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Dana-Farber brings back mask mandate, Massachusetts COVID cases jump 21% as new variant JN.1 spreads before the holidays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

Here we mask again.If you’re heading to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, you’ll have to wear a face mask after the cancer center reinstituted a mask mandate — as COVID cases spike and respiratory infections jump across the area.The Boston-area COVID wastewater data has been surging, and reported COVID cases climbed more than 20% across Massachusetts in the last week. Meanwhile, a new variant called JN.1 is quickly spreading.“Face masks are currently required for everyone at Dana-Farber, including staff and patients, due to higher rates of respiratory illness in our region,” Dana-Farber said in a statement.The mask mandate “will continue for the foreseeable future,” the cancer center added.“We will continue to monitor levels of respiratory illness in the community and adjust our policy when appropriate,” Dana-Farber added. “We check a number of different data points, including rates of influenza-like illness, staff absenteeism,...

Karen Read case-focused blogger Turtleboy indicted on 16 counts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

A blogger who has almost completely dedicated his work toward the case of Karen Read, the Mansfield woman accused of murdering her Boston cop boyfriend last year, has been indicted on 16 charges.Aidan Kearney, who is known as “Turtleboy” and by various related monikers like “Dr. Turtleboy,” who will turn 42 next week, is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges — eight counts of witness intimidation, three counts of conspiracy to intimidate witnesses, and five counts of picketing a witness — at noon tomorrow at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.A Norfolk Grand Jury returned the indictments on Wednesday.Kearney, of Holden, has been blogging for years under the “Turtleboy” brand, which is known for personality-driven coverage of a medley of subjects in the greater Worcester and Boston areas. He still occasionally dives into the topics of past coverage but a review Thursday evening of the “latest” archive on his website shows topics outside the Read case are few and far between the now ...

Nikki Haley closing the gap on Donald Trump in New Hampshire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

There’s an actual political contest brewing in New Hampshire.With just over a month left before Granite State voters go to the polls on Jan. 23, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley continues to close the gap between her campaign for the Republican nomination in the first-in-the-nation primary and that of her former boss, 45th President of the United States Donald Trump.According to a Saint Anselm College survey, the former South Carolina governor is now just 14 points behind Trump in New Hampshire, coming in at 30% support to the ex-reality TV star’s 44%.Healey’s climb comes after she received the much-sought-after endorsement of the state’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who had been appearing at campaign stops across the state with several of the party’s top candidates before he finally settled on Haley as the best choice to beat Trump and take on President Joe Biden in the 2024 General Election.“After earning the key endorsement of New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, f...

Longtime Chicago Alderman Ed Burke found guilty of corruption

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal jury convicted former Alderman Ed Burke on 13 corruption counts Thursday after hearing allegations the longest-serving City Council member in Chicago history with a 54-year tenure had used his power to win private law business from developers.The jury of nine women and three men deliberated for 23 hours over four days before returning its verdict after weighing the testimony of 38 witnesses and hearing more than 100 recordings. It acquitted Burke on one count of conspiracy.Prosecutors said Burke, who left office in May, used his political clout to pressure people into hiring his private property tax law firm. Burke “had his hand out time and again demanding money and benefits from the very people he was supposed to be working on behalf of,“ Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said during closing arguments. Defense attorney Joe Duffy said, however, that prosecutors presented a “murky” case.“Fifty years on the job, (Burk...

Leap into winter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

Disney on Ice hit the Frog Pond just a few hours before the Winter Solstice. It was perfect timing for all the kids who got to see a free performance.Disney On Ice member Jorge Chiarri skates with 8th grader Kelvin Morales at the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Boston, MA - Disney On Ice member Lauren MacDonald skates at the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Boston, MA - Sairka Joseph gets an assist from Olivia Prophete as students skate with Disney On Ice members at the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Boston, MA - Havilah Nimako finds her footing as students skate with Disney On Ice members at the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Boston, MA - Havilah Nimako finds her footing as students skate with Disney On Ice members at the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Boston, MA - Disney On Ice member Jorge Chiarri watches as Sky Brutus learns to skate as students sk...

How realistic are Celtics guard Derrick White’s All-Star chances?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

Moments after the Celtics’ big victory over the Kings on Wednesday night – in which Derrick White scored 28 points on 10-for-13 shooting, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range – a question was posed to Joe Mazzulla that suggested the guard was shooting like an All-Star.Mazzulla interrupted.“He is an All-Star,” Mazzulla said.Jayson Tatum stoked the flames more after the game, sharing a post about White’s performance to his Instagram story with a simple caption: “All star.”The campaign for White’s first career All-Star selection has begun inside the Celtics locker room. His value to the first-place Celtics has been undeniable, and bears repeating for this exercise. He remains among the best in plus/minus in the NBA. Entering Thursday, he ranked fourth in the league at plus-222 – only behind certain All-Stars Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.White is averaging career highs in points (16.5 per game), assists (5.1) and 3-point shooting percentage (42.9%), buoyed by a ...

Pornhub owner agrees to pay $1.8M and independent monitor to resolve sex trafficking-related charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The owner of Pornhub, one of the world’s largest adult content websites, has admitted to profiting from sex trafficking and agreed to make payments to women whose videos were posted without their consent, federal prosecutors in New York announced Thursday.Aylo Holdings, the website’s parent company, reached a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve a charge of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions involving sex trafficking proceeds, according to the office of Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.The deal calls for the Montreal-based company to pay more than $1.8 million to the U.S. government, as well as make separate payments to the individual women harmed by the trafficking. It also requires appointment of an independent monitor for three years, after which the charges will be dismissed.“It is our hope that this resolution, which includes certain agreed payments to the women whose images were posted on the company’s platforms and a...

Air Canada fined $97K for violating disabilities regulations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

The Canadian Transportation Agency says it’s issued a $97,500 penalty to Air Canada for violating the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations.The penalty of $97,500 is for several violations of the regulations.The agency says that on August 30, Air Canada failed to assist a wheelchair user to disembark its plane.The passenger, who has spastic cerebral palsy and can’t move his legs, was forced to disembark on his own.As well, the CTA says Air Canada failed to ensure that its personnel periodically checked in on the passenger while he was waiting in the terminal.Air Canada acknowledged in November that it violated Canadian disability regulations, and apologized to a British Columbia man who was forced to drag himself off a flight in Las Vegas this summer.

A New Hampshire man pleads guilty to threats and vandalism targeting public radio journalists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man pleaded guilty to threatening public radio journalists and vandalizing their homes, prosecutors said Thursday.Tucker Cockerline, 32, of Salem, N.H., pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel and the use of a facility of interstate commerce.The harassment and intimidation of the victims included the vandalism — on five separate occasions — of the victims’ homes and the home of one of the victims’ parents with bricks, large rocks and red spray paint, according to investigators.Sentencing is scheduled for March 19, 2024. Cockerline was initially arrested and charged in June along with two alleged co-conspirators. The defendants were subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury along with a fourth suspect in September.Prosecutors allege the men were involved in a plot to vandalize homes associated with New Hampshire Public Radio reporter Lauren Chooljian and news director Daniel Barrick ...

Jury acquits 3 Washington state officers in death of a Black man who told them he couldn’t breathe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:00 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A jury cleared three Washington state police officers of all criminal charges Thursday in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who was shocked, beaten and restrained face down on a Tacoma sidewalk as he pleaded for breath.Two of the officers — Matthew Collins, 40, and Christopher Burbank, 38 — had been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, while Timothy Rankine, 34, was charged with manslaughter. The jury found the three not guilty on all counts.There was a gasp from the gallery when the first not-guilty verdict was read. Rankine sat forward in his seat and wiped his eyes, while Collins hugged his lawyer. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office prosecuted the case, said in a statement that he was grateful for the jury, the court and his legal team “for their extraordinary hard work and dedication.”“I know the Ellis family is hurting, and my heart goes out to them,” he said.The Ellis family immediately left the courtroom and planned ...