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Massachusetts State Police union seeks tougher penalties for move over law violations

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

Drivers could be slapped with higher fines and possible jail time for failing to slow down and change lanes for roadside emergency vehicles, as part of changes to a 2009 “move over law” sought by the State Police Association of Massachusetts.Failure to comply with this law has led to injury and death for state troopers, firefighters and tow truck operators, state police union representatives testified at a Tuesday legislative hearing, where several bills on the matter were considered.“It is imperative to protect our first responders so we can protect you,” said Patrick McNamara, president of the State Police Association. “Failure to obey this law results in lives disrupted, irrevocably altered and lost in a blink of an eye.”“Virtually every instance” where a motorist failed to slow down and move over, and then ultimately hit a first responder was preventable, he added.Three proposed bills are seeking to update what state Sen. Walter Timilty called an “archaic” penalty structure that...

Winthrop police officer cleared of wrongdoing in shooting, killing perpetrator of racist, deadly 2021 rampage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

Winthrop Police Sgt. Nicholas Bettano, who shot and killed a committed racist who killed two black bystanders during a rampage in 2021, has been cleared of any wrongdoing.“Our investigation makes clear that the officer’s actions were justified that tragic day,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement released with the investigation’s findings on Tuesday.“Indeed, it is likely that this officer’s brave actions saved others from being injured or killed as a result of Nathan Allen’s racially motivated rampage,” the DA added. “This was a terrifying incident for Winthrop, rooted in Nathan Allen’s deep White Supremacist hatred.”DA: Winthrop rampage shooter Nathan Allen. (Suffolk DA photo.)Allen, 28, had written in his journal, in an entry decorated with a Swastika and featuring many racial epithets, at an unknown date that he had determined that “Racism is good. Natural. Killing (expletive) is in our blood. We need to do this while we are apex predators.”Come...

Gun control proposal will get a vote after lawmakers attach it to budget bill

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

Following a procedural move gun rights groups are calling a legislative “shell game,” lawmakers will vote on a controversial new gun bill this week, after House leadership revealed they had attached much of the bill to the 2023 close-out budget.On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee polled its membership on whether they might vote in favor of recommending “H.4090 ‘An Act making appropriations for fiscal year 2023 to provide for supplementing certain existing appropriations and for certain other activities and projects’ in part, as amended; see attached.”Attached to that bill, which was submitted in September by Gov. Maura Healey with an aim toward closing the books on the state’s fiscal 2023 budget, was the third version of the House’s gun legislation.Originally proposed by Stoneham Rep. Michael Day as HD. 4420, or An Act modernizing firearms laws, gun owners met the first draft bill with alarm at many of its provisions. As written, according to opponents, the bill would mak...

Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, Norfolk Tides, sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings but expected to stay put, sources say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

The Norfolk Tides, the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, are being sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings, which owns more than 20 minor league baseball teams, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed Tuesday.The ownership change puts the team in no danger of leaving the market, the sources said.The Tides are owned by a group led by longtime food service executive Ken Young, who spearheaded the team’s purchase in the early 1990s.Norfolk is operating under a player development contract that runs through 2030. The club signed a two-year extension to its Harbor Park lease with the city that runs through the 2024 season and is expected to be extended long-term in the near future.Last month, the Tides won their first International League title since 1985. They followed that by winning the Triple-A National Championship Game in Las Vegas.Norfolk’s roster this season included several of the Orioles’ most highly regarded prospects, including 19-year-old shortstop ...

Analysis: Red Sox outfield was mixed bag in 2023 but promising future ahead

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

The Red Sox outfield played out simultaneously as expected and unexpectedly in 2023.Like the team overall, the outfield was a mixed bag. Unlike the roster as a whole however, which is a giant question mark heading into the offseason, the outfield is set up for success for several seasons to come.After making a bold declaration at spring training, Alex Verdugo followed through with a strong defensive campaign. He led the Red Sox with plus-9 Defensive Runs Saved, and ranked in the 95th MLB percentile in arm strength. His plus-1 Outs Above Average tied for sixth among Major League right fielders, an improvement over minus-1 OAA in two seasons prior.Unfortunately, the 27-year-old still struggled to maintain consistency at the plate. There was a slight increase in power – he matched his career-high 13 home runs – and his walk rate jumped to 7.5 percent, up from 6.5-percent in 2022. However, his batting average and on-base percentage dropped while his strikeout rate climbed to 15.5 percen...

Were college campuses COVID hot spots? Boston University study shows that test-trace-isolate strategies prevented spread for most COVID cases

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

While many worried during the heat of the pandemic that college campuses would be COVID hot spots, a new study out of Boston University shows what strategies worked to limit the virus’ spread on campus.The study from Boston University’s COVID Clinical Testing Lab and Contact Tracing — along with researchers from Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine — has found that public health interventions prevented transmission for most COVID case introductions at BU.Only two major campus outbreaks were identified from January to May 2021, according to the scientists.The university’s test-trace-isolate strategies were “highly effective in limiting respiratory infection transmission,” the researchers said. These findings have implications for transmission protocols for other respiratory diseases and possible future outbreaks, they noted.“We found that genetically linked cases overlap with outbreaks identified by contact traci...

Mariano raises questions about Gov. Healey’s limit on emergency shelter capacity

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

House Speaker Ron Mariano raised questions Tuesday about Gov. Maura Healey’s gambit to put a capacity limit on emergency shelter available to newly-arrived migrants and homeless families in Massachusetts.The state’s right-to-shelter law requires officials to provide homeless families and pregnant women with temporary housing, including migrants who are in Massachusetts lawfully. The mandate has created what public leaders have described as an unsustainable situation — a non-stop flow of new arrivals makes for a never-ending demand for shelter.But Healey said Monday the state would limit the number of families in emergency assistance shelters to 7,500 and put those who cannot fit on a waitlist, a move Mariano said creates uncertainty for many.“I don’t know if she has the authority to cap it,” Mariano said. “What happens if someone shows up? What does she do? We haven’t got a clear answer for that. If there is no place to put them, where do they go?”Healey said the state will no...

Body found on Carson Beach identified as former Las Vegas resident

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

The woman whose body was found on Carson Beach in Southie has been identified as Megan Anderson, 29.Massachusetts State Police received a call reporting a body a little before 7 on Monday morning. The agency said it was an adult female and that an autopsy would be performed by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.Anderson may have been homeless and her last known address was in Las Vegas, Nev.An autopsy found no signs of trauma but the medical examiner has not yet disclosed a cause and manner of death.

Rideshare drivers pushing for right to unionize say they make less than minimum wage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

A new report from the group pushing to allow rideshare drivers to unionize shows that Uber and Lyft workers are making less than the state’s minimum wage.According to the report by Drivers Demand Justice, after accounting for time spent waiting and vehicle maintenance costs, drivers in Massachusetts earn less than the $15 per hour minimum established in state law.“Ridehail drivers in Massachusetts grapple with a harsh reality – promised earnings often fall significantly short of actual compensation. Drivers routinely discover their earnings to be substantially lower than expected, largely attributed to unaccounted-for work time and the substantial burden of work-related expenses. Analysis of ridehail data shows that the net earnings for a majority of drivers in the industry fall below the state’s minimum wage,” the report reads.The “median Massachusetts ridehail driver” makes just $12.82 an hour and a full three out of five drivers learn less than the minimum wage, the group s...

Harvard student denounces hateful open letter roiling campus

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:14 GMT

One of the Harvard students embroiled in the anti-Israel furor is now saying “terrorism is never justified” as he attempts to distance himself from the controversy.Josh Willcox, the 22-year-old son of British perfume magnate Jo Malone, said he hasn’t been on the Cambridge campus and had nothing to do with the letter signed by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups, the New York Post first reported.That letter, signed by 34 Harvard sub-committees, has set off a storm on campus that has brought condemnation from donors to alums alike, as the Herald has reported.In his lone Instagram message, Willcox writes, “In contrast to the (Palestine Solidarity Groups’) open letter, I believe that anyone who inflicts violence on civilians is solely responsible for their actions. I therefore do not support the letter’s attribution of blame for (the Oct. 7) attacks to Israel. Terrorism is never justified under any circumstances.”In the lone Instagram post, seen by the ...