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6 strangers en route to FLL become friends after being stranded in Fort Myers due to floods

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

The floods last week caused travel trouble for a group of passengers trying to get to South Florida. Some of them decided to travel together to get to their final destination.You can call it divine intervention. The bond between these strangers changed their lives forever– an unforgettable trip and a new set of lifelong friends.Six strangers, one goal: to get to South Florida, but when the historic flooding hit, their plans went up in the air.“Anytime you fly, you’ll always have to take that chance something can happen,” said Karen Schultz, a retired school teacher.Schultz said she flew in from Cleveland to Atlanta to get on a Spirit Airlines flight to Fort Lauderdale, but it didn’t make it there.The flight was rerouted to Fort Myers to refuel and stayed there.Five hours later, the flight was canceled.The airline company offered everyone on board a $50 voucher and told everyone to find their own way.“I immediately was like what are we gonna do?...

‘Like an earthquake’: Parking garage falls in NYC, killing 1

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A parking garage collapsed Tuesday in lower Manhattan’s Financial District, killing one worker, injuring five and crushing cars as concrete floors fell on top of each other like a stack of pancakes, officials said.Bystander video showed cars hanging precariously from a buckled upper deck of the three-story building, and people nearby described a fearsome rumbling, followed by screams.“It felt like an earthquake,” said Liam Gaeta, a student at nearby Pace University. Other students described seeing cars falling in the building.Officials said one worker was trapped on an upper floor and rescued via a neighboring roof.The garage caved in around 4 p.m., a few blocks from City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge, and about half a mile (0.8 km) from the New York Stock Exchange.The collapse left the building “completely unstable,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference. Firefighters had to pull out because of the danger, conducting searches instead with a drone and a robotic d...

Kipchoge says leg injury foiled Boston Marathon attempt

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The rain might be gone if Eliud Kipchoge returns for another try at the Boston Marathon, as he said Tuesday he intends to do. The field might be thinner. The wind might be at his back.But Heartbreak Hill will still be there.The historic route from Hopkinton to Boston’s Back Bay isn’t going to change, and that was the biggest problem for the two-time Olympic gold medalist who set a world record on the flattest of the major marathon courses and broke 2 hours in a completely controlled environment.“I can’t win every time,” he told reporters a day after his slowest marathon ever and just his third loss in a major race to go with 12 victories.“I was feeling good. And I think it’s just it’s a challenge. So let us discuss it as a challenge and move on,” he said. “You know, there is three things: Yesterday is a canceled check. Today is cash. And tomorrow is a promissory note. Let us forget about the canceled checks, let us talk of the cash and the promissory notes.”A...

MBTA transit police officer hit by car in Dedham

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

An MBTA transit police officer is recovering after being hit by a car in Dedham Tuesday.Police said the officer was performing an escort for a funeral when a vehicle suddenly crashed into him. Police said the officer was taken to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Photos from the scene later showed a damaged police motorcycle lying on its side near where the crash took place.The crash remained under investigation as of Tuesday afternoon. 

Trump says he would ban homelessness, put violators in ‘tent cities’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 Republican primary field, wants to make homelessness illegal and send violators away to camps for rehabilitation.“Under my strategy, working with states, we will ban urban camping wherever possible. Violators of these bans will be arrested, but they will be given the option to accept treatment and services if they are willing to be rehabilitated. Many of them don’t want that, but we will give them the option,” Trump said in a Tuesday campaign ad.Under his plan, the federal government will open tracts of “inexpensive land” for the construction of “tent cities.” There, Trump says in the ad, “the homeless can be relocated and their problems identified.”Trump also calls for the restoration of the nation’s use of mental institutions for housing those homeless people with severe mental health concerns or the “dangerously deranged.”“For those who are severely mentally ill and deeply disturbed, we will bring them back to ment...

Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla explains Derrick White’s growth since last year’s playoffs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

The lasting image of Derrick White in last year’s playoffs was a timid playmaker and hesitant shooter.When he did shoot, White went 36.4% from the floor and canned fewer than a third of his 3-pointers. The player the Celtics had acquired at the deadline, an offensive connector and defensive hound, folded like his team did in the Finals.Related ArticlesBoston Celtics | OBF: Until banner 18 is raised, questions will follow Boston Celtics Boston Celtics | Feeling healthy again, Marcus Smart puts defensive stamp on Celtics’ Game 1 win Boston Celtics | Guregian: If the Celtics get the Rob Williams that showed up in Game 1, they’ll be fine Boston Celtics | Celtics open with strong first punch, hold on for Game 1 victory over Hawks Boston Celtics | Celtics notebook: How Joe Mazzulla, Quin Snyder connected long before playoffs meeting Nowadays, it’s hard to remember that player. White eme...

Settlements from Nick Sandmann to ‘Rust’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

The $787.5 million settlement by Fox News with Dominion Voting Systems may be eye-popping, but it’s not the only one levied recently. Here’s a snapshot:Nicholas SandmannBoth CNN and the Washington Post settled with teenager Nicholas Sandmann in 2019. The high schooler was on a field trip to D.C. with his class from Covington Catholic in Kentucky when he was taped wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat after an anti-abortion rally where he was falsely accused of getting into a racially charged confrontation with a Native American activist.Video later showed it was Sandmann and classmates who were being harassed. He sued CNN and the Post for millions.FacebookThe social-media giant was sued and settled in 2021 for $650 million for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without the permission of its users, according to The Guardian.Big tobaccoThe Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was filed in 1998 against Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds, Brown & Wi...

Ticker: Sports betting tops $550M in March; China details of Raytheon, Lockheed sanctions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

More than half a billion dollars was bet on sports during the month of March, a whopping total that delivered $9.3 million in taxes to the state’s coffers.The figures represent the first partial month of mobile sports betting which launched on March 10 in the state, in time for March Madness. The launch was accompanied by an endless stream of promotions and bonuses for people creating new accounts.Broken down by the setting, $548 million in bets were placed on the six mobile platforms licensed in the state while another $20 million was bet in the sports rooms at the state’s casinos.Among the sports betting platforms, there was a wide range of betting activity reported.Massachusetts-based DraftKings led the pack, reporting $257 million in wagers, followed by FanDuel, with $181 million, according to data from the Mass Gaming Commission. Rounding out the top three was BetMGM which reported $45 million. Also taking mobile bets in the state were Barstool Sportsbook, $29.5 million; WynnBe...

Easter fire that destroyed Cambridge church investigated as ‘suspected arson,’ police ask public for help

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

Police investigating the massive Easter fire at a Cambridge church believe the blaze was likely intentionally set, as officials on Tuesday asked the public for any photos or videos of Faith Lutheran Church from Easter weekend.The raging 6-alarm fire at 311 Broadway in Cambridge destroyed the church, and the steeple was removed last week.The church had a service Easter morning, hours before the building was engulfed in heavy fire and smoke in the late afternoon into the evening.On Tuesday, nine days after the devastating blaze, Massachusetts State Police asked the public to help them in the investigation of the suspicious fire. The investigation includes the FBI Boston Division, local police and fire, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.“INFO, IMAGES SOUGHT TO AID INVESTIGATION INTO SUSPECTED ARSON OF CAMBRIDGE CHURCH,” Mass State Police wrote on social media.“The Easter Sunday fire at the Faith Lutheran Church/Eritrean Evangelical Church in ...

Buoyed by savings, Mass. bond rating upped by S&P to pre-2017 levels

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:43:30 GMT

On the back of promising economic numbers, speedy post-pandemic recovery and strong future financial prospects, the state’s bond rating has been returned to 2017 levels by ratings agencies.“The upgrade reflects our view that the Commonwealth’s commitment to strengthen its budget management practices supported by the state’s improved reserves and strong economy will be sustained through near-term recessionary pressures,” Standard & Poor’s said in notice to investors.According to Treasurer Deb Goldberg, the ratings agency has moved the rating for general obligation bonds issued by the state from AA or “positive outlook” to AA+ or “stable outlook”. The state’s long term ratings for Commonwealth Transportation Fund bonds moved from AA+ to AAA.“We are extremely pleased that the S&P credit rating is now aligned with the other ratings for the Commonwealth’s General Obligation bonds,” Goldberg said in a Tuesday statement. “The Governor’s proposed Fiscal Year ...