Beach parking banned for out-of-towners; Amtrak adds trips
A look at coronavirus-related developments in New England on Sunday.
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MASSACHUSETTS
The city of Gloucester banned beach parking for out-of-town visitors this weekend as temperatures were expected to reach into the upper 90s.
The move came after complaints about excessive traffic last weekend. Gloucester officials are limiting the number of non-residents and only allowing beach parking on weekdays to slow the spread of the coronavirus, WBZ-TV reported.
“People left trash all of over the beaches,” said East Gloucester resident Barbara Ouellette about last weekend. “They parked in residential parking areas, the side streets. They parked halfway across people’s driveways. It was just awful.”
The city said it would be monitoring parking lots and nearby streets this weekend and violators could face a $75 fine and be towed.
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MAINE
Amtrak’s Downeaster is adding more round-trip offerings between Maine and Boston.
The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority said this past week that the Downeaster would begin operating four daily round-trip trains between Brunswick, Maine, and Boston starting Monday. Trains will be sanitized with enhanced cleaning between trips.
The Downeaster, which suspended service on April 13 amid the coronavirus pandemic, begin a phased-in reopening in mid-June with one round-trip train on weekdays.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire's congressional delegation says more than $26 million will go to the state's health care providers dealing with substantial costs of coronavirus caseloads. U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas, all Democrats, announced the federal relief funding on Friday.
“These federal dollars will help them manage...