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Keolis rail engineer indicted for alleged $8M fraud scheme

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

The feds have charged the assistant chief engineer of facilities for the company that runs the MBTA’s commuter rail system with 17 counts in relation to an alleged fraud conspiracy that siphoned $8 million from the commuter rail.A co-conspirator in the alleged grift  has agreed to plead guilty, prosecutors say.A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted John P. Pigsley, 58, who is the assistant chief engineer for facilities for the Paris-based Keolis’ commuter rail operations, on five counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six counts of tax evasion, one count of filing a false tax return and four counts of structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements. He is scheduled to appear in court on the charges this afternoon.His alleged co-conspirator and friend, according to the complaint filed in the case, has already agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.“There is perhaps no single state agency that impa...

Alex Cora says ‘good chance’ Garrett Whitlock makes season debut next week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

Barring any setbacks, Garrett Whitlock will rejoin the Red Sox and make his season debut early next week.“There’s a good chance,” Alex Cora said.Whitlock began the season on the injured list after a careful, measured spring training. He underwent season-ended hip surgery last September, so the Red Sox didn’t want to rush his preseason program. His first rehab start was Triple-A Worcester’s Opening Day last Friday, and he’s scheduled to start Double-A Portland’s season opener on Thursday.The current plan is to move the 26-year-old right-hander to the starting rotation full-time. Since his hip surgery, he says he feels the best he’s felt since high school. Hopefully, that will translate to good results on the mound; his team needs that. Despite scoring 34 runs in their first five games (third-most in MLB), the Red Sox are 2-3 to start the season, in large part due to the rotation’s inability to limit runs, creating large deficits e...

Maryland AG releases report on Catholic Church sex abuse

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Maryland Attorney General’s Office has publicly released a redacted version of an investigative report detailing sex abuse allegations against more than 150 Catholic priests and examining the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s response.The redacted findings were made public Wednesday afternoon, marking a significant development in an ongoing legal battle over their release and adding to growing evidence from parishes across the country as numerous similar revelations have rocked the Catholic Church in recent years.Former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh launched the probe in 2019 and announced its completion in November, saying investigators had reviewed over 100,000 pages of documents dating back to the 1940s and interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses. The report’s contents weren’t immediately released because they include information obtained from church officials via grand jury subpoenas, which are confidential proceedings in Maryland.Lawyers for the stat...

Predawn Missouri tornado kills at least 5, sows destruction

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A large tornado tore through southeastern Missouri before dawn on Wednesday, causing widespread destruction and killing at least five people as a broad swath of the Midwest and South kept a wary eye out for further storms that could spawn additional twisters and hail.The tornado touched down around 3:30 a.m. and moved through a rural area of Bollinger County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of St. Louis, said Sgt. Clark Parrott of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Crews from more than 20 agencies were on the scene and clearing debris in search of any others who might have been killed or injured, he said.“The damage is pretty widespread. It’s just heartbreaking to see it,” Parrott said.The twister caused significant destruction in and around the small rural communities of Glen Allen and Grassy, Bollinger County Sheriff Casey A. Graham said in a Facebook post.At least five people were killed, Graham wrote, noting that he was withholding the names of the dead to ...

Chicago firefighter dies after battling high-rise blaze

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A firefighter died Wednesday after being critically injured while battling a blaze in a high-rise building on Chicago’s North Side, authorities said.Lt. Jan Tchoryk, 55, “went down” on the stairs on the building’s 11th floor, Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt told reporters.The blaze was reported before 8 a.m. on the 27th floor of the condo and apartment building in the Gold Coast neighborhood. A medical examiner will determine Tchoryk’s cause of death.Tchoryk is the second Chicago firefighter to die this week. Jermaine Pelt, 49, died on Tuesday and two other firefighters were injured while battling a house fire on the city’s South Side.“Our men and women who are first responders in the city are heroic,” outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday afternoon at a news conference. “They are brave. They, every single day, put their lives on the line for us. They deserve our unending thanks and support, not just on a tragic day like this, but every s...

Alberta regulator confirms Kearl oilsands toxins in small fish-bearing waterbody

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

Alberta’s energy regulator is confirming that hazardous chemicals are present in a small waterbody after two releases of tailings-contaminated wastewater from Imperial Oil’s Kearl oilsands mine. In an update released Tuesday, the agency says hydrocarbons and naphthenic acids have been found in an unnamed fish-bearing lake located almost entirely within Imperial’s lease about 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.The lake, near where the releases occurred, is less than a quarter of a square kilometre in size.The regulator says the levels of those toxins remain below guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. An Imperial Oil spokeswoman says those chemicals haven’t been found at the lake’s outlet to a tributary of the Firebag River.The news follows an earlier warning from Environment Canada that Imperial must take action to prevent the chemicals from entering fish-bearing waters, which would violate the Fisheries Act. Imperial first found discoloured w...

Narrow abortion exemption bill passed by Tennessee lawmakers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s GOP-dominant Senate gave final approval Wednesday to legislation that would add a narrow exemption to one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States, with it now heading to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his approval.The Senate passed the bill on a 26-1 vote, with several of the chamber’s Democratic lawmakers voting “present” rather than picking a side.The bill’s passage comes after weeks of drastically reworking the proposal in order to gain enough support from the General Assembly’s Republican supermajority, as well as the state’s powerful anti-abortion lobby, which had warned lawmakers would likely face political retribution if they advanced a bill without the group’s endorsement.Under the bill, doctors would be allowed to use “reasonable medical judgment” when determining an abortion is necessary to prevent the death of a pregnant patient or to spare her from the irreversible, severe impairment of a...

Vancouver police deployed to end tent encampment in Downtown Eastside

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

Vancouver police have dispatched officers to a tent encampment on the city’s Downtown Eastside with the aim of shutting down the site to campers. The City of Vancouver says it has asked police to help bring a close to the encampment, removing all remaining tents and structures. It says in a statement that it decided to act due to “the growing public safety risk” posed by the encampment on East Hastings Street.It says more than 400 outdoor fires have occurred over the last eight months and four people have been injured this year. “The persistent fire risk posed by the encampment and recent fires in neighbouring buildings has made the situation on East Hastings even more precarious. Fires are occurring too regularly in the area and with escalating intensity due to an accumulation of materials and propane tanks,” the statement says. It says the city has been working on the street daily to address fire, life and safety concerns identified by the fire chief&...

Randy Bachman offers look at more than 80 of his guitars in Studio Bell exhibit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

TORONTO — Randy Bachman is shedding light on his incredible guitar obsession with a new temporary exhibit set to open at Calgary’s Studio Bell next month.Organizers say the Guess Who co-founder and “Taking Care of Business” hitmaker will showcase more than 80 of his prized axes for “Randy Bachman: Every Guitar Tells a Story.”The exhibit will include instruments from every part of Bachman’s career and feature videos of the 79-year-old musician telling the stories behind them.Highlights include the first guitar Bachman purchased from a Sears catalogue at 13 years old and his signature 1959 Les Paul electric guitar, which was used on the Guess Who’s beloved hits “These Eyes,” “No Time” and “American Woman.”Also planned for the display is his rare first-year white Stratocaster, which he played on numerous Bachman-Turner Overdrive albums, and his 1957 Gretsch electric guitar, which was famously stolen from a To...

Indiana governor signs ban on gender-affirming care

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:15:35 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s governor signed a bill banning all gender-affirming care for minors Wednesday, joining at least 12 other states that have enacted laws restricting or banning such care.Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the legislation after Republican majorities in the Legislature approved it. The law will go into effect July 1, and trans youth currently taking medication to transition would have until the end of the year to stop doing so.Holcomb had told reporters Tuesday that the bill on his desk was vague and had not indicated he would sign it or veto it.Opponents of the legislation said the types of care the bill would ban, such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers, are vital and often life-saving for transgender kids. Medical providers say most of the procedures banned in the bill are reversible and safe for minors. Transgender medical treatments for children and teens have been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and are endorsed by major medical ass...