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Healey administration won’t say how many hosting migrants in Massachusetts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

The size of a program for newly-arrived migrant families to temporarily stay with private residents is unclear a week after the Healey administration called for more people to open up their homes.A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services said state officials have heard from Massachusetts residents “who have graciously offered to host families at their homes.”“We are currently collecting their information and developing a process for implementation,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Herald on Wednesday.But the spokesperson did not say how many residents have become hosts since Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency on Aug. 7. A Healey spokesperson also did not say last week whether any state employees or lawmakers have stepped forward.Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll last week called on those with an “extra room or suite in your home” to consider hosting families as the state experiences significant strain on its...

Worcester considering migrant ‘welcome center’ after two open in Allston, Quincy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

A top official in Worcester said the city is considering opening a “welcome center” akin to the two the Healey administration stood up in Allston and Quincy to deal with an influx of migrants from other countries who have arrived in Massachusetts.State officials have used the welcome centers to serve as an entry point for migrants and displaced families to the state’s shelter system and basic services. The welcome center in Allston is run by the Brazilian Worker Center and the one in Quincy is housed at Eastern Nazarene College.Worcester City Manager Eric Batista first said the city was talking with state officials to create a local welcome center on the radio show Talk of the Commonwealth.In a statement provided Thursday evening, a spokesperson said the city is working with state and federal and state partners to “to provide both short and long-term solutions to address the commonwealth’s shelter shortage in the face of steeply rising demand of new arrivals.”“One of the solutions b...

Boston fire union passes on Louijeune endorsement ahead of City Council primary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

The Boston firefighters union has chosen not to endorse Ruthzee Louijeune in this year’s at-large City Council race, after backing her initial bid for office.Sam Dillon, president of the Boston Fire Fighters Local 718, said Louijeune actively sought the endorsement, but did not receive the vote of the union’s membership at a Thursday night meeting.“The way that we approach endorsements is we stand with those who stand with us,” Dillon told the Herald Friday. “Our goal is to encourage political candidates and elected officials who are going to support and advance the causes of Boston firefighters and our families.”He added, however, that, “Our membership’s decision to not endorse Councilor Louijeune, I don’t think should be taken as an indication that we believe that’s not her. It’s a democratic process and our membership rendered a vote.”Louijeune was among the councilors who voted for a city budget that would have cut millions from municipal departments, including Boston Fire, that...

Battenfeld: Ruthzee Louijeune emerging as top contender for bickering Boston City Council presidency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

Bickering Boston city councilors are already jockeying for the next president’s race, with rising star Ruthzee Louijeune emerging as one of the top favorites to lead the famously feuding council.Louijeune is expected to compete for the presidency with at-large Councilor Julia Mejia, who is more on the far left and is also angling for the top spot, sources said. District 4 Councilor Brian Worrell also might be a potential candidate.Current Council President Ed Flynn – the target of sniping from his fellow councilors – is prohibited by term limits from running again in January, but he could cast a key vote in determining the next leader.It’s unclear if Mayor Michelle Wu might try to tip the race by throwing her weight behind someone.A lot will depend on the outcome of this year’s council election. All 13 councilors will be on the ballot for the September preliminary contest, and the top vote-getters will hold more clout.The top two vote-getters in each district will face off and the t...

Ukraine will get F-16 fighter jets from the Dutch and Danes after the US agrees to allow transfers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United States has given its approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16s to Ukraine, officials in Washington and Europe said Friday, in a major gain for Kyiv, even though the fighter jets are unlikely to affect the war any time soon.It was not immediately clear when the first F-16s might enter the conflict, but Ukrainian pilots will first have to undertake at least six months of training on the aircraft, according to officials.Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.Even so, Air Force Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. air forces in Europe and Africa, told reporters in Washington he did not expect the F-16s to be a game-changer for Ukraine. Getting F-16 squadrons ready for battle could take “four or five years,” he said.But in...

Fired founder of right-wing org Project Veritas is under investigation in New York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The founder of Project Veritas, a conservative nonprofit known for its hidden camera stings, is under investigation by a suburban New York prosecutor’s office in the latest fallout after his ouster from the group over allegations that he mistreated workers and misspent organization funds.The Westchester County district attorney’s office confirmed Friday it is “looking into” matters concerning James O’Keefe, who was suspended in February and later fired as chairman and CEO. The Project Veritas board said he spent “an excessive amount of donor funds” on personal luxuries.Jin Whang, a spokesperson for District Attorney Mimi Rocah, declined to discuss the subject or details of the investigation, or what potential charges, if any, O’Keefe could face. Whang cautioned that investigations can have a variety of outcomes, not necessarily resulting in criminal charges.News of the probe was first reported by The Nation.O’Keefe’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, blamed the i...

Dominican officials say plastics company to blame for explosion that killed 31 people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dominican authorities announced late Friday that they are pursuing a criminal case against a plastics company based on evidence found during an investigation into a powerful explosion this week that killed at least 31 people.Police and the Public Ministry issued a joint statement saying the blast occurred at a business called Vidal Plast, rather than at a bakery as authorities had said initially. The explosion occurred Monday afternoon in a bustling commercial center in San Cristobal, a city just west of the capital of Santo Domingo.“The Public Ministry has evidence that compromises the criminal responsibility of those responsible who, with their actions, caused the death of dozens of people and caused millions in losses,” the statement said, citing prosecutor Fadulia Rosa Rubio.The ministry said it was investigating several people, but did not identify them.The owners of Vidal Plast could not be immediately reached for comment. The company r...

Connecticut man convicted of killing roommate with samurai-like sword after rent quarrel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man was convicted Friday of killing his roommate with a samurai-style sword after a rent dispute, prosecutors said.A jury found Jerry David Thompson, 45, guilty of murder in the 2020 stabbing death of Victor King. Thompson owed rent on his room in King’s downtown Hartford home, and King was trying to evict him, the Hartford state’s attorney’s office said in a news release, citing trial evidence. King called police twice on the morning of July 25, 2020 — first telling a tip line that Thompson was menacing him with a sword, and then calling 911 to report that his roommate was threatening him, according to prosecutors. Surveillance video showed Thompson walking toward the home later that morning with a long object in his hand, then walking back to his car in different clothes about 20 minutes later, prosecutors said. Some of King’s friends called the police the next day, alarmed that they couldn’t reach him. Police found the ...

Homes ablaze in battle to save West Kelowna, B.C., from devastating wildfire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

Homes were still burning in West Kelowna, B.C., on Friday after a devastating wildfire destroyed a significant number of properties overnight, in a battle that the city’s fire chief likened to “100 years of firefighting.”Residents and officials described frightening and uncanny scenes — people leaping into Lake Okanagan to escape the fire, and the historic Lake Okanagan Resort engulfed in flames as explosions rang out. One evacuee watched remotely though a doorbell camera as trees outside his home burst into flame.Evacuation zones were being expanded across the lake into the city of Kelowna late Friday afternoon, widening the scale of the crisis. The fire was “exponentially worse” than expected, said Jason Brolund, chief of the West Kelowna fire department.Wildfires across the province experienced what the BC Wildfire Service called “extreme” growth Thursday and Friday amid a weather shift that brought high winds and dry lightning.Abou...

Residents of east Washington community flee amid fast-moving wildfire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:05 GMT

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire prompted the evacuation Friday of residents in and around the eastern Washington community of Medical Lake.The so-called Gray Fire began around noon and was burning in grass, timber and wheat, according to the state fire marshal’s office, which said the fire was threatening homes, a hospital, Highway 202 and the community of Medical Lake.Level 3, or “go now,” evacuations were issued for the community of about 4,800 people.The National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning, with a strong breeze contributing to dangerous fire conditions following a dry week.Medical Lake is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Spokane.The Associated Press