"The findings highlight inflationary pressures on electricity costs in mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states. “The price impacts on customers have been very large and are not reversible,” the grid market monitor said."

"Emergency department visits for tick bites have surged to the highest level for this time of year since 2017, driven by warmer temperatures that are boosting tick activity especially in the Northeast and Midwest."

"Legislation that would reduce plastic waste in New York is advancing in the state Legislature amid a contentious debate over chemical recycling." "Environmentalists and some state lawmakers say the process does more harm than good. Plastics producers are pushing back."

"Earlier this year, a proposal from the New Hampshire House sought to pause the practice of applying PFAS-containing sewage sludge to farmland in New Hampshire. But over the course of multiple packed hearings and after a handful of amendments, the bill’s provisions have changed shape, sparking concern among some early supporters."

"Blue Hill is the nation’s oldest continually operating weather observatory, according to executive director Alex Evans. Since 1885, staff and volunteers have relied on many of the same instruments, including mercury and alcohol thermometers, hygrometers that use human hair to measure moisture in the air, and that glass sphere on the roof tracking the hours of bright sunshine."

"When Ann McDonald went kayaking several weeks after a 2024 rainstorm, she thought the water in the Alewife Brook just outside Boston was safe. Even though sewage discharges into the brook during heavy storms, public health officials recommended waiting just 48 hours after rain for bacteria levels to drop — so when McDonald’s kayak got stuck in debris, she wasn’t concerned about dipping her arms into the water to free herself. Later that afternoon, she fell sick with diarrhea."