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Two Boston Celtics players up for awards for advocacy work and giving back to the community

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

Two Boston Celtics players have been nominated for awards that recognize individuals making a difference in their communities.This week, the NBA announced that Grant Williams was a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award.Described by the league as a “passionate advocate for social justice efforts, specifically criminal justice reform,” an NBA news release pointed to Williams’s work leading the team’s “Play for Justice” event last year, which helped advocate for Massachusetts to reclassify who is considered a juvenile in the justice system.He was also credited for his work with the team’s Playbook Initiative – a program that works to train and deploy high school students to “facilitate workshops with middle school populations,” teaching kids how to intervene safely whenever they encounter “acts of bias or discrimination in their community.”Also nominated for the award was St...

Massachusetts attorney general probes often criticized Boston police gang unit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts attorney general’s office is investigating possible racial bias by the Boston Police Department’s gang unit and its associated gang member database, which has been criticized in the past for disproportionately tracking young Black and Latino men.The investigation into what is formally known as the Youth Violence Strike Force began last summer, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office said in a statement released Monday.“Our Civil Rights Division is reviewing the Youth Violence Strike Force and its Gang Assessment Database based on allegations that, between 2018 and the present, there may have been a pattern or practice of racially biased policing,” the statement said.Boston police said in a statement that the department is fully cooperating with the investigation.While police defend it as a critical tool for fighting violent crime, others have called the database flawed and sought to have it abolished. Gang databases in other jurisdictions have...

76ers fire head coach Doc Rivers after being eliminated by Celtics in second round: ‘Changes are necessary’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

Doc Rivers is the one to fall on the sword.The Philadelphia 76ers fired Rivers on Tuesday after three seasons as head coach just two days after an embarrassing exit from the playoffs. The 61-year-old led the Sixers into the second round in all of his seasons but never advanced into the Eastern Conference Finals.“We’re grateful for all he did in his three seasons here and thank him for the important impact he made on our franchise,” team president Daryl Morey said in a statement. “After having the chance to reflect upon our season, we decided that certain changes are necessary to further our goals of competing for a championship.”Rivers’ last act in charge of the 76ers was their disastrous 112-88 Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics which featured a historically bad 10-point third quarter that tied an NBA-shot clock era record for the fewest points scored in a postseason quarter. The loss was Rivers’ 10th Game 7 loss of his career which is five ...

Pondering a few thoughts before NHL’s conference finals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

The big, brand name teams are all gone. There are no Original Sixers left in the NHL’s final four and that’s fine. Sure, we’d love to be covering that expected long playoff run by the Bruins, but the best teams are determined on the ice.And just because the remaining four teams – Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers – don’t come from “traditional” hockey cities doesn’t mean they don’t matter. The Stars, Knights and Canes have all developed passionate fan bases. The Panthers? Well, they’re still trying to figure out how to keep opposing fans from buying all the tickets at Florida Live Arena. But three out of four isn’t bad.As we await the kickoff of conference finals on Thursday when the Panthers and Canes get it going, here are few observations and quick hits from the first month of the post-season:Full Monty: There is not a member of the Bruins’ press corps who is not happy for Bruce Cassi...

Biden, congressional leaders meet anew on debt limit as White House reevaluates foreign trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

By LISA MASCARO, FATIMA HUSSEIN and SEUNG MIN KIM (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is considering cutting short his upcoming foreign trip because of the looming debt ceiling crisis, adding urgency to the talks that resumed Tuesday at the White House with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders. “We’re just getting started,” Biden said in brief remarks to reporters, while others in the Oval Office — Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — stayed quiet and sat soberly. Tuesday’s meeting was pivotal as negotiators were staring down a June 1 deadline, which is when the Treasury Department says the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debts. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the White House was considering cutting short Biden’s planned tri...

New coach, new conference. West Aurora hires Michael Fowler as boys basketball coach, moves back to Upstate Eight.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

It’s still there, rising in flight on Michael Fowler’s upper right arm.A tattoo of the Mighty Mouse cartoon character Fowler had applied when he was 19 years old pays homage to one of the 2000 West Aurora graduate’s heroes — former NBA standout Damon Stoudamire.District 129 officials are hoping it becomes symbolic of Fowler’s return home and the impact the former state champion has as coach of the program he played for during the Gordie Kerkman era.West Aurora athletic director Jason Buckley confirmed Monday that Fowler had been hired to succeed Brian Johnson, who was let go in early March.“I was a quiet kid and also a lefty like Stoudamire, who has the Mighty Mouse nickname and tat,” Fowler said.Toronto fans booed his selection on draft night but Stoudamire was named the NBA’s rookie of the year. He played 17 seasons and was featured with the tattoo in a Nike promotional poster.As a junior for the Blackhawks, Fowler was a 5-foot-10 po...

Lawyer for US attorney Rachael Rollins says she is resigning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

BOSTON — Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins will resign after a monthslong ethics investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general into her appearance at a political fundraiser and other potential issues, her attorney said Tuesday.The Justice Department’s watchdog has yet to release its report detailing the findings of its investigation, but an attorney for Rollins told The Associated Press that she will be submitting a letter of resignation to President Joe Biden by close of business Friday.“She is optimistic that the important work she started will continue but understands that her presence has become a distraction,” her attorney said in a statement. “The work of the office and the Department of Justice is far too important to be overshadowed by anything else.”Rollins, who was represented in the investigation by former Justice Department Inspector General Michael Bromwich, was sworn in as Massachusetts’ top federal law enforcement office...

Project to bring Canadian hydropower to New England grid back on

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

Massachusetts’ top environmental official applauded a decision by Maine conservationists to let work resume on a transmission line that would bring Canadian hydroelectric power to the Bay State.Opponents to the project had until Friday to appeal a 9-0 jury vote from last month that allowed construction on the project to restart after a trial in a Maine courtroom. But the opposition groups made clear last week that they would let the ruling stand.Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said the Healey administration “looks forward to construction restarting on the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project.”“The completion of this project will provide new, reliable, and affordable clean power not only to Massachusetts residents and businesses but the broader New England region,” Tepper said in a statement to the Herald.The project’s success was key to a 2016 Massachusetts climate plan shepherded by former Gov. Charlie Baker that required the...

This week’s literary pick: A kids’ book about two seeds from the dinosaur age

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

Merwin and Louise, sibling Sycamore seeds living 100 million years in the Cretaceous period, long to put down roots and grow into big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mother tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home.Brian SelznickThat’s the essence of Caldecott medalist Brian Selznick’s new book “Big Tree,” which he will introduce with a reading at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, at the University of St. Thomas O’Shaughnessy Education Center, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul, in partnership with St. Paul’s Red Balloon Bookshop.“Big Tree” (Scholastic), began as a planned collaboration between Selznick and producer/director Steven Spielberg for a film project that never got off the ground. But both men agreed it would make a terrific book, and it lives up to that prediction with starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and The Horn Book. It is enlivened with nearly 300 pages of pictures, including those showing the ...

USPS offices to host 'Superbloom' of passport fairs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:35 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Need to get your passport before your summer vacation? Here is your chance.The United States Postal Service will hold a series of passport fairs at various offices in San Diego, San Bernardino and Imperial Counties.The first string in this "superbloom" of passport fairs will take place on Saturday, May 20, according to USPS.Postal employees at each participating location will accept applications for new U.S. passports during the events on a first come, first serve basis. No registration is required to attend.“Now that COVID-19 concerns have declined and nations are welcoming back travelers, many Southern California residents are eager to get out and see the world,” San Diego Postmaster Justine Valadez said in a news release. “We encourage our customers to plan ahead and get their passport applications in now. The U.S. Passport Agency’s processing time for new passports is longer than usual due to extremely high demand."All of the San Diego County pass...