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‘Love is the question and the answer:’ Community calls Boston to remember Mel King’s legacy at historic funeral

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

Mel King’s familiar messages of love and action rang clear through the words of his family, friends, peers, students and others at a historic funeral Tuesday afternoon — calling on the city to carry the late Boston icon’s legacy forward.The sold-out, packed-in funeral and celebration took place in King’s South End home neighborhood at the Union United Methodist Church, starting at noon and lasting through nearly four hours of commendations, memories and music.Speakers included King’s children and granddaughter, Gov. Maura Healey, Mayor Michelle Wu, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, King’s former students, and community and religious leaders, with the eulogy delivered by former State Rep. Byron Rushing.The hosts remembered their own time being inspired by King and his incredible work — from protesting and pushing the historic Tent City to ensure affordable housing in the South End; to advocating for educational opportunities through his work at MIT, esta...

At least we can realistically talk about Magic luring Luka Doncic | Commentary

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

This is not to say the Orlando Magic are about to go out and make a huge splash during the offseason and perhaps be a landing spot for potentially unhappy Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, but here’s the beautiful thing:At least we can have that conversation now.At least the Magic — with their own young stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, tons of draft capital and a respected coach in Jamahl Mosley whom Doncic absolutely loves — are a player in a potential blockbuster trade or a possible destination spot for bigtime free agents.“We’ve all talked about the the internal improvement that we can make, but obviously some of your improvements can come externally and that’s through the free agent market or through trades,” Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman told me Tuesday. “But it takes two to tango so all we can do is prepare and find out what’s out there. I was speaking with an agent the other day and he s...

Man killed in semi-truck crash near Camp Pendleton

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A man was killed Tuesday in a crash near Camp Pendleton involving a semi-truck, the California Highway Patrol said.According to the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page, the crash happened shortly before noon on southbound Interstate 5, just south of the Aliso Creek Rest Area. The driver of a white Infinity QX4 crashed into the back of a semi-truck "for reasons still under investigation," CHP said in a news release.The 54-year-old man driving the SUV died. Authorities identified him only as a Westminster, California resident. Investigators do not believe alcohol or drugs contributed to the crash. At least 1 killed after semi-truck crash in Encinitas A Sig Alert was issued in the area until around 3 p.m. This is the second deadly crash involving a semi-truck on southbound I-5 in as many days. On Monday, a woman was killed following a multi-vehicle collision in Encinitas.The circumstances that led to the crash are still under investigation. The CHP incident page did not...

Industrial fire prompts evacuation order in Indiana city

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — Authorities urged people to evacuate Tuesday near a large industrial fire in an Indiana city near the Ohio border that sent massive clouds of black smoke into the sky.The fire occurred at a former factory site in Richmond, 70 miles (112.6 kilometers) east of Indianapolis, that lately had been used to store plastics and other materials for recycling or resale, Mayor Dave Snow said.“They were under a city order to clean up and remediate that site,” Snow told The Associated Press. “We knew that was a fire hazard the way they were storing materials.”Snow described it as a “serious, large-scale fire” that apparently started in a tractor-trailer parked onsite and spread quickly. He said the fire had been contained on three sides by early evening. The cause was not immediately known.“This is an indoor and outdoor storage facility — very, very large,” the mayor said. There were no reports of injuries. But hundreds of people living within a half-mile (0.80 kilomet...

Trudeau claims Russia could be responsible for website outage

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s official website was taken down for a brief period on Tuesday, and he suggests Russia may have been behind it.The site was taken offline as Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal visited Toronto for an official bilateral meeting and an announcement of more support in the war with Russia.“Russia being able to bring down an official Government of Canada webpage for a few hours is in no way going to dissuade us from our unshakable support of Ukraine,” Trudeau said.Read more:Trudeau announces new military aid, bilateral agreements during Ukraine PM’s visitIt wasn’t a long outage of the website, but Trudeau says the timing isn’t lost on him. He points out that Russian hackers tend to target countries when they are hosting Ukrainian officials.“For Russian hackers to target countries as they are showing their steadfast support for Ukraine as they’re welcoming Ukrainian delegations or leadership to visit so, the...

Report: Big Ten to hire Tony Petitti as new commissioner

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten has selected who will be the next commissioner of the conference.According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, the conference will hire Tony Petitti, a former senior-level executive for Major League Baseball, MLB Network, ABC, and CBS Sports, among others.The move to go with Petitti comes as the Big Ten is set to embark on a new multi-billion-dollar media deal, massively expanding the coverage — and revenue — the conference will receive in an ever-changing college sports landscape. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: USC and UCLA will join the Big Ten in 2024 Petitti attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania where he majored in economics before going on to graduate from Harvard Law School. After spending two years working for a law firm, Petitti joined ABC Sports in 1988 as a general attorney.From there, he would be promoted to vice president of programming before joining CBS Sports in 1997, working in a variety of senior leadership roles until April 2008, when he left CBS to beco...

Bodycam footage from Louisville bank shooting released

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

(NewsNation) — Police body camera footage released Tuesday shows the moments Louisville officers were shot by a gunman who opened fire inside a downtown bank, killing five people.The exchange of gunfire, which ended with police killing the suspect, lasted only a few minutes. Two patrol officers were wounded; one of them was struck in the head.Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey walked reporters through the footage at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. What we know about those killed in Louisville bank shooting Images from surveillance footage show the shooter, identified as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, an employee at Old National Bank, holding a gun inside the building.Officers Nickolas Wilt and Cory Galloway were the first to arrive on the scene at 8:41 a.m. ET, three minutes after they were dispatched. Shots can be heard coming from inside the building as they exit their squad car.Galloway and Wilt make their way up a set of stairs to the front of the...

Half in new poll say Biden policies have not helped middle class at all

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

(The Hill) – About half of the respondents in a new poll said that the Biden administration’s current policies have not helped the middle class at all. The poll, published on Tuesday by Monmouth University, found that 51 percent of respondents said that middle-class families have not benefited from Biden’s policies so far, while 10 percent said they believe middle-class families have benefited a lot from his policies.Around 36 percent of respondents believe that middle-class families have benefited a little bit from the administration’s policies, according to the poll. In comparison, Biden's current numbers are similar to what former President Trump pulled in during his first year in office, where 11 percent of respondents said that middle-class families have benefited a lot from his administration's policies, while 53 percent of those surveyed disagreed.  When asked about families in the upper echelon in earnings, 29 percent of respondents said that wealthy families ...

Texas House votes to permanently stay on daylight saving time. But Congress won’t allow it — yet.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

(Texas Tribune) — The Texas House has taken sides in one of America’s most polarizing debates — whether to continue changing clocks twice a year, ditch daylight saving time altogether or stick with later daylight permanently.The representatives’ overwhelming verdict: Stay on daylight saving time moving forward. Why does Texas still observe daylight saving time? The chamber voted 136-5 on Tuesday to give initial approval to House Bill 1422, from Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe.“The antiquated practice of ‘springing forward’ and ‘falling back’ — changing our clocks twice a year — is frustrating to many Texans,” Metcalf said ahead of the vote. “I believe we should stick to a time without switching twice a year.”Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, asked if the House could vote on who likes which variation of time before voting on the bill, which drew a couple of chuckles. That vote did not occur.The idea is far from becoming reality. Once the bill gets a final House vote, it still has to clea...

Washington County gets pushback after pitching plan to take over road in Oak Park Heights

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:58:02 GMT

Washington County officials on Tuesday discussed a controversial plan to take over jurisdiction of part of a street in Oak Park Heights to create a connection in the Manning Avenue corridor south of Minnesota 36.County officials are considering invoking a little-used state law that would allow the county to recategorize the existing portion of 58th Street between Memorial Avenue and Stillwater Boulevard as a county road.Under state law, any roadway in a county can be recategorized as a county road, and the county would then be responsible for maintenance and improvements to that road.All of the county board members at Tuesday’s workshop spoke in favor of the plan.The road in question is a block of 58th Street, which is currently owned by Oak Park Heights.Currently southbound Manning Avenue — also known as Washington County 15 — ends at Minnesota 36. To continue south, drivers must get on Minnesota 36 and drive east to Stillwater Boulevard where Manning Avenue resumes and takes drive...