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AG Andrea Campbell plans to sue towns that don’t comply with MBTA zoning law

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

Attorney General Andrea Campbell said her office will sue cities and towns that fail to comply with the MBTA communities zoning law, adding to penalties that already excluded those municipalities from state funding opportunities.In a Wednesday advisory, Campbell said compliance with the law, signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in January 2021, is mandatory. Offenders could be slapped with civil enforcement action by the AG’s office, she said, and risk liability under federal and state fair housing laws.“Compliance with the MBTA communities zoning law is not only mandatory, it is an essential tool for the commonwealth to address its housing crisis, along with our climate and transportation goals,” Campbell said in a statement.“While the housing crisis disproportionately affects communities of color and poor, working families, it threatens all of us along with our economy, and thus requires all of us to do our part, including ensuring adequate development of affordable, transit-oriented hous...

Committal hearing continued for East Boston woman accused of stabbing EMT

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

A local union representing Boston emergency medical services personnel will have to wait a little longer to learn the fate of a woman accused of nearly killing one of their own.Julie Tejeda, of East Boston, was involuntarily committed to a correctional unit of a local hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial for assault to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and assault and battery on a public employee for allegedly attacking EMT Elaina McAlister — and pepper spraying EMT Robert Lord — in the back of an ambulance in 2019.Tejeda appeared virtually Wednesday morning in Suffolk Superior Court from the correctional unit of Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, where she has been involuntarily committed and held without bail. Prosecutors were considering releasing her from involuntary commitment, but the hearing was continued until April 3.“Ms. Tejeda poses a substantial risk to every resident of the Commonwealth and we implore that the Suffolk Coun...

Boston University warns against drinking BORGs ahead of St. Patrick’s Day

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

Ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, Boston University is warning students to stay away from a viral TikTok college drinking trend that recently sent dozens of UMass Amherst students to the hospital for alcohol poisoning.A “BORG,” or a “black out rage gallon,” has taken off on college campuses. In a typical personal borg, the gallon container is half full of water, with a devastating fifth of alcohol (about 17 shots), and a liquid flavor enhancer like Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier.Boston University Student Health Services — in a post addressed to students for a “safe St. Patrick’s Day” — wrote that they should not drink BORGs, and emphasized it’s not a safer way to drink booze.“We don’t recommend drinking a BORG,” Boston University Student Health Services posted on Instagram.“Since BORGs contain water and sometimes electrolytes, there’s a misconception that a BORG is hydrating and therefore a s...

Caleb Martin wasting no time while playing as Heat closer

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

The pattern recently at Miami Heat games has been to play “Narco” during critical closing stages, the Timmy Trumpet and Blasterjaxx collaboration made famous on the sports scene as the walk-on song by New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz.But when it comes to Heat closers, it has reached the point where Caleb Martin might have earned his own late-game anthem.Entering Wednesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Miami-Dade Arena, Martin had played all but three seconds of fourth quarters of his previous eight appearances (he missed Saturday night’s overtime loss to the Orlando Magic due to knee soreness).When it comes to the 12 minutes of fourth quarters, the 6-foot-5 Martin has made himself a lineup staple:Feb. 27 at 76ers: 12:00;March 1 vs. 76ers: 12:00;March 3 vs. Knicks: 11:59 (Kevin Love entering in the final second to serve as an inbounder);March 4 vs. Hawks: 12:00;March 6 vs. Hawks: 12:00;March 8 vs, Cavaliers: 11:58 (Love entering in a lat...

Ravens place right of first refusal tender on restricted free agent quarterback Tyler Huntley

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

Lamar Jackson’s future with the Ravens remains unknown, at least for now, but fellow quarterback Tyler Huntley’s became a little clearer just before the NFL free agency window opened at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.Baltimore has placed a right of first refusal tender on Huntley, a restricted free agent, his agent, Joseph Behar, confirmed to The Baltimore Sun.That means that any team has the chance to sign the 25-year-old to an offer sheet. If the Ravens decline to match it, they won’t get any compensation; that’s unlike the situation for Jackson and the Ravens, who could match any offer Jackson receives or obtain two first-round draft picks from that team.If Huntley plays on the low RFA tender, he’ll stand to make $2.67 million this year.Huntley made eight starts in the regular season over the past two years for Baltimore while Jackson was injured. That included last season’s wild-card playoff debacle against the Bengals when early in the fourth quarter on...

Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease ‘checked all the boxes’ in an outing that included a unique strikeout

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

It had to have been one of the most unusual strikeouts ever for Dylan Cease.The Chicago White Sox right-hander was credited with a punchout when Oakland Athletics shortstop Kevin Smith got called for an automatic strike for batter violation tied to the clock to end his second-inning at-bat.Cease pumped his fist as he walked back to the Sox dugout.“It was a little bit of sarcasm, but a little bit of, ‘This is nice’ kind of mixed in together,” Cease said with a smile Tuesday.He agreed it was one of his best pitches of the afternoon.“Saved a bullet and got a strikeout?” Cease said. “You’re killing two birds with one stone there.”The 2022 American League Cy Young runner-up was back to form Tuesday at Camelback Ranch, allowing one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts in 3⅓ innings in a 5-4 victory.Cease rebounded from a rare off night in his last start when he allowed 11 earned runs in two-thirds of an inning on March 8...

Maura Healey’s DPU appointments indicate MBTA watchdog change, observers say

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

Notably missing from Gov. Maura Healey’s three appointments to the Department of Public Utilities was a commissioner with transit safety expertise — a deficiency highlighted by state and federal lawmakers in past MBTA oversight hearings.Two observers said the move to appoint commissioners focused on climate and energy rather than transportation signals a larger plan from Gov. Maura Healey to shift MBTA safety oversight from the DPU to a new state agency, pointing to legislation that has already been filed for such a change.But the Healey administration denied this on Wednesday, saying that the governor’s appointments are part of her efforts to create a “21st-century DPU, which includes expanded, in-house expertise in transit safety.”Healey’s EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper appointed Jamie Van Nostrand, a 30-year veteran of the energy industry, as DPU chair and Staci Rubin, vice president of environmental justice at the Conservation Law Foundation, as commissioner.Cecile Fraser, a...

Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, Credit Suisse all donated to Massachusetts Democrats

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

Several Bay State politicians find themselves thrust into the middle of the worst banking collapse since 2008 after it was revealed their campaigns took thousands in donations from suddenly shuttered lenders or their employees.California-based Silicon Valley Bank’s assets were seized by federal regulators on Friday to prevent a quick-building run on the bank’s funds. Signature Bank, in New York, was stopped from doing business on Sunday among similar concerns when, in an attempt to calm any budding panic, the Treasury and Federal Reserve announced it would guarantee even uninsured deposits.Despite this, news of the banks’ failure and their own financial concerns seemed to cause the value of Swiss bank Credit Suisse to fall sharply to start the week; it continued to drop after their largest backers, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, declined to provide extra funding.Before their decline, all three banks, as reported by the New York Post, “donated nearly $1.2 million to Democrats bet...

Car crash into gas pipeline prompts evacuations; 1 hurt

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Authorities Wednesday are evacuating residents near a crash that impacted a gas pipeline in the Mira Mesa area, officials said. The collision occurred around 3:18 p.m. on Gold Coast Drive and Black Mountain Road when a car struck against a gas pipeline, according to the San Diego Police Department's Watch Commander."This is a large diameter gas main break with a vehicle on top," Mónica Muñoz with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said. These San Diego County roads are closed due to inclement weather conditions One person was taken to the hospital, where their status is unknown at this time, per first responders.As of 4:30 p.m., 20 units in an apartment building near the crash were evacuated, Muñoz said. Numerous residences will be evacuated, with residents being allowed to go to Miramar College. San Diego Gas & Electric is currently working on pinching the gas line, Muñoz said.Check back for updates on this developing story.

Lawyers seek removal of judge in Texas school shooting case

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:14:21 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Attorneys for a man accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a Texas high school in 2018 are seeking to have the judge handling the case removed, accusing him of bias for pushing to have experts deem the former student competent to stand trial.Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 22, has been at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon since early December 2019 after he was determined to be incompetent to stand trial.Pagourtzis, then a 17-year-old student, has been charged with capital murder for the attack at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018, when he was a student there. Eight students and two teachers were killed at the school, located about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southeast of Houston.In February, state District Judge Jeth Jones ordered Pagourtzis be held at the hospital for up to another year.But last week, Jones held a last-minute hearing in which he ordered Pagourtzis to be evaluated by an outside expert to determine his competency.In their motion Tuesday to recuse Jones,...