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Boston power brokers flexing weakened muscles to influence City Council race

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

The Boston old boys’ network that used to run the city is trying to flex its withered muscles to tilt the City Council race in what could be a last gasp at power.The group of power brokers is funding a new super PAC that’s running ads supporting a slate of more conservative candidates.But it’s questionable whether the strategy will work.The old Boston — once controlled by politicians like Marty Walsh and Ray Flynn — is gone.It’s been replaced by Michelle Wu’s Boston.The first term mayor put together a coalition of progressives to win the last election and install a number of progressive Democrats like Kendra Lara and Ruthzee Louijeune on the council. They now run the city.Southie’s Ed Flynn is still the council president for a few more months but he lost control of his more liberal colleagues a long time ago.The Wu administration has effectively shut out the once powerful network represented by businessmen like New Balance’s Jim Davis.Davis is now almost entirely funding the super P...

Climate group Extinction Rebellion says Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is wrong for closing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

Climate group Extinction Rebellion Boston says the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is wrong for closing its doors due to fears of potential damage that may arise during protests.The museum shuttered its evening hours Thursday because of a protest Extinction Rebellion had planned, which museum director Peggy Fogelman claimed “would put our community and collections at risk.”“The group sought to insert their own artworks into the empty frames in the Dutch Room as one element of their protest,” Fogelman wrote in a letter Thursday. “These frames are not only important and fragile historic objects in their own right, but they memorialize the tragic 1990 theft that deprived our public of the opportunity to enjoy unique masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer and others.”Extinction Rebellion shot back against that belief in a public statement on Friday, saying no member “intended to put art in the empty frames … nor did we ever announce a plan to do so.”The group said it had publicly advertised...

Red Sox notebook: Jarren Duran isn’t satisfied after breakout season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

By all accounts Jarren Duran had a fantastic season. The 27-year-old outfielder broke out as an impact player after two failed big league call-ups and established himself as a key piece of the Red Sox long-term puzzle.Still, seeing it end so abruptly due to injury left a sour taste in Duran’s mouth.“It’s tough but I feel more terrible about myself for getting hurt and not being able to do anything to help the team,” Duran said. “I know nobody is disappointed in me but I’m disappointed in myself for getting hurt.”Duran suffered a season-ending toe injury on Aug. 20 when he scaled the Yankee Stadium wall attempting to make a catch. He underwent surgery on his severely sprained left big toe 10 days later in Charlotte, N.C., and Friday he was back in the Red Sox clubhouse for the first time since the injury.Speaking to reporters, Duran said it’s been difficult dealing with the injury, but despite being stuck on crutches unable to do much, ...

The number of people missing following devastating Maui wildfires has dropped to 66, governor says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — One month after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century leveled the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Friday that the number of missing has dropped to 66, the confirmed death toll remains at 115 and authorities will soon escort residents on visits to their property.Tens of millions of dollars in aid will make its way to families and businesses as they recover, Green said, and beginning Oct. 8, travel restrictions will end and West Maui will reopen to visitors. “If we support Maui’s economy and keep our people employed, they will heal faster and continue to afford to live on Maui,” Green said.Donations from around the world have poured in to the American Red Cross, the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Maui United Way and other organizations, Green said, and he has authorized $100 million from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program “to support what others donate, magnifying the power of their generosity.”The governmen...

Trump Organization offloads Bronx golf course to casino company with New York City aspirations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump Organization has sold its right to operate a public golf course in the Bronx, city officials confirmed, offloading control of the publicly-owned property to a company that is seeking to build a casino in New York City.Bally’s Corporation, a gaming and entertainment company, will take over the job of running the 18-hole course, known as Trump Golf Links Ferry Point, according to a spokesperson for the city’s comptroller. The terms of the lease transfer were not immediately available.The deal appeared to mark a resolution in the city’s battle to rid the course of its association with the former president, whose bold-faced name has for years greeted drivers passing the course on the Whitestone Bridge.Following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would scrap the contract with the Trump Organization, claiming that Trump’s incitement of rioters gave the city legal authority to do so.That argument was rejected by a state...

Cleveland Orchestra conductor has cancerous tumor removed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst had a cancerous tumor removed and has canceled his conducting performances from late October through the end of the year.The orchestra said he will undergo treatment between conducting engagements for 12 to 16 months.“His doctors are confident of a full recovery,” the orchestra said in a statement Thursday.The 62-year-old Austrian has been Cleveland’s music director since the 2002-03 season, when he succeeded Christoph von Dohnányi.Welser-Möst, a three-time Grammy Award nominee, withdrew in July from a new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” at the Salzburg Festival just three weeks before opening night. He remains scheduled to conduct the Cleveland Orchestra’s opening performances of the season starting Sept. 28.The Associated Press

New Mexico governor issues order to suspend open and concealed carry of guns in Albuquerque

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued an emergency public health order that suspends the open and permitted concealed carry of firearms in Albuquerque for 30 days in the midst of a spate of gun violence. The Democratic governor said she is expecting legal challenges but felt compelled to act in response to gun violence, including the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium this week.The Associated Press

Appeals court scales back order squelching Biden administration contact with social media platforms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court Friday significantly whittled down a lower court’s order curbing Biden administration communications with social media companies over controversial content about COVID-19 and other issues.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Friday said the White House, the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and the FBI cannot “coerce” social media platforms to take down posts the government doesn’t like. But the court threw out broader language in an order that a Louisiana-based federal judge issued on July 4 that effectively blocked multiple government agencies from contacting platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) to urge that content be taken down. Even the appeals court’s softened order doesn’t take effect immediately. The administration has 10 days to seek a Supreme Court review.Friday evening’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed in northeast Louisiana that accused administration officials of coerc...

Phoenix is on the cusp of a new heat record after a 53rd day reaching at least 110 degrees this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix is on the cusp of yet another heat record this summer after an additional day of 110-degree weather. The National Weather Service said the desert city on Friday saw 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) for the 53rd day this year, tying it with the record set in 2020. If Phoenix reaches 110 degrees or more as expected Saturday, it would mark a record 54 days in one year. An extreme heat warning is in effect for the entire weekend, with temperatures forecast as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) on Saturday and 111 degrees Fahrenheit (43.8 Celsius) on Sunday. A high of 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.7 Celsius) is forecast for Monday. In July, Phoenix set a record with a 31-day streak of highs at or above 110 degrees. The previous record was 18 straight days, set in 1974.It was part of a historic heat wave that stretched from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert.Phoenix has now seen over 100 days with 100-degree Fahrenheit-plus (...

Residents of West Kelowna fire zone get brief home access but restrictions extended

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:54 GMT

WEST KELOWNA, B.C. — Residents of wildfire-ravaged Wilson’s Landing in West Kelowna, B.C., were granted a four-hour window Friday to access their homes to retrieve important items as an area-wide restriction order was extended to Sept. 15.The Central Okanagan Regional District says in a statement residents were temporarily permitted entry to the evacuation zone, but no further access is expected this weekend.Evacuation alerts were lifted near Lytton and Lillooet in the Fraser Canyon, as areas that had been threatened by the Kookipi Creek and Stein Mountain wildfires were given the all-clear.However the province remains under a state of emergency, with the BC Wildfire Service reporting 413 active wildfires across the province, 182 burning out of control and seven new fires being reported in the past 24 hours. The McDougall Creek wildfire that destroyed scores of homes when it swept down on West Kelowna three weeks ago continues to be battled by almost 300 firefighters and suppo...