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Campbell, other Dem. AGs, fire back at Republicans on diversity and equity

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

A group of Democratic Attorneys General, including the Bay State’s Andrea Campbell, have joined together to tell the nation’s largest corporations that they can go ahead and ignore any assertions on matters of equity and diversity from their Republican counterparts.During a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday, 21 of the nation’s top law enforcement officials announced they had signed on to a letter sharply disagreeing with their conservative colleagues interpretation of a recent Supreme Court decision striking down the use of race as a consideration during college admissions.“As the chief legal officers of our states, we recognize the many benefits of a diverse population, business community, and workforce, and share a commitment to expanding opportunity for all,” the AGs wrote.“The letter you received from the 13 state attorneys general is intended to intimidate you into rolling back the progress many of you have made. We write to reassure you that corporate efforts to recruit diver...

Man killed at quarry job in Swampscott identified as Lynn’s Christopher Perry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

The worker killed in a rock crusher in Swampscott Monday has been identified as Christopher Perry, 37, of Lynn.Police were called to the scene of Aggregate Industries at 30 Danvers Road, Swampscott, at about 1 p.m. Monday for what the Essex District Attorney’s office in a brief statement described as “a problem in a rock rusher” suspended above the quarry.Perry and another worker were cleaning the inside of the device “when an apparent mechanical malfunction occurred,” according to the DA’s office statement.Perry was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other worker was not injured.The incident is being investigated by State Police detectives assigned to the DA’s office, Swampscott Police, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.Aggregate Industries has been cited by OSHA 15 times in the past decade, and its parent company, Holcim US Inc., has been cited 25 times in the same period, according to an analysis of OSHA r...

Martha’s Vineyard man charged with robbing Cape Cod bank; he allegedly zip tied employees and customers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

A Martha’s Vineyard man has been charged with robbing a Cape Cod bank, as the feds accuse him of zip tying bank tellers and customers while he pointed a gun and placed an alleged bomb on the counter.Petar Petyoshin, 40, was charged by the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office with one count of armed bank robbery in connection to the April 8 robbery of the Rockland Trust Bank in Falmouth.The feds say that Petyoshin entered the bank just before 9 a.m., while wearing a blonde wig. He’s accused of placing a purported bomb on the teller counter and brandishing a firearm.Petyoshin then allegedly pointed the gun at employees and customers, telling one bank employee, “I’m robbing you,” before having the customers and bank employees zip tie each other’s hands together.He then had two tellers place more than $20,000 in cash into a brown Walmart bag, took a customer’s car keys, and fled the scene in the customer’s vehicle, the feds allege.Su...

Peabody chiropractor accused of of secretly taping patients in the bathroom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

Scott Kline, 44, of Middleton, is accused of hiding a spy camera in the bathroom of his Peabody chiropractic office and recording unsuspecting customers with it.Kline appeared in Peabody District Court Tuesday on a charge of photographing an unsuspecting nude person. While Peabody is in Essex county, the DA’s office there reports that it referred the case to prosecution by the Middlesex DA’s office to avoid an undisclosed “potential conflict of interest,” according to a Middlesex DA statement.Kline’s cleverly named “Back on Track” office was allegedly the site of a nefarious scheme to record people using the bathroom through the use of a spy camera embedded in “a black plastic coat hook hanging on the wall next to the toilet tank,” prosecutors allege, that to the reporting victim told police “looked out of place.”The male victim took some photos with his cellphone and showed them to police on Friday. The Peabody Police Department then secured a search warrant. While the fake coat ha...

MassDOT Office of Possibility pay $160,000 and $138,633

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

A new office created by the Healey administration is intended to “bring experimentation” and “different ideas” to the state’s transportation department, which has come under scrutiny lately in the face of a litany of safety and service issues.Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca approached two employees on Boston’s civic innovation team to pitch the idea for the new Office of Possibility, within the Department of Transportation, according to new Chief of Possibilities Kristopher Carter.“Government works in sort of a probability mindset, right? Where you’re taking very little risk, you’re working with experts that are already known to you. So the theory here of a possibility government, is can we take slightly larger risks, knowing that not everything is going to work out? That failure is an outcome. But can we do that on a scale that is small enough where we learn, and we improve the thing until we get it right?” Carter s...

Motorcyclist killed in crash on Silver Strand identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

CORONADO, Calif. -- A motorcyclist killed in a collision in Coronado last week has been identified, local medical officials said.Brenden Andrew King, 22, was announced as the deceased, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said on its website.The crash occurred July 12 around 7 a.m. at the Coronado Cays intersection, according to the Coronado Police Department. Man, 20, killed in Carlsbad hit-and-run; suspect arrested Authorities say an officer first noticed a motorcyclist traveling at a high rate of speed in a northbound direction on State Route 75. When the officer attempted to stop the motorcyclist for the traffic violation, the rider failed to yield and allegedly sped up to get away, per law enforcement.The motorcyclist then approached the Coronado Cays intersection, where the motorcyclist struck a vehicle crossing the intersection, police said. Despite lifesaving efforts, the motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the vehicle involved in the cra...

A gunman in New Zealand kills 2 people ahead of Women’s World Cup tournament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — A gunman killed two people at a downtown construction site in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland on Thursday, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament. Authorities said the shooter was also dead.Authorities said six other people, including at least one police officer, were injured during the shooting, which took place near hotels where Team Norway and other soccer teams have been staying. New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the tournament would go ahead as planned.“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,” Hipkins said. “The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned.”“I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.”Hipkins said the shooter was armed with a pump-action shotgun. Police arrived one minute aft...

CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here’s what you need to see and know today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

As intense heat batters much of the planet, people cool off however they can. In Pasadena, California, where Wednesday’s high was “only” in the mid-90s, seniors found relief — and some fun — in a morning swim class in this image made by Associated Press photographer Ryan Sun.Elsewhere, things were more serious. As southern Europe bakes under a heat wave, firefighters in Greece continued battle Wednesday with wildfires near Athens that have prompted days of evacuations. Aircraft and crews from other countries were heading to join the fight. Heat in southern Greece was expected to grow worse later this week, approaching 44 Celsius (111 Fahrenheit).Here’s what’s happening related to extreme weather and the climate right now:—In Texas, crushing heat is raising concern for families with loved ones in state prisons that lack air conditioning. One woman blames her son’s death on excessive heat, Juan A. Lozano reports.—As destructive floods hammer different parts of the gl...

White House says Russia is preparing for attacks on civilian ships in Black Sea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Days after Russia suspended participation in a wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries around the world, the White House on Wednesday warned that the Russian military is preparing for possible attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea.Since leaving the Black Sea Grain Deal this week, Russia has already struck Ukraine’s grain export ports in Odesa with missile and drone attacks. Some 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed in the attacks.“Our information indicates that Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports,” White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. “We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”The Russian Defense Ministry has declared international waters in northwestern and southeastern parts of the Black Sea “temporarily dangerous” for shipping. That follo...

IRS whistleblowers air claims to Congress about ‘slow-walking’ of the Hunter Biden case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans raised unsubstantiated allegations Wednesday against President Joe Biden over his family’s finances as they summoned IRS whistleblowers to testify publicly for the first time about claims the Justice Department improperly interfered with a tax investigation into Biden’s son Hunter.Lawmakers heard from the two IRS agents assigned to the Hunter Biden case, which looked into his failure to pay taxes, for six hours of what was often grueling back-and-forth testimony. The hearing came after the president’s son pleaded guilty last month to misdemeanor tax charges in what Republicans have derided as a “sweetheart” deal. Still, House Republicans are deepening their own investigation, making broad claims of corruption and wrongdoing by the Bidens, which they acknowledge have not been proven to be true.“We will continue to follow the money trail,” said Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, as he opened the ses...