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Mass. State House reopens after electrical fire 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

The Massachusetts State House was back in business Thursday after an electrical fire forced the building to shut down earlier this week. The fire broke out on Tuesday afternoon, prompting an evacuation. The building then remained closed on Wednesday while an investigation into the fire’s cause continued, officials said. After a day spent working from home, officials and staff on Thursday said they were excited to be back working in person. “I’m looking forward to it,” said Joyce Stanton, who works for Gov. Maura Healey. “I love my job, so I’m looking forward to going back in.” “Definitely looking forward to getting back in the building,” said Maddie Miller. “You don’t have to pay for AC in there.”Staff and officials, including Healey, were ushered out of the building as part of Tuesday’s evacuation. Later speaking with reporters, Boston Fire Department Commissioner Paul Burke said wires to a transformer in a sub-basement caught fire, complicating the fire re...

Playground in Dorchester reopens with new water features, basketball court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu celebrated the official opening of a newly renovated park in Dorchester Thursday.The improved Ryan Playground at 960 Dorchester Avenue features a new play structure and a water feature to help families beat the heat in the summer. The park also has a new half-court basketball hoop.Mariama White-Hammond, the chief of environment, energy and open space with the city, said at the ribbon-cutting that the new features can help combat urban heat islands in the city.“The Parks Department has made a deeper investment in water features as a way of supporting communities where we know heat is a real challenge,” White-Hammond said. “Unfortunately, due to climate change, heat is going to be even more of a challenge for our city, so we are really committed to making our parks a place where people can gather, meet their neighbors and also get cool and beat the heat.”

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder slams NATO, U.S. over war in Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder is getting creamed … again.This time for criticizing the war in Ukraine, “masters of war,” the “military-industrial-congressional complex,” and NATO and U.S. involvement in it all. As for Russia, he didn’t say much.“In the end, money won,” Cohen told Politico in a piece published online Thursday about the war. “And today, not only are they providing weapons to all the new NATO countries, but they’re providing weapons to Ukraine.”“I’m not supporting Russia, I’m not supporting Ukraine,” he added. “I’m supporting negotiations to end the war instead of providing more weapons to continue the war.”The latest Cohen comments come just weeks after a July Fourth post that the U.S. stole “Indigenous land.” A call to boycott the pint-sized brand quickly followed. The stock slipped (it’s back up) yet the Vermont-based company talking head keeps swinging.The Politico piece does not side with Cohen, in fact, i...

Michael Kopech bounces back, helping the Chicago White Sox salvage the series finale with a 6-2 win against the New York Mets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

Michael Kopech’s day began with a called strike against Brandon Nimmo.It was a just one pitch. But it established a tone for the Chicago White Sox starter Thursday against the New York Mets.His last start was short but filled with command issues. He was much more in control Thursday, allowing one run in 5 2/3 innings as the Sox salvaged the finale of the three-game series with a 6-2 victory in front of 34,751 at Citi Field.“Getting ahead of guys has been the game plan all along. Today I was able to execute that,” Kopech said. “Still a few too many free bases. Little erratic at times, but for the most part I was able to limit that.”In a positive sign, Kopech threw first-pitch strikes to the first six batters he faced.“He made a ton of adjustments both physically and mentally (and) he went out and executed,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “Threw good mix of all of his pitches. Got a big double play (in the third inning). And just had a reall...

Fatal shooting hours before the Women’s World Cup began in New Zealand appears to be an isolated act

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

By NICK PERRY and JENNA FRYER (Associated Press)AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — A gunman opened fire on terrified workers on a construction site in downtown Auckland early Thursday, killing two people hours before New Zealand hosted the first game of the Women’s World Cup. The man was found dead, and authorities said his motive appeared to be connected to his previous work at the site.New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the shooting was an isolated act, and the FIFA tournament opened as scheduled with a game between the home team and Norway, though with tighter security and many jarred in a country where such attacks are rare. A large crowd, including the prime minister, still showed up at the stadium, and a moment of silence was held for the victims of the shooting, which also left a police officer and four civilians injured.“I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat,” said Hipkins. “This appears to be the action of one...

RJK Jr. defends record, remarks during testy House hearing on censorship

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

The government’s interactions with social media companies and requests that they remove certain content during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election amount to government censorship, presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. told a House subcommittee.During an at-times testy hearing of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, at which the scion of the Kennedy family was invited to testify by Republicans alongside the author of the New York Post article concerning Hunter Biden’s laptop, RFK Jr. repeatedly defended both his past record and recent speeches.“Debate — congenial, respectful debate — is the fertilizer, it’s the water, it’s the sunlight for our democracy. We need to be talking to each other,” Kennedy said Thursday, before holding up a sheet of paper. “This is a letter that many of you signed, many of my fellow Democrats. I’ve spent my life in this party. I’ve devoted my life to the values of this party — 102 people sig...

A woman pleads guilty to fire that kept a Wyoming abortion clinic from opening for a year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — An abortion opponent pleaded guilty to a federal arson charge Thursday after telling investigators that anxiety and nightmares about Wyoming’s first full-service abortion clinic in years led her to break into and burn the planned facility. U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson accepted Lorna Roxanne Green’s agreement with prosecutors at a change-of-plea hearing. Green, 22, was taken into custody and faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing, which the judge scheduled for Oct. 6.“While I deeply regret my actions, I accept full responsibility for what I have done,” Green told the judge. When asked whether she knew at the time that burning the clinic wasn’t right, Green hesitated and said: “I knew right after.”The fire happened at the Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper in May 2022, weeks before it was to open. The damage kept the clinic from opening for almost a year.Green admitted to breaking in, pouring gasoline around the inside of the building and lightin...

Australian castaway recounts comfort he felt adrift at sea, thanks to meditation, swimming and dog

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

MANZANILLO, Mexico (AP) — He quit his corporate job and moved to Mexico to pursue his dream of sailing solo across the ocean.Australian Timothy Shaddock, 54, bought his 30-foot catamaran two years ago in the Mexican Pacific resort of Puerto Vallarta. He needed a place to live and he liked the isolation.“Of course, living on a boat and sailing on a boat is two different things and that was more of a challenge,” Shaddock told The Associated Press Wednesday after stepping onto land for the first time in months.As his training ground Shaddock chose the Sea of Cortez, a narrow finger of water between the Baja California Peninsula and the Mexican mainland. “I was aware and the only preparation that you can really do is take the boat out to sea and test the boat at sea,” Shaddock said. He would take short journeys, noting what was working on the boat and what wasn’t, but was conscious that, in late April, hurricane season was coming. “It was either now or I could not really wait one more y...

Helicopter in firefighting operation crashes in northwestern Alberta, killing pilot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

PEACE RIVER, Alta. — A helicopter crash in northwestern Alberta has resulted in the third death in recent days involving wildfire-fighting efforts in Canada. “There are a lot of people across this country who have been stepping up during these very, very difficult forest fires, protecting their families, protecting their communities, protecting their fellow citizens,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a visit to Belleville, Ont., on Thursday.“And to have lost three firefighters, or individuals helping out in fighting the fires, is heartbreaking. Every single time one of these first responders or firefighters steps up, they’re doing it to keep their fellow citizens safe and they have families as well who worry about them when they go out.”RCMP said forestry workers were trying to resuscitate the pilot, who was the only one in the helicopter, when officers arrived on the scene near Haig Lake, 140 kilometres northeast of Peace River, Alta., on Wedn...

Video shows Oklahoma judge texting and scrolling on phone in trial over fatal beating of 2-year-old

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:56 GMT

CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) — A new judge in Oklahoma is facing scrutiny after courtroom video showed her scrolling through social media and texting on her cellphone throughout the murder trial for a man accused in the fatal beating of a 2-year-old, a newspaper reports.Security video obtained by The Oklahoman shows Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom texting or messaging for minutes at a time during jury selection, opening statements and testimony in the trial for a man in the death of his girlfriend’s son. At one point, Soderstrom searched for a GIF, an animated image.Soderstrom, 50, can also be seen checking Facebook during the trial, which began last month in Chandler, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Oklahoma City, the newspaper reported. Soderstrom was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November. Her four-year term expires in January 2027.Soderstrom declined to comment to the newspaper because the verdict could still be appealed, saying judges are pr...