As the state chooses to keep secret the specifics about outbreaks at schools, people who need to know are left in the dark.
Joe Lawlor
Staff Writer
Joe Lawlor writes about health and human services for the Press Herald. A 24-year newspaper veteran, Lawlor has worked in Ohio, Michigan and Virginia before relocating to Maine in 2013 to join the Press Herald. He is still considered “from away” but since then, he has learned what a “dooryard” is, eaten “whoopie pies” drank Moxie and boiled some “lobstahs.” The stories he enjoys most are when he learns something and meeting inspiring people.
He lives in South Portland - aka “SoPo” - with his wife, Melanie, and two school-age children.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine diverges from national guidelines by holding back outbreak information
Public health groups urge full disclosure about infections, but the state CDC’s policy is to avoid going public and naming schools.
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Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Locations of Maine disease outbreaks withheld, but why?
The Maine CDC, which used to name the sites, now says doing so could identify ill people. But some health advocates say the public needs to know when it’s at risk for exposure.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Incidence of chicken pox soars in Maine schools
Outbreaks set a record and total cases double amid a recent rise in unvaccinated or under-immunized children.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Undiminished deer ticks expected to be active
A UMaine pest specialist says the Lyme disease carriers were ‘quite fat and happy under the snow.’
Posted inLocal & State, News
Mercy Hospital to close substance abuse treatment center, cut 45 jobs
Losing the Westbrook center will reduce options for addiction treatment at a time when Maine overdose deaths are rising, and other hospitals could shut their units.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine veterans of World War II pause to remember
‘I should have been killed so many times,’ says one Marine veteran who served in the Pacific.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine veterans of World War II pause to remember
‘I should have been killed so many times,’ says one Marine veteran who served in the Pacific.
Posted inNews, Politics, Schools and Education
Bill aims to reduce vaccine opt-outs for Maine students
A legislative panel votes Friday on a proposal to toughen the standard for parents seeking ‘philosophic’ opt-outs of vaccinations.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine data show dangerous rates of unvaccinated students; See data by school
An analysis of school-by-school opt-out rates finds regional pockets of resistance, subverting ‘herd immunity’ and increasing the threat of an infectious outbreak.