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JP Progressive group’s members fund Kendra Lara’s crash defense

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

A report commissioned by City Councilor Kendra Lara that shows she wasn’t speeding at the time of her late June car crash was paid for, in part, by two members of a progressive steering committee that voted to endorse her last week.Word began to leak soon after Lara and her attorney held a press conference Thursday evening to discuss the new findings that members of the Jamaica Plain Progressives Steering Committee contributed financially to the report, raising questions about whether it violated campaign finance or ethics laws.“My attorney was the one that wrote the check and I am going to pay for it, and how that is paid for, how I’m paying my private legal fees is not the business of the Boston Herald,” Lara told the Herald Friday.When pressed about whether this meant information provided to the Herald was inaccurate, and that the JP Progressives had nothing to do with the payment, Lara did not directly answer the question.“What I am saying is that my lawyer wrote a check to The ...

Harvard morgue case: Pennsylvania human skin tanner pleads guilty

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

A Pennsylvania man with a very distinct style pleaded guilty to his role in the scandal embroiling the Harvard Medical School Anatomical Gifts Program morgue.Jeremy Lee Pauley, 41, of Thompson, Pa., who the feds have also listed as living in Bloomberg and Enola in the same state, pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property.In the plea deal, he admitted that he had purchased human remains he knew were stolen and reselling many of those body parts to others.Specific body parts Pauley purportedly purchased were spelled out in another defendant’s indictment and include: “2 brains, one with skullcap, 3 hearts one cut, 2 fake boobies, one large belly button piece of skin, one arm, one huge piece of skin, and one lung.”Pauley was one of seven people caught up in the case in which morgue employee Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, N.H., allegedly stole body...

Powerful earthquake strikes Morocco, damaging buildings and sending people into the streets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday, damaging buildings in major cities and sending panicked people pouring into streets and alleyways from the capital Rabat to Marrakech, the county’s most visited tourist destination.There was no immediate word on any casualties, nor any reports from government officials on the tremor’s impact.Moroccans posted videos showing some buildings turned to rubble and parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city in historic Marrakech damaged. Tourists and others posted videos of people evacuating restaurants in the city as throbbing club music played.The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 p.m. (2211 GMT). Morocco’s National Seismic Monitoring and Alert Network measured it at 7 on the Richter scale. Variations in early measurements are common, although either reading would be Morocco’s strongest in years. Though earthquakes are r...

Severe heat and heavy storms hit New England; fallen tree kills camper in Vermont

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The heat that has gripped much of the nation seeped into New England on Friday, forcing some schools to close or send kids home early while powerful thunderstorms also swept through the region.A Massachusetts man was killed early Friday when a tree fell on him during a storm while he was camping with his fiancee in Somerset, Vermont, police said. High winds downed downs tree limbs and power lines across the region, leaving tens of thousands without power in Massachusetts and Maine.The mayor of Boston declared a heat emergency with cooling centers opening around the city.In Lowell, Massachusetts, where none of the 28 schools have air conditioning, all classes remained closed on Friday for safety reasons. The temperature was expected to reach a high of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), with the humidity making it feel like 95 F (35 C).Other schools in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire were also closed or sent students home early — and curtailed after...

Poilievre rallies Conservatives hungry for a ‘blue wave’ with stump speech, base hits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

QUEBEC — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tried painting himself as a prime minister in waiting in an election-style speech to party faithful Friday, filling it with messages he plans to take to Canadians, while throwing some red meat to his base. Poilievre’s more than hour-long address to the more than 2,500 supporters gathered for the party’s policy convention in Quebec City was the marquee event of the meet-up, which falls almost exactly to the day one year ago since he romped to a crushing first-ballot victory in the leadership race.It was his first address to a party convention as leader and was a highly anticipated event to see how he would paint a Conservative vision for the country. “I want to thank my own parents,” Poilievre said to a sea of supporters bathed in blue stage lights. “It’s because they made the decision to adopt me and work hard in front of a classroom that I now stand proudly in front of this room.” As he thanked ...

TIFF’23: Dumb Money is anything but dumb

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

The GameStop short squeeze of 2021 was a strange financial phenomenon. It taught many about the complexities of shorting (where investors essentially invest against the success of a stock) and a short squeeze (where the price of a stock is artificially inflated, and the investors who shorted it have to sell their stock as their shorting value decreases). Many regular people who weren’t on Wall Street continued to pour money into buying GameStop stock, mystifying many. This film breaks it down simply, and takes a complicated financial story and turns it into a human story.One of my favourite films I've seen at #TIFF23 is about a concept I don't completely understand, starring a massive ensemble cast showcasing one of the craziest news stories of 2021. Shout out to everyone involved with Dumb Money.— James Mackin @ TIFF 23 (@JamesMackin10) September 9, 2023Dumb Money dramatizes the short squeeze by focusing on a large ensemble cast with multiple viewpoints. It cent...

On ‘João’, Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto honors her late father, bossa nova giant João Gilberto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Since the start of her career, New York-born Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto has put out albums rooted in the South American nation’s rich musical history. And in the sound of her family, too — that of her late father, bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto. But she had never made it a point to record an album of his songs. Until now.Four years after his death, she decided it was time to reconnect with the biggest influence in her life and career. So she has released “João,” her first album made up entirely of songs composed or made famous by her father. “It is a love letter to him,” Gilberto told The Associated Press in a phone interview from her New York City apartment this week amid concerts on her current tour. “Do you know when you want to pay a tribute to someone and then you go to Instagram and write a long posting? I wanted to talk to him. My way of doing it was making this album.”“It is just that the time has come. I wanted his music to travel again,”...

Authorities respond to plane crash in Elk Grove Village

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

ELK GROVE VILLAGE Ill. — Authorities are investigating reports of a plane crash in Ned Brown Preserve, popularly known as Busse Woods, in Elk Grove Village on Friday evening.Police say a smaller corporate plane crashed in the forrest preserve and added that the pilot of the plane was able to walk away from the crash.Currently, it is unclear what led to the crash or if anyone else was on board at the time.This is a developing story, stay with WGN New for the latest updates.

Is sports betting worsening gambling habits of Americans?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

(NewsNation) — The NFL season has officially kicked off and that means a lot of fans are making bets. As more and more states are legalizing sports betting, some are raising concerns about whether this could worsen gambling addiction in America."We’re going to be bombarded" with sports gambling issues, said Andrew Brandt, professor of practice and executive director of the Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova Law School.Sports betting is legal in at least 30 states with a record $7.5 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the American Gaming Association. The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that any given year, two million Americans meet the criteria for severe gambling problems.Some fear that the figure may go up because of how accessible it now is.NewsNation spoke to a licensed counselor who said there needs to be more education and more treatment options because he believes it will be an epidemic."Gambling addiction has morphed into something tha...

LIVE: Westlake to honor huge senior class before district opener vs. Akins on Friday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:46:08 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Instead of honoring seniors at the end of the season, the Westlake Chaparrals will do it Friday before the 6A-District 26 opener against Akins at Chaparral Stadium.Westlake has 61 seniors on this year's team that has started the year 2-0, and the Chaps are fresh off a 47-0 systematic dismantling of Converse Judson last week. Akins, meanwhile, is in the midst of a 17-game losing streak dating back to 2021 and the Eagles have yet to score in two games this year. The last time Akins won was Sept. 30, 2021, when they topped Austin High 20-18.REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteThe game will be streamed in the video player above and also on KXAN.com/Westlake for those in the KXAN viewing area free of charge. For those outside the viewing area, you'll have to watch the game through our official streaming partner NFHS Network. The...