BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 7 -- Associated Industries of Massachusetts issued the following news: Many Massachusetts manufacturing companies struggling with the effects of the COVID-19 crisis now face another challenge - the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing updated stormwater regulations that could impose economically damaging new regulations on hundreds of businesses. With Massachusetts home to nearly 33 percent of all the facilities in the country directly under the purv  more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 7 -- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center issued the following news release: Confronted with the dramatic increase in demand for medical supplies brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a diverse team of experts came together to respond to the crisis. In a missive published online by the New England Journal of Medicine, Mark L. Zeidel, Chair of the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and colleagues describe how the Massachusetts Manufacturers   more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 7 -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics - New England Regional Information Office issued the following report on the changing compensation costs in the Boston metropolitan area for March 2020: Total compensation costs for private industry workers increased 3.5 percent in the Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Consolidated Statistical Area (CSA) for the 12-month period ending March 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Regiona  more

CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 7 -- The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center issued the following news release: After 20 years of trying, modern medicine remains unable to lower the roughly 40 percent mortality rate for the severe childhood immune disease called HLH (hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis), which damages vital organs and tissues. Now, researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine treating patients with a new drug that saved kid's lives with less toxicity and fewer side  more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 7 -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following news release on May 6: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that five grantees in the state of Connecticut have been selected to receive $2.3 million for six projects to assess and clean up contaminated properties under the agency's Brownfields Program. These funds will aid under-served and economically disadvantaged communities around the state in assessing and cleaning up abandoned  more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 7 -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following news release on May 6: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that six grantees in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have been selected to receive $2.7 million to assess and clean up contaminated properties under the agency's Brownfields Program. These funds will aid under-served and economically disadvantaged communities around the state in assessing and cleaning up abandoned industri  more

AUGUSTA, Maine, May 7 -- Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, issued the following news release on May 6: Governor Janet Mills announced that she is convening an Economic Recovery Committee charged with developing recommendations to mitigate the damage to Maine's economy caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to jumpstart a long-term economic recovery for Maine people, businesses, and organizations. The thirty-seven member Committee, co-chaired by Laurie Lachance, former Maine State Economist and P  more

ARLINGTON, Virginia, May 7 -- The National Association of State Energy Officials issued the following news: NASEO has filed a motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the matter of the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA), Docket No. EL20-42-000, opposing NERA's assertion that FERC has "exclusive federal jurisdiction over wholesale energy sales from generation sources located on the customer side of the retail meter" and that rates for the sales be priced consistent   more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts, issued the following news release: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) introduced the Saving Our Street (SOS) Act, legislation that provides federal support to microbusinesses throughout America during the COVID-19 crisis. The SOS Act will lift up local economies and allow for small neighborhood businesses to stay open during this crisis. "Our smallest neighborhood businesses are the backbones of o  more

LOWELL, Massachusetts, May 7 -- Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Massachusetts, issued the following news release on May 6: Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) applauded the announcement of $800,000 in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funding to assess and clean up contaminated properties in Lawrence and Lowell under the agency's Brownfields Program. The funding comes as part of a larger disbursement of $2.7 million for projects across Massachusetts. "I am thrilled that Lawrence and Lowell are receiving   more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Sen. Kamala D. Harris, D-California, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) on Wednesday announced the Saving Our Street (SOS) Act, legislation that provides federal support to micro-businesses throughout America during the COVID-19 crisis. The SOS Act will lift up local economies and allow for neighborhood businesses to stay open during this crisis. "Neighborhood businesses across the country are h  more

AMHERST, Massachusetts, May 6 [TNSgrants] -- The University of Massachusetts Amherst campus issued the following news: The National Science Foundation has awarded an $85,000 fast-track grant to environmental health scientist Richard Peltier to expand his research into whether face masks can be safely reused by COVID-19 pandemic medical workers after repeated sterilizations. The demand for medical face masks, known as N95 masks, continues to outstrip the supply available to health care organiza  more

CONCORD, Massachusetts, May 7 -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-New England District issued the following news release: Phase 2 of the Muddy River Flood Risk Management construction project in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts, will be completed under the terms of a $36,500,000.00 contract issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. The non-Federal sponsors for the project are the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Boston, and the Town of Brookline. Work will   more