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Cleanup underway in Worcester after nor’easter

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

Crews were busy in Worcester Tuesday evening, working to remove snow that accumulated in their area throughout a long day of winter weather. Though snow totals were lower than others seen in communities such as Ashby or Hubbardston, the 11.7 inches measured at Worcester Regional Airport still had many digging out within Worcester.“It’s a lot of work,” one person said. “Not easy.”Worcester Department of Public Works officials said this storm was a mild one for the city. Still, officials said wind remained a concern on Tuesday afternoon.“We’re expecting the wind to pick up,” Public Works and Parks Commissioner Jay Fink said. So far, Fink said the city had seen just one tree and a few branches come down during this storm. “[B]ut we do expect that it’s going to come back with a vengeance,” Fink added.As temperatures dropped, crews were preparing for an even busier night Tuesday as they work to clear roads in hopes of getting children back to school on Wednesday. “The...

Franz Wagner available for Magic at Spurs to kick off road trip

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

Second-year forward Franz Wagner started in Tuesday’s road game against the San Antonio Spurs despite spraining his right ankle in Saturday’s home win over the Miami Heat.Heat guard Kyle Lowry fell on Wagner’s ankle as both were trying to get up the floor after a Miami missed basket with around nine minutes remaining in the game.Play continued for about 20 seconds, with Wagner hobbling on the ankle until Magic coach Jamahl Mosley was able to call a timeout.Wagner went back into the locker room to get checked out by the trainer. The team later announced he wouldn’t return.The Magic said X-rays on Wagner’s ankle were negative, meaning no damage was shown, before adding the diagnosis was a sprain.His status entering Saturday was questionable before being upgraded to available 1 1/2 hours ahead of tipoff.Wagner’s missed just three games because of injury since being the No. 8 pick in the 2021 draft, all of which came at the end of last season because ...

San Francisco board receptive to ambitious reparations plan

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

By JANIE HAR (Associated Press)SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Payments of $5 million to every eligible Black adult, the elimination of personal debt and tax burdens, guaranteed annual incomes of at least $97,000 for 250 years and homes in San Francisco for just $1 a family.These were some of the more than 100 recommendations made by a city-appointed reparations committee tasked with the thorny question of how to atone for centuries of slavery and systemic racism. And the San Francisco Board of Supervisors hearing the report for the first time Tuesday voiced enthusiastic support for the ideas listed, with some saying money should not stop the city from doing the right thing. Several supervisors said they were surprised to hear pushback from politically liberal San Franciscans apparently unaware that the legacy of slavery and racist policies continues to keep Black Americans on the bottom rungs of health, education and economic prosperity, and overrepresented in prisons and homeless popul...

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred at core of Orioles’ and Nationals’ MASN arguments in New York’s highest court

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

The nearest baseball field to the New York Court of Appeals is a sandlot that will soon host a youth league, ages 4 to 6. But inside the Albany, New York, courthouse on Tuesday, Big Baseball was taking place.Attorneys for two Major League Baseball franchises pleaded their cases in a dispute that has gone on for more than a decade and is worth roughly $100 million in television revenue.The Orioles and Nationals have disagreed for several years as to how much money each should have received from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network — the regional television network the teams own, with the Orioles as the majority owner — from 2012-2016. Twice, arbitration committees of MLB executives ruled in the matter, but the Orioles appealed both times.Over the course of 30 minutes Tuesday, the Orioles asked the highest court in New York to throw out the most recent decision and rule for the case to be reheard in a different forum. The Nationals, in turn, requested the court affirm the arbit...

Deputy in East County shooting identified

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

EL CAJON, Calif. -- The deputy in a shooting that wounded a man in El Cajon was identified Tuesday, law enforcement officials said.Carlos Ramirez-Ochoa, a patrol deputy from the Lakeside Substation, has been with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for approximately five years, San Diego Police Department Lt. Adam Sharki stated in a news release.The shooting happened late Thursday when authorities found a Toyota truck that had been reported stolen from Alpine earlier in the day parked on 1100 Oro Street in El Cajon, according to SDPD. About an hour-and-a-half later, deputies began to approach the truck and saw a man next to the passenger side and another in the driver's seat, per police. The driver refused to get out of the vehicle after several commands from law enforcement, police said."The suspect then suddenly put the vehicle in reverse and accelerated rapidly, striking a parked vehicle. The suspect then accelerated forward rapidly, almost striking the deputies and th...

2 arrested after stabbing at park

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

VISTA, Calif. -- One person was hospitalized Tuesday after being stabbed multiple times in a Vista park, and two suspects were behind bars, authorities said.The incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, located near Santa Fe Avenue and Eucalyptus Avenue, when a fight turned physical, a caller told the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Upon arrival, deputies found the victim stabbed multiple times, according to Sgt. Saleem Payman. The victim was taken to a hospital where he is expected to survive. 18-year-old killed in East County crash Authorities arrested two men, Casey Vazquez, 50, and Elijah Vazquez, 23, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, per law enforcement. Both were booked into the Vista Detention Facility.Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the San Diego County Sheriff's Department at 858-565-5200.

Mixed emotions, uncertainty following Oceanside elementary school closure

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Oceanside Unified School District voted to close Reynolds Elementary after the school was being evaluated for a modernization project when testing showed that the campus was unsafe. It's been a long-fought battle to keep Reynolds Elementary open, parents say, but all that came to an end last night. The closures leaves many with uncertainty and mixed emotions. This follows a three to one vote in a special school board meeting to close its doors for good, Monday night. “I don’t think I’m willing to keep my kids in the Oceanside Unified School District, " parent Acucena Correa said. Nick Thomas was just one out of many frustrated parents there during the vote, calling the decision "disheartening" and one that's "...giving us zero trust in the board." Two of Thomas' kids attend the school and woke up Tuesday to a new reality. “Sad to put it bluntly. They're asking questions about what happens to their friends, what happens to their teachers. I think for everyone esp...

Bally Sports owner files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

Diamond Sports Group, the largest owner of regional sports networks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The move came after it missed a $140 million interest payment last month.Diamond owns 19 networks under the Bally Sports banner. Those networks have the rights to 42 professional teams — 14 baseball, 16 NBA and 12 NHL.The company said in a release Tuesday night that it expects to continue to operate during the bankruptcy process and that coverage of games should not be affected.Diamond Sports also said it is negotiating a restructuring agreement with debt holders that will eliminate most of its debt. Under an agreement with creditors, it would become a separate company from Sinclair Broadcast Group.“DSG will continue broadcasting games and connecting fans across the country with the sports and teams they love,” Diamond Sports CEO David Preschlack said in a statement. “We look forward to working constructively with our team and league partners and al...

Protesters back Senegal’s opposition leader ahead of trial

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Senegal’s capital Tuesday in a peaceful show of support for the country’s opposition leader who’s facing trial later this week.It was the first of several days of scheduled demonstrations backing Ousmane Sonko. The 46-year-old politician will go to court Thursday, after being charged in a civil lawsuit against him by Senegal’s tourism minister for alleged defamation and public insults. The case stems from accusations Sonko made against the minister during a news conference late last year. He had claimed the tourism minister allegedly stole $47 million from a government agency.Protesters gathered in Dakar’s suburbs, shouting and chanting. “We are here to support our leader, Ousmane Sonko. We will do everything to ensure that he is not imprisoned. He is not guilty of anything,” said Moustapha Diedhiou. Sonko’s supporters see the charges against him as the latest attempt to cut short his politic...

With GOP majority, North Carolina court revisits voting maps

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:12:17 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A newly formed and now Republican-majority North Carolina Supreme Court listened on Tuesday to arguments that could determine the extent to which state legislators can create electoral districts that could help lock in their political power. The new 5-2 GOP majority allowed a rare “rehearing” of the case last month. The redistricting litigation was ruled on just three months ago, when Democrats held a 4-3 seat advantage. That edition of the court threw out out a state Senate map the legislature drew and upheld congressional boundaries drawn by trial judges.That ruling stemmed from a landmark February 2022 decision declaring the state constitution barred partisan gerrymandering — especially when lines fail to give voters the ability to elect favored candidates commensurate with their level of voting power statewide. The Democratic-majority court pointed to evidence that showed maps approved by the General Assembly in fall 2021 made it nearly impossible for Democr...