All posts tagged "COVID-19"
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After 975 days, Washington’s governor will finally relinquish his emergency pandemic powers
For most Americans, COVID-19 long ago stopped being an immediate crisis and has...
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Maine DOE gave MEA, other groups access and editing privileges to official COVID response documents
From early March 2020 through the summer, when discussions about whether to close...
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Emails show how MEA, other interest groups steered Maine DOE’s COVID-19 response
The Maine Department of Education (DOE) worked with several interest groups in the...
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Maine DOE, MEA discussed withholding relief funds from schools that didn’t comply with COVID rules
As the summer of 2020 progressed, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) continued...
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Pandemic ‘learning loss’ actually reveals more about schooling than learning
There are mounting concerns over profound learning loss due to prolonged school closures...
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The CDC (finally) admitted the science on natural immunity. What took so long?
In August 2021 Science Magazine, a peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association...
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COVID-19 gutted college attendance. Now, a solid labor market is convincing more high school grads to skip it
According to NBC News, there are 4 million fewer students enrolled in college than...
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Teachers unions politicized US schools, not parents
When voters were asked by Pew Research, prior to the 2020 election, what...
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Public schools are ‘hemorrhaging’ students in major cities. Here’s where they’re going
The new academic year hasn’t even begun and public school enrollment is already...
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Halsey Frank: Labor data dissonance
I completed another plumbing project this past weekend. The toilet in our master...
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Federal COVID aid to states and localities cost $855,000 per job saved
A massive federal bailout of state and local governments during the pandemic had...
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Natural immunity offered more protection against Omicron than 3 vaccine doses, study finds
News reports say the Biden administration is currently weighing a plan that would...
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‘Limited to no impact’: Study provides more evidence that school mask mandates are not effective
A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that mask mandates did little to...
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Opinion: Parents demand action on school reform
It took COVID-19 for many Americans to start paying closer attention to public...
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Halsey Frank: Pandemic data, dark and dawn
Last Thursday, my wife and I were scheduled to fly to D.C. for...
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Maine DOE hiring for MOOSE online learning program
The Maine Department of Education (DOE) recently announced it is looking to hire...
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Waterville doctor who wrote COVID-19 vaccine exemptions has license reinstated
The Board of Osteopathic Licensure restored Paul Gosselin’s license to practice medicine on...
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Federal watchdog finds 20% of pandemic unemployment funds wasted on fraudulent or ineligible claims
At least 20 percent of federal dollars paid out through pandemic-related unemployment programs...
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Lockdowners are still unwilling to recognize harms they brought on youth
Is it possible that despite the mounting evidence against them, some lockdown enthusiasts...
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The New York Times explains why mask mandates don’t work
Throughout the pandemic, few things incited more discord than the mandated use of...
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No increase in flight cancellations after CDC mask mandate lifted, data show
It’s been two week since a federal court threw out the CDC’s transport...
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Remote learning correlated with greater K-12 learning loss, study finds
A new study recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)...
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Halsey Frank: Making sense of Judge Mizelle’s mask mandate ruling
On April 18, Florida federal Judge Kathryn Mizelle invalidated the Centers for Disease Control and...
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Drop the useless mask mandates and leave us alone
The last couple of years have been a revelation when it comes to...
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New study provides yet more evidence that COVID lockdowns didn’t work
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, even alarmist government officials like Dr. Anthony...
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COVID stimulus checks worsened inflation
Inflation has surged across much of the developed world in the past year...
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Waivers, assessment changes make difficult comparisons of education outcomes in Maine during pandemic
For the last two school years, Maine has received a waiver from the...
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Sweden—once mocked for its COVID strategy—now has one of the lowest COVID mortality rates in Europe
Early in the coronavirus pandemic, I asked a simple question. Could Sweden’s laissez-faire...
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The CDC changed its COVID risk formula. The results are stunning
On Feb. 25, the CDC made its expected announcement that it was updating...
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Legislative Council votes to make masks optional at State House starting March 7
Maine’s Legislative Council voted unanimously on March 3 to change its requirement that...
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Mills admin recommends optional masking in schools, childcare settings starting March 9
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Maine Department of...
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The CDC discovers actual public health, just in time
One day I’m reading an internal memo commissioned by the Democratic Party to...
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Lawmakers spar over State House pandemic protocols during Wednesday’s session
The Maine Legislature convened on February 23 to debate several pieces of legislation,...
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UMaine men’s hockey player leaves team over university’s strict COVID-19 policies
Emil Westerlund recently left the University of Maine’s (UMaine) men’s ice hockey team...
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Justin Trudeau said he admired China’s dictatorship. Canadians should have believed him
At a “ladies night” fundraiser in Toronto in 2013, an up-and-coming politician was...
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Testing partnership brings rapid tests to ‘vulnerable’ Mainers using old data
In late January, Gov. Janet Mills announced her administration has partnered with The...
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European nations are dismantling the COVID state before our eyes. Will the US follow?
It takes incredible arrogance for lawmakers and bureaucrats to assume they know what's...
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‘Lockdowns had little to no effect on COVID mortality’: New Johns Hopkins study
We’re into year three of the COVID-19 pandemic. From mask mandates to vaccine...
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Truancy on the rise in Maine schools amid the pandemic
Maine’s truancy rate tripled between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, increasing from...
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Citing debunked CDC research, Virginia school districts vow to defy Youngkin on mask mandates
On Saturday, newly minted Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, declared an end...
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CDC: Natural immunity offered stronger protection against COVID than vaccines during Delta wave
On Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided new...
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Mills administration says it will not impose state-level vaccine mandate on private employers after SCOTUS ruling
On January 13, the Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the Occupational Health and...
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Halsey Frank: Inconsistency and overreaction – the hobgoblins of our COVID response
On January 12, while driving, I listened to the Maine CDC’s weekly COVID-19 briefing conducted...
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New guidance allows schools with mask mandates to stop contact tracing
On January 12, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) and the Maine Centers...
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New guidance allows some COVID-positive workers to remain on the job in healthcare facilities
St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston has implemented a policy allowing employees who test...
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U.S. DOE, DOT announce relaxed rules for bus drivers amid omicron surge, labor shortage
On January 10, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and U.S. Department of...
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Athletes who had COVID will be considered ‘fully vaccinated,’ NCAA says in new guidelines
The NCAA on Thursday released its new COVID-19 guidance for winter sports, and...
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Opinion: The legislature should get back to work like the rest of Maine
Yesterday, the first legislative day of the second session of the 130th Legislature,...
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Lawmakers pass resolution to start Second Session work remotely, will revisit decision next month
The second session of the 130th Maine Legislature began on January 5, with...
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It’s 2022, but many schools are reverting to 2020’s COVID playbook
It’s 2022 but you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s still 2020—especially if you...
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Portland City Council votes to end local emergency order, institute mask mandate
The Portland City Council voted to repeal the city’s declaration of emergency and...
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Maine CDC, DOE update COVID-19 protocols in schools following new federal guidance
On December 30, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and...
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Maine leaning on federal government to increase Mainers’ access to rapid COVID-19 tests
The Mills administration has announced no plans to provide at-home COVID-19 rapid tests...
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Federal ambulance teams coming to Maine to relieve ‘mounting pressure’ on first responders
Eight Maine hospitals will host federal ambulance teams, which will assist the state’s...
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Federal court reinstates Biden vaccine mandate, setting stage for potential SCOTUS showdown
Federal appeals courts recently issued two decisions impacting federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements mandated...
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Gov. Mills announces deployment of 38 National Guard members to 10 Maine healthcare facilities
Less than one week after announcing she was activating up to 75 members...
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The author who warned us against blindly trusting ‘the Science’
“Attacks on me are, quite frankly, attacks on science,” said Anthony Fauci to...
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School districts are using their COVID-19 relief money on vape detectors, tennis courts
Earlier this year, schools around the country received more than a hundred billion...
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Gov. Mills activates Maine National Guard to address capacity concerns in healthcare system
Gov. Janet Mills appeared at a December 8 press conference held by the...
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Appropriations Committee receives briefing on state finances, including revenue surplus and ARPA spending
At the Appropriation and Financial Affairs (AFA) Committee meeting on December 7, Department...
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47,000 more people died of this disease in 2020 due to lockdowns, World Health Organization reports
Governments around the world took drastic measures in 2020 in hopes of slowing...
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Maine experiences highest rate of nursing home deaths in recent weeks
Maine’s rate of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes is currently the highest in...
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No gasoline without ‘COVID papers’? It’s already happening in some parts of the world
It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s fake on the internet these...
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Voters are done with COVID-19 and pandemic-powered officials
Politicians have been on a high over the last year-plus, wielding extraordinary power...
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Maine DHHS, DOE launch youth video contest to promote vaccines for children
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Department of Education...
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Final rule for healthcare worker vaccinations strikes dental practices and EMS organizations
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on November 10 released...
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Federal court temporarily halts Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for employers
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on November 6 granted...
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Stunning new study undercuts the case for vaccine mandates
With President Biden’s federal vaccine mandate and local government employment mandates looming, the...
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Ten percent of workers affected by Gov. Mills’ mandate have left covered facilities since July
A recent analysis of the data in Maine CDC’s Health Care Worker COVID-19...
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Maine healthcare workers face uncertain future amid state and federal vaccine mandates
Maine’s requirement that healthcare workers at designated healthcare facilities be fully vaccinated against...
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Understanding Maine’s pooled testing program for students
As of October 7, there have been just under 3,000 reported cases of...
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Gov. Mills remains committed to vaccine mandate as Maine hospitals begin rationing services
The Maine Legislature’s Republican leadership sent a letter to their Democratic counterparts on...
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Stanford epidemiologist says COVID vaccination is primarily a matter of personal health, not public health
As one-size-fits-all COVID vaccine mandates sweep government, academia, and corporate America, new data...
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Some healthcare workers resign as enforcement deadline of Gov. Mills’ vaccine mandate approaches
As the date of enforcement for Gov. Janet Mills’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate for...
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Prevailing pandemic policy is hurting children’s health
Since the world learned of a novel coronavirus emerging from Wuhan, China in...
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The CDC made America’s pandemic worse
The pandemic was a test of America’s public health bureaucracy. It failed.
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Legislative Council votes to reinstate face mask policy at State House, file brief in lobster lawsuit
Maine’s Legislative Council voted to reinstate its COVID-19 Prevention Policy, which requires face...
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What happened to natural immunity?
On September 9th, President Joe Biden ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a...
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Maine’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9% in August
According to the Maine Department of Labor’s (DOL) Center for Workforce Research and...
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Commissioner Makin briefs education committee on school reopenings, virus outbreaks
During a September 15 meeting of the legislature’s Committee on Education and Cultural...
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Families are fleeing government-run schools
This fall may be the biggest moment of truth for public education since...
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Maine delays enforcement of healthcare worker vaccine mandate but offers no testing alternative
According to Department of Health and Human Service (DHHS) Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew, Maine...
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Mills administration throwing money at hospitals, nursing homes in attempt to overcome workforce shortages
Gov. Janet Mills’ administration recently announced it is awarding Maine hospitals and long-term...
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Harvard epidemiologist says the case for COVID vaccine passports was just demolished
A newly published medical study found that infection from COVID-19 confers considerably longer-lasting...
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CDC: Schools with mask mandates didn’t see statistically significant different rates of COVID transmission from schools with optional policies
The ACLU on Tuesday announced it is bringing a lawsuit against South Carolina...
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Governor’s gamble: Weighing the potential costs of Mills’ healthcare worker vaccine mandate
On August 12, Maine Governor Janet Mills issued an emergency rule change through the state...
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Massive nurse shortage hits Houston—weeks after 150 unvaccinated nurses and hospital workers fired
Jennifer Bridges knew what was coming when her director at Houston Methodist hospital...
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Number of unemployed Mainers increases slightly in July
Despite some improvements to Maine’s economy, the leisure and hospitality industries remain among...
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COVID-19 is probably 99% survivable for most age groups, but PolitiFact rated this false
A viral Instagram post claimed that COVID-19 is 99 percent survivable for most age groups—the...
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Lawmakers pen letter in opposition to Gov. Mills’ vaccine mandate
Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced a new vaccine requirement for healthcare workers on...
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Mills administration faces pushback from healthcare workers over new vaccine mandate
On August 12, Gov. Janet Mills announced that all Maine healthcare workers will...
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What is the true vaccine breakthrough rate? The CDC doesn’t want you to know
Over a recent 12-day period the Milwaukee Brewers had nine players test positive...
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7,400 Mainers fail to provide proof of employment to continue receiving unemployment
On August 6, the Maine Department of Labor (DOL) announced that approximately 7,400...
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Eight things children are more likely to die from than COVID-19, according to the CDC
Last week I received a letter from my children’s school district. “We will...
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Biden says CDC’s new eviction moratorium ‘not likely to pass constitutional muster’
On August 4, just days after allowing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control...
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Delta variant alarmism discounts significant pandemic progress, ignores important data
As the data stand right now, deaths are not on pace with new...
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The push is on to extend one of the federal government’s worst pandemic power-grabs
Nobel-Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously quipped that “nothing is so permanent as a...
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Maine conforms with new CDC guidance on masking in schools, indoor settings
On July 28, Gov. Janet Mills announced updates to Maine’s recommendations for wearing...
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Pediatric group’s new school guidance ignores science and logic
In another attempt to “follow the science,” a pediatrics group has issued guidance...
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Will pandemic-induced toll increases prove to be permanent?
The changes include an increase of one dollar– from $3 to $4– for...
