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Healey ushers in new MassDOT board appointments, first disabled director

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

Four new members will join the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board of Directors at a time when transportation in the greater Boston area is under heavy strain, the Healey administration announced Wednesday morning.Commuters are about to deal with a month-long shutdown of the Sumner Tunnel, which state officials have pitched as necessary to repair the almost 100-year-old link between East Boston and downtown. That is virtually guaranteed to create traffic headaches across the city, officials said over the weekend.And federal officials are still scrutinizing the MBTA, where a portion of the Green Line is scheduled to close for 12 days in July for track replacement and new details are emerging about how a Red Line rider was dragged to his death last year at Broadway Station.The new board members include, for the first time, a person from the disability community, Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, and familiar faces in the transportation policy world like Richard Dimino, who led A Better C...

Born on the Fourth of Jul-pie: A patriotic, no-bake cream cheese treat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

Summer has officially arrived so most kids of all ages are on summer break, families are planning and taking vacations, barbecues are in full swing on weekends, and we’re all trying to get back to normal after a few long years.Fourth of July is right around the corner, which makes the best excuse to gather with family and friends at parks and beaches where potlucks are abundant, filled with delicious savory dishes and scrumptious desserts.I’ve always been a savory cook. Baking is my Achilles heel. My hat goes off to all the home bakers and professional pastry chefs because you all are artists when creating sweet treats. Since baking is not in my wheelhouse, I’d like to share my no-bake cream cheese pie that can be garnished with berries to make a red, white, and blue pie perfect for Independence Day.I was inspired to zest up a traditional cream cheese pie to make it my own. It’s perfect for the non-bakers out there because there’s no baking involved! Plus, it only takes a few minute...

France’s Macron calls the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old that led to unrest ‘inexcusable’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

By OLEG CETINIC and ANGELA CHARLTON (Associated Press)NANTERRE, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron called the shooting death of a 17-year-old delivery driver by police “inexcusable” and pleaded for calm while justice takes its course. The government heightened the police presence in Paris and other big cities Wednesday after the killing triggered a night of scattered violence. The death of 17-year-old Nael during a traffic check Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre elicited nationwide concern and widespread messages of indignation and condolences. French soccer star Kylian Mbappe tweeted: “I hurt for my France.” Nael’s surname has not been released by authorities or by his family.Nael’s mother called for a silent march Thursday in his honor on the square where he was killed, while French activists renewed calls to tackle what they see as systemic police abuse. Government officials condemned the killing and sought to distance t...

Gonorrhea shot gets FDA fast track as resistant cases multiply

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

Matthew Griffin | Bloomberg News (TNS)GSK Plc’s experimental gonorrhea vaccine got fast-track designation from U.S. regulators, putting the shot in position to become the first preventive for a common, often-undetected infection that’s gaining resistance to treatment.The Food and Drug Administration status makes the drug eligible for a sped-up approval process, if an ongoing midstage trial shows it’s effective, the company said Tuesday. GSK learned of its status in April and plans to move the vaccine to final-stage testing in 2026, said Giulia Giordano, vaccine development leader for the project.In 2020, some 82 million people worldwide caught gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted infection that can lead to complications including infertility. While some patients show early symptoms, such as pain or urethral discharge in men or vaginal discharge in women, many cases may be missed even as the disease does long-term damage.The situation has been exacerbated by gonorrhea’s growing resistan...

Court hearing for Lindsay Groves, former childcare worker charged with creating child pornography ends in explosive emotional outburst

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

The former Tyngsboro childcare worker accused of taking nude photographs of the children under her care and then sharing those images with others heard firsthand the pain she had allegedly caused when a parent lashed out at at her in court.“I want to (expletive) kill that (expletive),” a tearful woman, presumably a mother of one of the victims, cried at the close of the initial appearance in federal court in Boston. “You need to rot in jail!”Lindsay Groves, 38, of Hudson, N.H., was charged by criminal complaint filed in federal court in Boston last week and arrested that same day. She is charged with sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography. According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, she took nude photos of children she worked with at the Creative Minds daycare in Tyngsboro, with at least several of the photos being made within the last couple of weeks.If convicted, Groves faces a maximum of 30 years for the exploitation ...

Is a Milan Lucic return to Bruins in the air?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

Milan Lucic could be coming back to his first NHL home.The 35-year-old Lucic is set to become a UFA on Saturday but the Calgary Flames had given him permission to speak with other teams. Though the Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal, based in Lucic’s hometown of Vancouver, reported that there will indeed be a reunion, a source close to the situation told the Herald there are still some things to be worked out contractually. Nothing can be official until Saturday.If the deal does happen, one would presume that it would be a short-term deal for a fraction of his salary last season, which was the final year of a seven-year contract with an AAV of $6 million.Lucic is no longer the same player who scored 30 goals while riding shotgun with David Krejci earlier in his career. Last season with the Flames, he average just over 11 minutes of icetime and notched 7-12-19 totals and was minus-13. He’s six years removed from his last 20-goal season, when he scored 23 goals as a member of ...

Smoke from Canada wildfires increasing health risks in Black, poorer US communities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Smoky air from Canada’s wildfires shrouded broad swaths of the U.S. from Minnesota to Pennsylvania and Kentucky on Wednesday, prompting warnings to stay inside and exacerbating health risks for people already suffering from industrial pollution.The impacts are particularly hard on poor and minority communities that are more likely to live near polluting plants and have higher rates of asthma. Detroit, a mostly Black city with a poverty rate of about 30%, had the worst air quality in the U.S. on Wednesday, leading the Environmental Protection Agency to warn that “everyone should stay indoors.”“The more breaths you’re taking, you’re inhaling, literally, a fire, camp smoke, into your lungs,” said Darren Riley, who was diagnosed with asthma in 2018, a few years after arriving in Detroit.“Many communities face this way too often,” said Riley, who is Black. “And while this wildfire smoke allows, unfortunately, many people to feel this burden, this is a burden that far too l...

Amtrak train with 190 passengers derails after colliding with vehicle in Southern California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

MOORPARK, Calif. (AP) — An Amtrak train carrying 190 passengers derailed Wednesday after striking a truck on tracks in Southern California, and only minor injuries were reported, authorities said. Three of the train’s seven cars went off the tracks following the collision in Moorpark, said Ventura County Fire Department Captain Brian McGrath. The number of people hurt wasn’t immediately known, but all the injuries were characterized as minor, McGrath said.Parts of the demolished truck were still on the tracks, while other sections lay near the derailed train cars. The truck’s driver had only minor injuries and it appears he got out before the collision, McGrath said. The derailed train cars remained upright on a section of track adjacent to an orchard and bare sections of land.Most of the passengers were able to exit the train on their own or with the help of first responders, who were called around 11:20 a.m., McGrath said. A few people were transported to hospita...

Suspect wanted after trying to light victim on fire in Oshawa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

Police in Durham are searching for a suspect wanted in an assault after he tried to light the victim on fire in Oshawa.Investigators said the man was hiding outside of a local business in the Simcoe Street South and John Street West area around 10 a.m. on June 7.When the victim arrived, police said the man sprayed them with an unknown substance and attempted to light them on fire. The suspect fled the area westbound on John Street West on a bicycle.Police said the victim was treated for injuries by paramedics at the scene. It’s unclear how serious this injuries were.The suspect is described as a white male with a medium build and approximately 25 to 30 years old.He was last seen wearing a blue hoodie, black pants, a blue baseball cap and red and white running shoes.

The number of Kansas residents changing their gender jumped 300% before a new law began

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:12:31 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The number of people officially changing their gender in Kansas jumped more than 300% this year ahead of a new state law that legally erases their ability to identify with a gender other than the sex assigned to them at birth.The legislation is part of a raft of measures lawmakers across the U.S. have passed to roll back transgender rights. It has provisions meant to restrict transgender people’s use of restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities and applies to a person’s identity listed on state documents such as birth certificates and driver’s licenses.The Kansas law takes effect Saturday, but it’s not yet clear how it will play out in the daily lives of transgender people. The new legislation conflicts with a 2019 federal court order directing the state to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who vetoed the law but was overridden by the Republican-controlled Legislature, hasn’t said whether she w...