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New law allowing Mass. residents regardless of immigration status to apply for driver’s licenses goes into effect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

A new law allowing immigrants to get a driver’s license in Massachusetts regardless of their immigration status goes into effect Saturday.The Work and Family Mobility Act lets eligible Massachusetts residents get a license to ensure all drivers can legally drive safely to places like work and school.The law overcame opposition on the ballot last November. Question 4 sought to repeal the new law allowing immigrants in the country illegally to obtain state driver’s licenses, but voters chose to approve the law.The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles is closed on the Fourth of July.

Actors delay potential strike against studios and streaming services, extending contract negotiations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

New York (CNN) — A union representing about 160,000 actors has put plans to go on strike against major studios and streaming services on hold.The contract between the actors and an alliance of studios had been due to expire at midnight Friday. But late Friday the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced it would push back the expiration until 11:59 p.m. PDT on July 12 as it continues negotiations.“In order to exhaust every opportunity to achieve the righteous contract we all demand and deserve, after thorough deliberation it was unanimously decided to allow additional time to negotiate by extending the contract,” said Fran Drescher, the star of the 1990s sitcom “The Nanny” and the current president of SAG-AFTRA, in email to members Friday night.Drescher appeared to be addressing some leading actors who have been publicly pushing the union to take a hard line in negotiations by ending her email: “No one should mistak...

Bill Madden: Buck Showalter continues to be blindsided as he tries to manage through this Mets mess

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

In his “State of the Mets Mess” address last week, Steve Cohen exonerated Billy Eppler and Buck Showalter — for now — but also made clear his intention to hire a president of baseball operations after the season to address what needs to be done with this $344 million disaster of his.Cohen said he didn’t know what the reason was for the Mets’ pratfall; that “there’s plenty of blame to go around” — which there is. But while he and Eppler must share the blame for putting this team together, Showalter has been simply blindsided. After winning 101 games last season and being named NL Manager of the Year, it’s fairly certain Showalter could not have imagined being ripped on the air by the Mets’ own lead broadcaster Gary Cohen, any more than he could have envisioned two of his best hitters and most important offensive cogs a year ago, Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte, disappearing into the witness protection program this...

Questions linger for Celtics in wake of Marcus Smart’s departure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

Joe Mazzulla only spent one season as Marcus Smart’s head coach, but after an additional three years as an assistant in Boston, he fully understood the impact the longtime Celtics guard leaves behind.That one season as the head coach allowed him to get an even closer look at Smart, a better opportunity to develop a relationship with him. The two certainly had a unique relationship. Smart was publicly critical of Mazzulla in his first season. During the playoffs, he said the criticism the rookie head coach was receiving had been done “rightfully so.” But there was never any disrespect between the two. Mazzulla welcomed and fostered a collaborative environment because he knew he didn’t have all the answers. Smart had no problem helping. There was a clear mutual respect.So when Mazzulla got on the phone to speak with Smart after the point guard was shockingly traded to the Grizzlies last week, it was expectedly hard. Especially when it came to Smart, it was more than just basketball.“I...

Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara crashed car into Jamaica Plain house; hit with court summons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

City Councilor Kendra Lara crashed her car into a house in Jamaica Plain Friday afternoon, causing injury, according to a draft police report shared with the Herald by three separate highly placed sources.UPDATE: A full police report on the crash sent to the Herald Saturday morning following a public records request states the driver will be summoned to West Roxbury District Court on one count of operation of a motor vehicle after suspension.Lara, 33, who represents Jamaica Plain as the District 6 councilor, could not be reached for comment after multiple attempts Friday evening.Boston Police Officer Stephen McNulty, a spokesman for the department, confirmed that a car crash happened at 803 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain shortly before 4:30 p.m. but that the incident is “being documented at the present” and that he could not confirm any other details without the finished report in hand.“Officers observed the vehicle located inside the left side of the home, indicating a significant ...

Bosnia’s top international official to annul Bosnian Serb law that blocked court rulings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The top international official in Bosnia on Saturday said he was revoking a Bosnian Serb law that suspended any decisions by the country’s top court, saying it violates the 1995 peace agreement that ended a devastating 1992-95 war in the Balkan nation.As the high representative for Bosnia, German diplomat Christian Schmidt has the authority to change laws and impose decisions to make sure the country’s politicians are working to preserve peace and promote reconciliation following the conflict that killed over 100,000 people.The Bosnian Serb parliament passed a law to not recognize or implement any decisions by Bosnia’s multi-ethnic Constitutional Court. Lawmakers said it was a temporary measure adopted in response to the court saying it could make decisions in the absence of the tribunal’s Serb judge, who had pulled out of deliberations on orders from Bosnian Serb leadership.Bosnia consists of two entities, a Serb-dominated...

Suspect in custody following brazen drive-by shootings in Scarborough

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

A suspect is in custody following a brazen drive-by shooting in the east end that sent two people to hospital with serious injuries.Police did not provide any further details about the suspect Saturday morning except to say that there is no further risk to public safety. The first shooting occurred at McCowan Road and Lawrence Avenue East around 2:41 p.m. on Friday before the suspect vehicle fled north to Ellesmere Avenue and opened fire again. They then travelled east and shot at another vehicle near Markham Road. Police say three separate victims were targeted in three separate vehicles but could not say if the victims and suspect were known to each other.Two patients were transported to hospital, one in critical condition and the other with serious injuries.

In 370 days, Supreme Court conservatives dash decades of abortion and affirmative action precedents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Overturning Roe v. Wade and eliminating affirmative action in higher education had been leading goals of the conservative legal movement for decades.In a span of 370 days, a Supreme Court reshaped by three justices nominated by President Donald Trump made both a reality.Last June, the court ended nationwide protections for abortion rights. This past week, the court’s conservative majority decided that race-conscious admissions programs at the oldest private and public colleges in the country, Harvard and the University of North Carolina, were unlawful.Precedents that had stood since the 1970s were overturned, explicitly in the case of abortion and effectively in the affirmative action context.“That is what is notable about this court. It’s making huge changes in highly salient areas in a very short period of time,” said Tara Leigh Grove, a law professor at the University of Texas.As ethical questions swirled around the court and public trust in the institution had ...

Satellite photos, reports suggest Belarus building army camp for Wagner fighters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

Satellite images analyzed by the Associated Press on Saturday showed what appeared to be a newly built military-style camp in Belarus, with statements from a Belarusian guerrilla group and officials suggesting it may be used to house fighters from the Wagner mercenary group.The images provided by Planet Labs PLC suggest that dozens of tents have been erected within the past two weeks at a former military base outside Osipovichi, a town 230 kilometers (142 miles) north of the Ukrainian border. A satellite photo taken on Jun. 15 shows no sign of the rows of white and green structures that are clearly visible in a later image, dated Jun. 30.Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters escaped prosecution and were offered refuge in Belarus last week after Minsk helped broker a deal to end what appeared to be an armed insurrection by the mercenary group. The abortive revolt saw Wagner troops capture a military headquarters in southern Russia and march hundreds of kilometers (miles) to...

1 woman dead in early morning house fire in Brampton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:16 GMT

Police are investigating after one person was pronounced dead in an early morning house fire in Brampton. Fire crews were called to a home on Devonshire Drive in the area of Balmoral Drive and Bramalea Road just before 4 a.m. for a two-alarm blaze. Police say a woman was pronounced dead at the scene. A man was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police would not comment further on the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death. The Office of the Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate.