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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.

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3entertainment

Mass. State Lottery winner: Lucky customer at Lucky Farms in Worcester wins $100,000

On the Friday before Christmas morning, a lucky customer at Lucky Farms Smoke Shop in Worcester won $100,000 in the Massachusetts State Lottery. The winning $100,000 ticket was from the “300X” scratch ticket game, which still has 68 prizes valued at $100,000 remaining as of Dec. 23. There are also six $1 million prizes out of an original eight possible, and none of the game’s three $15 million prizes have been claimed. The winning ticket was sold at Lucky Farms Smoke Shop in Worcester at 759 Grafton St. Overall, there were at least 588 lottery prizes worth $600 or more won or claimed in Massachusetts on Friday, including seven in Springfield, six in Boston and 11 in Worcester. The Massachusetts State Lottery releases a full list of all the winning tickets each day. The list only includes winning tickets worth more than $600. The two largest lottery prizes won in the state of Massachusetts so far in 2023 were $33 million and $31 million Mega Millions jackpot prizes. The tickets were each sold a week apart. The $33 million ticket for the Tuesday, Jan. 24 drawing was purchased from a Stop & Shop in Belchertown. The winner came forward to claim the prize on March 1 through the Skylark Group Trust. The $31 million Mega Millions jackpot ticket was won on Jan. 31. The winning ticket was bought in Woburn from a Gibbs gas station, and the winner claimed the prize on March 8 through S & L Trust.

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1crime

Man stabbed with knife outside Kowloon Restaurant in Saugus dies at hospital

Officials have not provided a motive for Rakesh Kamal, the 57-year-old Dover man they believe killed his wife and daughter late last month, but public documents indicate that the family had been struggling financially the last few years. On Tuesday, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office released initial autopsy results which confirmed that Teena Kamal and her daughter, 18-year-old Middlebury College student Arianna Kamal, died of gunshot wounds, and that their manner of death was homicide. The autopsy found that Rakesh Kamal died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to federal court documents, 54-year-old Teena Kamal filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in September 2022. Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows people with a regular income who can’t pay their debts to keep their property while proposing a repayment plan. The documents list both Teena Kamal’s assets and liabilities as being between $1 and $10 million. They also indicate that the court filed an order to dismiss the bankruptcy case in October 2022 after she failed to file the necessary paperwork or pay the filing fees. Additionally, property records indicate that the family missed mortgage payments for their property at 8 Wilson’s Way in Dover, which included five acres of land and an 11-bedroom mansion. It was sold at auction for $3 million to the Kamals’ mortgage lender, Massachusetts-based Wilsondale Associates, late last year. Even so, the Kamals were apparently still living in the Wilson’s Way mansion when they were killed. Dover police officers found them dead from gunshot wounds in the home on Dec. 28 after a concerned relative called 911. According to public records, the Kamals bought the Wilson Way in early 2019. That same year, Rakesh Kamal stopped working as the managing director and chief technology officer for Harvard Business School Online — a position he’d held since 2015, according to Harvard Business School. In December 2023, Rakesh “Rick” Kamal was listed on the website of EduNova, a Marlborough-based education technology company, as the organization’s president, and Teena Kamal was listed as its chief operating officer. According to The Boston Globe, the website launched in 2016, but was involuntarily dissolved in December 2021. Businesses can be involuntarily dissolved for several reasons, including failing to file annual reports with the Secretary of State’s office, failing to file tax returns with the Commissioner of Revenue or failing pay requisite taxes, according to state documents. Even so, EduNova’s website was still active as recently as August 2023, according to the internet archives. According to Rakesh Kamal’s biography on EduNova’s website, he had “more than 20 years of experience leading large companies” and was a graduate of Boston University, MIT’s Sloan School of Management and Stanford University. According to Teena Kamal’s biography on the website, she was also a Harvard alum and used to work for Fidelity Investments.

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4politics

Fan favorite chef makes UMass Dining feel like a part of home through omelets

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. Of the hundreds of faces who make up UMass Amherst’s award winning dining program, for many, one of the most familiar and beloved is Joanne Keller — who helps run the breakfast omelet station at the campus’ Hampshire Dining Commons. Keller, dubbed the “Omelet Lady,” had been a staple of the dining hall’s omelet making crew for over a decade, when in July 2020 at the age of 65 and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she announced her retirement. She took a year-and-a-half long hiatus before — spurred on by messages asking and encouraging her to come back — she returned to the position in a part time role in late 2021. Two years later, and nearing 15 years in UMass Dining, Keller is back a handful of days per week whipping up eggs and preparing omelets to students’ hearts and desires. “It’s great because I get to work really a couple days a week and interact with the students and cook a few omelets and help out my co-workers,” Keller said. When she is on — typically Tuesday and Thursday mornings — her and her team’s omelets are still in pretty high demand, according to Keller. Balancing about 10 burners at the breakfast station, Keller is usually overseeing five of them at a time as lines of hungry students form, grow and steady during the rush typically from around 8:30 to 10 a.m. She estimates that in an normal day she makes somewhere around 200 omelets, adding that the “Hamp” omelet station goes through about 15 to 18 cases of eggs per day. With 144 eggs per case, the numbers quickly tally up to the thousands. For Keller, the secret to her success is not only her down pat omelet-making formula, but also the bonds she forms over time with students she meets as she prepares their meals. “After a while you get to know their names and what omelet [they like],” Keller said. “Now, I’m getting to see the same kids all the time, so I form a bond with them and they like that personal touch.” Keller said for some students, having that familiar face in the dining hall who knows their go-to order makes them feel like the UMass campus is more “a part of home,” even if they haven’t been back to their actual homes all semester — particularly for international students coming from abroad. The kind feelings between Keller and the students she serves are often mutual, with students even inviting her to their events and giving her shoutouts when they see her. She said a group of women’s rowers at UMass recently invited her to join them and their coaches on a boat out on the Connecticut River early one morning, only for several of the girls line up for one of her famous omelets the next day. “I really like the interaction with the kids and I see them out and about at the hockey games and the sporting events,” Keller said. “I feel like I’m appreciated, but I appreciate them for all their kindnesses.” UMass Dining on MassLive TikTok: Across her career in UMass Dining, Keller has had the opportunity to interact and form friendships with many students who’ve passed through the dining halls but in particular the student athletes who often come to fuel up in the mornings before trainings and workouts. She can count the likes of current NHL player Cale Makar — a former star UMass hockey player and now a defenseman on the Colorado Avalanche — as well as NFL player Andy Isabella — a former UMass Minutemen wide receiver and a now a member of the Buffalo Bills — among her connections. Joanne Keller, a beloved omelet cook at UMass Amherst, poses with former student and current NHL star Cale Makar. Keller announced her retirement in July 2020 but returned to UMass in Nov. 2021. (Courtesy Joanne Keller) She said she has also had the chance to cook breakfast for the school’s new chancellor, Javier Reyes. So what goes into Keller’s famous omelets? In a recent visit to UMass by MassLive, Keller demonstrated her process. Keller said to start, one needs a good non-stick pan, and usually she’ll begin by sautéing any meat or vegetables going into the omelet to warm them up and crisp them with flavor before pouring in the raw eggs. The liquid egg batter will slowly solidify around the outer edges first and with a “fish turner” spatula in hand, Keller will raise up the sides of the forming omelet to cook away the any runny eggs. Once sufficiently cooked on one face, Keller then flips the omelet up into the air in a controlled motion and lands it on the other side to ensure the other face gets cooked thoroughly. She flips it one more time and then adds a handful of shredded cheese to melt in the middle before folding and serving. The whole process takes about five to seven minutes per omelet, and Keller noted that students who in a time pinch will sometimes ask for an egg scramble, which have become more popular for her and her team to prepare since they are generally less time intensive. Despite coming out of retirement for part time work, Keller said she still faced some uncertainty about her longterm future with UMass Dining due to problems walking and standing she experienced prior to a hip replacement surgery in January. Post-surgery, Keller said she feels like “a new person,” with a new spring to her step. “So, I don’t see me leaving anytime soon,” Keller said. “It’s been really fun and I’ll just do it as long as I can.” Related Content:

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1crime

Springfield shooting leaves 1 injured, 2 with criminal histories under arrest

SPRINGFIELD – Two men accused of shooting another man in the leg early Thursday morning were tracked down by police and arrested on a variety of charges. Both men have a long list of convictions and one was recently arrested for assault with a dangerous weapon and was out on bail in a case from Northampton District Court. Police Superintendent Cheryl C. Clapprood expressed frustration with the fact that the men were in the community. “This happens daily in our world and somewhere, sometime, someone has to come out and say bad, evil, convicted repeat felons have to be held in jail so injuries don’t happen to innocent people, my people, my K-9s,” Clapprood said. “Let’s start doing the right thing as a society. You demand a lot from us, let’s start demanding a lot from the courts,” she said. The victim, who was brought to Baystate Medical Center by a private vehicle, was treated for injuries that are not life-threatening, said Ryan Walsh, police spokesman. The shooting took place at about 1:50 a.m. on Dickinson Street between the intersection of Orange Street and Marengo Park. Police responded following a ShotSpotter activation and found evidence of the shooting, Walsh said. Crime analysts with the department were able to identify a vehicle believed to have been involved in the shooting that was recorded on city cameras. Officers later spotted the car and tried to stop the driver at about 2:45 a.m. He sped away, but crashed a short distance away on Longhill Street, Walsh said. Men arrested Police arrested the driver, Antonio Vega, and Julio Nunez-Jimenez, both 24, of Springfield, on a variety of charges. They include possession of a large-capacity firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a Class B drug, Walsh said. After the arrest, officers searched the car and found crack cocaine and two firearms, including an unlawful ghost gun capable of holding 14 rounds of ammunition, he said. Vega was recently arrested for assault with a dangerous weapon and is out on bail in a case from Northampton District Court. He has been convicted of heroin trafficking on firearms offenses in the past, Clapprood said. Nunez-Jimenez has two previous firearms convictions and was recently released from prison, she said. This is the second shooting in Springfield in the first four days of 2024. Last year 31 people were killed, mostly by gunfire, which was an all-time high for the city. Both shooting victims are expected to recover from their injuries.

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6sports

Former Patriots assistant calls Mac Jones unlikable; Teammates comments say otherwise

Mac Jones has struggled this season, to say the least. But one former Patriots assistant believes his teammates aren’t a fan of him for reasons beyond his play. “You can see there’s a disdain for him,” Michael Lombardi, who worked under Bill Belichick from 2016-16, said on the latest episode of the “GM Shuffle” podcast. “Like you can see there’s no sense of energy, there’s no, ‘Hey, he’s my guy, I love this guy.’ No, no. ... He blames everybody through his body language, through his mechanics.” “... Nobody wants to hang out with Mac Jones. Nobody wants to hang out with him. You can see it on these teams. So when you see a bad quarterback like (Tommy) DeVito — they’ll hang out with him,” he later added. “They’ll go over to his house and have chicken parm. They like him. He’s no good. They like him, though. And I think that’s where we lose sight of it a little bit when we’re evaluating these quarterbacks. Because what is the likability of the player?” $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. There’s been reports throughout the season that Jones lost the locker room and there isn’t a whole lot of belief in him. Neither Jones nor his teammates have said as much. And, up until this week, he’s remained the starting quarterback. Even though Bailey Zappe looks poised to start Week 13 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Jones’ teammates have had nothing but positive things to say about the quarterback despite his regression this season. Tight end Mike Gesicki, who stayed at Jones’ house during the offseason, told reporters Wednesday the quarterback is “the same guy” he met when he first signed with the Patriots. “I’ll never have anything negative to say about Mac. He’s the same guy that reached out to me the day I signed here. He’s the same guy that had me over to his house,” Gesicki said. “The same guy that’s led us through good and led us through adversity. He deserves a ton of credit for the way that he handles himself, the way he goes about his process, how he prepares and I can’t say enough good things about him.” JuJu Smith-Schuster said Jones has been “very supportive of everyone” and had a positive attitude despite everything going on in terms of likely losing the starting job to Zappe. Lombardi’s comments might be more personal than anything. There’s no doubting Jones has struggled. But even if he doesn’t have the locker room, you’d never know from how the players are talking.

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4politics

Ukraine Hits Major Russian Warship, but Loses Ground in the East

Ukraine scored a major success on Tuesday when it struck a Russian warship at port in Crimea, one of the most significant attacks against Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet in months. But in another setback for their ground campaign, Ukrainian officials acknowledged that they had all but retreated from the eastern city of Marinka after a monthslong battle to defend it. The two developments underscored the diverging fortunes of the two combatants this winter in a war that has largely settled into a deadlock: Ukraine racking up naval successes in the Black Sea and Crimea, where it is putting Russia on the defensive, and Russia pressing its attack on battlefields in the east after blunting a Ukrainian counteroffensive. A day after Russia said it had taken complete control of Marinka, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military commander, spoke in sober terms about the fight, comparing it to the scorched-earth battle for Bakhmut, the eastern city that fell to Russia in May. Like Bakhmut, Marinka held limited strategic value, but is now a trophy in ruins for Moscow. “The situation is exactly the same as it was in Bakhmut,” General Zaluzhny said at a news conference. “Street by street, block by block, and our soldiers were being targeted. And the result is what it is.”

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0business

Restaurant News for the Week Ending November 26, 2023

Blog Archive November (45) October (63) September (55) August (62) July (56) June (52) May (56) April (58) March (53) February (49) January (48) December (57) November (46) October (52) September (37) August (51) July (53) June (58) May (45) April (49) March (43) February (50) January (54) December (49) November (42) October (48) September (53) August (55) July (64) June (60) May (68) April (66) March (56) February (61) January (51) December (61) November (67) October (87) September (79) August (84) July (82) June (84) May (73) April (74) March (74) February (50) January (66) December (56) November (53) October (70) September (73) August (60) July (86) June (73) May (91) April (64) March (53) February (49) January (79) December (50) November (55) October (46) September (48) August (57) July (46) June (55) May (48) April (49) March (54) February (50) January (52) December (45) November (55) October (56) September (57) August (65) July (47) June (67) May (54) April (64) March (72) February (49) January (58) December (52) November (72) October (60) September (82) August (59) July (64) June (61) May (67) April (65) March (78) February (66) January (72) December (90) November (58) October (71) September (58) August (67) July (68) June (67) May (69) April (58) March (58) February (39) January (49) December (45) November (36) October (48) September (64) August (59) July (58) June (62) May (70) April (72) March (67) February (52) January (68) December (45) November (68) October (68) September (59) August (67) July (53) June (68) May (66) April (63) March (71) February (49) January (60) December (43) November (39) October (74) September (62) August (69) July (86) June (60) May (84) April (71) March (96) February (70) January (82) December (62) November (62) October (66) September (81) August (71) July (61) June (55) May (67) April (46) March (53) February (43) January (54) December (46) November (38) October (46) September (57) August (71) July (73) June (75) May (48) April (44) March (59) February (46) January (36) December (45) November (45) October (41) September (46) August (36) July (40) June (48) May (38) April (35) March (30) February (26) January (30) December (22) November (26) October (34) September (26) August (16) July (17) June (19) May (19) April (12) March (14) February (13) January (26) December (21) November (16) October (14) September (15) August (15) July (17) June (16) May (15) April (11) March (13) February (12) January (11) December (16) November (30) October (28) September (23) August (7) July (6) June (7) May (2) April (1) March (2) February (2) January (2) December (2) November (2) October (1) September (1) August (2) July (3) June (4) May (1) April (1) February (2)

3a10bd3b7d27b9ced849b2b82d506684

0business

Bondis Island workers say theyre doing public works construction, deserve more money under prevailing wage law

When the Celtics were looking to extend the game against the Hornets on Monday, there appeared to be a critical call in the final moments of overtime. Jayson Tatum strolled to the line with a chance to tie the game with 5.2 seconds left. They were down three points, but Tatum had three free throws. But Tatum missed the final game-tying free throw, which was rebounded by Miles Bridges. Jrue Holiday immediately fouled him, but the officials didn’t recognize the call until there was 1.7 seconds left on the clock. So there appeared to be some valuable time that came off the clock for the C’s. 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. That was indeed the case, according to the NBA’s Last 2 Minute report. While the call was correct in calling Holiday for the take foul, the report noted the foul occurred at the 3.2-second mark and not 1.7, so the Celtics lost out on a 1.5 seconds there. The report also shows that Holiday fouled Brandon Miller going for the initial rebound at 5.2 seconds left, but the officials missed that call, as well. At the time of the foul, it was a one-point game with 1.7 seconds left. The Hornets got to inbound the ball again, which led to Gordon Hayward getting two free throws but taking the clock down to 0.8 seconds left. After Hayward stretched it to a three-point game, the C’s took timeout to advance the ball and looking for the tie. As the report noted, the C’s should’ve had 2.3 seconds left instead of 0.8 seconds. The Hornets went on to beat the Celtics 121-118 on Monday. Regardless of the clock malfunction, the Celtics had multiple chances to win Monday’s game in crunch time. They were just unable to do so. Holiday had a chance to ice the game with free throws at the end of regulation, but he missed both shots, allowing the Hornets to force overtime. Jaylen Brown had a few tough decisions down the stretch. There were other miscues from the Celtics in the loss. The defeat snapped the Celtics’ six-game losing streak as they fell to 11-3 on the season. The clock issue was tough, but the C’s had their opportunity put away the pesky home team. Now, the Celtics will host the Bucks in a marquee East showdown at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at TD Garden.

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2culture

Westfield Intermediate School showcases student leadership team, activities

WESTFIELD — At the School Committee meeting on Dec. 18, Westfield Intermediate School Principal Gregory Miller introduced some of the students in the newly formed peer leadership club to talk about their school. Miller said the idea for the club came from reading interventionist Joann Roselli, the peer leadership club adviser, who asked what could be done for the students who have been achieving academically, doing the right thing in the classroom and who show a lot of potential for leadership. He said teachers in the school selected 25 sixth graders to form the club to learn some leadership skills and use them to help other students in the school.

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4politics

Springfield Police Officer Gregg Bigda off payroll after POST upholds decertification

SPRINGFIELD — City Police Officer Gregg Bigda is once again off the city’s payroll after the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission upheld his decertification in a decision released late Monday. The commission — most commonly known as POST — was created by the state as a watchdog to decide whether law enforcement officers can remain on their respective forces in the face of allegations of wrongdoing.

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6sports

Patriots make series of moves ahead of Broncos game

With several starters already ruled out, and several more listed as “questionable” the Patriots made a series of roster moves ahead of Sunday night’s game with the Denver Broncos. With tight end and leading receiver Hunter Henry out, missing his first game as a Patriot, the Patriots elevated Matt Sokol from the practice squad. He’ll provide some depth alongside Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown. 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. Sokol hasn’t appeared in any games this season, save for the preseason. Last year, he spent the entire season on the practice squad, but was elevated in three games. Cornerback Breon Borders was also elevated. With J.C. Jackson’s season over - he was placed on the non-football illness list earlier in the week - and Jonathon Jones nursing a knee injury, the Patriots need some insurance. Myles Bryant, Shaun Wade and Alex Austin are healthy. Borders, who has been with 12 different teams, was signed to the Patriots practice squad in September. In other moves, offensive tackle Conor McDermott was placed on IR. His season is over. He left the Chiefs game early after suffering a head injury. To fill that roster spot, the Patriots signed C/G James Ferentz to the 53-man roster. Starting left tackle Trent Brown (ankle, hand) is listed as questionable for the game. If Brown doesn’t play, Vederian Lowe would be the likely starter in the Christmas Eve game against the Broncos. As for Denver, the Broncos elevated two players to the active roster, including former Patriot Ronnie Perkins, who was signed from New England’s practice squad on Sept. 18. Perkins, a 2021 third round pick of the Patriots, has seen action in five games this season, totaling eight tackles (6 solo), including two tackles for loss. 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.

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1crime

Accused tire slasher who hobbled Springfield mayors car arrested by city police

SPRINGFIELD — A man caught on surveillance video outside City Hall slashing all four of Mayor Domenic Sarno’s tires on Wednesday afternoon has been arrested. Steven H. Kostorizos, 55, was identified by police as the man accused of slashing the mayor’s tires, about two weeks after he also smashed the glass in a door at City Hall.

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4politics

How a Russian Barrage Evaded Ukraines Defenses to Wreak Deadly Chaos

For months, Ukraine’s use of powerful Western-supplied air-defense systems to repel Russian missile attacks has provided its citizens with some reassurance that a protective shield was effectively in place over big cities such as the capital, Kyiv. On Friday, that shield partly cracked. In one of the biggest air assaults of the war, Russia launched so many missiles that the Ukrainian defenses seem to have been overloaded. Faced with a complex barrage of different airborne weapons, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down only 87 of the 122 missiles fired by Moscow, about 70 percent of the total, with all hypersonic missiles and many ballistic missiles evading interception. Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the research group Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, was blunt. “It overwhelmed Ukrainian air defenses,” he said. To be sure, air defenses are imperfect and the magnitude of the barrage played an important part in the number of missiles to slip through. But the bombardment also showed how Russia has learned the best ways to evade Ukraine’s air defenses and hit the country hard, military experts and Ukrainian officials said.

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5science

Vitamin D deficiency? How winter sunlight affects our health

Sign up for The Meltdown, a weekly newsletter highlighting the latest apocalyptic dramas, debunking climate myths, and sharing sustainability hacks, all while arming you with information to hold polluters and the government accountable. Enter your email to subscribe. The stifling heat inside some warehouses where workers might spend 10-hour days isn’t just a summer problem. In Southern California, it can feel like summer all year. It’s easy to break into a sweat and grow tired, workers say. The ventilation feels inconsistent, they say, and workers have testified in a public hearing about nosebleeds, nausea and dizziness. In some warehouses, the walk to find a place to cool down is at least half a mile. “We are in constant motion. Throughout the day, my shirt is soaked in sweat three to four times,” said Sara Fee, a former worker at an Amazon warehouse in San Bernardino, California, who testified before a state workplace safety board in May. “I have been nauseous, dizzy.” As the climate warms and the threat of extreme heat spreads, California is poised to protect people who work in poorly ventilated warehouses, steamy restaurant kitchens and other indoor job sites where temperatures can soar to potentially dangerous levels. The state has had heat standards on the books for outdoor workers since 2005 and indoor workplaces are next. Only two other states — Minnesota and Oregon — have adopted heat rules for indoor workers, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Nationally, legislation has stalled in Congress and, even though the Biden administration has initiated the long process of establishing national heat standards for outdoor and indoor work, the rules are likely to take years to finalize. If California adopts its proposal in the spring, businesses would be required to cool worksites below 87 degrees Fahrenheit when employees are present and below 82 degrees in places where workers wear protective clothing or are exposed to radiant heat, such as furnaces. If businesses are unable to lower the temperatures, they must provide workers with water, breaks, areas where they can cool down, cooling vests or other means to keep employees from overheating. “It is only getting hotter every year,” said Alice Berliner, director of the Worker Health & Safety Program at the University of California-Merced. “Having protections for both indoor and outdoor workers, it empowers someone to feel like they can ask for access to drinking water and access to a break when they feel like they’re hot.” Neither workers nor businesses are satisfied with the plan. Some businesses fear they won’t be able to meet the requirements, even with the flexibility the regulation offers. Workers argue buildings should be kept even cooler. Heat stress can lead to heat exhaustion, heatstroke, cardiac arrest and kidney failure. In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,600 heat-related deaths, which is likely an undercount because health care providers are not required to report them. It’s not clear how many of these deaths are related to work, either indoors or outdoors. In California, 20 workers died from heat between 2010 and 2017, seven of them because of indoor heat, according to the Rand Corp., which analyzed the state’s proposed indoor heat rules. After a record-breaking heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in 2021, Oregon in 2022 adopted protections for indoor workers that trigger when temperatures hit 80 degrees. Minnesota’s threshold temperatures range from 77 degrees to 86 degrees, depending on the type of work. The sheer size of California’s workforce, estimated at about 18 million, could usher in changes for the rest of country, said Juanita Constible, senior climate and health advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “As California goes, so goes the nation on so many things,” she said. California regulators have crafted the indoor rules to complement the state’s protections for outdoor workers. Those say that when temperatures exceed 80 degrees, employers must provide shade and observe workers for signs of heat illness. At or above 95 degrees, they must come up with ways to prevent heat illness, such as reducing work hours or providing additional breaks. Colorado, Oregon and Washington also have rules for outdoor workers. The California Occupational Safety and Standards Board, which is charged with setting worker protections, is weighing the regulation that would require employers to cool their buildings with air conditioning, fans, misters, and other methods when the temperature or the heat index hits 82 or 87. Some employees would be exempt from the rule, including employees who work remotely and those involved in emergency operations. The board is expected to vote on the rules in March and they would take effect by this summer, board Chief Counsel Autumn Gonzalez said. Workers say buildings should be cooler than the proposed temperatures, especially in warehouses, food-processing plants and other places where employees routinely move and lift. These temperature thresholds “are too high,” said Robert Moreno, a UPS driver in San Diego who told the board in May that he has spent most of his life working in warehouses. At the proposed temperatures, it’s too hot to sit outside and eat lunch, let alone work inside a building that’s been baking in the sun all day, he said. “Most of these warehouses are sheet metal, zero to no airflow.” At the Amazon facility in San Bernardino where Fee worked, company spokesperson Steve Kelly said the building is air-conditioned and outfitted with ceiling fans, and workers are encouraged to take cooldown breaks anytime they need to. “We’ve seen the positive impacts of an effective heat-mitigation program and believe all employers should be held to the same standard,” said Kelly, who declined to say whether the company supports the California proposal. The temperature inside the 658,000-square-foot building hasn’t risen above 78 degrees, Kelly said. Regulators have acknowledged that some businesses won’t be able to cool their workplaces, such as laundries or restaurant kitchens, where commercial boilers, ovens and fryers operate, and have offered them the option of giving workers cooldown areas and other relief. But those solutions aren’t always feasible, Katie Davey, former legislative director of the California Restaurant Association, told the board in May. For instance, there isn’t room for a cooldown area in many small restaurants, she said. And lowering temperatures in a kitchen could put restaurants in violation of food safety laws that require food to be heated to specific temperatures, she added. “We are concerned that the proposed indoor-heat illness regulations may conflict with regulations which affect our ability to heat and hold food to the necessary temperatures to protect the public health from foodborne illness,” Davey said. California regulators have spent years drafting their proposal and it appears unlikely they will lower the threshold temperatures of 82 degrees and 87 degrees. Doing so would increase the number of businesses that have to comply and the cost, triggering a new review that would delay the regulation’s release, said Eric Berg, deputy chief of health and research and standards at California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which would enforce the regulation. “I think that the threshold should be lowered, in general,” said board member Laura Stock, at the May meeting. “But equally, if not, more importantly, is that we don’t hold the process up so that we can get a standard in place as quickly as possible.” The urgency comes, in part, because of federal inaction. Legislation has stalled in Congress to require OSHA to publish an emergency rule to enact temporary standards for all workers while the agency pursues a permanent standard. The bill is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House, which hasn’t favored regulations on business. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), a co-sponsor of that bill, said the situation has become dire in his state. In June, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law eliminating existing local ordinances in Austin, Dallas and other cities that required employers to give outdoor construction workers water breaks. “As the climate worsens and as summers get hotter, we should be doing more to protect workers, rather than taking their rights away,” Casar told KFF Health News. “Too often, worker protection rules have been allowed to die a slow death in a prolonged rulemaking process and we can’t let that happen here.” This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. This story also ran on CNN. It can be republished for free.

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4politics

Representative urges Boston City Council to accept $13 million federal antiterrorism grant

A spokesperson for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said Friday that the mayor will refile the grant for the council’s approval before the body’s first full meeting of the year, set for the end of the month. The City Council voted 6 to 6 to reject the grant in December, blocking funding meant for the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, which comprises Boston and eight neighboring municipalities, including Brookline, which is part of Auchincloss’ district. US Representative Jake Auchincloss sent a letter to Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune on Thursday, urging members to accept more than $13 million in federal antiterrorism funding he described as crucial “considering heightened threats of terrorism fueled by antisemitism and anti-Zionism.” Advertisement In the letter sent Thursday evening, Auchincloss, who is Jewish and a Democrat, urged the council to approve the funding when it is brought back in front of the body. “The Israel-Hamas War has heightened our region’s need for counter-terrorism security measures,” Auchincloss wrote. “Greater Boston is a national hub for the Jewish community. As antisemitism proliferates, counter-terrorism funding is more pertinent than ever. Impeding its disbursement could undermine the trust of Greater Boston’s Jewish community.” The US Department of Homeland Security grants the funds annually to the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, which includes Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop. The grant has been in existence for more than 20 years, and was originally formed in response to the Sept. 11 attacks so local, state, and federal government agencies could more efficiently collaborate and share information, according to Shumeane Benford, Boston’s chief of emergency management. Boston was established as the administrator and fiduciary for the region, and is responsible for approving and then distributing the funds. Last year, Brookline used the funds for “personnel training, technology upgrades, new public safety vehicles, and community preparedness measures,” Auchincloss stated in the letter, adding that the grant is designated for cities with a high risk of terrorism activity, and has historically been approved unanimously by the council. Advertisement At the Dec. 13 City Council meeting, Councilor Michael Flaherty introduced the grant by stating its importance to Boston specifically, considering the city’s past history of external threats. “It’s not lost on us that September 11 was launched at Logan, and that we had the Marathon bombing,” Flaherty said. “There have been a number of incidents we have been dealing with as a city.” However, six councilors voted against accepting the grant over concerns about the police intelligence-gathering operation known as the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, or BRIC, which would receive at least part of the funds. The council approved other controversial BRIC grants last year, despite opposition from some councilors over the center’s gang database and concerns about racial profiling. Louijeune, who is currently council president, said in the December meeting she would be voting no because “we need more community conversation” before the grant could be accepted. Louijeune was not immediately available for comment on Friday. Auchincloss slammed the council for the December vote in Thursday’s letter, saying the $13.3 million in funding is urgently needed. He cited recent congressional testimony by FBI director Christopher Wray, who said he sees “blinking lights” — terror threats — “everywhere,” and is “especially concerned about the possibility of Hamas supporters engaging in violence on the group’s behalf.” Advertisement Auchincloss also expressed concern over preliminary data collected by the Anti-Defamation League, which indicate that reports of antisemitic incidents have “skyrocketed” since Oct. 7. In an interview with the Globe, Benford said he is optimistic the council will ultimately approve the funds, under the mayor’s leadership. All the mayor’s endorsed candidates won their races in the November election, significantly shifting the makeup of the council. Benford was confident in the meantime that there will be no impact on safety or security in the region as a result of the delay. Last year, the council did not approve the grant until the end of January. “If there was an unlikely scenario where these funds would not be accepted, period, then we would have issues and concerns,” said Benford. “This is really about sustaining the capacity of working long term, but in the short term, there can be no question that we have full capacity to be able to respond to threats based on capacity that we built up.” Globe correspondent Alexa Coultoff contributed to this report. Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold.

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2culture

Dear Annie: What are you grateful for this holiday season? Count the ways

Dear Readers: As we enter into this holiday season with Thanksgiving starting tomorrow, it is a good time to start to live in the “gratitude flow” with life. When we are grateful for big and little things, we are actively and purposefully living a more grounded life. What we appreciate is appreciated. The best way to do this is to start practicing gratitude at the beginning and end of each day. When you first wake up in the morning, try to think of five things that you are grateful for. Then, when you are getting ready for bed, think of five more things that you are grateful for. It might be helpful to think of five things that happened during the day because they are fresh in your mind. Some people prefer to keep a gratitude journal, where they list all of the things they feel grateful for. You will probably start off with the big things, but as the days go by, you can find more and more little things to be grateful for. It could be the delicious cup of coffee in the morning or how you heard your favorite song on the way to work. Whatever it is, just stick with it. The more you practice this exercise, the more you will find yourself noticing things to be grateful for. I have always believed that it is better to want what you get than to get what you want, which is another way of stressing the importance of gratitude. Think of people you know who are cheerful and grateful for everything — they are always thankful for whatever they receive — and how much you enjoy being around them. But for many people, there is a natural tendency to criticize ourselves and others and to focus on what we lack. But gratitude is the ideal antidote to those negative feelings. In fact, whatever we focus on is what we attract. If we focus on lack, we get more of that. If we focus on abundance, we attract more abundance. Oprah Winfrey attributes gratitude to her success and happiness in life. As she says, “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” The biblical phrase “my cup runneth over” is one of my favorite expressions. The more filled up we feel with love and gratitude, the happier we are, and the more generous we feel. Happy Thanksgiving! “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

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4politics

Hamas Says Commander of Its Northern Gaza Brigade Is Dead

Teachers in Newton, Massachusetts, have voted to go on strike. The Newton Teachers Association has been locked in a contract battle with the school committee that's been dragged out since October 2022. The district says it's offering competitive compensation for teachers while the union argues the proposed pay raises aren't even keeping up with inflation. Thursday afternoon, the union's president, Mike Zilles, announced that educators had voted overwhelmingly to strike Friday. The Newton Teachers Association has voted overwhelmingly to go on strike. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. "What I want to announce right now is that 98% of our membership tonight voted yes to begin a strike tomorrow morning," Zilles said. In total, 1,641 teachers voted for the strike. Schools will be closed Friday, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced. "The underfunding of schools has created conditions that make it impossible for our teachers to do their jobs," Parents Educator Collaborative founder Alison Lobron said earlier. Last-minute contract negotiations were underway Thursday ahead of a vote on whether teachers for Newton Public Schools should strike, one that the administration has moved to prevent. Follow NBC10 Boston on... Instagram: instagram.com/nbc10boston TikTok: tiktok.com/@nbc10boston Facebook: facebook.com/NBC10Boston X: twitter.com/NBC10Boston "It breaks my heart for our teachers and our families that a strike is being contemplated. The adults belong at the negotiating table, children belong in our classrooms," Fuller said earlier. An update from the teachers' union was expected at a news conference and rally scheduled for 5 p.m. at Newton City Hall. In the meantime, the district went to court Thursday morning to try to stop the strike. Fuller said that if the district needs more funding, Newton will have to pass a Proposition 2½ override, a kind of tax increase. "If we want to increase the funding for the Newton Public Schools, we'll have to convince our voters to do so," she said. But the union and a member of the City Council's finance committee, Bill Humphrey, allege Fuller is choosing to withhold existing taxpayer money from the schools. Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter. "For a wealthy community like Newton, it is not the responsibility of the educators to take an effective pay cut against inflation in order to subsidize the level of services that this community wants to provide," Humphrey said. If the teachers vote to go on strike Thursday afternoon, as expected, Fuller has said there will be no school in Newton Friday. Parents have been among the people rallying in support of teachers this week.

3278b6c8c6eff3b45727d1435c789168

1crime

Quincy man allegedly tried to set caged raccoon on fire, police say

Crime Quincy man allegedly tried to set caged raccoon on fire, police say Officers found the raccoon stuck in a trap cage with apparent burn injuries. The animal survived Saturday's ordeal, according to police. A Quincy man is charged with animal cruelty after he allegedly placed a caged raccoon on top of an outdoor fire Saturday. Officers responded to a home on Royal Street after receiving a call about a person trying to light a raccoon on fire in the backyard, the Quincy Police Department said in a press release. Upon arrival, police reportedly saw two neighbors arguing and a live raccoon stuck in a trap cage with apparent burn injuries. Video obtained by the officers allegedly showed Andrew Chieu, 63, building a fire in a tin can and then placing the caged raccoon on top of the can as the fire grew. Advertisement: Chieu pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of animal cruelty in Quincy District Court on Tuesday and was released on personal recognizance, online court records indicate. Boston.com has reached out to his attorney for comment. A Quincy Animal Control officer brought the raccoon to a local animal hospital for treatment. “The raccoon survived the incident and the extent of its injuries is unknown at this time,” police said.

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6sports

Patriots starter openly discussed plans to play elsewhere in 2024 (report)

Trent Brown may have already played his last snap for the New England Patriots. According to a report from the Boston Herald, he’s already openly talked about playing somewhere else next season. The team’s starting left tackle was a healthy scratch this past week amid ongoing drama with the team. Brown is set to become a free agent this offseason and has been dealing with a number of injuries down the stretch. 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. It’s reportedly believed that Brown is “protecting himself” amid a lost Patriots season as he prepares to hit free agency. Brown had been playing through injury, but now appears on course to miss some major contract incentives, which were based on playing time. Being scratched last week against the Bills more or less put the pursuit of those incentives to bed. According to the Boston Herald, Brown “openly discussed plans to play for an NFC team” in the locker room following the Patriots’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this season. There are a few candidates in the NFC to land Brown this offseason, should he leave. The Los Angeles Rams could really use a tackle. Meanwhile, Brown would fit in nicely at right tackle for hte Minnesota Vikings if the team sticks with Kirk Cousins. The San Francisco 49ers, the team that originally drafted Brown, also make sense. They’re in win-now mode and Brown could slide in as a plug-and-play option at right tackle. Then there are the Dallas Cowboys, who could lose left tackle Tyron Smith in free agency. Brown is a Texas native and still lives there.

db7ca5fe5dd683f801d3b41625c765b4

7weather

Balmy Blast Of Wet, Windy Weather In Store For MA This Weekend

Weather Balmy Blast Of Wet, Windy Weather In Store For MA This Weekend Temperatures should reach into the 60s Sunday with downpours and high winds arriving late in the day. Monday morning could be a mess of a commute with rain persisting until noon and winds switching to the west at gusts up to 40 miles per hour. (Shutterstock) MASSACHUSETTS — A warm weekend will end with windy, wet and wild conditions for December Sunday night into Monday as temperatures rise into the 60s before sinking after the storm departs, according to the National Weather Service's latest forecasts on Thursday. After temperatures were below normal — with more than a dash of snow in the coastal part of the state — mid-week, they will steadily rise over the next three days with highs in the 40s on Friday, 50s on Saturday and topping 60 on Sunday. (Also on Patch: First MA Snow Of The Season For Many: Who Got The Most?) Temperatures are forecast to continue to rise overnight on Sunday — but the shot of September warmth will be accompanied by a dousing of rain and potentially damaging winds. According to the NWS, the chance of showers will begin after 1 p.m. on Sunday as winds begin to whip around from the south at up to 20 miles per hour. By Sunday night, gusts are forecasted as high as 45 miles per hour with a 100 percent chance of precipitation. Monday morning could be a mess of a commute with rain persisting until noon and winds switching to the west at gusts up to 40 miles per hour. Up to 2 inches of rain could fall in parts of the state when all is said and done. Temperatures will then drop during the day with a low Monday night of 29 degrees and sustained winds still 20 miles per hour or more. Things should settle down into a seasonable week after that with sunny skies and highs in the 40s. (Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

67c89c042d1e92454fae66d088a7e85b

4politics

Under Argentinas New President, Fuel Is Up 60%, and Diaper Prices Have Doubled

Over the past two weeks, the owner of a hip wine bar in Buenos Aires saw the price of beef soar 73 percent, while the zucchini he puts in salads rose 140 percent. An Uber driver paid 60 percent more to fill her tank. And a father said he spent twice as much on diapers for his toddler than he did last month. In Argentina, a country synonymous with galloping inflation, people are used to paying more for just about everything. But under the country’s new president, life is quickly becoming even more painful. When Javier Milei was elected president on Nov. 19, the country was already suffering under the world’s third-highest rate of inflation, with prices up 160 percent from a year before. But since Mr. Milei took office on Dec. 10 and quickly devalued the Argentine currency, prices have soared at such a dizzying pace that many in this South American country of 46 million are running new calculations on how their businesses or households can survive the far deeper economic crunch the country is already enduring.

b3767f025970c5086f569f9a24f3fe57

4politics

Fractious Immigration Vote Exposes Cracks in Macrons Alliance

Inflammatory warnings from politicians. Knife-edge votes in Parliament. A looming election against a backdrop of national crisis. Britain’s ruling Conservative Party has been caught up in a clamorous debate over deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, which has at times sounded like a not-so-distant echo of Brexit. Yet for all the fury it has generated, the Rwanda plan is little more than a sideshow in the surprising story of immigration in post-Brexit Britain. While refugees who make hazardous crossings of the English Channel in rickety boats pose a humanitarian challenge, they constitute a fraction — less than 5 percent — of the number of people who immigrate to the country legally every year. Far from closing its borders, Britain has thrown them open since voting in 2016 to leave the European Union. And as the coronavirus pandemic has subsided, legal immigration has exploded. Net legal migration — the number of people who arrived, minus those who left — reached nearly 750,000 people in 2022. That is more than double the number in the year before the Brexit referendum. Immigration is replenishing Britain’s labor force and deepening the diversity of its cities — a deliberate, if largely unspoken, strategy that is perhaps Brexit’s most tangible early legacy. But it has come as a shock to people who voted to leave to make the country’s borders less porous. And that has made it a volatile political issue for the Conservative Party, which played on fears of a foreign influx to propel the Brexit campaign, only to find itself presiding over a new era of mass legal migration.

7c09892595f864433485dd8596d880d6

6sports

The least-anticipated Patriots game in decades and 3 more NFL thoughts on Christmas Eve

As someone who makes a living observing, analyzing, reporting on, writing about and enjoying football, rest assured there is no joy in this next question. Is Sunday’s Patriots game the least-anticipated of the Bill Belichick era? Granted, there is no single, reliable tool for capturing fan interest. In the age of streaming, TV and radio ratings become less relevant by the year. Social media engagement is too easily manipulated to offer real insight. It’s a feel thing. How many of your friends are invested in Sunday’s outcome? What is the big draw? What are the storylines? What do you hear about the game in various media spaces? How much do they all care? How much do you care? Because during the week, these topics dominated the conversation around the Patriots instead of the actual football game they’ll play against the Broncos: an NFL Draft four months away, a head-coaching decision three weeks away, the air pressure in footballs (again) and Bill Belichick being in the best mood of any press conference this season, as he was Friday morning. Whoop-de-doo. Understanding the holiday season threw a wrench into this week, the lack of regular football talk speaks to a new nadir for the organization. Not a bad loss or an embarrassing moment or new statistical record for ineptitude. It’s fan apathy. At least last week, the reigning Super Bowl champions brought the intrigue to Foxboro. Belichick matched wits with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, the league's best quarterback and coach, respectively. The game before that, the Pats faced an old AFC rival during a national broadcast on Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and Bailey Zappe made his first start days earlier versus the Chargers. But for many, Sunday night's game against the Broncos - with whom the Pats share no recent history nor bad blood nor playoff stakes - might just be background noise. That's it. Now, like prior losses and suffering, this, too, shall pass. Interest will soar ahead of the Pats' regular-season finale against the Jets, driven by speculation that could be Belichick's final game coaching in New England. Both teams stink, but we will watch because of Belichick, and the fact rivalry and history are two of the most bankable draws in sports. Until then, on Christmas Eve, we will sit by the TV without a care; in hopes that more intrigue soon would be there. Here are three more NFL thoughts on Christmas Eve. Andrews' praise noteworthy As he went long on all his favorite topics - football history, schematics and opposing coaches he calls friends - Bill Belichick offered the highest praise he's bestowed on any player this year. That praise belonged to center David Andrews, a longtime captain and the only player to take 100% of the team's offensive snaps this season. Belichick was asked about Andrews' leadership amid the Pats' ongoing 3-11 campaign, and he expanded. "Fantastic. Fantastic. He's been, I mean, it’s been as good as I've seen, honestly. Every day, his performance on a daily basis is really exceptional. Attitude, effort, communication, energy, leadership of the younger players, leadership of his peers, communication, you name it," he said. "Look, like everybody who plays a lot of football, you get banged up, you're going to deal with some stuff during the year. He's shown a lot of physical toughness to play through that, a lot of mental toughness. He would never come out of practice for a play. We have to take him out to help manage some of the bumps and bruises that he has. But, this guy is a warrior." Those comments should not be glossed over. That was about as good as it gets from Belichick, speaking about a player whose contributions naturally go overlooked but have helped keep a locker room together as a season falls apart. Rodgers played Jets So, Aaron Rodgers didn't complete an unprecedented comeback and defy all medical expectations and history involved with a serious Achilles injury? Shocking. What actually surprised: how many national reporters bought the notion Rodgers could make a mid-December return, which he told NBC was his goal. Rogers finally admitted this week on ESPN's Pat McAfee Show: "Being medically cleared as 100 percent healed is not realistic at 14 weeks." Any member of the medical community could have told you that once Rodgers tore his Achilles in early September. This was not a matter of will or "shocking people," as Rodgers once insisted, but the molecular reconstruction of his tendon. Still, Rodgers pushed and pushed and pushed this ridiculous narrative, occasionally backtracked on his own comments and pushed some more. It was all hot air. Rodgers will remain on the Jets' 53-man roster, however, so he can continue to participate in Jets practices in some capacity over the final few weeks. To make room for Rodgers, the Jets released Nick Bawden. Here's hoping for less hot air, better health and more football from Rodgers moving forward. Stop underestimating the 49ers The 49ers' underlying numbers indicate they are already a historically great team. They have MVP candidates at quarterback and running back. One-time All-Pros play for them at wide receiver, tight end and left tackle. They boast a a top-5 defense. What more must we see? A big win Monday night? Fair. If San Francisco handles the Ravens on Monday night in a potential Super Bowl preview, they deserve to be recognized for what they are: the overwhelming favorite to win it all. The Niners are in a tier of their own, while the rest of the league tries to play its best football heading into the playoffs. If what we've seen from San Francisco isn't their best football yet, we might be witnessing one of the best teams of the modern era. Belichick reflects It's easy to forget Bill Belichick had a one-year stop in Denver. After starting his career in Baltimore, then moving to Detroit, he helped coach the Broncos' defense and special teams during the 1978 season. He later left Denver to coach the Giants, where his Hall of Fame career took off as a defensive mastermind. Belichick reflected on that season in the Rocky Mountains on Friday: "I learned a ton out there. It was a graduate course from Joe (Collier), from Richie (McCabe) about the secondary play, and just in general the 3-4 defense. And then, we played a over defense. It was like a version of a 3-4 Detroit, but it was a little bit different. Joe played the 3-4 defense that he played in Denver, which was –the spacing was the same, but it was configured a lot differently than what we eventually ran in the Giants when coach (Bill) Parcells came. He continued: "Looking back on it – again that was a great learning experience, because I saw kind of the same thing, but they were actually very different in the way they were coached and the way they were – the schematics of it. And, of course, that changed some of the fundamentals, too. The red-area coverages that Joe (Collier) ran out there, I'd say at that time, he was pretty far ahead of his time. They're pretty common now, but at that time they were pretty unique for the most part. So, that was a great experience. "I really didn't have too much interaction on the offensive side of the ball, other than – I was there, but I wasn't in those meetings, and that type of thing. We lost in the playoffs there, but had a good team the year before – they had gone to the Super Bowl, beat Oakland three times. So, coming off of that year, coming off the 77’ season, they lost to Dallas in the Super Bowl. So, a lot of good players, a lot of really good players out there, and a lot of good coaches, a lot of good experience that I gained. "Babe Parilli, who was quarterback coach – they had [Craig] Morton – I learned a lot from Babe, too, because I spent a lot of time with Babe. He kind of mentored me from the opposite side of the ball. I mean, I asked him a lot of questions and bothered him a lot, but he couldn’t have been more accommodating, from just the quarterback coaching perspective, because that’s something I hadn’t done. So, I learned a lot out there that year." Quote of the Week "My fashion trends. One of the things I’m known for: fashion." - Bill Belichick on players wearing cut-off sweatshirts

54167ae7a9328e5536f123358dfe6fc4

5science

Robots Learn, Chatbots Visualize: How 2024 Will Be A.I.s Leap Forward

“This would be like the same capability that you’d want to have if you’re sending an astronaut to the surface of Mars or something like that,” said Dr. Abhijit Biswas, the project technologist. “You want to have constant contact with them.” The demonstration was done with the help of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, which was launched on Oct. 13 with the aim of exploring an asteroid with the same name. The D.S.O.C. experiment is using laser communications, as opposed to traditional radio frequencies, in an attempt to transfer large gobs of data at faster rates over greater distances. (The video is of Taters chasing a laser pointer. In 1928, a statue of the cartoon character Felix the Cat was used to test television transmissions.) The transmitted data rates of 267 megabits per second are comparable to rates on Earth, which are often between 100 and 300 megabits per second. But Dr. Biswas urged caution about the results of the demonstration. “This is the first step,” he said. “There’s still significant requirements for ground infrastructure and things like that to take something that’s kind of a proof of concept to transform it into something that’s operational and reliable.” The video was transmitted using a flight laser transceiver, one of several pieces of new hardware being deployed for the first time. The D.S.O.C. system is made up of three parts: the transceiver, which was installed on board the Psyche spacecraft, and two components on Earth: a ground laser transmitter (roughly a 90-minute drive from the laboratory) and a ground laser receiver at the Palomar Observatory in Southern California.

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0business

WooSox owners reach agreement to sell team (report)

It didn’t take long for Worcester Red Sox principal owner and chairman Larry Lucchino to find a new ownership group for the Red Sox’s minor league affiliate. An industry source told The Boston Globe’s Michael Silverman that Diamond Baseball Holdings has “reached an agreement” to buy the WooSox. The deal, per Silverman, still needs to be approved by MLB. The team moved to Worcester three years ago after 47 years in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The WooSox played their first season at Polar Park in April 2021 after signing a 35-year lease. They’ll still continue to play in Worcester for the next 32 years. Lucchino was part of the ownership group that bought the then-PawSox in 2015 and helped relocate them to the Heart of the Commonwealth in a deal reached in 2018. But he announced on the “UnAcnhored Boston” podcast earlier this month that it “was time” to sell the team. $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’m now 78. I’ve been at this for over 40 years so it’s time to sell this team and move on to a blissful retirement,” Lucchino told co-hosts Bob Lobel and Mike Lynch. Lucchino long has been an executive in baseball, beginning his career in 1988 as Baltimore Orioles team president. It’s unknown how much the WooSox sold for. Although he’ll no longer own the Worcester Red Sox, Lucchino will continue to stay on as chairman. Enter your email address here to receive the Fenway Rundown email newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday. Other Red Sox affiliates under Diamond Baseball Holdings include the Portland Sea Dogs and Salem Red Sox. In total, they own and operate 25 Minor League Baseball teams. “Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH) is committed to elevating fan experiences, creating “centers of energy,” fostering dynamic engagements for brands and highlighting the evolution of the Minor League Baseball environment,” the website states. “It is grounded in a deep-rooted appreciation for traditions, community and the sport of baseball.” The WooSox begin their 2024 season on the road against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on March 29. They finished seventh in all of Minor League Baseball in total attendance (519,651) for 2023, according to Baseball America.

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3entertainment

Doja the cat has enough pet material for any Mass. home looking to adopt

The New York Times Audio app is home to journalism and storytelling and provides news, depth and serendipity. It is available to Times news subscribers on iOS. If you haven’t already, download the app and sign up for our weekly newsletter. Our new audio app is home to “This American Life,” the award-winning program hosted by Ira Glass. New episodes debut in our app a day earlier than in the regular podcast feed, and we also have an archive of the show. The app includes a “Best of ‘This American Life’” section with some of our favorite bite-size clips, so you can enjoy the show even if you don’t have a lot of time.

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1crime

Boston police: Shooting near Roxbury schools leaves man near death

Boston police homicide detectives are investigating a Saturday afternoon shooting in Roxbury that left a man near death, according to police. Officers responded to the intersection of Warren and Quincy Streets around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday after gunfire was detected in the area, a Boston police spokesperson said Sunday evening. They found a man with life-threatening gunshot wounds on nearby Townsend Street, which is located between Boston Latin Academy and Bridge Boston Charter School. Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting, even though, to the best of their knowledge, the victim has not yet died, the spokesperson said. As of Sunday evening, no suspects had been taken into custody in connection with the shooting. WBZ-TV reported Saturday that the shooting appeared to have happened while the victim was driving. The Boston Globe reported that police are investigating whether the shooting was a road rage incident. “We do not believe that there is any concern for the general public in this neighborhood,” Boston Police Deputy Sup. Paul McLaughlin told reporters Saturday evening, according to the Globe.

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1crime

Menendez, in Defiant Speech, Says Bribery Case Against Him Is Baseless

Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to deny charges that he accepted bribes to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar and defiantly warned colleagues that they could be next. Mr. Menendez, in an extraordinary speech, accused the Justice Department of targeting him in a public smear campaign, saying prosecutors brought indictments based on “baseless conjecture, not facts” and dribbled out new accusations to erode his public standing. He explained his conduct, laid out in the federal charges, as acts of routine statesmanship, not corruption. And he claimed, without further explanation, that it would become clear at trial that there was “no evidence” that gold bars and cash authorities found in his home were bribes. “The United States attorney’s office is engaged not in a prosecution, but a persecution,” Mr. Menendez said, growing emotional at times. “They seek a victory, not justice.”

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4politics

Amherst union, superintendent spar over whether HR staffer should resign

President Biden on Friday delivered a ferocious condemnation of Donald J. Trump, his likely 2024 opponent, warning in searing language that the former president had directed an insurrection and would aim to undo the nation’s bedrock democracy if he returned to power. On the eve of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Mr. Trump’s supporters, Mr. Biden framed the coming election as a choice between a candidate devoted to upholding America’s centuries-old ideals and a chaos agent willing to discard them for his personal benefit. “There’s no confusion about who Trump is or what he intends to do,” Mr. Biden warned in a speech at a community college not far from Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, where George Washington commanded troops during the Revolutionary War. Exhorting supporters to prepare to vote this fall, he said: “We all know who Donald Trump is. The question is: Who are we?” In an intensely personal address that at one point nearly led Mr. Biden to curse Mr. Trump by name, the president compared his rival to foreign autocrats who rule by fiat and lies. He said Mr. Trump had failed the basic test of American leaders, to trust the people to choose their elected officials and abide by their decisions.

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6sports

Despite change-up with Toucher and Rich, The Sports Hub takes the top spot in fall Nielsen ratings

Scott Zolak (left), producer Mark Cappello, and play-by-play announcer Bob Socci in the booth for a Patriots game in 2021. JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF The fall Nielsen Audio ratings period was an unusually turbulent one for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Original morning show co-host Rich Shertenlieb abruptly left the “Toucher and Rich” program on Nov. 9, with nearly a month remaining in the ratings book. Advertisement: It was the first time since February 2015, when Marc Bertrand replaced Andy Gresh on the station’s midday show, that one of the main hosts from a Sports Hub daytime program changed. But the Sports Hub’s long run of ratings success did not change. In the fall Nielsen Audio ratings, covering the period from Sept. 14 to Dec. 6, the Sports Hub finished first overall and across all of its weekday and weeknight programming in the men ages 25 to 54 demographic, its primary advertising target. Overall, the Sports Hub had a 16.3 share, well ahead of the runner-up, rock station WZLX (7.0). Rival sports radio station WEEI was seventh (4.4). Last fall, the Sports Hub earned a 19.6 share, while WEEI was second at 9.0. The breakdown this fall by day parts: Advertisement: Morning drive (6-10 a.m.): “Toucher and Rich” – or unofficially “Toucher and friends” after Shertenlieb left and before Rob “Hardy” Poole was confirmed as the new co-host beginning January 4 – took first with a 17.1 share. WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” was second with a 10.2, easily the station’s highest-rated show. Middays (10 a.m.-2 p.m.): The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand” show was tops with a 16.7 share. WEEI’s “Gresh and Fauria” show tied for sixth with a 3.8 share. Afternoon drive (2-6 p.m.): “Felger and Massarotti” continued its long run of dominance for the Sports Hub, finishing the No. 1 spot with a 20.1 share. WEEI’s “Jones and Mego” tied for 12th with a 2.6. Evenings (6-11 p.m.): The Sports Hub, which has Bruins and some Celtics broadcasts along with a show hosted by Joe Murray at night, finished first (12.2). WEEI, which features “The Rich Keefe Show,’’ tied for 13th (2.8).

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2culture

Beatles Biographer Grapples With the Paradox of George Harrison

In a new biography, Philip Norman writes about the “paradox” of George Harrison, a man who was “unprecedentedly, ludicrously, suffocatingly famous while at the same time undervalued, overlooked and struggling for recognition.” This was the central contradiction that made Harrison, the composer of classics like “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Taxman,” a fascinating figure, both as a Beatle and after the band broke up, as Norman explores in his book “George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle.” Norman tackled his latest subject after writing celebrated biographies of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, as well as “Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation,” a book that Harrison was critical of. Harrison lived several separate lives. He was a rock star. A follower of Hinduism. A prolific film producer who came close to financial ruin. A philanderer who had an affair with a former bandmate’s wife and once had a guitar duel with Eric Clapton (also the subject of a Norman biography) over Pattie Boyd, Harrison’s first wife, whom Clapton fancied and later married. Image Credit... Scribner “The complexity of his character was something that hadn’t really been noticed before,” Norman said, adding, “Actually taking the whole elusive man, a bundle of different personalities, that was what was fascinating.”

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1crime

Criminal investigation opened into Cape Cod boat crash that killed teen girl

The boat crash off Cape Cod that killed a 17-year-old girl from Sherborn, Massachusetts, is now the subject of a criminal investigation, the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office told the Boston Globe. There have not been any charges or arrests announced in connection with the crash, which happened on July 21, according to the Globe. The girl who was killed was identified as Sadie Mauro, a rising senior and lacrosse standout at Dover-Sherborn High School. She was remembered for her kindness and smile. The teen's body was recovered from the water by the United States Coast Guard at around 11:30 p.m. Massachusetts State Police say the crash happened around 9 p.m. off Cold Storage Beach in Dennis. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. According to the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office, the Dennis Police Department received a 911 call around 9:01 p.m. on July 21 that a boat had crashed into a jetty in Sesuit Harbor and that a 17-year-old girl was unaccounted for. The U.S. Coast Guard, the Dennis and Sandwich fire departments, and the Barnstable County Dive Team were involved in the response off Cold Storage Beach in Dennis. The teen's body was recovered from the water by the regional dive team, with assistance from Dennis Fire-Rescue personnel, around 11:30 p.m. A preliminary investigation revealed that the vessel -- a Regulator equipped with two outboard 250 horsepower engines bearing an Alabama registration -- was occupied by six people at the time of the crash, which occurred at the jetty by the channel leading to the Northside Marina in Sesuit Harbor. The DA's office said other occupants of the boat were treated at Cape Cod Hospital. At least one boat passenger, a teenage male, had a head laceration. The cause of the crash is not known at this time.

8aa34c8105ec3f5626d402dc1529004f

2culture

Why People Are Camping Out at Target for the Valentines Stanley Tumbler

The next time you go to Target, you might need to wear a helmet. The store sells them, come to think of it. The reason is that last week, Stanley, the company known for trendy tumblers, released two sets of special-edition cups — one a collaboration with Starbucks — for Valentine’s Day. They caused tumult at multiple Target stores across the country. There has been a steady stream of social-media videos showing customers nearly coming to blows or otherwise overrunning the store to obtain their own 40-ounce pink or red water tumbler. Some are even camping — camping! — outside Target to make sure they can get their hands on one.

b7668096024106709aa041c3cb08377f

2culture

Mwalim Peters uses storytelling and music to explore Native, Afro-Native experiences

In recognition of Native American Heritage Month in November, MassLive asked readers to identify people who are leaders from the Indigenous community throughout the state, working to make a difference in their own area of interest, be it politics, education, business or the arts. MassLive will publish profiles of these leaders through November. These are people our readers have identified as inspirational, who may be doing good acts for their communities. They are being recognized for their accomplishments, leadership and commitment to inspire change. Mwalim “MJ” Peters comes from a long line of storytellers.Mwalim “MJ” Peters Mwalim “MJ” Peters Age: 55 Community: Cape Cod and the Southcoast His story: Mwalim “MJ” Peters comes from a long line of storytellers. Now, he’s using that to explore the Native and Afro-Native experience through music and theater, he told MassLive. “I come from a line of musicians on my mother’s side and both sides of my family are rich with storytelling and oral history,” he said. He also attended The High School of Music & Art in New York and got his bachelors in music and masters in film from Boston University. He studied theater with New African Company and earned his MFA in writing from Goddard College. But it’s not about the academic training. It’s about the experiences, he said. In his words: “Experiences and practical training will trump an academic preparation every time. The academics are credentials.” We’re always open to hear about more inspiring people. If you’d like to suggest someone else who should be recognized, please fill out this form.

b903ea9ae6b5c8874a1fad678eecc727

6sports

Ex-Patriots LB doesnt think decision has been made about Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick’s future in New England has been a hot topic for most of the 2023 season. The Patriots are on their way to a second straight losing season, and have played some of their ugliest football under Belichick this year. Reports have surfaced that revealed owner Robert Kraft made a decision about the legendary coach’s future after New England’s loss in Germany. But another report said nothing is set in stone. For Rob Ninkovich, who played eight seasons for the Patriots, he believes the decision has yet to be made. On the latest episode of “Eye On Foxborough,” the former Patriots linebacker joined MassLive’s Karen Guregian to discuss why he believes Kraft hasn’t decided about which direction he’ll go in terms of Belichick come the 2024 season. 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. “You have to wait. I think he’ll probably wait to see how the whole season progresses. And there’s only two weeks left in the season. But I think you have to. You can’t be emotional in the heat of a moment, or in the heat of certain situations,” Ninkovich said. “You gotta take a step back and look at the big picture. I think if you look around the league right now, there’s a lot of bad coaching. And you have one of the best coaches in the game, if not the best in the game. So there’s always risks and everything. I just would think that Mr. Kraft would take a step back and observe the whole big picture, what they have after the season, where they’re at in the draft, what they have in cap space. “Is starting over all the way — I don’t know if that’s the best idea. So if you have a high draft pick — think back to 2009 when I first got to New England. 2010 was a massive, massive step for that new Patriots revamp that won a lot of games,” he added. “It was Julian (Edelman), Devin (McCourty), (Rob Gronkowski), all these key pieces that came in and they had a tremendous amount of success. So, I know it’s been a lull, and this year is the first year they’ve ever had such a down year. But you never know with a lot of options in the draft and a lot of options in the offseason with a lot of cap space to do a lot of things offensively with what they have right now.” Belichick’s future is just one of many questions surrounding the Patriots in the offseason. They have to make a decision about who they want to draft, who their quarterback will be beyond this year and they could use some help on offense. Regardless of what happens, the Patriots could look different in 2024.

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4politics

Court Papers Offer Glimpse of Trumps Defense in Classified Documents Case

Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump on Friday told the federal judge overseeing his prosecution on charges of mishandling classified documents that they intended to ask the government for new information, including assessments of any damage to national security. The lawyers also told the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, that they planned to ask prosecutors working for the special counsel, Jack Smith, for additional information about how the documents at issue were related to national defense — a requirement of the Espionage Act, one of the statutes that Mr. Trump has been accused of violating. In addition, they said they wanted “tracking information” concerning the classified records. Mr. Trump’s legal team is poised to make the requests on Tuesday, when it files motions asking for additional discovery evidence. This is a standard part of the pretrial process in which the defense seeks to get as much information about the case out of the government as it can. Discovery motions often indicate how lawyers intend to attack charges before a trial begins or how they plan to defend against them once the case goes in front of a jury. The papers filed on Friday suggest Mr. Trump may be planning to attack the multiple Espionage Act counts he is facing by, among other things, questioning whether the documents he took from the White House were actually related to national defense. They also suggest he may seek to downplay how damaging their removal from the White House was to the country’s security.

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7weather

FIRST ALERT: Powerful storm moves into New England track the heavy rain

The heaviest precipitation was moving south of New England Friday morning. This loop ran from 5 to 6 a.m. EST. The radar loop from Friday morning has precipitation streaming northward as a storm develops out over the ocean. You can see the heaviest is occurring across the Mid-Atlantic region back through the Ohio valley. Most of this will slip south of New England, so I am not expecting much, if any, snow across our area. The overall weather picture for the Boston area on Friday features a storm system passing to our south during the next 24 hours, followed by the coldest weather of the season. But we’ll see a significant thaw next week. Friday afternoon around Greater Boston there could be a few flurries or snow showers and it’s not impossible if one of those is long-lasting. Your town might receive a little dusting or even half an inch. Best chance of this is south of the city. It’s also possible you will miss it altogether. Advertisement There’s a better chance for that dusting to an inch or two in isolated spots over the Cape and the Islands since they will be closer to the “storm” and there could be some ocean enhancement. Even their snowfall will be minimal. Snowfall of an inch or two is possible Friday afternoon over Cape Cod and the Islands. WeatherBELL Snowfall will be limited Friday, with the most accumulation expected south of Boston. Dave Epstein As is often the case in El Nino winters, the storm track is south of New England. Friday’s storm provides the Mid-Atlantic region with one of its larger systems in a couple of years. Parts of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland will see anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of snow and if you are traveling in those locations, it will be slow going on Friday. Low temperatures Sunday morning will be about 8-12 degrees below average, but actually above average for most of Maine. WeatherBELL Clouds will likely linger for much of Saturday and temperatures will be cold, staying in the upper teens to maybe near 20 degrees. This is about 10 degrees below average, but nowhere near record cold -- that is below zero. As skies clear Saturday night, readings will go down into the single digits to teens, certainly one of, if not the coldest, night of the winter so far. Advertisement The daily summary for January 20th shows the highest temperature is 60 degrees in 1951 and it has been as cold as 3 below zero in 1946. NOAA Data Sunshine returns for Sunday and this will help boost temperatures into the upper 20s but still stay below freezing. This is also the longest stretch below freezing this winter. It began around 5 p.m. on Tuesday and will continue through the entire weekend. By Monday milder air starts to return as temperatures get above the 32-degree mark by late morning and eventually popping out around 37 or 38. This will begin the melting that’s going to continue much of the upcoming week. By the time we get to the end of the week, I suspect most of the snow, besides the bigger piles, will be gone. February can bring more cold and snow and winter is far from over.

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4politics

Austin Returns to Israel With a Tougher Message and Lessons Learned

After three years as President Biden’s quiet man at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III stepped off his plane at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday and into the limelight. It was his second visit to the region since Israel launched a war in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7. During meetings and conversations with Israeli officials, Mr. Austin has stressed both the Biden administration’s support for Israel and concerns about the rising Palestinian death toll. But his message has become more blunt: Israel, Mr. Austin recently predicted, could face “strategic defeat” that would leave the country less secure if it does not do more to protect civilians. The warning is one that Mr. Austin is well equipped to deliver. The retired four-star general brings a wealth of military experience in combat, including urban warfare. Early U.S. efforts to target the Taliban and insurgents in Afghanistan in 2004. The troop “surge” in Iraq in 2007. The planning to pry Mosul, Iraq, from the hands of the Islamic State in 2016. Mr. Austin was involved in all of that.

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1crime

Vermont shootings: Jason Eaton fired recently, was Boy Scout leader

“We are horrified by the shooting and are cooperating with law enforcement as they investigate,” she said in a statement, which declined further comment. Jason J. Eaton , 48, was a full-time sales assistant for CUSO Financial Services in Williston, Vt., according to his LinkedIn account. He was terminated on Nov. 8 after working there for less than a year, said Elisabeth Rutledge, a company spokeswoman. A Vermont man accused of shooting three college students of Palestinian descent on Saturday was terminated from his job with a financial services firm earlier this month, a company spokesperson said Monday. Eaton allegedly shot the students outside his apartment on Saturday around 6:30 p.m., authorities said. He was arraigned Monday and pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder. Advertisement Relatives have identified the students, all of whom are 20 years old, as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad. Eaton’s LinkedIn page and personal website provide details of his professional and educational history going back nearly three decades. Much of his work history was in New York state. On Monday. Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said investigators believe Eaton moved to Burlington over the summer and had previously lived in the Syracuse area. From 2017 to 2022, he worked as a leader for a Cub Scout troop, according to his LinkedIn page. The Boy Scouts of America said Monday that Eaton had been an assistant scoutmaster in upstate New York and was last registered with the organization in 2021. Eaton is not currently a member of the organization and has not been registered in scouting in Vermont, the Boy Scouts said. Jason J. Eaton, who is accused of shooting three college students of Palestinian descent near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, was arraigned via video call at Chittenden Superior Court. Chittenden Superior Court “Mr. Eaton’s alleged actions do not reflect the values of Scouting. Upon learning of his arrest he was been banned from registering in Scouting any capacity and will be proactively placed in the Volunteer Screening Database, permanently preventing his registration or participation in the future,” the Boy Scouts said in a statement. Advertisement Scott Armstrong, a spokesperson for the Boy Scouts, said Eaton left the scouts of his own accord and his membership “voluntarily” expired in 2021. “He was not dismissed and there were no complaints. He was an Assistant Scoutmaster to a Troop (now inactive) in Syracuse, N.Y., at the time he left Scouting in 2021. He did not receive any honors or awards during his tenure,” Armstrong said. Travis Andersen of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com. John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe.

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6sports

Mexico vs. Honduras: Live stream, how to watch CONCACAF Nations League

Mexico will look to earn its first Nations League win when it takes on Honduras on Friday night in a CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal match. In its last four internationals since earning the Gold Cup this summer, Mexico has won just once. Honduras is coming off a 4-0 win over Cuba, while Mexico looks to rebound from a 2-2 draw to Germany. Here’s how to watch Mexico vs. Honduras (CONCACAF Nations League) What time will the match start? What TV channel will it be on? — Friday’s match will air at 9 p.m EST on TUDN for those with cable. It will also be streamed on Paramount+. Live stream info — Paramount+ | fuboTV | DirecTV — Fans without cable can stream the match using fuboTV, DirecTV or Sling, as well as Paramount+. Subscriptions start at $5.99/month for Paramount+. Paramount+ offers a seven-day free trial to new users. DirecTV and FuboTV also offer free trials. MORE COVERAGE VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MIAMI (AP) — AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be the site of the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals on March 21 and the final three days later. The stadium is among the sites of the 2026 World Cup and is under consideration for the final on July 19 of that year. The Nations League site was announced Monday by the governing body of soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean. The Nations League semifinals will involve the winners of the four quarterfinal series being played this week and next: United States vs. Trinidad and Tobago; Mexico vs. Honduras; Costa Rica vs. Panama; and Jamaica vs. Canada. The U.S. won the first two editions of the Nations League, in 2021 at Denver and this June at Las Vegas. The four quarterfinal winners also qualify for next year’s Copa America, the South American championship that will be played in the United States. The quarterfinal losers advance to a playoff for two Copa America berths, to be played on March 23 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The Associated Press contributed to this article

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4politics

Four-day truce begins in Israel-Hamas war, sets stage for release of dozens of Gaza-held hostages

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war took effect early Friday, setting the stage for the exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza in return for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The halt in fighting promised some relief for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. The cease-fire kicked off at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and is to last at least four days. During this period, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took on Oct. 7. Hamas said Israel would free 150 Palestinian prisoners. Both sides will release women and children first. Israel said the truce would be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed. The truce-for-hostages deal was reached in weeks of intense indirect negotiations, with Qatar, the United States and Egypt serving as mediators. If it holds, it would mark the first significant break in fighting since Israel declared war on Hamas seven weeks ago. The agreement raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, which has leveled vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East. Israel has pushed back against such speculation, saying it was determined to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted as telling troops Thursday that their respite will be short and that the war would resume with intensity for at least two more months. A first group of 13 women and children held by Hamas will be freed Friday afternoon, according to Majed al-Ansari, the spokesman of the Qatari foreign ministry. Three Palestinian prisoners, also women and minors, are to be released for every freed hostage. Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible to be released, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offenses. The return of hostages could lift spirits in Israel, where their plight has gripped the country. Families of the hostages have staged mass demonstrations to pressure the government to bring them home. Netanyahu’s office said it notified the families of hostages listed for release Friday. Increased aid for Palestinians will start to enter Gaza “as soon as possible,” al-Ansari said Thursday. The hope is that the “momentum” from this deal will lead to an “end to this violence,” he told reporters. Hamas said 200 trucks a day will enter Gaza carrying aid. Qatar said the aid will include fuel, but has given no details on quantities. Israel cut off all imports at the start of the war, except for a trickle of food, water and medical supplies allowed in from Egypt. The lack of fuel has caused a territory-wide blackout, leaving homes and hospitals reliant on faltering generators. The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers. Hamas is expected to demand a large number of high-profile prisoners in return for soldiers. The Israeli bombardment, now in its seventh week, has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which resumed its detailed count of casualties in Gaza from the war. The ministry had stopped publishing casualty counts since Nov. 11, saying it had lost the ability to do so because of the health system’s collapse in the north. The new numbers were not fully broken down, but women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead. The figures do not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north. The ministry says some 6,000 people have been reported missing, feared buried under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death tolls. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, without presenting evidence for its count. Israeli airstrikes continued in the final hours ahead of the truce. On Thursday afternoon, a strike leveled a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. At least 12 people were killed, according to officials at nearby Al-Aqsa Hospital. One resident, Hosni Moharib, said his wife and several children were killed and other relatives remained buried under the rubble. “It exploded on the house, striking the babies and young children. Everyone in the house, they are all dead,” he said, bursting into tears. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the war after the truce expires to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its 16-year rule in Gaza and return all the estimated 240 captives held in Gaza by Hamas and other groups. “We will continue it until we achieve all our goals,” Netanyahu said, adding that he had delivered the same message in a phone call to U.S. President Joe Biden. Washington has provided extensive military and diplomatic support to Israel since the start of the war. In Gaza’s city of Khan Younis, Palestinians welcomed the respite of the upcoming cease-fire but said four days would do little to relieve the humanitarian disaster caused by the war. “God willing, it becomes a total cease-fire,” said Jihan Qanan. “People have had houses brought down on their heads, they’ve been expelled ... There’s no homes, no money, no possessions. The whole world is wrecked.” ___ By WAFAA SHURAFA, BASSEM MROUE and DAVID RISING Associated Press

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1crime

What is trisomy 18, the condition causing a Texas woman to flee the state for abortion?

Sign up for Reckon’s latest newsletter dedicated to the fight for reproductive justice, a weekly repro rundown covering the good, the fair-to-middlin' and the ugly in repro news. Enter your email to subscribe to Reproductive Justice with Reckon. A Texas mother-of-two is making headlines and becoming the face of the battle for exceptions in abortion bans. On Nov. 27, at 20 weeks pregnant, Kate Cox learned that her wanted pregnancy would likely be unviable, as her baby was diagnosed with trisomy 18 – a medical condition linked to miscarriage, stillbirth and death in infancy. Texas has a near-total abortion ban, with exceptions for cases that threaten the life of the pregnant person, though Cox’s story illustrates that those defining lines are not so black and white. The mother-of-two looked to the courts to approve her abortion. A Dec. 5 court filing details her travels to three emergency rooms, where doctors told her she would have to allow the baby to die inside of her or carry the pregnancy, risking complications of a third c-section and the likeliness that the baby would die soon after birth. Cox was granted a temporary restraining order to terminate the pregnancy on Dec. 7 by Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, to which Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton responded by letter to three hospitals, according to the Texas Tribune. In the letters, which were shared on Twitter, he threatened the potential of civil and legal liability for anyone involved in the abortion process. “We remind you that the TRO [temporary restraining order] will expire long before the statute of limitations for violating Texas’ abortion laws expires,” wrote Paxton, who also asked the higher court to step in. On Monday afternoon, the Center for Reproductive Rights, who is representing Cox, announced she had left the state to receive her abortion. Soon after, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that her case did not qualify for a medical exception, and overturned the restraining order. Though her whereabouts have not been disclosed, Cox presumably has or will soon have terminated her pregnancy. “This past week of legal limbo has been hellish for Kate,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Her health is on the line. She’s been in and out of the emergency room and she couldn’t wait any longer. This is why judges and politicians should not be making healthcare decisions for pregnant people—they are not doctors. What you need to know about trisomy 18 Trisomy 18, also known as Edward’s syndrome, is a genetic condition that occurs when a baby is born with three copies of chromosome 18 instead of the usual two. This extra chromosome disrupts normal development and leads to a range of physical and intellectual disabilities. In 2012, Republican candidate Rick Santorum cut his campaign for president short to tend to then-3-year-old daughter Isabella, who had a medical emergency linked to her trisomy 18. “When the cells are dividing when a woman is still pregnant, an accident happens… and the child ends up with too much genetic material, sort of extra genetic material, and it can affect every single part of the child’s body…” said Elizabeth Cohen, CNN senior medical correspondent said during an on-air interview with Soledad O’Brien. Trisomy 18 is a serious condition and there is no cure. Unfortunately, the majority of infants with Trisomy 18 do not survive their first year. However, some children born with Trisomy 18 can live for several years with appropriate medical care and support. Only 13 in 100 born with trisomy 18 live past their first birthday. Medical News Today reports that those who do survive face issues such as low birth weight, intellectual disabilities, cleft lip, abnormally shaped heads, overlapping fingers, structural brain issues and more. Over 90% of infants with this condition have congenital heart defects, and 50% experience hearing loss. Trisomy 18 is not a hereditary condition, but rather, an abnormality of the chromosomes that causes issues in the development of organs. While most people are born with two chromosome 18s out of our 23 pairs of chromosomes, those with trisomy 18 have an extra one in all or some of their cells. According to WebMed, there are three types of trisomy 18: The most common type, full trisomy 18, occurs when an extra chromosome is present in every cell of the baby’s body. Partial trisomy 18 is when part of an extra chromosome 18 attaches to another chromosome in the egg or sperm cell. Mosaic trisomy 18 affects only some cells. Only about 5% of those with trisomy 18 have mosaic trisomy. Numerous outlets report that trisomy 18 impacts 1 in 5,000 live births, including the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). NICHD also points out that this is much more common, though most pregnancies diagnosed with the condition don’t survive past the second or third trimesters. The Trisomy 18 Foundation estimates that 1 in 2,000 pregnancies are affected. For more information about trisomy 18, visit www.trisonomy18.org.

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2culture

As Flames Surged, Order Prevailed Inside a Japan Airlines Jet

As smoke filled the cabin of Japan Airlines Flight 516 after its fiery landing in Tokyo on Tuesday, the sound of a child’s voice rose above the din of confusion onboard. “Please, let us off quickly!” the child pleaded, using a polite form of Japanese despite the fear washing over the passengers as flight attendants began shouting instructions. In the minutes that followed, even as the flames that would eventually engulf the JAL plane flickered outside the windows, order held. The attendants evacuated all 367 passengers through the three exit doors deemed safest, sending them down the emergency slides one by one, with no major injuries. Most left behind everything but the phones that would capture the harrowing scenes for the world. While a number of factors aided what many have called a miracle at Haneda Airport — a well-trained crew of 12; a veteran pilot with 12,000 hours of flight experience; advanced aircraft design and materials — the relative absence of panic onboard during the emergency procedure perhaps helped the most. “Even though I heard screams, mostly people were calm and didn’t stand up from their seats but kept sitting and waiting,” said Aruto Iwama, a passenger who gave a video interview to the newspaper The Guardian. “That’s why I think we were able to escape smoothly.”

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3entertainment

How to act like a rude jerk while traveling. (But please dont.)

Either way, there is no recognition for being courteous at 30,000 feet. While we follow the rules of air travel, passengers such as Tiffany Gomas , better known as Crazy Plane Lady, Viral Plane Lady, or the “Not Real” Lady have a strategy. The Dallas woman was thrown off a plane in July because she screamed a passenger was “not real” and warned fellow travelers that they were all going to die if they didn’t get off the plane. She has since been parodied on “Saturday Night Live,” given a tell-all interview to TMZ, and made the rounds on Fox News and Inside Edition. Now she’s hawking an ugly Christmas sweater. Nature or nurture? Are we born with a gene that triggers questionable behavior on a flight, or do we learn it from our families? Advertisement According to the FAA, the number of unruly passengers has doubled over the past five years. Air rage incidents soared during 2021. (Remember mask mandates?) So far, 2023 is shaping up to be another banner year. Which leaves us to ponder if there is a generation of children who observed their parents and thought, “When I grow up, I want to use my airplane seat as a toilet, just like daddy.”? Or were they born with a gene that allows them to think that wheelchairs can be used as luggage trolleys? Scientists have yet to weigh in. Get The Big To-Do Your guide to staying entertained, from live shows and outdoor fun to the newest in museums, movies, TV, books, dining, and more. Enter Email Sign Up But what about the rest of us who didn’t have parents to show us how to get into physical altercations at the baggage carousel or weren’t born with a gene that causes us to punch flight attendants without a second thought? Civilized, sober travelers never go viral on TikTok or wind up on the evening news. It’s just not fair. No one will post a video of us reading a book or watching a movie peacefully. Advertisement If you have a craving to star in a viral video and pay a hefty fine to the FAA, we’ve put together a list of actions guaranteed to annoy your fellow passengers or get you tossed off a plane and maybe a book deal. We’re not promising you’ll reach to reach Crazy Plane Lady status, but get ready for your iPhone closeup. A woman rests her bare feet on an airplane tray table from this photo from the Instagram account Passenger Shaming. Passenger Shaming/Instagram HOW TO ACT LIKE A RUDE JERK WHILE TRAVELING Do gross things with your bare feet. Nothing sets people off like airing out your tootsies and then using them like you’re Daniel Day-Lewis in “My Left Foot.” In 2019, the country was captivated as they followed traveler Jessica Char’s encounter with a fellow passenger’s bare feet. The feet emerged from the row behind her and were used for activities such as opening and closing the plane’s window shade. It came on the heels (pun intended) of the passenger who used his feet to scroll through options on the inflight entertainment screen. If your toes aren’t talented enough to engage in such activities, simply start clipping your toenails or peeling dead skin off your feet. I never knew Americans were plagued by dead skin on their feet until I started spending a lot of time on planes. Make some noise. Making too much noise is sure to draw icy stares or get you ejected from a plane. You can begin your cacophonous symphony by forgoing headphones. Everyone loves listening to a tennis match or hearing Jason Aldean’s “Try That In a Small Town” emanating from your phone when they’re trying to fall asleep. Bring noisy toys if you’re traveling with children; the louder and more repetitive, the better. Also, fellow travelers enjoy hearing you scream, “Yes, Dad, we just landed,” into your phone as soon as the plane touches down. If you really want to be a clodpoll, try singing. Earlier this month, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant came close to kicking performer Bobbi Storm off of a flight because she wouldn’t stop singing. The Detroit-based Storm said she was doing “what the Lord is telling me to do.” She posted the altercation on her Instagram account. A majority of her followers on social media sided with the flight attendant rather than the Lord. Advertisement Things could get ugly if you down too many martinis before your flight. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff Get drunk. Like really drunk. Show me a viral video of two passengers brawling on a plane, and I’ll show you three empty margarita glasses at the nearest airport Chili’s-to-Go. Alcohol is often the root cause of fights between passengers, questionable antics, attacks on crew members, and lascivious behavior. Drinking and acting silly will also snag you 15 minutes of fame and shame. You’ll get at least 10 million views on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) if you down several overpriced airport martinis and then start turning cartwheels on your way to your gate. Sadly, that’s not fiction. A woman in Los Angeles was barred from boarding a Southwest plane when a flight attendant spotted her floor routine. Advertisement Seats in the premium economy cabin on Norse Atlantic Airways in full recline. Ulf Heikman Start fighting over reclining seats. We’re coming up on the 10th anniversary of the legendary Knee Defender battle. In 2014, businessman James Beach used a $22 device called the Knee Defender to block the woman seated in front of him from reclining. Words were exchanged, soda was thrown, and the flight was diverted from Denver to Chicago so the warring factions could be extracted from the plane. Getting people to agree on whether or not passengers should be allowed to recline is easier than getting Will Smith and Chris Rock to attend the same dinner party. Every time a new fight goes viral, the debate begins anew. Earlier this month, it boiled again when a woman repeatedly yelled, “I’m allowed to put my seat back,” while claiming the passenger behind her pushed her seat through the entire flight. In case you’re wondering, the answer is that you shouldn’t recline your seat unless it’s a long-haul overnight flight. Turning left into business class while sending your kids to the back of the plane is a quick, efficient way to lose friends and put your children into therapy for life. Patrick T. Fallon/Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/ Sit in business class. Make your kid sit in economy. Turning left into business class while sending your kids to the back of the plane is a quick, efficient way to lose friends and put your children into therapy for life. British pop star Robbie Williams, whose net worth is $300 million, makes his four kids sit in economy. Celebrated grump and perpetually angry chef Gordon Ramsay, who is worth $220 million, also makes his six kids sit in economy. It’s not just celebrities. There are many cruel parents who send their children to economy because they reason that the kids wouldn’t appreciate business class or they claim they don’t want their kids to get spoiled. Not only is this tough on the children, but think of the other passengers who are stuck sitting near a brood of unsupervised children. Advertisement Pass the aspirin, please. If the children share their father’s demeanor, the pre-departure cocktails can’t come soon enough. At least soon it will be your moment to shine. Christopher Muther can be reached at christopher.muther@globe.com. Follow him @Chris_Muther and Instagram @chris_muther.

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5science

Princess of Wales to Be Hospitalized for 10 Days After Abdominal Surgery

Two of the most senior members of Britain’s royal family have been hit by health concerns, with Catherine, the Princess of Wales and the wife of Prince William, undergoing abdominal surgery in London on Tuesday, while King Charles III will receive treatment for an enlarged prostate next week. Catherine will be hospitalized for 10 to 14 days, according to the couple’s office in Kensington Palace, and will convalesce for two to three months after that. The king’s recovery is expected to be swifter, according to Buckingham Palace, which described his treatment as a “corrective procedure” for a common, benign condition. Kensington Palace did not offer details on Catherine’s diagnosis or prognosis, other than to say that the surgery had been planned and was successful, and that her condition was “not cancerous.” It said the princess, who is 42, would recuperate at home after she left the hospital and would not return to public duties until after Easter. “Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales was admitted to the London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery,” Kensington Palace said in a four-paragraph news release. It added: “She hopes the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.”

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0business

Google Allows More App Payment Options in Antitrust Deal With States

Google said on Monday that it would allow developers on its Play app store to offer direct payment options to users and would pay $700 million to settle an antitrust suit brought by state attorneys general, in the company’s latest move to navigate increased regulatory scrutiny of its power. The suit, brought in July 2021, accused Google’s app store of abusing its market power and forcing aggressive terms on software developers. The tech giant is facing several antitrust challenges in the United States, including a trial in which the federal government claims Google has abused its dominance in online search. In its announcement on Monday, Google said it would now allow apps to charge consumers directly rather than having to charge through Google. The company will pay $630 million to create a settlement fund for consumers, as well as pay $70 million into a fund to be used by the states. To highlight the choice that users have in how they download apps, Google reaffirmed that phone makers, like Samsung, that use the Android mobile operating system can continue installing multiple app stores on their devices in addition to Google’s Play Store. The settlement was announced in September, though details were not released. Google hopes that the settlement will act as a template for resolutions with other critics of its Play Store policies, including Epic Games — the maker of the popular game Fortnite — which won an antitrust lawsuit against Google last week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

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3entertainment

Visit Thompson Island in Boston, Moby-Dick Marathon, ABBA tribute

Bid farewell to 2023 at sea with the New Year’s Day Boat Trip. Journey to Thompson Island with the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands and spend the afternoon immersed in forests, meadows, and marshes. Departs at noon from Mass Bay Lines on Rowes Wharf and docks at 4 p.m. Bring food and layers. Tickets required — $30 general admission, $20 children ages 3-12, with discounts available — at bostonharborislands.org . January 2-7 Call Me Ishmael Spend 25 consecutive hours reading Herman Melville’s classic at the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s annual Moby-Dick Marathon. Event highlights include a Friday evening cocktail hour and buffet dinner; on Saturday and Sunday, offerings include a scavenger hunt, arts and crafts for kids, a “Stump the Scholars” session, and more. Readings begin at noon on Saturday. $75 for Friday’s dinner; Saturday and Sunday events are free. whalingmuseum.org Advertisement January 5-14 Silk and Lace Complementing the “Fashioned by Sargent” exhibit at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, In Sargent’s Time: Edwardian Dramas highlights the era’s lavish style in four films. Movies range from a coming-of-age love story to an examination of class and corruption. Showings run through January 14. Find times and tickets — $15, with member discount available — at mfa.org. Get Globe Magazine An engaging blend of award-winning narrative journalism, opinion, lifestyle, travel, recipes, and advice. Enter Email Sign Up January 6 Dancing Queen Stomp your feet and sing along to The Music of Abba at The Wilbur Theatre. Witness the Scandinavian pop supergroup’s hits brought to life by the Direct From Sweden tribute band, complete with sequined costumes, disco choreography, and catchy tunes. Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets from $35. thewilbur.com January 11-14 Jig Jubilee Click your heels at the annual Boston Celtic Music Festival. In venues across Greater Boston, local musicians of all ages perform traditional shanties and ballads. Fiddles, tin whistles, and pipes in hand, these artists, supported by the Passim School of Music, blend modern melodies with time-honored tunes. Festival also includes a Scottish social dance, an award-winning folk band hailing from Quebec, and a Sunday morning brunch. Ticket prices and showtimes vary. passim.org Advertisement EDITOR’S NOTE: This edition of Your Week Ahead covers two weeks. Look for the next Globe Magazine on January 14. Share your event news. Send information on Boston-area happenings at least three weeks in advance to week@globe.com.

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4politics

U.S. Considers Task Force to Guard Red Sea Ships From Iranian Proxy Forces

The United States is in discussions with its allies to set up a naval task force to guard ships traveling through the Red Sea after the latest attack on several commercial vessels in what appears to be an escalating extension of Israel’s war with Hamas by Iranian-sponsored proxy forces. Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, said on Monday that such patrols or escorts could be the appropriate response to the targeting of ships in the region. He compared the mission to similar task forces in the Gulf, where Iranian naval forces have at times been aggressive with other ships, and off the coast of Somalia, where pirates have preyed on private vessels in the past. “We are in talks with other countries about a maritime task force of sorts involving the ships from partner nations alongside the United States in ensuring safe passage of ships in the Red Sea,” Mr. Sullivan told reporters at the White House. “Those talks are ongoing as we speak. I don’t have anything formal to announce. But that would be a natural part of the comprehensive response to what we’re seeing.” Mr. Sullivan’s comments came a day after several commercial ships came under fire and a U.S. Navy destroyer shot down three drones during an hourslong attack on Sunday. One of the drones intercepted was heading toward the destroyer, the U.S.S. Carney, according to United States Central Command. There were no injuries or damage reported by the Carney, the Pentagon said.

18c24e3a1bcfa5dacae61fbae7312d28

3entertainment

All of Us Strangers: Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott play two Londoners alone, together, in haunting tale

Director Andrew Haigh’s camera lingers on that closed door for a moment, allowing us to contemplate whether it will reopen. It doesn’t, and there’s a sense of regret on Adam’s part. Until the interruption, he’d been puttering around his apartment, putting off working on his latest screenplay. Loneliness hangs on his countenance, highlighted by the surreal glow emanating from his apartment windows and the oddness of living in a high-rise with only two residents. Adam (Andrew Scott) is a gay screenwriter living in what appears to be an empty apartment complex in London. The plot of “All of Us Strangers” begins with a knock at his door. It’s Harry (Paul Mescal, memorable as always), the building’s only other resident. He’s tipsy, thanks to the half-empty bottle of booze in his fist. He’s also quite flirtatious, offering Adam a swig of his liquor and a bout of casual sex. Stunned, Adam declines and closes the door on him. A mild sense of unease permeates these early scenes, though it’s not due to Harry’s appearance. I thought that Adam closing the door on Harry felt more like an involuntary reflex than a thought-out decision. Growing up in the AIDS era has made Adam more cautious, a fact he will discuss with the much younger Harry once they meet again and start a halting and tender romance. Advertisement Paul Mescal in "All of Us Strangers." Searchlight Pictures Meanwhile, Adam occasionally takes the bus to his childhood home to visit his parents, played by Jamie Bell and Claire Foy. These scenes are shot in Haigh’s own childhood home, the first sign the director is working through some of his own feelings and memories. I should mention that Adam lost his parents in a car accident when he was 12. So, when he visits them, they haven’t aged; he’s now older than they are. Advertisement Are Mum and Dad ghosts? Figments of Adam’s imagination brought about by the unresolved shock of losing his parents at such a young age? Is Adam dead, or in some kind of limbo? “All of Us Strangers” provides no answers, and the ambiguous ending is divisive enough to sink the film for some viewers. You are on your own here, and it’s that freedom of interpretation and emotional response that makes the film so powerful and haunting. Haigh’s screenplay is an adaptation of Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel, “Strangers,” which was made into the horror film “The Discarnates” by Japanese director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi. Note the genre of that film. “All of Us Strangers” isn’t a horror movie in a conventional sense — or maybe not at all, depending on your take — but this is your warning that the film has the power to stun, even shock. Jamie Bell and Claire Foy in "All of Us Strangers." Searchlight Pictures I’ve seen “The Discarnates,” which is as gloriously bonkers as Ôbayashi’s most famous movie, 1977′s ghost story “Hausu.” I’ve also read the English translation of the novel. So I walked into this movie with an idea of what I was going to see, which may have influenced my own interpretation. What weighed far more heavily on my thought process, however, is Haigh’s decision to replace the novel’s heterosexual hero with a gay one. Though the central question “All of Us Strangers” asks is universal — that is, what would a second chance to talk to someone who died feel like? And what would you tell them? — the material lends itself to being viewed through a queer lens. Adam’s journey will resonate strongly with LGBTQ+ audiences. I saw it as a metaphor for the closet, a forced trauma we can escape but never forget. Advertisement Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal in "All of Us Strangers." Parisa Taghizadeh/Searchlight Pictures Movies like Francis Ford Coppola’s “Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986) have addressed the notion of reconnecting with one’s past armed with knowledge obtained since then, but this is the first movie I can remember that does so from a gay perspective. For example, Adam never had the opportunity to come out to his parents. When he does, Mum reacts the way a Thatcher-era mother would. Watch how Scott plays this scene with Foy. You can see Adam regress to his 12-year-old self. When Mum says she worries his life will be lonely, Adam snaps back to the reality of his current existence, which, despite his new love interest, shows his mother’s words have a sting of truth to them. Scott is in almost every frame of this movie, and his work is Oscar-worthy. In his scenes with Foy and Bell (who are also excellent), he’s as joyous as he is melancholy. The conversations between Harry and Adam deftly navigate how different generations of gay men perceive themselves; they reminded me of the discussions between the lovers in Haigh’s “Weekend” (2011), another example of the director’s penchant for investigating the highs and lows of intimacy. Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott in "All of Us Strangers." Chris Harris/Searchlight Pictures Additionally, Haigh’s staging of the first meeting between Adam and his father plays as if Adam were cruising him; at the time, we don’t know their familial connection. On my second viewing, I noticed the physical similarities between Harry and Adam’s father, which makes sense. Conventional wisdom says that a straight man would go for someone who reminds him of his mother, so why wouldn’t a gay man favor a reminder of his father? Advertisement Another scene between father and son, beautifully played by Bell and Scott, ripped my heart out. Adam’s father tells him he wishes he had gone into his room to comfort him when he heard his son crying after being bullied at school. He also tells Adam that, had they been classmates, he probably would’ve been one of those mean kids tormenting him. When I attended a reception for this film that included Haigh, Scott, and Bell, I watched several of my gay colleagues approach Bell to tell him how that scene destroyed them. I told him that it got to me as well. Such is the power of “All of Us Strangers.” It’s simultaneously cathartic and heartbreaking. ★★★½ ALL OF US STRANGERS Written and directed by Andrew Haigh. Based on the book “Strangers” by Taichi Yamada. Starring Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy. At Coolidge Corner, AMC Boston Common. 105 minutes. R (sex, language, themes of suicide) Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.

4ac8c86862c948ec0369da61389e2051

1crime

10-Year-Old Arrested for Public Urination Was Treated Like an Adult Criminal, Lawyer Says

The mother of a 10-year-old Mississippi boy who was arrested after urinating behind her car is refusing to sign a probation agreement because the terms that were set are of a severity typically reserved for adults, the family’s lawyer said Thursday. The 90-day probation agreement stipulated that the boy, Quantavious Eason, who is Black, would have to submit to random drug tests, observe an 8 p.m. curfew and meet with a probation officer once a month, among other requirements, according to Carlos Moore, the lawyer. The boy would also be required to write a two-page report on Kobe Bryant, Mr. Moore said. Latonya Eason, the boy’s mother, had initially agreed to the probation during a hearing in Tate County Chancery Court on Dec. 12, but upon reading the full terms and consulting with Mr. Moore this week, she decided not to sign and instead to fight for the charge to be dismissed, he said. NBC News reported on the case this week. “This boy is not a criminal,” Mr. Moore said. “He should not have to go through all of this.” The legal battle stems from an encounter that Quantavious and his mother had with the police on Aug. 10 in Senatobia, Miss., a small city 40 miles south of Memphis, Tenn. The family, which lives in a neighboring county, believes the manner in which the police treated the boy stemmed from racism.

bc824c3265ee963685f33d415ffb3f0a

3entertainment

It's owl season in Massachusetts. Here's how to spot them

Stories that will make you laugh, cry and question everything you thought you knew. Step into a portal where LGBTQ+ folks can live authentically, free from hate and where their contributions to art and culture are celebrated. Sign up for the QueerVerse newsletter today! Queer media had a big year of representation across the spectrum of LGBTQ+ identities. In 2023 from TV/Film to books to music, queer experiences were baked neatly into the cultural zeitgeist. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are some of our favorite queer media that kept us engaged and feeling seen. Theatrical one-sheet for KOKOMO CITY, a Magnolia Pictures release. Kokomo City In 2023, Grammy-nominated producer turned director D. Smith made her film debut with Kokomo City. The documentary swept the festival circuit, pulling back the layers of Black trans women and their relationship with the broader Black community. A few months after the film’s success at Sundance, one of the subjects, Rasheeda Williams, aka Koko Da Doll, was murdered, and Kokomo City became an homage to her memory and the complex life as a Black trans woman. "Rustin" will open in select theaters on Nov. 3 and stream on Netflix beginning Nov. 17. 2023, marking the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Netflix/David Lee) Rustin Netflix’s Rustin, starring Colman Domingo as civil rights icon Bayard Rustin, tells the story of the man behind orchestrating the 1963 march on Washington and his experiences as a gay black man in the 60s. Domingo portrays Rustin’s passion for freedom and unapologetic queerness in the liberation space. The film’s breakneck pacing doesn’t miss a beat but leaves you wanting to know more about Black queer folks’ lives in past eras. Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri in the MGM release "Bottoms." (MGM) Bottoms Bottoms, with its highly queer title, follows lesbian best friends at the bottom of the social hierarchy of their high school who start a fight club to seem cool and get girls to like them. It’s a cult classic-style teen movie and a hilarious, gritty, authentic portrayal of sapphic angst. The cast features Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, and Marshawn Lynch, who have great comedic timing while keeping the film’s humanity and heart present. We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film by Tre’vell Anderson We See Each Other In the world of publishing, queer authors took over the bookshelves in 2023. One of those was Tre’vell Anderson’s novel We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film, which offered a streamlined canon of Black trans representation in TV and film. It’s an interactive novel using visual elements, recommended viewing guides at the end of each chapter and a catalog of transcestors throughout history. Whether you are cisgender or trans, We See Each Other is for everyone. It provides tools to expand one’s knowledge and allows trans folks to embrace the power of our trancestors. "The Age of Pleasure," Janelle Monae's first new album in five years, arrives on Friday, June 9 (Courtesy Wondaland/Bad Boy/Atlantic Records) The Age of Pleasure Another nonbinary creator, Janelle Monáe, gifted us a now Grammy-nominated album in 2023. The Age of Pleasure is a project that embodies freedom, exploration, and Monáe’s embracing of their queer identity. From tracks like “Lipstick Lover” to “Float,” the nonbinary musician entranced us to love and live life to the fullest. Their album was received so well that it sparked a significant shift for inclusion in the R&B/Soul music space when BET renamed its Lady of Soul award to the Spirit of Soul award to honor Monáe’s nonbinary identity. 'Monica' key art with Trace Lysette.IFC FILMS/EVERETT Monica Another film that garnered critical acclaim was Trace Lysette’s Monica. The movie tells the story of a trans woman who returns home after decades of estrangement from her dying mother. Lysette’s heartfelt performance added to the canon of trans stories on-screen, making history as the first-ever film led by a transgender actor to debut at the Venice Film Festival in its nearly 80-year history. Lysette also received a nomination for Best Lead Performance in Monica from the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, making her the fifth trans actor nominated for a Spirit Award. Lizze Broadway, Jaz Sinclair and Maddie Phillips star in "Gen V," premiering on Prime Video on Sept. 29.Brooke Palmer/Prime Video Gen V Genre television had a great year, and the superhero category was flipped on its head with Prime original Gen V. The Boys spinoff Gen V blends superheroes, crass humor, and an ensemble cast that works well together. But what makes it the best queer media of 2023 is its Asian nonbinary character, Jordan (London Thor & Derek Luh), and their romance with the main character, a Black woman named Marie (Jaz Sinclair). While these supes juggle college, uncovering conspiracy plots and saving the world, they still find time for romance. Gen V offers a very queer enemies-to-lovers story where Marie and Jordan duke it out for the top-class ranking and eventually act on their feelings for each other. Also, the depiction of the main character with a nonbinary love interest expands the realm of queerness for people of color, providing possibility models for viewers to feel seen.

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0business

Boston residents watching Squares + Streets housing plan closely

I have attended three presentations of Boston’s proposed Squares + Streets initiative where the objectives and structure of the plan to standardize the zoning process for neighborhood business districts have been clearly presented ( “Growth squared,” Business, Jan. 9). This plan will benefit not only the businesses in these areas but also the many thousands of Boston residents who desperately need relief from the continued escalation of rental costs. The city is to be commended for moving this project along quickly despite the resistance of some of the usual suspects who continue to oppose necessary change. Advertisement Roslindale I am all in on the Boston Planning and Development Agency’s proposal to modernize the city’s zoning code with its trendy Squares + Streets project. But I question whether the housing activist who characterized opposition as coming from “wealthy homeowners” is being fair to the community organizations that have held their neighborhoods together for years at their own expense and on their own time. Democracy works when we do things together, not when we vilify others. Susan W. Morris Boston

bffe341f95b1d336786460a3cde60c82

4politics

Supreme Court Wont Hear Case on Trumps Immunity Defense for Now

The Supreme Court declined on Friday to decide for now whether former President Donald J. Trump is immune from prosecution on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. The decision to defer consideration of a central issue in the case was a major practical victory for Mr. Trump, whose lawyers have consistently sought to delay criminal cases against him around the country. It is unclear what the court’s order will mean for the timing of the trial, which is scheduled to start on March 4, though it makes postponement more likely. The case will now move forward in an appeals court, which has put it on a fast track, and most likely return to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks or months. In denying review, the justices gave no reasons, which is typical, and there were no noted dissents.

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5science

Hearing aids and dementia: New study may get people to wear aids

A few quick finger snaps next to each of my ears, and he was recommending an audiologist. I slunk out of his office, deflated. True, 65 percent of people my age — that is, over 60 — have age-related hearing loss, the kind that often could benefit from a hearing aid. And yet 80 percent of older adults who need hearing aids don’t actually get or use them. Then came one I’d imagined was still years away: How’s your hearing? It was my first appointment with a new doctor, and out came the typical getting-to-know-you questions. How often do you exercise? Do you smoke? How well do you sleep? Advertisement I get it. To me, an age-related hearing aid has always screamed You are old, even though I know that’s not always true. We live in an ageist society, where advanced age gets conflated with disability and irrelevance. But the more I read and spoke to people, the more I realized the serious costs of not using them when they could help. Get Globe Magazine An engaging blend of award-winning narrative journalism, opinion, lifestyle, travel, recipes, and advice. Enter Email Sign Up For people with hearing loss, it’s exhausting trying to piece together meaning when you can’t hear all the words, explained popular blogger Shari Eberts in a recent post, “My Least Favorite Things About Living With Hearing Loss.” “It’s like playing a game of Wheel of Fortune. Some of the letters are filled in while others are blank.” It’s somehow still OK for friends and family to make fun of you, or people assume you’re rude if you don’t respond to them. They assume a lot of other things are wrong with you, too. (Eberts, whose eyesight is fine, was once offered braille information cards on a plane so she could “follow the announcements.”) Sometimes, people treat you dismissively or just give up on trying to communicate with you. “The two words I hate the most are: ‘Never mind,’” says Sue Schy of Waltham, who has hearing loss and leads the Boston chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America. Advertisement What’s more, hearing loss is more than just a sensory disorder. It’s associated with a torrent of health problems including depression, injuries from falls, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. And here’s something to keep you up at night: If left untreated, hearing loss can be linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults. Put even more starkly, as Dr. Frank Lin of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has explained, studies suggest “hearing loss may be the largest contributor to dementia out of all known risk factors.” But some encouraging news arrived this summer out of an ambitious research study co-led by Lin, which found that hearing aids can significantly reduce this risk. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, Lin’s research team studied nearly 1,000 adults, ages 70 to 84, to see if hearing aids could reduce the risk of cognitive decline, and eventually delay or prevent dementia. It concluded that those at higher risk of dementia who used hearing aids for three years cut cognitive decline — loss of thinking and memory abilities — by an incredible 48 percent, compared with those who didn’t use hearing aids. The findings were published in The Lancet, which underscored the point in a commentary: “Hearing aids could really make a difference for populations at risk of dementia.” Advertisement I called Frank Lin to learn more, especially: What does hearing loss have to do with dementia anyway? He suggested three possible explanations. With hearing loss, speech and sounds are garbled by the time they reach the brain, he says, so the brain “has less resources to devote to thinking and memory.” Second, the parts of the brain that are stimulated by speech and sound are under-stimulated in people with hearing loss, which exacerbates brain atrophy. “You can imagine,” Lin says, “that a shrinking brain is not a good thing.” And third, hearing loss can make communicating with others more difficult, which can lead to social isolation — and that’s another risk factor of dementia. “It’s really a landmark study,” says Dr. Maura Cosetti, director of the Ear Institute of New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. “Nothing like this has been done before. There has never been a randomized controlled study of that magnitude which allowed understanding of the specific impact of hearing amplification [or] treatment of hearing loss on cognitive decline.” But has it triggered a stampede to audiologists’ offices (if only to fend off visits to neurologists’ offices)? Predictably, no, say those in the hearing loss community. Resistance to hearing aid use is high. A national 2022 survey of 1,250 older adults found they were more than twice as likely to take their pet to a veterinarian than have their own hearing checked. Advertisement “I see [hearing loss] as the 800-pound gorilla in the room everyone is so desperately trying to ignore, even though they are all worried about it,” says Geoff Plant, executive director of the Hearing Rehabilitation Foundation in Woburn, a nonprofit organization that promotes speech communication skills for people with hearing loss. There have been plenty of reasons for this, starting with cost. A pair of prescription hearing aids can cost more than $5,000. High-end hearing aids go for upward of $8,000, Plant says. And Medicare, inexplicably, still doesn’t pick up the tab. Cosetti adds that hearing loss is an invisible problem and it’s misunderstood, so that people who have it might not even know it. “Most people wait an average of 10 years before getting treatment,” she says. “They wait until it becomes un-ignorable.” And even then, many people hesitate to use the aids, says Schy, whose 91-year-old father-in-law owns six pairs of hearing aids — all of them tucked away in a drawer, mingling with his socks. I asked her why that is. “Stubbornness, denial, he doesn’t want to be bothered.” Plus, he finds that everything gets uncomfortably amplified. Unlike with glasses, “You don’t just put on a hearing aid and hear,” she says. They take time and patience to adjust, and often the assistance of an expert. It also takes a medical professional to take the issue of hearing loss seriously. “A kid can have the same test as an 80-year-old, with the same hearing loss,” Lin says. “But with the kid, it’s seen as critically important to manage it. With the 80-year-old it’s, ‘OK, you don’t need to worry about your mild hearing loss.’” Advertisement With the stakes so high — reminder: dementia — Lin thinks a lot about how to get more people to use hearing aids. “How do we rejigger all the market assumptions to actually make hearing-aid use work for the public and drive adoption?” he asks. “Why are these devices so bloody expensive and the technologies not appealing to use?” But the situation is improving. After years of delay — thanks in part to objections by hearing aid manufacturers and other stakeholders — the Food and Drug Administration recently finalized guidelines that make over-the-counter hearing aids available to those with mild to moderate hearing loss, as an alternative to prescription-only versions. This move is already promoting competition and lower prices. The National Council on Aging reports the average cost of over-the-counter hearing aids is now at $1,600. One manufacturer on the organization’s September 2023 list of recommended hearing aids is Audien Hearing, which was offering models ranging from $99 to $249. Other models — like those made in a partnership between Sony and a hearing-aid manufacturer — reduce the stigma of wearing hearing aids, since the work they do is seamlessly integrated into wireless earbuds. “Is that an [earbud], or is it a hearing aid? You might not be able to tell the difference,” Lin says. Eventually, I dragged myself to an audiologist. He told me I do have mild hearing loss, but I don’t have to worry about it just yet. Still, those earbud versions do sound, if not exactly cool, then something I can live with. And as grim as I once found the prospect of hearing aids, I find the prospect of dementia even worse. Linda Matchan is a frequent contributor to the Globe Magazine. Send comments to magazine@globe.com. Linda Matchan can be reached at linda.matchan@globe.com

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0business

Eversource builds Rapid Pole fleet across New England to speed power restoration

SPRINGFIELD – Nearly a year ago, a powerful storm swept across New Hampshire, breaking about 200 power poles. Lines on the ground. Lights out. Heat out.

dd7138c0190782f0c343819afa4c0e3b

4politics

Trump, Attacked for Echoing Hitler, Says He Never Read Mein Kampf

Former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday doubled down on his widely condemned comment that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” rebuffing criticism that the language echoed Adolf Hitler by insisting that he had never read the Nazi dictator’s autobiographical manifesto. Mr. Trump did not repeat the exact phrase, which has drawn criticism since he first uttered it in an interview with a right-leaning website and then repeated it at a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday. But he said on Tuesday night in a speech in Iowa that undocumented immigrants from Africa, Asia and South America were “destroying the blood of our country,” before alluding to his previous comments. “That’s what they’re doing. They’re destroying our country,” Mr. Trump continued. “They don’t like it when I said that. And I never read ‘Mein Kampf.’ They said, ‘Oh, Hitler said that.’”

99665ab724cd4f7a52521be0638b2bc6

1crime

Dear Annie: Those around me dont see beyond themselves to see how lonely I am

Dear Annie: I recently had to go to a big-box store to purchase something that I couldn’t get online. The checkout lines on the grocery side of the store were six people deep, but if you looked beyond, to the other side of the store, there were no lines. I’ve been trying to teach family and friends this lesson — to look beyond themselves — for some time. Every Christmas, I get invited to a gathering so I won’t have to be alone. While I try to converse with guests, since I don’t have kids or grandkids to talk about, I wind up alone at the party anyway. No one wants to talk about books or world events. Counselors tell me to volunteer or get involved in groups. When I moved back to the town I grew up in and tried to get involved, I was told, “You’re not from here; that’s not how we do things.” After 25 years, I am still not welcome. Their social groups were formed long ago, and new members are not welcome. They can’t see beyond. Everyone has been writing gratitude journals all year — things they are thankful for, such as children, grandchildren, work and health. It’s hard to listen to what they are thankful for, as I have health issues, which makes it hard for me to get out, and I am alone most of the time. They are so focused on things they are going through or thankful for that they don’t see beyond. They don’t see what others go through every day. Look beyond your world. What are others going through? There is a second part of gratitude, which is to show gratitude to others. For 2021, thank others. Get away from social media, and make this the year you send that handwritten note or phone call to thank someone, even if it is for something that person helped you with years ago. Don’t include statements about you. Make it only about the other person’s act of kindness. If needed, rewrite it so that only a positive statement is left. Look beyond the closest checkout line. Look beyond yourself. Others will appreciate it. Finally, Annie, I want to thank you for including the words “I am sorry for what you are going through” in a lot of your responses. Being able to express that is a genuine trait few possess. — Wishing for True Friends Dear Wishing for True Friends: You make a good point about “looking beyond,” but please, don’t be so hard on yourself or others. Seeing counselors helps enormously. Try not to take it all so seriously. Make a special effort to reach out and offer friendship to new people. You might find, similar to your observation at the big-box store, a faster lane to health and happiness. “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 2024 CREATORS.COM

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2culture

What It Takes for Snoopy and Friends to Soar in the Macys Parade

It has become Paul Schwartz’s job to help ensure the safety of millions of Thanksgiving parade watchers — as New York City’s “chief balloon officer.” Mr. Schwartz, whose actual job is deputy commissioner of bridges, has earned the unofficial title from his colleagues because he leads a team of city transportation engineers who clear the floating behemoths in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for takeoff. The engineers have gathered detailed calculations on how high each of the 16 giant balloons this year — including the Pillsbury Doughboy and Kung Fu Panda’s Po — can safely go at various wind speeds. Over the course of several hours, they put the newest balloons through test runs at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to try to head off problems. And on parade day, they will spread out along the route with anemometers to monitor weather conditions in real-time.

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6sports

Al Horford commends Celtics All-Star guard for his leadership

The Atlanta Falcons will try to snap a three-game losing streak when they host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, November 26 when the teams meet for the first time this season. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on FOX. Fans looking to watch this NFL game can do so for free by using FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, which both offer a free trial and RedZone. SlingTV has promotional offers available, and NFL+ airs all local market games. Through the end of 2023, fuboTV is also offering $20 off the first two months of subscription (in addition to the 7-day free trial). The first-place Saints are 5-5 and every other team in the NFC South division has a losing record. The Falcons are 4-6. Quarterback Desmond Ridder will move back into Atlanta’s starting lineup. Taylor Heinicke started the past two games. The Saints have won six of the past seven in the series, including a sweep last season. The Saints have won each of their past five visits to Atlanta. Who: Saints vs. Falcons When: Sunday, November 26 at 1 p.m. EST Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium Stream: fuboTV (free trial + $20 off your first 2 months); or Sling; DirecTV Stream or NFL+ Tickets: StubHub and *VividSeats *New customers who purchase tickets through VividSeats can get $20 off a $200+ ticket order by using the promo code MassLive20 at checkout.* Gear: Shop around for jerseys, shirts, hats, hoodies and more at Fanatics.com Sports Betting Promos: 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. RELATED CONTENT:NEW ORLEANS (5-5) at ATLANTA (4-6) Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, FOX. OPENING LINE: Falcons by 1 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. AGAINST THE SPREAD: New Orleans 2-8, Atlanta 3-6-1. SERIES RECORD: The series is tied 54-54. LAST MEETING: The Saints beat the Falcons 21-18 on Dec. 18, 2022, at New Orleans. LAST WEEK: Each team is coming off a bye. Vikings beat Saints 27-19 on Nov. 12; Cardinals beat Falcons 25-23 on Nov. 12. SAINTS OFFENSE: OVERALL (13), RUSH (22), PASS (11), SCORING (18) SAINTS DEFENSE: OVERALL (8), RUSH (20), PASS (8), SCORING (8) FALCONS OFFENSE: OVERALL (15), RUSH (7), PASS (21), SCORING (24). FALCONS DEFENSE: OVERALL (7), RUSH (14), PASS (9), SCORING (18). TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Saints plus-6; Falcons minus-6. SAINTS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Chris Olave has been New Orleans’ most frequent playmaker on offense this season with 56 catches for 657 yards and three TDs. He made a spectacular touchdown catch in tight coverage along the sideline in the Saints’ previous game at Minnesota, where he caught six passes for 94 yards. FALCONS PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Desmond Ridder will try to improve on his 5-1 record at home as he returns as a starter after playing behind Taylor Heinicke the past two games. Ridder started the first eight games. The team was 4-4 when Ridder was benched as he was hurt by turnovers and sacks. Heinicke suffered a hamstring injury in Atlanta’s 25-23 loss at Arizona on Nov. 12. Coach Arthur Smith says the move back to Ridder is planned to last the remainder of the season. KEY MATCHUP: Falcons defense vs. Saints QBs. The Falcons defense is looking to rebound after poor showings in three straight losses to quarterbacks in challenging situations: Tennessee rookie Will Levis, who was making his debut, Minnesota’s Joshua Dobbs, who had not taken a snap with his new team a few days after a trade, and Arizona’s Kyler Murray, in his first game following his recovery from knee surgery. The defense allowed an average of 28 points in the three losses and now faces some combination of Derek Carr, Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill at quarterback for the Saints. KEY INJURIES: The Saints placed WR Michael Thomas on injured reserve with a knee injury on Tuesday, meaning he will miss at least four games. Carr left the loss to Minnesota with concussion symptoms. CB Marshon Lattimore (ankle) also needed the bye week to recover. Falcons DT David Onyemata (ankle) may return after missing one game. SERIES NOTES: The Saints have won six of the past seven, including a sweep of last season’s two games. The Saints have won each of their past five visits to Atlanta since the Falcons’ 20-17 home win on Dec. 17, 2017. Last year in Atlanta, the Saints trailed by 16 points in the fourth quarter before winning 27-26 on Sept. 11, 2022. STATS AND STUFF: Saints DE Cameron Jordan has only two sacks this season but has a history of big plays against the Falcons. Jordan has 23 sacks and 27 tackles for loss in 24 games against Atlanta. ... Carr has completed at least 70% of his passes in each of his past three games and has eclipsed 300 yards passing in two of his past three road starts. … Winston subbed in after Carr’s concussion in Minnesota and had two TD passes. Winston has started 10 games against Atlanta, passing for 2,768 yards (276.8 per game) and 27 TDs to go with two TDs rushing. … RB Alvin Kamara had seven catches and 75 scrimmage yards (42 rushing, 33 receiving) in Week 10, giving him at least 70 scrimmage yards in 11 straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL. … Olave has a TD catch in his past two games and at least five catches in each of his past five games. … Hill has rushed for a TD in three of his past four games. He rushed for 81 rush yards and a TD in his most recent game in Atlanta. … LB Demario Davis has a sack in two straight games and at least nine tackles in three straight. … CB Paulson Adebo had career-high nine tackles to go with two passes defensed in Week 10 and can become the first player since 2011 (Brandon Browner) with at least two passes defensed in five straight games. … Adebo had an interception in his only game at Atlanta (Jan. 9, 2022) and leads the Saints with four INTs this season. … Falcons RB Bijan Robinson leads all rookie running backs in rushing yards (612) and scrimmage yards (820). Robinson ran for 95 yards with a touchdown on a career-high 22 carries and had 11 receiving yards in the loss to Arizona. ... LT Jake Matthews is expected to pass QB Matt Ryan’s team record of 154 consecutive starts from 2009-19. Matthews has the longest active starting streak in the NFL. ... Ridder has passed for six touchdowns with six interceptions and has rushed for four scores. ... Jonnu Smith (423) and Kyle Pitts (419) give the Falcons the NFL’s only pair of tight ends with more than 400 receiving yards. FANTASY TIP: The loss of Thomas and possible uncertainty at quarterback could make Saints RB Alvin Kamara, a solid starter in any circumstance, especially attractive. Kamara leads all NFL running backs with 50 receptions despite missing three games with a suspension. He has averaged 101 yards from scrimmage in six games in Atlanta. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL The Associated Press contributed to this article

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6sports

What Patriots players are saying about new coach Jerod Mayo

Here’s how several of them reacted to Friday’s news: Even though the decision to hire Mayo came in an unorthodox way, bypassing the usual head coaching search process, the move was praised by current and former Patriots players. The Patriots acted swiftly in finding Bill Belichick’s replacement, hiring Jerod Mayo as their next head coach on Friday. Former Patriots DB Jason McCourty McCourty shared a pair of ecstatic reactions to the news of Mayo’s hiring on both social media and on his TV show, “Good Morning Football,” on Friday. He said he was “fired up” by the news, sharing some insight from playing in New England for a couple seasons while Mayo was on the staff. Advertisement “I’ve gotten a chance to be around Jerod, and for Patriots fans, you’ve had Bill Belichick for the past 24 years with all of the success and personality that Bill comes along with. Jerod Mayo, you heard Ian [Rapoport] say they called him ‘little Belichick,’” McCourty said. “A lot of that has to do with Jerod’s football knowledge. When he was a linebacker, he handled all the checks, he knew what everybody was doing on the football field. He’s a leader at his core. His specialty is people. Get Breaking Sports Alerts Be the first to know the latest sports news as it happens, and get the Globe's most interesting reporting right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up “When it comes to personality and how things are going to be, Jerod Mayo is completely different than a Bill Belichick. Jerod’s laughing at all times in that building, and he’s getting to know guys, he’s close with them. Jerod’s personality and the vibe that he has when he walks in the room, everybody brightens up, everybody stands straight up.” McCourty added that Mayo helped the Patriots’ linebacker corps “get in the right direction” upon his arrival in 2019, when New England led the league in total defense. “This guy’s a fantastic coach beyond just Xs and Os,” he said. “He’s one of the best leaders in this game. I’m excited for what his regime is going to bring in. What everybody’s going to be watching closely now is that for the last few years, Jerod’s been on this staff. His meetings with Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft, that’s him saying what he’s seeing and what needs to be done to move forward to get this organization back in the right direction. Advertisement “So, in the coming weeks and months, it’s going to be fascinating to see — this is a Patriots organization that you think when it passes onto somebody that’s been there, ‘Well, a lot of guys are still going to be there.’ What does Mayo see about the staff and everything above it of what he’s going to change moving forward. Who’s going to remain there? Who’s going to be the new people there? “I’m excited as hell for Jerod Mayo. He’s a great dude and he’s a fantastic coach.” Former Patriots WR Julian Edelman Edelman, who was teammates with Mayo for seven seasons, congratulated Mayo in an Instagram story. “Congrats @jerod_mayo51 time to get to work #15,” Edelman wrote, sharing a video of Mayo’s playing career highlights from the Instagram account of his podcast. Former Patriots LB Dont’a Hightower Hightower was happy for the man he played next to for four seasons. “Head coach Jerod mayo!!! Love the sound of that!! congratulations big bro,” Hightower wrote in an Instagram story. Following Hightower’s retirement in the 2023 offseason, Mayo actually shared some insight on his former teammate’s coaching potential. Advertisement “I think Hightower would be a phenomenal coach,” Mayo told reporters. “So, we’ll see. When I get a chance to run my own ship, I’ll try to recruit him.” Patriots LB Mack Wilson Wilson, who has played under Mayo’s coaching for the last two seasons, was among the first active Patriots players to react to Friday morning’s news, sharing several posts on social media in excitement over the hiring. “The start of a New Era that I’d love to be apart of,” Wilson wrote in a series of posts. “So happy for this dude.. Well deserved BIG COACH! ❤️” Patriots LB Ja’Whaun Bentley Bentley, who’s been with the team since 2018 and has played under Mayo for five seasons, kept his message of celebration concise. “Yessirrrr!!!” Bentley wrote in a social media post. Reactions from other current Patriots players Several other Patriots players reacted to Friday’s news with brief messages on their Instagram stories. Defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. wrote, “Congratulations Coach [Jerod Mayo]. Looking forward to create great memories!” Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster wrote, “Oh we gonna be lit!,” while Marcus Jones added, “Oh yeah let’s get it 💯.” Rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez simply posted three exclamation marks, and safety Jabrill Peppers posted three saluting emojis in reaction to Mayo’s hiring. Other former Patriots players Former Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch seemed ecstatic. “YESSIRRRRRRRRRR CONGRATS CONGRATS CONGRATS MY BOIIIII 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 PATRIOTNATION IS IN GREAT HANDS I MUST SAY,” Branch wrote in a social media post. Meanwhile, former Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins made a bold claim for Mayo’s first season on the job: “playoff bound first year. Remember this tweet,” Collins wrote. Advertisement

8d04386c61023703a8cd2af441b60109

5science

Drought Touches a Quarter of Humanity, U.N. Says, Disrupting Lives Globally

Spring training doesn’t officially start for another 4½ weeks, but that didn’t stop a group of Red Sox infielders from getting together this week to get some work in. As promised late in the season, shortstop Trevor Story hosted a handful of young infielders for a group training session near his home in Dallas over the last few days. According to pictures released by the Red Sox, who dubbed the event “Story Camp,” Story was joined by first baseman Triston Casas, middle infielder David Hamilton, new trade acquisition (and Story’s expected double play partner) Vaughn Grissom and second base prospect Nick Yorke. The group worked out in the weight room, played basketball and football, took infield and swung in the cage during their time in Texas. They worked out on the field at Dallas Baptist University and even took in Tuesday’s Mavericks-Grizzlies game at American Airlines Center. (A full photo gallery from the team is here.) Setting up a camp was important to Story, who benefited from a similar offseason event hosted by Troy Tulowitzki as a Rockies prospect before the 2014 season. Back then, Story — a supplemental (45th overall) draft pick who had just reached Double-A for the first time, traveled to Las Vegas to train with Tulowitzki, the five-time All-Star who manned shortstop for Colorado for 10 years. “It was a real long day,” Story told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding in 2015. “We worked out two or three times, then we hit in the batting cage at 11 that night. On the ride home, he asked me if he thought anybody else in baseball did anything more than we did. I said, ‘I don’t think anybody did anything close to what we did today.’ He said that’s how you work to be the best.” Now 31 with eight major league seasons under his belt, Story wanted to do something similar as he entered his third season with the Red Sox. By September, he was starting to put in place for an offseason camp in an effort to help out during the winter. “Just a camp to get some of the guys together, some of the young kids,” Story said during a September interview at Globe Life Field. “Tulo did it for me and it helped me so much. I learned so much from him, how to work and go about an offseason. I still use a pretty similar template to this day. I want to do that to pay back the game and entrench myself in this organization even more.” 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. Casas, who emerged as one of Boston’s best players in a strong first full major league season in 2023, has traveled all over this winter, going with team officials (and manager Alex Cora) for group meet-ups in Fort Myers, the Dominican Republic and now Dallas. Grissom, the team’s presumed starter at second base, quickly joined the plans after being traded from the Braves in exchange for Chris Sale at the end of December in an effort to build some chemistry with Story before camp opens in February. Hamilton and Yorke are two of many intriguing young prospects the Sox have in the middle infield positions; the best of the crop, Marcelo Mayer, reportedly skipped training with Story to continue his shoulder rehab in Fort Myers. At the Winter Meetings, manager Alex Cora — who was planning on being in Dallas but didn’t end up attending — said he was excited to see what Story’s efforts would bring. “He’s very structured with his workouts, with his team that helps him out,” Cora said. “It’s going to be a good opportunity for some kids to go there, work with him. Casas will be there too. Just trying to get everybody together in the same place. “Sometimes the word culture is overused, in a sense... We just want everybody together in the same place and to work and keep getting better. We finished last the last two years, so we just have to improve a lot.” Story, who struggled offensively but was one of the best defensive shortstops in his 43-game return from elbow injury at the end of last season, came away impressed with the young core of players who contributed to the Red Sox throughout the year. “It’s cool to see these young guys come up and have success right away,” he said in September. “They work hard, they have a hunger for the game that reignites you every day. They bring a lot of energy. That’s great, man. That’s what good organizations have. We’re gonna need those guys going forward to be the team we want to be.”

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4politics

Who is Ruthzee Louijeune? Meet Boston City Councils newest president

Ruthzee Louijeune became the Boston City Council’s newest president on Monday after she was unanimously elected by her fellow councilors. Louijeune was first elected in November 2021. A councilor-at-large and resident of Hyde Park, she succeeds former council President Ed Flynn, who served as council president since January 2022. As the new council president, Louijeune said she aims to focus on issues such as lack of homeownership, school inequality and improving waste-management systems, CBS News reported. “I am excited for what’s to come for our city, and believe that our collective work can transform our beloved city into one where every person feels honored, safe, housed, and healthy,” Louijuene said in a statement. “I am hopeful, and I am grateful, because the only way we get through, the only way we thrive, the only way we push forward, is together.” Here are three things to know about Boston’s newest city councilor. What is her background? Louijeune is now the third Black woman to lead the Boston city council – after Attorney General Andrea Campbell and former Acting Mayor Kim Janey. Born and raised in Mattapan and Hyde Park, Louijeune is the daughter of Haitian immigrants, State House News Service reported. She attended Boston public schools and later went on to attend Columbia University and Harvard Law School. As an attorney, Louijeune served as the senior counsel for the US. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s, D-Mass., 2020 presidential campaign. As a first-term councilor, Louijeune has helped the council pass a district map that met federal standards, according to a press release from her office. As chair of the Committee on Civil Rights and Immigrant Advancement, she pushed for equitable measures such as securing funds for fair housing testers, a municipal wage study and increased housing support for vulnerable populations. “One thing to know about me is that I unequivocally reject any zero-sum mentality that suggests that for one group to succeed, another must lose,” Louijeune said in a press release. What is her stance on housing issues? In a political forum hosted by Abundant Housing Massachusetts, Louijeune said she supported Boston’s Inclusionary Development Policy, a plan that helps create more affordable housing units, MassLive reported. Over the summer, Boston greenlighted a measure that required 17% of new units of residential developments with at least 10 units that require zoning relief to be affordable. The measure also calls for 3% of units to be dedicated toward Section 8 voucher holders, MassLive reported. But, the city councilor also said that she was worried that increasing the percentage of new units of residential developments could stymie housing development. “Twenty-five percent of zero is zero,” Louijeune said in October. “If you raise it to an [Inclusionary Development Policy] level where developers are not able to build and you get no housing production, not only do you not get any market housing production, you get no affordable housing production.” She also expressed her support for eliminating minimum parking requirements for residential developments where at least 60% of units are affordable, MassLive reported. Louijeune said that if Boston wants to eliminate parking minimums, it must first start by looking at the public transit system. “We’re not yet there to a place where we’re able to say car or Orange Line, you choose. I think that there’s families or people who aren’t able to make that decision because of a lack of reliability,” she said in October. “I want to get us to a place where we can remove all parking minimums. I don’t believe that we’re there.”

d863aaf93446fccf3b0975d61cdbeecb

0business

Broadcom closes downtown Boston office after VMware acquisition

Broadcom informed the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development on Nov. 27 that it will close its entire VMware office at 2 Avenue de Lafayette (the Lafayette City Center). The first wave of layoffs will start on Jan. 26. Tech trade publication Channel Futures reported that nearly 3,000 job cuts at Broadcom have been disclosed among several states so far as part of the VMware integration, and many more are expected. California-based tech giant Broadcom is closing an office in Downtown Crossing and axing 150 jobs there as part of a much broader cost-cutting effort following the completion of its VMware acquisition . Advertisement Executives at Broadcom didn’t waste any time: The company, which specializes in hardware and software for the computing and telecom sectors, only just completed its acquisition of VMware on Nov. 22, following regulatory approval of the deal in China. Broadcom initially struck the deal to buy VMware in May 2022 for $61 billion, along with taking on about $8 billion in debt. At the time, Broadcom said it would combine VMware with its existing software group, and keep the VMware name for that group. Get Trendlines A business newsletter from Globe Columnist Larry Edelman covering the trends shaping business and the economy in Boston and beyond. Enter Email Sign Up VMware specializes in virtualization software, which essentially uses software for functions that would normally need additional hardware to perform, to significantly increase server efficiency. VMware has long been based in Silicon Valley, but it has ties to the Massachusetts tech world in large part through EMC, which acquired VMware in 2004 for $625 million, and then through Dell Technologies, which bought EMC in 2016. In 2021, Dell spun off VMware as a separate publicly traded company. However, Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, a major financial backer of Dell’s namesake computer company, maintained large stakes in VMware while Dell continued to chair VMware’s board through the sale to Broadcom. Advertisement Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.

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6sports

Bill Belichick still wont budge on Patriots starting QB

FOXBOROUGH — With kickoff in the Meadowlands a little over 48 hours away, Bill Belichick opted not to name a starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Giants. Earlier in the week, Mac Jones said he was hopeful that he’d start and believed it was “the plan.” If that is indeed the plan, Belichick still isn’t sharing it. $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’ve told everybody to be ready to go,” Belichick said. “Hopefully that’s what they’re all doing. I’m not going to announce starters at every position or backups — whatever. Everybody will be ready to go.” Has it mostly Jones and Bailey Zappe taking first team reps at practice? “I’ve told everybody to be ready to go,” Belichick replied. Has Belichick made a decision in his own mind? “I’ve told everybody to be ready to go,” Belichick repeated. The coach was then asked why he wasn’t announcing a starting quarterback. “Then we’ll be announcing who’s starting this, who’s playing that, who’s doing this, who’s doing that,” Belichick said. “Once we get going on that — I’m not going down that road. So, sorry.” Is it a competitive advantage to not announce it? “I’m just not getting into that,” Belichick said. “Whoever we put in, I hope they’re ready to go and play well whenever that is. Could be the first play of the game. Could be the last play of the game. I don’t know.”

229fb5445bf12d2fa408452d84c5a8b1

0business

Vitamin Sea Brewing set to open 2nd brewery and taproom in Mass.

Vitamin Sea Brewing, a popular brewing company in Massachusetts, is set to open its second brewery and taproom in the Bay State. The brewery will be opening a second location in Plymouth. The new spot will feature a brewery and taproom located in downtown Plymouth, “offering locals and visitors alike a unique beer experience in a beautiful coastal setting,” the business announced in a Facebook post Thursday. The company opened its first production brewery and taproom in Weymouth in 2019. Less than two months later, it was voted the best brewery in New England, winning the people’s-choice bracket competition organized by Boston Magazine. “Get ready, Plymouth! Vitamin Sea Brewing is coming soon to satisfy your thirst for exceptional craft beer,” the company’s post said. “Stay tuned for more details, and get ready to dive into a sea of flavor and excitement!” South Shore Things. We are thrilled to announce that Vitamin Sea Brewing is bringing its craft beer expertise to the... Posted by Vitamin Sea Brewing on Thursday, January 18, 2024 A wide variety of crafted beers — from “refreshing IPAs and hop-forward ales to smooth stouts, crisp lagers and cocktail-inspired seltzers” — will be offered at the new location, the business said. On the food menu will be paninis, including gluten-free and vegan options. The taproom is also expected to offer “a warm and inviting atmosphere where you can relax, socialize, and enjoy our exceptional beers,” according to the company’s post. There will be an event space as well for corporate gatherings, milestone celebrations and social get-togethers, the post noted. “With flexible layout options, state-of-the-art facilities, our team of experienced event coordinators can bring your vision to life,” the business’s post said. Vitamin Sea Brewing noted it is also committed to partnering with local organizations and participating in community events “that make Plymouth an even better place to live, work, and play.”

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6sports

Springfield Thunderbirds complete comeback, defeat Bridgeport Islanders

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- The Springfield Thunderbirds (17-12-3-2) showed tremendous resolve, erasing a two-goal second intermission deficit to stun the Bridgeport Islanders (10-19-4-0) in a 4-3 overtime win on Wednesday night at Total Mortgage Arena. The T-Birds’ first-period troubles reappeared as Jeff Kubiak found an open space to skate on in and beat Malcolm Subban from the right wing side just 2:09 into the contest, giving Bridgeport the 1-0 edge. Kubiak added a second goal from deep in the right corner at 5:30, registering his first career two-goal game in short order and extending the Islander lead to 2-0. Fortunately for Springfield, the Islanders’ 2-0 lead would last just 59 seconds as Nikita Alexandrov arrived deep in the Bridgeport zone off a line change and jammed home a centering pass from Mathias Laferriere at 6:29 to cut the lead in half. Rookie defenseman Marc-Andre Gaudet also picked up an assist on the Alexandrov goal, his first AHL point in just his second AHL game. Subban and Jakub Skarek settled down their games after the quick offensive burst, and neither team could connect in the next 13-plus minutes of action. Springfield’s power play also could not take advantage, going 0-for-2 on chances in the first frame. The Islanders carried the bulk of the offense in the middle period, dispatching a third Springfield power play before going to work on a power play of their own, generating an immediate goal from William Dufour at 12:34 of the second. Subban was under constant pressure, as Bridgeport unleashed 18 shots in the period, but the T-Birds’ backstop did everything in his power to keep his team close, stopping 17 of the attempts. Subban’s stellar work in the second bought his team’s offense the time to start yet another magical third-period comeback. Despite trailing by multiple goals for the third straight time against the Islanders, the T-Birds refused to quit on the job. Mikhail Abramov got the latest bounceback started with a tally at 9:26 of the third period on a one-timer from the right circle. Leo Loof set up the play with an alert shot fake from the left side, which allowed him to slide around a shot block and find Abramov with a cross-ice pass. Just 1:18 later, the game was tied on a brilliant zone entry play. Matthew Peca stepped over the blue line on the right side before slipping the puck into the middle to a crashing Calle Rosen. With a seemingly clear lane to shoot, Rosen instead drew Skarek and the defense’s eyes in his direction before finding MacKenzie MacEachern for a one-timer into an empty goal to make it a 3-3 game at 10:44. As the two teams made their way to a third consecutive overtime matchup, the momentum had firmly swung to the visitors’ side, and Rosen wasted little time wrapping it up at 1:11 of overtime. After a centering pass by Alexandrov got caught up in skates, Rosen successfully dug it out from the slot area and pushed toward the goal. As he was getting tripped up, the blueliner got a forehand shot off from his stomach that slipped through Skarek’s five-hole for the winning tally. It was Rosen’s first goal of the season and Alexandrov’s third point of the night, putting an end to the T-Birds’ five-game winless streak. Springfield looks to build on the momentum from the gut-check win on Friday night as they pay a visit to the Syracuse Crunch for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.

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7weather

Mass. weather: Storm could bring 5 inches of rain to parts of Mass.

Western Massachusetts may get five inches of rain on Monday amid a storm that has brought high winds and heavy rainfall across the state, according to the National Weather Service. While temperatures across the state are expected to be warm, in the upper 50s and low 60s, the storm’s worst impacts are expected to occur Monday, the weather service said. Heavy rain may lead to flooding in Western Massachusetts and on the coast, and strong winds are expected to cause widespread power outages. [630 AM] A steady moderate to heavy rain this morning will transition to showers this afternoon. Street/highway flooding will continue along with strong to damaging winds. Strongest winds occur this morning into midday for #CapeCod & Islands. #MAwx #RIwx #CTwx pic.twitter.com/RK3SmJruqM — NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) December 18, 2023 Heavy rain and flooding By 7:30 a.m., some areas of western Massachusetts had already received over 2 inches of rain. National Weather Service Meteorologist Torry Dooley said a weather spotter in Westfield had recorded 2.25 inches, while a spotter in Williamsburg had recorded 2.8 inches. The western halves of Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Counties and the eastern half of Berkshire County are expected to get the most rain, with up to five inches possible, according to the weather service. Springfield, Pittsfield and Great Barrington should all miss the heaviest rain, but will likely still see two to three inches, as will central Massachusetts west of I-95. East of I-95, the weather service predicts 1.5 to 2 inches of rain, except for the South Coast, Cape and Islands. The South Coast, Martha’s Vineyard and western Cape should see an inch to an inch and a half of rain, while Nantucket and the eastern Cape can expect a half inch to an inch. A flood watch is in effect until 7 p.m. Monday in Worcester and Springfield and until 5 a.m. Tuesday in Pittsfield. In these parts of the state, excessive runoff may cause rivers to flood, and creeks and streams may rise out of their banks, according to the weather service. Additional flooding may occur in urban areas with poor drainage. High winds and power outages According to the National Weather Service, by 6:30 a.m., a weather spotter in Goshen had recorded wind gusts of 63 mph. Meanwhile, in Norwood, wind gusts up to 56 mph had been recorded, and gusts around 52 mph were recorded in Taunton, New Bedford and Plymouth. A high wind warning is in effect in southeastern Middlesex, Suffolk and eastern Norfolk and Plymouth Counties until 7 p.m. Monday. Winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are expected in these areas, according to the weather service. The weather service predicts the winds will blow down trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages. Travel will also be difficult, especially in vehicles that are high off the ground. Read more: Snow possible in Western and Central Massachusetts on Tuesday Peak winds are expected to occur between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday. The weather service advises those who must drive to drive with caution, and for residents to stay in the lower levels of their home and avoid windows. A wind advisory is also in effect in central Massachusetts until 7 p.m. Monday, and in western Massachusetts until 4 p.m. Monday. In these areas of the state, the weather service predicts 20 to 30 mph winds, with gusts up to 55 mph. Storm timeline The National Weather Service expects the storm’s worst impacts to continue into the early afternoon Monday, but that the heavy rain and high winds will taper off by the end of the afternoon. The National Weather Service expects Monday's storm to peak in the morning and taper off by the afternoon.National Weather Service Massachusetts will experience some scattered thunderstorms Tuesday, but they are not expected to be impactful, the weather service said. Areas of high elevation in the Worcester Hills and the Berkshires could experience light snow amid the rain. The rest of the week is expected to be clear and cool, according to the weather service.

d283cc3dd4b1a44ae665c9d5915e4e6b

4politics

Al Shabab Terrorist Group Captures U.N. Helicopter in Somalia

A United Nations helicopter carrying nine passengers was captured in Somalia on Wednesday by the terrorist group Al Shabab after making an emergency landing because of technical difficulties in an area controlled by the group, three senior Somali officials said. Six of the passengers were captured, while two escaped and one was killed, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The circumstances in which the person was killed were unclear. There were foreigners among the passengers, one of the officials said, though their nationalities were not known. At least one Somali national was on the helicopter, another official said. Al Shabab, which means “The Youth” in Arabic, has spread havoc across Somalia for almost a decade and half, promising to topple the U.N.-backed national government and to establish an Islamic state in the Horn of Africa nation. The group commands between 7,000 and 12,000 fighters and makes about $120 million annually through extortion and taxation, according to Somali authorities and U.S. intelligence officials.

d6293e458dc113ef334b6739ee4e7ee4

0business

Raw Oysters May Have Sickened 200 in Southern California, Officials Say

Gastrointestinal illnesses potentially linked to raw oysters sickened nearly 200 people, according to health officials in Southern California, who urged residents to take extra precautions with shellfish. The illnesses, recorded in Los Angeles County and San Diego, may be associated with oysters imported from a specific harvest in northwest Mexico. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement on Wednesday that there were “more than 150 suspected local cases of gastrointestinal illness linked to the consumption of raw oysters, likely caused by norovirus.” Officials there warned people to ask restaurants about where they sourced their oysters from, and to avoid eating oysters from Laguna De Guerrero Negro and Laguna Manuela in Baja California, Mexico, and from Bahia Salina in Sonora, Mexico. The department said it was still working to confirm the source of the illness.

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0business

Is the Holiday Shopping Season Going to Be a Success? The Answer Is Murky.

“That’s what will determine the winners and losers as we get through the rest of the holiday season,” Matthew Shay, chief executive of the National Retail Federation, a trade group, said on a recent conference call. The N.R.F. kept its forecast that holiday sales — from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 — would grow 3 to 4 percent this year. That forecast isn’t adjusted for inflation. Neither are the early readings of sales over the weekend. Mastercard, for example, said sales both in stores and online rose 2.5 percent on Nov. 24, from a year earlier. But with consumer goods — excluding food and fuel — rising at an annual rate of around 4 percent, that suggests that retailers aren’t necessarily moving more merchandise. “We think sales were not strong; they were so-so, to the point of being mediocre,” said Craig Johnson, the founder of the retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners. His firm estimated that sales for the four-day period starting on Black Friday and ending on Cyber Monday was $94.2 billion, up about 2.5 percent from last year. Like Mastercard’s estimate, the retail consultancy forecast that — adjusted for inflation — sales slipped slightly, Mr. Johnson said. Some large retailers seem to be prepared for the slowdown in demand. Companies like Target and Macy’s have reported that they’ve cut inventory levels in recent quarters, and that may put them in a better position to profit even if demand is weaker, according to Edward Yruma, an analyst at the investment bank Piper Sandler. If stores have too much inventory on hand, they may have to cut prices more than expected, which would erode their profits. “Really for the first time in four quarters, we are seeing retailers get inventories better aligned with sales,” Mr. Yruma said. “That’s allowing them to have on-plan promotions.”

a90fb89eec9ef8fd4084245d8c59c458

1crime

Quincy man arrested after attempting to light raccoon on fire - Boston News, Weather, Sports

QUINCY, MASS. (WHDH) - A Quincy man was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after police say he attempted to light a raccoon on fire. Quincy Police received a call on Saturday, Dec. 30 reporting that a person was attempting to light a raccoon on fire in the backyard of a house on Royal Street. Upon arrival, officers saw two neighbors arguing and a live raccoon, with apparent burn injuries, in a trap cage. In a video obtained by police, authorities said, Andrew Chieu, 63, of Quincy, could be seen “building a fire in a tin can” before placing the caged raccoon “on top of the tin can as the fire intensified”. Chieu was placed under arrest and charged with violating animal cruelty laws. He was arraigned in Quincy District Court on Tuesday. The raccoon was transported to a local animal hospital for treatment. In an update provided by the New England Wildlife Center, officials said the raccoon remained in critical condition as of Wednesday after suffering severe burns to its stomach, back, and paws. “Almost all of its fur is either completely missing or burnt from the fire,” the organization stated on Facebook. “Burns this severe are extremely painful and pose a severe health risk for the animal. Besides the obvious skin damage, burns this widespread can lead to severe infection, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and blood pressure issues.” “Unfortunately, in this business, we see a lot of heartbreaking things and, for sure, this case is one of the most heartbreaking,” said Zak Mertz, the CEO of New England Wildlife Centers. “He does have 3rd degree burns to his flank, to the stomach, and to the paws, which is really the most heartbreaking thing because of any animal in the animal kingdom, [raccoons] have more nerves running to their hands, so we know this is incredibly painful.” The center added that while the raccoon has a long road to recovery ahead of it, they described the animal as “a fighter and we will do everything we can to get him through.” “We’re cautiously optimistic that the raccoon is going to make a full recovery,” Mertz told 7NEWS. “Obviously with burns this severe, it’s a really rough case.” (Copyright (c) 2023 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

7015ee6528873c0e96c4a9650f731a31

4politics

When Will New York Solve Its Housing Crisis? Probably Not This Year.

It seemed like 2023 would be the year New York did something big to help solve its housing crisis. As skyrocketing rents punished residents, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party rallied around new safeguards for tenants. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a centrist Democrat, vowed to build more homes in the suburbs. The real estate industry seemed open to revamping a coveted tax break for developers in ways that would make new apartments more affordable to rent. Instead, lawmakers went home without doing much at all. Now, state leaders will get another try. The 2024 legislative session, set to begin on Wednesday, will again test New York State’s willingness to tackle one of its most debilitating problems. The context this year is in some ways worse than it was in 2023. A surge of migrants arriving in New York City has overwhelmed its homeless shelter system. High interest rates and the expiration of the tax break, known as 421a, have slowed apartment construction to a trickle, threatening to deepen the city’s housing shortage. Rents and home prices remain among the highest in the nation, straining everyday life for the lowest-income New Yorkers and driving the middle class away in droves. Yet interviews with state and city officials, housing experts and advocates suggest the chances of a major deal in Albany are mixed at best.

afbeed4b714fcc49b76356edc91f5e53

5science

Opinion | A Green Glacier Is Dismantling the Great Plains

One hundred and fifty years ago on Thursday, the novelist Willa Cather was born in her grandmother’s house in Virginia. Though she drew from her Southern childhood throughout her career, plucking memories like grapes from the vine, it was the swelling prairies of Nebraska — surreal in their expanse, in their commune with the sky, in the almost tidal energy underfoot — that conjured her most enduring works, the bluestem eternal that proved her muse. “The homesteads were few and far apart; here and there a windmill gaunt against the sky, a sod house crouching in a hollow,” she wrote in “O Pioneers!,” the first in her prairie trilogy. “But the great fact was the land itself, which seemed to overwhelm the little beginnings of human society that struggled in its somber wastes.” Like so many other certainties of the 20th century, however — American hegemony, ground water, Social Security, fossil fuels — Cather’s “great fact” is now in question. North America has already destroyed more than 60 percent of its native prairie. We’ve plowed the sod, left the topsoil to blow away, traded wildflowers for row crops, switch grass for suburbs, hay meadows for Home Depots. We’ve cleaved it apart with freeways, transmission lines, irrigation canals and oil pipelines. And now the Eastern redcedar tree is hungry for what’s left.

8119167fa27ff611a7d6b4ecd2ad98f8

5science

Westfield Public Health Bulletin: Avoiding, managing stress is important during holidays

The holidays are a time of joy and stress. There is a happiness in seeing a child’s delight in decorations, lights, snow, Santa, opening gifts and the magic of the season. There is satisfaction in giving and helping the less fortunate. There is peace and pleasure when snuggled under a blanket by the Christmas tree, sipping hot chocolate, while the children play with their new toys. Conversely, there are many demands on everyone. Anxiety, depression, loneliness prevail while dealing with financial strain, unrealistic expectations, family issues, time constraints, wanted and unwanted house guests, trying to maintain family traditions and having to work on the holiday. Eighty-eight percent of Americans say the holidays are the most stressful time of the year. Thirty-one percent say their physical and mental health worsens in November, December and January. Nearly half, 48%, report financial strain is the main cause of holiday stress. Sixty-one percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. You are not alone with your feelings. Women report greater stress and less sleep.

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4politics

The World I Knew Before Is Gone: Ecuador Reels After Days of Unrest

A sense of dread took hold in Ecuador on Wednesday, with the streets empty, classes canceled, and many people afraid to leave their homes after the disappearance of two gang leaders on Monday set off prison riots, police kidnappings and the on-air storming of a TV station. The violence, which left at least 11 people dead by Wednesday and prompted the president to authorize Ecuador’s military to take on the country’s powerful gangs, has put the South American country on edge. “I feel like the world I knew before is gone,” said María Ortega, a schoolteacher in Guayaquil, a large coastal city. “You can know how things start, but not how they’ll end.” In Guayaquil, where TC Televisión was briefly seized on Tuesday, public transit had resumed and some people ventured outside. TC Televisión was not broadcasting, with only colored lines appearing on the screen where news reports would usually appear.

0587b186621bbe0e1d14ef434d0e93c3

5science

COVID-19: Coronavirus levels surge in Boston waste water

Levels of coronavirus in Boston-area waste water have surged in recent weeks, reaching their highest level since the ferocious Omicron surge in the winter of 2021-2022, data from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority show. On New Year’s Day, the seven-day average of coronavirus RNA copies per milliliter of waste water reached 2,743 copies/mL in samples taken from the northern system — which includes parts of Boston and communities north of the city — and 2,583 copies/mL in samples from the southern system, which includes southern portions of the city and communities to the south. Those levels are about 10 times higher than early November, and higher than any point since January 2022. Still, it’s important to note that in terms of waste water levels, the current surge is a small fraction of the Omicron surge two years ago. At that time, levels soared past 11,000 copies/mL in samples before quickly dropping back down.

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3entertainment

Madonna gives Boston something to celebrate

“Open your heart, I’ll make you love me,” Madonna sang to a thrilled, packed, up-way-past-bedtime TD Garden Monday night. Hearts were wide open. She made us love her. Madonna has always looked forward, charging out in front of a genre perpetually obsessed with the next young thing. This year, Madonna, who is — GASP! — 65, is taking some time to celebrate her — GASP! — past. Not a greatest hits show (no “Material Girl,” no “Like a Virgin”), the Celebration Tour is a retrospective, a finely curated biography set to the greatest pop of the past 40 years. She started her story (at 10:15 pm) in the most obvious place: the dance floor. The first mini set crammed in many of catchiest ’80s club jams, often with too much club bass. The whole night had too many melodies crushed under a tuneless low-end rumble, even ballad “Crazy for You” had a needless thumping. (Note: Pop stars, hire an actual band and minimize pre-recorded tracks.) But, true to form, she overcame the sound with spectacle and charisma. “Open Your Heart” was captivating with Madonna staring into a camera, her dancers recreating the video’s peepshow burlesque vibe behind her. The narrative moved on to different chapters (heretic, sex positive champion, mother and daughter). In each act, what worked — what’s always worked — remained: great pop, spectacle, charisma, and dancers, oh so many dancers! The stage expanded from a main section with multiple smaller sections all connected by catwalks. And Madonna and troupe used every inch of floor. “Erotica” had Madonna and her troupe throwing punches in boxing rings on side stages. “Don’t Tell Me” saw the crew strutting in chaps and cowboy hats, and Madonna can still strut with awesome energy. In one of the most arresting pieces of choreography in any pop show, a dozen dancers spun on a carousel, shirtless, undulating, bathed in warm light, striking crucifixion poses. At the center, Madonna sang a pumping, hypnotic remix of “Like A Prayer.” “Vogue” played tribute to its inspiration, New York’s ballroom scene of the ’80s. With each dancer dressed in a radically different glammed out outfit showing off in front of judge Madonna. In a twist, 11-year-old daughter Estere topped the competition with her skills (four of her kids helped out including 17-year-old daughter Mercy who accompanied her on a grand piano for “Bad Girl”). The show covered so much ground. The world-conquering rush of “Ray of Light” and breezy “Isla Bonita” and a wonderful, acoustic and raw version of “Express Yourself.” There was pyro and costume changes, hydraulic lifts and moving video screens with endless montages And yet, it wasn’t enough. That’s a good thing. She’s made us love her and we want more. “I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around,” she said in a video clip from an event honoring her as Billboard’s 2016 Woman of the Year. The comment couldn’t be more true considering the ageism and sexism she has faced and still faces. So please, shock he haters, stick around some more.

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2culture

Remember Those Who Are Less Fortunate This Holiday Season East Boston Times-Free Press

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities. With Christmas fast approaching, most of us will be rushing about — either to the stores and malls or on-line — to do our holiday shopping in hopes of finding that “perfect” gift for our family members and loved ones. Although economic uncertainty, spurred by the after-effects of record-high inflation, continues to afflict almost every American household, most of us are doing okay, if not extremely well, thanks to unemployment rates that are near historically record-lows. However, the strong economy (from an employment standpoint) that is being enjoyed by the majority of Americans has not been shared by all. For a sizable number of our fellow citizens, the lingering effects of the pandemic, as well as the fraying of the fabric of our social safety net in recent years, have come together to represent an existential disaster. Millions of Americans of all ages, in a percentage greater than at any time since the Great Depression, are struggling financially, even if they have a job. To put it in stark terms, more Americans, including families in our own communities, are going hungry than at any time in our recent history. One in eight households (12.8 percent) experience food insecurity, defined as the lack of access to an affordable, nutritious diet. An estimated 44.2 million Americans live in these households. A recent Feeding America survey found that 80% of network food banks reported either increased or steady demand for emergency food services, with almost 35% of responding food banks reporting an increase in the number of people they serve. In addition, thanks to the lack of affordable new housing and sky-high rents, far too many of our fellow citizens, including children, live either in shelters or in similar temporary housing arrangements — or on the streets — because our economy literally has left them out in the cold. Millions of Americans of all ages, including those in our own communities, are struggling financially, often through no fault of their own, thanks to a combination of low-wage jobs and a strong real estate market that ironically has made apartments (let alone buying a home) unaffordable. This dichotomy is most evident and acute in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and right here in Boston (most notably at the infamous Mass. and Cass intersection in the South End). Despite the vast wealth in those metropolitan areas, thousands of homeless Americans, including many who have full-time jobs, are living in tent and cardboard “neighborhoods” on city sidewalks. The homeless always have been among us, but the scope and depth of the problem is far beyond anything that has been experienced in our lifetime. The vast discrepancy between the enormous wealth enjoyed by some Americans and the abject poverty being endured by others is similar to what exists in major urban centers in South America and India — but it now is happening right here in the U.S.A. For these millions of Americans, the holiday season brings no joy. Psychologists tell us that the Biblical directive, that we should give to those who are less fortunate, is the best gift that we can give to ourselves. Helping others activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust, creating the so-called “warm glow” effect. Never in the lifetime of anybody reading this editorial has the need for contributions to local food banks been more urgent. There will be ample opportunities in the coming days to make the holidays brighter for those who are less fortunate, whether it be donations to local food banks and toy programs, or even just dropping a few dollars in the buckets of the Salvation Army Santas. There simply is no excuse for those of us who are among the more fortunate for failing to make some effort over the next four weeks to make the holidays brighter for those who are less fortunate.

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0business

Menendez Case Focuses on How Qatar Trades Its Riches for Clout

When Senator Robert Menendez arrived in Qatar in 2022 to attend the country’s lavish production of the men’s soccer World Cup, he gave an unusual interview to the authoritarian government’s news agency praising the progress that Qatar had made on labor rights. The tiny Gulf state was facing an onslaught of international criticism over its preparations for the world’s biggest sporting event, including over the exploitation of migrant workers who built the tournament’s infrastructure. But Mr. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said he preferred to highlight positive aspects of the games, and the host nation. Traveling to Qatar gave Mr. Menendez “the experience to say wow!” he said, according to the Qatari state news agency. “My short visit to Doha was joyful and I saw that the global community came to Qatar and were well received and well respected.” Less than a year later, Mr. Menendez, 70, was charged in a federal indictment with taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including bars of gold, to wield his power at home and abroad. The case initially focused on actions that benefited Egypt. But on Tuesday, updated court documents added new details related to Qatar.

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6sports

Mac Jones role comes into focus vs. Chargers

FOXBOROUGH — Despite losing his starting job to Bailey Zappe, Mac Jones will still be in uniform against the Chargers. The quarterback changed his routine and wasn’t out early throwing — only Zappe and Malik Cunningham were — but he’ll still be active on a rainy afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Because Cunningham was elevated from the Patriots practice squad, Jones wasn’t eligible to serve as an inactive emergency third quarterback; Jones will be a standard backup. $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. There were no real surprises on New England’s inactive list, as Pop Douglas (concussion) and Kayshon Boutte (illness/shoulder) were ruled out on Friday, Alex Austin, JaMycal Hasty, Vederian Lowe are healthy scratches, and Deatrich Wise is out with an illness. On the Chargers side, explosive wide receiver Keenan Allen is active despite missing multiple practices this week with a quad injury. He’d been listed as questionable coming into the game. “Keenan, as good as he’s been — which has been great — he’s having his best year, which is pretty scary,” Bill Belichick said. “He’s a very difficult player to cover, very strong, great hands, instincts, hard guy to tackle. Obviously, (Justin) Herbert’s got a lot of confidence in him.”

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1crime

Record number of guns brought to New England airports in 2023 but fewer in Boston

Though people brought more firearms through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints throughout New England last year, fewer passengers at Boston Logan International Airport tried to bring guns through — a happy trend TSA officials hope will continue. TSA detected 52 firearms throughout the nine New England airports in 2023, five more than the previous record of 47 set in 2022. A grand total of 6,737 firearms were detected at airports across the country, and TSA’s data shows that number has steadily increased year after year. The only New England airport to see fewer firearms being brought in was Boston Logan, at 18 guns detected; in 2022, an all-time high of 31 firearms were intercepted at the Boston airport.

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3entertainment

Dancing With The Stars finale: How to stream the new episode for free (Dec. 5)

The finale episode of ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” will air on the network on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. EST. The episode can also be streamed on platforms like FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. Both platforms offer a free trial for new users who are interested in signing up for an account. 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. In the new episode of the current season, five couples compete for a chance at winning the coveted “Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy”; the finalists perform a redemption dance and an unforgettable freestyle routine. How can I watch “Dancing With The Stars″ on ABC 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.

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4politics

Opinion | I Am Gaza Citys Mayor. Our Lives and Culture Are in Rubble.

As a teenager in the 1980s, I watched the construction of the intricately designed Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza City, named after one of Gaza’s greatest public figures, and its theater, grand hall, public library, printing press and cultural salon. Students and researchers, scholars and artists from across the Gaza Strip came to visit it, and so did President Bill Clinton in 1998. The center was the gem of Gaza City. Watching it being built inspired me to become an engineer, which led to a career as a professor and, in the footsteps of al-Shawa, as mayor of Gaza City. Now that gem is rubble. It was destroyed by Israeli bombardment. The Israeli invasion has caused the deaths of more than 20,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and destroyed or damaged about half the buildings in the territory. The Israelis have also pulverized something else: Gaza City’s cultural riches and municipal institutions. The unrelenting destruction of Gaza — its iconic symbols, its beautiful seafront, its libraries and archives and whatever economic prosperity it had — has broken my heart.

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2culture

Food sovereignty movement sprouts as bison return to Indigenous communities

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Egyptian officials said Hamas was preparing to release 14 Israeli hostages Saturday for 42 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, as part of an exchange on the second day of a cease-fire that has allowed critical humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and given civilians their first respite after seven weeks of war. On the first day of the four-day cease-fire, Hamas released 24 of the about 240 hostages taken during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, and Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison. Those freed from captivity in Gaza were 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and a Filipino. On Saturday, Hamas provided mediators Egypt and Qatar with a list of 14 hostages to be released, and the list has been passed along to Israel, according to a Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to talk about details of the ongoing negotiations. A second Egyptian official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the details. Under the truce agreement, Hamas will release one Israeli hostage for every three prisoners freed, and Israel’s Prison Service had already said earlier Saturday it was preparing 42 prisoners for release. It was not immediately clear how many non-Israeli captives may also be released. Overall, Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners during the four-day truce, all woman and minors. Israel has said the truce can be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed — something United States President Joe Biden said he hoped would come to pass. Separately, a Qatari delegation arrived in Israel on Saturday to coordinate with parties on the ground and “ensure the deal continues to move smoothly,” according to a diplomat briefed on the visit. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do discuss details with the media. The start of the truce Friday morning brought the first quiet for 2.3 million Palestinians reeling and desperate from relentless Israeli bombardment that has killed thousands, driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and leveled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel went silent as well. For Emad Abu Hajer, a resident of the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza City area, the pause meant he could again dig through the rubble of his home, which was flattened in an Israeli attack last week. He found the bodies of a cousin and nephew Friday, bring the death toll in the attack to 19. With his sister and two other relatives still missing, he resumed his digging Saturday. “We want to find them and bury them in dignity,” he said. Israeli soldiers stand on Salah al-Din road in central Gaza Strip on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, as the temporary ceasefire went into effect.AP Photo/Hatem Moussa The United Nations said the pause enabled it to scale up the delivery of food, water, and medicine to the largest volume since the resumption of humanitarian aid convoys on Oct. 21. It was also able to deliver 129,000 liters (34,078 gallons) of fuel — just over 10% of the daily pre-war volume — as well as cooking gas, a first time since the war began. In the southern city of Khan Younis on Saturday, a long line of people with gas cans and other containers waited outside a filling station hoping to get some of the newly delivered fuel. As he waited for fuel, Hossam Fayad lamented that the pause in fighting was only for four days. “I wish it could be extended until people’s conditions improved,” he said. For the first time in over a month, aid reached northern Gaza, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 61 trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies headed to northern Gaza on Saturday, the largest aid convoy to reach the area since the start of the war. The U.N. said it and the Palestinian Red Crescent were also able to evacuate 40 patients and family members from a hospital in Gaza City, where much of the fighting has taken place, to a hospital in Khan Younis. The relief brought by the cease-fire has been tempered, however, for both sides — among Israelis by the fact that not all hostages will be freed and among Palestinians by the brevity of the pause. The short truce leaves Gaza mired in humanitarian crisis and under the threat that fighting could soon resume. Amal Abu Awada, a 40-year-old widow who fled a Gaza City-area camp for Khan Younis with her three children earlier in November, ventured out Friday to a U.N. facility looking for food and water, but said there was none available. “We went back empty handed,” she said. “But at least there are no bombs, and we can try again.” FIRST HOSTAGES FREED After nightfall Friday, a line of ambulances emerged from Gaza through the Rafah Crossing into Egypt carrying the freed hostages. The freed Israelis included nine women and four children 9 and under. The released hostages were taken to three Israeli hospitals for observation. The Schneider Children’s Medical Center said it was treating eight Israelis — four children and four women — and that all appeared to be in good physical condition. The center said they were also receiving psychological treatment, adding that “these are sensitive moments” for the families. At a plaza dubbed “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv, a crowd of Israelis celebrated at the news. The hostages included multiple generations. Nine-year-old Ohad Munder-Zichri was freed along with his mother, Keren Munder, and grandmother, Ruti Munder. The fourth-grader was abducted during a holiday visit to his grandparents at the kibbutz where about 80 people — nearly a quarter of all residents of the small community — are believed to have been taken from. The plight of the hostages has raised anger among some families that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to bring them home. Hours later, 24 Palestinian women and 15 teenage boys held in Israeli prisons in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem were freed. In the West Bank town of Beitunia, hundreds of Palestinians poured out of their homes to celebrate, honking horns and setting off fireworks that lit up the night sky. The teenagers had been jailed for minor offenses like throwing stones. The women included several convicted of trying to stab Israeli soldiers, and others who had been arrested at checkpoints in the West Bank. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group, Israel is currently holding 7,200 Palestinians, including about 2,000 arrested since the start of the war. A LONGER PEACE? The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers. Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, said the hope is that momentum from the deal will lead to an end to the violence. Qatar served as a mediator along with the U.S. and Egypt. Israeli leaders have said they would resume fighting eventually and not stop until Hamas, which has controlled Gaza for the past 16 years, is crushed. Israel has set the release of all hostages as the second goal of the war, and officials have argued that only military pressure can bring them home. At the same time, the government is under pressure from the families of the hostages to make the release of the remaining captives the top priority, ahead of any efforts to end Hamas control of Gaza. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza government. Women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead, though the latest number was not broken down. The figure does not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north, where communications have broken down.

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4politics

Israeli media say Hamas has released 13 Israeli hostages

Hamas released the first batch of hostages under a cease-fire deal that began Friday, including 13 Israelis who have been held in the Gaza Strip since the militant group staged a raid on Israel nearly seven weeks ago, according to officials and media reports. Twelve Thai nationals were also released, according to Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. An Israeli official confirmed that the Thai captives left Gaza and were en route to a hospital in Israel. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the releases with the media. In all, 50 captives had been expected to be freed during a four-day truce. It was not clear if the Thai hostages were included in that. Israel is set to release 150 Palestinians under the deal. Thirty-nine — 24 women, including some convicted of attempted murder for attacks on Israeli forces, and 15 teenagers jailed for offenses like throwing stones — were expected to be freed Friday, Palestinian authorities said. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. Israeli media, citing security officials, said 13 Israelis had been freed. The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began Friday, allowing sorely needed aid to start flowing into Gaza and setting the stage for the exchange. There were no reports of fighting after the truce began. The deal offered some relief for Gaza's 2.3 million people, who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment and dwindling supplies of basic necessities, as well as for families in Israel worried about loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war. The truce raised hopes of eventually winding down the conflict, which has flattened vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East. Israel, however, has said it is determined to resume its massive offensive once the cease-fire ends. On Friday, it brought quiet after weeks in which Gaza saw heavy bombardment and artillery fire daily as well as street fighting as ground troops advanced through neighborhoods in the north. The last report of air raid sirens in Israeli towns near the territory came shortly after the truce took effect. Not long after, four tankers with fuel and four with cooking gas entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt, Israel said. Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,340 gallons) of fuel per day during the truce — still only a small portion of Gaza’s estimated daily needs of more than 1 million liters. For most of the past seven weeks of war, Israel had barred the entry of fuel to Gaza, claiming it could be used by Hamas for military purposes — though it has occasionally allowed small amounts in. U.N. aid agencies pushed back against the claim, saying fuel deliveries were closely supervised and urgently needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe since fuel is required to run generators that power water treatment facilities, hospitals and other critical infrastructure. The Israeli military dropped leaflets over southern Gaza, warning hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who sought refuge there not to return to their homes in the territory's north, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive. Even though Israel warned that it would block such attempts, hundreds of Palestinians could be seen walking north Friday. Two were shot and killed by Israeli troops and another 11 were wounded. An Associated Press journalist saw the two bodies and the wounded as they arrived at a hospital. Sofian Abu Amer, who had fled Gaza City, said he decided to risk heading north to check on his home. “We don’t have enough clothes, food and drinks,” he said. ”The situation is disastrous. It’s better for a person to die." During the cease-fire, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took on Oct. 7. Hamas said Israel would free 150 Palestinian prisoners. Both sides agreed to release women and children first, in stages starting Friday. Israel said the deal calls for the truce to be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed. Early in the day, ambulances were seen arriving at the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel, preparing for the release. Those freed will then be taken to hospitals for assessment and treatment, Israeli officials said. Among the Israeli citizens freed some have a second nationality, according to a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the details with the media. Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible for release, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offenses. Three Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released for every hostage freed. The hope is that “momentum” from the deal will lead to an “end to this violence,” said Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, which served as a mediator along with the United States and Egypt. But hours before it came into effect, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted telling troops that their respite would be short and that the war would resume with intensity for at least two more months. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also vowed to continue the war to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its 16-year rule in Gaza and return all the hostages. Israel's northern border with Lebanon was also quiet on Friday, a day after the militant Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas, carried out the highest number of attacks in one day since fighting there began Oct. 8. Hezbollah is not a party to the cease-fire agreement, but was widely expected to halt its attacks. The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers. The soldiers will only be released in exchange for all Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, according to the Islamic Jihad militant group, which is reportedly holding about 40 hostages. It is not clear how many of the hostages are currently serving in the military or whether the militants also consider reserve soldiers to be “military hostages.” Photos: Israel-Hamas War According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group, Israel is currently holding 7,200 Palestinians on security charges or convictions, including about 2,000 arrested since the start of the war. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which resumed its detailed count of casualties in Gaza after stopping for weeks because of the health system’s collapse in the north. The ministry says some 6,000 people have been reported missing, feared buried under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death tolls. Women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead, though the new number was not broken down. The figure does not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, without presenting evidence for its count. ___ Mroue reported from Beirut and Rising reported from Bangkok. Julia Frankel contributed from Jerusalem.

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1crime

Justice Department Found Unimaginable Failure in Uvalde Response

A near-total breakdown in policing protocols hindered the response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022 that left 21 people dead, the Justice Department concluded today after a nearly two-year investigation. “Lives would have been saved, and people could have survived” if officers had not refused to rapidly confront the killer, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. The department blamed “cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy and training” for a passive law enforcement response that allowed an 18-year-old gunman to remain inside Robb Elementary School for more than an hour before he was confronted and killed. (Here’s a minute-by-minute timeline of the 78-minute ordeal.) The most significant failure, investigators concluded, was the decision by local police officials to classify the incident as a barricaded standoff rather than an “active-shooter” scenario, which would have demanded instant and aggressive action. Most of the officials in charge that day have been fired or have retired.

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0business

Single family residence in Leeds sells for $830,000

The spacious property located at 640 Kennedy Road in Leeds was sold on Nov. 17, 2023. The $830,000 purchase price works out to $329 per square foot. The house, built in 1977, has an interior space of 2,526 square feet. This single-story house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area. The property is equipped with hot water heating and a cooling system. Additionally, the house includes a detached garage. Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby: In May 2022, a 1,760-square-foot home on Kennedy Road in Leeds sold for $432,000, a price per square foot of $245. The home has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. On Kennedy Road, Leeds, in January 2023, a 1,760-square-foot home was sold for $875,000, a price per square foot of $497. The home has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. A 3,204-square-foot home at 426 Kennedy Road in Leeds sold in June 2022, for $599,900, a price per square foot of $187. The home has 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Real Estate Newswire is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to generate analysis of data from Propmix, an aggregator of national real-estate data. See more Real Estate News

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4politics

Hunter Biden Text Cited in Impeachment Inquiry Is Not What G.O.P. Suggests

Mr. Dubinsky answered, “Absolutely.” But a close examination of the circumstances surrounding the 2019 text message, along with others that have been cited by Republicans during the impeachment inquiry and elsewhere to suggest that Hunter Biden’s foreign income was shared with or benefited his father, shows the extent to which the contents of the communications have been misunderstood or outright distorted. And while it does not rule out the possibility that House Republicans could unearth evidence showing wrongdoing by President Biden, it underscores the flimsy nature of the material they have presented publicly so far. The story behind the message, as explained by the Bidens and backed up by other interviews and a review of Hunter Biden’s emails and text messages, offers sometimes unflattering insights into the family’s finances and internal dynamics. And it adds more detail to what is known about Hunter Biden’s erratic and irresponsible behavior while in the throes of addiction. But it is very different from the story being promoted by House Republicans and their allies. Rather than evidence that Hunter had split his foreign income with his father, the 2019 message was a reference to a story from Hunter’s youth that he repeated to his daughters when they became teenagers. It was prompted by a family dispute, fueled by Hunter Biden’s drug use, money troubles and personal resentments, according to the review of Hunter Biden’s communications and interviews with Biden aides, family friends, and Hunter and Naomi Biden. It started with a freak ski accident at the start of 2019. Naomi Biden, 25 at the time, and her then-boyfriend, Peter Neal, were having lunch at the slope-side Handle Bar Restaurant & Pub at the Four Seasons Jackson Hole ski resort in Wyoming. They received a frantic phone call from Naomi’s younger sister Finnegan, who had skipped lunch with them to continue skiing.

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3entertainment

97 things to do in Boston this weekend [01

Add to: 01/19/2024 07:00:00 01/21/2024 23:00:00 America/New_York 97 things to do in Boston this weekend <p>Embrace the cold and enjoy your weekend to the fullest with our picks for everything fun to do around the city -- and don't forget to <a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/joyraft-boston-experienc... Boston, Boston, MA false

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0business

Boeing Cargo Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Miami After Engine Malfunction

A Boeing cargo plane headed for Puerto Rico was diverted back to Miami International Airport shortly after takeoff when an engine failed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The episode is another potential setback for Boeing, which has been thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks over quality control concerns. Atlas Air Flight 5Y095 landed safely after experiencing an “engine malfunction” shortly after departure, the airline said early Friday. Video taken from the ground appeared to showed flames repeatedly shooting from the plane as it flew. The F.A.A. said in its initial report on the incident that a post-flight inspection revealed “a softball-size hole” above the No. 2 engine. It said it would investigate further.

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1crime

2 paramedics found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in Elijah McClains death

CNN — Two paramedics were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide Friday in the death of Elijah McClain, an unarmed 23-year-old Black man who was subdued by police and injected with ketamine in Aurora, Colorado, in August 2019. Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec had pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Cichuniec was also found guilty of a second-degree unlawful administration of drugs assault charge. Prosecutors had argued the paramedics acted recklessly in administering a large amount of the powerful sedative ketamine to McClain, who had been violently subdued by police, despite not speaking with him or checking his vital signs. An amended autopsy report released in 2022 listed McClain’s cause of death as “complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.” However, the paramedics testified they were following their training for treating patients experiencing “excited delirium,” a controversial diagnosis describing extreme agitation generally applied to people being subdued by police. “During our training, we were told numerous times that this is a safe, effective drug,” Cichuniec told the court. “That is the only drug we can carry that can stop what is going on and calm him down so we can control his airway, we can control him and the safety of him, get him to the hospital as quick as we can.” Three Aurora police officers who subdued McClain have also faced trial for their involvement in the incident. Officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and assault and subsequently fired by the department, while officers Jason Rosenblatt and Nathan Woodyard were acquitted of all charges. This is a developing story and will be updated. CNN’s Eric Levenson and Jeremy Harlan contributed to this report.

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2culture

Japanese American New Years Food Traditions Transcend Time

Mr. Namba is also fond of eating soba — the more well-known buckwheat version — making special versions with lobster tempura or duck for New Year’s at his Los Angeles restaurants Tsubaki and Ototo. As with many global New Year’s traditions, the dishes have strong symbolic meanings. Ozoni is associated with good health and good fortune, with the mochi signifying longevity. Soba noodles represent breaking ties with the hardships of the previous year and starting anew, Mr. Pursley said, as well as a long life. Perhaps the best example of symbolic Japanese New Year foods is osechi ryori, or a box filled with an assortment of traditional New Year’s dishes, each with a specific meaning. Each year, the chef Niki Nakayama serves a version at her restaurant n/naka in Los Angeles. She includes kuromame, or sweet black soybeans, a wish for good health; datemaki, or a Japanese rolled omelet, that looks like a scroll for the acquisition of knowledge; and kurikinton, a vibrant mash of Japanese sweet potatoes flavored with candied chestnut syrup and topped with the golden candied chestnuts, which represent gold and bring economic fortune.

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3entertainment

Disney Rejected Her a Few Times. The Wish Director Just Kept Trying.

It was a proactive path Veerasunthorn knew well. She grew up in a small seaside town in Thailand’s Chonburi Province, where she said her only exposure to animation as a career came in the form of the local artists who hand-painted posters to announce new movie releases in the town square. At home, she and her younger siblings would watch the 1941 Disney animated film “Dumbo” on repeat. The movie’s fantastical nature and its message of persevering against the odds resonated with her as a young girl. Also, she said wryly, “Maybe that was the only VHS we had.” Her parents ran an auto parts shop in front of the family home, and Veerasunthorn used their industrial cardboard boxes and a wall in the kitchen as her canvases. But she had no formal training, and art was just a hobby. When she was 15, she left home for high school in Bangkok, where she chose a computer science track, hoping to learn to write emails. And after graduating in 2000 with the expectation that she would pursue a practical, lucrative career in her home country, she enrolled in medical school. But Veerasunthorn “did not love” the idea of becoming a doctor, and during her semester break, she began taking art classes and writing to Ratanasirintrawoot, who recommended her to the president at his alma mater, Columbus College of Art & Design in Ohio. Her parents were supportive but nervous. No one in Veerasunthorn’s family had pursued a career in the arts. “I was leaving behind something that, to a lot of people, family and friends, is a very solid career to do something that is unknown,” she said.

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1crime

Can you help catch a killer? Hampden DA invites public to expand DNA database to solve cold cases

SPRINGFIELD — The Hampden District Attorney’s office is asking for the public’s help to bring justice for families who lost loved ones in violent attacks that are decades old, with their killers still at large. Investigators hope to parlay the explosion in popularity of DNA ancestry testing to make strides in old homicides and sexual assault cases that were gathering dust in police departments across the county.

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3entertainment

Westfield City Clerk announces winner of Top Dog Contest

WESTFIELD - On Jan. 1, Westfield City Clerk Kaitlyn Bruce announced that the winner of the Westfield Top Dog Contest is “Walter,” a search & rescue Doberman owned by Trish LaBelle. Westfield’s first annual Top Dog contest was launched in August 2023 to encourage residents to license their dogs. All participants had to have a current dog license. At the time, Bruce said licensing helps prevent rabies outbreaks by requiring a certificate of vaccination for all dogs. “It also increases the chance that you will be reunited with your pet in the unfortunate event they are lost. If we can bring safety and fun together with a little friendly competition, it’s a win-win.”

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1crime

Driver fled after crashing into Lakeville Dollar Tree, police say

Lakeville police are investigating after a driver crashed into the front of a Dollar Tree Sunday morning and fled the scene, according to police. Police and firefighters responded to 56 Main St. around 10 a.m. after reports came in that a vehicle had hit the store, Lakeville police said in a press release Sunday evening. Officers’ initial investigation determined the vehicle had jumped the curb and hit the building, damaging the storefront. No injuries were reported, and the town’s building commissioner was notified of the crash, police said. Pictures from the scene shared to social media show broken glass on the pavement and store windows dented inward. MassLive reached out to Lakeville police Monday morning to find out if anyone had been arrested for the crash but did not hear back immediately. MassLive also reached out to Dollar Tree to find out whether its Lakeville location is open, but did not get a response immediately. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Lakeville police at 508-947-4422.

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4politics

California Faces $68 Billion Deficit Amid Steep Revenue Decline

California is facing a $68 billion budget deficit, the state’s nonpartisan fiscal analyst announced on Thursday, signaling a “serious” financial challenge for the Democratic-led government heading into an election year. The Legislative Analyst’s Office said a revenue decline this year “similar to those seen during the Great Recession and dot‑com bust” was largely responsible for the sobering projection. Absent a sudden turnaround, Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature would face the state’s biggest budget challenge since the early 1990s, undercutting national messaging by the governor, who has depicted California’s emergence from the Covid-19 pandemic largely as an economic success. California has been in a downturn since 2022, and state finance officials had been warning of a darkening fiscal outlook, the report noted. But the state was late to recognize the full extent of the plummeting revenues because of a decision to delay its tax filing deadline until mid-November of this year to give residents leeway as they recovered from a series of catastrophic storms last winter. The state’s tax system is prone to wide swings because of a heavy reliance on the taxation of capital gains and the personal income of high earners. For those residents, a steep 2022 decline in the stock markets resulted in heavy losses, which translated into lower tax revenues in returns filed through last month.

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6sports

Daily Girls Basketball Stats Leaders: DaNaysia Banks leads all scorers & more

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 girls basketball category throughout the season. Take a look at the day’s top performers below:

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0business

Ligotti, Redeker and McGranaghan of Boston City Group, Inc. handle sale of 18-unit multifamily portfolio for $4.5 million

Plymouth, MA An 18-unit multifamily portfolio comprised of four buildings on 18-22 Forest Ave. Court, and 40 Bourne St., was sold on November 7, 2023, for $4.5 million Caroline Ligotti, Linda Redeker and Emily McGranaghan of Boston City Group, Inc. at Coldwell Banker Commercial worked with the seller and procured the buyer. The portfolio was comprised of some 18,240 s/f and a mixture of two-, three- and four-bedroom units. The three Forest Ave. Court buildings are situated side by side at the end of a cul-de-sac, and 40 Bourne St. features six 2-story townhomes overlooking the reservoir and hiking trails. Each building has parking and is located within walking distance to schools and retail services. Built in the early 1900s, all buildings are situated close to the water, with some units featuring water views from the upper floors. The buildings were all 100% leased at the time of closing with stable, long-term tenants and many significant opportunities to add value with renovations and potential expansion.