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Regulating youth sports in Massachusetts a possibility as lawmakers float governing body

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

Youth sports should be fun and games, but nowadays, an increasing number of children and parents are looking at the pastime as a business.That’s the narrative state lawmakers heard Thursday from coaches, trainers and doctors, among others, as they look to get a read on whether youth sports should be regulated across the Bay State.As of now, there’s no regulatory body for youth sports in Massachusetts, the MIAA governs high school sports and NCAA college sports, said state Sen. Barry Finegold, D-2nd Essex and Middlesex. But that shouldn’t be the case for “our most vulnerable population: young people,” he said.“I feel like there’s so much pressure on these kids from parents who don’t really understand most of these kids aren’t going to play [Division 1]. This is an interesting conversation I think we should have,” Finegold said during a hearing held by the Joint Committee on Economic Development & Emerging Technologies and the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing“So much more ...

Jurors convict Colorado police officer in death of Elijah McClain, acquits a second

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

Elijah McClain is pictured in this undated photograph. (Photo provided by family of Elijah McClain)BRIGHTON — Jurors on Thursday delivered a split decision in the trial of two Aurora police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, convicting one officer but acquitting the other after nearly three weeks of testimony.The jury found Aurora police officer Randy Roedema, 41, guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault — the two lesser charges he faced.Jurors acquitted former officer Jason Rosenblatt, 34, on all charges. He put his head in his hands on the defense table after the verdict, then cried as he hugged supporters and his attorneys. He had been charged with reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault.Roedema sat quietly when the verdict was read and did not comment when he left the courtroom. Some of his supporters wept when they heard the guilty verdict. Criminally negligent homicide is a low-level felony, while thi...

‘Harvard’s Leading Antisemites’ truck flashes faces, names of students after explosive anti-Israel statement: ‘Everyone is fearful for their safety’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

Harvard students who blamed Israel after Hamas’ terrorist attacks say they’re afraid for their safety, as a truck revealing students’ names and their faces continued to drive around the Cambridge campus on Thursday.The “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites” truck has been showing the names and photos of students who are members of the groups that signed the explosive anti-Israel statement. The dozens of groups blamed Israel for the terrorist attacks, saying they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”That letter from over the weekend has since sparked outrage, leading to Harvard alums calling for the students’ names to be public. Now, many of their names and faces are being shown on this Accuracy in Media truck.“Accuracy in Media is exposing radical antisemites on college campuses,” the organization posted. “No one who supports terrorist groups like Hamas should be able to hide in the...

Odell Beckham Jr., four other Ravens full participants in Thursday’s practice; Titans rule out 3 players

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

After suffering a number of key injuries through the first five weeks of the season, the Ravens appear to be healthier than they have been in a quite a while ahead of Sunday’s showdown against the Tennessee Titans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in what is their first trip to London since 2017.Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was one of five players who were elevated to full practice Thursday. Beckham, who played last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers after missing two games because of an ankle injury, said he’s feeling “much better” this week.“It’s been tough,” he said. “I’ve worked my [butt] off for a long time, since that Super Bowl [in 2022]. Just to have a small, small setback, which you never saw coming, it’s just unfortunate.“To just get your feet back underneath you, it’s a blessing to be able to be out on the field, but it never feels good when you’re not at your very, very best.ȁ...

Mexico takes mining company to court seeking new remediation effort for Sonora river pollution

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is pursuing a criminal complaint against the country’s biggest copper producer seeking to force a new remediation effort for a toxic mine spill in the northern state of Sonora nine years ago, an environmental official said Thursday.The complaint, which was filed in August but announced only on Thursday, centers on remediation funding for eight polluted townships in Sonora. Mining company Grupo Mexico closed its remediation fund in 2017, arguing that it had met legal requirements. The government contends that was premature and is asking the courts to order a new fund be established.“The people, the environment are still contaminated and there are sick people,” said María Luisa Albores González, who heads the government’s Environment Department. Albores described the August 2014 mine spill as “the most serious environmental disaster in the history of metal mining in Mexico.” Ten million gallons (40 million liters) of acidified copper sulfate flooded fro...

An Israeli team begins a tour against NBA teams, believing games provide hope during a war at home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Yehu Orland wore a shirt honoring a close friend who was killed two days earlier defending Israel, and he expected to have tears in his eyes Thursday night when his country’s national anthem played before a game in Brooklyn.But the coach of Maccabi Ra’anana believes continuing his team’s tour against NBA clubs while his country is at war was the right decision.“We are the first team that is playing since the war started and nobody will break Israel, because we are a strong nation,” Orland said before the game. The team from the Israeli National League was playing the first of three games during its tour. There was a police presence outside Barclays Center, with barricades set up in the plaza in front of the entrance. Some fans held up Israel’s flag and others had signs reading “New York stands with Israel” while Noa Kirel, an Israeli singer and actress, performed the national anthem. Before that, the Nets asked for a moment of silence for thos...

Colorado judge strikes down Trump’s attempt to toss a lawsuit seeking to bar him from the ballot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge has rejected an attempt by former President Donald Trump to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to keep him off the state ballot, ruling that his objections on free-speech grounds did not apply.Trump’s attorneys argued that a Colorado law protecting people from being sued over exercising their free speech rights shielded him from the lawsuit, but Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace said that law doesn’t apply in this case.The law also conflicted with a state requirement to get the question about Trump’s eligibility resolved quickly — before a Jan. 5 deadline for presidential candidates’ names to certified for the Colorado primary, Wallace wrote.Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claims in its lawsuit that putting Trump on the ballot in Colorado would violate a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars people who have “engaged in insurrection” against the Constitution from holding office.The group’s chief counsel, Donald K. Sher...

Court hearing to discuss contested Titanic expedition is canceled after firm scales back dive plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A federal admiralty court in Virginia has canceled a Friday hearing to discuss a contested expedition to the Titanic after the salvage firm scaled back its dive plans. But a looming court battle over the 2024 mission is not over yet. RMST Titanic Inc. owns the salvage rights to the world’s most famous shipwreck. It originally planned to possibly retrieve artifacts from inside the Titanic’s hull, informing the court of its intentions in June. In August, the U.S. government filed a motion to intervene, arguing that the court should stop the expedition. U.S. attorneys cited a 2017 federal law and an agreement with Great Britain to restrict entry into the Titanic’s hull because it’s considered a grave site. Lawyers on each side of the case were set to discuss the matter Friday before a U.S. District Judge in Norfolk who oversees Titanic salvage matters. But the company said this week that it no longer planned to retrieve artifacts or do anythi...

The approved multistate wind-power transmission line will increase energy capacity for Missouri

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Regulators on Thursday gave the go-ahead for a multistate wind-energy power line to provide the equivalent of four nuclear power plants’ worth of energy to Missouri consumers. At issue is the Grain Belt Express, a power line that will carry wind energy from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois before hooking into a power grid in Indiana that serves eastern states.Invenergy Transmission, the Chicago-based company attempting to build the Grain Belt Express, last year proposed expanding the high-voltage power line’s capacity after years of complaints from Missouri farmers and lawmakers worried that the line would trample property rights without providing much service to Missouri residents. Under the new plan, approved 4-1 by Missouri’s Public Service Commission, Grain Belt Express plans to bring as much as 2,500 megawatts of power to Missouri. Previously, state utility regulators approved a line that would have brought only 500 megawatts of energy ...

Unpublished works, manuscript by legendary Argentine writer Cortázar sell for $36,000 at auction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:16 GMT

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — A buyer from Argentina paid $36,000 for a manuscript of works, including seven unpublished stories, by legendary Argentine writer Julio Cortázar at an auction Thursday in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo.The bundle of 60-year-old sheets bound together with metal fasteners bearing the inscription “Julio Cortázar. Historias de Cronopios y de Famas. Paris. 1952” was the basis for the writer’s iconic “Cronopios and Famas” book, published in 1962.The typewritten manuscript contains 46 stories that make up the heart of what ended up becoming one of Cortázar’s most famous works.Of the total stories, 35 were published in “Cronopios and Famas.” Some were printed exactly as found in the manuscript that was once thought to be lost forever. It was discovered in Montevideo last year, while others underwent editorial changes. Three other stories were published in magazines before Cortázar’s death in 1984.The seven unpublished works are: “Inventory,” “Letter from ...