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Mass. Legislature to vote on long-term care, prescription drug bills on last day of formals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

House lawmakers are expected to vote on legislation overhauling the long-term care industry Wednesday while the Senate will take up a bill that looks to address the increasing costs of prescription drugs.The two votes on major health care proposals cap off formal law making for the year. Legislators on Beacon Hill will head into the holiday break Thursday with only informal sessions — where a single lawmaker can object to a bill — scheduled until the new year.The two votes come as the House and Senate are also working out a separate multi-billion proposal that closes out the books on fiscal year 2023 and shuttles $250 million to shelters in Massachusetts housing migrant and homeless families with children as well as pregnant people.Both health care bills are priorities of House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka. Mariano said the nursing home sector has “long faced” workforce and financial challenges that were made worse by the pandemic.“Addressing persistent c...

Vincenzo Mario Santoro: Here’s why the Chicago Cubs had to move on from manager David Ross

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer shocked Cubs fans when he flew out to Florida to inform beloved manager David Ross that he had been fired. He was being replaced by Craig Counsell, former manager of the Cubs’ division rivals the Milwaukee Brewers.Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon and Cody Bellinger were some of the big names that Hoyer acquired during the 2022-23 MLB offseason. Adding Bellinger would rectify the center field situation, pairing Swanson with Nico Hoerner would make for the best defensive middle infield in the league, and adding Taillon would help solidify the rotation for Ross’ 2023 Chicago Cubs.Even with the many players the Cubs had acquired, baseball statistics site FanGraphs projected them to finish third place with a 78-84 record. A couple of the reasons for the low projections was that the Cubs were still missing an “impact” bat and lacked pitching. But they had their impact bat in Bellinger, who was projected a .230/.309/.406 slash line. T...

Markwayne Mullin says ‘maybe we should bring’ back canings to Senate after battle with Teamsters’ Sean O’Brien

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

The Oklahoma senator who challenged Teamsters’ boss to a fight is defending his actions during a Senate hearing, saying “maybe we should bring” back canings to Congress to “keep people from thinking they’re so tough.”Republican U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a former MMA fighter, confronted Teamsters President Sean O’Brien during a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday. Mullin challenged Charlestown’s O’Brien to a physical fight after O’Brien had ripped the senator on social media.Mullin doubled down on his antics after the chaos in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.“This isn’t anything new,” the senator said on Fox Business. “Andrew Jackson challenged nine people to a duel when he was president, and he also knocked one guy out at a White House dinner. There’s been canings before in the Senate, too.“Maybe we should bring some of that back,” Mullin add...

Matthew Perry’s ‘Friends’ costars reminiscence about late actor

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matthew Perry’s “Friends” co-stars are sharing more remembrances of the star in their first personal social media posts since the actor’s death last month.Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer posted heartfelt notes about Perry, who died Oct. 28, on Instagram. The posts on Tuesday and Wednesday were accompanied by photos from the “Friends” set.“In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again,” Aniston posted Wednesday, sharing a text message where Perry sent her photo of a script reading session where Perry made her laugh.“Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before,” Aniston’s post read.The stars, including Lisa Kudrow, issued a joint statement a few days after Perry’s death, saying they were “all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We...

Vote on tentative contract with General Motors too close to call as more tallies are reported

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)DETROIT (AP) — Voting on a tentative contract agreement between General Motors and the United Auto Workers union that ended a six-week strike against the company appears too close to call after the latest tallies at several GM factories were announced Wednesday.The union hasn’t posted final vote totals yet, but workers at several large factories who finished voting in the past few days have turned down the four year and eight month deal by fairly large margins. However a factory in Arlington, Texas, with about 5,000 workers voted more than 60% to approve the deal in tallies announced Wednesday.The vote tracker on the UAW’s website Wednesday shows the deal by 958 ahead by votes. But those totals do not include votes from GM assembly plants in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Lansing Delta Township, Michigan, and a powertrain plant in Toledo, Ohio, which all voted against the agreement, according to local union officials.In most cases the vote tall...

San Diego remembers Padres owner Peter Seidler

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres community on Tuesday felt the impact of team chairman and owner Peter Seidler's death.Multiple events were put together in honor of the 63-year-old who died Tuesday. The news came following an announcement from the team in September claiming the two-time cancer survivor underwent an unidentified medical procedure and was on the road to recovery.Outside of Petco Park, fans laid out flowers in front of a portrait of Seidler. Padres pitcher Yu Darvish also stopped by to pay his respects at the makeshift memorial and expressed his grief on social media. Smart Streetlights, license plate readers coming to San Diego "My heart hurts with the unfortunate news of Peter Seidler’s passing. I’m sure everyone that knew him would agree with me when I say Peter was a truly wonderful human being, and being in his presence was always a blessing. He was a teacher of life, and taught me countless lessons form the all the interactions we had. May his beautiful soul rest in pea...

Suspect arrested in July City Heights killing

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A man suspected in the July shooting death of a 35-year-old San Diego resident in the Chollas Creek neighborhood was arrested Monday evening, authorities said.Kevin Castaneda, 20, of San Diego, was identified as the suspect and arrested at the San Ysidro Port of Entry while trying to re-enter the U.S. from Mexico, Lt. Adam Sharki with the San Diego Police Department said in a news release Tuesday. He was booked into County Jail on suspicion of murder.The shooting occurred on July 30 around 7:23 p.m. in the 3700 block of Altadena Avenue, according to SDPD. One found with critical gunshot wound to face in El Cajon: SDSO When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man, identified as Marcelo Barajas, lying in the street with at least one gunshot to his upper body. He was taken to a local hospital, where he later died, police said.Detectives found out that the Barajas was confronted by a group of males while walking when one of the suspects pulled out a gun and shot h...

Father of July 4th parade shooting suspect turns himself in to begin jail sentence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The father of the suspect in a deadly Fourth of July parade shooting in suburban Chicago turned himself in Wednesday to begin a 60-day jail sentence, after pleading guilty to charges arising from his sponsorship of his son’s application for a gun license.Robert Crimo Jr. entered a guilty plea to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct last week in Lake County court, in Waukegan, Illinois. Crimo sponsored his underage son’s firearm application three years before the July 2022 attack in Highland Park, even though the teenager had recently threatened violence.Judge George Strickland sentenced Crimo Jr. to 60 days in jail, two years of probation and 100 hours of community service on Nov. 6, but agreed to wait until Wednesday to take him into custody. Illinois offers most misdemeanor offenders the opportunity to reduce their sentence by half for good behavior, meaning Crimo Jr. may only serve 30 days. Although jail time will be brief, the case is significa...

Crown delivers closing arguments at trial of man accused in London attack

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

The Crown has finished delivering its closing arguments at the trial of a man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont.In addressing jurors in a Windsor, Ont., courtroom, the Crown argued 22-year-old Nathaniel Veltman carried out a terrorist act on June 6, 2021, and should be convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.The defence has argued Veltman is not guilty of first-degree murder, nor did he commit an act of terrorism, because he didn’t have criminal intent to kill the victims and didn’t deliberately plan the attack.Veltman has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.The trial has heard that Veltman hit the Afzaal family with his truck while they were out for a walk.Forty-six-year-old Salman Afzaal; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the ...

Fireworks workshop explosion leaves at least 4 dead in Mexico’s central state of Puebla

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:42 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The explosion of a fireworks workshop near Mexico’s Gulf coast left at least four men killed, authorities in the central state of Puebla said Wednesday.The blast occurred Tuesday in the township of Xiutetelco, Puebla, near the border with the neighboring state of Veracruz.Three of the men, including the owner of the workshop, died at the scene, according to the Puebla State Interior Department.Another man died of his injuries at a local hospital, and a fifth victim was severely injured. Four of the five victims were in their 20s. Fireworks explosions occur with depressing regularity in Mexico, often at unlicensed workshops with few safety precautions. However, officials said the most recent blast occurred at a shop that was licensed and inspected by Mexico’s Defense Department, which is responsible for regulating the industry.Fireworks feature prominently in local festivals, which use everything from firecrackers and roman candles to powerful rockets.I...