It’s Tuesday – amid the coronavirus pandemic – at Framingham’s Red Roof Plus

Published in The MetroWest Daily News on May 26, 2020. By Jeannette Hinkle, The MetroWest Daily News. Photo: Ann Ringwood FRAMINGHAM — Monique Patilla, a longtime resident of Framingham’s Red Roof Plus, walked through the open door of the hotel lobby on Tuesday of last week. Once again, the smell of peroxide bleach washed over …

‘She was a pistol’: Natalie Caplan, 96, a St. Patrick’s Manor resident, succumbs after contracting coronavirus

Published in The MetroWest Daily News on May 1, 2020. By Jeannette Hinkle, The MetroWest Daily News. Photo: Courtesy FRAMINGHAM – Natalie Caplan was a pistol. A driven, persistent woman who knew what she liked and what she didn’t. “She was a lot a bit of a diva,” said her daughter, Debra. Natalie got her …

When it comes to the coronavirus, nursing home secrecy frustrates family members

Published in The MetroWest Daily News on May 22, 2020. By Jeannette Hinkle and Trevor Ballantyne, The MetroWest Daily News. Photo: Susan Kenney via AP. Each week, the state Department of Public Health releases information showing which nursing homes have coronavirus outbreaks. The data the state releases is limited, showing only the general ranges of …

‘We don’t have a voice.’ Framingham condo residents fight for a say in decisions about the property.

Published in The MetroWest Daily News on Nov. 18, 2019. By Jeannette Hinkle, The MetroWest Daily News. Daily News Staff Photo: Art Illman FRAMINGHAM – In between her day job and her night job, Antonia Saraiva learned she’d been robbed. She arrived home in the late afternoon last week to find the brass lock on …

Aging dams in MetroWest and the Milford area a budget burden, pose danger in climate change era

Published in December, 2019 in The MetroWest Daily News. By Jeannette Hinkle, The MetroWest Daily News. Daily News Staff Photo: Art Illman A group of people who live up and downstream of the South Natick dam stood in a loose circle, yards from where the Charles River pours over the dam’s spillway. It was early …

Climate change clears path for new mosquito in Massachusetts. It can carry Zika, dengue and other tropical diseases.

Published on Sept. 27, 2019 in The MetroWest Daily News. By Jeannette Hinkle, The MetroWest Daily News. Photo: Jeannette Hinkle About two years ago, Todd Duval got a call from a New Bedford homeowner. The woman’s children were being attacked by relentlessly aggressive mosquitoes in her yard. The kids had sustained so many bites that …

Millions of opioid pills flooded Arizona communities during prescription drug boom

Published on July 25, 2019 in The Arizona Republic. By Jeannette Hinkle, The Arizona Republic. KINGMAN — A small independent pharmacy called Uptown Drug dispensed 5.6 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills in this northwest Arizona city from 2006 to 2012.  That’s almost 200 pills per resident. But about four years ago, owner and pharmacist Chris …

How 4 IT technicians saved an Arizona hospital from hacker ransomware

Published July 30, 2019 in The Arizona Republic. By Jeannette Hinkle, Arizona Republic. Photo: Jeannette Hinkle Mike Nelson often comes to work early, around 6 a.m., so it was Nelson who first discovered the message. Nelson, an information-technology technician for Wickenburg Community Hospital, found it glowing on a computer screen in the emergency department. In …

Rural Arizona wrestles with serious doctor shortage: ‘It’s a pipeline issue’

Published Sept. 2, 2019 in The Arizona Republic. By Jeannette Hinkle, The Arizona Republic. BENSON — The people of Benson didn’t know it, but their hospital was on the brink of closure.  The management team at Benson Hospital kept the increasingly dire financial position from patients — even from staff members — as they searched …

Melrose photographer’s image with furry friend earns him accolades

Published Jan. 11, 2017 in the Melrose Free Press. By Jeannette Hinkle, The Melrose Free Press. Alex Shure felt a tug on his flipper. The photographer and Melrose resident turned around to see a 250-pound harbor seal, a rare sight in the cold waters off the coast of Rockport he was exploring with Cape Ann …