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Boston City Council’s cut to veterans’ office sparks outcry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

The City Council’s decision to cut $900,000 from the veterans’ services budget has prompted an outcry from across the country, council President Ed Flynn said.“I received literally hundreds of calls and texts from residents across Boston, across Massachusetts, and even veterans across the country,” Flynn said. “And they were disappointed in Boston for turning its back on veterans and military families.“As a member of the U.S. Navy for 24 years, I’m embarrassed about that vote. That’s not what the city is about. The city has always supported veterans and military families.”Flynn was among five councilors who voted against the city’s $4.2 billion operating budget on Wednesday.The fallout is still being felt in the cuts to the Boston Police Department, which total nearly $31 million, but outcry to a million-dollar cut that would reduce the veterans department budget by 14% grew equally as fierce on Thursday.“Cutting veterans programs shows the public and our military families tha...

MBCA All-Star Game: Juniors blank the sophomores, 7-0

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

MALDEN — Ever since the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association started hosting its annual All-Star Games, the organization has been finding ways to honor individuals who have changed the sport locally, coaches and officials alike.This spring, the MBCA decided to honor the players themselves by adding an additional All-Star showcase to the usual two, with junior selects taking on the sophomores in what was described as the ‘Best of the East Battle’ to begin the day’s events.Thanks to a complete team effort, the juniors were able to earn bragging rights in the opener. Bishop Fenwick standout Nick Villano finished with a pair of hits and scored two runs, earning Most Valuable Player honors for his team as the juniors coasted to a 7-0 shutout of the sophomores at Rotondi Field.“There’s a lot of good players here,” Villano said. “It was an honor to be here in the first place, never mind just win MVP. Feels good to personally play well, but it’s also good to play alongside some of the...

Taunton blanks King Philip, will try to win third straight state championship

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

DARTMOUTH — The Taunton Tigers are on the hunt for a three-peat.A dominant pitching performance from Texas Tech commit Samantha Lincoln and timely hitting helped the No. 3 Tigers squeak out a 2-0 victory over Hockomock League rival and No. 2 seed King Philip in a Division 1 softball semifinal.The Tigers split the regular season series 1-1 with the Warriors, and the 1-0 loss on May 22 was the team’s only loss during the regular season. Head coach Michelle Raposo said the setback was needed for her team to stay grounded and energized.“I told the kids earlier in the season that loss was a good loss,” Raposo said. “It humbled us a bit and dialed us in. We weren’t going to let them out-cheer us, and I am so proud of them.”The Tigers earned two baserunners in the top of the first via walks, but King Philip pitcher McCoy Walsh locked in and shut the door. The Warriors got an initial boost off of a leadoff hit from senior Sarah Cullen, but Lincoln settled in after this blemish.“I buckled do...

Manitoba bus crash brings focus on safety of at-grade intersections in Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

The deadly crash in Manitoba between a bus full of seniors and a semi has brought renewed attention on the safety of numerous so-called at-grade intersections on Canadian highways.BC Trucking Association CEO Dave Earle says most drivers in urban areas where highway intersections have overpasses or traffic lights have no idea about the prevalence of at-grade intersections, in which two routes cross at the same elevation, and that they operate without lights even on major arteries such as the Trans-Canada Highway.Earle says while it isn’t always possible, easy or economically viable to build fully grade-separated interchanges, it would be much safer for all drivers. Police say 15 people were killed and 10 others were hurt in the crash west of Winnipeg at the Trans-Canada Highway’s intersection with Highway 5. The Trans-Canada Highway is almost completely a four-lane route in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but a large number of its intersections outside of cities are a...

Oregon man pleads guilty to hate crimes charges in Idaho

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to hate crime charges for threatening to use his vehicle to hit an Idaho library worker who defended a transgender co-worker, as well as two women he believed were lesbians, according to court documents and the U.S. Justice Department.Matthew Alan Lehigh, 31, of Oregon, on Thursday entered the plea to two hate crimes charges in federal court in Idaho, the department said. Lehigh had signed a plea agreement in the case last month. He faces sentencing later.An attorney for Lehigh did not immediately return an email seeking comment sent after hours Thursday. Lehigh acknowledged as part of the plea agreement that last October at a Boise public library he threatened and struck with a closed fist a library worker who is transgender. Another library employee tried to protect the co-worker and followed Lehigh as Lehigh fled to the parking lot. There, Lehigh got into his car and after the worker who followed him outside approached, Lehigh accelera...

Vancouver Police Board accepts department’s report on Myles Gray inquest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Police Department is committed to adopting the recommendations from a coroner’s inquest into the beating death of Myles Gray, it says in a report submitted to its board, but advocates say key concerns remain unaddressed.In a statement released by Pivot Legal Society, the policy director for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association says the police report “leads the reader to believe that everything is fine at the (department) — short of implementing body-worn cameras.”Meghan McDermott says the department “insists that its approach to crisis de-escalation is fine and dandy,” though she says police are using the same practices they did at the time Gray died in August 2015 after a beating by several officers.The initial 911 call on the day the 33-year-old died was about an agitated man who was behaving erratically and who had sprayed a woman with a garden hose.Gray died after a beating by police that left him with injuries including ru...

Ford government to expand ‘strong mayor powers’ in Ontario municipalities: sources

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

The Ford government will expand strong mayor powers to several other municipalities in the province, including Oakville, Hamilton, Milton and Niagara Falls, sources tell CityNews.Steve Clark, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, is expected to make the announcement at Queen’s Park on Friday morning.#BREAKING – The Ford government is expanding strong mayor powers to 29 more municipalities including Hamilton and Niagara Falls, sources tell CityNews. The Housing Minister is expected to make the announcement on Friday.— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) June 16, 2023Premier Doug Ford often expressed optimism that other municipalities would eventually get strong mayor powers, which give leaders the authority to veto bylaws that conflict with provincial priorities, such as building housing. A council could override the mayor’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote.Related: What will a ‘strong’ mayor system mean for Toronto?Clark a...

Death of 2 Americans in Mexico resort hotel room now attributed to ‘undetermined substance’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in Mexico’s Baja California Sur state said Thursday that autopsies on two Americans found dead in their luxury hotel room suggest they died of “intoxication by an undetermined substance.”Local police initially said gas inhalation was suspected as the cause of death.The state prosecutors’ office said the bodies bore no signs of violence. The office did not say what further steps were being taken to determine the exact cause of death.Prosecutors said the victims were from Newport Beach, California. Local media gave their names as Abby Lutz and John Heathco. The nutritional supplements company LES Labs, based in Covina, California, lists Heathco as its founder.The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City was not able to immediately confirm the names or hometowns of the victims due to privacy considerations.Prosecutors said the two had been dead for 11 or 12 hours when they were found in their room at a luxury hotel near the resort of Cabo San Lucas late Tu...

Suarez backs 15-week federal abortion ban, says he has ‘credibility’ on immigration conversation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, the newest candidate in the Republican presidential field, drew some distinctions between himself and his rivals Thursday, suggesting that the six-week abortion ban signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is too severe and showing an openness to changing the country’s immigration system.In an interview with The Associated Press, Suarez expressed support for a 15-week federal abortion ban, saying the country “is not there yet” on six weeks. He also said his status as the only Hispanic candidate in the GOP race gives him “a lot of credibility” in a conversation about reforming immigration laws, though he was vague about what he’d propose.“I do think that we need to right-size legal immigration and that it should be connected to our employment rate and our declining birth rate,” said Suarez, who has Cuban ancestry. “And I do think we have to do something with those who are undocumented in our country.”Suarez, 45, made his candid...

A list of mass casualty bus and van crashes on Canadian highways

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:20 GMT

RCMP say 15 people died and 10 others were taken to hospital on Thursday after a bus collided with a semi-truck near Carberry, Man. Little information was immediately available about the deceased, but RCMP say they believe many of the people on the bus were seniors. Here’s a list of some other serious crashes involving buses and large vehicles on Canadian roads: Dec. 24, 2022 — four dead and dozens injured near Merritt, B.C.A bus travelling from Kelowna, B.C, to Vancouver on Christmas Eve rolled over on Highway 97C, known as the Okanagan Connector, leaving four people dead. Eight others were hospitalized. Police have said they suspect extremely icy road conditions played a role in the collision.April 6, 2018 — 16 dead and 13 injured near Tisdale, Sask.A semi-truck ran through a stop sign at a crossroads near the town, striking the coach bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team. Sixteen people on the bus were killed: 10 players, the team’s coach, a...