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DHS and Mass. to host work authorization clinics for migrants in emergency shelters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

State officials next month plan to host a clinic to help migrants living in emergency shelters to obtain work authorizations.In a partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration plans to host the work authorization clinic for migrants during the week of Nov. 13.The administration announced Monday morning that the state plans to organize appointments and provide transportation from shelter sites to the clinic, which will take place somewhere in Middlesex County.“We are glad that the Biden-Harris Administration is hosting this clinic with us, which will help process work authorizations as efficiently as possible. Many shelter residents want to work but face significant barriers to getting their work authorizations,” Gov. Healey said in a statement. “This clinic will be critical for building on the work that our administration has already been leading to connect more migrants with work opportunities, which will ...

3 people taken to hospital after car crashes onto train tracks in Brockton

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Three people were taken to the hospital late Sunday night after a driver crashed their car onto train tracks in Brockton, the MBTA Transit Police said. Transit police in a post on X said the crash happened around 11:40 p.m. near Curve Street. Police said the driver of the 2008 Honda Accord lost control and crashed through a fence before landing on the tracks. Transit police shared photos of the crash’s aftermath, showing the car with heavy damage. The car’s airbags were deployed. Police said the three people who were taken to the hospital were all occupants of the car. Their injuries were considered non-life-threatening.Train service was delayed as a result of this crash, according to the transit police. An investigation into the crash was ongoing as of Monday morning.

GM and the UAW come to tentative agreement to end strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

(CNN) — General Motors and the United Auto Workers union have come to a tentative agreement, according to a source familiar with the negotiations, just two days after the union expanded the strike at America’s largest automaker.Neither the union nor GM would confirm the tentative deal. But this could bring an end to the union’s unprecedented strike against all three of the nation’s unionized automakers.Terms of the deal are not yet known, but it is expected to be along the lines of the deals already announced at Ford and Stellantis, including an immediate 11% raise in the top hourly wage rate, additional pay hikes totaling another 14% during the four-and-a-half years of the contract, as well as a return of the cost-of-living adjustment meant to protect workers from rising prices.The union went on strike against all three automakers on September 15, making this the longest US auto strike in 25 years. It started with a strike at one assembly plant at each company, but it expanded...

Mistakes doom Chicago Bears offense and rookie QB Tyson Bagent in a 30-13 loss. Will he get another chance to start?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

The Chicago Bears offense reached its high point on its first play of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.Rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent launched a pass down the right sideline, and Darnell Mooney reeled it in as he dived to the ground. Mooney said when the Bears went into their walk-through Sunday morning they knew they were going to take a deep shot to open the game, and they converted it into a 41-yard pass play.The rest of the night didn’t live up to that promise in a 30-13 Chargers victory.Three plays after the Mooney catch, on third-and-11, Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa sacked Bagent for a loss of 10 yards, and the Bears punted. On the next drive, the Bears got behind because of Lucas Patrick’s illegal use of hands penalty — one of seven Bears penalties — and went three-and-out. On the next drive, Bagent threw an interception. On the next possession, Velus Jones Jr. dropped a touchdown pass before the Bears eventuall...

Brush fire burns 20 acres near Lower Otay Lake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Cal Fire crews are battling a multi-acre brush fire that broke out near the Lower Otay Lake Sunday afternoon.The fire, called the "Border 34" fire, was stopped at 20 acres, according to officials. As of 8:30 p.m., it was 60% contained.The fire, which broke out around 3:30 p.m., had a moderate rate of spread with the potential to reach 75 acres, the department said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.No structures or homes were threatened with the fire, officials said. Brush fire near border prompts closure to I-8 The cause of the fire remains under investigation by Cal Fire. However, it came as the Santa Ana winds continued strengthening, giving way to elevated ignition risk across the county.Gusty eastern winds are expected to continue at high speeds through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.Farther north, parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties were placed under a red flag warning through Monday due to the risk of fire ignition wit...

Pepper spray used in fight at Etobicoke high school, 1 hospitalized

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Toronto paramedics say one person was taken to hospital after a fight at Lakeshore Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke on Monday morning.Officers were called to the school in the Kipling Avenue and Birmingham Street area for reports of an altercation in the school at around 9:25 a.m.In a tweet, Toronto police said pepper spray was used during the fight.ASSAULT:Kipling Av + Birmingham St9:25 a.m.– At Lakeshore Collegiate– Reports of an altercation in the school– Students affected by pepper spray used during the altercation– Police are on scene with @Toronto_Fire @TorontoMedics– The suspect is in custody#GO2515233^lb— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) October 30, 2023One person was taken to hospital in stable condition.A suspect is in custody.No further details were immediately available.More to come

FDA says WanaBana fruit puree pouches may contain dangerous levels of lead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning parents and caregivers not to buy or serve certain pureed fruit pouches marketed to toddlers and young children because the food might contain dangerous levels of lead. Children who have eaten WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches should be tested for possible lead poisoning, the agency said. Four children in North Carolina were found to have high levels of lead in their blood linked to the puree products, health officials said. State health officials analyzed multiple lots of the product and detected “extremely high” concentrations of lead. The FDA confirmed the results and said they could lead to “acute toxicity.” WanaBana, which is based in Coral Gables, Florida, has recalled all lot codes and expiration dates of the snack products, which are sold nationally, including at Sam’s Club and Dollar Tree and on Amazon.Lead is toxic to people of all ages, but can be especially harmful to children. Most children have no obvious...

Book Review: Henry Winkler grapples with the Fonz and dyslexia in his entertaining new memoir

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Henry Winkler’s memoir begins on a Tuesday morning in October 1973, at his first audition for “Happy Days.” He was almost 28 — quite a bit old for a high schooler — and struggling with something he didn’t know had a name.“Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond,” released Tuesday by Celadon Books, is a breezy, inspirational story of one of Hollywood’s most beloved figures who became an unlikely TV screen icon and later a champion for those with dyslexia.Winkler’s 245-page book charts his course chronologically from the Fonz to “Barry” — and the frustrating fallow periods in between — painting a portrait of a man trying to overcome a bitter, loveless childhood and a disability that made reading impossibly hard and simply trying to become a better man.“I was, in my mind, always a little boy,” he writes. “My real self was like a kernel of corn sheathed in yards of concrete — as insulated as the nuclear material at Chernobyl.”He describes himself at the “Happy Da...

Book Review: ‘White Holes’ by Carlo Rovelli reads more like poetry than science lesson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

It doesn’t take a degree in astrophysics or expertise on Albert Einstein to appreciate “White Holes,” theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli’s latest book. But brushing up on Dante Alighieri’s work might help.Rovelli liberally sprinkles quotes from Dante throughout his slim book exploring the hypothesis that black holes eventually transform into an inverse white hole. It’s fitting for a book that says as much about imagination and exploration as it does about physics.Oftentimes, Rovelli’s book feels more like poetry than a science lesson as he explains black holes in striking detail and the theoretical concepts behind white holes.Unlike black holes, there is no proof that white holes exist. There are no satellite images of them. As Rovelli describes them, white holes are another solution of Einstein’s equation, “how a black hole would appear if we could film it and run the film in reverse.”In the book, Rovelli says he keeps two readers in mind when h...

China’s declining aid to Pacific islands increasingly goes to allies, think tank reports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — China’s declining aid to the South Pacific is increasingly targeted toward its political allies in the region as appetite there for Chinese credit declines and competition grows with the U.S. for influence, an independent Australian think tank reported Tuesday.Chinese overall economic influence among the 14 aid-dependent island nations in the region is losing ground because of better loan deals being offered by U.S. allies, especially Australia, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute said in its annual analysis of aid to the region.Focus on the strategic competition in the South Pacific has heightened since China struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year that raised the prospect of a Chinese naval foothold in the region.China has increased aid to the Solomons and neighboring Kiribati since they switched diplomatic allegiances to Beijing from self-ruled Taiwan in 2019, the report said.The United States has sought to counter Chinese influence in the...