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Boston COVID wastewater data keeps dropping, Massachusetts virus cases down 20%

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

Boston is continuing to report that COVID wastewater levels are dropping, as state health officials on Thursday reported a 20% decrease in new virus cases and falling hospitalizations.Data from the Boston Public Health Commission’s wastewater surveillance program shows that the number of COVID particles in the wastewater plunged 42% over the past two weeks.Six of the 11 neighborhood testing sites had rates that were below the citywide average of 407 viral RNA copies per milliliter: East Boston, South Boston, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, Hyde Park, and Roslindale/West Roxbury.The neighborhoods above the virus wastewater average were Allston/Brighton, Charlestown, Back Bay, Mattapan, and Roxbury.Related ArticlesHealth | Gathering for St. Patrick’s Day? Boston health officials recommend wearing a mask as COVID cases go down Health | Maura Healey ending Massachusetts COVID-19 public-health emergency, vaccine mandate in May Health | Il...

Burglar takes Massachusetts State Police-issued rifle from locked cruiser in Malden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

A thief working a Malden parking garage figured out quite a puzzle: how to steal a rifle secured in a mount of a locked State Police cruiser.A State Police spokesman confirmed that a rifle was stolen from one of the force’s cruisers sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning and that an investigation into the burglary is ongoing.What the agency will say is that its preliminary investigation indicates that the burglar entered the vehicle by force before stealing a department-issued patrol rifle that was “secured in a mount.”“At this time we have no indication of the rifle being used subsequent to its theft,” MSP spokesman Dave Procopio wrote in a statement.

Man accused of shooting teen in Boston arraigned on federal charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

The gang member accused of gunning down a Boston teenager in broad daylight now has been indicted in his federal case, advancing those proceedings.Csean “Shizz” Skerritt, 34, faces a federal charge of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, the grand jury also gave the feds the go-ahead to seize anything he gained from his alleged drug-dealing.This is an incremental change for the federal case against Skerritt, who the G-men already had charged by criminal complaint last month with the same count of dealing the powerful opioid fentanyl.This moves the case along, as the feds need a grand-jury indictment to continue prosecution of any felony charge. He’d been charged by complaint last month, with an FBI agent filing an affidavit saying that Skerritt had sold about 55 grams of the drug to a confidential informant.This case, however, isn’t really why the people of Boston have seen Skerritt’s face on the news va...

MBTA explores low-income fare program, estimates revenue loss

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

The MBTA expects to be able to implement a low-income fare program in 12 months, should the $5 million start-up cost included in the governor’s state budget proposal make it through the legislative process.Roughly 60,000 additional riders between the ages of 26-64, with incomes  at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, are expected to become eligible for half-price fares through this program, according to a presentation shared at Thursday’s Board of Directors meeting.“The implementation of a low-income fare program is a significant and complex project with a lot of different moving pieces,” said Steven Povich, MBTA director of fare policy and analytics.Healey, when presenting her state budget earlier this month, characterized means-tested fares as an equity initiative, saying the $5 million investment would provide start-up costs to implement such a program.Those funds would go toward building an online application, hiring additional staff, conducting the standard fare change ...

Surge in eating disorders spurs state legislative action

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Stranded at home amid pandemic lockdowns in spring 2020, Emma Warford stumbled down a social media rabbit hole in her quest to get in shape. Viral 28-day fitness challenges. YouTubers promising “hourglass abs.” Diet videos where slim-stomached influencers peddled calorie-tracking apps.Warford, then a 15-year-old starting volleyball player, bought a food scale and began replacing meals with energy drinks hawked by social media stars. Soon, her calorie cutting became a compulsion. By season’s end, she began volleyball games benched, too feeble to start. A year into the pandemic, her heart rate slowed and she was rushed to the hospital.Stories like Warford’s are why lawmakers in Colorado, California, Texas, New York and elsewhere are taking big, legislative swings at the eating disorder crisis. Warford, who’s now in recovery after two years of treatment, is among nearly 30 million Americans — about the population of Texas — who will struggle with an eating disorder ...

Senate Ethics admonishes Graham for campaign solicitations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Ethics Committee is admonishing South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham for soliciting campaign contributions inside a federal building after a Nov. 2022 Fox News interview in which he asked viewers to donate to a GOP candidate. Graham violated Senate rules and standards of conduct because he was in a Senate office building when he did the interview, the leaders of the ethics panel said in a rare public letter released on Thursday. “The public must feel confident that Members use public resources only for official actions in the best interests of the United States, not for partisan political activity,” wrote Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Chris Coons, D-Del., and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, the panel’s Republican vice chairman. “Your actions failed to uphold that standard, resulting in harm to the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate. You are hereby admonished.” Coons and Lankford wrote that Graham solicited campaign contributions...

Appeal Court hears trucker convicted of killing Edmonton woman wants new trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

EDMONTON — Alberta’s Court of Appeal heard arguments Thursday that a former Ontario truck driver should be tried for a third time in the 2011 death of an Indigenous woman.Bradley Barton, 55, was sentenced to 12 1/2 years for manslaughter in the death of Cindy Gladue, a Métis and Cree woman who bled to death in a bathtub at the Yellowhead Inn in Edmonton.Peter Sankoff, one of Barton’s lawyers, said the exclusion of some evidence and the question of consent should warrant a new trial.Sankoff said Barton was unlawfully detained for an exceptionally long period of time.“You try spending 6 1/2 hours in police custody,” Sankoff told reporters outside the courthouse. “That is not a pleasant time no matter how many coffees they bring you. You’re not allowed to leave. That’s the problem.”During the hearing, Sankoff referred to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.“Everyone has rights,” he said. “To deny someone their rights just...

Endangered hooded vulture escapes from Bay Area zoo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — An endangered hooded vulture escaped from a zoo aviary in the San Francisco Bay Area that was destroyed after a massive tree fell on it during a storm. But the bird has remained on zoo grounds, and officials were working Thursday to entice it back.The male hooded vulture and five other exotic birds, including two pied crows and three superb starlings, flew out from the aviary at the Oakland Zoo on Tuesday amid a wind-packed storm that pummeled the Bay Area, zoo spokeswoman Erin Dogan said. But the birds stayed on zoo grounds, and a team of at least 12 zoo workers armed with binoculars, nets and crates has already recovered the three starlings, Dogan said. “They are choosing to stay near the zoo and near the aviary because it seems that’s where they feel safe,” she said. The team has been working since Tuesday to entice the vulture with dead rats and the crows with mealworms to trap them and bring them back to safety, she said. All the birds hatched in captivit...

North Korea simulates nuclear attacks with drone, missiles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday its latest cruise missile launches this week were part of nuclear attack simulations that also involved a test of a purported underwater attack drone as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to make his rivals “plunge into despair.”North Korea has stepped up its weapons demonstrations this month in a tit-for-tat response to the United States’ expanding military exercises with ally South Korea aimed at countering the North’s growing nuclear threat. The allies completed an 11-day exercise that included their biggest field training in years on Thursday, but North Korea is expected to continue its weapons tests as the United States reportedly plans to send an aircraft carrier in coming days for another round of joint drills with the South.Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim supervised a three-day exercise through Thursday that simulated nuclear counterattacks against enemy naval assets and ports that involved detonations of mock ...

Tom Brady becomes minority owner of WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:47 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady has acquired an ownership stake in the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.He attended an Aces game on May 31 and later sent Las Vegas star Kelsey Plum a jersey and other gifts.“I am very excited to be part of the Las Vegas Aces organization,” Brady said in a statement Thursday. “My love for women’s sports began at a young age when I would tag along to all my older sisters’ games — they were by far the best athletes in our house! We celebrated their accomplishments together as a family, and they remain a great inspiration to me. “I have always been a huge fan of women’s sports, and I admire the work that the Aces’ players, staff, and the WNBA continue to do to grow the sport and empower future generations of athletes. To be able to contribute in any way to that mission as a member of the Aces organization is an incredible honor.” Brady announced his retirement Feb. 1 at age 45. He won six Super Bowls with the New England...