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Blue Line will be free during upcoming Sumner Tunnel closure

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

The entire Blue Line will be free to ride during the upcoming planned closure of the Sumner Tunnel in Boston, state officials announced on Thursday. Already the site of closures on most weekends dating back to last year, the tunnel will be closed for a longer period of time from July 5 and Aug. 31 as crews continue work on a number of repairs, including work to restore the tunnel’s ceiling and install new lights. Free Blue Line service comes as part of a larger “comprehensive mitigation plan” from the state Department of Transportation that officials said aims to address travel impacts and provide alternative transit options during the tunnel closure. In Thursday’s announcement, officials detailed planned reduced cost water ferry options, reduced Commuter Rail fares, cheaper parking at MBTA and Commuter Rail parking lots and garages and discounted tolls, among other measures.  “We know the closure of the Sumner Tunnel will be a daily impact to those living, working, and travel...

Chicago White Sox split a doubleheader with the New York Yankees, and Eloy Jiménez exits Game 2 with an injury

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

The sky cleared up enough for the Chicago White Sox to resume their series with the New York Yankees.Instead of the haze the smoke from Canadian wildfires created, there were plenty of longballs during Game 1 of the doubleheader Thursday at Yankee Stadium.The Sox hit four home runs on their way to their fifth straight win, beating the Yankees 6-5.The season-high winning streak came to an end with the Yankees taking the nightcap 3-0.Gleyber Torres hit a two-run homer in the fourth and Billy McKinney had a solo homer the next inning against Sox starter Mike Clevinger, who allowed three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 5⅔ innings.The Sox had two hits, singles from Eloy Jiménez and Gavin Sheets. With the split, the Sox (28-36) are 3½ games out of first place in the American League Central.Trainers checked on Jiménez after he ran slowly while grounding into a fielder’s choice in the ninth. He exited the game with a lower left leg injury. He is...

Yankees split doubleheader against White Sox after starter Randy Vasquez gets first career win

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

The Yankees split a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox Thursday after Randy Vasquez gave the Bronx Bombers a two-hit performance.Vasquez led his team to 3-0 victory after pitching 5.2 scoreless innings. He allowed two hits, no runs, one walk and struck out three batters.Ron Marinaccio and Clay Holmes pitched 3.1 hitless innings in relief to secure the shutout. Vasquez’s win is the first of his career and Holmes recorded his seventh save of the season.Gleyber Torres and Billy McKinney provided the offense in the second game. Torres hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and McKinney hit a solo shot in the fifth.The shutout victory gets Aaron Boone’s club back on track after losing the first game, 6-5, under hazy conditions caused by the Canadian wildfires.Chicago’s designated hitter Jake Burger got his team on the board first with a two-run home run in the top of the second inning off of Luis Severino.The White Sox followed up in the third with Luis Robert...

Day one of alleged 2018 killer of Weymouth cop and bystander trial weighs defendant’s sanity

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

The case of Emanuel Lopes, the young man accused of the shocking killing of police officer Michael Chesna and 77-year-old Weymouth resident Vera Adams in the early hours of July 15, 2018, may well hinge on his mental health and history, lawyers indicated on the opening day of the alleged killer’s trial in Norfolk Superior Court.“There were heroes,” said defense attorney Larry Tipton, addressing the jury and listing the people who rushed into danger to save the victims. “Don’t ignore their heroic efforts, but ask yourselves as jurors in this case, the heroes that they are tell you nothing about Mr. Lopes. They tell you nothing about his mental illness. They tell you nothing about the voices in his head and the erratic, unexplainable conduct that occurred that night.”Lopes, 25, faces 11 charges, including two counts of murder along with attempted murder, weapons, assault and other charges. He has pleaded not guilty.The prosecution and defense painte...

Arrest made in South Bay vandalism crimes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A teenager suspected in a string of vandalism crimes in the Chula Vista area last month was arrested Wednesday, authorities said.Chula Vista police did not release any other information about the person arrested since they were a minor.The vandalism occurred in the area of Second Avenue and F Street on May 27 and May 28, according to law enforcement. The damage included smashed windows and graffiti. SDPD officer shot in Chollas Creek Surveillance video showed the suspect standing on a vehicle's hood and damaging the windshield. Another report informed police about vandalism in the form of drawings and words spray-painted in a light blue color on areas such as walls, sidewalks and vehicles, authorities said.Police determined the vandalism was not determined as a hate crime. There are no other outstanding suspects.

Brother of gay American who was fatally attacked in Sydney in 1988 says police demonized family

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The brother of a gay American who was attacked and fell from a Sydney cliff top in 1988 said elements within local police had demonized their family over their pursuit of justice.An Australian man was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday for killing Scott Johnson at the known gay haunt. His older brother Steve Johnson led the family’s efforts to overturn a coroner’s finding in 1989 that the openly gay mathematician had taken his own life.Steve Johnson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday that evidence in a New South Wales state government inquiry into gay hate crimes had confirmed “our worst fears that the police were really not only opposed to the investigation but demonizing our family.”“It’s still a question mark why? Maybe they thought of Scott’s case as a tinderbox that would force them to work on the other 100 cases of gay men who died during the same period,” Steve Johnson said.“There are still some in the police force that are opposed...

Jury returns $63M verdict after finding Chevron covered up toxic pit on California land

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A California jury has returned a $63 million verdict against Chevron after finding the oil giant covered up a toxic chemical pit on land purchased by a man who built a house on it and was later diagnosed with a blood cancer. Kevin Wright, who has multiple myeloma, unknowingly built his home directly over the chemical pit near Santa Barbara in 1985, according to his lawsuit. Starting in 1974, Chevron subsidiary Union Oil Company of California had operated a sump pit for oil and gas production, a process that left the carcinogenic chemical benzene on the property, court papers said. Wright bought the land and built the house in 1985. Nearly three decades later, he was diagnosed with the cancer that attacks plasma cells in the blood and can be caused by benzene exposure, court documents said. The jurors in Santa Barbara on Wednesday returned the $63 million verdict, said Jakob Norman, an attorney for Wright. Norman called the case a “blatant example of envi...

To restore reefs dying in warming seas, UAE turns to coral nurseries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — On a boat off the coast of an island near Abu Dhabi, marine scientist Hamad al-Jailani feels the corals, picked from the reef nursery and packed in a box of seawater, and studies them carefully, making sure they haven’t lost their color. The corals were once bleached. Now they’re big, healthy and ready to be moved back to their original reefs in the hope they’ll thrive once more.“We try to grow them from very small fragments up to — now some of them have reached — the size of my fist,” al-Jailani said, who’s part of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi’s coral restoration program.The nursery gives corals the ideal conditions to recover: clear waters with strong currents and the right amount of sunlight. Al-Jailani periodically checks the corals’ growth, removes any potentially harmful seaweed and seagrass, and even lets the fish feed off the corals to clean them, until they’re healthy enough to be relocated.The E...

Louisiana governor says he intends to veto anti-LGBTQ+ bills including ban on gender-affirming care

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said Thursday he intends to veto a package of bills passed by the GOP-dominated legislature that targets the LGBTQ+ community, including a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors and the state’s version of a “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Edwards has said throughout the legislative session, which ended Thursday, that he opposes the series of LGBTQ+ bills. If Edwards blocks the bills, lawmakers can convene for a veto session. Overriding a veto requires support from two-thirds of both the House and Senate — and Republicans hold a two-thirds majority in both chambers. Louisiana legislators have only convened for two veto sessions since 1974.While the main job of lawmakers for the past two months has been to pass a state budget, debate over the contentious anti-LGBTQ+ bills has gained statewide and national attention this session. Marked by misinformation, religious arguments, hours of emotional testimon...

‘I’m the only one’: Mark Saunders bills himself as only alternative to Olivia Chow

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

The final push in the campaign for Toronto mayor has started and one candidate has come forth with an all-out effort to keep one of their opponents from being elected. Complete with a slogan, signs and even a brand new website, Mark Saunders has shifted his focus to try and convince voters he’s the only alternative to front-runner Olivia Chow. “It is time to choose who can stop Olivia Chow. The fact is that I’m the only one,” said the former police chief, who has been running a distant third in at least one poll throughout the race.The ‘Stop Chow’ website claims that the former city councillor and MP would defund the police and raise taxes by 25 per cent. Chow has said there would be a “modest” increase in property taxes but has yet to be pinned down to an exact number when asked. Saunders goes on to say that a vote for any other candidate is a vote for Olivia Chow. “I invite all the candidates to join me in this campaign. I am m...