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Billerica fends off late rally, beats Central Catholic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

BILLERICA — Steven Gentile totaled 308 yards and four touchdowns as No. 6 Billerica picked up a statement road win over Central Catholic, 32-27, on Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.Billerica (3-0) held off a furious fourth-quarter comeback from Central Catholic that trimmed a 25-point lead to five in the closing moments. It’s the first win for Billerica over CC since 2009.“Steven (Gentile) has done a fantastic job and has been waiting for this for his entire life,” said Billerica coach Duane Sigsbury. “Our kids love football. We knew we had a lot of kids coming back this year and we’re very lucky to have the guys we do.”A 27-yard touchdown by Cole Dillon put Billerica up 32-7 with 10:31 remaining but the Raiders refused to go quietly. Drew Alsup corralled a 29-yard touchdown reception and then, after a Mason Bachry interception, Alsup hauled in a second touchdown reception to trim the deficit to 32-21 with 4:22 remaining...

Fast study Desmarais cruises to cross country win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

There’s a brand-new face on the Massachusetts girls’ cross country and she’s quickly becoming a harrier the rest of the state will have to take notice of.Apponequet senior Hailey Desmarais quietly won her first two dual meets of the season and Saturday ran away from the varsity field in a steady, chilly rain for the win at the Franklin Park Invitational. Desmarais, who took up running last April and already has a 3:17 marathon under her belt, sailed across the finish line in 20 minutes, 42.9 seconds for the challenging 3.1-mile course. That time put her well ahead of Andover’s Rose Kiley (20:31.7) and third-place finisher Julia Davis of Bishop Fenwick (20:31.7).Late to the show in cross country, Desmarais has a number of road race victories under her belt and said she regularly ran 100-mile weeks during the summer. She’s since reeled it back to 70 to since the start of cross country.“I was shivering and my teeth were chattering at the start but as...

Coastal North Carolina, Virginia hit by flooding as Tropical Storm Ophelia travels north

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

Residents in parts of coastal North Carolina and Virginia experienced flooding Saturday after Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near a North Carolina barrier island, bringing rain, damaging winds and dangerous surges.The storm came ashore near Emerald Isle with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph, but winds weakened as it traveled north with the center of the storm crossing into Virginia by evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Ophelia is expected to sweep northeast Sunday along the mid-Atlantic coast to New Jersey.Videos from social media showed riverfront communities in North Carolina such as New Bern, Belhaven and Washington experiencing significant flooding. The extent of the damage was not immediately clear.Even before it made landfall, the storm proved treacherous enough that five people had to be rescued by the Coast Guard on Friday night from a boat anchored down near the North Carolina coastline.Ophelia promises a weekend of windy conditions and heavy rai...

Lawrence Academy blanks Belmont Hill 24-0

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

BELMONT — The conditions were less than ideal for a season opener, but that didn’t matter to Michael Landolfi and his Lawrence Academy teammates.The Spartans arrived in Belmont looking to defend their share of the Independent School League title.They took a first step toward that goal, rolling to a 24-0 victory over Belmont Hill. Landolfi completed 6-of-12 for 83 yards to go with 44 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Jordan Johnson added 83 yards rushing.“The score does not indicate what happened out there today,” Lawrence Academy coach Jason Swepson said. “Two physical teams, and I just think we won the turnover battle. I think that’s what it came down to. We had some young guys make some big plays, and our veterans played well.”With only a few seconds to play in the opening frame, Lawrence Academy (1-0) struck as senior captain Michael Gregoire muscled his way in from the 1, giving the Spartans a 7-0 lead with 50 ticks left in the first.Shortly after a Brady Scott intercep...

Nevada Republicans have approved rules for their presidential caucus seen as helping Donald Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Republican Party approved rules Saturday for their presidential caucus that many campaigns suspect are meant to help former President Donald Trump win the state’s GOP delegates. The provisions would bar any candidate from the Feb. 8 caucus if they participate in the state-run primary two days earlier. They would also restrict super PACs, like the one Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is relying on, from trying to bolster support for candidates in a caucus. The party approved the new rules at a closed-door meeting of its central committee. Two people familiar with the matter confirmed the result to The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the vote publicly.The moves reflect Trump’s grip on many state parties and his status as the perennial frontrunner, particularly in Nevada, where the state GOP is run by allies of the former president.For months, the Nevada Republican Party has insis...

Man charged with first degree murder in shooting death of B.C. RCMP officer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

A 25-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of an RCMP officer in Coquitlam, B.C.Police allege Nicholas Bellemare fatally shot Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien on Friday during a drug investigation originating in Maple Ridge, B.C.The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and the Coquitlam and Ridge Meadows RCMP detachments issued a joint statement saying Mounties were executing a warrant when an altercation began between Bellemare and police at around 10 a.m.The incident resulted in O’Brien and another officer being shot, with a third officer also sustaining unspecified injuries. O’Brien died at the scene.Bellemare, who police say was also shot and wounded in the altercation, has been charged with one count each of first-degree murder and attempted murder with a firearm.O’Brien’s death in Coquitlam comes less than a year after another RCMP officer, Const. Shaelyn Yang, was stabbed to death while accompanying ...

California bill to have human drivers ride in autonomous trucks is vetoed by governor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill to require human drivers on board self-driving trucks, a measure that union leaders and truck drivers said would save hundreds of thousands of jobs in the state.The legislation vetoed Friday night would have banned self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) — ranging from UPS delivery vans to massive big rigs — from operating on public roads unless a human driver is on board. Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, head of the California Labor Federation, said driverless trucks are dangerous and called Newsom’s veto shocking. She estimates that removing drivers would cost a quarter million jobs in the state. “We will not sit by as bureaucrats side with tech companies, trading our safety and jobs for increased corporate profits. We will continue to fight to make sure that robots do not replace human drivers and that technology is not used to destroy good jobs,” Fletcher said in a statement la...

Minnesota’s would-be head of cannabis regulation quits amid reports she sold illegal products

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The recently appointed director of Minnesota’s new marijuana regulatory agency Erin Dupree has resigned amid reports that she sold illegal cannabis products in the state.Dupree ran a business that sold products exceeding state limits on THC potency, owed money to former associates and accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in tax liens, Minnesota Public Radio reported.Loonacy Cannabis Co. — the business Dupree founded in Apple Valley, Minnesota, last year — posted on its now-deactivated TikTok account about its edible products containing 10 milligrams of THC per serving and 150 milligrams per package, although state law only allows hemp-derived edibles to contain up to 5 milligrams of THC per serving and 50 milligrams per package, the Star Tribune reported.“I have never knowingly sold any noncompliant product, and when I became aware of them I removed the products from inventory,” Dupree said in a statement Friday. “However, it has become clear that I have b...

'He was a community man': 86-year-old killed in shooting in Auburn Gresham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

CHICAGO — Police are investigating after an elderly man died after a shooting in the city's Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Saturday morning.Family members identified the victim as 86-year-old Charles Hobson and say he was a pillar in his South Side community. "He was retired, he was living his best life," Kimberly Hobson-Gary, a daughter-in-law of the victim, said. Family and friends rushed to the 8100 block of South Throop on Saturday morning after getting word that Hobson had been shot while coming out of his home to get his cell phone from his car. Family members say Hobson, who was a former entrepreneur and a long-time Auburn Gresham resident, was well-loved in the community. "He was first and foremost a man of god and he belonged to St. Mark United Methodist Church. He was a community man," Hobson-Gary said.  Police: 2 teens killed in Palatine shooting were victims of targeted, gang-related incident A neighbor in the area told WGN TV News that the sus...

3 injured after fire breaks out at Edgewater apartment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:12 GMT

CHICAGO — An overnight fire at an apartment building in Edgewater left three people injured on Saturday.According to fire officials, the blaze broke out at an apartment building in the 5700 block of North Sheridan Road just before 12:30 a.m.Laura Churio, a resident in the building, says she was still awake at the time and was startled when the fire alarms went off in the middle of the night."When we opened the door, all the smoke coming in the hallway. It was pretty scary," Churio said.The commotion also woke up sleeping residents of the building next door."They were spraying this window. Smoke was billowing from the window," Scott Domek, who lives in the building next door, said. "The entire interior of this apartment right here was just smoke coming out very powerfully."Fire officials say two women were transported to the hospital in critical condition and a man was transported in serious condition following the fire. Currently, it is unclear what sparked the fire, but investigato...