr is likely to push for that provision to be included in the final bill.

    A key provision of both bills would update the “assault” weapons ban by outlawing untraceable guns that can be assembled using parts manufactured on 3D printers. The plan also adds dozens of long rifles and firearm components to the ban, first approved in 1998.

    Both proposals would expand the state’s “red flag” law, which allows a judge to suspend the gun license of someone deemed at risk to themselves or others.

    The law, approved in 2018, allows police, friends or relatives of a legal gun owner to seek an order if they believe that person poses a risk to themselves or others. The changes would expand that list to include physicians, nurses, psychiatrists and other health care professionals.

    Massachusetts already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, including real-time license checks for private gun sales and stiff penalties for gun-based crimes.

    Last year, Democrats pushed through changes to the state’s gun licensing laws in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling guaranteeing a constitutional right of people to carry firearms in public places.

    Democrats cite mass shootings across the country and argue the high court’s ruling in the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen case weakened the state’s firearm protections.

    Gun control advocates argue the strict requirements have given the largely urban state one of the lowest gun-death rates in the nation, while not infringing on people’s right to bear arms.

    But Second Amendment groups argue that tougher gun control laws are unnecessary, and punish law-abiding gun owners while sidestepping the issue of illegal firearms.

    The Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts, has dubbed both proposals the “Lawful Citizen’s Imprisonment Act” and urged its members to contact conference committee members and urge them not to approve the firearm restrictions.

    “There is nothing in any of the language that will reduce violent crime or address the mental health epidemic,” the group said in a statement.

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • Police/Fire

    Police/Fire

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    In news taken from the logs of Cape Ann’s police and fire departments:

    ROCKPORT

    Monday, March 18

    1:22 p.m.: The Fire Department was dispatched to a Pigeon Hill Street address to conduct an investigation after a report of smoke.

    When it was determined the smoke was emanating from the Lanesville section of Gloucester, the Gloucester Fire Department was notified about the situation, said Rockport Fire Chief Mark Wonson.

    Medical alarms were reported at addresses on Arens Road at 8:45 a.m. and Mt. Pleasant Street at 1:21 p.m. Both later proved to be false.

    12:31 p.m.: A medical emergency ambulance transport was conducted from a Gap Head Road address.

    MANCHESTER

    Monday, March 18

    5:58 p.m.: Suspicious activity was reported at a Harold Street address.

    5:28 p.m.: A report was made about an alleged fraud/scam at a Raymond Street address.

    Lost and found property was reported on Central Street at 10 a.m. and 5:24 p.m.

    Traffic stops were conducted at the intersection of Pine Street and Greenbrier Road at 11:34 a.m. and on Pine Street at 11:56 a.m. Both drivers were issued a written warning.

    9:03 a.m.: A police investigation was conducted at a Lincoln Street address.

    8:53 a.m.: An animal complaint was made at a Rockwood Heights Road address.

    GLOUCESTER

    Sunday, March 10

    9:54 p.m.: A crash with property damage only in the vicinity of 51 Main St. resulted in the arrest of a 27-year-old Gloucester woman on charges of driving under the influence of liquor and using an electronic device while driving, first offense. The crash report said the driver of a 2022 Jeep called police to say she had struck a parked Toyota on Main Street while texting on her cell phone. Police arrived and were flagged down by the driver. The resident failed several field sobriety tests and a portable breath test showed she had a blood alcohol content above the legal limit of 0.08%, the report said. She was arrested and police had the vehicle towed. Her license was seized and she was issued a notice that her license was suspended. The driver was described as cooperative during the incident.

    2:47 p.m.: Police took a report of prescription medication stolen from a Main Street residence.

    1:37 p.m.: A caller reported two young girls vandalizing property in in Clark Cemetery on Centennial Avenue. The girls were picked up by their parents.

    12:34 p.m.: A vehicle theft was reported on Taylor Street, along with at least three car breaks. While the officer was responding to the initial address, he was stopped by neighbors saying their cars had been broken into overnight, rummaged through, but nothing was missing from them. One woman told police when she came out in the morning to her vehicle in her driveway, she noticed her glove box had been rummaged through and she found items on the seat floor and floor mat, though nothing appeared missing. Another neighbor said his vehicle had been broken into and rummaged through overnight. The resident of Staten Street said when he came out in the morning, he noticed his passenger side door was cracked open, the glove box had been gone through and the visors were down. Nothing appeared missing and the car break was not caught on surveillance camera. Both said their vehicles had been unlocked overnight. Another woman on Taylor Street said she had parkedin her driveway around 8 p.m. and locked her car. She noted that there was a spare key fob in the center console, but its key was dead. Around 8 a.m., her brother contacted her thinking she was out because her vehicle was not in her driveway, the report said. When she came out to check, her vehicle was gone. Yet another neighbor told police his vehicle had been broken into and his glove box rummaged through. He told police his vehicle had been unlocked and nothing was missing. The stolen vehicle was entered into the National Crime Information Center database and police put out a broadcast to be on the lookout for the vehicle.

    11:56 p.m.: A crash with property damage only was reported on Fuller Street.

    11:31 a.m.: Police responded to a report of an assault at the Cape Ann YMCA on Gloucester Crossing Road. A caller reported being assaulted during a pickup game and punches were thrown. The case was under investigation and an officer was to review surveillance video at a later date.

    10:16 a.m.: A city ordinance violation was reported on Thatcher Road. A caller reported a refrigerator had been left for the trash in front of the home with the door still attached — the violation .

    8:50 a.m.: A caller to 911 told police he was trying to dock his boat at Gloucester Marine Railways but there appeared to be two people there engaged in drug activity inside a black sedan on the lot. Police were dispatched but were unable to locate the vehicle in question.

    8:40 a.m.: A Mason Street resident reported damage to his front windshield and hood. Police found the windshield had been broken and multiple construction bricks were located on the ground around the vehicle. The resident said he did not have any suspects in mind. After further inspection, it appeared the neighbor’s chimney was damaged and missing several bricks. The night had been extremely windy and it appeared the chimney could have been damaged by the wind, the report said. Police spoke with the neighbor, who was understanding and spoke with the resident with the damaged vehicle and police said the pair would work to come up with a resolution.

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  • Senate approves bill to expand early education

    Senate approves bill to expand early education

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    BOSTON — The state Senate has approved a plan aimed at expanding access to child care and early education for parents while attracting and retaining new workers to ease persistent labor shortages in the industry.

    The measure, which was unanimously approved on Thursday, calls for boosting financial assistance for families seeking child care, establishing new funding for child care providers and higher pay and benefits for early educators.

    Backers of the plan said the changes are needed to help lower the cost of child care and early education programs with parents paying as much as 20% to 40% of their household incomes on child care, often making it their second-highest expense after housing costs.

    “Besides the high costs, families also face other barriers including a lack of available slots at their preferred providers, the hours of available care, transportation challenges and more,” Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, a primary sponsor of the bill, said in remarks on Thursday. “All this hurts families’ economic well-being.”

    It’s not clear how much the changes, if implemented, would cost and the bill doesn’t include additional funds.

    Senate leaders note that $1.5 billion is already earmarked for early education and care in the current state budget, but that new funding will be dependent on future budgets.

    Lewis said the “substantial” price tag for the plan is “justified” given the money that many families, businesses and the state are losing as a result of the spiraling early education costs.

    “The status quo is already costing us a lot of money,” he said. “We have already demonstrated that we can indeed prioritize investments in early education and child care and follow through on those commitments.”

    Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, said it’s critical that the state take steps to improve the affordability of early education and child care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the rising cost of early education has major implications for the state’s post-pandemic economy.

    “It is an essential part of the fabric of our state,” Tarr said in remarks. “If we do not act, it will continue to be in serious jeopardy. We cannot allow that to happen.”

    A key plank of the proposal calls for expanding eligibility for subsidized child care by raising the income level to qualify for state-backed programs.

    The current threshold is 50% of state median income for a family of four — which is about $73,000. The plan calls for “gradually” increasing that level to 85% of state median income, or $124,000 for a four-member family.

    “That means we will be opening up access to assistance to not just low-income families, but middle income families,” Lewis said in remarks.

    It would also make state funding for the Commonwealth Cares for Children program, which has provided grants to nearly 7,500 child care providers since 2021, a permanent line item in the annual state budget. Other policy changes include setting new patient-staff ratios.

    During Thursday’s debate, Tarr sought to add safeguards on spending to the bill after raising concerns about the costs and how the state will pay for it going forward.

    “Lest we make a promise that can’t be fulfilled,” Tarr said. “My concern is that making sure that … we can say with confidence that the initiatives that are proposed here are things we can afford and sustain.”

    Many child care centers are financially strained and advocates say low compensation and the rising costs of caring for children are putting some providers out of business.

    Meanwhile, care providers are struggling to retain workers in an industry where the pay is traditionally low and the risk of getting sick is now elevated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates say.

    The average cost of child care is more than $20,000 a year in Massachusetts, the most expensive state in the nation, only behind Washington, D.C., and well above the national average of $15,888, according to a recent report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

    Working families are losing an estimated $1.7 billion a year in wages from not being able to show up for work because they can’t find or afford child care services, the report noted.

    Meanwhile, employers are losing an estimated $812 million a year in productivity and worker turnover because of the shortage of child care options, according to the report, while the state government is missing out on $188 million a year in tax revenue.

    Compounding the lack of options are changes in the workforce and other factors that have seen fewer people looking to work in the child care industry.

    Gov. Maura Healey has made expanding child care options for parents a key plank of her agenda in her first term, tying the issue to a broader effort to make the state more affordable.

    Earlier this year, the state Board of Early Education and Care recently approved a plan to tap into $65 million from this year’s budget to reimburse child care providers that serve families receiving financial assistance, including a 5.5% cost of living adjustment for providers to help offset increased operating costs.

    The Senate bill must be approved by the House of Representative before heading to Healey’s desk for consideration.

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • Learn How to Set Medication Reminders on Your Phone

    Learn How to Set Medication Reminders on Your Phone

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    Medisafe offers short videos for most medications where a doctor describes the medication and explains possible side effects and other useful information. The app will even flag possible interactions if you are taking multiple medications. The free version is excellent, but you can get rid of ads and unlock some extra customization options with a subscription ($5/month or $40/year).

    How to Set Reminders on an Android Phone

    There are various ways you might set a medication reminder on an Android phone.

    Use Google Assistant

    • How to Set Medication Reminders on Your Phone Best Apps iPhone Android Samsung

    Google via Simon Hill

    The quickest and easiest way to set a reminder on your Android phone is to use Google Assistant. For example, you can say, “Hey Google, remind me to take my pill every day at 9 am.”

    If you have a family group set up, you can also set reminders for other folks in your family by saying something like, “Hey Google, remind Jenny to take her pill every day at 8 pm.”

    To review and tweak any reminders you have set, say, “Hey Google, show my reminders.”

    Use Google Calendar

    You could also set up medication reminders in Google Calendar. Open the Calendar app, select a day, tap the Plus icon, and choose Reminder. You can specify a time and tap where it says Does not repeat, then change to Every day or set another interval. When you are happy with the details, tap Save.

    Use a Medication App

    As we said above, of the many medication apps available for Android, our top pick is Medisafe’s Pill Reminder and Med Tracker. This slick app is the Android version of the iPhone app we recommend above, and it’s easy to set up and offers the same wealth of features. You can set reminders for multiple medications, track your consumption, set up refill alerts, track symptoms, and get warnings about possible interactions.

    How to Set Reminders on a Samsung Phone

    Photograph: Simon Hill

    Samsung Health App

    As well as the methods listed above for Android phones, Samsung offers excellent medication reminders in its Health app on Samsung phones. Here’s how to set them up:

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    Simon Hill

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  • Senate approves bill to expand early education

    Senate approves bill to expand early education

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    BOSTON — The state Senate has approved a plan aimed at expanding access to child care and early education for parents while attracting and retaining new workers to ease persistent labor shortages in the industry.

    The measure, which was unanimously approved Thursday, calls for boosting financial assistance for families seeking child care, establishing new funding for child care providers, and higher pay and benefits for early educators.

    Backers of the plan said the changes are needed to help lower the cost of child care and early education programs with parents paying as much as 20% to 40% of their household incomes on child care, often making it their second-highest expense after housing costs.

    “Besides the high costs, families also face other barriers, including a lack of available slots at their preferred providers, the hours of available care, transportation challenges and more,” Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, a primary sponsor of the bill, said in remarks Thursday. “All this hurts families’ economic well-being.”

    It’s not clear how much the changes, if implemented, would cost and the bill does not include additional funding.

    Senate leaders note that $1.5 billion is already earmarked for early education and care in the current state budget, but that new funding will be dependent on future budgets.

    Lewis said the “substantial” price tag for the plan is “justified” given the money that many families, businesses and the state are losing as a result of the spiraling early education costs.

    “The status quo is already costing us a lot of money,” he said. “We have already demonstrated that we can indeed prioritize investments in early education and child care and follow through on those commitments.”

    Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, said it’s critical that the state take steps to improve the affordability of early education and child care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the rising cost of early education has major implications for the state’s post-pandemic economy.

    “It is an essential part of the fabric of our state,” Tarr said in remarks. “If we do not act, it will continue to be in serious jeopardy. We cannot allow that to happen.”

    A key plank of the proposal calls for expanding eligibility for subsidized child care by raising the income level to qualify for state-backed programs.

    The current threshold is 50% of state median income for a family of four – which is about $73,000. The plan calls for “gradually” increasing that level to 85% of state median income, or $124,000 for a four-member family.

    “That means we will be opening up access to assistance to not just low-income families, but middle-income families,” Lewis said in remarks.

    It would also make state funding for the Commonwealth Cares for Children program, which has provided grants to nearly 7,500 child care providers since 2021, a permanent line item in the annual state budget. Other policy changes include setting new patient-staff ratios.

    During the debate Thursday, Tarr sought to add safeguards on spending to the bill after raising concerns about the costs and how the state would pay for it going forward.

    “Lest we make a promise that can’t be fulfilled,” Tarr said. “My concern is that making sure that … we can say with confidence that the initiatives that are proposed here are things we can afford and sustain.”

    Many child care centers are financially strained and advocates say low compensation and the rising costs of caring for children are putting some providers out of business.

    Meanwhile, care providers are struggling to retain workers in an industry where the pay is traditionally low and the risk of getting sick is now elevated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates say.

    The average cost of child care is more than $20,000 a year in Massachusetts, the most expensive state in the nation, only behind Washington, D.C., and well above the national average of $15,888, according to a recent report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

    Working families are losing an estimated $1.7 billion a year in wages from not being able to show up for work because they cannot find or afford child care services, the report noted.

    Meanwhile, employers are losing an estimated $812 million a year in productivity and worker turnover because of the shortage of child care options, according to the report, while the state government is missing out on $188 million a year in tax revenue.

    Compounding the lack of options are changes in the workforce and other factors that have seen fewer people looking to work in the child care industry.

    Gov. Maura Healey has made expanding child care options for parents a key plank of her agenda in her first term, tying the issue to a broader effort to make the state more affordable.

    Earlier this year, the state Board of Early Education and Care recently approved a plan to tap into $65 million from this year’s budget to reimburse child care providers that serve families receiving financial assistance, including a 5.5% cost-of-living adjustment for providers to help offset increased operating costs.

    The Senate bill must be approved by the House of Representative before heading to Healey’s desk for consideration.

    Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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