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Battenfeld: Maura Healey criticized for failing to act to stop exploding migrant crisis in Massachusetts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

Even as criticism continues to reverberate for the Army-Navy game hotel debacle, Gov. Maura Healey – unlike some other Democrats – has failed to take aggressive steps to stop the flow of migrants into Massachusetts.Healey in fact has called for smoothing the way for migrants to come into the state and work here while spending more than a million dollars a day contracting with hotels in overwhelmed cities and towns to house the migrants.“All of her statements and actions indicate she is supportive of the resettlement of these migrants into Massachusetts,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of the Center for Immigration Studies. “She’s not interested in alleviating the effects of this influx on cities and towns in Massachusetts. She’s not interested in considering any negative effects on citizens of the Commonwealth.”Healey’s position runs counter to some elected Democrats who have begun distancing themselves from the migrant crisis and even urging families to stop coming into their citie...

Ravens WR Odell Beckham Jr. says he expects to play against Steelers; RT Morgan Moses doubtful

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

Odell Beckham Jr. said Friday that he expects to be on the field Sunday in Pittsburgh when the Ravens play the Steelers in a key AFC North showdown.The 30-year-old wide receiver and three-time Pro Bowl selection has been out since suffering an ankle injury in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals. He returned to practice this week in Owings Mills, though he is listed as questionable after being limited for a third straight day.“I feel good,” Beckham said. “It’s tough when you work so hard and little things happen.“Yeah, I expect to be out there.”Since signing a one-year, $15 million deal with Baltimore in the offseason, Beckham has played just two games, recording five catches for 66 yards. Still, the Ravens are 3-1, and quarterback Lamar Jackson has been the second-most accurate quarterback in the NFL behind the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen, completing 74.3% of his passes.Beckham said he tried to give it a go last week against the Cleve...

Orioles ace Kyle Bradish will start Game 1 of ALDS vs. Rangers; rookie Grayson Rodriguez to start Game 2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

The Orioles’ young right-handers will take the stage this weekend at Camden Yards.Kyle Bradish will start Baltimore’s first home playoff game in nine years, Game 1 of the American League Division Series at 1:03 p.m. on Saturday. In Game 2, it will be rookie Grayson Rodriguez who will take the mound at 4:07 p.m. Sunday, manager Brandon Hyde said Friday.Bradish was acquired by the Orioles as part of a haul of minor leaguers the Los Angeles Angels traded to Baltimore for starting pitcher Dylan Bundy in 2019. Bradish made his major league debut in 2022, blossomed into the Orioles’ ace in 2023 and now, the 27-year-old will pitch in front of a raucous postseason crowd in Baltimore.His first start this season came in Texas, where he left in the second inning after a line drive hit him in the foot. That sent him to the injured list for two weeks, but he returned to become the Orioles’ best starter this season.“It’s kind of just a dream to be able to...

Ticker: Sam Bankman-Fried stole customer funds from the beginning; Data breach at MGM Resorts expected to cost casino giant $100M

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried authorized the illegal use of FTX customers’ funds and assets to plug financial gaps at an affiliated hedge fund from the exchange’s earliest days, FTX’s co-founder Gary Wang told a New York jury on Friday, as prosecutors pressed their case that Bankman-Fried was the mastermind behind one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history.Eventually, the losses at the hedge fund, Alameda Research, became so large that there was no way to hide them any longer, Wang said in his second day of testimony.“FTX was not fine,” Wang said, referring to the now-infamous tweet that Bankman-Fried wrote only a few days before the exchange filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried, 31, stole billions of dollars from investors and customers in order to fund a lavish lifestyle in The Bahamas and buy the influence of politicians, celebrities and the public.Data breach at MGM Resorts expected to cost casino giant $100MThe data breach last month ...

Lucas: Mark Milley didn’t fade away

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

“Old soldiers never die,” American Gen Douglas MacArthur said in his dramatic farewell speech to Congress in 1951. “They just fade away.”And that is what MacArthur did.The famous World War II general made his remarks days after President Harry Truman fired him because MacArthur, the commanding general in the Korean War, wanted to expand the war into China. Truman did not.“There is no substitute for victory,” MacArthur said as Chinese troops poured into North Korea to support the North Korean Army routed by U.S forces.MacArthur wanted to push them back to China and then go in after them.Truman, seeking to avoid war with China, thought otherwise. The outspoken president said, “I fired him because he wouldn’t respect the authority of the president. I didn’t fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that’s not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail.”So, after a lifetime of distinguished military service, MacArth...

As Celtics lean into championship culture, Red Sox should take note

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

The Celtics began training camp earlier this week with several new faces, but quite a few blasts from the past, as well.Tom “Satch” Sanders, winner of eight NBA championships, paid a visit, and 2008 champs Paul Pierce, Eddie House and Leon Powe made appearances. Of course, there’s also assistant coach Sam Cassell, who won a ring with the aforementioned trio, the third and final championship of his 15-year playing career.They were invited by Joe Mazzulla, who wants to build a bridge between championships past and a season he hopes will culminate in another one.“I sent an email out to all the Celtic former players because I felt like it’s important that we share this experience together,” the head coach told reporters. “They started the tradition, they kept it going, and now it’s our responsibility as an organization to keep it alive.”Former Celtics have an open invitation to practices, games, even team dinners and flights, the second-year head coach said.“The past should be the...

Adam Jones to throw first pitch, Joan Jett to sing national anthem before Orioles’ playoff opener Saturday vs. Rangers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

Two legends will help kick off the Orioles’ first playoff game at Camden Yards since 2014.Former Orioles center fielder Adam Jones will throw out the first pitch and musician Joan Jett will sing the national anthem ahead of Baltimore’s American League Division Series opener Saturday against the visiting Texas Rangers at 1:03 p.m.Jones, who played for the Orioles from 2008 to 2018, was an All-Star in 2014 when the Orioles last won the AL East and hosted a postseason game.In September, Jones officially retired as an Oriole, returning to Camden Yards for an on-field ceremony for loud cheers from Baltimore fans. Two months earlier, he served as the Bird Bath Splash Zone’s first “guest splasher,” dousing fans in Section 86 after extra-base hits.Jett, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter of the band Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, is a lifelong Orioles fan. Jett, 65, grew up in Rockville and has long put on display her Orioles fandom. In the...

Nantucket’s ‘liquid gold’ part of whiskey revolution made in Massachusetts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

A revolution is brewing in the whiskey business.The American Single Malt Whiskey Commission is attempting to declare U.S. distillers on par with their Scottish counterparts.One of the charter members is Triple Eight Distillery, part of the Cisco Brewers family founded on Nantucket. This puts Massachusetts in the race to make Scotch Whiskey passe.“Everything starts here,” Bryan Jennings, lead distiller at Triple Eight, told the Herald on a recent trip to Nantucket. “I love the seasons here and that’s what people say they can taste.”The salt air, the waves, the wind, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia that whipped the island the day we visited create a climate akin to Scotland. It’s giving the whiskey stored in giant oaken barrels a mystique.The alcoholic beverages market is expected to grow past $4 billion by 2029, according to one recent estimate, so the stakes are high. Distilled spirits have jumped 12% as the nation puts the pandemic in the ...

Man who molested child at San Diego church sentenced after extradition from Asia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A man who molested a 5-year-old child at a San Diego-area church in 2017 was sentenced this week after he was extradited from Singapore, the county district attorney announced.Chester Yang, 73, was arrested in December 2022 by the county's Fugitive Task Force in connection with the incident at the University of San Diego campus church, according to District Attorney Summer Stephan's office.Following the incident, officers attempted to contact Yang at his family's home, but were unsuccessful. The day after, prosecutors say he fled to Taiwan -- a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States -- and was unable to be sent back to San Diego.According to the DA's office, the U.S. Marshals service contacted Taiwanese authorities to get them to notify them if Yang left the country. In late May 2022, Interpol alerted U.S. authorities that he flew to Singapore, prosecutors said. A Deputy U.S. Marshal and the DA then made arrangements to have him extradit...

Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court justice rejects GOP call to recuse on redistricting cases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:13 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A newly elected liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, who has called Republican-drawn electoral districts “rigged,” declined to recuse herself on Friday from a pair of redistricting lawsuits.Justice Janet Protasiewicz’s decision to remain on the cases increases the chance that Republicans, who control the Legislature and drew the maps, may proceed with the unprecedented step of impeaching her. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has threatened impeachment if she doesn’t step down.Vos had no immediate comment on her decision, saying he needed to first speak with his attorney.Republicans argue she has pre-judged the cases, which could result in new, more Democrat-friendly maps being drawn before the 2024 election. In her 64-page order, Protasiewicz said she understood that the issue had “engendered strong feelings in some quarters among people of good faith.” But she said after searching the law “and my conscience,” she did not need to recuse.Protasiewicz said that whil...