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Ticker: Unruly passenger incidents keep climbing; Hollywood actors authorize strike 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

With air travel rebounding from the pandemic, a new study found that bad behavior among airline passengers has continued to rise.A new analysis by the International Air Transport Association shows that unruly passenger incidents on airplanes increased 47% from 2021 to 2022, from one incident per 835 flights to one incident per 568 flights.Though incidents of physical abuse often draw the most attention, the most common types of incidents were “non-compliance, verbal abuse and intoxication,” according to the report. Other misdeeds included bringing outside alcoholic drinks into the cabin, failing to wear a seat belt and packing too much baggage.Physical abuse incidents occurred on 1 in every 17,200 flights, a small fraction, but still an increase of 61% over the prior year. By comparison, the odds of a person being struck by lightning in their lifetime are 1 in 15,300, according to the National Weather Service.Hollywood actors authorize strikeActors represented by the Hol...

Boston lawyer who was considered for Massachusetts U.S. Attorney appointed as a lead prosecutor at The Hague

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

A Boston lawyer who was one of the final names being considered for the U.S. Attorney role in Massachusetts, before Rachael Rollins was ultimately picked and later resigned in disgrace, has been appointed as the top prosecutor at The Hague for the Kosovo war crimes tribunal.Kim West, a partner at Ashcroft Law Firm in Boston, was recently selected as the Specialist Prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague, Netherlands.West was one of the high-profile local lawyers who were being looked at as the replacement for Andrew Lelling to lead the Bay State U.S. Attorney’s Office. Rollins, the Suffolk County district attorney at the time, was later picked as U.S. Attorney — and she recently resigned following bombshell investigative reports from two federal watchdog agencies.Instead of the experienced and accomplished West running the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office, she’s now heading to the European Union-b...

Live music coming back to Suffolk Downs: The Stage set to open later this month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

Live music is coming back to Suffolk Downs.Artist Steve Lacy will be performing in the first show at the former East Boston horse racetrack in 20 years when he takes the stage June 16 – the beginning of The Stage at Suffolk Downs.The city’s newest outdoor music spot takes up 186,000 square feet, featuring room for up to 8,500 fans.Suffolk Downs hasn’t hosted a musical show in roughly 20 years, but the venue has attracted some major artists in its existence. The Beatles marked the first band to perform there, playing to 25,000 fans in 1966. The Jackson 5, Radiohead and Bjork also held concerts.The Stage represents an attempt at reviving the live music scene in Eastie, and fans can expect the new era of shows to be something between a festival and a headlining concert, said Josh Bhatti, senior vice president of The Bowery Presents, a leading concert promotion and venue management company along the East Coast.“What we were trying to do was have an outdoor venue in a field, nothing more...

Recalled pillows linked to 10 infant deaths still being sold on Facebook Marketplace, US agency says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS (AP Business Writer)WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal safety regulators are urging consumers to stop using baby pillows that have been linked to 10 infant deaths but are still being sold on Facebook Marketplace, despite being recalled two years ago.The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday that Boppy Newborn Loungers are no longer legally for sale but it has found thousands of them on Facebook Marketplace since the 2021 recall began.The agency wrote to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook parent Meta Platforms, on Tuesday saying it had made repeated requests to have recalled items taken down from Marketplace. It cited the Boppy loungers as “a particularly egregious example” of a product that puts consumers at risk. “Until these sales are stopped, babies will continue to be at risk of death,” CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka said in a statement. He added that Meta “has not taken effective action” in response ...

Multiple injuries reported after shooting near Virginia Commonwealth campus in Richmond

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A shooting near Virginia Commonwealth University in downtown Richmond injured multiple people Tuesday, a police spokeswoman said. There was no longer an active threat to the community, according to police spokeswoman Tracy Walker. It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the shooting in the area of Monroe Park, which is near the VCU campus and a large theater. VCU advised the community in an online alert around 5:30 p.m. that police were responding after shots were fired. Matthew Stanley, a spokesman for Richmond Public Schools, said via email that he did not have full details about what transpired but was able to confirm that an incident took place in Monroe Park after a high school graduation. Richmond Public Schools said on its website that a different graduation scheduled for later Tuesday had been canceled “out of an abundance of caution.”State police sent an alert warning people to avoid the area. The Associated Press

Canada wildfires are leading to air-quality alerts in US. Here’s how to stay safe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

Canada is dealing with a series of intense wildfires that have spread from the western provinces to Quebec, with hundreds of forest fires burning. The smoke has traveled into the United States, resulting in a number of air quality alerts issued since May.On Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a poor air quality alert for New England, a day after parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota received a similar advisory. Last week, U.S. officials as far south as Maryland, Baltimore, Virginia and Pennsylvania reported being impacted by the wildfires.Here’s a summary of what’s being evaluated and some suggested precautions:WHAT’S HAPPENING?Smoke from Canada’s wildfires has been moving into the United States since last month. The most recent fires near Quebec have been burning for at least several days.The EPA said hazy skies, reduced visibility and the odor of burning wood are likely, and that the smoke will linger for a few days in New England....

Former New Jersey Gov. Christie kicks off 2024 Republican presidential bid with swipes at Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republican former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie kicked off his presidential campaign Tuesday evening, promising to be the only candidate in a crowded GOP primary field willing to directly take on former President Donald Trump. Christie, who also ran for president in 2016, began his bid under the slogan “Because the truth matters” with a town hall in New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first Republican primary following Iowa’s leadoff caucuses. After losing the nomination to Trump seven years ago, the former governor and federal prosecutor went on to become a close off-and-on adviser before breaking with the former president over his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.“Donald Trump made us smaller by dividing us even further and pitting us one against the other,” Christie said, suggesting that the former president was part of a broader political effort to “paint all Republicans with just one brush.”He added that President Joe B...

Analyst worried as union for 7,000-plus B.C. port workers to hold strike vote

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

VANCOUVER — A global trade analyst says a potential strike for more than 7,000 terminal cargo movers in ports throughout British Columbia could have dire consequences for not only the Canadian economy, but globally as well.International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada, which represents workers who load and unload cargo at port terminals in cities such as Vancouver and Prince Rupert, said in a bulletin that its negotiating committee has authorized a strike vote.Union president Rob Ashton said in the bulletin that the vote will take place June 9 and 10.Neither the union nor the BC Maritime Employers Association have responded to a request for comment on the possible job action. The employers association, which represents 49 private-sector employers in more than 30 ports across B.C., said in a statement on its website that it will continue to negotiate to reach “a fair and balanced deal” that ensures proper compensation and the competitiveness of B.C.’s ports.Mar...

Reward offered for information on who killed endangered Hawaiian monk seal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — U.S. authorities on Tuesday offered a $5,000 reward for information on who killed a Hawaiian monk seal after one of the critically endangered animals was found dead on Oahu this year.The female seal known as Malama was found dead on March 12 at Ohikilolo, a spot between Keaau Beach Park and Makua Valley, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a news release. A post-mortem investigation found the cause of death to be “blunt force trauma.” National experts on marine mammal radiology and forensics concluded the animal was intentionally killed, the release said.Last year, Malama was treated for malnutrition at the Marine Mammal Center’s Hawaiian monk seal hospital on the Big Island. She was released in January, after which she was in good condition and displaying normal seal behavior.The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most endangered seal species in the world. About 1,570 of the animals are in the wild. About 1,200 seals live in the remote No...

Democrats: Lives could be lost due to Republican walkout in Oregon Legislature

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:47 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Democratic lawmakers stood on the steps of the state Capitol Tuesday and implored Republicans, who have been boycotting the Senate for over a month, to return and vote on bills, saying lives are literally at stake.Several statehouses around the nation, including Montana and Tennessee, have been ideological battlegrounds this year. Republicans in the Oregon statehouse conducted walkouts in 2019, 2020 and 2021 to deny quora, but this one is the most serious yet, threatening hundreds of bills and the approval of state budgets for the next two years.Neither side is budging on a bill on protections for abortion and transgender care, with Democrats saying it isn’t negotiable and minority Republicans insisting it die or be changed. It’s down to a matter of which side blinks first. If there’s no compromise well before the session is constitutionally required to end by June 25, the hundreds of bills that haven’t passed both the House and Sena...