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

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 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 ...

Las Vegas police officer gets 12 years in prison for trio of casino robberies netting $165,000

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 GMT

By RIO YAMAT (Associated Press)LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas police officer was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in federal prison for stealing nearly $165,000 in a trio of casino heists, including one in which he was found guilty of brandishing a department-issued weapon.Caleb Rogers, who has been on unpaid suspension in a solo jail cell since his arrest nearly 20 months ago, apologized before sentencing. His mother, Crystal Rogers, of Toledo, Ohio, told the judge that she was “not pleased” but that her son had full family support.Rogers, 35, brandished the gun during his arrest in February 2022 following a brief struggle with casino security officers in a parking lot not far from the Las Vegas Strip. One guard was so shaken he said he left the job shortly afterward and moved to a new line of work altogether.Caleb Rogers, wearing eyeglasses, a beard and yellow jail clothing, with his dark hair pulled back in a short ponytail, said all he does while sitting alone in...

Ontario early childhood educators among lowest paid in Canada: advocates

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 GMT

Early childhood educators in Ontario are among the lowest paid in the country and raising their wages is critical to the success of the $10-a-day child-care program, advocates say.Part of the agreement Ontario signed with the federal government in joining the national program was setting a wage floor of $18 an hour in 2022 and increasing it by $1 a year up to $25. The current rate of $19 an hour makes the effective minimum wage the third lowest in the country, ahead of Saskatchewan and Northwest Territories, according to a policy paper released Tuesday by the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.Many child-care centres across the province are limiting enrolment or closing rooms because of a staffing shortage primarily driven by the low wages, said Alana Powell, executive director of the ECE association.“We want to remind the Ontario government they need to show they care about ECEs and child-care workers by immed...

Guatemala Cabinet minister steps down after criticism for not acting forcefully against protesters

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The sudden resignation of a Guatemalan Cabinet minister appears to signal a division within the administration of President Alejandro Giammattei over how to remove the protest roadblocks that have stretched into their third week.Interior Minister Napoleón Barrientos, a retired brigadier general, resigned late on Monday following a shooting near one of the roadblocks that killed one person and wounded two others. Barrientos had said publicly that he preferred to seek dialogue with protesters who have demanded the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras over her office’s ongoing investigations into the election of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo.Porras, on the other hand, had called for the blockades’ immediate removal with force if necessary and Monday, hours before Barrientos’ resignation, had called for him to be fired for not heeding a court order to clear them.Those responsible for Monday’s shooting were not immediately identified, but Barrien...

Brawl in Houston courtroom as murdered girl’s family tries to attack her killer after guilty plea

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Family members of a murdered 16-year-old girl tried to attack her ex-boyfriend during a court hearing Tuesday after he had pleaded guilty to shooting her nearly two dozen times while she was walking her dog.Frank DeLeon, 19, agreed to plead guilty to murder in the January 2022 death of Diamond Alvarez in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence as part of an agreement with prosecutors.Alvarez was shot 22 times as she walked her dog in southwest Houston. She had planned to meet DeLeon, who was 17 at the time, to talk with him after finding out he had been in another relationship while they were still dating, prosecutors said. Alvarez’s family members had previously said DeLeon had texted her shortly before she was killed and had asked her to meet him in a field near her home.During a court hearing Tuesday, Alvarez’s mother, Anna Machado, took the witness stand to give a victim impact statement.Video of the court hearing shows Machado finishing her statement and walking t...

Deer struggling in cold Alaskan waters saved by wildlife troopers who give them a lift in their boat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:32:17 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two deer struggling in the waters of southeast Alaska’s famed Inside Passage finally made it to land, thanks to two Alaska Wildlife Troopers who gave the deer a lift in their boat.Sgt. Mark Finses and trooper Kyle Fuege were returning from a patrol in nearby Ernest Sound to Ketchikan on Oct. 10 when they spotted the deer, agency spokesperson Justin Freeman said in an email to The Associated Press.The deer were about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from any island in the channel, which is favored by large cruise ships taking tourists in summer months to locations such as Ketchikan and Juneau.The deer were floating down Clarence Strait about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) northwest of Ketchikan, but not toward any particular island, Freeman said. They were fighting the current during midtide.“Out in the middle of Clarence, they’re in rough shape, like on their last leg,” Finses said on a video he shot with his phone and that the troopers posted to social media.The troope...