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Gov. Healey declares state of emergency, Leominster schools closed again Wednesday after flooding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

Cleanup efforts continued in Leominster and several other Massachusetts communities Tuesday after heavy rains on Monday triggered flash flooding that damaged roads, homes and businesses and prompted the closure of local schools.Hours after sunrise revealed new damage and after touring impacted communities, Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday night officially announced a state of emergency declaration.“Today I saw firsthand the devastating impacts of severe flooding in Leominster and North Attleborough – and it was painfully clear that Massachusetts is in a state of emergency,” Healey said, in part.“This declaration will expedite our efforts to deliver relief to impacted communities and bolster our ability to access federal resources,” Healey said. More than 100 people were utilizing city emergency shelter space as of Tuesday morning, according to Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella. In addition to local school closures, several roads in Leominster were closed throughout the day.In an upd...

Orioles starter John Means solid in return but bats struggle with runners in scoring position for 5-2 loss to Cardinals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

The way John Means pitched Tuesday was encouraging. The way his offense hit wasn’t.In his first start since April 2022, Means pitched five innings of three-run ball, pounding the strike zone and looking like a starting pitcher capable of remaining in the rotation for the remainder of the season.But Baltimore’s bats didn’t back him up, putting together perhaps their worst offensive performance in weeks against the worst statistical starting pitcher in the major leagues. St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright entered Tuesday with an 8.19 ERA that was 1.31 runs worse than any other starter with more than 80 innings pitched, but the Orioles couldn’t capitalize against the struggling veteran and his bullpen in a 5-2 loss.The matchup against the National League Central-worst Cardinals was ripe for the taking, as the Orioles have spent the past few weeks as one of the best offenses in the sport. They scored 48 runs in their previous five games and averaged...

Taylor Swift wins twice early at MTV VMAs as NSYNC reunites and Shakira delivers epic medley of hits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

By MARIA SHERMAN (AP Music Writer)At the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, surprises were many — and immediate. Within the first half-hour, the boy band NSYNC reunited on stage to present the first award for best pop video, which went to Taylor Swift.In coordinating suits, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick and JC Chasez shared the stage with Swift. Bass handed Swift a friendship bracelet just as fans do at the superstar’s shows. “You’re pop personified,” she told the group.She returned to the stage later in the show’s first hour to pick up the song of the year trophy for “Anti-Hero.”Lil Wayne opened the show for a performance of his new single “Kat Food.” Immediately afterward, Olivia Rodrigo brought her “Vampire” music video set to the stage, before launching into her cheeky pop-punk single “Get Him Back!”Between the two tracks, snippets of her sold singles played aloud –...

Revolution name Clint Peay new interim head coach amid changes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

The New England Revolution made wholesale changes in their coaching staff in the wake of head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena’s abrupt resignation on Saturday night.Clint Peay, head coach of Revolution II, will replace Richie Williams as interim head coach and he will be supplemented by Marcelo Santos as first assistant coach. In addition to Williams, the Revolution have parted ways with Arena’s two former assistant coaches. The Revolution released club legend Shalrie Joesph and Dave van den Bergh.The shakeup followed a series of team meetings on Tuesday morning involving Williams, the players, and members of team management at the Revolution’s training facility in Foxboro.Williams insisted during a 12:30 p.m. Zoom press conference that the team was onboard with moving forward with the status quo. Williams claimed the Revolution did not practice because they were tied up in meetings with the players, coaches, and team officials at the Revolution’s training facility.“We had b...

GOP mayoral primary involving Connecticut alderman facing charges in Jan. 6 riot headed for recount

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

DERBY, Conn. (AP) — A Republican primary between the incumbent mayor of Connecticut’s smallest city and an alderman facing criminal charges that he entered the U.S. Capitol with a mob of rioters appeared Tuesday to be headed for a recount.Final unofficial results showed a tight contest in the race in Derby, a city of 12,400 people about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of New York City. Mayor Richard Dziekan had 192 votes. His challenger, Gino DiGiovanni Jr., had 202. Races decided by less than 20 votes trigger an automatic recount. DiGiovanni, 42, who was elected to the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen in 2021, pressed ahead with his campaign despite his arrest Aug. 15. His presence in the crowd that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, also didn’t cost him the support of the Derby Republican Town Committee, which endorsed him in July over Dziekan, who chose not to seek the party’s backing.Regardless of the final Republican primary results, Dziekan has said he will appear...

Shuttered Michigan nuclear plant moves closer to reopening under power purchase agreement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A company seeking to restart a southwestern Michigan nuclear power plant said Tuesday it has taken a major step forward with the signing of a power purchase agreement.Holtec International said a subsidiary, Palisades Energy LLC, signed the deal this week with Wolverine Power Cooperative, a not-for-profit energy provider serving rural communities across Michigan.Under the “multi-decade” agreement, Wolverine agrees to purchase up to two-thirds of the power generated by Palisades for its Michigan-based member rural electric cooperatives. A partner, Bloomington, Indiana-based cooperative Hoosier Energy, will purchase the rest. A Holtec spokesperson said he could not elaborate on “multi-decade.” Financial terms were not disclosed.If it begins generating power again, Palisades would be the first shuttered nuclear power plant to do so.Holtec bought the former Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Covert Township in June 2022 for the stated ...

Lawyers for jailed reporter Evan Gershkovich ask UN to urgently declare he was arbitrarily detained

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Lawyers for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich asked a United Nations body on Tuesday to urgently issue an opinion that he has been arbitrarily detained by Russia on espionage charges which are “patently false.”The request to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention says “Russia has failed to produce a shred of evidence in support of its accusations” since the 31-year-old journalist was arrested on March 29 on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, almost 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.“Russia is not imprisoning Gershkovich because it legitimately believes its absurd claim that he is an American spy,” the Journal’s request said. “Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin is using Gershkovich as a pawn, holding him hostage in order to gain leverage over – and extract a ransom from – the United States, just as he has done with other American citizens whom he has wrongfully detained.”Jason Conti, executive vice presiden...

California lawmakers OK bills banning certain chemicals in foods and drinks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are working through hundreds of bills before the legislative session ends on Thursday.If approved, the bills go to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will have until Oct. 14 to decide whether to sign them into law, veto them or let them become law without his signature. The state Legislature almost never overrides a veto from the governor, no matter what political party is in charge. CHEMICALS IN FOODLawmakers on Tuesday voted to become the first state to ban four chemicals from processed food and drinks sold in California by 2027.The chemicals — red dye no. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil and propyl paraben — are still used in popular products like Peeps, the popular marshmallow chicks most associated with Easter.Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, the author of the bill, said those chemicals have already been banned by the European Union and other countries because of scientific research linking them to health probl...

Guatemala President-elect suspends transition after agents raid election facilities, open vote boxes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo said Tuesday he was temporarily suspending the transition process and called for the resignation of the attorney general following raids on electoral facilities during which government agents opened boxes of votes and photographed their contents in what experts called an unprecedented violation of the law.Arévalo said he had notified outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, who just a day earlier had promised a smooth handover of power, and would only return to the process when the necessary conditions were met. It was not immediately clear if it could affect the constitutionally-mandated transfer of power Jan. 14.Agents from Guatemala’s Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday again raided facilities of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, but this time raising the stakes in Guatemala’s democratic transition by opening dozens of boxes of votes.Luis Gerardo Ramírez, spokesman for the tribunal, said the body had not...

Lawsuit accuses Beverly Hills police of racially profiling Black motorists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:17 GMT

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A lawsuit accuses Beverly Hills police of racially profiling nearly 1,100 Black people during traffic stops.The suit announced Monday was filed on behalf of most of the Black drivers who were pulled over in the wealthy city between August 2019 and August 2021.Out of a total of 1,088 Black motorists stopped, only two were convicted of crimes, attorney Benjamin Crump said at a news conference.About a third of all arrests made during the period involved Blacks, who make up only 1.5% of the city’s population, Crump said.“It wasn’t to deter crime. It was to send a message to Black people that we don’t want your kind around here,” Crump said. “That is racial profiling 101!”The city denied the allegations, saying in a statement, “The statistics presented referencing the number of convictions is a mischaracterization of the evidence in this case. In addition, the 1,088 arrests referenced includes people cited and released, not just custodial arrests.”“The ...