Datasets:

Kevinger

/

hub-report-classlabels

like 0

0bdf306c35e5b3a36c7e58d828a5a210

4politics

U.N. Says Hundreds of Refugees Are Adrift in Andaman Sea

The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday that about 400 people were believed to be stranded on two boats adrift in the Andaman Sea, calling on nearby governments to help rescue them. Most of them are believed to be members of the Rohingya ethnic group, a persecuted Muslim minority, the U.N. agency said. More than a million Rohingya have fled state persecution and massacre in Myanmar in recent years and now live in desperate conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Thousands more have made high-risk journeys across the Andaman Sea in rickety boats, often headed for countries in Southeast Asia. Babar Baloch, a spokesman in Bangkok for the agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said the two boats’ precise locations were unknown and that it was not clear which country they had departed from, but that they appeared to have been at sea for at least two weeks. He said the agency knew about the boats based on conversations with relatives of people aboard and human rights workers who had spoken with them by telephone, but that it did not have details about the passengers’ conditions.

f34490079dd805a1164596f8c924a55e

3entertainment

How to watch The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion episode 9 for free

Cracks in the alliances begin to show themselves as one Contender works to flip the house vote in a new episode of “The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion” airing on Wednesday, December 13 on MTV. In season 39, “reality stars party, fight and hook up in exotic locales while competing in insane physical challenges and scheming to win cash prizes on the competition show that started it all,” according to MTV. The new season will air a new episode at 8 p.m. EST on MTV. Viewers looking to stream the new season can do so by using Philo, FuboTV, Sling and DirecTV Stream. Philo, fuboTV and DirecTV all offer free trials and Sling offers 50% off your first month. In episode nine of the new season, cracks in the alliances begin to show themselves as one Contender works to flip the house vote. Multiple romantic scandals come to a head as one of the Contenders is confronted about being unfaithful. Here is a look at the new season from MTV’s The Challenge YouTube Channel: How can I watch “The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion” without cable? Viewers looking to stream the new season can do so by using Philo, FuboTV, Sling and DirecTV Stream. Philo, fuboTV and DirecTV all offer free trials and Sling offers 50% off your first month. What is Philo? Philo is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers 60+ entertainment and lifestyle channels, like AMC, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and more, for the budget-friendly price of $25/month. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels. DirecTV also offers a free trial for any package you sign up.

205309cc4a9687b7b7c2d98bb952c411

3entertainment

Country music legend overwhelmed by fans after announcing his retirement

A member of an Grammy Award-winning country/gospel group is feeling the love from his fans after he broke the news that he is retiring from touring because of a debilitating medical condition. Joe Bonsall, who has spent the past five decades as the tenor singer for Country Music Hall of Fame group The Oak Ridge Boys, officially announced his retirement on Wednesday, Jan. 3. The 75-year-old said the reason for his retirement was because of his battle with a neuromuscular disorder, which Bonsall has been fighting for more than four years. “I am now to a point that walking is impossible so I have basically retired from the road. It has just gotten too difficult,” the singer wrote on X. “It has been a great 50 years and I am thankful to all the Oak Ridge Boys band crew and staff for the constant love and support shown to me through it all. I will never forget and for those of you who have been constantly holding me up in prayer I thank you and ask for you to keep on praying.” In the following days, the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee was flooded with responses from fans and colleagues alike, including former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee. “One of the greatest voices in music and one of the classiest and most gracious human beings,” Huckabee wrote on X. “An authentic Christian gentleman....God bless you Joe! Love and respect.” “I’m honored to have known Joe Bonsall and the Oak Ridge Boys for many years. I’m especially honored and grateful that I got to record and perform with them on my gospel album in 2023,” singer Travis Truitt wrote on X. “I wish Joe Bonsall the very best in his retirement. He’s one of the finest guys I’ve ever known in the music industry.” “Nothing has made me happier than having a front row seat to your talent and energy all these years,” Jennifer Stevens said in response to Bonsall’s post. “Congratulations on 50 amazing years.” The singer took to social media to let people know that he heard them. “I am overwhelmed by the love shown to me this week,” he wrote on X Friday, Jan. 5. “I think I have heard from everyone I have ever known and many many more …. Thank you doesn’t seem adequate … but THANK YOU.” Read More: Country music star shocks fans with farewell tour announcement As Bonsall steps away, 27-year-old Ben James will take his spot. James is known for his previous work with Doyle Lawson’s band Quicksilver, as well as Dailey & Vincent’s band, according to Billboard. Bonsall introduced James to Oaks fans in his Jan. 3 statement saying, “There is a young man named Ben James singing for me out there, and he needs your love and encouragement. “His sound is different than mine, but he brings a ton of talent to the table,” Bonsall continued. In September, The Oak Ridge Boys announced their farewell tour, “The Oak Ridge Boys American Made Farewell Tour” with a full slate of shows for 2024. Click here for information on upcoming dates and tickets.

3bdd23c2c5d272290c0c4e839714fbe5

0business

Southwick Conservation Commission approves outlay to acquire Middle Pond parcel

SOUTHWICK — The Conservation Commission approved covering the cost of acquiring a parcel of property its owner wants to donate to the town on the Middle Pond of Congamond Lake at its meeting Monday night. “Here’s my favorite one,” said Commission Vice Chair Dennis Clark about the commission’s agenda item to appropriate the money needed to pay the legal fees and for a survey needed for the town to accept the lot at 13 Berkshire Ave.

0232b95c9e18e2b26ae9cf85a9c6faf5

4politics

Cease-Fire Will Begin Friday Morning, Qatar Says

Tal Idan, her face tear-stained and exhausted but her voice unwavering, was clinging to a singular goal last week. “We are going to have a good celebration,” she said at the end of a five-day trip through Washington and New York. “I’m not giving up that we will be able to do that next Friday.” Friday is the fourth birthday of Ms. Idan’s niece Avigail Idan, who is among the roughly 240 Israelis who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. Before the attack, Ms. Idan was focused on her three children and the solar-panel cleaning company that she runs with her husband in northern Israel. But on that day, her husband’s brother Roy Idan, 43, and his wife, Smadar Idan, 38, were fatally shot at the Kfar Azza kibbutz. Ms. Idan’s life’s mission now is to raise Avigail’s siblings — Michael, 9, and Amelia, 6, both of whom survived the violence — and to help bring their sister home. “I have a 3-year-old niece who has no parents anymore,” she said. “I’m her voice now.” As Israelis and Palestinians wait anxiously for the implementation of a temporary cease-fire deal — in which Israel would swap 150 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the return of 50 kidnapped Israelis — Avigail’s family feels hope that she could be among the hostages freed. White House officials said on Tuesday that they expect the agreement to include the release of three Americans: two women and a toddler. Avigail, whose name has also been spelled “Abigail” in the U.S. media, is a dual Israeli and U.S. citizen. On her trip to the United States last week, Ms. Idan met with journalists in New York and lawmakers in Washington, including Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Senator Ro Khanna of California. “I wanted them to know: How does it feel to wake up one morning and to realize you’re in hell,” she said. A day after the hostage deal was announced, Ms. Idan was at home with her family, feeling anxious. “I find myself barely breathing through the last 24 hours,” she said. “Every hour that goes by feels like forever.” On the morning of Oct. 7, as terrorists swarmed the kibbutz, Smadar Idan was shot in front of her children, Ms. Idan said she was told by Michael and Amelia. Roy Idan was outside the house, holding Avigail in his arms. As Michael and Amelia ran to their father, they watched him get shot and killed while holding their sister. They assumed she was dead too and raced back into their home. Covered in her father’s blood, Avigail ran toward a neighbor, her aunt said. The man brought Avigail into his home to hide with his wife and children and then left the house to find a gun. “Ten minutes later, when he got back, all were gone,” Ms. Idan said. After 14 hours of hiding in a closet, with their mother’s body on the other side of a fabric partition, Michael and Amelia were rescued by an Israeli soldier and brought to Ms. Idan’s husband, Amit, she said. “They are not OK,” Ms. Idan said of Michael and Amelia. “They hear the wind blow, and they are shaking.” But, she added, “they are survivors and heroes,” as is their sister. “To be able to escape herself out of her father’s hands and to run away for life and to manage to rescue herself with nobody else out there — that’s amazing,” said Ms. Idan said of Avigail. “She’s a hero. But there is a long way for us. First of all, she needs to be back home. She needs to be with her brother and sister. That’s the only thing that’s left for her.”

a37275109cda9dd643a32c87ff2c2b6c

4politics

How Much Power Should Government Experts Have?

Ambulance services across Massachusetts are required to submit the vaccination status of their employees annually to the state Department of Public Health under a new regulation that EMS providers say is a “blatant overreach.” The state Public Health Council in September adopted a series of regulations regarding COVID-19 and flu vaccinations, clumping licensed ambulance services together with health care facilities where patients reside or are treated. Most fire departments across the state operate licensed ambulance services, and EMS providers say the new regulation adds an additional “significant unfunded burden” to their plate. Ambulance services are now mandated to require and maintain proof of each employee’s current vaccination status against COVID-19 and the flu or the “individual’s exemption statement,” and they need to run a central tracking system. The data then must be submitted to the state every year. DPH sent a memo to EMS providers last week outlining steps needed to fulfill the regulations which also mandate services to “ensure all personnel are vaccinated annually with seasonal influenza vaccine,” barring exemptions. Rich MacKinnon, Jr., president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, sent a letter to union members shortly after DPH released the advisory, vowing to work with legal counsel and fight on their behalf. “This regulation is a blatant overreach by DPH,” he wrote, while also clarifying that the state has confirmed “multiple times” that the new rule is not a vaccine mandate. The regulations started to take shape after the state and federal COVID-19 public health emergencies ended in May. They reflect how DPH has incorporated COVID-19 response and management into a broader respiratory illness prevention and mitigation strategy, according to officials. EMS providers are now mandated to provide or arrange for vaccinations of all personnel “who cannot provide proof of current immunization against influenza unless an individual is exempt.” They must inform personnel about the “risks and benefits of influenza vaccine,” too. An objective was to “Close pre-existing gaps and inconsistencies in vaccine requirements, by including all health care facilities and Emergency Medical Service providers in this process, as all serve vulnerable and immunocompromised patients.” The regulations apply to all individuals who either work at or visit EMS facilities, including independent contractors, students and volunteers, whether or not they provide direct care. Individuals are allowed to decline the vaccine under the regulations, but if they do, they must take mitigation measures and sign a statement that they are exempt from vaccination and are aware of the pros and cons of the shots. MacKinnon, in a letter to DPH in August, said in order for fire departments to track vaccination states, a full-time staffer would have to be dedicated to the task alone. He highlighted how the regulations as a whole could “cause unintended consequences.” “Some of the decisions that DPH and (Office of Emergency Medical Services) make, they sometimes don’t realize how it’s going to trigger bargaining within the actual communities that we work for,” MacKinnon told the Herald on Thursday. Providers who administer vaccinations across the state are already mandated to report data to the Massachusetts Immunization Information System, a practice that has been followed since 2011, Easthampton Fire Chief Christopher Norris wrote in a letter to DPH over the summer. “Given the purpose and scope of this statewide database already in place,” Norris wrote, “the documentation and reporting requirements of these proposed changes to the regulations would provide absolutely no additional value or information that isn’t already being made available to the Commonwealth.” J. Dominic Singh, executive director of the Western Massachusetts Emergency Medical Services Committee, believes providing or arranging for employees to be vaccinated in his region could be particularly daunting. Many EMS agencies there are small, either part-time/on-call services or fully volunteer in nature, meaning they would have to contract with work-health clinics or hospitals to meet that requirement, Singh told DPH. “In the Western Massachusetts area facilities of this type are geographically far apart,” he wrote in a letter. “The financial commitment in paying for the vaccine administration would be an additional significant unfunded burden on already cash-strapped EMS agencies.”

b69a678755f215fbe0ba7bdc2267c76d

4politics

He Was One of the Central Park Five. Now Hes Councilman Yusef Salaam.

Yusef Salaam stood at the front of the City Council Chamber in Lower Manhattan with his right hand raised and his left hand on the Quran held by his wife. It was the one that his mother gave him when he was 15 years old and standing trial for a crime he did not commit. Its pages, filled with notes and bookmarks, were kept intact by a cloth cover that Mr. Salaam made during nearly seven years in prison. Surrounded by relatives including his mother, sister and some of his children, Mr. Salaam was asked by Michael McSweeney, the city clerk, to repeat an oath. With each passage that Mr. McSweeney recited and Mr. Salaam repeated, their voices took on volume and urgency: “I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York,” Mr. Salaam said. “I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of council member of the ninth district, in the borough and county of New York, in the City of New York, according to the best of my ability.”

5c7d014e50787f8c39e88c2b5baf9709

1crime

3 firefighters injured battling Falmouth house fire; 1 flown to Boston hospital

Flames tore through a home on Cape Cod on Sunday, injuring three firefighters, including one who had to be flown to a Boston hospital after a heroic rescue. Neighbors called 911 just after 1 p.m. Sunday to report the fire at the Rivers Edge home, and fire investigators from the state fire marshal's office responded to support the Falmouth Fire Department on scene. "Watching the Patriots game, we could smell smoke, looked out the window and saw flames shooting from the roof," neighbor Rick Hamilton said. #BREAKING: Two firefighters injured, including one airlifted to MGH, battling house fire in #Falmouth. Chief says firefighters had to rush into basement after firefighter fell thru the floor. @NBC10Boston pic.twitter.com/UeYpphDifI — Eli Rosenberg NBC10 Boston (@EliNBCBoston) December 17, 2023 Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters. Falmouth's fire chief says the first firefighters on scene busted down the front door, when one of them fell through the floor, into the basement. The fire chief detailed the brave rescue, saying firefighters rushed into the home's smoky basement and got the firefighter out to safety. "Very smoky area with still some fire in the basement, and his PASS alarm went off, and they were able to locate him and successfully remove him from the building," Falmouth Fire chief Timothy Smith explained. "Fire crews did one heck of a job not only getting him out of the building, and one of their comrades being injured, but then having to turn and to work on extinguishing the fire." The firefighter was taken by Falmouth ambulance to a nearby field where Boston MedFlight was waiting to fly him to Massachusetts General Hospital. According to the state fire marshal's office, he suffered significant and traumatic injuries but is expected to survive. He was in stable condition at MGH on Sunday night. Two other firefighters were also injured and are expected to be OK. One hurt their shoulder, and another hurt their knee and was being treated at Falmouth Hospital. "Terrible, terrible, nobody wants to see anybody hurt, they work too hard too hard in Falmouth," one woman said. No one was home at the time of the fire. Neighbors tell NBC10 Boston that the homeowners spend winters in Florida. The fire chief said early indications are that the blaze started in the basement. The cause remains under investigation.

1f4fff654cdae1cecbb226445f426ce7

1crime

House in Arlington, Va., Explodes as Police Prepare to Serve Search Warrant

Update: The authorities said the occupant of the house, James Yoo, 56, was presumed to have died in the blast. A house in Arlington, Va., exploded into flames on Monday night while the police were preparing to search it after reports of gunfire and a standoff with the man who lived there. The police first went to the home around 4:45 p.m. following reports that shots had been heard, the Arlington County Police Department said. A preliminary investigation indicated that the resident had fired a flare gun about 30 to 40 times inside his home into the surrounding neighborhood, according to a statement from the police. Officers obtained a search warrant and tried to make contact with the resident over the telephone and loudspeakers. But he did not respond and remained barricaded inside the home. As officers were preparing to serve the search warrant, he discharged several rounds from inside his home with what the police believe was a firearm. Then the explosion took place at the residence at 8:25 p.m. Early Tuesday, the police had not identified the man inside the home or what his condition was. The police said on social media that residents should avoid the area, part of a densely populated suburban neighborhood with parks, restaurants and schools.

dc76970d6343923f7da9434a3ce9a27d

2culture

Dear Annie: I dont know how else to tell people I dont celebrate the holidays

Dear Annie: I’m writing to respond to the post about “Godmother Goes Awry,” in which a mother was very upset that a godmother would not co-sign for her daughter. The daughter was requesting a co-signer to rent an apartment. The mother was enraged that the godmother declined. I just wanted to say that I, in the past, have been a co-signer for young people’s loans. This has caused me to lose over $20,000 when they lost their job or just declined to repay the loans. I now have a policy of never co-signing for any children of mine or other people. It is a bad situation and one should never mix money and family. If you were willing to completely lose the money and financially able, perhaps then it is fine. But one can never be sure that someone’s going to pay them back — and then the relationship gets ruined. So I support the godmother in this case and I think the mother should back off. — Learned From my Past Dear Learned: Everybody’s situation is different, but it is always wise to consider all possible outcomes when co-signing a loan. If you cannot afford to lose the money or if you think it could cause tension in a relationship, then it’s best to refrain from being a co-signer. Dear Annie: It’s that time of year again and I dread having people ask me to celebrate the holidays with them. I haven’t celebrated a holiday in 20 years. For me, the holidays are full of misery. I lost my entire family during the holidays. Add to that, I made some mistakes that led to my not being able to celebrate the holidays because prison doesn’t allow for celebration. That said, how do I clearly and effectively tell people that I don’t partake in holiday festivities? I have tried simply telling them. I have tried explaining to them the reason behind it. They don’t listen to me and insist that I must celebrate with them. I feel like, in the end, I have to be rude to get them to leave me alone. I don’t miss the gift-giving or what I feel like are fake pleasantries. — The Grinch Dear Grinch: The holidays, while full of spirit and cheer for many, can be extremely difficult and stressful for others. I’m sure the loved ones in your life who are requesting your presence at such gatherings genuinely mean well and want you there, but it is frustrating they will not respect your wishes not to participate. The key here is exactly what you said: clear and effective communication. The next time you receive an invite to something holiday related, say something along the lines of, “Thanks for thinking of me. I won’t be able to make it, but I hope you have a great time, and I look forward to catching up with you in the new year.” Once you’ve given an answer, you needn’t respond any further. It’s unnecessary to explain yourself or defend your choice. What matters is that you gave them a polite answer while honoring yourself. Wishing you peace and comfort this season. “How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner?” is out now! Annie Lane’s second anthology — featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation — is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM

23a51766d8114e566c6de4c78f3b23b0

0business

Investors snagged 1 in 5 homes for sale in Greater Boston, worsening housing crisis, report finds

The Boston Globe Investors snagged 1 in 5 homes for sale in Greater Boston, worsening housing crisis, report finds Triple-deckers, like this one in Dorchester, are some of Greater Boston's last remaining affordable housing and are being snapped up at high rates by investors, pushing up rent and property prices, a new report by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council found. David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe One in five homes sold in Greater Boston from 2004 to 2018 went to private investors — particularly smaller local operators scooping up two-families and triple-deckers in hopes of making a profit on the region’s soaring housing market — driving up the cost of once relatively affordable housing, a new report found. Investor home purchases have been on a steady rise, accounting for 23 percent of residential sales in 2018, up from 16 percent in 2004, a report released last week by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council found. Investors often bought homes in cash, winning bids over prospective homeowners needing mortgages, and disproportionately driving up rent prices and forcing out tenants in areas such as East Boston with high proportions of low-income families of color, the report found. Advertisement: “A lot of investors are looking at hot markets and saying, ‘I can get a building from an elderly owner, and because the tenants are sometimes paying below market rent, jack up the rent by an enormous amount, slap on a little paint,’ and all of a sudden, they’re renting to a completely different clientele than has usually lived in that neighborhood,” said Marc Draisen, the council’s executive director. “That’s what often fuels displacement in these communities.” The council defined private investors as those who used limited liability corporations, purchased more than three residential properties in five years, spent at least $3.45 million over 23 years, or purchased properties with at least four units. The report revealed that investors play a much bigger role in shaping the region’s housing market than previously known, although Greater Boston has not seen the same level of billion-dollar corporations snatching up cheap single-family homes as other US cities. Investors, who often either flipped homes for much higher prices within two years or jacked up rents by as much as 70 percent, were particularly active in some lower-income areas and gentrifying neighborhoods, the report said. Parts of East Boston and Lynn, for example, saw more than 40 percent of home sales go to investors. Advertisement: The report illuminated a dynamic that tenant and neighborhood advocates have been witnessing on the ground for decades. “The consequences are dire,” said Carolyn Chou, director of Homes for All Massachusetts, a tenant advocacy group. “When people I work with hear their landlord is selling the building, everyone’s stomach drops. Even people with professional jobs. Because they know that pretty soon, they might not have a home anymore.” A real estate brokerage sign stands in front of a house in Norwood on Oct. 6, 2020. There are generally only a few outcomes when a private investor purchases a two- or three-family property, advocates said. In many cases, an investor will “flip” the property, meaning they put money into some simple repairs, then put the property back on the market within two years for significantly more than the purchase price. Some 9 percent of homes purchased in Greater Boston between 2002 and 2022 were flipped. In other cases, investors hold onto the property and raise the rents. Housing has been a hot bed for investment for decades, largely because the nation’s shortage of homes means that properties are likely to steadily increase in value after they’re purchased, particularly in housing-starved urban areas. Most research into the impact of investor buying has focused on the activity of large-scale institutional buyers, such as Invitation Homes, that have taken to buying up single-family homes or apartment buildings in fast-growing regions such as Atlanta and Phoenix. Oftentimes, those investors will fix up deteriorating properties and rent them out at higher rates, or put them back on the market. Advertisement: That sort of investor is not nearly as present in Greater Boston as it is in some other areas, according to the report, largely because single-family homes here are so expensive, and because there are relatively few of them to buy. Instead, the report found, Greater Boston has many more small and midsize investors, people who own between three and five properties, or who purchased between $3.45 million and $10.34 million worth of property in the 23-year period MAPC studied. Combined, those small and midsize investors made roughly 88,000 purchases in that period, accounting for 64 percent of all investor purchases in the region. (Institutional investors accounted for roughly 25 percent of investor purchases.) The report found that, overwhelmingly, investors are eyeing two- and three-family homes, the kind of buildings that represent the region’s last remaining “naturally occurring affordable housing.” That deeply concerns affordable housing advocates. In most cases, two-families and triple-deckers were built decades, sometimes a century, ago. Because of their age, and sometimes their condition, those properties tend to carry cheaper rents and purchase prices. In low-income neighborhoods, areas hit hardest by America’s long history of racist mortgage lending policies and historical disinvestment, these properties tend to be last refuges of affordability in a city and region that is rapidly growing too expensive for people of modest means to stay, housing advocates say. Triple-deckers line a street in Mattapan. Those buildings have long been a bastion for Boston’s working and middle classes, who have often purchased small multifamily properties as homes, and rented out the other units for supplemental income or to relatives. But now, the report said, such opportunities are growing increasingly out of reach as investors snap up the properties with cash offers. Advertisement: “That model of homes and homeownership that the triple-decker represents, which was so important to this region for so long… it’s not evaporating, but people are being out-competed for those things,” said Timothy Reardon, chief of data and research for the state’s new Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. “We’ve seen that the effects of that can be devastating.” In 2018, two-families represented more than 30 percent of investor acquisitions, and three-families nearly 50 percent. Those figures were even higher in low-income neighborhoods and the state’s inner cities, and picked up in the years after the 2008 financial crisis, when home prices dropped and foreclosures were widespread. Investor activity in the housing market has historically been challenging to document, because most purchasers buy property through one or more LLCs, making it difficult to discern who is behind a transaction. The data took MAPC roughly four years to analyze. Even more challenging though will be figuring out how to pump the breaks on the trend, said Draisen. A real estate transfer tax could help, he said, because it could discourage speculators from buying and selling homes in quick succession. And it would provide funding for more affordable housing efforts. The state should also require more transparency around LLCs, he said, because knowing who is behind purchases will make it easier to understand how many buildings private investors are purchasing, and where. “We need policies that will put a stop to this,” Chou, of of Homes for All Massachusetts, said.

91654d971c8f66c1858a6170fde06eca

2culture

Dave Chappelle Assumes Were Already Offended in His New Netflix Special

The wildest moment in the new Dave Chappelle special, “The Dreamer” (Netflix), arrives about two-thirds of the way through when the comic says he’s about to tell a long story. That’s not the unusual part. Some 36 years into a storied comedy career, Chappelle, 50, is better known for controversial yarns than carefully considered punchlines. At this point in the special, he tells the crowd in his hometown, Washington, D.C., that he is going to get a cigarette backstage, asks them to act as if he were finished and says he would prefer a standing ovation. He then does something I have never seen in a Netflix special: He walks off for a smoke and costume change, leaving the stage empty. He strolls back as everyone waits, politely clapping. No one stands. He sits down and even mentions that he didn’t get the standing ovation, grumpily. He could have cut that out but didn’t. Why? Was it to reveal that his crowd refused to be told what to do, how he doesn’t mind, as he said at another point, if most people didn’t laugh at some jokes? Was it to include a momentary reprieve from the self-aggrandizing tone of the hour, which begins with rock-star images of Chappelle walking to the stage in slow motion and ends with a montage of him with everyone from Bono and Mike Tyson to the Netflix C.E.O. Ted Sarandos? I have no idea, but what sticks with you in Chappelle’s sets these days is less the jokes than the other stuff, the discourse-courting jabs, the celebrity gossip, the oddball flourishes. Later, Chappelle says, “Sometimes, I feel regular.” As an example, he describes being shy at a club where a rich Persian guy surrounded by women recognizes him and the comedian imagines him telling the story of seeing Dave Chappelle the next day. The idea that this is Chappelle’s idea of regular is funny.

b08eed3905ef3a7cf619755726c65dee

2culture

Rob Reiner Remembers Norman Lear: Weve Lost a Real Champion of America

Reflecting on Norman Lear’s death, Rob Reiner was understandably heartbroken on Wednesday. Not only because he loved Lear, whom he’d first met as an 8-year-old, like a second father, as Reiner put it, but because Lear exited this world during a resurgence of many of the problems he’d tried to air out and squash through his television shows — namely, intolerance and bigotry. “He just couldn’t believe that this was happening to America,” said Reiner, who had seen Lear several times in the past couple of months, in a phone interview on Wednesday. “He would always say, ‘This is not the America that I grew up in and that we fought for to preserve. Something’s happened to this country that’s gone so far away from everything it stands for.’” “We’d talk about this, and he would say, ‘It’s like Alice in Wonderland,’” said Reiner, 76, an Oscar-nominated director. Reiner won two Emmy Awards for playing the liberal son-in-law, Michael, of the close-minded racist Archie Bunker on Lear’s most famous sitcom, “All in the Family,” which ran from 1971 to 1979 on CBS. The show aired in the era of appointment viewing, when there were only a handful of TV channels and households across the United States tuned in to the same programs at the same time. The shifting habits of American viewers, who can much more easily silo themselves in echo chambers when it comes to viewing habits, has only contributed to the fracturing and divisions, Reiner said.

325debd038c00e2251c1727973bb0bf5

1crime

UMass research: Climate-change temp soon to hit limit for the rhinoceros

AMHERST — Rhinos don’t sweat. And with global warming causing their habitat’s temperature to increase, black and white rhinos are in jeopardy, according to new research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Southern Africa — home to most of the world’s remaining rhinos — is experiencing rapid climate change. To date, rhino conservation efforts have been focused on poaching. A UMass research team recently reported in the journal Biodiversity that the rhinos are more sensitive to rising temps, which will soon surpass the animals’ limit. The team advised national park managers to plan now if they intend to preserve a future for the rhinoceros. White rhinos, like this one at Kruger National Park, South Africa, are threatened by climate change. (Sam Ferreira photo)Sam Ferreira photo The African continent is projected to see a temp increase of 2 degrees Celsius over the next 100 years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The change also will disrupt rain patterns. Because they don’t sweat, rhinos cool themselves by bathing and seeking out shade. “Most, if not all, species will, in one way or another, be negatively affected by the changing climate,” said lead author Hlelowenkhosi S. Mamba, who completed this research as part of her graduate studies at UMass Amherst, in a statement. “It is therefore important for conservationists ... to catch trends and model futures for some of the world’s most vulnerable species to prepare to mitigate climate change’s effects, hence minimizing global biodiversity losses.” To understand how change climate will affect rhinos, Mamba and senior author Timothy Randhir, professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst, focused their efforts on the five large national parks in South Africa: Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana, Tanzania and eSwatini.

e29840913c4422a0d8976dfeb408fd34

1crime

Lynn teacher pleads guilty to sexually exploiting Laotian children

Editor’s note: This article contains a description of sexual assault. A Lynn man pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from allegations that he had impoverished Laotian children “pay for rent” by giving him massages while he was naked, the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. Michael Sebastian, 56, pleaded guilty to three counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places in connection with the sexual exploitation of these children, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a press release. Read more: Lobster trap Christmas tree in Lynn man’s backyard brings community joy The sexual abuse happened while Sebastian was operating a school in Laos that taught english to impoverished children, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Sebastian allowed some of his students to stay at his apartment with him, but required that they pay him for housing them. “Students who were unable to pay for their living expenses performed ‘chores’ around the house to earn credit towards their rent payments,” the U.S. Attorney’s office wrote in the release. “One of the ‘chores’ eligible for rent credit was to give Sebastian massages, during which Sebastian would be naked.” Between May 2018 and September 2019, Sebastian sexually abused three minor children who lived with him, sometimes requiring his genitals to be part of the massages, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Read more: Salem police investigate daycare after postal worker finds 3-year-old walking alone “Mr. Sebastian ingratiated himself into a position of trust and then manipulated his relationships to exploit vulnerable minors who sought refuge and education. His horrific conduct is a parent’s worst nightmare,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in the release. “ ... This case should send a resounding message to Americans in Massachusetts and beyond: predators will be identified, prosecuted and held accountable.” Sebastian was arrested and charged in July 2020 following his return to the U.S., the U.S. Attorney’s office said. He was soon indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2020. Sebastian is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, 2024. Each charge of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. If you are a victim of sexual assault, you are not alone. Rape Crisis Centers in Massachusetts offer free, confidential services for adolescent and adult survivors, as well as their loved ones. For a list of crisis centers across the state and how to contact them, click here.

e2febad89871049fc77a9ba04c26c26f

4politics

Israeli Teenager Recounts Her Time as a Hostage in Gaza

Hila Rotem Shoshani had invited her friend Emily Hand over for a sleepover in Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel. The girls, then 12 and 8, woke early the next morning, Oct. 7, to the sound of thundering booms — the start of the deadliest attack in the history of their country. For about six hours, Hila and Emily hid in the home’s safe room with Hila’s mother, Raaya Rotem, 54, as Hamas attackers overran the kibbutz. Then armed gunmen burst in with guns and knives and took the three out into a landscape of horror, past dead bodies and burning buildings, to a car. One of the attackers noticed Hila clutching a stuffed animal. He grabbed it and tossed it aside. “I had it in my hand the entire time. I didn’t notice,” Hila said on Friday in an interview in New York, before she spoke at a rally in support of the remaining hostages. “When you’re afraid you don’t notice.” Hila was one of more than 30 children kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, and held until late November, when they, along with dozens of adults, were released during a brief truce. Hila, now 13, is the youngest of the returned hostages to speak out about the harsh conditions in which they were held, seeking to highlight the plight of more than 100 hostages who remain in Gaza.

507e789ce325253c0e85b57558861cc1

6sports

4 takeaways as Celtics crush Spurs to extend impressive home streak

The Celtics continued their reign of dominance at home Wednesday night, cruising to a 117-98 win over the Spurs at TD Garden. Boston played without two starters (Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis) due to injury but they had little trouble against a Spurs squad that has only won seven wins this year. Jayson Tatum (24 points) led four different Celtics to score in double figures as the hosts led by as many as 30 points thanks to a sensational 3-point shooting display in the first half (68 percent). San Antonio trimmed Boston’s lead down to 13 midway through the third quarter after a sloppy start to the second half but the Celtics bench helped Boston pull away once again for their third consecutive win. A far tougher task awaits the Celtics on Friday night when they host the defending champions in a nationally televised matchup. Here are four takeaways from the Celtics win: BetMGM BET $5, GET $158! BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER Promo code: MASS158 STATES: MA, KY, AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it smart from the start with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org. Celtics build monster lead with the 3-ball: Boston has been an impossible team to defend at TD Garden this year and that trend continued on Wednesday night, particularly in the first half. The hosts ran out to 70 first half points thanks to 68.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Five different players hit multiple 3s in the first half alone as an overmatched Spurs defense struggled to handle Boston’s weapons on the perimeter. It was the third straight game where the Celtics flirted with shooting better from 3-point range than 2-point range. Neemias Queta emerges again off the bench: The two-way center had played just two games in January before Wednesday night as a stretch of good health had buried him back on the bench. With Porzingis out and Luke Kornet getting a surprise start, the door opened for Queta minute and he held his own against the Spurs No. 1 pick, posting six points and six rebounds in just 10 minutes. Queta did pile up four quick fouls but his impact on the glass and with providing some strength in the paint was felt. As Boston navigates a busy schedule in the next week, he continues to look like a promising prospect who can help in a pinch. Payton Pritchard steps up with Derrick White out: The reserve guard has been one of the more consistent Celtics during the past two weeks and that trend continued as he was handed a bigger role Wednesday night. Pritchard scored in double figure for the fourth time in his last six games scoring 12 points off the bench while playing over 20 minutes for the fourth straight for the first time all year. Pritchard continues to play his best basketball at TD Garden this year (42 percent from 3-point range) and provided a spark in both halves after a lethargic start by the starting unit. The home streak continues: Boston added to their record-best winning streak to begin the year at TD Garden, improving to 20-0 on the season. The streak will be tested more in the coming weeks with Denver coming into town Friday and the LA Clippers arriving a week from Saturday. However, with Boston holding the easiest remaining schedule in the NBA throughout the second half of the year, the opportunity will be there to make a run at the NBA record set by the Warriors in 2016.

4af9a42bc92cb345799778a237cb8349

6sports

Springfield Thunderbirds Drew Bannister named interim coach of St. Louis Blues

Monday night’s game between the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers finished with both benches half-empty after a brawl on the ice had penalties getting handed out like Halloween candy. It was a chaotic affair in Ottawa, with a total of 167 minutes worth of penalties being issued in the Panthers’ 5-0 win. However, things boiled over with under eight minutes remaining when Senators forward Brady Tkachuk collided with Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on a breakaway. Florida took issue with the play. Ottawa took issue with Florida taking issue. Fists flew everywhere as a brawl broke out. You can watch the whole thing unfold here. When the dust finally settled, Tkachuk was penalized for goaltender interference and roughing. The Panthers’ Jonah Gadjovich got two minutes for rouging as well. Oh, and one other thing. “And then every player on the ice has a 10-minute misconduct,” referee Garrett Rank announced to the crowd. Since there were fewer than 10 minutes left in the game, that meant every player who had received a misconduct with done for the night. According to the Miami Herald, the following players were tossed for Florida: Gadjovich, Kevin Stenlund, Ryan Lomberg, Dmitry Kulikov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. As for Ottawa, the list of players thrown out included: Tkachuk, Erik Brannstrom, Rourke Chartier, Travis Hamonic and Drake Batherson. That wasn’t the end of it, either. The Senators and Panthers each had another player tossed from the game minutes later after another scuffle on the ice. All the penalties led to a bizarre scene in the closing minutes as both teams saw their benches emptied. Florida coach Paul Maurice had some fun with it. “That was mild,” Maurice said, via the Miami Herald. “We only got to about 160-some minutes there. It’s got to get into the 250s before it gets too squirrely. Sometimes hockey can get like that. That’s part of why the game’s so darn great because it’s graceful and beautiful and physical and angry all at the same time. It’s probably good for both team. You get to make it part of the story of your year.” As for the Senators, they weren’t as happy with the way the 5-0 loss unfolded. “More than half the team was out of the game. I want to win hockey games, we need to, I don’t know, it’s really tough to say right now because a lot of things happened tonight,” Senators forward Claude Giroux said, via Sportsnet.

e5b084e4cbaf37a65092842b4869fcd0

4politics

Putin Vows to Keep Up Bombardment After a Russian City Is Hit

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia vowed on Monday to continue missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, in retaliation for what he called a “terror” attack on the Russian city of Belgorod last week. “They want to scare us, to create a certain uncertainty inside the country,” Mr. Putin said during a televised meeting with the veterans of the war in Ukraine. “From our side, we will build up the strikes.” Mr. Putin’s rare public comments about an attack on the Russian territory comes as his armed forces in recent days have pummeled Ukrainian cities with some of the largest rocket strikes since the start of the invasion, and as both sides look for ways to break a stalemate on the battlefield. The cycle of strikes and retaliation is raising fears of escalating civilian casualties in the conflict, which began in February 2022.

f185ed9bf16fb803e209126fb6d3f9ba

1crime

Air Force: 15 members of accused Mass. Airman Jack Teixeiras unit found at fault for leaks

The Air Force Inspector General said on Monday that members of Jack Teixeira’s unit didn’t take proper action after finding out about the Massachusetts airman’s alleged leak of classified government information and has disciplined 15 people as a result. In an announcement on Dec. 11, the Inspector General said that while its investigation found Teixeira to be solely responsible for the social media leak of information on Russia’s war in Ukraine, leadership members in the 102nd Intelligence Wing also were indirectly at fault for his actions. Read more: Jack Teixeira pleads not guilty to sharing classified documents Teixeira, 23, is accused of leaking top-secret military documents regarding the war in Ukraine to his internet friends over Discord, a communication platform popular amongst video gamers. Officials said he accessed Discord while employed at the Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod. He was arrested and charged with six counts willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to the national defense in April under the Espionage Act. Each count carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. The Massachusetts man pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Worcester in June, and was denied release in September as he waits in jail for his next trial date. Because of these indirect factors, many people were removed from their positions, and other administrative actions were brought against unit members, the Air Force said. Some of these factors included Texeira’s commanders’ failure to review their areas of command, inconsistent guidance on reporting security incidents and a misunderstanding of the government’s “Need to Know” classified info concept, the investigation revealed. Additionally, a lack of supervision of night shift operations, poor administration of disciplinary actions, and not providing security clearance field investigation results all factored into Teixeira’s suspected crimes, the Air Force said. Leadership also did not properly inspect the conduct of the people they were in charge of — specifically, security was not prioritized because those in charge did not take “the required actions to accomplish security program responsibilities fully and effectively,” investigators found. Two of the 15 people who received disciplined by the Air National Guard, which began Sept. 7, were identified as Col. Sean Riley, a 102d commander, and Enrique Dovalo, a Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group commander for the 102d. Riley was relieved of his position, the Air Force said. Dovalo received administrative action for its concerns with the commander’s unit culture and compliance with policies and standards. Also permanently removed were commanders who were previously suspended from the 102d Intelligence Support Squadron, and the detachment overseeing administrative support for Airmen at the unit mobilized for duty under Title 10 of the U.S. criminal code, the Air Force said. The 102nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group had been taken off mission when allegations against Teixeira surfaced, and the group’s mission remains reassigned to other organizations within the Air Force. In addition to the disciplinary and administrative actions, the Air Force implemented department-wide security improvements, such as the members’ review of security procedure compliance, their attendance of security training, and a survey of security practices across the Air Force. The Air Force also implemented several reforms, including but not limited to, increased emphasis on cyber-hygiene, improving its procedures on “Need to Know” and classified access, improving security training content, and delivery and improving security training content and delivery. “Every Airman and Guardian is entrusted with the solemn duty to safeguard our nation’s classified defense information,” U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in the statement. “When there is a breach of that sacred trust, for any reason, we will act in accordance with our laws and policies to hold responsible individuals accountable. Our national security demands leaders at every level protect critical assets, ensuring they do not fall into the hands of those who would do the United States or our allies and partners harm,” Kendall said.

0dbfa510fdb3b8fb2c1632a179dc6f28

1crime

Feds warn public holiday events could become targets for violence

Federal agents in the United States are expressing concern about threats at public gatherings during the holiday season, according to a joint intelligence bulletin obtained by ABC News.The safety concerns come amid heightened tension surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, which started Oct. 7."Threat actors probably view holiday gatherings and symbolic religious events as attractive targets due to publicized meeting times and locations, the open nature of participation, and varying levels of security," the bulletin reads.The intelligence bulletin also stated that potential attackers would likely use simple weapons like guns, knives and vehicles."They're taking it very seriously and very carefully," said Grand Rabbi Y.A. Korff, chaplain for the city of Boston. "Not overreacting, but remaining vigilant."A menorah lighting was held inside Boston City Hall on Tuesday, the sixth night of Hanukkah. There were no incidents during the menorah lighting nor any reports of threats to the public ceremony."We need to be alert. We need to be careful. We need to be vigilant," Korff said. "We need to work with one another and keep the lines of communication open, but I don't feel as worried as I would feel in other places in the world."There has been a noticeable increased police presence at Menorah lightings in Boston this year, and it appears that increased police presence will continue.Related stories: Federal agents in the United States are expressing concern about threats at public gatherings during the holiday season, according to a joint intelligence bulletin obtained by ABC News. The safety concerns come amid heightened tension surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, which started Oct. 7. Advertisement "Threat actors probably view holiday gatherings and symbolic religious events as attractive targets due to publicized meeting times and locations, the open nature of participation, and varying levels of security," the bulletin reads. The intelligence bulletin also stated that potential attackers would likely use simple weapons like guns, knives and vehicles. "They're taking it very seriously and very carefully," said Grand Rabbi Y.A. Korff, chaplain for the city of Boston. "Not overreacting, but remaining vigilant." A menorah lighting was held inside Boston City Hall on Tuesday, the sixth night of Hanukkah. There were no incidents during the menorah lighting nor any reports of threats to the public ceremony. "We need to be alert. We need to be careful. We need to be vigilant," Korff said. "We need to work with one another and keep the lines of communication open, but I don't feel as worried as I would feel in other places in the world." There has been a noticeable increased police presence at Menorah lightings in Boston this year, and it appears that increased police presence will continue. Related stories:

be3c4d55f5bd3b07faa296b42cc54b75

6sports

Bill Belichicks statement saying goodbye to Patriots after mutual parting of ways

FOXBORO — The Patriots held a press conference Thursday, allowing Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft to deliver their statments in person after the former head coach and organization mutually agreed to part ways. Belichick mentioned the Kraft family, coaches, support staff, players, media and fans in his statement, which lasted nearly five minutes and was off the cuff. Belichick then shook Kraft’s hand, hugged him and allowed him to deliver his own statement. Here’s what Belichick said on Thursday at noon: “All right, morning. I haven’t seen this many camera since we signed Tebow. Robert and I after a series of discussions have mutually agreed to part ways. For me this, is a day of gratitude and celebration. Start with Robert and his family. So much thanks for the opportunity to be the head coach here for 24 years. It’s an amazing opportunity, received tremendous support. We had a vision of building a winner, building a championship football team here, and that’s exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations, the amount of success we were able to achieve together through a lot of hard work and contributions of so many people. I’m very proud of that and always have those memories. I’ll carry those with me the rest of my life. “Of course, after Robert, thanks to the assistant coaches. I’ve had so many great coaches here. They’ve made my life so much easier. It’s a long list, but the amount of work, preparation and diligence that they do, every one of them, and I say this about the players and the coaches regardless of how long they were here, how many years they were here, how many years they coached or what the position was. It was a great team effort, and everybody put everything they had into it. That’s why we were successful. “To the coaches, the support staff, it’s an amazing staff here that supported me in every way. All of the scouting, and all of the football support people to the equipment to the training, security, video, operations and so forth, right down that line. Dining room, it’s all first class. It’s all extremely, extremely good. Special thanks to Berj (Najarian) and Nancy (Meyers). They’ve been here since Day 1 and made my life a lot easier, or I’ve made theirs a lot harder, however you want to look at it. But that’s a big shoutout to them. “Of course, a great deal of thanks and appreciation to the players. Players win games in the NFL, and I’ve been very fortunate to coach some of the greatest players who have ever played, some of the greatest players who have ever played for the Patriots. Some of them are already in the hall of fame. Many more are going. Regardless of however long the players were or weren’t here or what their role was or how many games they played or even if they didn’t win championships, I respect the way the players come to work here on a daily basis, all of them that I’ve coached, well over 1,000. But their ability to work, prepare, train in the weight room, train their bodies, meet, rehearse over and over again what we need to do things right to be successful to win, I have so much respect for all of the players, and we’ve had many that have been here for a long time and had great contributions. Too many to name at this time, but great thanks to the players. “To the media, to you guys, I don’t know if anyone has got more coverage than I have, we have in the last 24 years. I give you guys a lot of respect, what you do. You’re our voice to the fans. Even thought we don’t always see eye to eye all of the time — most of the time but not all of the time — I do respect what you do. “Finally, to the fans. Fans here are amazing. So many memories of the fans, the send-offs, the parades, the Sundays, whatever the situations are. The letters to support, the seeing the fans away from here at a gas station or grocery store or wherever you bump into them. The Patriots fans here and not just in New England but they extend nationally and even internationally as I’ve traveled. It’s amazing how far the arm reaches. We saw that this year in Germany. So appreciative of the fans for all of the support they’ve given me, my family, this football team. “There are so many fond memories and thoughts that I think about the Patriots. I’ll always be a Patriot. I look forward to coming back here, but at this time, we’re going to move on. And I look forward, I’m excited for the future but always very, very appreciate of the opportunity here, the support here and Robert, what you’ve done here for me. Thank you.”

0f96f5c50967b8327d303d97f7173657

3entertainment

Carlos Lyra, Composer Who Brought Finesse to Bossa Nova, Dies at 90

A top Polish military official revealed that a Russian missile may have entered his country’s airspace before striking Ukraine, according to a report. "Everything indicates that a Russian missile intruded in Poland’s airspace," Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, Poland’s defense chief, said. "It was monitored by us on radars and left the airspace. We have confirmation of this on radars and from allies [in NATO]." Polish President Andrzej Duda called an emergency security meeting after the object appeared on radar, and 200 police officers have searched the area near the town of Hrubieszow where the radar detected the object in case it landed in Polish territory, the BBC reported. Poland’s defense forces said the object penetrated about 24 miles into its airspace and left it after less than three minutes. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO SEND UKRAINE LAST BATCH OF AID AS US DEPLETES AVAILABLE FUNDS White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan addressed the incident with Jacek Siewiera, the Polish Secretary of State and head of the National Security Bureau. Sullivan made clear the U.S. would support Poland and offered technical assistance "as needed," according to a readout of the conversation. Sullivan also assured his counterpart that President Biden is following the issue closely, for which Siewiera expressed appreciation as he confirmed the two governments would remain in close contact on the issue. Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of "Putin's Playbook," told Fox News Digital that the missile could be part of provocation from Russia, but that precision targeting is "not exactly the Russian military’s forte." "Unintended escalation has always been a risk in this conflict," Koffler said. "In this case, Poland is unlikely to respond. It’s not the first time it’s happened." Three missiles have entered Poland during the conflict: One missile, allegedly fired by Ukraine as part of a missile defense mechanism, landed in Poland in November 2022, killing two farmers; another missile allegedly fired from Belarus landed harmlessly in a forest in December 2022; and another unidentified object, which may have been an observation balloon, entered Polish airspace earlier this year. Duda’s aide Grazyna Ignaczak-Bandych relayed the president’s relief that "no one was hurt" following the latest incident. RUSSIAN POLITICIAN ADVOCATING FOR PEACE IN UKRAINE VOWS TO FORGE AHEAD WITH NEW POLITICAL PARTY The latest object may have been part of an immense missile barrage that Russia fired on Friday — one of the largest fired during the war with Ukraine, which included 122 missiles and 36 drones striking six different cities, including the capital, Kyiv. The strike killed 18 people, and Ukrainian forces were able to intercept 87 of the missiles and shoot down or disable 27 of the drones. "Some of [Russia’s] weapons lack accuracy and, culturally, they don’t care as much as, let’s say the U.S. military, if, in addition to the desired target, they destroy whatever is near it," Koffler noted. Polish military expert Cmdr. Makysmilian Dura told a local news outlet that attributing blame to Russia for the object detected in Polish airspace could prove "premature" because they had not found the missile; he likewise cautioned that the missile could still be in Poland since the radar did not detect the object leaving the country. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "As a result of such massive attacks, this can happen. The enemy is attacking our border territories, including in the west. This is another signal for our partners to strengthen the Ukrainian air defense," Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force, said on national television about the incident. Fox News Digital’s Lawrence Richard and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

917f27436b718e43029bbe270b8a9739

2culture

Overlooked Stories of 2023

Before the internet, there was no way for New York Times editors to know how many people had read an article. Stories that ran on the front page of the newspaper presumably were better read than ones on Page 36, but nobody could be sure. Now, digital tools allow us to know how many people read every story. This knowledge inevitably leads editors to track their favorites and say, “I sure wish more people read that one.” Every year, The Morning dedicates a newsletter to the stories that Times editors thought deserved more readers. We look broadly across our newsroom, selecting at least one story from each department. We hope you will discover some great reads here. THE LATEST NEWS 2024 Election Maine barred Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot, joining Colorado in declaring the former president ineligible because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Lawsuits seeking to remove Trump from the ballot are pending in more than a dozen states. Nikki Haley, when asked about the causes of the Civil War at a town-hall event, did not mention slavery. She later walked back her response. Gen Z Republicans are open to backing candidates other than Trump, but most candidates have focused on older voters. More on Politics

1203ec7013577c74c93bcf38183da2de

3entertainment

Massachusetts is creating overnight shelter spots to help newly arriving migrant families

We’re barely out of the first month, and two veteran country music acts have announced they’ll be hanging up their guitars and hitting the (country) road in 2024, according to published reports and social media posts. Here’s who will be saying goodbye — at least to full-time performing in the coming months. Ray Stevens Stevens, 85, a Country Music Hall of Famer who’s been entertaining audiences since 1957, has announced that he’ll be retiring from live performance this year. But he’s not billing it as a farewell or a full-stepping away from music. Instead, it’s a slow-down, Stevens told The Tennessean. “I’ve always been in the music business, since I was 15 years old, and I’ve traveled all over the world, played shows, written, and recorded a lot of successful records,” Stevens told the newspaper. “And so I was tired.” Stevens has been performing at his CabaRay Showroom, in West Nashville since 2018. The venue will reportedly stay open with other performers taking his place after Stevens deservedly slows the pace. Instead, he’ll be prioritizing recording. And Stevens is no slouch in that department either. Best known for his hits “This Mississippi Squirrel Revival,” “The Streak” and “Misty,” the singer-songwriter also is a member of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and has a star on the Music City Walk of Fame. He’s sold more than 40 million albums over the course of his career, according to The Tennessean. “I’m looking forward to this final year, it’s going to be a good year,” he told The Tennessean. “I’d like to see everybody come out if they can and see the show.” You can buy tickets for the CabaRay Showroom on its ticketing page. Jimmie Fadden, left, and Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band perform with the band at City Winery on September 01, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.(Photo by R. Diamond/Getty Images) The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The three-time Grammy Award-winning country music act that has entertained audiences for six decades is calling it quits, sort of. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, known for hits like “Mr. Bojangles,” “Fishin’ In The Dark” and “An American Dream,” announced its farewell tour on social media Tuesday, Jan. 16. However, this does not mean the band will be completely disappearing from music, MassLive previously reported. Fans looking to see the band live can shop for tickets online using StubHub and VividSeats. “The time has come for the band who has carried a torch for American country and roots music to say so long to the highways and byways they’ve traveled throughout their career,” the band posted on Instagram. “No need to fret, this isn’t goodbye forever, but it will be the last fans see of multi-city runs and long bus rides from the group.” The country rock band was founded in Long Beach, Calif. in 1966. NGDB has experienced a rotating roster over the years, but current members include Bob Carpenter, Jimmie Fadden, Jaime Hanna, Jeff Hanna, Ross Holmes and Jim Photoglo. Jeff Hanna and Fadden have bene with the band since the beginning. The band’s first big break came in 1970 with the single “Mr. Bojangles.” They have produced 25 albums including the Grammy Award-winning “Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two,” which was released in 1989. The band is often credited with helping the progression of contemporary country and roots music. “Playing our music for Dirt Band fans all over the world has been an incredible experience for us,” the band said in its Instagram post. “The most important part of that has been the connection to our audience—that beautiful communal give and take is like nothing else. That’s the very spirit we’ll be celebrating as we head into our farewell tour.”

6b700100bc21d5c663a760a67a96806d

1crime

Officials identify 21-year-old who fell from moving pickup truck in Mass. and died

Officials have identified Daniel Cleary as the 21-year-old Charlton man who died falling out of a Ford pickup truck over the weekend. Cleary was said to be riding as a passenger in the vehicle, according to a statement on Facebook by Charlton police. The driver of the vehicle, who was driving west on Stafford Street in Charlton, stopped, contacted police and remained with Cleary as police arrived, officials said. Read more: Deceased man in his 40s pulled from Ware River this morning Cleary fell out of the truck at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, officials said. He was taken to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center-University Campus, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the reason the man fell out of the truck remain under investigation. The Worcester County District Attorney’s office is continuing the investigation, assisted by Charlton police and Massachusetts State Police.

2b462f7720e60065e6ba2b150b6762c8

3entertainment

FanDuel promo code for Seahawks-Cowboys unlocks 30 to 1 odds bonus

Sports Betting Dime provides exclusive sports betting content to MassLive.com, including real-time odds, picks, analysis and sportsbook offers to help sports fans get in on the action. Please wager responsibly. The latest FanDuel promo code offer is getting football fans ready for Thursday Night Football. Bet $5 on either team’s moneyline to win $150 in bonus bets. The Dallas Cowboys (8-3) and Seattle Seahawks (6-5) would both make the playoffs if the season ended today. Bettors can boost the odds on this game by clicking here. FanDuel Sportsbook BET $5, WIN $150 BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER 21+ and present in participating states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. The Cowboys and Seahawks are in a strong position when it comes to the wild card, but both teams are running out of time to win the division. Dallas is facing a gauntlet of opponents to finish the season. Meanwhile, Seattle has a tough schedule with games against the 49ers, Eagles and Steelers left to play. With all that said, this is a pivotal game for both teams. The FanDuel Sportsbook app is the only place bettors can lock in this moneyline wager. Download the app and start betting on the NFL with the largest odds boost on the market. Click here to enable this FanDuel promo code offer and bet $5 on the Cowboys or Seahawks to win $150 in bonuses. Cowboys vs. Seahawks betting preview, odds Despite the fact that both of these teams are holding onto a playoff spot at the moment, the Cowboys are massive favorites tonight. The fact that they are playing at AT&T Stadium is definitely contributing to that spread, but it still feels like Dallas is a cut above Seattle. That doesn’t mean the Seahawks can’t pull off an upset. But at this point in time, the Cowboys should be the favorite. Both teams played on Thanksgiving, which means they have had a full week to prepare for this game. Sure, it’s a little different coming off of Thanksgiving and playing on Thursday again, but they have had a full week to prepare. Here’s a quick look at the current odds on Cowboys vs. Seahawks on Thursday Night Football (odds are subject to change before kickoff): Teams Spread Moneyline Total Points Seattle Seahawks +8.5 (-105) +350 Over 47.5 (-108) Dallas Cowboys -8.5 (-115) -450 Under 47.5 (-112) How to redeem this FanDuel promo code offer New users can sign up with FanDuel Sportsbook by following the step-by-step guide below: Click this link and create a new account by filling out the required fields with basic identifying information. Using any of the available payment methods, make a cash deposit of at least $10 into your newly created account. Download the FanDuel Sportsbook mobile app straight from the App Store or Google Play Store. Bet $5 on the Cowboys or Seahawks to win tonight. Players who choose right will win $150 in bonuses. Bettors can also take advantage of other promos. New and existing users can grab a no sweat same game parlay on Thursday Night Football. Bettors who place a same game parlay of three legs or more with +400 odds or longer will qualify for this promo. If that same game parlay loses, players will receive up to $100 back in bonus bets. Click here to enable this FanDuel promo code offer and bet $5 on the Cowboys or Seahawks to win $150 in bonuses. FanDuel Sportsbook BET $5, WIN $150 BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER 21+ and present in participating states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Get the latest sports betting news, advice and promos sent straight to your inbox. Enter your email here: Think you know Patriots football? Play the MassLive.com Prop Bet Showdown for a chance to win prizes! 21+ and present in a state with legal gambling? Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org to speak with a trained specialist to receive support. Specialists are available 24/7. Services are available in multiple languages and are free and confidential.

58655fa06dd82de3cb6c7ed34d95ae10

5science

Massachusetts keeping pace with climate goals, Healey administration says

On the route to decarbonization, the state is so far on target with its goals, the Healey administration says, but there is more work to be done with the most intense period of rapid decarbonization quickly approaching. Gov. Maura Healey's administration released its first Climate Report Card on Friday, which includes data and assessments on the state's progress on its climate resilience and environmental justice goals. The administration plans to release the report card every year, which they call "a candid look at the Commonwealth’s progress to date" to "provide accountability to the public, advocates, lawmakers, and the state itself and inform the adoption of new strategies to reduce emissions." Massachusetts has committed to achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of 33 percent by 2025, 50 percent by 2030, 75 percent by 2040 and at least 85 percent by 2050, all compared to the baseline of 1990 emissions. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. The state was required to reduce carbon emissions by at least 25 percent from the 1990 baseline by 2020 and Gov. Charlie Baker's administration determined that 2020 emissions were actually 31.4 percent below the 1990 level. On the track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the steepest emissions reductions are set to occur between 2025 and 2030, said Katherine Antos, undersecretary of decarbonization and resilience at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. "That's when the most action needs to be happening, so that we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions across each of our sectors," Antos told reporters on Thursday. She added, "At the same time, in terms of resilience and adapting to climate change, as we saw this summer through extreme heat and through extreme precipitation events, those impacts are happening now. They're affecting our residents, our businesses, our communities now. So we need to be taking the actions now to adapt to a changing climate and build resilience." Greenhouse gas emissions are used most often to measure progress, but with a two-to-three year lag in this data, the climate report card turns to other quantitative measures. Data show that the transportation sector was the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts, at 37 percent, the report says, and shifting to increase the availability of electric vehicles will be important to meeting the state's target that 100 percent of 2035 light-duty vehicles sales be electric. "The [Clean Energy and Climate Plan] anticipated that progress electrifying medium and heavy-duty vehicles would be slow before implementation of the Advanced Clean Truck rule begins in 2024, and this prediction has proven true," it says. "Finally, total Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT), a key indicator of mode shift, is still significantly below pre-COVID levels, but has increased since 2020 as the economy rebounds. Continued progress building housing near public transportation, improving the performance of the MBTA and regional transit agencies, and investments in multimodal infrastructure and technologies such as e-bikes will be critical to limiting VMT growth." The report says there were 70,689 electric light-duty vehicles on the road in 2022. This exceeds the estimate in the state's climate plan, that there would be about 60,000 in 2022. The plan sets a target of 200,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025 and 900,000 by 2030. The climate targets also estimate the need for 15,000 public charging station ports by 2025 and 75,000 by 2030 -- as of Thursday, there were 6,436. "We are seeing more and more electric vehicles on the road each year, we're seeing a tripling of our EV rebates to support residents in purchasing those electric vehicles. So we are seeing those indicators move in the direction that we want them to move, as we know that acceleration will need to continue to occur through 2025 to 2030," Antos said. EVs cost more up front than gas-powered vehicles, and the report identifies this as the greatest barrier for low-income drivers. Additionally, one-third of Massachusetts residents do not have off-street parking, making it more difficult to charge vehicles. The Department of Energy Resources recently rolled out an upgraded MOR-EV rebate program, and additional rebates for low-income households. As of Nov. 1, 2023, light-duty vehicle rebates had almost tripled compared to 2022, the report says. "DOER will be determining whether additional rebate adjustments may make EVs more accessible, particularly to income-restricted drivers," it says. The building sector is the second largest source of emissions, at 35 percent. The state has recently begun rolling out policies to try to contain emissions related to the building sector, such as reforming building codes and encouraging heat pump installations. "The sector is currently on track or leading in all categories as compared to expectations and modeled analytics, but significant, new interventions are needed to meet upcoming 2025 and 2030 targets," the report says. Nationwide, heat pump sales exceeded gas-powered furnace sales by over 10 percent for the first time in 2022. Heat pumps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent compared with a gas boiler, and can be as large as an 80 percent reduction, according to the International Energy Agency. "Residential heat pump installations through Mass Save rebate offerings in 2022 and in the first half of 2023 have been above expectations, particularly for former natural gas customers, and we are now at about 30% of our 2025 target even before accounting for installations outside of Mass Save such as those done within municipal light plant territories," the report says. "Heat pump installations through Mass Save have also been accelerating, nearly tripling from 2021 to 2022 and on track to be over 3.5 times greater in 2023." The report card also includes a section on Massachusetts' "natural and working lands," which they say absorb more carbon than they emit -- though the state loses several thousands acres of this natural land, particularly forests, each year. As of 2022, 27 percent of the state was permanently protected. The state's climate goals seek to increase permanent conservation to at least 28 percent by 2025, at least 30 percent by 2030 and at least 40 percent by 2050. "EEA and its agencies have been permanently conserving an average of about 10,000 acres annually over the past five years, but the Commonwealth needs to double the pace of conservation to achieve the conservation goals in the CECPs. Doubling the pace of conservation will require consistent long-term funding for land acquisition, incentives for more privately-owned forests and farms to be protected with conservation easements, and full and equitable compensation to hosts of conserved land," the report says. EEA has an annual budget of about $25 million for land conservation, and plans to use more than $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for land conservation. The department is also exploring ways to limit natural land loss to development through incentives and regulations. "There has been a lot of work done there to understand how different types of forests and how different types of land use -- what they can store and what they can sequester -- and also looking at restoration, where are there areas where there's the greatest per acre benefit in terms of increasing sequestration? So it's an area where we have done quite a bit of research," Antos said. The state climate chief -- a position that Healey created at the beginning of her term -- called for the annual climate report card in recommendations she made to the governor in October. Chief Melissa Hoffer wrote that the report card would "enhance transparency" as "there is enormous public concern about climate change and interest in executive branch actions to reduce emissions and make our communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change."

5a4608e429dc132141a2962269d407ee

0business

Bluebikes: 750 e-bikes coming to bikeshare system

According to the announcement, an additional 700 e-bikes will join the fleet in subsequent months. The rollout of the new e-bikes is part of a new seven-year agreement between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the title sponsor of the bikeshare program; Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, and Brookline; and Lyft, which contracts with municipalities to operate the sprawling network and manufactures the bikes. Bluebikes announced this week that it’s adding 750 electric bicycles to stations in the Greater Boston area, starting with 50 of the new and speedier rides hitting the roads beginning Wednesday. “Today marks an exciting milestone as we usher in the next wave of transportation in Greater Boston with the introduction of state-of-the-art e-bikes,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement. “Partnerships such as our Bluebikes alliance with Blue Cross are crucial in ensuring our residents have access to healthier, more sustainable, and affordable transportation options.” Each e-bike will feature pedal-assist technology, a single gear transmission, and safety upgrades including reflective paint and an LED light, according to a joint announcement about the new modes of transportation. Advertisement New Bluebikes e-bikes are rolling out in Greater Boston. Bluebikes The bikes are considered class one e-bikes, which were legalized as part of the Massachusetts Transportation Bond Bill in 2022. They have a battery with a 60-mile range, and do not exceed speeds of 20 miles-per-hour. Bluebikes e-bikes will be available at $0.10 per minute for Bluebikes members and $0.07 per minute for low-income residents enrolled in Bluebikes’ income-eligible program, which offers reduced fairs for people who receive benefits from the state’s department of transitional assistance. E-bikes will be $0.25 per minute for non-member riders who purchase a Single Trip or Adventure Pass, the statement said. Officials in Cambridge said Wednesday that 20 e-bikes are expected to roll out Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Kendall Square Valet station, while additional e-bikes will be made available on city streets over the next few months. Advertisement “The City of Cambridge is proud to support more affordable, sustainable, and healthier forms of transportation and extend what has been a win-win, public-private partnership,” Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang said in a statement. “Bluebikes have become a critical part of Cambridge’s public transportation system and I am excited to make that system more accessible through the addition of e-bikes.” In Somerville, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne also welcomed the news of the new bikes to the city’s growing list of Bluebikes stations. “Bikeshare is public transit, and I believe that affordable, pedal-assist e-bikes can improve travel choices for people across the metro region,” she said in a statement. Bluebikes riders in Greater Boston have recorded more than 22 million trips since the company first launched in 2011, originally under the name Hubway. The e-bike rollout follows the installation of several new stations statewide over the summer. It also comes as the MBTA plans intermittent closures at stations across the system, which will force many riders to turn to other modes of transportation to get around. Galen Mook, executive director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, said biking is becoming increasingly common in Greater Boston, and making bikes more accessible will mean making riders’ lives easier. “Over the past decade, we’ve seen bike share become an integral element of our public transportation system throughout the Boston Metro area, expanding into more neighborhoods and cities and towns, and we expect that adding e-bikes will only mean more miles ridden by more people getting around for their daily trips,” Mook said. Advertisement Vivi Smilgius can be reached at vivi.smilgius@globe.com. Follow her @viviraye.

e8c5dcc6ea23ae8d93dcf5ac4a0b0e76

5science

Day 3: How to Eat for Better Energy

This is Day 3 of the 6-Day Energy Challenge. To start at the beginning, click here. When I wake up in the morning, my first thought is usually about what I want to eat — and as soon as I’m done with a meal, I’m already planning the next one. This tendency to look ahead is pretty common, said Dr. Nate Wood, a culinary medicine researcher at the Yale School of Medicine and a trained chef. But, he added, “rarely do we look back and reflect on how the foods that we eat make us feel, unless maybe our stomach is upset.” Tuning in to how our food affects us, he said, can help us understand which foods give us energy and which make us sluggish. It can also help us eat for better energy going forward. That’s the focus of today’s challenge. Track your energy after you eat. The task is simple: Notice how the foods you eat make you feel. An hour and a half to two hours after you have a meal or snack, jot down any sensations you’re experiencing: Are you satisfied, tired, peckish? Then rate your energy level from one to five.

e326a3d1c1042e37c7d3c1ab7b4f24cd

0business

Can Mike Tyson Become a Heavyweight in the New York Marijuana Industry?

On a recent weekend, fans of Mike Tyson, one of the greatest boxers ever, lined up by the hundreds at dispensaries in New York for a chance to meet him and to support his latest business move: selling weed in his home state. With the recent release of his Tyson 2.0 line, Mr. Tyson, 57, has become the most visible newcomer of the celebrity wave in the state’s cannabis industry. Although actors, athletes and musicians have been cashing in on weed with product lines and endorsement deals over the last decade as legalization has swept the United States, the tide is just rising in New York. And Mr. Tyson is one of the biggest names yet to test how far fame can carry a brand in a market that is shaping up to be one of the largest and most competitive in the world. At the Conbud dispensary on the Lower East Side, he greeted fans with handshakes and hugs as they bought from a selection of smokable flower packaged with names like Tiger Mintz and Knockout OG. He playfully barked as he posed with a dog named Dottie and her owner, and he complimented a woman who, against the advice of her sons, wore a “Chrithmith” shirt making light of his lisp. Within a few hours, the pair of dispensaries that introduced his cannabis brand to New York had sold more than $40,000 of his flower and expanded their foothold in a market dominated by unlicensed competitors. And that was without the popular gummies shaped to look like Evander Holyfield’s ear, which Mr. Tyson infamously bit during a 1997 bout — one of only six fights that he lost.

3258474ed216c3b5a2e812ae1efdc52c

7weather

School closings and delays in Massachusetts for Monday, Jan. 8

Big Oil faces a tiny foe on the streets of Asia and Africa. The noisy, noxious vehicles that run on two and three wheels, carrying billions of people daily, are quietly going electric — in turn knocking down oil demand by one million barrels a day this year. In Kenya and Rwanda, dozens of start-ups are vying to replace oil-guzzling motorcycle taxis with battery-powered ones. In India, more than half of all new three-wheeled vehicles sold and registered this year were battery-operated. Indonesia and Thailand are also encouraging electrification of motorcycle taxis.

5f0638eed4788893bd993c683e084693

3entertainment

From Detroit to The Color Purple premiere: How a call from Oprah made dreams come true for this child Instagram star

Sign up to get positive Black news stories, words of affirmation and weekly curated playlists delivered to your inbox twice a week: Enter your email to subscribe to Black Joy. Kenya White (left), her oldest daughter A'Blesyn Davis (middle) and youngest daughter Rosie McKee (bottom right) were invited by Oprah Winfrey to attend the World Premiere of Warner Bros.' "The Color Purple" at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 06, 2023 in Los Angeles.Getty Oprah Winfrey isn’t the first celebrity to praise Rosie McKee for her acting skills, but the producer and media titan is now one of the Instagram star’s loudest cheerleaders. At just eight-years-old, McKee and her family walked the red – or actually purple – carpet during the premier of “The Color Purple” in Los Angeles on Dec. 6. Winfrey invited the Detroit natives after being stunned by McKee’s performance in a skit that reenacted an emotional scene from the 1985 version of the film Winfrey starred in as Sofia. RELATED: Oprah invites Detroit family to premier of ‘The Color Purple’ thanks to viral video This opportunity wasn’t the result of sudden stardom. The joy of acting – or as McKee calls it “pretending” – family support and a love of Black excellence is what forged McKee’s path to Hollywood. Her journey has given McKee some insight into what it takes to bring visions to reality. “Just be patient because it’s gonna happen,” McKee says as her advice to other kids who have big dreams. “Or rather keep the faith because it is happening.” McKee’s love of acting started blooming at three years old, when her mother, Kenya White, read aloud a pamphlet about Rosa Parks as part of a homework assignment from her Head Start class. White didn’t think McKee was listening. She was just a child after all. But when White asked McKee what she learned, McKee repeated back what her mom read word-per-word. This taught White to throw away her assumptions about her child’s abilities, and start nurturing her daughter’s gift by giving her permission to play. She saw potential in McKee, and started running around the house for items to dress her daughter up like Rosa Parks. She recorded McKee reciting the words again and posted the video for family and friends. That first post White made of McKee went viral. McKee’s success quickly became a family affair. McKee may be the star, but big sister A’Blesyn Davis is the magic behind the camera who films, directs and edits the videos. Mama White gathers the wardrobe and chooses the scenes. Collectively, the trio calls themselves The Big Three as a nod to their hometown’s automotive legacy. Since then, McKee and her family have posted more than 100 videos on her Instagram Go Rosie Grow and many of them have received star-studded attention for her impersonations of famous Black actresses, politicians, singers and other icons in honor of Black History Month. McKee makes sure to have fun with it. Her sparkly dress and long wavy tresses swayed as she reenacted Diana Ross. She brought the sass when she educated viewers about the accolades of Stacey Abrams and Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts.She exuded soulful, spiritual vibes while impersonating Erykah Badu, or as McKee called her Erykah BaDOULA in a nod to the singer’s dedication to help Black women safely bring life into the world. No matter who she is portraying, the videos are a fun way to commemorate an important time of year for McKee. “The Black History Month magic is that you can do anything you put your mind to,” McKee said. Rosie McKee attends the World Premiere of Warner Bros.' "The Color Purple" at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 06, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.Getty Images As for White, the opportunity to play with her child gives her a chance to portray Blackness from a positive lens. “When I was growing up at Rosie’s age, Black history was kind of intimidating because it was always about the slaves getting beaten,” White said. “So my version of teaching her Black history is about success to let her know that whatever she wants to be she can be because Black is it.” Celebrities quickly started to notice McKee’s knack for acting. Roberts shared McKee’s skit on her Instagram story with a message saying, “Have you seen my mini-me?” Badu invited McKee and her family to a concert on her dime. One of McKee’s favorite celebrities, Whoopi Goldberg, not only gave her a personal video shoutout, but she also gifted McKee a case of books. Actress and author Viola Davis is a follower of her account. Rosie even got praise from the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tina Turner. “Wow! Look at this talented girl,” Turner said in an Instagram post two years before her passing. “You are fantastic. Go for your dreams. Big hugs, Tina.” McKee’s love for singer and actress Halle Bailey is what inspired the skit that made Winfrey proud. This past summer, White took McKee to see the live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” to see Bailey frolic in the sea as Ariel in the Disney film. McKee’s face lit up when she recognized Bailey in “The Color Purple” trailer. That’s when White knew they had to try out the Thanksgiving dinner scene from “The Color Purple” for their followers to enjoy. McKee’s skit has since received almost 4 million views on Instagram. The comments were overflowing with compliments, calling McKee’s work Oscar-worthy and their favorite rendition of the scene. One commenter tagged filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry telling him they found his next star. Then Winfrey entered the comments giving McKee a “Standing O” for her performance and insisted she be her guest for the premier. White was in disbelief until she saw the blue checkmark verifying Winfrey’s account. A call from Oprah Daily requesting a video call interview solidified the reality that Winfrey was interested in learning more about McKee. Oprah Daily told White that they were going to be interviewed along with multiple super fans of “The Color Purple.” So McKee and her mother arrived on the call dressed in all purple. White noticed only Oprah Daily’s associate producer Annastacia Gladston was on the screen. While the producer inquired about McKee’s love for the movie, White asked herself why she couldn’t see the rest of the fans chosen for this opportunity. The producer then asked if they had heard from Winfrey since she commented on the video. White said no, but they weren’t worried. They knew Winfrey would be true to her word. Winfrey considered that her cue to join the call and sang, “Oprah’s true to her word.” McKee and White’s jaws dropped when Winfrey’s face appeared on the screen. It was there that Winfrey extended a formal invitation for McKee and her family to join her for the premier – all expenses paid by Winfrey, of course. McKee deserved it. “I saw you, Miss Rosie, and all of your wonderful portrayals,” Oprah said. “The whole dinner table scene, which is the hardest scene in the movie to do.... When I did it years ago, it took us three days to do that scene—and you nailed it!” A few weeks, a shopping spree and a flight later, McKee, White and Davis were at the premier receiving so much love. Author and Black feminist Alice Walker, who won the Pulitzer Prize for writing “The Color Purple” book in 1982, hugged and stamped McKee’s head with forehead kisses as if she were her grandchild. Blitz Bazawule, director of the 2023 version of the film, high-fived McKee and repeated the comments he left on her video. “You are brilliant. You’re a genius,” Bazawule said. “And I meant what I said. I do want to work with you someday.” Oprah Winfrey and Rosie McKee at the premiere of "The Color Purple" held at The Academy Museum on December 6, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)Variety via Getty Images McKee squealed when Halle Bailey complimented her sparkly purple jacket and layered tulle skirt, which was assembled by Detroit fashion designer Alexandra B. “Oh my God, I actually started crying when she came up to me,” McKee said. “It was the best moment ever. I got to meet my favorite favorite celebrity.” McKee’s older sister Davis stumbled over her words when actress and singer Amber Riley spoke to her as if she was a friend. Being among the energy of such powerful celebrities encouraged Davis to keep pushing for her dreams to be a filmmaker. “It felt really comfortable,” Davis said while holding back tears. “I still felt starstruck, but at the same time seeing everybody there and how it feels to be there made me want to be there but not as a guest but because I invited you here because it is my movie.” White was expecting a more uppity vibe from Hollywood. But “The Color Purple” cast gave McKee the family treatment by filling her spirit with affirmations: “You’re so precious,” singer and actress Fantasia Barrino said. “You’re special.” “You’re so talented,” actress Danielle Brooks said. “You’re such a princess,” actress Phylicia Pearl Mpasi said. “I’m so happy you’re here.” The whole occasion still feels like a fever dream to White and her family. But they are trying to stay focused and keep up with the tidal wave of popularity Winfrey created for them. McKee’s Instagram following skyrocketed from 30,000 in September to more than 97,800 as of Thursday. White said the family is hoping that someone will invest in their work by providing better studio-quality equipment. White is overwhelmed with pride thinking about how far they’ve come as a family. “This taught me you never know who is watching,” White said. “Prior to this, we were making videos for family fun because we noticed Rosie’s talent early on…We weren’t doing this for Rosie to get roles or to get picked up on movie screens or even make movies. This was something we enjoyed doing and to help her to be more confident about what we saw in her early in life.” The comment White sees the most on McKee’s Instagram videos come from people who believe their lives would be different if they’d had a mother like White who spoke life into their dreams instead of fear. White said it’s a common issue she sees with parents – and it is a problem that should end. “Instead of telling your kids to sit down when they’re dancing too much or hush up when they’re singing too loud or ‘don’t do that’ when they’re drawing, nourish that because you never know what’s growing inside of them,” White said. Be sure to keep an eye on the Go Rosie Grow Instagram account for this year’s Black History month videos from the family.

ed1184574cdc2460b9a71283655d07cc

1crime

Monica Cannon-Grant's lawyer doesn't show up for court hearing: 'Failed to appear despite notice and attempts to call and email'

Monica Cannon-Grant’s lawyer was a no-show at a federal court hearing for her high-profile fraud case on Friday, as court officials struck out when calling and emailing the absent attorney. U.S. Attorney prosecutors were all set for Cannon-Grant’s initial pretrial conference in Courtroom 8 of Boston’s U.S. District Court Friday morning. The only problem: Cannon-Grant’s defense attorney was nowhere to be seen. The court delayed the start of the hearing for 15 minutes to give extra time for Christopher Malcolm to appear in front of District Judge Angel Kelley. But the MIA member of the bar never made it to the federal courtroom. “Mr. Malcolm failed to appear despite notice and attempts to call and email during court,” the federal court wrote in its electronic filing. “The Court proceeded with the status conference,” the court added. “Further order will issue regarding next steps.” The Herald reached out to Malcolm, asking why he failed to appear at the hearing, but he did not immediately respond. Malcolm is the third attorney to represent Cannon-Grant in the federal case related to her charity Violence in Boston. Cannon-Grant and her husband Clark Grant, who has since died in a motorcycle crash, were initially indicted in March 2022 on 18 fraud-related counts. They have been accused of using “a substantial amount” of the money donated or granted to their charity to enrich themselves, with funds going toward paying back rent to nail salon appointments and restaurant meals. Those 18 fraud counts were upped to 27 counts when prosecutors issued a new indictment earlier this year. The charges are: Three counts wire fraud conspiracy; one count conspiracy; one count mail fraud, aiding and abetting; 16 counts wire fraud, aiding and abetting; one count making false statements to a mortgage lending business, aiding and abetting; two counts filing false tax returns; two counts failure to file tax returns; and allegations of both wire and mail fraud forfeiture and mortgage fraud forfeiture. Malcolm became Cannon-Grant’s attorney in February. Robert Goldstein, her first retained attorney, withdrew from the case last September. His departure followed the news that Violence in Boston had ceased all operations and shut down. Meanwhile, Cannon-Grant was granted the right to apply for state unemployment benefits. After Goldstein withdrew as her attorney, the court appointed attorney Keith Halpern to the case. However, the case material was overwhelming, the taxpayer-funded court-appointed attorney said. Malcolm is a retained attorney, and he said in the past that his services were paid for by a nonprofit set up for Cannon-Grant’s defense.

1ddbce5c20fd3c8ec18e98d927bc5a7f

3entertainment

How The Nutcracker Has Been Reimagined, for Better and Worse

Brian Setzer’s career has been defined by a revivalist energy. First, his rockabilly group Stray Cats looked back to the rock ’n’ roll of the 1950s through the eyes of the 1980s. After the group split, he founded the Brian Setzer Orchestra, a boogie-woogie, jump blues band straddling originals and jazzed-up covers. “The Nutcracker Suite,” originally arranged for Les Brown and his Band of Renown by Frank Comstock, wasn’t the only time that the Brian Setzer Orchestra dabbled in classical rearrangements. In the 2007 album “Wolfgang’s Big Night Out,” Beethoven’s “Für Elise” became the Django Reinhardt pastiche “For Lisa,” and Johann Strauss II’s “The Blue Danube” became the bluesy swing chart “Some River in Europe.” An unlikely source brought the group’s take on Tchaikovsky into holiday tradition: Buddy, in the movie “Elf.” As the lights dim in Gimbels, the store that Buddy (Will Ferrell), has tasked himself with redecorating overnight, the Brian Setzer Orchestra trumpets strike up, playing the fanfare call from “March of the Toy Soldiers.” But what follows is not the impish, pizzicato response that usually accompanies the toys’ jolting movements: A drum kit crashes in, and snarling, swinging saxophones accompany Buddy’s commando rolls across the aisle behind a security guard. The whole arrangement pits clipped precision against swirling chaos. Drew McOnie and Cassie Kinoshi: ‘Nutcracker’

818dbd06408adad1ca50fdf4a825e9c6

0business

Germany, Once a Powerhouse, Is at an Economic Standstill

Germany started the year with Berlin’s streets choked with tractors and farmers blaring horns in furious protest of proposed budget cuts. Then train engineers walked off the job to demand better pay, stranding commuters and carloads of freight and leaving the country angry and gridlocked. The same could be said for the state of the German economy. Last year it contracted 0.3 percent, official figures showed this week, making it not only the largest economy but also the slowest growing among the 20 countries using the euro. Industrial production has fallen five months in a row. “The economy is at a standstill in Germany,” said Siegfried Russwurm, the president of the Federation of German Industries. “We don’t see any chance of a rapid recovery in 2024.” Since it was rebuilt after World War II, Germany has been Europe’s main driver of economic growth, becoming an industrial powerhouse known for vast factories and fine-tuned engineering.

676a0de551a00ac55bf02ee8e8dc62d0

6sports

Detroit Tigers game score vs. Boston Red Sox: Time & how to watch with no TV broadcast

Detroit Tigers (53-64) vs Boston Red Sox (61-56) When: 12:05 p.m. Sunday. Where: Fenway Park in Boston. TV: Peacock (online only; no Bally Sports Detroit broadcast). Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1 in Detroit; Tigers radio affiliates). Probable pitchers: Tigers LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (8-5, 2.75 ERA) vs. Red Sox RHP Kutter Crawford (5-6, 3.80 ERA). • Box score Tigers lineup: TBA. ON THE MOUND:Why reaching 100-pitch mark matters to Detroit Tigers left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez SATURDAY'S VICTORY:Four home runs over Green Monster power Tigers in 6-2 win over Red Sox Game notes: It’s time to dig out that Peacock login and password from where you dumped it in the junk drawer — I KNOW it was here, right between the Crazy Glue and that old bike lock I lost the key to! — or wherever you stored it, as the Tigers get a 12:05 p.m. start at Fenway Park against the Red Sox in a game that’s online-only. (Early starts in BAW-STUNNN: A subtle ad push for Dunkin’, or just MLB’s eternal chase for a bigger TV payout?) Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez will take the mound for the Tigers, bringing a 4.01 ERA over his past six starts (since returning from the IL on July 5) into his hunt for his ninth win of the season. If he gets it, he’ll be the first Tiger to win nine games since Matthew Boyd reached nine wins (and only nine — no Tiger has won 10 games since Michael Fulmer and Justin Verlander did it in 2017) in both 2018 and 2019. This will be E-Rod’s second start against the franchise he spent six seasons with; he allowed seven runs in an April 2022 start at Comerica Park, though only two were earned. Only two Red Sox starters from that game are still in Boston red and white (or yellow and blue, based on their uniform choices for the first two games of the series): third baseman Rafael Devers (who went 1-for-3 vs. E-Rod) and outfielder Alex Verdugo (who had a walk and a sac fly in two plate appearances). Opposing him will be righty Kutter Crawford (middle name: Martin), who throws his, yes, cutter 30.1% of the time (just less than his four-seam fastball, at 38.8%) — no surprise for a pitcher whose fastball spin rate ranks in the 90th percentile this season. Crawford started against the Tigers during the Red Sox’s April 2023 visit to Comerica Park, holding Detroit to one run on five hits and no walks, with six strikeouts over five innings. That day, he threw just 65 pitches, with an equal number (20) of cutters and four-seamers. Of those four-seamers, 15 went for strikes — seven foul balls, four whiffs, two called strikes, one hit and one out. His cutter was much less in the zone, with half going for balls. Following today’s series finale, the Tigers will have Monday off before starting a two-game series against the Twins in Minnesota — their final series of the year against the AL Central leaders (yes, still) — on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Red Sox, meanwhile, get Monday off before heading to Washington to face the NL East cellar dwellers for three games (Tuesday-Thursday). SEASONS OF GREATNESS:Here are the 10 best Detroit Tigers hitting seasons of all time TIGERS NEWSLETTER:4 players who need to step up, and 4 we'd like to see called up Live updates Follow updates through our curated list on Twitter. Contact Ryan Ford atrford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@theford. Read more on theDetroit Tigers and sign up for ourTigers newsletter.

0a51a5ffafe6acdab5055479130a8a04

4politics

As U.S. Support for Ukraine Falters, Europe Splits on Filling the Gap

In Estonia, a four-story banner that combines the flags of Ukraine and Estonia hangs over a main square in the capital, Tallinn. In Latvia, Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins is calling for allies to “ramp up military support to Ukraine without delay.” And the leader of Lithuania, where President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine began a tour of Baltic States on Wednesday, recently made a pointed plea to help Kyiv hold the line against invading Russian forces as support for Ukraine in the war elsewhere in Europe threatens to fragment. “For all those saying they are tired of war in Ukraine - a reminder by the terrorist Russia that there’s no limit to its brutality& thirst for blood,” President Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania wrote on the social media platform X on Dec. 29, hours after a Russian barrage of missiles and drones slammed into cities across Ukraine. Almost nowhere is the emotional investment for Ukraine’s war effort stronger than in the Baltics, where the three former Soviet states declared independence at the end of the Cold War to escape Russia’s grip. Mr. Zelensky’s trip there this week, an early diplomatic foray of 2024, comes as he tries to rally support for his war effort from a bastion of political backing while other European nations show increasing fatigue and financial distress from a war that began nearly two years ago.

293e8407ddcd47280e019c2bc1474e88

3entertainment

Best Comedy of 2023

Editor’s Note: How can a dining program that serves tens of thousands of students and staff each day churn out award-winning cuisine that has been recognized by Princeton Review for having the best campus food for seven years in a row? MassLive visited the UMass Amherst campus, interviewed chefs, tasted the food and toured the kitchens to find out how the UMass Dining program became a dining dynasty. One of the hottest spots in the No. 1 ranked UMass Amherst dining program is the Blue Wall dining area located within the university’s campus center, which offers about one dozen flavorful food concepts spread out across the main concourse. A popular pedestrian thoroughfare and crossroads in the heart of campus for students, staff and visitors alike, Blue Wall’s flavor profiles range from savory to sweet and incorporate global cuisines from Latin America, to the Mediterranean, to East Asia. The sleekly designed Blue Wall — called so due to the blue lights reflected on the walls around the space — is currently open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., but its diverse food installations offer varied opening and closing times depending on if they cater to breakfast, lunch or dinners crowds, or all of the above. Different than the four dining commons on the UMass campus — Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Worcester — those who dine here pay at the counter for ready-to-go or dine-in meals either with cash, card or allocated meal plan dollars instead of a typical meal swipe to tap into a cafeteria space. Nevertheless, those passing through or coming for a bite to eat will catch students gathering, chowing down and studying across its eclectic seating arrangements much like any dining hall or café across the university. However, like all the dining halls, guests to campus are just as welcome as these students and school faculty to stop by and dine, according to Lynn Pelkey, the UMass location manager for Blue Wall. Feeling like a sweet treat? Stop by Yum! Bakery with glass cases displaying its many sweet treats from éclairs, to macarons, whoopie pies, cannolis, cookies, cakes, cupcakes and even cheesecake — with a separate glass case set aside for those with gluten sensitivities, Pelkey noted. Cookie Monster Galeto sold by Paciugo inside Blue Wall at UMass Amherst. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)Leon Nguyen Right next to the bakery, Blue Wall patrons can sample small spoonfuls of Italian gelato before they order a cup or cone at Paciugo, where, according to Pelkey, all the gelato is made in house, fresh and by hand daily. Flavors here range from “raspberry coconut milk,” to “lavender,” “turtle cheesecake,” “dulce de leche,” and “Cookie Monster,” among others. International flavors abound at spots like Tavola — a Mediterranean concept which offers lunchtime crowds hummus or pasta bowls, pizzas, and wraps and salads that can come with beef, skewered lamb or chicken or vegetarian friendly alternatives like falafel. A poké bowl made at Wasabi in the Blue Wall dining area of the UMass Amherst campus center.Chris McLaughlin Across the way at Tamales, authentic Mexican cuisine from burritos, to quesadillas to rice bowls are offered — and those waiting in line can even peer to the kitchen from behind a glass wall, where a tortilla press churns out tortillas for preparation and consumption. For varied Asian flavor profiles, try Wasabi or Star Ginger. At Wasabi, which Pelkey said offers “fresh” and “hearty” meals, menu items include sushi rolls, poké bowls, spicy tuna or salmon bowls. Over at Star Ginger, recipes originate from celebrity chef and cookbook author Mai Pham and are based on meals Pham ate growing up in Vietnam and Thailand. Staples here include Vietnamese pho noodle bowls, curries and entree meals such as Mongolian beef and lemongrass chicken. For more general tastes, spots like Deli Delish offer handmade sandwiches at lunch, while The Grill sizzles up burgers and grilled sandwiches, with the “Hatch Burger,” made with grass-fed beef, fried egg, bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce and garlic aioli, being a best selling specialty, according to Pelkey. A plate of mixed salad sold by Green Fields inside Blue Wall at UMass Amherst. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)Leon Nguyen And if you’re in the mood for some vegetables, Green Fields offers a range of set salad and wrap recipes. Customers can also customize their own wrap or salad, with different add ins from the greens, to the toppings, cheese and protein options. Pelkey noted Green Fields’ crispy breaded chicken is a signature menu item add on for salads and wraps. UMass Dining on MassLive TikTok: Additionally, if it’s too early for most Blue Wall spots to be open just yet, Campus Center denizens can stop by People’s Organic Coffee for a cup of joe or tea along with other café-style menu items. Or patrons can swing into Harvest Market, which offers cold and hot bar items priced by the pound, including breakfast, or stop by any time of day to pick up different snacks, drinks or pre-packaged meals ready to go at one’s convenience. Items from the breakfast selection at the morning hot bar from Harvest Market in the UMass Amherst campus center.Chris McLaughlin And just like all operations under UMass Dining, Pelkey noted Blue Wall’s food items list different potential allergens and nutritional informational on small placards. These signs also indicate full ingredients and factors like if a food is considered halal or vegan.

2567fa237522b0608ccc646ba9ee8b86

1crime

Harmony Montgomerys dad wants police footage barred from murder trial

A New Hampshire father charged in the killing of his missing 5-year-old daughter wants key pieces of evidence barred from his upcoming trial, including body camera footage from an encounter with police. In the footage, father Adam Montgomery explains to police how he had not seen his daughter Harmony Montgomery for nearly two years after evading questions about her whereabouts for nearly half an hour. He had sole custody of his daughter at the time. Harmony disappeared in late 2019 but authorities were not aware she was missing until 2021. Last year, police announced they believed she was killed in Manchester, New Hampshire in early December 2019. Her remains have not been found. Montgomery, 33, pleaded not guilty in October 2022 to charges of second-degree murder, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse in connection with Harmony’s disappearance. In August, Montgomery was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison on two counts of armed career criminal charges in an unrelated case. Montgomery received an additional sentence of 7.5-15 years for two theft charges. Unsealed court documents last summer gave new insights based on testimony from Harmony’s stepmother, Kayla, who told investigators that Montgomery struck his daughter in the face and head on three separate occasions because she had a bathroom accident. A trial against Montgomery is scheduled to start in February 2024 and his defense attorneys want a New Hampshire judge to block a recording of a police encounter early in the search for Harmony. The encounter happened on Dec. 31, 2021, after police found Montgomery sleeping in a car in a parking lot on Harvill Street in Manchester, New Hampshire. A judge previously ruled in September that statements made to law enforcement that morning by Montgomery would not be allowed during a trial. No rulings have been made on whether the footage will be allowed in court yet. “We just need to find out where she is to make sure she’s OK,” an officer tells Montgomery in the video. “Right now, I have nothing to say to you guys,” Montgomery responds. Montgomery, dressed in a black hoodie and smoking a cigarette, avoids answering most of the questions by police detectives throughout a 53-minute video. “Why are you so concerned that I want to check on your daughter?” asks Detective Jack Dunleavy. “I have nothing else to say,” Montgomery said, which he repeated throughout the interview. Police assured Montgomery they did not have a warrant for his arrest but were concerned for Harmony’s whereabouts and that her biological mother said she hadn’t seen her for two years. After avoiding answering questions for nearly half an hour, Montgomery tells the detective that Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, had picked up Harmony nearly two years earlier and he hadn’t seen her since. The detective told Montgomery that Crystal also hadn’t seen her daughter in two years. “I didn’t know where she was staying but somewhere in Mass.,” Montgomery said. “You haven’t seen your daughter in two years?” the detective asks. “No,” Montgomery responded. “That’s not concerning to you?” asked the detective. “It is but at the time I had no way of getting a hold of Crystal,” Montgomery said. At one point, detective Dunleavy said, “I just want to know she’s OK. I didn’t sleep at all last night knowing I could have a kid that’s dead.” Why defense wants footage barred from trial Defense attorneys for Montgomery, Caroline Smith and James Brooks, wrote in a motion that he used his “right to silence” when law enforcement found him that morning. The attorneys argue that the entire encounter should not be admissible because it would make jurors speculate about what happened and make them prejudicial against Montgomery. In their own motion, officials from the New Hampshire Department of Justice argued that, at the time of the encounter, Harmony had not been seen for about two years, and that the purpose of the encounter was for police to figure out her whereabouts. It was not until much later that police came to suspect that Montgomery had killed his daughter and disposed of her corpse in an unknown location. Prosecutors argue that the video footage would be a small piece of a larger investigation into the disappearance of Harmony. During Montgomery’s sentencing in August on armed career criminal charges, he publicly denied that he killed his daughter and asked the judge to only consider the facts in this case when determining his sentence. “I loved my daughter unconditionally and I did not kill her,” he said. “I understand that I was found guilty by a jury and I’m not here to dispute that at all. The only consideration that I ask of you this morning is for you not to consider anything as it relates to the case regarding my daughter, Harmony.”

51be250f2348c6ac9f79d685ddc995a1

6sports

How Patriots are handling final say with Bill Belichick gone

Red Sox Red Sox reportedly ‘bound and determined to do something big’ this offseason Another insider linked the Red Sox to Shohei Ohtani, believing that Boston might try to make a big move this offseason. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow may have to make some big moves this offseason in order for the Red Sox to get back into contention. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) As the Red Sox are coming off two consecutive last-place finishes, it’s clear that they need some sort of spark to keep up with their competitive rivals in the AL East. It seems like the team knows it, too. In a stream for Bleacher Report, The New York Post’s and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman indicated that the Red Sox are looking to do something major this offseason as he discussed the team’s chances of signing Shohei Ohtani. “The Red Sox, I’ve heard some buzz about them, they were the original team of Babe Ruth, who’s been compared to Ohtani,” Heyman said. “They need to do something big. People tell me that Boston is ‘bound and determined to do something big.’ Whether it’s Ohtani, or something else, they need to do something.” The Red Sox have been linked to Ohtani a handful of times already this offseason. One executive reportedly believes that Ohtani might be interested in playing Boston due to his friendship with New Balance CEO Jim Davis (Ohtani is a New Balance athlete) while he also “loves” Boston and has a “fondness” for Fenway Park. Advertisement: But, of course, the Red Sox have heavy competition in trying to get him if they’re seriously pursuing him. The Dodgers have long been rumored to be the favorite to land Ohtani for a variety of reasons, but mostly due to their location on the West Coat and their ability to compete. Other teams, like the Cubs and Rangers, have seemingly been more linked to Ohtani than the Red Sox. The Red Sox’ betting odds to land Ohtani have taken a bit of a dip as well, going from +1000 to +1500 to sign him on DraftKings Sportsbook. There are still many other big fish in the pond though. The Red Sox have also been heavily linked to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The 25-year-old pitcher from Japan has been viewed as the second-best free-agent available this offseason and will likely get a contract north of $200 million. Masataka Yoshida’s presence in Boston has been viewed as a possible edge for the Red Sox as Yamamoto reportedly would be OK with playing with a fellow Japanese star and wants to play in a large market. In terms of trades, Juan Soto and Dylan Cease seem to be the two best players most heavily rumored to be traded. But as trade talks surrounding the young All-Star slugger and the 27-year-old standout pitcher appear to be heating up, there haven’t been many reports that suggest the Red Sox are in contention to land either. Advertisement: But there are still several other players available in the free-agent market who have high-end upside, particularly on the pitching side. Blake Snell might be the most notable pitcher on the market (outside of Ohtani). Rangers lefty Jordan Montgomery has already been linked to the Red Sox on numerous occasions as they’ve already reportedly had discussions with his agent. Heyman believes that Montgomery is in play for the Red Sox, noting that they’ve checked in on him, and that he’s “not going to rule out” a possible Eduardo Rodriguez reunion. New Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has already indicated this season that he’d like to add possibly two established starting pitchers to the rotation. If he’s still willing to do that, there are certainly plenty of options available for the Red Sox to do so, or to do “something big.”

69ff62b0d23f6f0c1d0829d72e4f746e

2culture

For Hilltown Hikers, New Years Day tradition calls for state park hike

CHESTER — Starting 2024 off on the right foot, more than 100 hikers ambled up the Sanderson Brook Falls trail at Chester-Blandford State Forest Monday for the annual first day hike. “We are getting everyone’s resolutions taken care of right now on New Year’s Day,” said Liz Massa, president of Western Mass Hilltown Hikers. “Get off the couch, you’re getting your exercise. Get back in touch with nature. And be social. Get off the couch and meet people.” This is the third year in a row Hilltown Hikers has hosted a New Year’s Day hike for members and novices and frequent hikers alike. It’s only over the last two years that Hilltown Hikers has been an official co-sponsor of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation First Day Hikes initiative. In Massachusetts, there were 13 first-day hikes planned Monday including at three locations in Western Massachusetts. They were held at Chester-Blandford as well as Mount Greylock in Lanesborough — the state’s highest peak — and Great Falls Discovery Center in Turners Falls. DCR said it has been organizing first day hikes for 33 years. At that first hike, more than 400 hikers gathered to welcome the new year at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton. It’s been a national program since 2012, with state park agencies sponsoring hikes in all 50 states. Karen McTaggert and Liz Massa of Hilltown Hikers blow noisemakers at the annual First Day hike at Chester Blandford State Forest for New Year's Day, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican)The Republican “We have a lot of fun while introducing people to the state forests, to the Hilltowns and to the Hilltowns’ history,” said Karen McTaggert, Hilltown Hikers vice president. It’s an easy, one-mile-up and one-mile-back trail that rewards trekkers with a visit to a 60-foot waterfall, which was roaring Monday following a few days of rain. The trailhead is on busy Route 20 just 16 miles or so west of Westfield and offers plenty of parking. Folks coming back down the mountain were treated to a toast of sparkling cider and a snack. Hilltown Hikers brought social media photo props and passed out noisemakers and paper New Year’s hats. DCR distributed “First Day Hike” hats. Hikers head up the hill Monday, Jan. 2024 for the annual First Day Hike in Chester Blandford State Forest sponsored by the state parks and Hilltown Hikers. (Jim Kinney/ The Republican)The Republican It’s been a big year for the Hilltown Hikers. In September, the group announced its purchase of the Chester Hudson and Granite Works, a nearby industrial historical site that still has a giant saw left behind by the valley’s quarrying industry. The club plans to open the land with an all-abilities accessible trail. Hilltown Hikers offers free once-a-month guided hikes for all who want to participate, Massa said. Usually, there are about 30 participants. “We take you somewhere different,” she said. “We will teach you the history of the land you’re walking on.” It’s also a big year for the Chester-Blandford State Forest, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024.

6aa5f9a31862e5a38cfcd7a3a0be00ce

1crime

Teen girl who says she discovered camera in bathroom during Boston-bound flight suing airline

BOSTON (AP) — The family of a North Carolina teenager is suing American Airlines, saying that a flight attendant taped an iPhone to an airplane toilet to record her using the restroom during a September flight. Lawyers for the 14-year-old and her parents say that American “knew or should have known the flight attendant was a danger.” They say the failure of other crew members to confiscate the employee’s phone allowed him to destroy evidence. The lawsuit against American and the unidentified flight attendant was filed Friday in U.S. district court in North Carolina. American said the flight attendant was “withheld from service” immediately after the alleged incident and has not worked since. “We take this matter very seriously and have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation, as safety and security are our highest priorities,” American said in a prepared statement. According to the lawsuit, the incident happened on a Sept. 2 flight from Charlotte to Boston. The girl said that while she was waiting to use a bathroom in the economy section, where her family was sitting, the flight attendant told her to use one in the first-class cabin. He entered the bathroom first, saying he needed to wash his hands, then emerged a minute later to tell the girl that the seat was broken but not to worry about it. The girl said that after she used the toilet, she noticed an iPhone that was mostly hidden by red airline tape reading “Remove from service” — but the camera flash was glowing. The girl “was shocked and scared,” according to the lawsuit. “It immediately occurred to her that someone had put the phone there to film her using the toilet.” She took her own picture of the device. Lawyers for the family suggested that the flight attendant removed the phone and erased images of the girl before letting her father see his iPhone photos. The family said an FBI agent later told the girl’s mother they did not arrest the man because they did not find any incriminating images on his phone. The family’s lawyers said they do not know the flight attendant’s name, where he lives or whether he still works for American. The 14-year-old is undergoing therapy for trauma, they said. Neither the girl nor her family are identified in the lawsuit. The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual assault or abuse unless they come forward publicly. American is based in Fort Worth, Texas, and has a major operation at the airport in Charlotte. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW ©2023 Cox Media Group

99ea1921ded0fed0dcdc5e880dcc0383

1crime

Family of Mass. woman who died after asthma attack at cannabis factory files lawsuit

The family of a woman killed after an asthma attack at a cannabis production plant in Holyoke last year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming her employer failed to properly vent the facility and protect workers from airborne cannabis dust and mold. Lorna McMurrey, 27, died in early 2022 while working for Trulieve Cannabis in Holyoke. Her death represented the first asthma-related workplace fatality in the American cannabis industry, Massachusetts public health officials announced last week. The state Department of Public Health said Trulieve had contributed to McMurrey’s death by not recognizing and controlling ground-up cannabis as a potential respiratory hazard. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Hampden County Superior Court names as defendants the Florida-based Trulieve corporation, a company environmental health and safety manager and contractors who installed the HVAC system at the Holyoke cannabis production facility. The defendants “failed to develop and implement appropriate safety [policies] across its facilities throughout the United States, including its Holyoke Facility,” Jeremy M. Carroll, an attorney for McMurrey’s family, said in a statement. “Had they done so, Lorna McMurrey would be alive today.” Trulieve did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. In statements last year, the company defended its facility management and said it had proper air filtration systems in place. “Trulieve will continue to operate its facilities in a manner that fully protects the health and safety of all employees,” the company said last year, according to CommonWealth magazine. “We are confident we did so in January and will continue to do so going forward.” McMurrey died on Jan. 7, seven months after she began work at Trulieve. At the time of her death, McMurrey worked in the Holyoke facility’s pre-roll joint production room, grinding cannabis buds that left her and other staff covered “head to toe” in cannabis dust and mold, the lawsuit said. In November 2021, less than two months before her death, McMurrey suffered an asthma attack while working in the pre-roll production room and was brought by ambulance to a hospital for treatment. “Trulieve was aware of this incident, but took no steps to protect Lorna following her first collapse while inside the Facility,” the lawsuit claimed. McMurrey returned to work a day later. On Jan. 4, 2022, McMurrey had difficulty breathing while working in the cannabis facility and collapsed. An ambulance rushed her to a hospital. She never regained consciousness and died three days later, the lawsuit said. State officials said last week that McMurrey suffered a severe asthma attack, leading to respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, a brain injury and ultimately her death. Trulieve last year paid roughly a $14,500 settlement to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration related to McMurrey’s death. The publicly traded company also announced earlier this year that it was shutting down its operations in Massachusetts, blaming poor business. McMurrey was a 2013 graduate of Westfield High School and a longtime resident of West Springfield, attorneys for her family said. “Trulieve needs to be held accountable,” McMurrey’s mother, Laura Bruneau, said in a statement. “It was their job to protect Lorna. Lorna was my life.” Alongside a report detailing the circumstances of McMurrey’s death, the Department of Public Health released a bulletin last week noting that other cases of “non-fatal respiratory disease” have been reported among cannabis production workers in Massachusetts exposed to cannabis dust, mold, pollen and other airborne contaminants. The bulletin urged healthcare providers to be vigilant in identifying work-related asthma among cannabis business employees. “The legalized cannabis industry in Massachusetts is relatively new and the impact on the health and safety of workers demands our careful attention,” Public Health Commissioner Robert Goldstein said in a statement. About 17% of new-onset adult asthma cases are related to working conditions, but asthma specifically attributed to workplace exposures is underrecognized since data on symptoms and occupation is not routinely collected, state officials said. In Massachusetts, an estimated 200,000 adults have work-related asthma, officials said, citing public health data.

dd521617ac4aab6a8b9164de998a1efd

7weather

Does anywhere in Massachusetts have a white Christmas?

Massachusetts residents hoping for a picturesque snowy Christmas morning have another year to wait. Excluding a few pockets of drizzly rain and fog, Monday’s forecast called for drier weather and cloudy skies, the National Weather Service said. Temperatures hovered in the mid-40s in Boston and mid-30s in Springfield around 8 a.m. Monday. Massachusetts is not alone. Much of the United States is unlikely to see fresh snowfall on Christmas this year. Meteorologists expect temperatures in Massachusetts to rise to the mid-40s or low-50s under cloudy skies Monday afternoon, about 10 degrees above normal for this time of year. Overnight temperatures will likely stay above freezing across much of the region, a forecast from the weather service’s regional office in Norton said. Another cloudy day is on tap Tuesday with similarly warm temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s, “an unseasonably mild late December day,” the weather service said. Wetter weather is expected to return mid-week. The weather service forecast calls for rain on Wednesday, possibly followed by periods of rain and light snow on Friday and Saturday. Drier conditions are forecast to move in by New Year’s Eve.

38bbe9337aac9876323f592066af96a7

4politics

Zelensky in Washington, and a Texas Abortion Case Ruling

The New York Times Audio app is home to journalism and storytelling, and provides news, depth and serendipity. If you haven’t already, download it here — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter. The Headlines brings you the biggest stories of the day from the Times journalists who are covering them, all in about five minutes.

6c17c999bac8e742578433016ef4c0ac

2culture

Dear Annie: Theres so much more to the night before Christmas

Dear Readers: Wishing you and all a very happy holiday season. Please enjoy the following poem. “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap, When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; ‘Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!’ As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack. His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose; He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle, But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, ‘Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.’ Annie Lane’s second anthology — “How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner?” featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation — is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM

3801cf39cc38ec85140f2b6757fd7ebc

6sports

Top uncommitted prospect makes college choice at HoopHall Classic

Jaylen Brown headed to the locker room in the second quarter of the Celtics game against the Lakers on Christmas Day following a collision with LeBron James. The play occurred with 4:02 remaining in the frame as Boston had the ball while James was defending Brown. Amid James chasing Brown on the perimeter, James appeared to unintentionally knee Brown in the back. Both players were down on the court for several seconds while being attended to by trainers. Brown ultimately was subbed out of the game for Jrue Holiday and immediately headed to the locker room. The team ruled him as questionable to return with a lower back contusion and he came back into the game at the start of the third quarter. James briefly subbed out of the game with a knee injury but was back in the game just one minute later. Brown did not return to the game in the second quarter. Brown posted nine points along with a rebound and an assist in 13 minutes before suffering the injury. He had been in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career in December before suffering the back ailment, shooting over 52 percent from the field while posting 24.3 points per game over Boston’s past 10 games.

b21c7d155faeb3271f0c5d19c86ea3ba

7weather

Experienced hiker dies in solo trek in blinding, waist-deep snow in New Hampshire mountains

Local News Experienced hiker dies in solo trek in blinding, waist-deep snow in New Hampshire mountains Christopher Roma, 37, was an expert hiker who ran his own long-distance trail guide business and had walked this familiar trail many times before. In this photo provided by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Conservation Officer Christopher McKee stands on Mount Guyot in Grafton County, N.H., during rescue efforts on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, to find hiker Christopher Roma. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department via AP THORNTON, N.H. (AP) — An experienced hiker who had accomplished the “Triple Crown” of challenging cross-country trails died in New Hampshire’s White Mountains during a solo hike in brutal conditions, including single-digit temperatures, harsh winds and waist-deep snow. Christopher Roma, 37, was an expert hiker who ran his own long-distance trail guide business and had walked this familiar trail many times before. He had begun the hike with two other people, but the others felt it was too much for them and turned around, his mother told The Associated Press. “Once you get to a certain point, you have to make that choice to continue or turn back,” Barabara Roma said. “And he was never really a turning-back kind of kid.” Advertisement: Concerned friends of Roma started calling 911 at about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday after speaking with him by cellphone. Roma himself eventually reached the emergency line saying he was very cold. That call enabled authorities to get coordinates placing Roma between Mount Bond and Mount Guyot. A large team of Fish and Game conservation officers and search and rescue squads assembled, and set out as of 2 a.m. Wednesday, but was slowed by blowing snow. A New Hampshire Army National Guard helicopter crew made three separate flights, but couldn’t get near the targeted area on Mount Guyot because of low clouds and poor visibility, Lt. James Kneeland of the Fish and Game Department said. By the time ground crews reached Roma at 5 p.m., he was dead. The helicopter was able to recover his body on Thursday morning, saving what would have been a difficult carry-out for 15 conservation officers and more than 30 volunteers who were on their way to him. Barbara Roma, the mother of Chris Roma who died hiking, looks at plaque at her home in Thornton, N.H., in the heart of the White Mountains, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. – AP Photo/Nick Perry Born in England, Roma moved when he was 5 with his family to Thornton, in the heart of the White Mountains, and grew up skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and hiking the challenging terrain. A bad motorcycle accident ten years ago broke his neck and ribs, but that didn’t stop him, his father, Hayden Roma, told The Associated Press in an interview Friday. Advertisement: “That changed his whole life,” his father said. Following his recovery, he dedicated himself to hiking, conquering the Pacific Crest Trail between Mexico and Canada, the Continental Divide Trail along the length of the Rocky Mountains, and then the Appalachian Trail, which he completed in 99 days. Together, they’re known as the “Triple Crown” hiking. “He was doing over 20, 22 miles a day,” his father said. Roma also had hiked all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000-foot mountains, a 250-mile trek, in a little over 10 days, he said in his blog. “He was trying to beat a personal best, I think — he was trying to work on doing it in a certain time. He just got caught in some freak weather,” Barbara Roma said of his last hike. “The winds really picked up. They were up to 80 miles an hour at one point,” she said. She said “there were whiteout conditions” when he called 911. “They stayed on the phone with him a couple of hours.” The call eventually dropped, and rescuers gave the family a bleak outlook on Wednesday morning because it was so cold, she said. “They’d had people out since 4 in the morning trying to get through. They had to start turning back because they were all getting frostbite.” Advertisement: She said a couple of his friends kept looking, and found him. Barbara Roma, the mother of Chris Roma who died hiking, looks at family photos of her son at her home in Thornton, N.H., in the heart of the White Mountains, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. – AP Photo/Nick Perry Christopher Roma, who ran Northeast Trekking Company, a guide service for long-distance hikers, said on his website that his hiking experiences transformed him and he wanted to share his knowledge with others. “I experienced a lot of learning the hard way, and my goal is to educate and inform you about the dangers of the wild, the trials and tribulations, and the importance of sustainability. I want to show you that if we take care of nature, nature will take care of us, mentally and physically,” the website says. Roma’s mother Christopher “was always wanting to achieve more” and loved his family, enjoying hiking with his 2-year-old son, Solomon. His sister, Megan, fondly recalled how he interacted with people on their last hike together in August, along Hadrian’s Wall near the border of England and Scotland. “He always cared about people and wanted what’s best for them, to change their lives basically every time they would have a hike,” she said. “They would have good conversations.” McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

d2a2cb7c6da792d82eb0982f49998e71

4politics

Abbott Signs Law Allowing Texas to Arrest Migrants, Setting Up Federal Showdown

As he campaigns for another term in the White House, Donald Trump sounds like no other presidential candidate in U.S. history. He has made baldly antidemocratic statements, praising autocratic leaders like China’s Xi Jinping and continuing to claim that the 2020 election was stolen. “I don’t consider us to have much of a democracy right now,” Trump said. He has threatened to use the power of the presidency against his political opponents, including President Biden and Biden’s family. Trump frequently insults his opponents in personal terms, calling them “vermin,” as well as “thugs, horrible people, fascists, Marxists, sick people.” He has made dozens of false or misleading statements. He has advocated violence, suggesting that an Army general who clashed with him deserved the death penalty and that shoplifters should be shot. And he describes U.S. politics in apocalyptic terms, calling the 2024 election “our final battle” and describing himself as his supporters’ “retribution.”

3444868d9ee20eea1100481eabe30b21

3entertainment

How to watch Celebrity Jeopardy! semifinal episode on Jan. 2 for free

“Celebrity Jeopardy!” continues on ABC with a new episode this Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. For those without cable who want to watch the new episode, they can do so for free through either FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. Both platforms offer a free trial for new users. You can also watch the series the next day on Hulu, which offers a free first month when you sign up, followed by payments as low as $7.99 per month thereafter. FuboTV said in a description of the first semifinal episode for the show’s second season that celebrity contestants include actors Utkarsh Ambudkar (”Ghosts”), Mira Sorvino (”Shining Vale”) and Lisa Ann Walter (”Abbott Elementary”). How can I watch “Celebrity Jeopardy!″ for free without cable? The new episode is available to watch through either FuboTV or DirecTV Stream. Both offer free trials to new users. You can also watch the series the next day on Hulu, which offers a free first month when you sign up, followed by payments as low as $7.99 per month thereafter. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels. DirecTV also offers a free trial for any package you sign up.

589ff8f64b1648b53b66258f0fc1463f

6sports

Red Sox focused on pitching, but mindful that second base needs attention

NASHVILLE — For the time being, most of Craig Breslow’s attention is understandably set on upgrading the Red Sox’s starting rotation. If that isn’t done, than everything else the chief baseball officer does this winter will be inconsequential. But eventually, there are other areas of the team that will require his attention, and one of the obvious needs is second base. For the time being, the Red Sox have an assortment of utility types and unproven players at second: Pablo Reyes, Enmanuel Valdez and David Hamilton. Reyes is 30 years old and has never had more than 167 at-bats in a big league season. Valdez has some offensive upside, but needs vast improvement as a defender. And Hamilton, while possessing plus-plus speed, has struggled mightily in a few brief auditions in Boston. The free agent market is a thin one at the position. Whit Merrifield is a name that has attracted attention because of his versatility and athleticism. But Merrifield’s offensive profile has diminished in recent seasons — he’s posted a .700 OPS or less in three of the last four seasons — and Breslow himself said Tuesday it was more likely the Red Sox will seek an second baseman on the trade market. “Those conversations are ongoing,” said Breslow. “I think we’ve largely signaled that the focus is on starting pitching now. And if we can sequence this perfectly, we would address starting pitching, then we would move on to things like second base. We’re currently engaging conversations on both (the free agent side and trade side). It’s hard to handicap which way that ultimately falls, but it seems more likely that would be a trade pursuit.” Breslow also hinted that more emphasis might be placed on someone’s defensive ability at second. “We need to be mindful of the impact that our infield defense will have on our starting pitching group,” said Breslow, “especially one that has tended to rely on managing soft contact.” One potential target could be Minnesota’s Jorge Polanco. The Twins are desperate to cut payroll and wouldn’t mind unloading Polanco’s $10.5 million salary for 2024. (He has a vesting option for 2024 for $12 million). $200 INSTANT BONUS DRAFTKINGS MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $5, GET $200 BONUS BET FANDUEL MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $50, GET $250 BONUS CAESARS MASS CLAIM OFFER $1,000 FIRST-BET BONUS BETMGM MASS CLAIM OFFER MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. Polanco, 30, has been a slightly better-than-average defender at second the last few seasons and slashed a respectable .255/.335/.454 last year to go with 14 homers and 48 RBI. As recently as 2021, he hit 31 homers for the Twins. He’s also flexible enough that he can play shortstop and third base. Another possible option is Brandon Drury, 31, of the Los Angeles Angels. Like Polanco, he’s in the final guaranteed year of a multi-year deal and is set to make $8.5 million in 2024. He doesn’t get on base as regularly as Polanco (career OBP: .302), but delivers more pop with 26 homers last year to go with a slash line of .262/.306/.497. One benefit shared by both Polanco and Drury is that their one-year commitments give the Red Sox an opportunity to move on to a younger, homegrown option in 2025 such as former first-rounder Nick Yorke.

f9e2d3bc615764f49c710786f773f4d3

6sports

Wrestling Scoreboard: Frontier scores big with win over Northampton & more

Frontier wrestling defeated Northampton, 48-24 on Wednesday to pick up its first dual meet win of the season. Wednesday, Dec. 13 SUBURBAN NORTH Frontier 48, Northampton 24 - Box Score SUBURBAN SOUTH Frontier 48, Northampton 24 - Box Score TRI-COUNTY Mohawk Trail 22, Gateway 21 - Box Score VALLEY LEAGUE Agawam 65, Central 17 - Box Score

2093b1cec7e7c28b470e93f141ebefea

6sports

Red Sox lose No. 3 pitching prospect, another hurler up to 99 mph in Rule 5

The Red Sox lost two pitching prospects in Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings. The White Sox used the fourth overall pick to select 24-year-old left-hander Shane Drohan, who Baseball America had ranked Boston’s No. 3 pitching prospect behind Luis Perales and Wikelman Gonzalez. The Cardinals used the sixth overall pick to take 25-year-old hard-throwing right-handed reliever Ryan Fernandez who finished the 2023 season at Triple-A Worcester. Both pitchers must stay on their new teams active roster for the entire 2024 season (barring an IL stint) or else returned to Boston. The Red Sox had the 12th pick but they passed. Ten players overall were taken. Two Yankees pitchers were taken Nos. 1 and 2. Mitch Spence went with the top pick to the Athletics. The A’s drafted Matt Sauer second overall. Baseball America recently listed both Drohan and Fernandez as candidates to be drafted. It was a surprise Boston decided to leave Drohan, a 2020 fifth round draft pick out of Florida State, unprotected. He dominated in his first six starts at Double-A Portland this past season, posting a 1.32 ERA. But he then struggled at Worcester with a 6.47 ERA in 21 outings (19 starts). He averaged 6.4 walks per nine innings (89 innings, 63 walks) at Triple A while opponents batted .293 against him. Baseball America wrote earlier month, “His changeup ranked 19th best across the entire minor leagues in 2023 for accumulated run value. Could being a lefthander with a true major league quality changeup be enough to earn Drohan selection?”

d1daac776fdb6d36e14046d5acce084b

3entertainment

How to watch the new episode of Bravos Below Deck Mediterranean for free

The new episode from season 8 of Bravo’s “Below Deck Mediterranean” will air on Monday, Jan. 8 starting at 9 p.m. EST. For those without cable, the show can be streamed on platforms like FuboTV and DirecTV. Both platforms offer a free trial for new users interested in signing up for an account. Sling is available as well for streaming. You can also stream it the next day on Peacock. “Between friends with benefits and open relationships, there’s no shortage of boat-mances and boat break-ups. When disagreements impact productivity and former friendships start to implode, Sandy is faced with a wave of difficult decisions,” Bravo wrote about the show. In the new episode, “the bosun’s texting with a familiar chief stew turns into a damage control crisis; the chef faces a culinary challenge with a blindfolded dinner; Illness strikes the lead deckhand.” How can I watch the newest episode of “Below Deck Mediterranean”? Viewers looking to stream can do so by using FuboTV, Sling or DirecTV Stream. Both FuboTV and DirecTV offer free trials when you sign up and Sling offers 50% off your first month. You can also stream it the next day on Peacock. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels. DirecTV also offers a free trial for any package you sign up.

9c21ad80c0009406af3f181e6ebd8c55

0business

Springfield Pharmacy responde a la escasez de viviendas en el North End de la ciudad

Tobias Billups, owner of Springfield Pharmacy in Springfield's North End, stocks a shelf in his store. He has purchased an empty lot at Main and Waverly Streets in Springfield and will be building a new pharmacy with apartments above. (Don Treeger / The Republican)( 1/12/2024The Republican

c0798f21acf04e08b16847071cbe924d

3entertainment

After 60 Episodes, Peter Morgan Says Goodbye to The Crown

On a chilly day in December 2016, Peter Morgan stood on a London street, watching the filming of a scene from his new television series about the British royal family. Half an hour later, he flopped into a chair, running his hands through his hair. As both the show’s writer and showrunner, he was already working on Season 2 while keeping an eye on every detail of Season 1. “I love doing this, but it’s overwhelming to a degree that isn’t sustainable over a long time,” he said. “This” was the “The Crown,” Morgan’s ambitious six-part series that would span most of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, exploring national and international politics, personalities and social change through the prism of an intergenerational — and royal — family. After 60 episodes, all written or co-written by Morgan, he has seen it through. On Thursday, Netflix will release the last six episodes of the sixth season, marking the end of a show that has been one of the most watched, argued over and influential creations in recent television history.

443816bd09ce2ffa6d7087ab1664cd7d

1crime

Pharmaceutical company Ultragenyx pays $6 million for kickback scheme, Boston feds say

Next month would have marked the 30th year that Richard and Jakeba Henderson had been together, and March the 20th year they had been married. But on Sunday, Mr. Henderson, 45, a father of three and a grandfather to two little girls, was fatally shot aboard a No. 3 train in Brooklyn after intervening in an argument between two other passengers over loud music in the car, the police said. Mr. Henderson, who worked as a crossing guard at a private school in Manhattan, had been watching football with friends, Ms. Henderson said in a phone interview, and was returning home to Crown Heights on the subway. He was shot as the train was nearing the Rockaway Avenue stop in Brownsville, the police said, just three stops from his own. “He got shot stepping into an altercation that he had nothing to do with,” Ms. Henderson said, adding that her husband was known for standing up to bullies. “He died a hero. He died doing what he did — taking up for the weak.”

1fc3dc025b52e1170ba5f0af4eae6ad6

7weather

List of school closings and delays in Mass. after snowstorm

BOSTON — More than 100 schools in Massachusetts have announced closings and delays for students on Monday after a major winter storm blanketed parts of the region with more than a foot of snow on Sunday. Updated list of school closings & early dismissals Some communities in the Bay State had recorded more than a foot of snow by Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service For updates on the forecast, click here to visit the Boston 25 Weather page. For an updated list of schools announcing early dismissals, click here. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW ©2023 Cox Media Group

7d1932cb7d3fc7e851d7ad7b13ce647f

4politics

Mass. Gov. Healey taps Plymouth Co. lawmaker for new workforce post

Looks like it might be time for another special election at the State House. On Friday, Gov. Maura Healey announced that she’d tapped state Rep. Josh S. Cutler, D-6th Plymouth, for a newly created post in the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. He’ll serve as the state’s new undersecretary of Apprenticeship, Work-Based Learning, and Policy, Healey’s office said in a statement. Cutler, of Duxbury, is the House chairperson of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. He’s in his sixth term representing a district that includes parts of Duxbury, Halifax, Hanson, Marshfield, and Pembroke. In a statement, Healey said she’s confident that Cutler, who has expertise in workforce development, vocational education, “will continue his leadership in our administration as we work to grow important programs like registered apprenticeship.” Rep. Josh Cutler, co-chair of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee, speaks at a press conference April 11, 2022 at Ellis Early Learning in Boston's South End (State House News Service photo).State House News Service Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said Cutler will “be able to hit the ground running as we continue to advance workforce development programming, policy, and planning that will unlock more pathways and partnerships in regions across Massachusetts.” Cutler said Friday that he’s “excited to join the Healey-Driscoll administration and look forward to working with Secretary Jones as we implement policies and programs to help support our workers and enable our businesses to thrive.” Business and labor leaders welcomed the news of Cutler’s appointment. The lawmaker “is a recognized leader in workforce development who has worked with, and earned the respect of, the Building Trades and the larger labor movement,” Frank Callahan, the president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Unions, said in a statement. Chrissy Lynch, the president and CEO of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, praised Cutler for being a “a great leader, partner, and advocate for our workforce and has championed efforts to grow and expand opportunities for residents across the state.” JD Chesloff, the president & CEO of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, called Cutler “one of the most knowledgeable and well-respected workforce development experts in the Commonwealth,” adding that he has a “a keen understanding of the complexity of the workforce development system from both the employee and employer perspective, and the impact that it has both on the people it serves and the state’s economy.” Cutler’s appointment comes hard on the heels of last year’s election of state Sen. Peter J. Durant, R-Worcester/Hampshire, who won a special election to fill the seat formerly held by Democrat Anne M. Gobi, who also departed for a post in the administration. His predecessor in the Plymouth County-based seat was a Republican, and state House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, who’s charged with calling a special election, called it a “competitive district,” State House News Service reported. Cutler’s “hard working, consensus seeking approach to addressing challenging issues allowed him to play a critical role in a number of the significant legislative initiatives that took place during his time in the House. That same approach also helped him win in a competitive district and forge working relationships with folks from across the ideological spectrum,” Mariano, of Quincy, said in a statement.

2206fb8f4c3ac373ccff6f9cfb5ad250

6sports

Josh McDaniels was reason Raiders didnt draft C.J. Stroud (report)

When the 2023 NFL Draft rolled around, former Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler had his sights set on C.J. Stroud. According to a new report from SI’s Hondo Carpenter, Ziegler wanted to trade up in order to select the quarterback. But ex-coach Josh McDaniels vetoed what could have been a chance for Las Vegas to have a legitimate quarterback. Stroud ended up getting drafted No. 2 overall by the Houston Texans while the Raiders signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a three-year deal. “Josh wanted it his way and wouldn’t budge,” a league source told Carpenter. “I think you could sum it up that Dave wanted to be a team, but Josh wanted it his way, and I think the ambiguity of the relationship allowed Josh to steamroll him.” $200 INSTANT BONUS DRAFTKINGS MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $5, GET $200 BONUS BET FANDUEL MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $50, GET $250 BONUS CAESARS MASS CLAIM OFFER $1,000 FIRST-BET BONUS BETMGM MASS CLAIM OFFER MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. Ziegler also wanted to re-sign Jarrett Stidham and bring in Jacoby Brissett, have them compete for the starting quarterback job and to add some depth to the position. And then drafting Stroud would set them up for future success with quarterbacks behind him who were mobile and had a grasp on the offense. But McDaniels, according to Carpenter, wanted “nothing to do with that plan” and “was hellbent” on Garoppolo — who he already had a relationship with during their time with the New England Patriots — being the starter. Ziegler was concerned about Garoppolo’s injury history. And “despite all of the health issues that he had and Dave’s incessant warnings that it was a mistake, Josh got his way,” Carpenter reported. Sometimes getting your way isn’t always for the best, as McDaniels found out. Even though the Texans are struggling this season, Stroud has thrown for 3,266 yards and 19 touchdowns in 11 starts. Garoppolo — who was dealt another injury this year — threw just seven touchdowns and nine interceptions and ended up getting benched for rookie Aidan O’Connell after Week 8. As for Ziegler and McDaniels? They were both fired in October.

8964427f5cfef91261a003b027d06139

7weather

Mass. weather: Rain on the way Friday before temps drop next week

We do have sunshine continuing through Thursday with slightly milder air. Readings will be in the 40s in the afternoon along with light wind. November has shaped up to be cooler than normal with less rain overall, and Tuesday’s high of only 40 degrees in the Boston area continued the trend of below average temperatures. The month will end up about a degree and a half below average with about an inch and a half less rain than is typical for the month. This time of year, the deep winter cold has not yet arrived and it’s still relatively mild across the southern tier. This contrast in temperature can lead to a second severe weather peak from what we see in the spring. Also, notice Thursday that there is an enhanced risk of severe weather across the Gulf Coast states. New Englanders, however, don’t have to worry: These showers and storms will not be well organized by the time they get to the Northeast. Severe weather is possible on Thursday over east Texas and into Louisiana. NOAA A weak area of low pressure, will approach New England on Friday. Clouds will thicken and during the afternoon we will see some showers. The projected radar loop below has the showers arriving mid to late afternoon and moving out of the region overnight Friday. There should be anywhere from a few hundreds of an inch to a quarter of an inch of precipitation — certainly nothing significant. Advertisement A fast moving area of showers is projected to arrive Friday afternoon and exit the area by Saturday morning. WeatherBELL The pattern remains active with a fast-moving jet stream carrying small areas of low pressure across the country. That could potentially bring three more weather systems our way over the next 10 days. A fast moving jet stream brings several chance of precipitation to the northeast into the second week of December. Tropical Tidbits Looking ahead to the weekend, there could be more precipitation later Sunday, again by Wednesday next week and then sometime early in the second week of December. Looking that far ahead, the forecast is just one of predicting an active or inactive pattern. Specifics are useless this far out. The six- to 10-day outlook keeps the east with a greater chance of above average precipitation. Advertisement Above average precipitation is favored over average or below average moisture for the first week of December. NOAA Meteorological winter begins Friday, keeping in mind that December is also the month we typically have our first substantial snowfall in Boston. On average, the region gets about 9 inches of snow for the month, with most years seeing significantly more. Note below the quite snowy Decembers from 2007 through 2010. During a strong El Nino year, this type of heavy snow month is less likely, but not impossible for sure. December snowfall over the past 25 years is highly variable, but averages about 9 inches each December. NOAA

0d8502717f56a0688446014b21c6f448

6sports

One Patriots player responds to notion fans want the team to tank

Judging by social media, some fans weren’t overly upset about the Patriots loss to the Giants Sunday, and sinking to 2-9. Some fans are rooting for the team to lose the rest of the way, and tank if necessary in order to land the top pick and have a shot at the best quarterback, whether that’s USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye. How do the players feel about fans wanting them to lose? Do they understand the rationale? Special teams captain Matthew Slater was asked those very questions during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Jones & Mego” show. $200 INSTANT BONUS DRAFTKINGS MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $5, GET $200 BONUS BET FANDUEL MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $50, GET $250 BONUS CAESARS MASS CLAIM OFFER $1,000 FIRST-BET BONUS BETMGM MASS CLAIM OFFER MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. “I personally try to put myself in positions to be able to understand everyone’s mode of thinking,” Slater answered. “Look, I understand that rationale, I understand fans having an opinion, or hopes and expectations of what we do. People like yourselves (hosts) have opinions and thoughts on what we should do. I get that. “I don’t have a problem with it. I’m not offended by it at all,” he went on. “I think as a player, though, especially a player in my situation, you realize opportunities in this league are never guaranteed. And, as easy as it is for the fans or pundits to look ahead to the future, as a player, the future is never guaranteed, especially for someone in my position. I think as players, it’s up to us to embrace the opportunities we’re given, and treat them like they’re our last. So the idea of losing games or tanking will never appeal to players, I hope, as long as we’re in it. So, I can see all sides of it. I understand it. But certainly, I want to win the next six games. That’s how I’m wired, and that’s what I hope we do.” Currently, the top five in the NFL Draft order are as follows: 1. Chicago (via Carolina, 1-10). 2. Arizona (2-10) 3. New England (2-9) 4. Chicago (3-8) 5. Washington (4-8) NFL fans can wager online on Massachusetts sports betting with enticing promo codes from top online sportsbooks. Use the FanDuel Massachusetts promo code and the DraftKings Massachusetts promo code for massive new user bonuses.

ab58ccc210d7ee68253f83d470502efb

0business

New Boston Police Contract Will Let Civilians Direct Traffic at Some Construction Sites

StreetsblogMASS relies on the generous support of readers like you. Help us meet our year-end fundraising goals – give today! Last week, the labor union that represents most Boston police officers ratified a new contract that will introduce a number of reforms – including one that will start allowing civilians to take unwanted traffic detail shifts at construction sites. Under the former contract, Boston Police officers were the only people allowed to direct traffic for events and at construction sites. And they got paid extremely handsomely to do so: Boston police working as flaggers take home $60 an hour. In spite of that lucrative pay, Boston has a lot of construction sites, and fewer and fewer people who want to wear a police uniform. Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara told StreetsblogMASS earlier this year that over 40 percent of requests for police details at construction sites were going unfilled. The new labor contract removes a key barrier to reforming this system. But there is still a city ordinance on the books that requires at least one Boston Police officer at every city construction site "to protect the safety and general welfare of the public and to preserve the free circulation of traffic." A press spokesperson for Mayor Michelle Wu told StreetsblogMASS last week that their office is aware of the ordinance and has "identified multiple legal paths to implementing the new collective bargaining agreement." Old rules created absurd delays for street projects Councilor Lara also told StreetsblogMASS that many privately-run construction sites will simply ignore the law and do their work without a flagger if nobody responds to their requests for a detail. But construction firms who are sticklers for the rules can end up waiting months before a cop shows up to let them get their work done. That's what happened earlier this year in Oak Square, where the MBTA waited a full year for a police detail to show up so that they could paint some new crosswalks on Washington Street in Oak Square. Neighbors report that those crosswalks finally got painted in August – after a year-long wait. New contract hikes pay, allows civilian flaggers For all these reasons, allowing civilian flaggers at construction sites had been one of the city's key points of negotiation for a new collective bargaining agreement with its police union. Police details will still be required at "high-priority" events and construction sites, which involve major streets, busy intersections, or major events that anticipate over 5,000 attendees. The new contract would also pay cops who work those high-priority details "the highest overtime rate of the most senior officer." At other worksites, such as those along quiet neighborhood streets, Boston Police would still get the right of first refusal to fill traffic details. But if no Boston Police are interested, the work can be offered to other non-BPD certified officers, including campus police and retired Boston cops. If people with those qualifications still aren't interested, construction contractors can then offer the job to civilian workers. The agreement further specifies that anyone directing traffic in those lower-priority sites will earn $60 per hour. The new agreement will also ban cops from double-booking their shifts, which allowed some to get paid twice for the same period of time when one detail ended early. Incredibly, the police department is still using a labor-intensive paper-based system to assign details in each police district. The new agreement will allow for a citywide electronic scheduling system.

2500a13db081121e384032061b890e17

6sports

Bill Belichick, Patriots part ways after 24-year historic run

The Bill Belichick era is over. The Patriots and coach Bill Belichick have decided to part ways after 24 years, a source said Thursday. Under Belichick, the Patriots emerged as the class of the NFL and found unprecedented success headlined by six Super Bowl titles and nine Super Bowl appearances. Belichick’s 24-year tenure stands as the greatest head-coaching run in league history, including 17 division titles and 13 conference championship game appearances on top of the Super Bowl titles. Belichick departs at the low point of his tenure, a 4-13 campaign that doubled as the worst season of Kraft’s ownership. On Monday, Belichick reiterated a desire to coach in New England next season. His contract reportedly ran through the 2024 season after a renegotiation with ownership last year. Belichick, 71, is expected to continue coaching in pursuit of Don Shula’s NFL record for most all-time wins as a head coach (347). Belichick is 15 wins away from breaking the record. Over the past four years, he went 29-38, though his reputation as the greatest coach in NFL history remains firmly intact. Belichick and Kraft will address the media on Thursday at noon at Gillette Stadium. In 2000, the Patriots acquired Belichick in a trade with the Jets that sent a first-round pick to New York and involved a few other pick swaps. Belichick assumed full control over football operations and selected Tom Brady in the sixth round of his first draft. Belichick went 5-11 over his first season, then won a Super Bowl the next year in Brady’s first season as the starting quarterback. That victory, a defensive masterpiece painted as 14-point underdogs versus the Rams, launched the Patriots dynasty and Belichick’s and Brady’s arcs as the greatest of all time at their respective positions. The Patriots followed with Super Bowl wins in 2003 and 2004, then an undefeated regular season in 2007 that ended with an upset loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII as 12-point favorites. After another Super Bowl loss to the Giants in the 2011 season, Belichick restarted the dynasty by edging the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, an all-time classic defined by his late-game management and Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception. Two years later, the Patriots clinched a fifth title on the back of the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history versus Atlanta, then dropped an all-time Super Bowl shootout to the Eagles, and added another ring in 2018, when they again toppled the Rams, 13-3. Belichick and Kraft allowed Brady to leave in March 2020, which complicated their individual legacies months later when Brady won a Super Bowl in his first of three seasons with Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the Patriots posted a losing record in three of their next four seasons running through quarterbacks Cam Newton, Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe. Belichick's legacy in New England is all-encompassing, including years of brilliant game plans, one of the largest coaching trees in league history, disciplined roster-building practices and cap management, the NFL's longest winning streak and multiple controversies. Under Belichick, the Patriots forfeited first-round picks in 2008 and 2016; first, for illegally taping opponents' signals and later allegedly scheming to deflate footballs before games in a disputed scandal that resulted in a four-game suspension for Brady in 2016. Over his final seasons, the Patriots were undermined by Belichick's work in free agency and the draft as their chief personnel decision-makers. He also struggled to adequately involve and replace key members of his front office and coaching staff. In 2021, Kraft pushed for a more collaborative evaluation process in the front office to end years of poor drafting. Last year, Kraft initiated coaching changes that followed a losing 2022 campaign undone by Belichick employing longtime defensive assistant Matt Patricia as his lead offensive coach and ex-Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge as his quarterbacks coach. While Patriots offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Bill O'Brien replaced Patricia and Judge last season, the offense fell even further, averaging 13.9 points per game, second-fewest in the league. Inside the building, Belichick's staff and front office suffered from more dysfunction, as documented in a recent Herald report. Belichick took responsibility for the team's 4-13 record Monday saying: "It was obviously a very disappointing season all the way around. Players, coaches, staff, organization, everybody is not anywhere close to what our standard and expectations are. So, obviously, things need to be fixed. Proud of the way the players and the team competed, but not the results, obviously, from any of us – starting with me and all the way down to everybody else that was involved in it." Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo and ex-Titans coach Mike Vrabel are widely assumed to have an inside track at replacing Belichick. Mayo, who just finished his fifth season in coaching, received a contract extension last January that led to more money and responsibilities. Mayo, 37, has interviewed for multiple head-coaching jobs in recent years. Vrabel was fired Tuesday after six seasons in Tennessee, where he led four winning seasons and reached the 2019 AFC Championship Game. As a player, Vrabel won three Super Bowls in New England, where he was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame during an October ceremony. Vrabel, 48, addressed fans at halftime of a home game the following day, when he called the Patriots organization "a special place."

886f94b933b3ef038272bd56c2eca1af

4politics

Westfield council votes local funds for traffic light at new elementary school

WESTFIELD — Though some expressed disappointment it wasn’t being funded by the construction project, Westfield city councilors agreed on Thursday to spend $1.66 million in local funds to install a traffic light near the new elementary school. The light will be at Franklin and Smith streets. The money will come from free cash, which is funds left over from previous years’ budgets. The traffic light was originally priced at $2.06 million, but Councilor Richard Sullivan Jr. said the council’s Finance Committee, on which he sits, had recommended the reduction in the amount. He said the city Engineering Department’s original estimate for the work was $1.2 million, with a large $800,000 contingency in case bids came in over budget. All eight bids were around $1.2 million, however, and the engineer agreed $400,000 would be a sufficient contingency fund to meet unexpected costs during the construction.

72d8c09bbd9c908b094564ead253f3cf

3entertainment

The Food Influencers We Couldnt Stop Watching in 2023

To wrap up the year, Eater Boston polled both local journalists and readers of this site to get their thoughts on the past year in dining: the good, the bad, and the most exciting things to come in 2024. The results have been collected in the following series of posts. (Check out the full archive here.) Below, we ask: Who was your favorite local food influencer to follow in 2023? My favorite local influencer is probably Key aka @wannabestayathomedad, whom I follow on Instagram and talked to as a guest on The Common. His food reviews are very relatable and unpretentious. — Darryl C. Murphy, host of WBUR’s daily news and culture podcast, The Common I don’t know if they count as an influencer, but whoever is running the Instagram account for Portugalia Marketplace, the Portuguese specialty grocer in Fall River, is knocking it out of the park. They post a really fun mix of products, cultural events, and behind-the-scenes interviews with the folks behind the family-run business. And he’s not local, but their page introduced me to Harrison Weinfeld, AKA the Sardinfluencer, who’s based in LA. Fish puns and recipes using tinned fish was something I didn’t know I absolutely needed in my life. — Nathan Tavares, freelance writer and Eater Boston contributor Alexa Gagosz, who covers the Rhode Island food scene for the Globe. If you want to be informed about where to eat and what’s happening in the area, her Food & Dining newsletter is a must-subscribe. — Devra First, restaurant critic for the Boston Globe I’m kind of an anti-influencer who believes more in enjoying food and drink minus the selfies (though I do take lots of pictures of my meals). Having said that, I’m going to go with a wild card here, someone who is in the world of radio and is a bit outside of the area and posts dishes that encourage me to drive south time after time. Indeed, whenever I go on the social media page of Rob Hogan who is on Easy 99.1/WPLM-FM, I see what makes Rhode Island and the South Coast of Massachusetts one of the greatest regions in the country for food. Calamari? Check. Sheet pizza? Check. Fried scallops? Check. Stuffies? Check. Freshly-made pasta with broccoli? Check. I’m constantly asking Rob about places he goes to, mainly because his food photos are just so incredible, which, well, you know, maybe he IS an influencer in a way (just don’t tell him I said that). — Marc Hurwitz, founder of Boston’s Hidden Restaurants and Boston Restaurant Talk, food/travel writer for NBC Boston/NECN I really enjoy following recent Boston transplant Keonte Henson, @wannabestayathomedad, for his restaurant picks and grading system. He highlights a good spread of new and classic spots, and he’s just plain honest in the reviews. I’ll never forget when he tried the $27.99 cold lobster roll at James Hook + Co., shrugged, and was like, “$30 for this? I just don’t get it.” I also cannot pull myself away from the chaotic, trauma-informed restaurant reviews from @chopstickmurphys. Just start here. — Erika Adams, Eater Boston editor Reader responses Over 80 people took part in Eater Boston’s dining survey this year (thank you, all!). Below, find a sampling of local food influencers that readers loved to follow all year: @twotastebuddiez @bucketlistboston @bottomlyssbites @cantreadthestopsigns @alexandraborland The Italian Deli guys @forkingwitharmani Love to see @genhuang’s BTS at Sofra and her pop-ups! And @jessicat_lin has the most beautifully curated instastories! This is not the social media answer I think you’re looking for, but honestly Tiziana Dearing and Tiffani Faison’s monthly local food shows on Radio Boston have been my go-to for YEARS. The two of them are so fun together!

89923f96dc834ffa1d71a11970e08147

7weather

Next Storm On Deck - Boston News, Weather, Sports

We’ll lock in another dry day across the region to end the workweek as a mix of sun and clouds, temps in the lower 40s and lighter breezes, allows for a solid January afternoon. With that said, it won’t be long before the next storm comes charging in with rain and even a brief burst of wet snow inland. The highest risk to pick up an inch or two of wet snow is across the northern Worcester Hills from midnight – 3 a.m. Even there, this is mainly a rain event. Rain breaks out for most of us around midnight tonight and will become heavy at times by 3 a.m. and soak us through 8-9 a.m. Saturday. It’s a quick hitter, but localized downpours lining up near and just before sunrise will offer a renewed opportunity of street/poor drainage flooding, and help extend ongoing, minor river flooding. 1-2″ of rain will fall across the region, with the highest totals near the I-95 corridor and parts of Southeast Mass. Rain tapers to spotty showers after 9 a.m., with some breaks of sun possible during the late morning and into the afternoon. Just a few spot showers will be left over through the day. Temps will jump into the 50s mid morning to early afternoon, before fading back. The strongest winds run through here between 3 a.m. – 9 a.m. Saturday, with gusts of 45-55mph along the coast. A few gusts to 60mph are possible for Cape Ann and the Cape and Islands. While the strongest winds are done with by the midday high tide, we’ll watch that one closely. The tide around noon is astronomically high, and that makes it easier for any storm surge to create coastal flooding. Unfortunately, more coastal flooding is likely midday Saturday with minor flooding possible in Boston/South Shore and minor to pockets of moderate coastal flooding across Northeast Mass. The hardest hit areas with coastal flooding last storm will be the hardest hit areas this go around, too. Major coastal flooding is possible from Hampton Beach, points north of that, and into parts of coastal Maine. The pattern turns much colder on Sunday and that colder air has some staying power this go around. That means when the next storm nears us, or moves into us, we’ll have a better chance to catch some snow out of it. That potentially happens Tuesday pm into Wednesday am.

b2dbbdead7fc31b991eaa493d9115aae

3entertainment

Ryan ONeal, Master of the Offbeat Meet-Cute

He had the face of a fairy-tale lead, the kind that would have fit agreeably in an earlier Hollywood era but felt comfortingly alluring in the moment. Ryan O’Neal was a boxer in his youth — announcing his father had died on Friday, his son Patrick O’Neal pointed fans toward YouTube footage of O’Neal fighting Joe Frazier on national TV, with Muhammad Ali doing commentary. But when he migrated to acting, it suited him, and by 1964 he had become a star thanks to the ABC prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place.” No wonder: O’Neal’s youthful looks, blond and round-cheeked and just a little brainy, remind you of the guy who sat next to you in A.P. bio and who would lend you a pen, or his lunch, if you needed it. It seemed, emphatically, to be the face of a good guy, the kind you definitely wanted to bring home to your parents. When O’Neal tested for the role of Oliver in “Love Story,” Ali MacGraw persuaded her husband, Robert Evans, the executive in charge at Paramount, to cast him. As the boyish Harvard hockey player in love with Jenny, the whip-smart Radcliffe student, O’Neal was entrancing, and the pair had instant chemistry. “She had to go home to him at night, but I had her during the day,” O’Neal told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview many decades later. Their meet-cute in the movie, if you want to call it that, was sexy in a cerebral way, the pair sparring over a library checkout counter, then over coffee, where Jenny informs him that she asked him out because “I like your body.”

e07f4ea88921adc6cd435ffdcf32cd45

5science

The F.D.A. Approved Gene Editing Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease

The Food and Drug Administration announced today that it had approved a gene editing treatment for sickle cell disease, the debilitating blood disorder caused by a single mutated gene. The therapy, called Casgevy, will become the first available treatment for humans in the U.S. to use the revolutionary gene editing tool CRISPR. The approval — which was announced alongside a second gene therapy that does not use gene editing — offers hope for the 100,000 Americans, most of them Black, who live with the disease. But the one-time treatments — so effective in clinical trials that they have been hailed as cures — come with both technical and financial obstacles that limit their reach. The sickle cell treatment will serve a test case for using CRISPR gene editing to treat other diseases. CRISPR Therapeutics, one of the developers of Casgevy, is now studying gene editing to treat cancer, diabetes, and A.L.S., among others. In sub-Saharan Africa, where a vast majority of people with sickle cell live, the new treatments will be effectively unavailable because of the price and lack of medical infrastructure to administer the treatment.

464419aa68c7ca68c12bc28f804e97ec

4politics

How Trump Has Used Fear and Favor to Win Republican Endorsements

On his last day as president on Jan. 20, 2021, Donald J. Trump stood in a snapping wind and waved goodbye to relatives and supporters before he took his final flight on Air Force One back to Mar-a-Lago. No elected Republican of any stature showed up at Joint Base Andrews for the bleak farewell. Mr. Trump, at that moment, was a pariah among Republican elites. The party’s leaders in the House and Senate, Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, blamed him for the Capitol siege. Party fund-raisers assured donors they were done with him. On conference calls, House Republican leaders contemplated a “post-Trump” G.O.P. Today, three years after Jan. 6 and more than a week before the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Trump has almost entirely subjugated the elected class of the Republican Party. As of this week, every member of the House Republican leadership is formally backing his campaign to recapture the White House. Mr. Trump has obsessed over his scorecard of endorsers, according to more than half a dozen Trump advisers and people in regular contact with him, most of whom insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations.

df1276c59bd9dabecbe99f53a1dd1bdf

6sports

Boys Hockey Season Stats Leaders: Who are the current Western Mass. stats leaders?

Note: Stats Leaders is based on results sent to MassLive. If a player is missing, coaches should email sports@masslive.com. MassLive is highlighting the top stats leaders for each boys hockey category throughout the season. Take a look at the season’s top performers so far below:

152ec24d7360b71edd6e154642bde27c

6sports

Is Week 18 Bill Belichicks final game as Patriots coach? (Podcast)

The Patriots wrap up their 2023 season next week against the New York Jets, and many are wondering whether that will be Bill Belichick’s final game as New England’s coach. Questions regarding Belichick’s future have heightened over the last few weeks. And while there isn’t any clarity of which direction the Patriots will 100% commit to, there is still a chance Belichick steps onto the Gillette Stadium sideline next weekend for the final time as the Patriots coach. On the latest episode of “Eye On Foxborough,” MassLive Patriots reporters Chris Mason and Mark Daniels discussed whether that will be the case once Week 18 comes to a close. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. “I think ultimately, it will be. But I do think the way they’re closing things out could absolutely give Robert Kraft cold feet,” Mason said. “My whole thing with him is seeing is believing. Robert has talked tough repeatedly, and nothing really changes. There have been multiple, ‘We need to win a playoff game’ offseasons in a row. Clearly, at 4-12, you are far from a playoff game. So, seeing is believing with him. And I do think that they’re playing really hard down the stretch. But ultimately, I think it comes back to: They’re playing really hard. You can’t ask anything more of the team that’s out there right now. But the reason they’re still losing games is because the roster wasn’t constructed well enough, and that’s just going to continue to happen.” Daniels is of the belief that Belichick shouldn’t return next year because of how he plays the role of general manager. “Bill Belichick is, I would say, the greatest coach of all time. He is still a great coach. And that’s evidenced by the fact his team has so many injuries and they’re playing well and they’re playing competitively,” he said. “They show fight and resolve with their backs against the wall. They bounce back because they’re a well-coached team, in my opinion. Bill Belichick, I don’t think should be retained because of the GM he is. ... For me, it’s why I think his days are numbered. And I think at the end of the day, Robert Kraft will move on with a new head coach and I think they need someone here with a better eye for talent on the offensive end of the ball. But they are well-coached. And I thought we saw that (Sunday). But I don’t disagree saying it’s not completely set in stone because anything can happen.” The Patriots are in position to get a high draft pick come April. But whether it will be Belichick making the selection or someone else remains to be seen. The team’s issues doesn’t stop at its coach. The quarterback situation is a mess, new reports of Trent Brown emerged and his future with the team beyond 2023 seems unlikely and the offense as a whole has struggled at times this year. For now, the Patriots focus on wrapping up their season on a high note when they welcome the Jets to Gillette Stadium for the 2023 regular-season finale.

9a7d9fa7e9d934c5b3482c4adab2db83

2culture

In the American Church, the Pope Has Critics Among Leaders and Laypeople

Pope Francis’s relationship with the conservative wing of the American Catholic church was already on shaky ground when reports surfaced this week of his plan to evict one of his most prominent critics from a Vatican-subsidized apartment in Rome. Cardinal Raymond Burke, who led dioceses in St. Louis and Wisconsin before moving to Rome, is a lion of the faith among conservative Catholics who see him a defender of tradition and orthodoxy in a dangerously unmoored church. The move comes just weeks after Francis fired another outspoken critic, Bishop Joseph Strickland, who was removed from his post in Tyler, Texas, following a Vatican investigation into his leadership. Both decisions prompted a public outcry from conservative church leaders, making it clear that restoring unity in the divided American Church will take more than swatting down a few high-profile clerics. The pope’s increasingly open pushback against theological and liturgical conservatives in the church has nurtured a deep wariness of his leadership among conservatives in the church, who exist at all levels of Catholic life in America.

a80d08bffbc5b5fccb7799ae5ac5f2f4

6sports

Chargers vs Patriots prediction: Odds, game and player props

Sports Betting Dime provides exclusive sports betting content to MassLive.com, including real-time odds, picks, analysis and sportsbook offers to help sports fans get in on the action. Please wager responsibly. On Sunday, December 3, the New England Patriots (2-9), host the Los Angeles Chargers (4-7) at 1:00 pm EST in NFL Week 13 action. In a battle of two struggling teams, it’s LA who come in as 5.5-point favorites in the Chargers vs Patriots odds. Read on for our top Week 13 Chargers vs Patriots picks for Sunday here. Chargers vs Patriots odds Team Spread Moneyline Total Los Angeles -5.5 (-108) -238 Over 40.5 (-108) New England +5.5 (-112) +195 Under 40.5 (-112) The Chargers vs Patriots odds list Los Angeles as 5.5-point favorites and -238 odds on the moneyline which gives them an implied probability of 71.01 to win. The total for this game is set at 40.5 points. Odds at DraftKings. DraftKings BET $5, GET $150 BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER STATES: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV. 21+ and present in participating states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. 21+. Physically present in MA. Eligibility restrictions apply. Valid 1 per new customer. First-time depositors only who have not already redeemed $200 in bonus bets via OH or MA prelaunch offer. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 bet. $200 issued as bonus bets that expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. See terms at http://draftkings.com/ma. Chargers vs Patriots preview Another close game, and another loss for the Chargers. The scoreline will read 20-10 Baltimore last Sunday, but it was 13-10 with the Ravens attempting to run out the clock until Zay Flowers broke loose for a 37-yard TD run in the final moments of the game. Take out that late score and had the game finished with a Ravens three-point win, LA would be 0-6 SU in games decided by a field goal or less. Speaking of straight-up results, the Chargers haven’t tasted a straight-up win in three weeks, having also lost 23-20 to Green Bay and 41-38 to Detroit in that time. They’re now 4-7, well out of the division race and likely fading from the playoff conversation. However, perhaps the Patriots could be the tonic for what is ailing Justin Herbert and the Chargers. Outside of maybe the Panthers, no team is having a more disappointing season than the 2-0 Patriots. It’s been over a month since New England last won back on October 22. Since then, they’ve lost 31-17 (MIA), 20-17 (WAS), 10-6 (IND) and finally 10-7 last week versus the Giants. It was an ugly game where the Pats put up 283 yards of total offense and the Giants just 220. Tommy DeVito did just enough for New York throwing for 191 yards and one touchdown. While the combo of Mac Jones (89 yards, 2 INTs) and Bailey Zappe (54 yards, 1 INT) proved incapable of operating a functioning offense. The one bright spot was a 98-yard rushing performance from Rhamondre Stevenson who got the Pats’ lone score. BetMGM $1,500 FIRST BET OFFER CLAIM OFFER Promo code: MASSLIVE1500 STATES: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it smart from the start with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org. Chargers vs Patriots prediction Neither of these teams are winning straight up, nor are they winning at the betting window. Los Angeles is 4-7 ATS and New England is 2-9 ATS. As a favorite this season the Chargers are an even 3-3 ATS, while New England have not even been covering in their losses, being 1-6 ATS as an underdog. Then there are the totals trends between these teams and both have been stone-cold under bets with each being 8-3 to the under. Mix all that up and I’m betting the under for this LA vs New England prediction. I can’t trust the Chargers to cover almost a touchdown on the road. I certainly can’t trust Bailey Zappe or Mac Jones to score points. There have been two games this season where a team held their opponents to ten points or less and lost. On both of those occasions it was the Patriots failing to win and each came in their last two games. Chargers vs Patriots picks: Under 40.5 (-112) at DraftKings Caesars $1,000 BONUS BET CLAIM OFFER Code: MASS1000 STATES: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV. Participating states only. 21+. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. MA only. 21+. New users and first wager only. Must register with eligible promo code. Bet amount of qualifying wager returned only if wager is settled as a loss. Maximum additional Bonus Bet of $1,250. Bonus Bet must be used within 14 days of receipt. See Caesars.com/promos for full terms. Void where prohibited. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. Chargers vs Patriots props Here are two Chargers vs Patriots player props for Sunday’s Week 13 game. Justin Herbert passing yards Only three times this season have opposing quarterbacks thrown for multiple passing touchdowns against the Patriots and none in the past three weeks. The past two weeks they’ve held passers to under 200 yards as well. But that was playing against DeVito and Gardner Minshew. In the games prior, opposing QBs threw for 325, 324, 265 and 264 yards. The Pats are 7th versus the run but 16th versus the pass, so LA’s success will likely come by throwing the ball. Herbert has topped this week’s passing total of 250.5 in four of six games of late so let’s back him on the over for this prop bet. Chargers vs Patriots prop picks: Justin Herbert over 250.5 passing yards (-115) Rhamondre Stevenson rushing yards Another week, another game where the quarterback status in New England is up in the air. It looks like Zappe may get the start as he took first-team reps this week in practice while Jones was running the scout team. So as of now at this writing, there are no New England passing props. In fact, even the receiving props are limited. All we do know is that Rhamondre Stevenson will be in the backfield and he is listed in the props market right now. His rushing yards prop comes in at 61.5. That’s a total he’s easily surpassed in each of the last three weeks rushing for 98, 88 and 87 yards recently. The Chargers are 14th in rushing, allowing 110.6 YPG and 19th in yards per rush attempt allowed at 4.2. Last week Keaton Mitchell led all Ravens rushers with 64 yards versus LA, but combined, Baltimore rushed for 197 yards. The Packers had 102 and the Lions 200 yards on the ground in their other recent games. Chargers vs Patriots prop picks: Rhamondre Stevenson over 61.5 rushing yards (-110) Get the latest sports betting news, advice and promos sent straight to your inbox. Enter your email here: Think you know Patriots football? Play the MassLive.com Prop Bet Showdown for a chance to win prizes! If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org to speak with a trained specialist to receive support. Specialists are available 24/7. Services are available in multiple languages and are free and confidential.

ffcf72cbe18063cb420cbda2fb016986

0business

10 most expensive homes sold in Norfolk County, Jan. 7-13

A house in Cohasset that sold for $2.9 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Norfolk County in the past week. In total, 96 residential real estate sales were recorded in the county during the past week, with an average price of $720,956. The average price per square foot was $440. The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Jan. 7, even if the property was sold earlier.

fd52979ad4d25cb482c3e9aaf28a6808

1crime

Police investigate two Christmas overnight incidents in Boston

The teenager who committed the deadliest high school shooting in Michigan history, killing four students and injuring seven other people, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday. Ethan Crumbley was a 15-year-old sophomore at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit on Nov. 30, 2021, when he pulled a 9 millimeter Sig Sauer handgun out of his backpack. He had persuaded his father to purchase the gun for him just days earlier. Killed in the attack were Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Justin Shilling, 17; and Hana St. Juliana, 14. Michigan does not have the death penalty. In September, Judge Kwamé Rowe ruled that despite being a minor, and despite his difficult life, Ethan was eligible for a sentence of life without parole. He had pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder.

eef574457a5a91809e2a5950da3c81da

1crime

Its always senior scamming season. Heres what to know about it ...

SPRINGFIELD — When Lisa Pandolfi logs onto her computer each morning at Freedom Credit Union, she’s on alert for scams targeting the credit union’s senior citizen members. She’s watching all day, every day for strange or suspicious transactions. “We have systems that alert me if all of a sudden, money starts going out of an account. I get an alert that detects increased elderly spending, and I’ll look into it and see where the money is going,” said Pandolfi, the credit union’s fraud analyst. “I had a woman who was doing a small wire transaction, and it came across my desk. I’m nosy, and I noticed she had done a few within the last month, so I called and explained to her, ‘I think this is fraud,’” said Pandolfi. Once the money is gone, it’s nearly impossible for any financial institution to recover the looted cash. What’s left is to report the fraud to authorities, who gather data, identify trends and the tactics fraudsters are using, and try to come up with an action plan that prevents further theft. Inside the main vault at Freedom Credit Union, where people have their safe deposit boxes. (Sebastian Restrepo / Special to The Republican)Sebastian Restrepo / Special to The Republican Bay State rip-offs According to the FBI, financial fraud against people over 60 is skyrocketing — up nationally by 84% since 2021, with victims filing 17,800 complaints. The problem is more severe in Massachusetts, compared with many other parts of the nation. In its Elder Fraud Report, the FBI states 1,653 Bay State seniors over 60 lost a total of $70,100,868 to scammers in 2022, worse than 46 other states, territories and Washington, D.C. “Seniors are a particularly vulnerable victim group and are often specifically targeted for financial fraud crimes, because they are often polite and trusting, have difficulty saying no, may be lonely or spend a great deal of time alone,” FBI spokesperson Kristen Setera told The Republican. “Seniors are often financially stable and own their homes, which make them enticing targets for fraudsters,” she continued. There are actually more victims than the FBI knows about, because seniors are too embarrassed to tell anyone they’ve been ripped off, said Setera. Fraudsters have a large and growing arsenal of plots they use to rip-off seniors. Criminals might pose as technical or customer service agents, offering to help with made up computer or billing issues. Some con artists try to convince seniors that they’ve hit the lottery and need to send in money to claim their prize. Cheaters might also pose as government agents or call with dubious opportunities to invest in real estate or secure a reverse mortgage. Nathaniel Mish, an assistant branch officer, seen here guarding his pin at the ATM just outside the main Freedom Credit Union branch in Springfield. (Sebastian Restrepo / Special to The Republican)Sebastian Restrepo / Special to The Republican Tainted love Victimizers also tug at the heartstrings of seniors, reaching them through social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram. “During the holidays, many elders are alone. They don’t have family, their spouses may have died, and they’re being targeted by individuals via online romance scams,” said Lisa Rivera, protective services program director for Greater Springfield Senior Services. Half of the 12 scams against seniors reported to the service agency in October involved cash and love lost online. “Seniors are befriended either on a dating app or through social media. There’s a conversation that takes place. The scammer will build an emotional connection with the elder, and at that point, they’ll ask for money,” said Rivera. Banks, credit unions and social service agencies, along with federal and state governments, are mobilizing, trying to protect seniors by telling them how to flag and avoid financial threats and perils. The FBI made a presentation recently at the South Hadley Public Library. Freedom Credit Union and Senior Services also make public appearances, helping seniors at group meetings or in person. “I tell seniors over and over again, do not isolate yourself. Please reach out to someone. You did not do anything wrong. It’s not your fault,” said Pandolfi. Scammers are coming at seniors from every direction — online, on the phone, knocks on the door — one even got a letter looking like it came from the United Nations, with an official asking for money to help someone get home. Some traps might seem more absurd than others, but most are frighteningly enticing, because scammers are getting better at what they do, learning from their mistakes and refining their approach. They’re also counting on seniors being easy targets. “Their credit is good. They might have a larger nest egg, and they come from an age group that was very trusting. They never had to lock their doors when they were young, and they would do anything for anybody,” Pandolfi. Verify, don’t trust Trust can be an elder’s greatest enemy when it comes to being tricked. Seniors are told to be wary and skeptical of any unsolicited contacts, warnings or offers. Experts advise to get off the phone, ignore the message, and if there is no way to verify the contact is legitimate, ignore it. If a senior has a love interest on the line, experts recommend to validate that, too, by seeing if the person has a significant online presence with photos of family, friends and themselves. Don’t meet in person, and see if they have a legitimate local address. Some bad actors are based overseas. “The romance scams are bit more difficult, because you’re building this emotional connection. But, look for discrepancies in stories, ask them follow-up questions about where they live, see if there is a way to do a video chat instead of a phone conversation. Try to take precautions, and confirm identities,” said Rivera. While some seniors are quick to trust scammers, many resist help from their own financial institutions, dubious of calls asking about specific transactions or if everything is OK. “Fraudsters are very good at what they do: They know exactly how to brainwash seniors. ... But seniors want to be independent. They don’t want to ask for help. And fraudsters coach them on what to say,” said Pandolfi. In some cases, Senior Services can do competency checks to identify seniors at a greater risk of being scammed. And while some elders are home alone, others have family in the area — but financial institutions can’t let relatives help out or tell them anything about the finances of their loved ones, unless they have legal permission to do so. “It’s a privacy issue,” said Pandolfi. “If the family member is on the account, I can absolutely speak to them if they’re joint owners, but if they’re not on the account, I can’t give them any information.” According to the FBI, anyone who believes they are a victim of fraud, or know a senior who might have been — regardless of financial loss — should immediately report the incident to their local FBI office or other law enforcement agency, or to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Seniors also should contact their financial institution immediately. Freedom Credit Union has held recent free educational sessions for seniors in Agawam, East Longmeadow, Chicopee, Springfield, West Springfield and Greenfield. Its next one is Wednesday, Dec. 20, in East Longmeadow. Staasi Heropoulos is a longtime Western Massachusetts television and print journalist. Send human interest and feature story ideas to staasi.heropoulos@gmail.com.

1e3a4fc569bde0e917576b6dc7140733

6sports

5 Pope Francis boys hockey players to watch as Cardinals look to defend state crown

MassLive announced the top five Pope Francis boys hockey players to watch on Tuesday as the Cardinals look to defend their first-ever Division I state championship title. Olympia Arena 2/22/22. Pope Francis No.10 Zach Buffone, skates the puck in for a shot on goal as Catholic Memorial No.25 Matthew Harvey stands ready to stop him in the 1st period. photo by J. Anthony Roberts Buffone has prided himself on defensive capability, especially when paired alongside Jacob Jarrell. With three years of varsity experience, the senior will help guide newcomers with his experience and offensive output as the Cardinals look to make another deep postseason run. Pope Francis's Jacob Jarrell takes a shot at the MIAA Division I state championship boys hockey game between Pope Francis High School and Xaverian Brothers High School on Sunday, March 19, 2023 at TD Garden in Boston. (Katie Morrison-O’Day / MassLive) As one of three captains, Jarrell is another impressive defensive weapon. Jarrell and Buffone are viewed as two of the top defensive teammates in the state, and the duo was a big reason why the Cardinals only surrendered 40 goals through 27 games last season, which featured seven combined shutouts. Pope Francis' Mossey Kearney (#26) against Bishop Hendricken on Feb. 11, 2023. Despite losing two of its premier scoring leaders, CJ Watroba and Josh Iby, Pope Francis returned its third-best offensive producer in Kearney. The senior recorded 16 goals and 26 assists last season and will look to take over the reins since he is now responsible for the team’s offense and power play. The Pope Francis boys hockey team celebrates its Division I state championship win over Xaverian at the MIAA Division I state championship boys hockey game between Pope Francis High School and Xaverian Brothers High School on Sunday, March 19, 2023 at TD Garden in Boston. (Katie Morrison-O’Day / MassLive) Interim coach Daniel Fenton said Petrin is the “heart and soul of the team.” The senior captain is a leader who has continued to bring energy and physicality to the team’s offensive unit. Those efforts have allowed Petrin to become a first-line center and contribute to the team’s top power play and penalty-kill unit this season. Goalie Nick Ritchie gets ready at the MIAA Division I state championship boys hockey game between Pope Francis High School and Xaverian Brothers High School on Sunday, March 19, 2023 at TD Garden in Boston. (Katie Morrison-O’Day / MassLive) The junior goaltender was essential to helping the Cardinals defeat Xaverian during last year’s Division I state championship game. During the postseason, Ritchie only gave up seven goals and made 93 combined saves during five games. After taking over the starting position last February, Fenton said Ritchie is one of the state’s premiere goalies.

ea92781633cce3bef655d6e042590c88

4politics

Wus eloquent apology about the Stuart case can be the start of healing

Or maybe 400 years, to count another way. For this unhealed scar is as old as this town. How do you heal an open wound that’s been festering for 34 years? One way to start is where Mayor Michelle Wu did Wednesday, surrounded by victims of the Charles Stuart murder case as she attempted to address precisely those questions, and to atone. Prompted by the Globe’s re-investigation of the case — an undertaking produced in partnership with HBO — Wu issued something none of her predecessors had been able to muster: an eloquent, full-throated apology to Willie Bennett and Alan Swanson, the men wrongfully identified as suspects in the killing. Advertisement “What was done to you was unjust, unfair, racist, and wrong and this apology is long overdue,” Wu said to a packed room in City Hall, as Swanson and the Bennett family stood behind her. “To every Black resident — I am sorry not only for the abuse our city enacted, but for the beliefs and the bias that brought them to bear.” Get Nightmare in Mission Hill A limited-series newsletter about the untold story of the Charles and Carol Stuart case. Enter Email Sign Up The Stuart murder was one of the most notorious crimes in the city’s history. On Oct. 23, 1989, Charles Stuart called 911 to report a shooting. He claimed that — moments after he and his wife, Carol, left a birthing class at Brigham and Women’s Hospital — a Black man jumped into their car, forced them to drive to Mission Hill, and robbed and shot them. The Stuarts were white; Mission Hill was predominantly Black and brown. Carol Stuart died hours after the shooting, after giving birth to a son, Christopher, who survived a mere 17 days. Charles Stuart, badly wounded, survived. Police responded to the crime by laying siege to Mission Hill in a search for the made-up Black gunman. Among other outrages, they searched Black and brown men, many of them outside the Tobin Community Center — the heartbeat of the Mission Hill community. Advertisement By the time Stuart’s story unraveled the following January — culminating in his suicidal jump off the Tobin Bridge — thousands of Black residents had been subjected to terror and trauma that have never gone away. (The Globe has produced an eight-part series along with a nine-part podcast: “Murder In Boston” as well as collaborating on an HBO documentary with the same title. I was part of the reporting team and host the podcast.) The raw emotion this case still prompts ran throughout Wu’s announcement event Wednesday. Willie Bennett’s family and Alan Swanson stood behind her, vindicated at last. Speakers such as former city councilor Tito Jackson — himself searched and frisked as a teenager, at the height of the hysteria after the murder — choked back tears as they tried to capture what this moment meant to them. “Today is not about politics,” Jackson said. “It’s about righteousness, truth, and healing.” Wu deserves credit for confronting the issue head-on. Not least because this is a story Boston immediately did its level best to forget and diminish. The message from Boston’s civic leadership back then was basically, let’s move on. Mayor Raymond Flynn, elected as a racial healer, stopped talking about it as soon as possible. Easy for them. Impossible for Boston. Advertisement It shouldn’t be lost on any of us that the first elected mayor of color and the first Black police commissioner, Michael Cox, were apologizing for the sins of white predecessors from a generation ago. People then may have wanted to move on, but moving on has never been possible for the Bennetts, or for Swanson, or for many others whose stories have been largely ignored until now. Bennett’s family eventually received an insulting $12,500 settlement from the city, along with the barest of apologies from Flynn. Swanson didn’t even get that. “There is no world in which a piece of paper undoes the harm of this part of our history, but it is my hope that you will accept this letter of apology as a step toward accountability for the damage done by our City,” Wu said. “If nothing else, please take this as evidence of our ongoing determination to build the Boston our Black residents deserve.” But Wu’s gesture, however gracious, doesn’t answer the question that still hangs out there: What does justice look like now? Leslie Harris, who represented Swanson, said apologies are due from all of Boston, from City Hall to the Police Department to the media, including the Globe, that covered the case. He also called for reparations for the Bennetts and for Swanson. (Indeed, when I asked Alan Swanson what the day meant to him, he said: “I’m still broke.”) That plea was echoed by other speakers as well. Louis Elisa, NAACP president during the racial storm the Stuart murder unleashed, said real justice would mean addressing the ills that continue to plague Black Boston, starting with the public schools. Advertisement During our team’s two years of reporting for the recent series and podcast, we kept returning to the question of whether something like the Stuart case could happen today. And an uncomfortable truth is that Stuart’s lie was believed because people — white people — were conditioned to believe it. As Wu put it: “At every level and at every opportunity, those in power closed their eyes to the truth because the lie felt familiar. They saw the story they wanted to see.” Who’s to say that couldn’t happen now? But Wu’s apology told a different story Wednesday, a story of a city that’s changed. A Boston in which Michelle Wu can be mayor is not the Boston of 1989. But this is no time for congratulations. The hard work of reconciliation has barely begun. Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at adrian.walker@globe.com. Follow him @Adrian_Walker.

3df4a2a0beb19337b3a765db172fd5a9

2culture

The Best State Parks to Visit This Winter

With the new year come wonderful new opportunities to explore the Golden State. California has 279 state parks, which cover more than a million acres in all, from 230 feet below sea level at the Salton Sea to more than 10,000 feet above at the snowy summit of Mount San Jacinto. The state park system, the biggest in the nation, preserves impressive waterfalls and wildlife reserves, some of the world’s largest trees and the state’s most stunning flowers. Today, I have some recommendations for state parks to visit in the winter, no matter what sort of vacation you’re craving. And you can now check out free vehicle day-use passes for most state parks from your local library. Happy traveling. Learn more about the infamous Donner Party. Donner Memorial State Park, a 10-minute drive west of Truckee, is a window into the travails of the 87 members of the Donner Party, settlers who were snowed in while trying to cross the Sierra Nevada during the winter of 1846-47 and who resorted to cannibalism to survive. The park offers miles of hiking trails and ranger-led snowshoe walks, as well as gentle terrain for cross-country skiing. Get up close to elephant seals. Año Nuevo State Park is one of my favorite places to visit in winter. It’s one of the few spots in North America where you can see elephant seals, massive animals who have made a remarkable recovery from the brink of extinction. They can be seen at the park year-round, but December through March is when they come ashore to mate, give birth and nurse their young. Park docents offer guided walks every day until March 31. Read more about reserving a spot on a tour.

47478126d938cf29f255375e121101ea

6sports

Patriots starter put on season-ending reserve list after sudden absence

J.C. Jackson’s season has ended. The Patriots have placed the cornerback on the reserve/non-football illness list. With just three games remaining, that means Jackson won’t return this season. He did not play in Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs due “mental health issues” his agent, Neil Schwartz, confirmed to MassLive. Jackson, who was not listed as “inactive” prior to game time, was expected to play, but ultimately did not come out for warmups and wasn’t on the sideline during the 27-17 loss to the Chiefs. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. After the game, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Jackson was unavailable for the game, but didn’t go into any detail. A source indicated it was a personal matter, which Schwartz later told ESPN related to mental health. The cornerback, who joined the L.A. Chargers in 2022 signing a lucrative free agent contract, was traded back to the Patriots this fall, but it hasn’t been the smooth transition. He was benched for multiple series against Washington after missing multiple bed checks the night before at the team hotel. That led Jackson to be left at home when the Patriots traveled to Germany. Afterward, Jackson told MassLive he’d been dealing with off-field distractions this year. “There were just a lot of things off the field I was dealing with and had to fix,” Jackson said on Dec. 5. “Things outside of the locker room that’ll have your mind in other places at times. But that’s life. Everybody goes through shit. Nobody in this locker room has a perfect life. It might seem like that, but everybody is going through stuff.” On Monday, special teams captain Matthew Slater talked about the importance of supporting Jackson, whom he refers to by his birth name Jerald rather than J.C. “I think if you ask anyone in our locker room that same question, they’ll tell you the same thing: we care about his well-being as a human being, first and foremost,” Slater said. “We want to see him be healthy, both physically and mentally. We want to see him be successful. And all that is with football aside. We put such a heavy emphasis on football and rightfully so — it’s our job. But it’s not the ultimate. It’s an important thing, but it’s not the ultimate thing. “For Jerald, I hope he hears and understands and knows, that for us, we just want to see him be well. That’s the most important thing.” With a spot open on the 53-man roster thanks to Jackson being placed on NFI, the Patriots signed running back Kevin Harris from the practice squad. Harris ran for an 18-yard touchdown Sunday. NFL fans can wager online on Massachusetts sports betting with enticing promo codes from top online sportsbooks. Use the FanDuel Massachusetts promo code and the DraftKings Massachusetts promo code for massive new user bonuses.

9ec2c3540bc6af2de4858b09309fe53b

5science

Subbing plant-based milk for dairy options is a healthy decision

Re “Cow. Almond. Oat. Hemp. Oat. Flaxseed. Pea, even! Which milk to choose?” (Food, Dec. 20): As a dietitian, I recommend fighting heart disease, breast and prostate cancers, and other health conditions by choosing a plant milk instead of dairy milk. A review I co-authored last year looks at the health implications of plant and animal milks. Dairy milk contains more fat and saturated fat than most plant milks. The review cites a meta-analysis showing that higher milk consumption is associated with a greater risk of death from heart disease. Research shows that replacing dairy fat with vegetable fats or high-quality carbohydrates, such as whole grains, can help reduce heart disease risk. Cow’s milk also contains estrogens and increases insulin-like growth factor 1 levels, which are hormones linked to breast and prostate cancers, while soy milk contains isoflavones, which are associated with reductions in both prostate and breast cancer risk.

a204aa249b4c4c36c9cfca1e071ced59

3entertainment

Jingle Bells was written by a Masshole but was it written in Massachusetts?

A Boston-born composer, James Pierpont, wrote one of the most well-known Christmas songs. But did he do it while he was in Massachusetts? Two states, Massachusetts and Georgia, are in what’s known as the “Jingle Bell Wars.” There is a plaque in Medford near 19 High St. that claims it’s the spot where Simpson Tavern was located and that in 1850, Pierpont wrote the song “Jingle Bells” there in the presence of Mrs. Otis Waterman, “who later verified that the song was written here.” Pierpont later had it copyrighted while living in Georgia in 1857, which is why the state claims it was written there instead. Kyna Hamill — who volunteered with Medford Historical Society, is a faculty member at Boston University and has become an expert on Pierpont — worked to get to the bottom of the legend. “I don’t have the definite answer to where he sat down and wrote the song,” Hamill told Boston University in 2016. “But — and this is where my town is going to be mad at me — it was absolutely not written in 1850 at the Simpson Tavern in Medford.” Instead, during that time, Pierpont was in California trying to cash in on the Gold Rush. He returned to Boston broke in 1851 after a San Francisco fire burned down his shop, BU Today explained. The song was originally titled “One Horse Open Sleigh.” Hamill found a playbill from Harvard Theater Collection that puts the song’s first performance at impresario John Ordway’s Ordway Hall, on Washington Street in Boston, with a troupe called Ordway’s Aeolians on Sept. 15, 1857, according to the university. Ordway Hall, near the Old South Meeting House, was known for white men performing in blackface, “offering a racist caricature of people of color as middle-class entertainment,” the university said. Read more: Stranger leaves wedding rings to Salvation Army in act of holiday charity “Sleigh songs were having an important moment in the 1850s. Sleigh bell songs were common,” Hamill told Itemlive. “The songs would often exist in their parlor version and in the blackface version, where they’re put into ‘black’ dialect.” But it’s not clear if Pierpont was even there for the debut. Around the same time, Pierpont moved to Savannah, Georgia, which is where he copyrighted it. It was re-copyrighted as “Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh” in 1859, the university said. Hamill also points out the timing for Georgia doesn’t match up. He was often in need of money, she said. So, he wouldn’t have kept it to himself for that long. Although, another historian, Dr. Christopher Hendricks, a professor at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, told Fox News, San Francisco should be added to the list of possible places where he wrote the song. Still, Massachusetts might be able to claim Pierpont’s “Jingle Bells” for itself. Hamill’s guess is that Pierpont wrote the song at a rooming house not far from the Old State House in downtown Boston. Was Pierpont a Masshole? Beyond the song’s complicated history, Pierpont was also a complicated man. “He’s kind of a jerk, actually. He would leave all of the time. He went out west to try to make his way with the gold rush. He went all over the place and left his wife with his father,” Hamill told CBC News. After his wife died, he quickly remarried and abandoned his three children, the news outlet reported. He had been adventurous since an early age. When he was 14 years old, he ran away and set sail on a whaling ship named Shark, according to Valdosa Daily Times. He later served in the U.S. Navy. During his time in Georgia, Pierpont enlisted with the Confederacy. According to the news outlet, he was first a clerk with the First Georgia Battalion which later became part of Fifth Georgia Volunteer Cavalry, adding that he also wrote patriotic songs during his war years, including, ‘We Conquer or Die,’ ‘Our Battle Flag’ and ‘Strike for the South.’” It wasn’t until after he died that “Jingle Bells” became popular. Originally performed as a Thanksgiving song, it didn’t resonate with audiences as much due to its lack of religious themes or mentioning of Christmas, Valdosa Daily Times reported. But over time, and with some possible song changes, it began clicking with audiences. Now, you’re unlikely to make it through the holiday season without hearing it at least a dozen times.

5cd64e9ed2390401fa3a72d6c9267d6e

4politics

Live updates: Massachusetts reacts to Israel-Hamas war

Local News Live updates: Massachusetts reacts to Israel-Hamas war Many with Massachusetts ties are feeling the impacts of the war. A crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators react as pro-Palestine demonstrators drive past their rally on the front steps of Cambridge City Hall. Matthew J. Lee / The Boston Globe More than a week after fighters with the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip launched a brutal surprise attack on Israelis, thousands have died on both sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared the country at war, calling up more than 300,000 reservists and pummeling Gaza with airstrikes in retaliation. Israeli troops have continued amassing at the border of the enclave early this week ahead of a widely expected ground invasion. Israel told those in northern Gaza to evacuate, sending more than half a million people streaming into the south. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is growing worse by the day, as fuel, food, and clean water run out. Talks that would open the southern border crossing between Gaza and Egypt have stalled, with people hoping to flee trapped on one side and trucks loaded with supplies stuck on the other. Advertisement: The war has sent reverberations around the globe, affecting many in Massachusetts. Follow here for live updates. From left, Wafaa Abuzayda, Yousef Okal, and Abood Okal. – Family photo A Massachusetts family trapped in southern Gaza is reportedly entering “survival mode” as they struggle to secure clean water and food until the border crossing with Egypt is opened. Abood Okal; his wife, Wafaa Abuzayda; and their 18-month-old son, Yousef, were visiting family in Gaza when Hamas militants attacked Israel earlier this month, leading to a punishing Israeli response and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave. The situation for the family and hundreds of thousands of others in Gaza has grown increasingly dire following the evacuation of civilians from the north. The family from Medway was staying in a rural area about 10 miles from the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza and Egypt, as of Sunday, The Boston Globe reported. Despite being “exhausted and sleep-deprived,” the family is trying to stay strong for their young son. “The hardest feeling is to hide your fear, and show the opposite, just to keep my son positive,” Abuzayda told NPR. “He doesn’t understand anything. He thinks this [is] fireworks.” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Sunday after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that the Rafah crossing would open, according to The New York Times. But the crossing remained closed Monday, despite a message from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to Americans trapped in Gaza that it could open at 9 a.m. local time. Advertisement: “We anticipate that the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travelers will be permitted to transit the crossing. If you assess it to be safe, you may wish to move closer to the Rafah border crossing – there may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time,” officials said. Egyptian security sources told Reuters that a ceasefire, needed to open the border, had been agreed to Monday. But representatives from both the Israeli government and Hamas denied that. The family was told that they could cross the border at 9 a.m. Monday by U.S. officials, the Globe reported. They arrived early Monday and waited for hours, but were eventually turned away around 3 p.m. local time. “My update is that there is no update, and that’s significant,” Sammy Nabulsi, a Boston lawyer and friend of the family, told the Globe Monday. “The U.S. has lost all ability to get its citizens back home.” Okal, Abuzayda, and their son also traveled to the crossing Saturday in hopes of making it through to Egypt. Before dawn, they received news that the crossing could open for a five-hour window later in the day. But a lack of communication between Palestinian and Egyptian officials stymied efforts to open the crossing, The Washington Post reported. Advertisement: The family spent several hours waiting at the crossing Saturday with several hundred people, the Post reported. Among them was another American family from New Jersey and people from Canada, Sweden, Spain, and Norway. Trucks loaded with supplies for those in Gaza have been waiting for days at the Egyptian side of the crossing, as Palestinian hospitals warn that they are on the verge of collapse and those sheltering in U.N. facilities resort to drinking less than 1 liter of water per day, The Associated Press reported. Israeli officials have cut off the flow of fuel or any other supplies into Gaza, and people there are “trying to be very strategic” about when they use their cars in case of emergency, Okal told the Globe. Many Massachusetts elected officials are calling for the need to evacuate people safely from the region and get residents back to the states. “It is gutting that families, including Abood and Wafaa’s family, arrived at the Rafah crossing at the time advised by [the State Department] on Saturday and have not yet been able to cross. They have a one-year-old in their arms. It must be an imperative for President Biden and for all nations involved to safely evacuate Americans and save civilian lives,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley said in a statement to the Globe. Harvard’s president responded once again to the backlash stoked after a letter from student groups blamed Israel for the week of violence that started with a surprise attack from Hamas. Advertisement: In a video posted to Harvard’s YouTube account, Claudine Gay condemned terrorist attacks and hate of anyone based on their religious views. But she also added that the university doesn’t tolerate the intimidation of students for expressing their beliefs, and said Harvard welcomes free expression — even “outrageous” views. “We can issue public pronouncements declaring the rightness of our own points of view and vilify those who disagree. Or we can choose to talk and to listen with care and humility, to seek deeper understanding, and to meet one another with compassion,” Gay said in the video. Those who criticized the letter, penned by the Palestine Solidarity Committee and co-signed by more than 30 student groups, went as far as doxxing the students, and a conservative group drove around trucks with LED screens that featured the students’ pictures and called them anti-Semetic. Some Harvard alumni and CEOs have said they want the students blacklisted, and philanthropist couple Idan and Batia Ofer quit the Harvard Kennedy School executive board over the university’s response to the letter. A group of 30 Salem parishioners who were visiting Israel last week scrambled to evacuate after Hamas attacked the country near the Gaza border. On the day of the attacks, members of the Immaculate Conception Church in Salem arrived in Israel to see landmarks of Jesus’s life, The Boston Globe reports. They heard bombs and gunshots in the distance, but were told by their tour guide that they were safe. Advertisement: That was until Monday, when the group was in Bethlehem, located in the West Bank. “We were advised by the tour group: ‘We’re going back to the hotel; you get 30 minutes to pack up and hop back on the bus,’” church member Bill Card told the Globe. “[That] was, I think, really when it hit home for me.” It took the group days to get out of the war-torn country, and by Wednesday they were crossing the border to Jordan, where they then boarded a plane to Turkey. The parishioners arrived in Boston on Saturday. Previous live updates can be found here.

fae5528bf500923af5c18b569b8a4e10

4politics

Will reports of vote-buying in Springfield get a hard look from anyone? (Editorial)

If not the FBI, who? Which arm of government will answer the call to determine whether someone interfered with Springfield’s most recent mayoral election by distributing $10 bills outside City Hall on Oct. 28? In sworn statements, five people documented what they believed to be improper and unlawful attempts to pay voters to cast ballots in the Nov. 7 election. Video surveillance outside the building showed Gilfrey T. Gregory, a volunteer with the Justin Hurst campaign, handing people cash.

2466ad58e543516cd4459af95826a440

5science

Psychologist shares advice for answering 9

Boston psychologist shares advice for answering 9/11 questions from children Share Copy Link Copy HAVE BEEN SO BUSY OVER THERE. OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH, KELLY ANN. SO FIVE ON YOUR MENTAL HEALTH TODAY MARKS 22 YEARS SINCE NEARLY 3000 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, VIRGINIA. A LOT OF SCHOOLS HELD MOMENTS OF SILENCE. BUT THE MAJORITY OF TODAY’S STUDENTS WEREN’T EVEN ALIVE IN 2001. JOINING US NOW IS DR. ERIKA LEE, A PSYCHOLOGIST AT BOSTON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL. THANKS FOR JOINING US, DOCTOR. GOOD TO SEE YOU. DR. LEE, I KNOW SOME SCHOOLS SENT A NOTE TO PARENTS, OF COURSE, TODAY TELLING THEM TO BE PREPARED IF THEIR KID COMES HOME WITH QUESTIONS. SO AS FAMILIES GET READY TO TALK ABOUT THIS, HAVE DINNER AND THIS COMES UP, WHERE DO YOU START IT? IT’S A GREAT QUESTION. AND THE FIRST THING I’LL SAY IS, OF COURSE, THE CONVERSATION DEPENDS ON WHAT YOUR KIDS AGES ARE. BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS START BY ASKING, HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT NINE OVER 11 BEFORE? WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS OR IS? AND ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC THINGS THAT YOU WANT TO KNOW OR THAT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT TOGETHER? I THINK A LOT OF PARENTS, VERY UNDERSTANDABLY, ARE CONFLICTED OF LIKE HOW DO I SHARE THIS KIND OF INFORMATION WITH MY KIDS? SHOULD I TALK TO THEM ABOUT TERRORISM OR VIOLENCE? SO IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT, ACTUALLY, THAT YOU COME FROM A PLACE WHERE YOU ARE OPEN TO THEIR THOUGHTS, THEIR FEELINGS, THEIR WORRIES, THEIR QUESTIONS, AND THAT YOU SHOW THEM AS YOUR PARENTS, AS THEIR PARENTS, THAT YOU’RE OPEN TO TALKING ABOUT THESE THINGS AND PROCESSING IT TOGETHER. SO I JUST HAVE TO INTERJECT AND ASK YOU THIS, DOCTOR. SO IF THEY’RE OPEN TO TALKING ABOUT IT, WHAT IF THE KID COMES HOME AND SAYS NOTHING AND SAY THEY ARE TEN YEARS OLD AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WANT TO SHARE? DO YOU SHARE IT WITH A TEN YEAR OLD? DO YOU SHARE IT WITH A 15 YEAR OLD? DO YOU SHARE THIS INFORMATION OR DO YOU JUST MOVE FORWARD WITH THE DAY? BECAUSE TO ME, AND I AM NOT A DOCTOR, BUT I AM SOMEONE WHO REMEMBERS THAT DAY VERY, VERY, VERY DEEPLY. I THINK THAT THIS MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT THAT I WOULD SAY. I DID TALK TO MY CHILDREN ABOUT IT. I DID IT ABSOLUTELY. SO I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, INFORMATION ABOUT TERRORISM, HISTORICAL EVENTS, WE REALLY ACTUALLY JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE’RE MATCHING IT TO THE CHILD’S AGE AND THEIR DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL, BECAUSE WHATEVER YOU ARE GOING TO SAY TO THEM, SAY SOMETHING TO THEM. IF IT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU, JUST AS YOU DESCRIBED, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CAN ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND AND PROCESS WHAT IT IS THAT YOU SHARE. SO, YOU KNOW, THE NATIONAL 9/11 MUSEUM ACTUALLY RECOMMENDS THAT NOT REALLY TALKING TO THESE KIDS ABOUT THINGS UNTIL THEY’RE AT LEAST, SAY, AGE EIGHT. SO REALLY THINKING ABOUT GRADE THREE AND UP BECAUSE THEY’RE JUST COGNITIVELY MAYBE NOT ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AND THEY ACTUALLY HAVE SOME REALLY NICE INTERACTIVE LESSON PLANS ON THEIR WEBSITE WITH EXAMPLE LANGUAGE AND ACTIVITIES THAT YOU CAN USE TO DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED IN A DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE WAY. AND IT KIND OF CREATES A LITTLE BIT OF SCAFFOLDING FOR PARENTS. THEY DON’T FEEL LIKE IT’S JUST ON THEM. BUT I’VE ALSO SEEN SOME NICE CHILDREN’S BOOKS. I MEAN, WE’VE HAD A FAIR AMOUNT OF TIME NOW FOR PEOPLE TO WRITE DIFFERENT BOOKS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, BALANCING OUR KIDS UNDERSTANDABLE FEARS ABOUT ACTS OF TERRORISM. ALSO WITH SORT OF HOPE AND REASSURANCE ABOUT THE WAYS THAT OUR COUNTRY CAME TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, LEAVING OUT SOME OF THE SCARY DETAILS. AND I’VE SEEN BOOKS FOR KIDS WHO ARE IN FIRST GRADE AND UP. SO I REALLY ENCOURAGE PARENTS, IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, GET A LITTLE BIT OF ASSISTANCE SO YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU’RE FIGURING IT OUT ON YOUR OWN. HOW DO I TALK ABOUT THIS? WHAT’S THE RIGHT LANGUAGE? WHAT WOULD BE DEVELOPMENTALLY GREAT ANSWER GREAT ANSWER. THANK YOU. GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Your Email Address Submit Privacy Notice

fa74d05bfc499e8463724f26f378445f

3entertainment

How to watch the ABC special Olafs Frozen Adventure, stream for free

The ABC special “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” will air on the network on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. EST. For those without cable who want to watch the special, they can do so for free through either FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. Both platforms offer a free trial for new users. According to ABC, “when the kingdom of Arendelle empties out for the holiday season, Anna and Elsa realize that they have no family traditions of their own. So Olaf sets out on a merry mission to bring home the very best traditions and save Christmas.” How can I watch the ABC special for free without cable? The new episode is available to watch through either FuboTV or DirecTV Stream. Both offer free trials to new users. You can also watch the series the next day on Hulu, which offers a free first month when you sign up, followed by payments as low as $7.99 per month thereafter. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels. DirecTV also offers a free trial for any package you sign up.

e9726e4adbda1faedb69ebd2696847ac

2culture

Charles Stuart and Carol Stuart's backstory compared to Camelot

A photo of Charles and Carol Stuart is projected on Revere Beach, near where the pair met at the former site of the Driftwood restaurant on Revere Beach Boulevard. (Erin Clark/Globe Staff) Autoplay audio Chuck Stuart climbed into the barber’s chair and sat quietly looking at his reflection in the mirror. Hairstylist Will Zecco met his eyes in the glass. Chuck, I just — just let me say this, Will recalls saying, stammering at the inadequacy of the words. I am so, so sorry for your loss. Chuck gazed back, unblinking, Will remembered. The 29-year-old had just gotten out of the hospital that day, Dec. 5, 1989 — six weeks after his 911 call reporting that a gunman had jumped into his car and shot him, and his wife, Carol, as they drove home from a birthing class. Now, his wife was dead; the couple’s first-born gone, too. The person responsible, according to police, was locked up and languishing in jail, but prosecutors had held off on charging him until Chuck was well enough to ID him in a lineup. The story felt like the only thing on TV. I can only imagine what it would be like, if my wife and daughter — if something happened to them, the hairstylist continued. Will had been cutting Chuck’s hair for two years at his pricey salon just off Newbury Street, a tony stretch of Boston akin, on a much smaller scale, to Fifth Avenue. Every few weeks, Chuck came in, in his dress shirt and tie and asked for a men’s regular: clean cut, over the ears, above the collar, square neckline. Chuck worked a few doors down at Edward F. Kakas & Sons, selling lavish fur coats to the jet set, and he looked like money, somewhere between Hollywood and JFK, with his square jaw and piercing eyes. Usually, Chuck was smiling, making easy, impersonal small-talk, but today he was almost mute. Newbury Street, which runs from Massachusetts Avenue to the Public Garden, remains one of Boston's most exclusive shopping districts as it was in 1990. (Lane Turner/Globe Staff) Shock, Will figured. Will had been half-listening to the news all morning, so he’d known Chuck was being released, but he was surprised when the receptionist told him Chuck had made an appointment for that afternoon. Will had ushered him into a closet-sized private room at the back of the salon, where now he was lamely finishing the little speech he’d prepared for Chuck. I don’t know what you’re going through, he concluded, but I am so, so sorry. Will wasn’t sure what he was expecting Chuck to say. If it was him, he’d cry. But Chuck didn’t answer. His eyes shifted back to his own reflection, and silence settled like frost between them. Will waited. And waited. Chuck raised his hand and pointed at the side of his head. See these gray hairs over here? he said. Can you cover these up? From the moment the first TV station aired Chuck’s desperate 911 call both Chuck and Carol had become characters in a national drama. He was the brave husband, begging the EMTs that found him to take care of his wife first. She was the expectant mother, swelling with hope and child. Early on, the Boston Herald had christened Chuck and Carol “the Camelot Couple,” in reference to JFK and Jackie, and the moniker had stuck. Their shooting was a parable about good and evil and the rot in the heart of the American city. But Chuck and Carol weren’t characters. They were real people. Christine Baratta knew Carol way back, before the headlines, when Carol was a teenage waitress at a seafood joint on Revere Beach. The Driftwood was an institution on Boston’s North Shore, frequented by a who’s who of politicians and sports heroes and jockeys from the nearby racetrack. It had 100 tables, and on weekends you had to know the maitre d’ to have any hope of getting one. Carol had started there as a bus girl, but as soon as she turned 18 — old enough to serve liquor — she got promoted, leaving the bus girl position vacant. That’s how Christine met her: She was hired to fill Carol’s shoes. Carol Stuart. Which, of course, was impossible. Everybody loved Carol. She was a ball of energy, barely 5’1”, talking a mile a minute, pounding Diet Cokes, and working harder than all the boys. In photographs, Carol is all smile, and when people say she was beautiful you can see it. But that’s not really what they mean. Carol had a presence. She was funny like Lucille Ball was funny — fearless, unself-conscious, wide open. When Carol laughed she threw her head back; when she was mad, it was right there on her face. It made her easy to be with. Christine was 14 years old and in awe of this newly minted adult. Right away, as the only two young women working at the Driftwood, they became close. Carol gave Christine rides home, then taught her to drive. She showed Christine how to apply eyeshadow and fill out college applications. They picked out Christine’s junior prom dress together, and Carol persuaded the boy Christine liked to take her to the dance. 00:00 00:00 Read the transcript There’s one story in particular that Christine likes to tell about Carol. For decades now, it’s been recounted in the papers as a funny urban legend about Carol’s firecracker personality. After Carol died, the staff at the Driftwood told it this way: One night, a big party stiffed her with a lousy tip, so she chased them outside and threw it back. It was the rarest sort of showdown, the shift worker versus the wealthy diner. But it’s not exactly true. Christine saw what really happened. Carol did get stiffed, and she did follow her party outside. But she didn’t tell them off or throw anything. She just put the tip money down on the hood of the car and walked away. When the rest of the staff went nuts over this other, crazier version, Christine asked Carol if she was going to correct them, and Carol just laughed. No, she said. I want them to think I’m a badass. And here’s the part of the story Christine loves the most, the part that really captures the Carol she knew. At the end of the night, when Carol gave Christine her share of the night’s tips, it was more money than Carol went home with herself. Never said a thing about it. It was at the Driftwood that Carol met Chuck. Chuck grew up in Revere, not far from the restaurant, in a three-bedroom house at the end of a cul-de-sac. He was the eldest son of six kids in a working-class Irish Catholic family, and his youngest brother, Matthew, worked at the Driftwood too, washing dishes. Their dad sold insurance, their mom was a homemaker, and they went to Mass every Sunday at the Church of the Immaculate Conception where Chuck served as an altar boy. Charles Stuart and Carol DiMaiti, shown in 1987, began dating after meeting at the Driftwood. But Chuck always dreamed of a better, more refined life. He told a story about himself that sounded good but wasn’t true: That he took the job as a cook at the Driftwood after blowing his knee out playing football at Brown University on a sports scholarship. He still looked like an athlete, though, tall and chiseled. He and Carol would catch each other’s eyes across the line. Carol’s dad, Giusto, tended bar at the Driftwood, and, by all accounts, he didn’t like Chuck much. Giusto was protective of Carol and so proud of her that he carried one of her straight-A report cards in his wallet. Theirs was an old-school Italian family that held big dinners on Sundays, and Carol was the baby. Chuck could be charming, but he was reserved — still water that might run deep. Carol fell for him hard, and that was it. On Christmas Eve in 1983, Chuck gave her a wallet embossed with her initials — but instead of the “D” for “DiMaiti,” it had an “S” for “Stuart.” Inside was a diamond ring. They married in ‘85. Carol graduated from Boston College with a degree in political science and went to Suffolk Law; Chuck got his job at Kakas Furs on Newbury Street. In 1987, they bought a little house with a hot tub and a pool on Harvest Road in the affluent town of Reading, where many of their neighbors commuted to white-collar jobs in Boston. Chuck and Carol were each moving further from their working-class roots. An employee at Kakas Furs adjusted the coats on the racks on Jan. 3, 1990. Chuck Stuart was general manager at the posh Newbury Street store, which sold lavish fur coats to the jet set. (Paul Benoit/Globe Staff) Kakas Furs, where Chuck hoped to become the manager, was a grand stone building; to enter, you had to be buzzed in. A scrappy guy from Revere could certainly look in the windows, but to get any further, he was going to need some polish. And Chuck had it. He wore sharp suits and leather shoes, and he spent his days gliding across the Oriental rugs in the showroom, sweet talking the upper crust. Carol got a job at an accounting firm and then a publishing house, and she put in long hours. But unlike Chuck, she never seemed like she was trying to leave her old life behind. She still brought her own lunch to work and ate in the lunchroom with the secretaries. On late nights, her dad would show up with pizzas for her and her colleagues. When they all went out after work, it was Carol at the bar belting out “Ain’t no mountain high enough” off-key at the top of her lungs and laughing until she cried. 00:00 00:00 Read the transcript To the outside world, Chuck and Carol appeared to have an ideal marriage. He took her to New York, to plays, to fancy restaurants, and he bought her beautiful jewelry. Of course, they fought — like any couple. Sometimes Carol, who felt everything deeply, would show up to work with red-rimmed eyes. But what her coworkers remember were not the details of the skirmishes, but the gorgeous long-stemmed roses that showed up in apology afterwards. They seemed to have a fairytale life, and when Carol got pregnant in 1989, the final piece fell into place. Having a family had always been her dream. After the murder, Carol’s pregnancy became the shocking centerpiece of the crime. But before it was a sensational headline, it was a private joy for Carol. She was a romantic, and the feeling of a new life growing in her belly was an almost sacred experience. She and Chuck decorated the nursery and signed up for a childbirth class at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. They spent the evening of Oct. 23, 1989 — their last hour as Chuck and Carol — at that class at the Brigham, learning about what happens in the event of a caesarean section. Carol asked lots of questions and took scrupulous notes. Chuck sat beside her, pale and quiet, with what the other students assumed was a terrible case of nerves. A photograph of Evelyn DiMaiti at her daughter Carol's funeral in 1989 is projected outside of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Carol, who had just left a birthing class at the hospital, was taken back to the Brigham after being shot in nearby Mission Hill. (Erin Clark/Globe Staff) They left the Brigham around 8:30 p.m., and a few minutes later, Chuck called 911. “My wife’s been shot,” he said. “I’ve been shot.” Then came the ambulance gurneys, the clicks of photojournalists’ cameras, the crime scene tape. After that, they were the Camelot Couple. Once the Boston police arrested Willie Bennett in November of 1989, things quieted a bit. The police assault on Mission Hill eased. Some questions lingered, but the institutions did what they always do: City Hall demanded a swift result; the police booked a suspect; the media chronicled every dip and turn in the police-provided narrative. December in Boston that year was the coldest in more than a century. The Bruins were crushing it, on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals. And the Celtics were riding high, though Larry Bird’s superpowers were starting to fade. The Stuart story still dominated the newscasts and the papers, but it had been two months since Carol and Christopher died, and they didn’t always make page one anymore. Willie was jailed on charges that had nothing to do with the shooting. He was still the main suspect in the Stuart case, but no murder charges had been filed — yet. Around Christmas, Chuck booked another appointment with Will Zecco at the salon off Newbury Street. His gray was starting to show again, and now, he had an appointment at police headquarters to get ready for. He knew the media would be there, with their cameras, and he wanted to look good. This time, Will didn’t try to talk to Chuck — he found Chuck’s whole demeanor unnerving. He put Chuck back in the private room, put the dye on his head, and stepped out to wait for it to set. As he closed the door behind him, Will could see Chuck’s face reflected in the mirror. He was staring impassively into his own eyes. 00:00 00:00 Read the transcript Will didn’t know what to think of his longtime client. He had always liked Chuck. They had a rapport — or at least, Will thought they did. Now, he wasn’t so sure. During all those haircuts, all those conversations when Will had talked about his own wife and his child — Chuck had never once mentioned that he had a baby on the way. He didn’t wear a wedding ring. In fact, Will didn’t even realize Chuck was married, until he saw it on the news. Chuck arrived at police headquarters on Dec. 28, 1989, with his hair freshly colored and his jacket collar popped. He was there with his attorney to view the lineup, where he picked Willie Bennett — suspect number 3 — out of the row of eight Black men holding numbered placards. In an interview room after he made the identification, he told police he recognized Willie’s jawline and the shape of his ear. Chuck told detectives he was 99 percent sure that number 3 was the shooter. His right-side profile was a perfect match. But prosecutors still didn’t charge Willie with murder. There were rumors in news reports about Chuck’s identification being shaky. But the sources were anonymous and officials refused to comment. Rain-soaked attendees admired an ice sculpture at Copley Square during First Night festivities in Boston on Dec. 31, 1989. (Bill Greene/Globe Staff) In the waning days of December, Boston set aside the Stuart case to celebrate the New Year. “1989, going out with a song, a shimmy, and a splash!” declared one newscaster, before the camera panned to a 40-foot neon piano surrounded by dancing revelers on Boston Common. It had been a roller coaster of a year: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, that terrible night in Mission Hill. Dick Clark counted down, and the ball dropped, and the people screamed. It was 1990, a brand new decade, a fresh start. But up on the North Shore, the past was about to catch up with the Stuarts. On the evening of Jan. 3, 1990, the emergency phone at a Revere fire station where Chuck Stuart’s younger brother, Michael, worked as a firefighter recorded a volley of phone calls between the Stuart siblings. “Michael, we’re all meeting here, right now,” his sister Shelley says in one. Michael says he can’t get out of work, but Shelley tells him to talk to his boss. “It can’t be an emergency crisis at home?“ The recording is scratchy, but you can hear the heaviness in their voices. They both sound like they’ve been awake all night. “I suppose I could say that, but –” She cuts him off. “Say it, Mike. Because it is.” “What’s gonna happen?” he asks her. “We’re gonna tell Mom and Dad,” she says.

244f7ae1feb91d284b99840cc82fa696

2culture

Who Was the Mysterious Woman Buried Alone at the Pet Cemetery?

Ed Martin III was 14 years old when he began working at his father’s pet cemetery, and in the decades since he has tended to the graves of innumerable dogs, many cats, flocks of birds, a few monkeys, a lion cub, a Bengal tiger and countless other creatures from every corner of the animal kingdom. In all that time, after all those burials, there was only ever one request, a few years ago, that gave him pause. Calling that morning, on Jan. 29, 2020, was Bruce Johnson, a lawyer from New York, who had in his possession the cremated remains of a woman named Patricia Chaarte. Ms. Chaarte had died at her home in Mexico, at the age of 92. In her will, she had requested that her ashes be interred at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, just north of New York City. She had no next of kin. The executor of her estate was not a family member or friend, but merely another lawyer at the firm. There were no further instructions.

3184e6d41df43ecadb162737dd10bcb9

4politics

Compelling artworks await State House visitors

I admire artist Robert T. Freeman’s painting “Black Tie,” which is now displayed in Governor Maura Healey’s office (“Artworks to make the House everyone’s home,” Metro, Dec. 9), and appreciate the governor’s commitment to the state’s diversity in the artwork at the State House. Freeman’s work depicts Black Americans gathered for a social occasion during the period of segregation. Not far off on the fourth floor, just outside the House gallery, is another painting of a group, “Notable Women of Boston” by Ellen Lanyon. Among the nine notables in the mural are poet Phillis Wheatley, the first Black person in America to have a book published, and community activist Melnea Cass, the Black campaigner for racial equality.

aeb498035d4a5ef937f80ca1c87bbaee

2culture

Willa Cather and Yehudi Menuhin: An Unlikely, Unwavering Friendship

When Menuhin was navigating young love, Cather was a font of advice — “I always have your future very much at heart,” she told him in one letter — and gushed over his marriage to Nola Nicholas. “No artist ever made such a fortunate marriage,” Cather wrote to her friend Zoë Akins. “Yehudi loves goodness more than anything, (I mean beautiful goodness) and she has it.” When Cather was homebound for four weeks with bronchitis, Yehudi and Nola Menuhin visited her nearly every day; he tended to the fire, and she made tea. He was even more of a solace as Cather experienced loss: the deaths of her brothers and of her old friend Isabelle McClung Hambourg, who had introduced Cather and Menuhin. Little, however, could lift her from the depressive isolation that followed her surgery for breast cancer in early 1946. She wasn’t seeing any friends, “not even Yehudi,” and wasn’t even listening to music, she wrote to her sister-in-law Meta Cather. “I have simply had, for the present, to cut out all the things I loved most.” Cather would make it out again; her last night on the town was to see Menuhin play at Carnegie Hall. Then, in March 1947, he visited her at home with his two children. Hephzibah was there, too, with her husband and two boys. “Here we all were (the children only were new), the rest of us were sitting in these rooms just as we used to meet here every week 10 and 12 years ago,” Cather recounted in a letter the next day. The Menuhins were stopping by on their way to board the Queen Elizabeth. About an hour and a half before it was to set sail, they “quietly rose,” Cather recalled, then “without any flurry, dropped in the elevator to the street floor.” Seemingly understood but unspoken was that this would be the last time they saw one another. Cather died in April. In the letter about that final visit, Cather said that this friendship had been “one of the chief interests and joys of my life.” She went as far as to say that she would rather have almost any other chapter of her life left out than that of her time with Menuhin and his sisters. Even then, as adults, they felt like dear children to her, Aunt Willa. “Today,” she said at the end of the letter, “these rooms seem actually full of their presence and their faithful, loving friendship.”

458d9fb3b86aedc9f68eda4b9c227050

6sports

Celtics trade rumors: Brad Stevens expected to seek bench help (report)

The Celtics have gotten off to the best start in the Eastern Conference through 20 games but that isn’t expected to keep Brad Stevens quiet in the trade market according to one NBA insider. Shams Charania of Stadium spoke about what he anticipates will be Boston’s trade intentions in the weeks and months to come in an appearance on Fanduel TV on Tuesday morning. “The Celtics gave a couple of first round picks in the Jrue Holiday trade but they still have a few left over,” Charania said on Run It Back. “I expect the Celtics to be active in the trade market as we get closer to February, to try to see if they can beef up their bench rotation.” The Celtics bench has performed quite admirably in the first two months of the season given their personnel. Collectively, the group is knocking down 39.3 percent of their 3s which ranks third among benches in the NBA. The reserves are also collectively playing less than every team in the NBA so far, which is no surprise given the firepower in the starting five following the additions of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. $200 INSTANT BONUS DRAFTKINGS MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $5, GET $200 BONUS BET FANDUEL MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $50, GET $250 BONUS CAESARS MASS CLAIM OFFER $1,000 FIRST-BET BONUS BETMGM MASS CLAIM OFFER MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. However, there’s a case to be made that Boston could use a scoring boost off the bench since the second unit is collectively averaging just 25.7 points per game, which ranks 29th in the NBA through 20 games. The return of Porzingis to the lineup may help things on the front but Charania expects that to be an area that will need to be continually addressed as the team tries to tread cautiously with him given his history of injury woes. “No Kristaps Porzingis so that was a significant loss in the lineup,” Charania said. “We will see how it comes back but a strained calf, that’s something you want to be careful with given his injury history.” Ultimately, Boston has the tools to be creative in the months to come to put the finishing touches on their roster. They already have an open roster spot available along with a Grant Williams TPE worth $6.2 million. With a bevy of leftover draft picks also still in the team’s chest of assets, look for Stevens to be aggressive in trying to create a well-rounded roster that can withstand an injury or two as trade season kicks off on December 15th.

77f0f07693f3201b0f4c538486056230

4politics

Labor Dispute Closes Berlin, the Beloved Chicago Gay Bar

Berlin, a club that was a cornerstone of gay nightlife in Chicago, has closed after four decades. The bar’s owners announced that they were closing it last week after months of boycotts by workers and performers in support of a fledging union’s demands for higher wages, health insurance and improved security. “The magic that happened at 954 W. Belmont will never be recreated,” the bar said in a statement on its website. “It couldn’t be. It was a remarkable tornado of talented performers and staff, inspired friends and customers, a crazy location and a lot of dreams.” Patrons and former bartenders responded by flooding social media pages dedicated to the eccentric space with pictures and memories. “The early 90s at Berlin was a blur and an absolute blast!” one customer wrote on Facebook. The bar opened in 1983, as Chicago’s gay rights movement was coalescing around demands for more resources to address the AIDS epidemic.

5f5d627fd8a8df2b6f04a80736ea7fc8

4politics

DCR Traffic Advisory: Morrissey Blvd. rolling lane closure this week

Maureen Dahill is the editor of Caught in Southie and a lifelong resident of South Boston sometimes mistaken for a yuppie. Co-host of Caught Up, storyteller, lover of red wine and binge watching TV series. Mrs. Peter G. Follow her @MaureenCaught.

1ddbce5c20fd3c8ec18e98d927bc5a7f

3entertainment

Willie Nelsons Sense of Style

Brian Setzer’s career has been defined by a revivalist energy. First, his rockabilly group Stray Cats looked back to the rock ’n’ roll of the 1950s through the eyes of the 1980s. After the group split, he founded the Brian Setzer Orchestra, a boogie-woogie, jump blues band straddling originals and jazzed-up covers. “The Nutcracker Suite,” originally arranged for Les Brown and his Band of Renown by Frank Comstock, wasn’t the only time that the Brian Setzer Orchestra dabbled in classical rearrangements. In the 2007 album “Wolfgang’s Big Night Out,” Beethoven’s “Für Elise” became the Django Reinhardt pastiche “For Lisa,” and Johann Strauss II’s “The Blue Danube” became the bluesy swing chart “Some River in Europe.” An unlikely source brought the group’s take on Tchaikovsky into holiday tradition: Buddy, in the movie “Elf.” As the lights dim in Gimbels, the store that Buddy (Will Ferrell), has tasked himself with redecorating overnight, the Brian Setzer Orchestra trumpets strike up, playing the fanfare call from “March of the Toy Soldiers.” But what follows is not the impish, pizzicato response that usually accompanies the toys’ jolting movements: A drum kit crashes in, and snarling, swinging saxophones accompany Buddy’s commando rolls across the aisle behind a security guard. The whole arrangement pits clipped precision against swirling chaos. Drew McOnie and Cassie Kinoshi: ‘Nutcracker’

26255757c4fdafbe1ac6e854aa173b81

2culture

Warm weather delays opening for NH Ice Castles; heres the new date

Scientists have detected a poison among the spray of molecules emanating from a small moon of Saturn. That adds to existing intrigue about the possibility of life there. The poison is hydrogen cyanide, a colorless, odorless gas that is deadly to many Earth creatures. But it could have played a key role in chemical reactions that created the ingredients that set the stage for the advent of life. “It’s the starting point for most theories on the origin of life,” said Jonah Peter, a biophysics graduate student at Harvard. “It’s sort of the Swiss Army knife of prebiotic chemistry.” Thus, Mr. Peter was excited when he found hydrogen cyanide at Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn that is about 310 miles across. It has a subsurface ocean that makes it among the most promising places to look for life elsewhere in the solar system.

df16e956784f8243af1cc9b52338ec33

1crime

Car crashes into Starbucks in Wellesley, police say

WELLESLEY, Mass. — A car crashed into a Starbucks in Wellesley on Saturday afternoon, police said. Emergency responders responded to a motor vehicle crash into a Starbucks on Linden Street. No patrons or employees were struck by the vehicle, police said. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 3 Wellesley car into Starbucks (Martin, Timothy (CMG-Boston)/Wellesley Police) The occupants of the vehicle were taken by ambulance to a local hospital as a precaution, police said. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW ©2023 Cox Media Group

65a71ec0d2388941a113ebfe6be883c0

6sports

Kristaps Porzingis explains picking Celtics over free agency, money

Red Paden, who as the self-proclaimed “king of the juke joint runners” spent four decades as the owner of Red’s, an unassuming music spot in downtown Clarksdale, Miss., and one of the last places in the United States to offer authentic Delta blues in its natural setting, died on Dec. 30 in Jackson, Miss. He was 67. His son, Orlando, said the death, in a hospital, was from complications of heart surgery. Juke joints, once commonplace across the Deep South, were the loam out of which blues music grew — a vast network of shacks, old shops and converted homes where traveling musicians would play a night for a share of the cover charge, then move on to the next gig. Red’s is the quintessential example: low-ceilinged and the size of a large garage, decorated with old music posters and lighted with neon signs and string bulbs (red, of course). There is no stage at Red’s, just a well-worn carpet, enough for a singer, a guitarist and maybe a drummer. A refrigerator holds beer, and when he felt like it Mr. Paden (pronounced PAY-den) would fire up the smoker on the sidewalk and cook a mess of ribs. Informality is key.

e4c91d0c3933fd8c5b0065b70700aaae

4politics

As Congress Weighs Aid to Israel, Some Democrats Want Strings Attached

Follow live news updates on the Israel-Hamas war. Democrats in Congress are clashing with each other and the Biden administration over a push from the left that would attach conditions to an emergency infusion of security aid for Israel during its war with Hamas, the latest reflection of a growing rift within the party over support for the Jewish state. The debate is a striking departure from longstanding practice on Capitol Hill, where for decades, lawmakers have approved huge amounts of military funding for Israel with few strings attached. Now, as Israel battles Hamas in a conflict whose civilian death toll has soared, a growing number of Democrats are voicing worry about how American dollars will be used. The issue could come to a head on the Senate floor as early as next week, when Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, has said the chamber could begin work on a legislative package including the aid measure. The disagreements among Democrats simmered behind closed doors on Capitol Hill and at the White House on Tuesday. At the White House, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, huddled with roughly 20 Democratic senators who have raised concerns about how Israel might use U.S. assistance on the battlefield. Later, at a private party lunch in the Capitol, several of the same Democrats argued to their colleagues that any aid package should increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza and ensure that Israel do more to avoid civilian casualties.