Heard on WCAI's Morning Edition

Congressman Bill Keating (D-Mass.) was walking from his office to the House Chamber when he learned he needed to shelter in place during the riot of pro-Trump extremists at the nation's Capitol Wednesday. 

Keating says he was resolved to reconvene with fellow House members to finish certifying the electoral vote for Joe Biden as President no matter what happened. 

The $900 billion coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress on Monday includes checks to individuals and families, new grants and loans for small businesses and nonprofits, and even mentions the proposed project to build two new bridges on the Cape Cod Canal. CAI's Kathryn Eident talked with Congressman Bill Keating (D-Mass.) of  Bourne about what people along the Cape, the Coast and the Islands can expect from this package.  

Coronavirus, as we know, can be a serious, and sometimes fatal illness. There are a growing number of people who have survived COVID-19, but still feel lingering symptoms, like Falmouth resident Genie Stevens. She fell ill in March and landed in the emergency room. Nearly 10 months later, she says she's still not back to 100%.

Governor Charlie Baker announced this week that Massachusetts will be getting a COVID-19 vaccine possibly as soon as next week. 

Halloween is just a few days away, and no matter how you celebrate, it will be unlike any Halloween we’ve ever seen.

Some people, like residents in a popular trick or treating neighborhood in Vineyard Haven, or the organizers of an annual trunk or treat event at the Cape Cod Church in Falmouth, have decided they won’t hand out candy this year. 

A person who wished to remain anonymous has bequeathed a more than $6 million dollar gift to help the local arts scene on Cape Cod.

The Cape Cod Foundation is managing the gift. CAI's Kathryn Eident talked with Foundation President and CEO Kristin O'Malley about how her organization will award the money, and other funds the nonprofit manages, as well.

 As CAI reported this week, algal blooms in local ponds can be dangerous to humans and animals. They are also a sign of a bigger problem; pollution from human sources like septic systems and more recently, the effects of climate change.  CAI's Kathryn Eident talked with Climate and Environment reporter Eve Zuckoff about some of the key things she learned in reporting about cyanobacteria blooms and how to tackle the problem.  

The number of cases of coronavirus on Nantucket has slowed over the last week, but health officials are still keeping a close watch on daily tests.  

The island has suffered from two surges since early September, one related to the trades, and the most recent related to a potluck gathering at a local church.   

Each week, The New Yorker magazine hits newsstands with a cover that often reflects not only the news of the moment, but also the feel of the moment.

It was no different for the issue following Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death late last month.

A student in the Monomoy Regional High School tested positive for coronavirus late last week, prompting school officials to quarantine dozens of students and staff as a precaution. The district's—and the Cape's—first case of COVID-19 in a student came just days after school reopened for the year. CAI's Kathryn Eident talked with Scott Carpenter, Superintendent of the Monomoy Regional School District, about how things are going.

Cape Cod Community College typically has about 3,000 students during the fall semester on its three campuses: The main site in West Barnstable, a satellite in Hyannis, and aviation hangars in Plymouth.

The Mashpee Police Department will become one of only a few police stations across the state to use body cameras when it begins a pilot program next month.

Ten Mashpee police officers will wear the cameras as a way to increase transparency.

School districts across Massachusetts have until Friday to put the finishing touches on re-opening plans before they must submit them to the state. Schools must explain how they could open for in-person instruction, remote-only instruction, and a hybrid of the two.  WCAI's Kathryn Eident talked about the process of developing Barnstable Schools' reopening plan with Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown on Morning Edition. 

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a non-profit research organization out of Chatham, announced a number of new initiatives this week aimed at better understanding sharks that visit every summer.

Police departments around the region have not been quiet about police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death. 

Sandwich police condemned the actions of the officers who were involved, calling the incident "horrible" on Facebook. The post also says Sandwich officers undergo bias and de-escalation training.

Protests continued around the region and the country this weekend, calling attention to police brutality against Black people. Some of these events are being organized by teens and young adults. WCAI's Kathryn Eident talked with 17-year-old Jocelyn Tompkins, a Sturgis Public Charter School student who helped organize a protest last week in Buzzards Bay that drew hundreds of people. 

Democrat Susan Moran was voted in Tuesday as the new state senator for the Plymouth-Barnstable district.

Moran beat Republican Jay McMahon to fill the seat left vacant by Vinny DeMacedo in November.

Native Americans and indigenous rights supporters will be watching Wednesday, as a federal judge is expected to hear arguments in the case over the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s reservation lands.

Starting Monday, small business owners around the country can apply for the latest infusion of federal money meant to help small businesses keep their workers on the payroll for as long as possible during this pandemic. 

The $2 trillion dollar stimulus package the President signed last week is far-reaching and includes money for individuals and provisions aimed at stemming the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

WCAI's Kathryn Eident talked with Representative William Keating (D-Mass.) about what's in the bill and what he's working on to address the pandemic. 

Towns on Martha's Vineyard have shelter-in-place orders in effect as officials attempt to curb the rise of COVID-19. Those orders include a ban on construction. Governor Charlie Baker pushed back on Wednesday, saying island towns could not issue orders that contradict or supercede what Baker himself put in place. WCAI's Kathryn Eident talked with Chilmark Selectman James Malkin to talk about how he and other island officials are responding. 

Wednesday was the first full day Governor Charlie Baker's order to close all non-essential businesses was in effect. But Provincetown, and several other local towns, issued even stricter limitations in the hope of stemming the spread of COVID-19 before Baker issued his new restrictions.

WCAI's Kathryn Eident talked with Steve Katsurinis, Board of Health Chairman in Provincetown, about the town's emergency shelter-in-place order that went into effect Monday.   

Lawmakers have been busy on Beacon Hill, moving legislation aimed at addressing the impacts of the coronavirus epidemic. That includes a bill allowing towns and cities to postpone town meetings, elections and other events that would force people to gather in large numbers. Senator Julian Cyr of Truro is on the state's COVID-19 working group, a body that's looking into other measures that might need to be taken to stem the crisis.

Guards and medical staff are taking extra precautions with inmates at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility in Bourne, as the COVID-19 epidemic continues to grow. 

WCAI's Kathryn Eident talked with Sheriff James Cummings about what he's doing to screen inmates and staff in an effort to keep COVID-19 from contaminating the jail.