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‘I speak perfect English’: Surfside commissioner accuses mayor of racism and misogyny after testy exchange

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

A Surfside commissioner is blasting the behavior of the town’s mayor, claiming his racist views were on display during a testy exchange with her during a commission meeting. Speaking with 7News on Thursday afternoon, Surfside Commissioner Nelly Velasquez did not mince words about her feelings toward Mayor Shlomo Danzinger.“It’s clear [his behavior is] because I am a Latin woman, and he is a misogynist that tries to embarrass us,” she said.Velasquez gripe is the way that she says she was treated by Danzinger on Wednesday, when commissioners and the mayor were discussing term limits.“What they’re looking for is, every two years, they get a new boss, new direction. It’s not easy to run a town like this. It’s not working,” said Danzinger.Seconds later, the mayor asked Velasquez, who had the floor, to refrain from interrupting.“Commissioner, please stop interrupting,” he said.After a brief pause, Danzinger said, “OK,...

Man hospitalized after suffering burns in NE Miami-Dade apartment fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

A smoky situation at an apartment building in Northeast Miami-Dade sent a man to the hospital.Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the fire at a complex near Northeast 191st Street and 14th Avenue, Thursday afternoon.Officials said the victim was trapped inside the second-floor unit where the fire ignited.Paramedics transported him to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition after he suffered burns.

SUV crash kills a man and his grandson while they work in yard in Maine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

SANFORD, Maine (AP) — Police are investigating a fatal crash in Maine in which an SUV veered off a road and killed a man and his grandson.The crash happened on Wednesday afternoon in Sanford and killed Michael Gilbar, 65, of Jericho, Vermont, and his 15-year-old grandson, police said. The two were working in the yard of Gilbar’s summer home, the Portland Press Herald reported.Gilbar was transported by ambulance to Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport for transport to a hospital but was pronounced dead, police said. The teenager, who police did not name, was pronounced dead at the scene.Police have not named the driver, who they said was transported to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

Bottle redemption law expansion also includes higher deposit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

Forty years after the state added a five-cent deposit on some plastic bottles in order to encourage recycling, climate advocates say it’s “the right moment” to expand state’s bottle redemption law.Proposals before the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy would increase the bottle deposit from its current five cents to 10 cents and add more types of beverage containers to the program, putting a deposit on water bottles, vitamin drinks, nips and bottles for other drinks that weren’t contemplated when the initial law was adopted in 1982.Efforts to update this bill have failed in the Legislature for years, and voters in 2014 shot down a ballot question to tack the five-cent bottle deposit onto drinks besides beer and soda.Without success in expanding the deposit, advocates told lawmakers at two Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy hearings Wednesday (as House and Senat...

Police: Man charged with DUI after hitting police cruiser head-on in Manchester, NH

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

A man allegedly driving under the influence struck a police cruiser in Manchester, New Hampshire Saturday night, police said.The police officer in the vehicle was forced to crawl out of the passenger side of her cruiser after it was hit by 60-year-old Craig Young of Weare, who was charged with a DUI.Around 7 p.m., the officer was blocking off a road in the area of 163 South Mammoth Road to keep traffic away from downed power lines. Around 9 p.m., while the cruiser had the emergency lights activated, Young’s Toyota Landcruiser struck the cruiser on the driver’s side.The officer was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and Young was not injured.

Trump leaves Washington courthouse after pleading not guilty to federal charges. Follow live updates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

Follow along for live updates as Donald Trump appears in federal court Thursday after being indicted by the Justice Department for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It’s the third criminal case brought against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House. — Here’s a breakdown of the sprawling election indictment— Trump lawyer hints at a First Amendment defense in the Jan. 6 case— Republicans are remaining silent about the latest charges against Trump— The judge assigned to Trump’s case is a tough punisher of Capitol rioters— Here’s where the various cases involving Trump standTRUMP LEAVES COURTHOUSETrump has left Washington’s federal courthouse after pleading not guilty to federal conspiracy charges alleging a plot to overturn the 2020 election in a bid to cling to power. Trump entered his plea in the same courthouse where more than 1,000 of his supporters have been charge...

Massachusetts state budget proposes limit on prices for commissary items in prisons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

Prisons, correctional facilities, and contractors working with those facilities in Massachusetts would be barred from charging incarcerated people more than 3% of the purchase cost for commissary items under a policy included in the state’s pending fiscal 2024 budget.Advocates in support of the measure said incarcerated people in Massachusetts are often forced to pay for basic necessities like food and hygiene products at commissaries. But not everyone is on board with the plan, which includes language that would bar state and county facilities from receiving commissions or other financial incentives in any contract with a seller, supplier, or vendor for commissary items.“While the sheriffs recognize the concern regarding commissary commissions, eliminating or reducing these revenues without a separate funding stream would have a significant if not devastating effect on the current programming and re-entry services dedicated to improving successful outcomes for all of the just...

Vintage Chicago Tribune: How Wrigley Field got lights and why Cubs fans had to wait past 8/8/88 to raise ‘W’ flag

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

Maybe Charlotte Newfeld prayed for rain.Two weeks before the Chicago Cubs were set to play their first game under Wrigley Field’s $5 million permanent lighting system, Newfeld stood outside the stadium during a Cubs Care fundraiser, for which the lights had been switched on. As the president of Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine (CUBS), she opposed the Cubs playing homes game at night.Then she said something prophetic: “It may rain Aug. 8.”It did.CUBS wasn’t successful in stopping nighttime baseball from coming to the North Side forever. Mother Nature was — for one day. Weather was a key factor 35 years ago when the Cubs became the last major league team to add lights to its home field.Wrigley Field had hosted events after dark previously — they just weren’t Major League Baseball games. Jim Londos pinned Ed “Strangler” Lewis for the world heavyweight wrestling championship on Sept. 20, 1934, preceding MLB’s first nigh...

MBTA agreement with union gets unanimous approval from Board of Directors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

To the eventual applause of those in the room, the MBTA Board of Directors unanimously accepted an agreement between the T  the union representing frontline workers for a pay hike.The contract between the state’s beleaguered transportation system and Carmen’s Local 589 — the union representing the T’s maintenance workers, bus drivers, train drivers, and other mostly non-management employees — will provide an 18% wage increase over the next four years while codifying a number of attraction and retention measures, such as sign-on bonuses and sick leave, and offers better pay progression for new hires.“The four-year contract is going to give the agency and our workforce long-term stability and that’s very important to us as we look forward to the future here, but also to immediate needs,” MBTA General Manager Philip Eng told the Board before their vote.Coming in at a cost of about $55 million, the new contract will be paid for as time advances, Eng told the Board, with the first ...

Carlos Carrasco allows 6 ER in start, Mets get swept by Royals after 9-2 loss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:24 GMT

KANSAS CITY — This time last week, the Mets were still clinging to hope that they would keep the 2023 group together and have a shot at a run. But if there was ever a series that validated the front office’s decision to sell at the trade deadline, it was this one.The Mets (50-58) were swept by the Kansas City Royals on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium in a 9-2 loss. They were defeated by the owners of the league’s second-worst record for the second game in a row.Sure, the Mets were playing with a depleted roster, but there were several regulars in the lineup and a veteran on the mound in Carlos Carrasco. It was more of the same from Carrasco, who has battled through bone spurs and ineffectiveness all season.The right-hander allowed six earned runs on eight hits over six innings, walking one and striking out none. He pitched into the seventh inning but failed to get an out and was chased from the game after Drew Waters drove a three-run shot into the right field bleache...