Date Time
Vector-borne diseases shaped human history and reveal race disparities
In December 2015, a yellow fever outbreak began in Luanda, Angola. This outbreak was the largest reported in Angola during the last 30-years. In a new study, researchers examine the ways in which vector-borne diseases, like yellow fever, have shaped society and culture.
Image: Rebecca Hall, CDC
Vector-borne diseases (VBDs), such as plague, malaria and yellow fever, have significantly shaped society and culture, according to an international team of researchers. In a study published in Ecology Letters on Jan. 27, the team used historical evidence interpreted through an ecological lens to illustrate how VBDs have influenced human history, with particular attention to how VBDs have reinforced and exacerbated racism.
By Isabella Backman
Today, the average American is unlikely to spend time worrying about malaria. Although the disease is commonly perceived to be restricted to other parts of the world, it played a significant role in shaping American history. It even helped turn the tide of the American Revolutionary War by infecting so many British soldiers that General Cornwallis was forced to surrender at Yorktown.
The painting,
The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, is on display in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. The surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 marked the last major campaign of the Revolutionary War and was brought about in part by British soldiers contracting malaria. (Image credit: Artist John Trumbull, courtesy Architect of the Capitol)
Paulette Hicks (image submittedz)
The new Regional Economic Development Agency for Greater Saint John has found its new CEO. The agency announced Tuesday that Paulette Hicks will be its first Chief Executive Officer. She will begin her new role on February 8.
Hicks is well known in the city’s business community through her work as general manager of the Delta Hotel in Saint John and as a community volunteer. She has served on boards for groups like the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI), Living Saint John, Discover Saint John, and the Saint John Airport.
She says her passion for seeing the region grow is what drove her to apply for the job.
Mayor Lovely Warren Unorthodox times led to an unorthodox State of the City address from Mayor Lovely Warren on Thursday, as the mayor replaced a formal speech with a release of a short video and a 48-page booklet titled the “Equity and Recovery Agenda.” The booklet outlined what she saw as her administration’s achievements and plans for the coming year, which included grand visions for disbursing potential tax revenue from legalized marijuana, investments in housing and the arts, as well as a focus on policing alternatives, urban farming, and education, as ways of countering what her administration called “a tale of two cities generations in the making.”
Savannah Morning News
Michael Traynor, formerly the publisher of Savannah Morning News, has been named the president and CEO of Savannah-based Union Mission. Traynor will begin his new role Feb. 15. The current executive director, Pat Youngquist, recently announced her retirement effective in the spring of 2021.
After leaving Savannah Morning News in mid-2020 during a corporate management restructuring, Traynor managed his own management consulting company assisting media companies and local businesses with strategies for transformation and revenue growth.
A long-time Savannah resident, Traynor has always been deeply involved in community organizations. He has chaired many of the leading community non-profit boards including the United Way of the Coastal Empire, Rotary Club of Savannah, American Red Cross, Greenbriar Children’s Center, Step-Up Savannah Anti-Poverty Initiative, and the Savannah Community Foundation. He has served on the Union Mission Board of Directors for more