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Massachusetts joins a small but growing number of states adopting universal free school meals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts has joined a small but growing number of states adopting universal free school meals programs.Spending for the program was included in an overdue $55.98 billion state budget signed into law by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday. The budget covers the 2024 fiscal year that began July 1.The budget includes spending on schools, child care, workforce development, public transit, housing, climate resiliency and other key areas that will help make Massachusetts more affordable, competitive and equitable, said Healey, signing her first budget as governor.The budget will also make community college free for students aged 25 and older, expand grants for early education and care providers, increase funding for apprenticeships and other workforce development programs, and dedicate one percent of the budget to energy and the environment for the first time, she added.About $172 million in permanent funding is also included in the budget to provide uni...

FBI accuses indicted Air National Guardsman of sharing classified information with someone living in a foreign country

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

(CNN) — Recently filed court documents allege that Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified intelligence online, knowingly shared classified information with at least one person appearing to reside in a foreign country.According to a sworn statement by an FBI agent who investigated Teixeira, the 21-year-old shared government information in at least three Discord servers, one of which had some foreign nationals among its 150 members. Those users had foreign IP addresses, the statement by Special Agent Luke Church said.In February 2020, Teixeira, who has pleaded not guilty, asked another user to confirm that they lived in a foreign city, the exact name of which was redacted from the document filed last week.“You live near [foreign city] yeah?” Teixeira asked, according to the statement.“[Y]eah,” the other user responded. “[V]illage next to it.”Teixeira then responded, “Good,” and said there would be a “wave of [N-words] from [city in Ukraine] s...

Robbie Robertson leaves a ‘lost-in-time’ music legacy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

A Canadian born in 1943 wrote one of the definitive songs about the American Civil War.And one of the definitive songs about the fight to form U.S. labor unions during the Great Depression.And one about street hustlers, one about a lovestruck, gambling truck driver headed to Lake Charles, Louisiana, and another that collects a gaggle of oddballs into a setting inspired by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel.These tales — “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “King Harvest,” “Life Is a Carnival,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “The Weight” — were penned by Robbie Robertson. The chief songwriter and lead guitarist for The Band, Robertson, who passed away Wednesday at age 80, practically invented the Americana genre.When The Band retreated to Woodstock, New York, in 1967 to compile the tracks that would become its debut LP “Music from Big Pink,” psychedelia was raging. London was swinging, the Beatles sang “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire. But Robertson and T...

Mets Notebook: Buck Showalter confident in David Peterson, other starting rotation options

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

It’s no secret that the outlook of the Mets rotation has changed since the Aug. 1 trade deadline. What was once built around the foundation of two Hall of Fame starting pitchers — Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer — has quickly turned short on options.Despite the perception of lacking depth for a consistent rotation, manager Buck Showalter is confident in the options within the organization, including southpaw David Peterson, who took the ball Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs.“I hear some of the sarcasm ‘If not them, than who [will start]?,” said Showalter. “We do have who, we do. … We have people that are coming, we have people that are pitching well that we like and we think [can contribute].“So, we’re going to run Pete out there. It’s not because we don’t have other options, we think it will be good for him and good for the Mets if he can finish [strong] and kind of get back to where he was last year....

Ice Bucket Challenge: Nine years later, Pete Frates’ family sees ‘the ripple effect’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

Pete Frates knew challenging people to dump buckets of ice water over their heads would eventually make a difference in the world of ALS research.Nine years later, the former Boston College baseball star’s appeal that went viral has certainly accomplished its mission.The Ice Bucket Challenge, which took social media by storm in the summer of 2014, raised more than $220 million. And just last September, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug funded through some of those donations.The drug, Relyvrio, is designed to slow the disease by protecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord destroyed by the relentlessly progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder.Nancy Frates is not surprised the cause her son started has led to some groundbreaking developments that have advanced research toward curing ALS.“It’s called the ripple effect. Once somebody gives somebody money others will follow, and that’s exactly what has happened in our world. The best part about that ...

Sales tax holiday returns this weekend – here’s how it works and what’s tax free

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

It’s nearly that special time of year again when, for a brief 48-hour window, Massachusetts becomes a little bit more like New Hampshire.This weekend and this weekend only the state will pause its 6.25% tax on qualifying purchases, bringing it temporarily more into line with its permanently tax free neighbor to the north.“As Citizens for Limited Taxation use to say, every tax cut is a pay raise. For one short weekend, Massachusetts taxpayers can take advantage of the benefit New Hampshire taxpayers enjoy every single day,” Paul Craney, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told the Herald. “There is nothing gimmicky about Massachusetts taxpayers saving some more of their hard earned money. No one knows how to better spend their own money, than the taxpayers.”First tried for a single day in 2004, the practice became an annual full weekend holiday in 2018 with an aim toward boosting consumer spending, even if at the expense of millions in sales tax revenue.Accordi...

A shark along Cape Cod got hooked by a bass fisherman’s lure; shark washes up on Crane Beach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

Fishing along Cape Cod these days? There’s a chance you could hook a large apex predator.After multiple fishermen reported great white sharks jumping out of the water to grab striped bass on fishing lines, the latest shark and fishermen encounter involved a great white getting hooked by a bass fisherman’s lure.Triton Sportfishing — based out of Rock Harbor, Orleans — recently caught a white shark when the apex predator took a bite on a bass lure.“Catch of the day right there,” a crew member said in a video of the hooked great white shark.“New England is swimming with sharks this year, and this crew got an up close look at this beautiful, wild creature,” Triton Sportfishing posted, later adding, “You never know what you’re going to get when you go fishing in Cape Cod!”The great white shark was let go after it was hooked. The sharks are federally protected, and fishermen must release them.“Lots of bass fishermen a...

Northern Yukon fly-in community of Old Crow is ordered evacuated due to wildfire risk

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

WHITEHORSE — The remote fly-in community of Old Crow in Yukon has been ordered evacuated due to a weather change that increases the risk of wildfires.The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation government says it issued the order as a precaution due to winds from the north and northeast that are expected to “significantly increase” in the next two days.The community of approximately 250 people, located about 800 kilometres north of Whitehorse, has been under an evacuation alert since Aug. 3 because of several wildfires burning nearby.Diana Dryburgh with the territorial emergency measures organization, says Air North — an airline partially owned by the First Nation — will be flying residents to Inuvik in small aircraft before a larger plane can fly them on to Whitehorse.Old Crow is the second Yukon community to be recently placed under an evacuation order.Mayo, about 400 kilometres north of Whitehorse, was ordered evacuated on Sunday due to the nearby Talbot Creek fire.The Yukon gov...

Biden reelection campaign offering joint meeting with Obama as ex-president enters 2024 fray early

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is raising money for his reelection campaign by offering donors the chance to meet himself and Barack Obama, meaning the former president will be entering the 2024 political fray earlier than he did during last year’s midterms or the last presidential election. An email to supporters urged them to donate for a chance to “meet President Biden and President Obama” and featured a hypothetical text message chain where Biden writes “Hey pal, what do you say we band together to thank some grassroots supporters in person” and Obama replies “See you there” together with a smiling emoji wearing sunglasses.Biden also posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, “You and a guest could win a trip to meet @BarackObama and me” over a photo of the two posing for a selfie. Obama has frequently campaigned for his former vice president and Democratic leaders around the country, though usually not this early in the campaign cycle, given t...

2 still sought in connection with Alabama riverfront brawl that drew national attention

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Police in Alabama are still looking to arrest two boaters on misdemeanor assault charges in connection with a riverside brawl that drew national attention. Major Saba Coleman of the Montgomery Police Department said two of the three people facing charges are still being sought. The three are charged in connection with an attack on a riverboat captain and another dock worker that sparked a riverside brawl in Alabama’s capital city. “We have one assailant from the pontoon boat in custody. Two others did not honor their agreement to surrender to authorities so MPD will do what it takes to bring them to justice,” Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed wrote on social media. The two do not live in Montgomery, so police will need help from another law enforcement agency to pick them up.The melee, where sides broke down along racial lines, began Saturday evening when a moored pontoon boat blocked the Harriott II riverboat from docking in its designated space along the c...