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Explosion rips roof off Newburyport chemical company, one missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

An explosion at a pharmaceutical plant in Massachusetts that has a checkered history left one worker missing and sent four people to the hospital, officials said Thursday.The explosion happened around 1 a.m. at the Sequens/PCI Synthesis plant in Newburyport, fire and company officials said. Video footage showed most of the roof torn off the building.The four workers were sent to the hospital as a precaution, were not injured and were released. But one worker was not yet accounted for.“All our attention is focused on the situation of our employees,” a company statement said.It wasn’t immediately known what caused the explosion.According to Newburyport Acting Chief Stephen Bradbury III, the building surrered major structural damage, preventing firefighters and technical rescue crews from entering the building to begin a search.In 2020 in a previous incident at the company, authorities said a chemical reaction caused a series of explosions. That happened a year after the Occupati...

Wenesday’s high school scores and highlights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTSBASEBALLDagen Darnell threw five innings of shutout ball, striking out seven and surrendering four hits while going 3-for-3 at the plate also as Nobles (7–5) blanked St. George’s (RI) 11-0 in Independent School League play. … Conor Meehan hit a walkoff, two-run single to give Thayer a 4-3 win over BB&N.In a Patriot League showdown, Ryan Baker fired a complete-game shutout, punching out 11 batters in a 3-0 win for Whitman-Hanson (8-2) over Silver Lake. … DC Brown tossed a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts, and Matt Nardone scored the only run on a wild pitch in Plymouth North’s 1-0 win over Marshfield. … Gabe Knudsen struck out 18 in a complete-game shutout and finished 2-for-2 at the plate for Hanover in an 8-0 victory over Scituate. … Vinny O’Leary drove in four runs on four hits and stole two bases, while Kevin Pritchard threw a complete-game shutout with five strikeouts as North Quincy pulled away for a 13-4 win over Plymouth South.Connor Flynn scattered thre...

Max Scherzer struggles in first start since suspension against former team: ‘It was bittersweet’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

DETROIT — Max Scherzer used to dominate at Comerica Park. He won the first of his three Cy Young Awards as a member of the Tigers and became one of the preeminent pitchers of his time during his five seasons in Detroit.This wasn’t the same Scherzer that took the mound Wednesday night. Scherzer gave up six earned runs and failed to get out of the fourth inning in an 8-1 loss to the Tigers in his first game back after a 10-game suspension. His velocity was down, his spin rates were down and the Mets couldn’t give him any offense to work with.“He went 13 days without pitching,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I was trying to get him to 80 pitches just to keep building him up, but it’s something you’ve got to go through. We were hoping for a little better results and I know he was. We only scored one run and even at five, we felt like we’d make a run at it but we didn’t.”The 13-day layoff may partially be to blame. Scherzer...

2 San Diego-area restaurants among 'most popular brunch spots in the US': OpenTable

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Online restaurant-reservation service OpenTable released its annual list of the 100 Most Popular Brunch Spots for 2023, which conveniently comes just ahead of Mother's Day.For those still planning how to honor their mothers and celebrate the occasion, there are two San Diego-area restaurants that made the list and both are located in coastal North County. 5 brunch spots with a view in San Diego Pacific Coast Grill This award-winning restaurant in Cardiff offers guests a visual dining experience as it sits right next to the Pacific Ocean. Brunch can be enjoyed on one of two levels, with OpenTable saying every seat in the house is "carefully planned" to have a view of the water. As far as the menu goes, this spot offers an array of coastal cuisine. There's an oyster bar, sushi options and other seafood specialties like the Pan Seared Seabass or the Pacifico Battered Fish and Chips. You might want to finish this brunch off with a slice of their Tahitian Coconut Cheeseca...

Suspect sought after woman followed, harassed in Toronto’s west end

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a suspect after a woman was followed and harassed in the city’s west end.Officers were called to the area of Runnymede Road and Dundas Street West area just after 8 p.m. on April 26.Police say a man followed the woman around Runnymede Road between Bloor Street West and St. Clair Avenue West between April 16 and April 26 and harassed her.Investigators describe the man as 50 years old, five feet 10 inches tall, 220 pounds, with a medium build. He has light brown/grey short hair, unshaven black/grey facial hair, pock-marked skin, and has had his left arm amputated below the shoulder.He was last seen wearing a black “Boston Bruins” hat, black framed sunglasses, a black scarf around his neck, a maroon zip-up sweater, light grey sweat pants, and running shoes.

European Central Bank raises interest rates but slows pace

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank slowed the pace of its interest rate increases Thursday, stepping back like the U.S. Federal Reserve from a string of jumbo hikes aimed at snuffing out inflation. The ECB’s quarter-point hike follows evidence that its efforts are working by making mortgages and business loans harder to get.The decision comes a day after the Fed approved a quarter-point increase and hinted that it may have reached the end of its hiking cycle. But the central bank for the 20 countries that use the euro currency started later and may still have further to go even as economic growth slows to a crawl and U.S. bank instability stirs new fears of financial turmoil.The ECB said in a statement that inflation “has declined over recent months but underlying price pressures remain strong.” It says its streak of six hikes of half- or three-quarters of a point are being “transmitted forcefully” by making loans harder to get but how that affects the rest of the e...

Shopify to reduce workforce by 20% and sell logistics business

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

Shopify Inc. says it will reduce its head count by about 20 per cent and sell its logistics business to Flexport, a supply chain management company.The Ottawa-based e-commerce giant announced the moves Thursday morning and positioned them as a way to help it focus on its main quest: making commerce easier.But achieving that feat means reducing “side quests” which chief executive Tobi Lutke described as “always distracting because the company has to split focus.” “Technological progress always arcs towards simplicity, and entrepreneurs succeed more when we simplify. But now we are at the dawn of the AI era and the new capabilities that are unlocked by that are unprecedented,” he said, in an open letter announcing the changes.“Our main quest demands from us to build the best thing that is now possible, and that has just changed entirely.”Lutke’s note did not quantify how many staff would be departing the company, but before Shopify...

Atlanta shooting suspect has been charged with murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — The suspect in a mass shooting in Atlanta that left one woman dead and four others wounded has been charged with one count of murder and four counts of aggravated assault, Fulton County Jail records show.Deion Patterson was awaiting his first court appearance Thursday after police say he opened fire in the waiting room of an Atlanta medical practice Wednesday. Workers and others in a bustling commercial district took shelter for hours during the manhunt.Authorities swarmed the city’s midtown neighborhood shortly after noon in search of the shooter. Patterson, 34, was captured in Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta.The Associated Press

In Ukraine’s forests, soldiers race to get for next push

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

SOMEWHERE IN CENTRAL UKRAINE (AP) — The fighters depart at dawn, single-file, rifles slung, compasses in hand, and disappear like chameleons into the lush greenery of central Ukraine’s dense forests.They’re training for a long-anticipated campaign that Ukraine hopes will shift the momentum of its war with Russia. It’s a crash course in new assault tactics for the National Guard squad, a mix of volunteers whose ages range from 22 to 51. The squad is part of a brigade that’s been chosen to prepare for a counteroffensive, and it’s had just a few months to train on new skills and incorporate new recruits. By their own admission, the servicemen have outdated weapons, and many feared not enough training or resources. But they said when the time comes, they will be ready to fight.The Associated Press joined a unit of the Stalevy Kordon or Steel Border, a brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard. Over a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, the war’s front lines have been all but static for months,...

No Mow May? Good intentions, bad approach, critics say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:14 GMT

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve heard about the #NoMowMay movement that’s been gaining steam on social media and in eco-conscious circles these past few years.Started in 2019 by citizen scientists in the United Kingdom, the call for homeowners to abstain from mowing their lawns during the month has spread to other countries, including the U.S.The intention is admirable: Let your grass and weeds grow and bloom to provide food and shelter for essential pollinators like bees and butterflies early in the season, when such necessities may be scarce.Frankly, I think it’s a terrible idea.Some of those pollinators you set out to protect will likely get shredded up with the first mow of the season. Grass will no doubt get shaded by tall weeds, which can lead to fungal diseases. And weeds and invasive plants that take hold during the month won’t simply disappear once the mowing commences. That might lead people to apply chemical pesticides they wouldn’t otherwise use.And what about...