A quarter of the nation’s wastewater testing sites — one of the most dependable ways of tracking Covid surges — are shut down indefinitely over a contract dispute.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants to replace the firm it has worked with since 2020 to test wastewater for Covid in order to better direct public health resources. But that firm, Massachusetts-based Biobot, has filed a protest, stymieing the transition.

State public health officials bracing for more Covid cases as cold weather arrives — and with little other surveillance data available since most people are no longer testing themselves or are doing so with unreported at-home tests — are worried.

“The thing I’m concerned about is continuity of our surveillance data while this protest is playing out,” said Chad Gubala, a wastewater official in Juneau, Alaska.

After an open bidding process earlier this year, the CDC decided to replace its longtime contractor, Biobot, with Verily, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, starting in September.

But the transition is on pause. And while the Government Accountability Office hears Biobot’s appeal, Verily can’t do its work, according to a company email obtained by POLITICO. A GAO decision is due in January.

Bradley White, the principal scientist for the Verily wastewater lab, said that the company is ready to go, with much of its infrastructure already built.

“We are committed to working with the CDC to advance the goals of the … testing program, initiate testing on the samples already delivered when allowed to resume work, and make wastewater data available as quickly as possible,” White said.

In an interview, CDC Director Mandy Cohen declined to comment on the specifics of the dispute, saying it was a “contracting situation.”

The CDC has not explained why it decided to change contractors, though its deal with Verily is considerably less expensive.

Verily’s contract is for $38 million over five years. Biobot’s most recent contract was for about $31 million over less than a year and a half.

Cohen said the agency does see wastewater surveillance as an important “tool to add to our toolbox in terms of early detection,” adding that she wants to expand the testing through the new contract.

Wastewater testing was particularly helpful during the pandemic in detecting Covid surges. And with fewer people than before testing themselves for the disease or reporting results when they do, it’s one of the best remaining ways to see where the virus is spreading.

Public health officials have also used wastewater to find Mpox and spikes in opioid use.

A quarter of the nation’s testing sites — some 400 in “a handful of states and territories” — are shut down because of the dispute, the CDC said, while the remaining 1,200 sites are not covered under the contract and can continue work.

A CDC spokesperson said the agency felt that was enough to maintain a “pretty comprehensive” picture of Covid and Mpox spread, but others are skeptical.

“The existing gap in the wastewater data will continue for possibly several months as we head into flu season and another Covid surge,” said one state health department epidemiologist who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. “It’s not as easy as just handing the keys to Verily.”

A second state health department official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, agreed that changing vendors — protest aside — could harm Covid surveillance efforts this fall and winter. “It’s the time that it takes to turn the ship to get it done,” the official said.

Even if Verily is able to begin work soon, some foresee problems related to the continuity of the data.

“The loss is the loss of historical comparability. It’s like starting from day zero with a new surveillance system,” said David Larsen, chair of the public health department at Syracuse University and a wastewater surveillance researcher. “It’s not ideal to change methods.”

A CDC spokesperson said the issue will be addressed but declined to say how.

Authorities have released a third image of Gardner’s suspected wife killer Aaron Pennington as they continue to seek the public’s help in locating him.

The image released Thursday appears to show Aaron Pennington as captured by a doorbell-type home camera and is watermarked as having been captured on Oct. 11.

This is the third image officials have released in their search for Pennington, 33, since they started their manhunt for him Sunday after discovering the body of his wife, Breanne Pennington, 30, on their bed in their home at 42 Cherry St. that morning. She had at least one visible gunshot to her head according to an arrest warrant affidavit and the casings of three bullets were found in the home, but no gun.

“Don’t say anything. Be quite (sic) If she wakes up just say you’re getting nasal spray Get on side of bed — very close proximity to head Put hole in her head,” Aaron Pennington allegedly wrote in a note on his phone the evening before the murder, according to court records.

The couple’s children are in the custody of the state.

The Worcester District Attorney’s office said they believe Pennington left his home at 9 in the morning of the murder. They issued an initial photo and a call for help in locating him and his white 2013 BMW SUV that day. By Monday night, a bow hunter had located the vehicle in a wooded area off Kelton Street in Gardner near Camp Collier, a Boy Scout camp.

The search for Aaron Pennington is ongoing. He is considered armed and dangerous.

Pennington is a 6-foot-2 white male with blonde hair, blue eyes and weighs about 175 pounds.

Anyone who sees Pennington is encouraged to contact the Gardner Police Department at 978-632-5600 or the Massachusetts State Police at 508-829-8326.

This is a developing story.

An image of Aaron Pennington, the Gardner man accused of killing his wife on Sunday, released Thursday by authorities searching for him. (Courtesy / Worcester DA)

The Orioles stayed in-house to fill a key role in their baseball operations department.

After losing director of draft operations Brad Ciolek to the Washington Nationals earlier this month, Baltimore on Thursday elevated Matt Blood to oversee the Orioles’ draft operations, among other player development-related duties, amid a flurry of promotions by the club.

Blood, who joined the Orioles in September 2019, has been the organization’s director of player development for the past four years. His new title is vice president of player development and domestic scouting. In addition to overseeing draft operations, he will supervise the Orioles’ player development and scouting operations.

Blood was one of a dozen members of Baltimore’s baseball operations department to be promoted Thursday. Replacing Blood as director of player development is Anthony Villa, who spent the 2023 season as the Orioles’ minor league hitting coordinator, a source with direct knowledge confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. Villa played in the Chicago White Sox’s minor league system from 2016 to 2018 and joined the Orioles as a coach in November 2019. He served as hitting coach for High-A Aberdeen in 2020 and the Orioles’ Florida Complex League team in 2021 before transitioning to the organization’s lower-level hitting coordinator in 2022. MASNSports.com first reported Villa’s promotion.

As Baltimore’s farm director, Blood helped the Orioles’ minor league system become the sport’s best. Baltimore has boasted the No. 1 prospect on Baseball America’s top 100 list entering the previous two seasons with Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, and 19-year-old Jackson Holliday is currently rated by the publication as the sport’s top prospect. Six Orioles prospects are inside Baseball America’s top 100.

Before joining the Orioles, Blood was director of player development for the Texas Rangers in 2019 and spent the previous three years as director of USA Baseball’s 18 and Under National Team Program. He got his start in professional baseball as an area scout with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2009 to 2015. Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias joined the Cardinals as a scout in 2007 and was their manager of amateur scouting in 2010, while Baltimore’s vice president and assistant general manager of analytics Sig Mejdal worked in St. Louis’ analytics department from 2005 to 2011.

Ciolek left for Washington after spending more than a decade with the Orioles. He had overseen each of the five drafts since Elias was hired in November 2018. He joined the Nationals as their senior director of amateur scouting, a move Washington publicly announced Wednesday.

Among the other promotions, Koby Perez, one of Elias’ first hires, was elevated from senior director of international scouting to his new title of vice president of international scouting and operations. Mike Snyder, a holdover from the previous regime, was promoted from director of pro scouting to senior director of pro scouting.

The other promotions include: Gerardo Cabrera from Latin American supervisor to director of Latin American scouting; Kevin Carter from senior pro scouting analyst to manager of pro scouting; Hendrik Herz from senior scouting analyst to manager of domestic scouting analysis; Chad Tatum from senior scouting analyst to manager of domestic scouting; Will Robertson from senior pro scouting analyst to special assignment scout; and Alex Tarandek from scouting analyst to senior scouting analyst. Michael Weis was named senior data scientist of draft evaluation, while Maria Arellano was named senior manager of international operations and baseball administration.

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UMass and Army are coming off similar lopsided beatdowns against ranked opponents, but the Minutemen had an extra week to recuperate.

The Minutemen went into the bye week after being blitzed 63-0 by No. 6 Penn State on Oct. 14 at Beaver Stadium. Army suffered a similar fate when it was obliterated 62-0 by No. 15 LSU last Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

Both Independent programs will look to regroup when the Minutemen (1-7) engage the Black Knights of Army (2-5) on Saturday (noon) at Michie Stadium. Army beat UMass 44-7 last season at McGuirk Stadium.

“The good thing is obviously the guys get a chance to recoup in terms of the physical piece,” said UMass head coach Don Brown. “On Monday we reviewed the (Penn State) contest and then moved on to get a jump on Army.

“Sometimes that (bye week) goes in a positive direction and sometimes in a negative direction and there is no predicting it. It all depends on what kind of health you have coming out of the contest and how well you played. Obviously, they ran into the SEC and took on the LSU challenge, not an easy process.”

The Cadets had exclusively run the Flexbone triple option attack for decades but were compelled to install a prostyle multiple offense over the summer. Army and just about every other triple option attack had to make a transition when the NCAA banned the cut block outside the tackle box after the 2022 season.

“Army is a huge deal because they have made a transition in their offensive style so that helped us prepare as well,” said Brown. “They don’t run the triple anymore and we are preparing ourselves for their scheme. All of the triple option teams had to make that adjustment because you can’t cut block.”

Brown feels dual threat quarterback Taisun Phommachanh could be back to full health in time for Army. Phommachanh led UMass to its 41-30 victory at New Mexico State on Aug. 26 but was injured the following week at Auburn.

Phommachanh, a redshirt junior transfer from Clemson, missed the next three games. He started the last three games and, on the season, has completed 73-of-116 passes for 813 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

“He is getting very close,” said Brown. “I can’t say 100 percent but each and every week there has been no setbacks so that has been a positive.”