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Ticker: Amazon to hire 4,900 in Massachusetts; Disney spending $60B on parks, cruises 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

Amazon announced Tuesday it’s hiring 250,000 employees nationwide in a job push that will include 4,900 positions in Massachusetts.The jobs will be a combination of full-time, part-time and seasonal positions, according to the e-commerce giant.“The holiday season is always a special time at Amazon and we’re excited to hire 250,000 additional people this year to help serve customers across the country,” said John Felton, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations.The company also released local stats measuring its economic impact in Massachusetts. Since 2010, Amazon  invested more than $18 billion in Massachusetts, including infrastructure and compensation to employees, and has created more than 19,000 direct jobs in the state, the company said.Disney to spend $60B on parks, cruise linesThe Walt Disney Co. is planning to invest approximately $60 billion into its theme parks and cruise lines over the next decade, as the company looks to continue growing one of its more suc...

Boston attorney Drew Meyer named to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s inaugural Hall of Fame

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

Andrew C. “Drew” Meyer of Lubin & Meyer PC has been named a member of The Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s inaugural Hall of Fame class.The Hall of Fame celebrates lawyers who have been practicing for at least 30 years and have contributed greatly to the legal community.Drew Meyer has consistently achieved record-setting verdicts and settlements during his career. He settled a $30 million birth injury lawsuit, one of the largest personal injury awards in Massachusetts history.“I am honored to be a member of this Inaugural Hall of Fame Class, which is a byproduct of hard work, dedication, and a passion for the law,” said Meyer.   The goal has always been to give a voice to those who did not have a voice.  I have always seen it as an obligation of those of us who went to law school with the idea of improving society to leave the path a bit better than the way we found it.”If you have a business profile, email [email protected].

NYC day care operator tried to cover up fentanyl operation before 1-year-old’s death, feds allege

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The owner of a New York City day care center where a 1-year-old child died after being exposed to fentanyl took steps to cover up her involvement in a sprawling drug operation, even as medics rushed to treat several children in her care who were poisoned by the opioid, federal prosecutors said.The day care owner, Grei Mendez, and a man who rented a room from her, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, were hit with new federal narcotics conspiracy charges Tuesday. They were previously charged in state court with murder of “depraved indifference” in the death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici.Officials say they discovered a kilogram of fentanyl stored on top of playmats used by children who attended the Bronx day care center, as well as devices for packing and mixing narcotics.The fentanyl is believed to have sickened four children, including Dominici, who died Friday afternoon. Three others — ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years old — were hospitalized.“The defendants poisoned fou...

After unintended 12-year pause, South Carolina secures drug to resume lethal injections

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina has obtained a drug needed to carry out lethal injections and is ready to perform the state’s first execution in over 12 years, officials announced Tuesday.South Carolina used to be one of most prolific states in the nation when it came to putting inmates to death. But it has had an unintended moratorium on the death penalty ever since its lethal injection drugs passed their expiration date and pharmacies refused to sell the state more because they could be publicly identified.The South Carolina General Assembly passed a shield law in May allowing the state to keep secret the procedure for executions and the suppliers of drugs or other items used.On Tuesday, state Corrections Director Bryan Stirling revealed he bought a supply of pentobarbital and the state would begin using the sedative as the only drug in its executions. The state had previously used a three-drug combination.It’s unknown when executions will restart. Four condemned inmate...

Prosecutor begins to review whether Minnesota trooper’s shooting of Black man was justified

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

An investigation into a Minnesota trooper fatally shooting a Black man has wrapped up, and now it is up to prosecutors to decide if charges are warranted. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that the Minnesota Public Safety Department’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had submitted the findings of its inquiry into the death of 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II.Trooper Ryan Londregan shot Cobb on July 31 after he refused to leave his car during a stop on a Minneapolis freeway, according to the bureau, which investigates such shootings.Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty vowed in in a news release to reach a decision “as quickly as possible” and said a use-of-force expert had been enlisted to help.But she also said she was disappointed to learn from state investigators about a lack of cooperation from some patrol employees who weren’t the subject of the investigation but potentially had useful information. She stressed that “the family, the community, and the troo...

Pilot of downed F-35 stealth fighter jet parachuted into residential backyard, official says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

North Charleston, S.C. (AP) — The pilot of a $100 million stealth fighter jet parachuted safely into the backyard of a home in South Carolina after a malfunction forced him to eject from the aircraft, causing the plane to crash into a wooded area about 60 miles away.A U.S. Marine Corps official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details of the investigation into Sunday’s crash told The Associated Press that the aircraft was not found until the next day. A state law enforcement helicopter located the jet and debris around 5 p.m. Monday in a field near Indiantown, South Carolina.The pilot, who has not been identified by the Marine Corps, did not have serious injuries and has been discharged from the hospital.“He’s unsure of where his plane crashed, said he just lost it in the weather,” someone can be heard saying of the pilot on audio from a Charleston County Emergency Medical Services call shared Tuesday by a local meteorologist....

Concerns over classroom violence remain top issue for Ontario teachers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

The assault of multiple staff members and a student at an Oshawa school on Monday is once again highlighting the issue of violence in schools, which remains a top concern for teachers in ongoing bargaining with the province.The president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) told CityNews the worry is that there are not enough trained professionals to support students with various needs.“The teacher should not be filling in as a physiologist or a child and youth worker or social worker in the absence of those trained professionals being available,” OSSTF President Karen Littlewood said.In many cases, teachers need crisis intervention training before stepping in to help stop behaviour that could lead to injuries.“It becomes really challenging because people want to do the best by students.”The Durham Catholic District School Board (DCDSB), which oversees Sir Albert Love Catholic School in Oshawa where three teachers and a student w...

Adnan Syed calls for investigation into prosecutorial misconduct on protracted legal case

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Adnan Syed, speaking a year after he was released from prison when a judge vacated his conviction in the murder of his ex-girlfriend, emphasized his innocence again on Tuesday, as he faces yet another stage in his long and complex legal odyssey next month in Maryland’s Supreme Court after a lower court reinstated his conviction earlier this year.Syed, who gave a presentation lasting more than an hour that was streamed online by news outlets, called on Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown to investigate what he alleged to be prosecutorial misconduct more than two decades into his case, which was chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial.”“We have a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. Brown,” Syed said, as his mother and younger brother sat nearby on a couch in the family’s home. “He has a long history of standing up for Maryland families, and we’re just asking that he please stand up for our family as well.”Jennifer Donelan, a spokeswoman for Brown, said t...

‘He’s working’: Dos and don’ts of guide dog etiquette

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

September is Guide Dog Access Awareness Month and while it is commonly understood that guide dogs are to be allowed in almost all public spaces, it’s also important to remember that they’re not pets and should not be treated as such when out in public.“Guide dogs are certified and they’re well-trained to do a job,” explains guide dog handler Ryan Hooey from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).He was matched with his guide dog, Joe, three years ago and relies on him to go to and from places safely.“I still have to know where I’m going and how to get there. He’s not a GPS — which is a big myth. I can’t say ‘Joe, go to the Eaton Center.’ He doesn’t know the way, he just will get me from point A to point B safely. He’s trained to stop at all street corners, and then I have to decide when it’s safe to go,” says Hooey.One important distinction between pets and guide dogs that H...

Kentucky Supreme Court reviews state’s Republican-drawn legislative, congressional maps

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:33:50 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Democrats took their legal fight to the state’s highest court on Tuesday in challenging Republican-drawn boundaries for state House and congressional districts.The hearing before Kentucky’s Supreme Court at times revolved around a lower court ruling that the new maps did not violate the state constitution. Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate concluded that the new boundaries amounted to “partisan gerrymanders,” but said the constitution “does not explicitly forbid the consideration of partisan interests in apportioning representation.”Supreme Court Justice Kelly Thompson said that issue looms as “the crux of this matter” as the high court reviews the redistricting case. Thompson pointedly asked an attorney for the Democrats whether the court had ever invalidated newly drawn districts based solely on the grounds of gerrymandering.“Not yet,” replied the attorney, Michael Abate. “This court has not done so.”Abate sai...