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Mayor Wu administration to shun Boston City Council hearing on Mass and Cass

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

The Wu administration plans to shun a City Council hearing aimed at weighing whether a state of emergency should be declared in the Mass and Cass zone, given the Board of Health’s decision against taking such action earlier this month.There will not be any administration representatives in attendance at a Tuesday hearing that will “discuss the humanitarian crisis” at the troubled intersection, as the mayor’s team is prioritizing a Thursday hearing, where Michelle Wu’s anti-encampment ordinance will be considered, her spokesperson said.“Declaring a state of emergency, or them passing a resolution to say we should do a state of emergency is largely symbolic,” a Wu spokesperson told the Herald, referring to the resolution put forward by City Councilor Erin Murphy, who is chairing Tuesday’s hearing on the matter.“The ordinance which is going to be discussed at a hearing on Thursday provides an actionable tangible path forward for dealing with the crisis at Mass and Cass.”Murphy, who als...

English High students in wheelchairs deserve to enter school without dodging the dumpster, city councilor says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

After a nearly year-long push for a truly accessible entrance, English High students in wheelchairs are still dropped off bumping through the school’s dumpster and delivery side door.“As a 24-year special ed teacher, I know that it’s a simple thing for facilities to fix, but it could make a huge difference every day for these kids,” said City Councilor Erin Murphy. “Just showing that that city actually cares. This is embarrassing.”This issue was initially brought before her and other city leadership on Oct. 12, 2022, Murphy said, when a non-verbal English High student in a wheelchair requested help at a Civic Engagement Day event.“He was saying he would like either the dumpster moved or the polls moved because it’s hard for his teachers when they get off the wheelchair bus to lift them over the ramp and into the building,” said Murphy.The small side entrance is visibly partially blocked by poles and a dumpster. Custodians, Murphy...

Boston gets new MBTA board member, Wu says T is in ‘very, very dire’ place

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu appointed climate advocate Mary Skelton Roberts to Boston’s first-ever seat on the MBTA Board of Directors on Monday — a long-awaited step in the midst of what Wu called a “very, very dire place” for the T.“With her passion and expertise in transportation policy, deep involvement in community and daily experience as a regular T rider, Mary will work closely with our team to ensure that Boston residents are fully represented in building the transit system our communities deserve,” Wu said in a city announcement.The MBTA governing board is made up of the Secretary of Transportation and eight members, six of whom are appointed by the governor. After years of advocating, Boston won the right to appoint one member to the board and gain a direct voice in governing the region’s public transit in the most recent state budget.The mayor opened up a public call for comment on the selection process in August — with over 150 peopl...

Boston Mayor Wu flipped on police intel funding after gang database was cleaned up

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said new leadership at the city’s police department and efforts to clear names that were no longer relevant from its gang database caused her to change her earlier view, and support funding for BPD’s investigative arm.The flip-flop has the support of the city’s largest police union, but has been criticized by criminal justice advocates, feedback that the mayor addressed on a Monday radio appearance.“There were lots of questions about the gang database, how it was being used to potentially feed information to further a school-to-deportation or school-to-prison pipeline,” Wu said on WBUR’s Radio Boston. “I did not believe that the gang database in its form at that point with the structures there should continue because it was causing active harm.”As a city councilor, Wu said she opted to vote against an $850,000 grant for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, based on a recommendation from then-City Councilor and current Attorney General Andrea Campbell, wh...

Robbins: Arming Ukraine costly, and our only option

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

In late 1940, Nazi Germany had successfully subjugated virtually all of Europe in barely a year’s time, and turned its eyes to rolling over England, first by bombing it to smithereens and cutting off its shipping and then by invading it if required.Still recovering from the Great Depression and unpersuaded that Hitler’s aggression was any of our business, Americans were tepid at best about lifting a finger to help the United Kingdom, out of cash and staring defeat in the face, defend itself against the Third Reich. Begging for help from its last and only hope, Churchill implored the United States famously “Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job.”Tens of millions of Americans were unmoved, and did not see that what seemed to be Europe’s war threatened the entire world order, and that playing ostrich was no substitute for paying attention to history.President Franklin Roosevelt, who had secured a third term by promising that American sons would not fight overseas again, devised a ...

Ousted pot boss O’Brien lawyers up; treasury won’t explain suspension

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

The sidelined chair of the state’s Cannabis Control Commission has secured legal representation while the treasurer still won’t divulge what’s happening.Pot boss Shannon O’Brien was suddenly removed from her $181,722 post by state Treasurer Deb Goldberg on Sept. 14 and suspended, with pay, with no reason given. Even as that situation plays out behind closed doors, O’Brien has hired high-profile legal counsel from the Boston law firm Todd & Weld, the Herald has learned.“I can confirm that we represent Shannon. No further comment for now,” founding partner Howard Cooper said in a Monday morning email.A spokesperson for the Treasurer did not provide an update on O’Brien’s suspension more than a week after the former gubernatorial candidate was temporarily removed from her job and ordered to hand in her laptop and commission identification.“This remains a personnel matter and we will not be providing any further comment,” the spokesperson said.In the chairwoman’s a...

EXPLAINER: What is saltwater intrusion and how is it affecting Louisiana’s drinking water?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — For months, residents in the southeast corner of Louisiana have relied on bottled water for drinking and cooking, with the water from the faucet coming out salty. Plaquemines Parish Councilman Mark “Hobbo” Cognevich, who represents the affected area, said grocery stores are constantly having to restock plastic water bottles, neighbors have reported getting rashes after showering, and, overall, the community is “fed up” with the situation. “We are praying for rain,” Cognevich said. That is a sentiment echoed by officials across the state, as the drought-stricken Mississippi River’s flow is low and slow, allowing for salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to intrude upstream and threaten communities’ drinking supplies. But with little precipitation in the forecast, officials are now hastily preparing for if and when the salt water will reach the state’s most populous city — New Orleans. WHAT IS SALTWATER INTRUSION AND HOW DID IT HAPPEN?Typically, the mighty flow of...

Murder suspect who removed monitoring device arrested by TPS Fugitive Squad

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

Toronto police say a man who was charged with murder but went missing after removing an ankle monitoring device has been arrested.Prince Charles, 27, of Toronto, is now back in custody, charged with failing to comply with a release order, police said in a release Monday night.Charles was initially arrested in Windsor on May 18, 2021 for first-degree murder.On September 5 he allegedly removed his monitoring device in the area of Allen Road and Lawrence Avenue West and was briefly at large before the Fugitive Squad tracked him down. 

2 Puerto Rican men plead guilty to federal hate crime involving slain transgender woman

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two men in Puerto Rico on Monday pleaded guilty of conspiring to commit a hate crime involving a transgender woman who was killed more than three years ago.The men were accused of threatening and using a paintball gun to shoot at the victim, whom police identified as Alexa Negrón Luciano. The men had recognized her from social media posts involving an incident in which Negrón had used the women’s bathroom at a fast-food restaurant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.The incident occurred Feb. 24, 2020 after midnight in the northern coastal town of Toa Baja.Negrón later was found dead from bullet wounds. No one has been charged in the killing.A sentencing date for the men has not been scheduled.The Associated Press

Trump admires a Glock handgun – but stops short of buying – as he campaigns in South Carolina

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:28 GMT

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump stopped by a gun shop and toured a boat manufacturer in South Carolina Monday, ramping up his in-person campaign after a weekend online threatening the media, making multiple accusations of treason and urging congressional Republicans to go ahead and shut down the government.He also claimed he could design a better fighter jet than the military.The Republican presidential front-runner, who has spent far less time on the campaign trail than his leading rivals, began his trip to small-town Summerville with a meet-and-greet with volunteers at a local campaign office and a visit to a local gun store, where he admired a Glock handgun and posed for photos.“I want to buy one,” Trump said, according to video of the stop.Spokesman Steven Cheung posted that the former president, who is currently under federal indictment, had purchased the weapon during his visit to Palmetto State Armory, but later deleted the post on the social media site...