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State Workers Protest Unfunded Raises, Contracts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

Hundreds of state workers whose raises are tangled up in overdue budget bill disputes vented their disdain for lawmakers on the front steps of the capitol building Monday, with one union member saying public employees were being “held hostage” by the Legislature’s “political posturing.”Chants of “Shame, shame,” and “Do your job” echoed on Beacon Street as the employees expressed disgust with elected officials who for months have left collectively bargained raises for tens of thousands of workers unfunded.“The Legislature has failed to keep its promise,” said NAGE member Chris Cook. “And it’s not just a promise, it’s a contractual obligation. … We are not here to ask for help, we are not here to beg for charity. We are here to demand our contractual rights that we earned.”The House and Senate adjourned their final formal sessions of 2023 last week, punting the unfinished spending bill forward to...

Animal Rescue League saves kitten found ‘listless’ in frigid temps

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

A 5-week-old kitten who was recently found cold to the touch in Berkley on a brisk November morning when temperatures dipped below the freezing mark, is getting a second chance thanks to the quick actions of a community cat feeder and the Animal Rescue League of Boston.The kitten, now named Applesauce, was found amongst a cat colony by a resident who monitors and feeds the colony and was very alarmed when the kitten was found cold and listless. The finder took the kitten inside, contacted ARL’s Field Services Department, and did their best to warm up the kitten, by using blankets and providing sugar water.ARL responded to the home and transported the kitten to ARL’s Dedham Animal Care and Adoption Center. Upon intake, the kitten’s temperature was just 93F – a cat’s normal body temperature is typically between 100.5-102.5F.ARL’s veterinary team used a heated blanket to help increase the kitten’s body temperature and closely monitored him. Over the course of several hours, the kitten’...

Snow, Rain & Wind On The Way

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

Winter’s chill is upon us this morning as temps kick off the day in the teens and 20s. With a heavy frost on the ground, and a nice sunrise in the sky, it’s a quiet start to the day overall as we stay dry during the daylight hours. Temps warm into the lower 40s this afternoon under light winds and increasing clouds. The clouds that increase will foreshadow the incoming storm system that’ll deliver a dose of interior snow, rain and wind across much of New England. By 9-10pm this evening some flakes start to fly across the higher terrain of Worcester County with rain drops starting after 10pm across eastern Mass. That’ll allow for a lot of dry hours today, into early this evening for those that are traveling. Rain and snow pick up overnight with snow flipping to rain inland by 2am. 1000′ up in elevation has the best chance for 1-3″ across central and northern Worcester County. Even there, tomorrow morning looks wet and not white as any overnight sl...

Prince Harry drops the ceremonial puck during NHL game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

(CNN) — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle watched on in Rogers Arena as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the San Jose Sharks on Monday.The Duke of Sussex also dropped the ceremonial puck ahead of the game, fist-bumping captains Quinn Hughes and Tomáš Hertl at center ice.“I actually had to tell him [to drop the puck] because he kept holding [it] and smiling,” Hertl told reporters after the game. “I said it’s time to drop it. It was a cool moment, for sure I will remember that one.”Prince Harry and Meghan are visiting Vancouver ahead of the 2025 Invictus Games, which will be held in British Columbia.The Invictus Games, founded by Prince Harry and first staged in 2014, is an international sporting event involving military personnel injured in service.Previous editions have been held in the UK, the US, Australia, Netherlands, and Germany, while Canada will host it for the second time.The Canucks won Monday’s game 3-1, improving to 13-5-1 on the season thanks to goals...

Battenfeld: Political power struggle rages over $316K convention center job

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

A political power struggle over one of the crown jewels of the Massachusetts hackerama is reaching a crescendo with rumors rampant about the future of the convention center authority’s executive director.Longtime MCCA head David Gibbons – caught up in a dispute over equity and inclusion and a power play by elected officials – is at the center of the power struggle, according to sources.Gibbons – a hospitality industry executive with no political background – could be collateral damage in a bid by Gov. Maura Healey to put her own person in charge of the MCCA.Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu recently overhauled the MCCA board, putting seven new members on it, including outgoing Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty.Earlier this year, Flaherty and state Sen. Nick Collins banded together to criticize and block an MCCA land deal in their neighborhood. They are no fans of Gibbons and may be looking to install a new executive director,The Herald was unable to contact an MCCA spokespers...

India, Australia commit to boosting strategic ties as their diplomats and defense chiefs hold talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India and Australia on Tuesday said they were committed to boosting economic and strategic ties, as their top diplomats shared concerns over China, regional security and the Israel-Hamas war. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong a day after the two along with the countries’ defense chiefs held talks in New Delhi.Jaishankar said he and Wong took stock of their growing ties in trade and defense, and there was “a real momentum” in their relationship. The Indo-Pacific was a key priority for both countries, they said. Both Jaishankar and Wong said their nations are committed to a free, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.While neither of them named China, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles on Monday said China remained a top concern for India and Australia. “For both of us, China is our biggest trading partner. For both of us, China is our biggest security anxiety,...

Property dispute in Colorado leaves 3 dead, 1 critically wounded and suspect on the run

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

WESTCLIFFE, Colo. (AP) — Authorities in Colorado hunted Tuesday for a man they believe shot and killed three people and critically wounded a fourth in a property dispute.The 45-year-old suspect was believed to be driving a white Ram 1500 pickup truck with a camper shell, according to a Facebook post from the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.Residents of the wooded, rural area were told to shelter in place for five hours on Monday as authorities hunted for the man, but the order was listed Monday night while he remained at large.At around 1 p.m. Monday, a report of shots being fired sent deputies to Rocky Ridge Road, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the county seat of Westcliffe and about an hour’s drive from Colorado Springs.The shooting took place on the property line in a wooded area and began with “a suspected property dispute,” the Sheriff’s Office said. Two men and a woman died at the scene and a fourth person was taken to a trauma center in critical condition...

Slovakia’s new government led by populist Robert Fico wins a mandatory confidence vote

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s new government, led by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico who ended the country’s military aid for Ukraine, won a mandatory confidence vote in Parliament on Tuesday.Of the 143 lawmakers present in the 150-seat Parliament, 78 voted in favor of the three-party coalition government that was sworn in on Oct 25.Fico returned to power and took over as prime minister for the fourth time after his scandal-tainted leftist Smer, or Direction, party won Slovakia’s Sept 30 parliamentary election on a pro-Russian and anti-American platform.Fico formed a parliamentary majority by signing a coalition government deal with the leftist Hlas, or Voice, party and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party.Fico’s victory may mark a dramatic turnaround in the country’s foreign policy and could strain a fragile unity in the European Union and NATO.Slovakia, a country of 5.5 million people that shares a border with Ukraine, had been a staunch supporter of Kyiv since ...

Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon kills 2 journalists of a pan-Arab TV station, official says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed Tuesday two journalists reporting for the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV on the violence along the border with Israel, according to the Lebanese information minister and their TV station. The strike also killed a Lebanese civilian, said the station.The Pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV — politically allied with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — identified the journalists as correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari saying they were “martyred by treacherous Israeli targeting,” adding it was an airstrike.“It was direct targeting. It was not a coincidence,” said Ghassan bin Jiddo, director of the TV channel, holding back his tears in a live broadcast. They join “the martyrs of Gaza,” he said Bin Jiddo said a man from the village, whom he identified as Hussein Akil, was also killed.Last week, the Israeli government blocked Al-Mayadeen TV news channel from broadcasting in Israel.Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary...

A vehicle rams into a victory celebration for Liberia’s president-elect, killing 2 and injuring 18

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:25 GMT

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — A speeding vehicle rammed into jubilant supporters of President-elect Joseph Boakai at a victory celebration, killing at least two people and injuring at least 18 others, authorities said Tuesday.Police made an arrest following the crash late Monday but are withholding the name of the suspect pending their investigation, said Col. Melvin Sackor, deputy police inspector general for operations.It was not immediately known whether the crash at the headquarters of the Unity Party in Monrovia was politically motivated. However, it took place hours after election officials formally declared Boakai the winner of this month’s presidential runoff vote.According to the National Elections Commission, Boakai won with 50.64% of the second round balloting while incumbent President George Weah took 49.36%.Weah had already conceded defeat several days earlier based on the release of provisional results, and urged his supporters to respect the vote’s outcome.Mark...