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Massachusetts lawmakers poised to enter last week of July without a deal on overdue FY24 state budget

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

No deal on a state budget Friday left lawmakers poised to enter the final full week of July without a yearly spending plan for the fiscal year that started 22 days ago and the public in the dark on when an accord could be reached.Lawmakers adjourned Thursday morning sessions without producing a compromise fiscal 2024 budget and scheduled informal House and Senate sessions for Monday morning. Top Democrats did not indicate this week if a compromise was in reach even as they started to stare down the final few days before their traditional August recess.The longer the state goes without a plan in place, the more it impacts the ability to implement new programs or expand existing ones, said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and former senior policy advisor to Senate President Karen Spilka.“There’s a whole lot that goes into how critical or impactful the timing of the budget finalization is to the state’s finances and its credit rating,” said ...

‘Pretty nice weekend’ expected in Boston after heavy rains, forecaster says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

Thunderstorms Friday that washed out Amtrak service and closed highways in Western Massachusetts are expected to give way to a “pretty nice weekend,” a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said Saturday morning.Multiple highways in Deerfield, Greenfield, and Conway were closed Friday night after strong rains led to flooding, a spokesperson for Massachusetts Department of Transportation said. A train track in Deerfield used by Amtrak’s Vermonter service was washed out after 5 inches of rain fell in one hour.Boston reported anywhere from one to two-and-a-half inches of rain Friday night, according to the National Weather Service in Norton. But the weekend is forecasted to clear up, said Bryce Williams, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.“Looking at a pretty nice weekend on tap,” he said Saturday, adding that “We’ll have plenty of sun” as temperatures top out in the low 80s for both weekend days.Clouds blanketed Boston Saturday morning but we...

Motorcyclist killed after falling from overpass in South Bay crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A man was killed in a motorcycle crash in Chula Vista on Friday, authorities said.According to California Highway Patrol, the rider was traveling eastbound on State Route 54 around 1:35 p.m. and then transitioned to the southbound State Route 125. East County motel fire prompts bomb/arson unit to investigate For reasons still under investigation, the man lost control of the motorcycle and struck the concrete wall, CHP explained. He was ejected and fell approximately 110 feet from the overpass into the brush below. Authorities say the rider sustained major injuries and succumbed to his injuries on scene. The man -- whose identity has not been released -- was the sole occupant of the Honda motorcycle. CHP says it's unknown if drugs or alcohol are a factor in the crash. A toxicology report from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office is pending.The cause of this collision and sequence of events are still under investigation by CHP's San Diego area office.

17 deaths associated with Rickettsia in Baja California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Rickettsia is spread by ticks, lice, fleas, mites found in animals such as dogs. It lives in people's bloodstream, slowly damaging their skin, lungs, brain and other organs until they die. Seventeen people in the state of Baja California -- including some children -- have died from the disease this year, according to the state's health secretary Adrián Medina Amarillas. Eight of the deaths have taken place in Tijuana.As the weather heats up, more cases are expected since most rickettsia deaths occur during the summer. Medina Amarillas is asking people to be careful around dogs that might be carrying ticks. In spite of opposition, officials deem Tijuana beaches safe for swimming A male adult dog tick, or Dermacentor variabilis, crawls over a penny. Dog ticks can transmit diseases such as rickettsia. Credit: NIAID (Photo by: IMAGE POINT FR/NIH/NIAID/BSIP //Universal Images Group via Getty Images)"It's necessary to maintain clean living areas such as patios and make sure...

Blaze rages out of control on Greek island of Rhodes, forcing evacuations including from 2 resorts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A large blaze burning on the Greek island of Rhodes for the fifth day has forced authorities to order an evacuation of four locations, including two seaside resorts.In previous days, the wildfire was confined to the island’s mountainous center, but aided by winds, very high temperatures and dry conditions, it spread Saturday toward the coast on the island’s central-eastern side. Local media reported the fires had reached three hotels, whose clients had already been evacuated.Fire Service spokesman Yannis Artopios said Saturday afternoon that the residents of four localities were sent SMS messages to evacuate – in two localities they were told to move to the northeast and, in two others, to the southwest.Artopios said that over 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines were operating on the ground, assisted by three planes and five helicopters. The force includes 31 firefighters from Slovakia, with five fire engines.The main front of the fire is a triangle, with two ...

Record-breaking downpours from thunderstorms cause flooding across Nova Scotia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

HALIFAX — A long procession of intense thunderstorms have dumped record amounts of rain across a wide swath of Nova Scotia, causing flash flooding, road washouts and power outages.Torrential downpours started Friday afternoon across the Halifax region, dumping more than 200 millimetres of rain in the Hammonds Plains, Bedford and Lower Sackville areas — and there was more rain in the forecast for Saturday. The port city receives about 100 mm of rain during an average month. Residents in the Halifax region are being warned to stay off the roads, including major highways.Rainfall warnings remain in effect for central and eastern Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton. And an additional 40 to 100 mm of rain was expected by Saturday night.Earlier in the day, an evacuation order was issued for people living near the St. Croix River system in central Nova Scotia, where a dam is at risk of being breached.“The amounts of rain received so far has varied dramatically across the province and ...

Search continues for Ukrainian refugee who went missing after swim in Quebec river

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

Quebec provincial police are continuing their search for a Ukrainian refugee who went missing Wednesday evening after a swim in a river southeast of Quebec City.BACKGROUND: Quebec police looking for Ukrainian refugee missing after going for swim in riverPolice spokesperson Sgt. Catherine Bernard says officers are searching the banks of the Etchemin River near St-Anselme, Que. and a police helicopter will survey the water later Saturday.A team of divers was assisting with the search, but police said a strong river current forced them to suspend their work Thursday afternoon.Police have described the refugee as a man in his 20s but have not confirmed his identity.Michael Shwec, president of the Quebec chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, says the man is 21 years old and has a mother, twin brother and younger brother who are also in Canada.Laura Torres, who works with a group that helps immigrants settle in Quebec, said the man’s mother called police about her missing son ...

Weekend Break: Abbey Farms Classic Car Show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

Check out Weekend Break with Marcus Leshock while he takes us on a spin through Abbey Farms Classic car show.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Mega Millions jackpot increases to $820 million; 8 players win $1 million prize

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Friday's Mega Millions drawing once again failed to produce a grand-prize winner, causing the jackpot to swell closer to the $1-billion mark.Friday’s winning numbers — 29, 40, 47, 50, 57 and the Mega Ball 25 — went unmatched once again, continuing a months-long trend that began after the last jackpot-winner was announced on April 18.The estimated jackpot now stands at $820 million, with a cash value of $422 million. Family’s TikTok video of ‘unsanitary’ conditions at Myrtle Beach hotel goes viral The jackpot rose to similar heights around the same time last year — leading to a $1.337 billion jackpot being awarded on July 29, 2022. It was the third billion-dollar jackpot won in the competition's history, according to the Mega Millions website.The current jackpot amount is the fifth-largest in the game's history, but still more than $700 million beneath the largest ever won.AmountDateWinning Tickets$1.537 billion10/23/20181-SC$1.348 billion1/13/20231-ME$1.337 bi...

Zoe Kreitenberg: Affirmative action is banned — except at military academies?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:11 GMT

With a conservative majority on the bench, the recent Supreme Court ruling to strike down affirmative action was widely expected. One unexpected twist, however, was an inconspicuous footnote exempting military academies from the drastic change.In his majority opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. briefly singled out military academies as the sole class of institutions allowed to maintain race-conscious admissions practices. This unexplained double standard illuminates the flaws in the court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. It may also doom more minority students to the discrimination that exists within the ranks of our nation’s military.The military academies are among the elite schools that drive much of the affirmative action debate. The Army and naval academies, West Point and Annapolis, often rank in the top liberal arts colleges nationwide. All five federal service academies — also including the Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy...