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Plymouth family returns home after spending weeks stuck in Gaza

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A family from Plymouth is finally home after they were stranded in Gaza for weeks due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.The family landed at Logan Airport Tuesday afternoon and shared their story. “You don’t know if you’re going to make it or not,” said Hazem Shafai. The Shafai family embraced in emotional hugs as they stepped foot back in the United States. Speaking with reporters, Shafai said the family would probably still be in Gaza “if they didn’t put the effort into getting us out.”Shafai, his wife Sanaa and their three children had been visiting family in Gaza when the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October. “We basically woke up around 6 o’clock to rockets and iron domes,” Hazem Shafai said. “We were right in the middle of it. It’s a scary thought. Scary feeling.” On the ground in Gaza, the Shafai family said, fresh water and food isn’t available. The family said civilians are starving. “It’s hard,” Hazem said. “It’s difficu...

Speaker goes to Dems to avert shutdown

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON — The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to prevent a government shutdown after new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan.Johnson’s proposal to temporarily fund the government into the new year passed on a bipartisan 336-95 tally, but 93 Republicans voted against it. It was the first time the new speaker had to force vital legislation through the House, and he showed a willingness to leave his right-flank Republicans behind and work with Democrats — the same political move that cost the last House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, his job just weeks ago.This time, Johnson of Louisiana appeared on track for a temporarily better outcome. His approach, which the Senate is expected to approve by week’s end, effectively pushes a final showdown over government funding to the new year.“Making sure that government stays in operation is a matter of conscience for all of us....

Piping plovers popping in Massachusetts: Researchers identify record year for the bird species

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Piping plovers are alive and well in Massachusetts.Long classified a federally threatened species, the small, stocky shorebirds are bouncing back, with more nesting on Bay State beaches this year than ever before, according to a Mass Audubon report released Tuesday.Mass Audubon has researched, monitored and protected vulnerable beach-nesting birds, including the piping plover, with hundreds of partners under its coastal waterbird program for more than 35 years.This year, researchers identified around 1,145 breeding pairs nesting in the state, a massive increase of roughly 500% from the fewer than 200 in 1986, when the program began, officials highlighted.“While Piping Plovers remain a federally threatened species, this season’s data shows that these iconic birds are making real progress toward recovery in Massachusetts,” officials stated.Some controversy has followed steps taken to protect the piping plover.After a three-year, $31.2 million renovation, the Curley Community Center in...

Rent control needed now, advocates tell legislative joint committee

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Depending on who you ask, the rent is too damn high — and lawmakers need to act to prevent Massachusetts families from being pushed their homes — or it’s just high enough to keep developers from abandoning the housing construction projects the state desperately needs.The Joint Committee on Housing sat through six hours of at times emotional testimony on Tuesday, as representatives and senators considered a handful of bills proposing various measures of rent control and tenant protections.The proposals would in effect overturn a state law narrowly passed by referendum in 1994 that bars Massachusetts municipalities from making their own rent control rules. Tenants and landlords alike spoke to lawmakers during the hearing, though as might be expected the owners were greatly outnumbered by the lease-holders.The bills’ consideration comes just days after the collapse of a campaign to undo the 1994 law fell short of signature requirements to make the 2024 ballot. It also...

4 flights at Boston Logan International Airport report green laser strikes, FAA investigating

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The troubling trend of lasers being pointed at airplanes continued at Boston Logan International Airport this week, with multiple pilots reporting green laser strikes.Four flight crews at Boston Logan reported green laser strikes on Monday and Tuesday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA is now investigating.“The flight crews of Alaska Airlines Flight 536, JetBlue Flight 988, and Delta Air Lines Flight 803 reported being illuminated by a green laser near Boston around 5:40 a.m. local time on Monday, Nov. 13,” the FAA said in a statement.“The flight crew of Alaska Airlines Flight 536 reported being illuminated by a green laser near Boston around 5:10 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 14,” the FAA reported.Pointing a laser at an aircraft is a federal offense.Related ArticlesLocal News | Massachusetts family is safe at home after escaping Gaza, another family makes it to Egypt Laser strikes have been rising in recent ...

Greater Boston Housing Report Card is in, and it’s not good

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A grim new report shows that Boston ranked dead last among the nation’s ten largest cities when it comes to available rental units as regional housing production has failed to keep pace with the lofty goals of policy makers.Released by the Boston Foundation on Tuesday, the newest Greater Boston Housing Report Card shows that housing construction has seriously fallen behind need projections laid out by the Metro Mayors Coalition in 2015. The Coalition of 15 large municipalities aimed to produce 185,000 housing units by 2030. So far, they’ve issued permits for less than half the units they would need to be on track with that goal.“Building Permit Survey data suggest that the coalition is behind the pace of housing production needed to achieve this shared goal, with a deficit of 43,262 units as of 2022,” the report reads, in part.The report also showed that Boston is last among the nation’s largest cities when it comes to rental availability and fourth when it comes to housing stock av...

New Alabama congressional district draws sprawling field as Democrats eye flip

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

MONTGMERY, Ala. (AP) — The creation of a Democratic-leaning congressional district in Alabama has drawn a sprawling field of candidates as Democrats eye a rare opportunity in the deep red state to flip a Republican seat in the battle for control of the House of Representatives. The new district, created by court order, is viewed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Democrats looking to win higher office in a state where Republicans currently dominate statewide positions. The outcome of the Alabama race, with control of the U.S. House of Representatives on the line, will be closely watched. And with ongoing court challenges to congressional maps in Georgia, Louisiana and elsewhere, some hope the Alabama race will be a harbinger of Democrats making inroads in the Deep South.Federal judges last month selected new congressional lines for Alabama after ruling the state had illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents. The revamped Congressional District 2, which was designe...

‘Thanksgiving Grandma’ teams up with Airbnb to welcome strangers for the holiday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona woman who shared her Thanksgiving table seven years ago with a stranger she accidentally texted will be opening up her home again this year to two new strangers. Wanda Dench is teaming up with Airbnb to expand the festivities, and the company said it will make a donation to the relief organization Feeding America. Dench’s tradition began in 2016 with a mistaken text to then-teen Jamal Hinton. She was trying to invite her grandson but didn’t realize he had changed his phone number. Hinton jokingly replied he would like to come and Dench said he was welcome. They forged a relationship that still holds strong. Hinton had tweeted screenshots of their initial exchange and subsequent meeting. Since then, their continuing joint celebration has turned into a tradition that social media users have come to expect every Thanksgiving. Dench has been dubbed “Thanksgiving Grandma” on the internet.Airbnb guests can sign up for the chance to eat a catered early holiday din...

South Carolina education board deciding whether to limit books and other ‘age appropriate’ materials

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The State Board of Education is considering a universal definition of “age appropriate” educational materials in South Carolina schools and libraries that would bar descriptions or visual depictions of what it deems sexual conduct, and items that are “obscene” or “indecent.”The regulation is the latest effort from conservative policymakers to restrict public school students’ access to books covering topics of race, gender identity and sexual orientation.A vote Tuesday to advance the policy is just the beginning of the process. Final approval is expected to be decided next year before the Republican-led state Legislature can then take up the proposal. A similar bill currently sits in a conference committee of state lawmakers.People packed into a conference room in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday afternoon. Some wore shirts for Moms for Liberty, a conservative group behind many book bans nationwide, while others donned buttons supporting local organiza...

Two have died in a Utah mountain plane crash and a third who was injured got flown out by helicopter

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Two people were killed and a third injured when a small plane crashed in the mountains south of Salt Lake City.The two apparently died on impact and the third was walking around when rescuers arrived in the area east of Provo around midday Tuesday, Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon said at a news conference.The plane went down for unknown reasons in a rugged, treed area partly covered in light snow. Rescuers in a helicopter hauled the injured person out on a litter and flew them to a hospital, Cannon said.“The fact that they’re walking around is at least an initial good sign,” Cannon said. “That person was still moving and talking.”Where the plane had taken off and was headed wasn’t immediately known. The type of plane and victims’ identities weren’t released.The crash wasn’t listed yet on a Federal Aviation Administration website of recent U.S. aviation incidents.Provo is a city of about 100,000 people 45 miles (70 kilometers) sout...