The damage to babies and children in the state is causing mild learning disabilities, damaging neurological conditions … and deaths.
Barbara A. Walsh
Barbara is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has worked for newspapers in Ireland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Florida. While working at the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Walsh reported on first-degree killer William Horton Jr. and Massachusetts’ flawed prison-furlough system. The series changed in-state sentencing and furlough laws and won a 1988 Pulitzer Prize. During her career at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, Barbara wrote in-depth series on several social issues in Maine. Many of her stories changed laws and earned national, state and regional awards. Barbara is also the author of an adult biography/memoir, August Gale: A Father and Daughter’s Journey into the Storm, and Sammy in the Sky, a children’s book illustrated by Jamie Wyeth. She lives on a lake in Maine with her two daughters, husband and Paco, a rescue dog from Puerto Rico. When she is not writing, taking pictures or walking Paco, she can be found sitting by the lake, comforted by its blue-green waters.
LATEST ARTICLES
Diagnosing abuse requires collaboration and expert advice, child advocates say
The advocates say assessments done in Maine child protective cases are not thorough and continue to leave children at risk in their homes.
Premature birth, premature death: The sad, tragic life of a Maine child
Maddox Williams, born to parents battling drug and alcohol addictions, didn’t live to age 4. His mother is charged with his murder.
What more can be done? Some are haunted as child deaths in Maine continue to rise
‘Nothing’s changed’ in the child welfare system, says a former school nurse who will never forget a 10-year-old girl who suffered so much.
From child refugee to “proud” Mainer
Moon Machar, who arrived in Portland as a 5-year-old a quarter-century ago, has worked tirelessly to help others adjust, and a prize-winning filmmaker noticed.
Barely hanging on
Her grandson took his life. Then her daughter overdosed. “When people are crying for help, you’ve got to take them seriously,” said Rhonda McIver.
Overdose deaths leave a Maine tribe reeling
As the pandemic worsened mental health and substance use challenges statewide, a record-high 58 people died from overdoses in January. The losses have hit the Passamaquoddy tribe especially hard.
A need for awareness
In a county with few mental health resources, community members are rallying to increase peer support and education around suicide.
Alone with the grief, alone with the pain
The Stewarts are just one family in Washington County forced to struggle with suicide in an area where demand for help far outweighs the number of mental health providers.
The crushing toll of a pandemic in Maine’s ‘forgotten county’
During a tragic winter that saw four suicides and prolonged isolation, Baileyville Police Chief Bob Fitzsimmons has served as a guardian, confidant and friend to the people in northeastern Washington County.
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