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Opening South Boston beach now up to the city, Massachusetts wildlife officials say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

If state wildlife officials had the final say, Southie residents could now be cooling off at the L Street Beach behind the renovated Curley Center.But even with MassWildlife determining last week that beach access would not harm the threatened piping plovers, the city still has to complete its own review.“They don’t need any extra permissions because we have already issued our determination,” a MassWildlife spokesperson told the Herald on Wednesday. “As long as they follow their beach management plan, there is no other review on our end.”City officials say the Conservation Commission is scheduled to vote July 19 on the beach management plan, which outlines conditions the city needs to take for access not to have an adverse effect on the piping plover.One condition features “a qualified shorebird monitor” regularly monitoring the presence of the piping plover from April 1 through Aug. 31, with the areas of habitat delineated with fencing and warning signs by April 1, according to the...

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unconstitutional, legal group tells high court

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

Bay State Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s brainchild is coming under attack.A Massachusetts-based civil rights organization has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional as established, too powerful, and must be reined in under congressional control.According to an amicus friend-of-court brief filed by the New England Legal Foundation with the high court, the fact that the agency wields such “extraordinary” power without needing to go through Congress for funding is plainly at odds with the law.“If there is an agency with such extraordinary power, they should be subjected to a higher level of judicial review, and where Congress has less of a role the judicial branch should have more of a role,” Dan Winslow, NELF president, told the Herald. “This agency has an extraordinary concentration of power without the usual congressional checks and balances.”The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is Warren’s ...

Yankees add corporate sponsor patch to their jerseys in latest move to anger fans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

The Yankees are adding a patch to their pinstripes.Beginning July 21, the Yankees’ home and away jerseys will feature a Starr Insurance patch on their left sleeves, marking the first time the team’s famed uniform has incorporated such an advertisement. The team announced the move Wednesday by releasing images of Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole in the new-look threads.The Yankees, whom Forbes valued at $7.1 billion in March, will get an average of $25 million per year from Starr, according to the Action Network’s Darren Rovell. That’s less than the $30 million annually the Nets receive for the Webull patch on their jerseys.The news elicited a strong reaction from Yankees fans, many of whom bemoaned baseball’s most-valuable team tinkering with their classic look.“Yes, you need even more money,” Twitter user Gerry DeFilippo wrote. “The best revenue generating team in the league needs to put a small patch on their jersey to make just a little ...

Business confidence remains flat in June as employers still can’t fill jobs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

After turning pessimistic for the first time in years in May, confidence among the state’s employers stayed mostly flat in June, reflecting continued concern over inflation and ongoing struggles finding people to fill empty jobs.According to the monthly Business Confidence Index published by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, business owners’ confidence rose just one-tenth of a point, from 49.6% to 49.7%.“Business confidence remained flat during June amid a resilient economy, stubborn inflation, a pause by the Federal Reserve and a shortage of workers across almost every industry,” the association said with the release of their index.In May, employers reported their faith in the economy had slipped to its lowest level since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This month’s essentially flat survey indicates that while the economy continues to stave off a recession, employers are worried a recent pause in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve will soon end and yet higher...

Padres to play in first-ever MLB games in Korea

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres will kick off their 2024 regular season in South Korea, Major League Baseball announced Wednesday.The Padres will face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul, South Korea on March 20 and 21 as part of the MLB World Tour. The games will mark the first-ever MLB games to be played in Korea.Earlier this season, the Padres played international baseball in a two-game series against the San Francisco Giants in Mexico City in April. The Padres won both games. Padres nab 18 players in 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft MLB plans to expand their international dates for the 2024 season. In addition to the South Korea series, there will be regular season games played in London and a return to Mexico City, the MLB Players Association said in a news release. A Spring Training series between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays will also take place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on March 9 and 10.Both the Padres and Dodgers have a long tradition of...

Sheriff asks court to send suspect in deputy’s strangulation death to Indiana prison system

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Marion County sheriff filed court papers Wednesday requesting that a man accused of killing a deputy in a transport van be transferred to the custody of the Indiana Department of Correction.Sheriff Kerry Forestal said in court documents that Orlando Mitchell poses a “risk of serious bodily injury or death to others,” news outlets reported.A telephone message seeking comment on Forestal’s request was left Wednesday for an attorney representing Mitchell.Authorities say Mitchell, 34, used his handcuff chain to strangle Deputy John Durm, 61, in the van Monday after returning from a hospital visit to the Criminal Justice Center on Indianapolis’ east side. Mitchell then found Durm’s handcuff key, unlocked himself and drove the van a short distance from the detention center before crashing into a wooden pole, authorities said. Other deputies then returned him to custody.He has not been charged in Durm’s death, and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office ha...

Vice President Kamala Harris makes history with tiebreaking votes in Senate

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris, who made history as the first woman or person of color to serve as vice president, made history again Wednesday as she matched the record for most tiebreaking votes in the U.S. Senate. The vote, her 31st, advanced the nomination of Kalpana Kotagal to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The only other vice president to cast so many was John C. Calhoun, who served as vice president from 1825 to 1832.“It is a moment and I think that there’s still so much left that we have yet to do,” Harris told reporters afterwards.“My mother gave me great advice, which is that I may be the first to do many things,” she added. “I’m going to make sure I’m not the last.”Unlike Calhoun, who spent eight years accumulating his total, Harris tied the record in two and a half years. It’s a reflection of her unique circumstances, with a narrowly divided Senate and a sharply partisan atmosphere.“It really says more about our time, and our political cl...

Lawsuit by Buffalo supermarket shooting victims pins blame on Facebook, Amazon and other tech giants

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tech and social media giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google bear responsibility for radicalizing the Buffalo supermarket shooter, who was fueled by racist conspiracy theories he encountered online, the victim’s relatives said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.“They were the conspirators, even if they don’t want to admit it,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump said at a news conference announcing a 171-page lawsuit, which seeks unspecified financial damages as well as changes in how the companies operate. The suit names several online platforms including Facebook’s parent company Meta, Instagram, Google, Discord and Amazon — which owns Twitch, the livestreaming platform the shooter used to broadcast last year’s shooting. The suit also names RMA Armament, the maker of the gunman’s body armor, as well as the firearms retailers that sold him weapons.Ten Black people were killed and three others were wounded in May 2022 when Payton Gendron opened fire at ...

‘A puddle of emotions’: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Sarah Snook, Jessica Chastain react to Emmy nominations

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

Reactions from select nominees for the 2023 Emmy Awards.SHERYL LEE RALPH“I am a puddle of emotions! It is just absolutely crazy. It, I mean, I am living one spectacular year. … In all honesty, it could never ever be about me trying to beat that moment (of last year’s ceremony, when Ralph won her Emmy and stole the show, singing much of her speech). Maybe they’ll ask me to host it! That moment was something. as all of my friends say that’s something you worked for Sheryl. That’s something you waited for and you received the gift, now, just sit back and be lovely and I’m gonna just sit back and be lovely! And so thankful to everybody who thought that it should be me … for me to be in a space where that is happening for me after all of these years, I’m just so happy. I am SO happy.” — Ralph, who’s nominated for best supporting actress in a comedy for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.” JESSICA CHASTAIN“It’s incredible … the thing that was th...

Tornado Warning issued for DuPage County

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:23:21 GMT

UPDATE: The National Weather Services in Chicago has issued a Tornado Warning for DuPage County until 6 p.m. on Wednesday.Latest warnings and watches from the National Weather Service.CHICAGO — A Tornado Watch is in effect for the Chicago area as heavy rain and storms move through the region Wednesday.A Tornado Watch has been issued for Cook, De Kalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, La Salle, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois until 10 p.m. In Northwest Indiana, Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter counties are under a Tornado Watch until 10 p.m.A Flood Watch is in place until 7 p.m. for Cook County, DuPage County, Will County and some parts of Northwest Indiana. There is a slight risk of severe weather. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Mostly cloudy conditions with heavy rain showers expected throughout the day. High temperature of 76 degrees and 73 degrees lakeside. Low of 66 degrees tonight.Thunderstorms will push eastward and waves of storms racing throu...