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As Massachusetts’ COVID public health emergency ends, advocates worry about the lifting of mask mandates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

Public health advocates are calling for hospitals, doctors, and other health providers to adopt masking policies, as health care mask mandates were lifted with the end of the state’s COVID-19 public health emergency on Thursday.The end of masking policies “will put those seeking medical care who are already more vulnerable — people with respiratory diseases or cancer, people with disabilities, and older adults — at risk of contracting COVID and other potentially life-threatening illnesses,” said Carlene Pavlos, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Health Association.The public health advocates cited the decision by UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester to keep masks in higher risk settings, such as the emergency department and oncology.Meanwhile, the head of the Massachusetts Medical Society said its physicians support the evidence-based and data-driven decision to lift the national public health emergency.“We are encouraged by the ...

Senate budget stiffs Auditor’s Office for looking into legislative affairs, she says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

Following her announcement she would begin the first audit of the state Legislature in a century, Diana DiZoglio says Senate budget writers are cutting funding for her office short while other departments see massive increases.“The Senate Budget is the latest example of how Beacon Hill’s most powerful politicians weaponize our taxpayer dollars to punish people for standing up for taxpayers. The state budget should not be treated as a game meant to settle political scores,” the state Auditor said in a Thursday statement. “This move further demonstrates the incredible lack of integrity and equity in their legislative process.”According to DiZoglio’s office, the state Senate’s recently released about $55 billion budget proposal that includes large increases to the budgets of other important statewide offices, but does not make the same changes to the auditor’s budget.As written, from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2024, the Attorney General’s Office will see a 10% funding increase, going ...

MBTA budget gap could hit $542M by 2028

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

The MBTA was able to lean on state and federal assistance, and a hefty dip into its own emergency fund to close a $366 million budget gap for fiscal year 2024, but faces future shortfalls that could grow to $542 million by 2028.Chief Financial Officer Mary Ann O’Hara said how these “sizable budget gaps” are addressed in upcoming years is dependent on fare revenue, hurt now by lower ridership levels that have persisted since the pandemic, and actual spending over the next two years.“This year’s budget is unique from prior years, given the historic investment of state resources into safety and training investments to be overseen by our new chief safety officer from MassDOT and the MBTA,” O’Hara said at Thursday’s Audit and Finance subcommittee meeting.“The fiscal year 2024 budget includes a major investment in safety and training, which quadruples our prior year efforts.”O’Hara said more than half of new spending next year, $90 million of the $170 million budget increase, will be earm...

5.4 magnitude earthquake shakes Northern California

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

(KTXL) — A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck in Northern California Thursday afternoon around 4:19 p.m., with the shaking felt at least as far away as Sacramento. Preliminary readings had the quake at a 5.7 magnitude, but the USGS website updated its reading to 5.4. The quake struck about 1.5 miles southwest of the community of East Shore near Lake Almanor, about 165 miles northeast of Sacramento, according to the USGS.The California Highway Patrol said that the earthquake caused a disruption at the agency's Chico dispatch center, and that 911 lines are currently down. The agency said that people in the region should call 530-332-1200 to report emergencies. More Earthquake News•California's largest earthquake of the 21st century•Which California landmarks are at risk from a massive earthquake?•Here are the fault lines in Northern California•California’s north coast has a long history of strong earthquakes•This is how to prepare for and respond to an earthquakeThis article will be upda...

Top Biden aide tells Chinese diplomat that US wants to ‘move beyond’ spy balloon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Yi during talks in Vienna this week that the Biden administration is “looking to move beyond” tensions spurred by the U.S. shooting down a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the continental United States, according to a senior Biden administration official.The meeting was not publicized by Washington or Beijing ahead of the high-level talks on Wednesday and Thursday in the Austrian capital. The White House described the wide-ranging discussions, in which the two leaders spent more than eight hours together, as “candid” and “constructive.”The administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting, said that both sides recognize that the February incident was ”unfortunate” and are now looking to “reestablish standard, normal channels of communications.”The talks are the latest in a series of small signs that ...

Suspect in stabbings of mother and child in Edmonton dies in hospital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

EDMONTON — The suspect in the stabbing deaths of a mother and child outside a school last week has died in hospital, police said Thursday. The man was shot by Edmonton police last Friday after a 35-year-old woman and her 11-year-old child were stabbed outside Crawford Plains School in the southeastern part of the city. “Investigators have determined that the 33-year-old male is the sole person responsible for the deaths of the mother and child,” police said in a news release.“As the suspect was incapacitated in hospital and has now passed away, charges cannot be laid, and the suspect will not be named.”An autopsy on the man is scheduled for Tuesday. Family members have identified the mother as Carolann Robillard and the child as Sarah Miller, who had recently started using the first name Jayden.The Edmonton Medical Examiner determined this week that the woman and child both died of multiple sharp-force injuries, adding that the deaths are considered homicides...

Florida man pleads guilty to threatening poll workers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida man faces up to five years in federal prison for threatening election workers during the August 2022 primary.Joshua David Lubitz, 38, of Sunrise, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Miami federal court to threatening election workers, according to court documents. His sentencing is scheduled for July 25.According to court documents, Lubitz was at a Sunrise Senior Center polling station last August when he was heard counting election workers and saying, “Should I kill them one by one, or should I blow the place up?” Lubitz was also heard saying, “My dad would love this; it would be easy,” as well as, “This would be nice and sweet.”As Lubitz drove away from the polling site, he extended his arm toward two poll workers and made a threatening gesture toward them with his hand, prosecutors said.Sunrise is located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Miami.The Associated Press

Facing influx of asylum-seekers, New York City says it has reached its limit on migrants

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The end of a pandemic-era immigration restriction could send a new wave of asylum-seekers toward New York City — a place that has long prided itself on welcoming the world’s huddled masses. But as migrants gathered at the southern U.S. border, Mayor Eric Adams warned his city would be unable to accommodate the expected influx.City officials expecting to receive busloads of migrants from Texas and other border states have explored housing the newcomers in airplane hangars, a race track, gymnasiums or even tents in Central Park. Others could wind up on the streets, advocates feared, despite the city’s court-ordered commitment to provide all residents with access to a place to stay.Faced with what he described as a “humanitarian crisis,” Adams, a Democrat, has taken a series of steps aimed at easing pressure on the city’s overcrowded homeless shelter system.On Wednesday evening, he temporarily suspended portions of New York’s longstanding law guaranteeing shelter ...

Virginia judge says law banning sales of handguns to young adults is unconstitutional

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that a law banning licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional.The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne in Richmond, if not overturned, would prevent dealers from selling handguns to 18- to 20-year-olds.In his 71-page ruling, Payne wrote that many of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship are granted at the age of 18, including the right to vote, enlist in the military without parental permission and serve on a federal jury.“If the Court were to exclude 18-to-20-year-olds from the Second Amendment’s protection, it would impose limitations on the Second Amendment that do not exist with other constitutional guarantees,” Payne wrote. “Because the statutes and regulations in question are not consistent with our Nation’s history and tradition, they, therefore, cannot stand.” Payne’s ruling is the la...

Review: A career comeback and a fine album from Eilen Jewell

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

“Get Behind the Wheel” by Eilen Jewell (Signature Sounds)The swagger of Eilen Jewell’s ninth studio album offers no hint it came together after she thought her career might be over amid a succession of personal setbacks.Instead of calling it quits, Jewell found the inspiration that led to “Get Behind the Wheel,” an engaging collection of slightly psychedelic songs that evoke the sprawling landscape of her native Idaho.The set benefits by stellar electric guitar work from Jerry Miller, whose solos shimmer, chime, slash and burn. He plays twangy tag with Fats Kaplin’s pedal steel on three songs, and teams with co-producer Will Kimbrough to create a celebratory twin-guitar squall on the cathartic “Alive.”The accompaniment elevates Jewell’s tunes about love at high volume and the cycle of life. “Lethal Love” has a ’50s vibe thanks to a rumba beat propelled by drummer Jason Beek, and “Outsiders” would fit in a Spaghetti Western. The set also includes imaginative covers of Van Morrison (“...