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Beaches around Mass., including all Plum Island beaches, closed due to bacteria

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

Beaches around the state are being forced to close because of bacteria, including Plum Island beaches in Newburyport, while at Nahant Beach, swimmers were allowed back in the ocean Wednesday afternoon.Higher levels of bacterial contamination were detected Wednesday, and experts said recent wet weather across New England is causing what is known as combined sewage overflow.“We’ve had a number of tests that came back with high bacteria levels,” said Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon. “Those combined sewage overflows that continually get dumped in the Merrimack River upriver from us in communities like Lowell and Manchester, New Hampshire, Haverhill and Lawrence. Those are flowing downriver and along with the rain are really the root cause along with the rain for these high bacteria levels.”Up and down the Massachusetts coastline, beaches are open, but the water is off limits. The status of all public beach’s in the state can be viewed on the state’s website.“News to me,” said John Gardel...

Another report of a shark in Cape Cod Bay leaping out of the water to grab striper on fishing line: ‘It was just incredible’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

Trying to catch striped bass in Cape Cod Bay these days? You might be competing with an incredibly powerful apex predator.For the second time this week, a great white shark in Cape Cod Bay was spotted jumping out of the water to chomp on a striper that had been hooked on a fishing line.As college student Braeden Voyticky reeled in the 40-plus inch striped bass in the bay off of Dennis, a 12-foot great white came up out of nowhere and grabbed the large fish.“It was like watching a crocodile snap a wildebeest in half,” Joshua Martin, 51, who took his son and his son’s college friends out on the fishing trip on Sunday, told the Herald.“It was the most powerful thing I’ve ever seen,” added Martin, who lives in Carmel, N.Y., and was on the Cape for vacation. “It happened so fast. It was just incredible.”The striper’s head was all that remained after the shark enjoyed the meal, as those on board the charter boat “Prime Rate Sport...

Boston Elections Commission to consider Kendra Lara residency challenge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

The Boston Elections Commission will hold a formal hearing to consider four objections to nomination papers filed by City Councilor Kendra Lara, challenging the status of her residency in the district she represents.Sabino Piemonte, the city’s head assistant registrar of voters, said he confirmed that each objector was a registered voter in Boston, as required by the city charter. The four objections were filed ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline on July 13. A fifth challenge, filed at 5:27 p.m. on that date, will not be considered, he said.Each of the objections challenges Lara’s residence in District 6, Piemonte wrote in a Wednesday letter to the Elections Commission. Lara is seeking a second term on the City Council, and faces two challengers in the Sept. 12 preliminary election.“As you know, when objections to nomination papers are filed, the Elections Commission, along with the chief justice of the Boston Municipal Court, sits as the Boston Ballot Law Commission to consider the object...

Source: Patriots hosting RB Darrell Henderson for free-agent workout

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

The New England Patriots hosted free-agent running back Darrell Henderson on a tryout basis, a league source told the Boston Herald on Wednesday.The Patriots also hosted free-agent running back Leonard Fournette for a workout Wednesday, sources told the Herald.Henderson, 25, spent last season with the Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars, picking up 283 yards and three touchdowns on 70 carries with 17 catches for 102 yards. Henderson, who’s 5-foot-8, 208 pounds, was selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Rams out of Memphis. The Super Bowl LVI champion has 396 career carries for 1,742 yards with 13 touchdowns and 66 career catches for 474 yards with four touchdowns. He’s started 28 of 50 career games.A league source told the Herald earlier this week that the Patriots were “kicking the tires” on running back depth. It’s a position of need after New England cut running back James Robinson during the offseason workout program.The Patriots currently have sta...

Tomas Noseks signs with New Jersey

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

The last of the Bruins’ unrestricted free agents has finally hooked on somewhere else.Tomas Nosek signed a one-year deal with the New Jersey Devils for $1 million on Wednesday. Though he had a very god season in his fourth line center role with the Bruins, Nosek was the only one of the five UFAs to take a pay cut.Connor Clifton, signed by Buffalo, bumped his annual pay up from $1 million to $3.33 for three years; Garnet Hathaway went from a $1.5 million to a $2.35 million AAV for two years with Philadelphia; Tyler Bertuzzi bumped up from $4.75 million to $5.5 million on a one-year prove-it contract with Toronto; and Dmitry Orlov hit the short-term jackpot, signing with Carolina on a two-year deal worth a $7.75 AAV, up from the $5.1 annual payout on his last contract.But Nosek appears to have been a victim of the stagnant salary cap. If anyone deserved a raise – and not a break-the-bank one, but an acknowledgment of a job well done – it would have been Nosek. Employed almost ex...

Netflix sign-ups surge amid password crackdown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix enjoyed its biggest springtime spurt in subscribers since the early days of the pandemic three years ago, providing the latest sign that a recent crackdown on password sharing and the rollout of a cheaper version of its video streaming service are paying off.The video streaming service added 5.9 million subscribers during the April-June period, according to numbers released Wednesday along with its latest quarterly financial results. The gains easily surpassed the roughly 2.2 million additional subscriber that analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had anticipating. Netflix ended June with 238.4 million worldwide subscriber.The performance marked Netflix’s biggest springtime jump since the Los Gatos, California, company gained 10 million subscribers during the same period in 2020 when under dramatically different market conditions.In 2020, people were still largely stuck at home and looking for ways to keep themselves entertained while governments around...

WATCH: Stolen vehicle suspect carjacks 2 during wild L.A. pursuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

A man who was wanted for stealing a van carjacked two additional vehicles during a dangerous pursuit in the Los Angeles area Wednesday afternoon before finally being taken into custody. The Los Angeles Police Department began tracking the suspect after learning he was wanted for stealing a van at a gas station in Ventura round 9 a.m., officials said. The stolen van was first spotted by LAPD officers in the North Hollywood area around 11 a.m. and they began to chase the suspect, police said. At some point, two LAPD officers were involved in a crash and the chase was called off. Different officers spotted the van again around noon, but quickly called off the pursuit again because of the suspect's erratic driving, police said. Authorities began chasing the driver again around 1 p.m., and about a half-hour later he abandoned the van, its tires disabled by spike strips, and then ran to a Chevron gas station in Porter Ranch where he got into a BMW sedan that was stopped at one of the fue...

Northwestern hazing scandal included multiple sports, men and women, attorneys say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Allegations of hazing in Northwestern’s athletic programs broadened Wednesday as attorneys said male and female athletes reported misconduct within two other sports and suggested sexual abuse and racial discrimination within the football program was so rampant that coaches knew it was happening.Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said he and other attorneys have received disturbing details from former baseball and softball players at the university, in addition to growing complaints of abuse in the football program, which players described as widespread and devastating.“This is a civil rights issue for me,” said Crump, who said 50 former Northwestern athletes — male and female — have spoken to the Levin & Perconti law firm. “I think these players have the right to be respected and valued and not hazed, intimidated and retaliated.”Black football players appeared to have faced an additional layer of abuse.A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses fired football coach Pat Fi...

Blue Jays’ GM Ross Atkins outlines plans with trade deadline looming

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

The Toronto Blue Jays appear set in their position as buyers, something general manager Ross Atkins reaffirmed during an afternoon availability on Wednesday.As far as the details and where the Blue Jays hope to improve, that much is a little bit less certain.“We’ve had such good performances from our position player group across the board,” Atkins told reporters. “You look at every position and feel really good about the contributions we’re getting.”“Thinking about how to potentially upgrade is really difficult when you also believe in the people that are here and that they’re going to continue to have progress and make strides.”That doesn’t mean that Atkins and the Blue Jays don’t intend to upgrade, especially on the pitching side.The return of Alek Manoah — despite a shaky outing on Tuesday against the Padres — and the impending arrival of Hyun-Jin Ryu give the Blue Jays confidence that they’ll hav...

First Nation loses homes in wildfire near Cranbrook, B.C., Eby says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:35 GMT

VANCOUVER — A First Nation community in southeastern B.C. has lost homes because of a fast-moving wildfire, and Premier David Eby says the provincial and federal governments are teaming up to provide emergency response. Officials have not yet confirmed how many people or homes have been affected on the Aq’am First Nation near Cranbrook, however Chief Joe Pierre told the CBC several homes have been lost in the fire. The BC Wildfire Service says the St. Mary’s River fire was human-caused, is eight square kilometres in size and is considered out of control.The Regional District of East Kootenay issued an evacuation order on Monday for 52 homes, and another 43 properties remain on evacuation alert. Eby says the provincial and federal governments will help the First Nation with the eventual rebuilding and recovery process.He says his government is also focusing on partnering with Indigenous people and firefighters to provide a more “prompt” and “effective re...