skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Educators preserve, shape future with 'ALT NEW COLLEGE'; NY appeals court denies delay for Trump civil fraud trial; Michigan coalition gets cash influx to improve childcare.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A House Committee begins its first hearing in the Biden impeachment inquiry, members of Congress talk about the looming budget deadline and energy officials testify about the Maui wildfires.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A small fire department in rural Indiana is determined not to fail new moms and babies, the growing election denial movement has caused voting districts to change procedures and autumn promises spectacular scenery along America's rural byways.

Efforts Underway to Formalize COVID-19 Remembrance Day in MA

play audio
Play

Friday, March 10, 2023   

Family members of those lost to Covid are urging lawmakers to pass legislation to formally recognize the first Monday in March as Covid Remembrance Day.

The bill would make Massachusetts the eleventh state to memorialize those who have died from the virus - as well as recognize those who suffer from long Covid, and the essential workers who have been there through it all.

Jennifer Ritz Sullivan - organizer of the nonprofit Marked by Covid - said it's important to identify the nation's collective trauma.

"It's a simple piece of legislation," said Ritz Sullivan, "but it is so powerful - and history needs to be recorded correctly and our losses need to be remembered."

More than one million Americans have died of Covid, including nearly 24,000 Massachusetts residents.

The federal government has announced it will end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations related to the Covid-19 pandemic on May 11 - but for bereaved activists like Ritz Sullivan, who lost her mother to the virus, the pandemic is not over.

Too many people, she said, have suffered in isolated grief, and a formal recognition of that pain would help in both recovery and prevention.

"We can't prevent what we're unwilling to acknowledge," said Ritz Sullivan, "so we're going to continue to see mass death and disability the more we turn away from this."

The Massachusetts bill to establish a Covid-19 Remembrance Day is based on federal legislation introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Edward Markey, both Massachusetts Democrats.

Efforts are also underway to create a physical monument in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the pandemic's lasting impact.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Michigan is among 20 states to receive a multiyear grant from the Pritzker Children's Initiative. (SneakyPeakPoints/peopleimages.com/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The coalition known as "Think Babies Michigan" has secured more than $36 million in funding to offer grants to child-care providers for infants and to…


Social Issues

play sound

Nearly 100 school board elections are coming up in Minnesota this fall, with some gaining attention because of the candidates who are running…

Social Issues

play sound

The so-called conservative "hostile takeover" of a small, progressive liberal arts college in Florida is seeing some resistance from former students …


Only 546 of the tenants in the the 5,563 eviction cases filed in Nebraska in the first half of 2023 were represented by legal counsel. (tab62/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

High rent prices are draining the budgets of many Nebraska renters, who are paying between 30% and 50% of their income on rent. In some parts of the …

Social Issues

play sound

As the federal government nears a shutdown over a budget impasse in Congress, Wisconsin offices that help low-income individuals worry they'll have …

Lewiston, Idaho, sits on the Snake River at the border with Washington. (Guy Sagi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Indigenous leaders are traveling through the Northwest to highlight the plight of dwindling fish populations in the region. The All Our Relations …

Social Issues

play sound

Washington performs well in a new report scoring states' long-term care systems. The Evergreen State ranked second in AARP's Long-Term Services and …

Social Issues

play sound

A lack of housing options, mental-health challenges and a lack of connections and support have combined to drive an uptick in the number of foster …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021