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Leominster Mayor: Hospital “Failed Miserably” In Maternal Care Closure Plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

UMass Memorial Medical Center “failed miserably” in its plan to maintain access to maternal care after the proposed closure of a Leominster birthing center, the city’s mayor contended Tuesday in a plea for state regulators to take a more forceful approach.Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella asked the Department of Public Health, where officials have said they do not have authority to force a facility to remain open, to reject UMass Memorial’s controversial plan for mitigating patient impacts from the shutdown.Because DPH deemed the Leominster maternity ward an “essential service,” the health care system was required to submit a plan outlining how patients could continue to access services without the facility.Mazzarella said the 17-page document UMass Memorial produced “confirm[s] what we in North Worcester County already knew — that very little thought and planning went in to this decision that effects [sic] the lives of the mo...

Man taken to hospital after stabbing in Weston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

A man was taken to a Boston hospital Tuesday after a stabbing along a rail trail in Weston, police said. Weston police in a statement said officers first responded to an area behind 133 Boston Post Road around 12:30 p.m. after receiving a report of a stabbing and a robbery. Once on scene, police said, officers found a 30-year-old man with a wound to his lower abdomen area. Police said the man told investigators he had been walking in the area when two unknown male individuals approached him and demanded personal property. “[A]t some point, the victim noticed that he had been stabbed,” police said. Police said two other individuals initially found the injured man and called 911. The man was later taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.Weston police on Tuesday asked anyone with information related to this incident to contact detectives at 781-786-6200. No further information was immediately available.

Tufts University RAs go on strike during move-in day for some students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

Resident assistants at Tufts University marched for change on campus Tuesday, going on strike during one of the university’s move-in days. RAs chanted and picketed as they continued to call for a cash stipend from Tufts in addition to free room and board. “It’s time to pay us like they say they appreciate us,” said RA Nile Speight-Leggett.Unionized RA’s at Tufts voted last week to authorize a strike. On Tuesday, as the strike got underway, officials said around 600 students moved in without the help of RAs.“I don’t know what it would be like with an RA, so I’m doing pretty well just on my own,” said student Elsa Madsen while moving in.“I have noticed the lack of RAs,” said student Marco Steel. Asked what difference the lack of RA’s had made, though, Steel replied, “Nothing so far.”RAs speaking with 7NEWS said their strike is not centered solely on the work they do on move-in day. Rather, RAs said the strike is about getting compensated for all t...

DA: Taunton women steal thousands from Stop and Shop in ‘organized, counterfeit coupon operation’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

A pair of Taunton women went on a three-month-long shopping spree at Stop and Shop, allegedly racking up 300 bottles of fabric freshener and hundreds of other products before selling them on social media.The business proved to be illegal, with the two women being indicted on charges they ran an organized, counterfeit coupon operation and stole nearly $27,000 in products, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz.A Plymouth County grand jury on Tuesday returned indictments charging Jacqueline White, 41, and Crystal Travis, 40, with one count each of larceny by false pretense by single scheme and larceny to induce parting with personal property.White also faces a charge of organized retail theft.The spree lasted from March 10 through June 2, with White and Travis using counterfeit coupons to steal roughly $26,547 of products from 13 Stop and Shop grocery stores in Massachusetts and two others in Rhode Island, the indictments allege.White and Travis used social media site...

Patriots waive backup QB Bailey Zappe in surprising move

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

The Patriots waived backup quarterback Bailey Zappe on Tuesday, a source confirmed.The move comes as a major surprise after head coach Bill Belichick entertained the possibility of a quarterback competition as recently as this summer. The Patriots must now find a new backup quarterback behind Mac Jones unless Zappe clears waivers and returns to the team’s practice squad. The team also waived quarterbacks Trace McSorley and Malik Cunningham.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots practice attendance hints at potential roster cuts New England Patriots | Patriots trade K Nick Folk to Titans for draft pick, rookie K Chad Ryland starting New England Patriots | Patriots activating offseason free-agent signing off NFI list before cuts New England Patriots | Bill Belichick explains Patriots’ trades for OL Tyrone Wheatley Jr., Vederian Lowe New England Patriots | Sources: Patriots release QB Trace ...

Ticker: Job vacancies, quits plunge in July; US consumer confidence wanes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

Businesses posted far fewer open jobs in July and the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell sharply for the second straight month, clear signs that the labor market is cooling in a way that could reduce inflation.The number of job vacancies dropped to 8.8 million last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, the fewest since March 2021 and down from 9.2 million in June. Yet the drop appeared to be even steeper because June’s figure was initially reported as 9.6 million. That figure was revised lower Tuesday.July’s figure was still healthy historically — before the pandemic the number of openings had never topped 8 million. And there are still roughly 1.5 available jobs for each unemployed worker, which is also elevated but down from a peak last year of 1.9.Fewer Americans also quit, with 3.5 million people leaving their jobs last month, down from 3.8 million in June, the lowest since February 2021.US consumer confidence wanesAmericans are feeling less confident f...

Biden discuses immigration and trade with Costa Rican President Chaves at the White House

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden hosted his Costa Rican counterpart, Rodrigo Chaves, at the White House on Tuesday, discussing ways to strengthen an agreement between the two countries on possible legal pathways for the increasing numbers of Central American migrants arriving to the U.S. southern border.The two said they would talk about deepening U.S.-Costa Rica trade tries, creating new jobs, advancing democracy and promoting a more orderly immigration process. Chaves’ nation has emerged as an immigration hotspot, as migrants increasingly travel through the dangerous Darien Gap from Colombia into Central America and north into Costa Rica. Sitting down for the meeting in the Oval Office, Biden thanked Chaves for helping meet “migration challenges that we face every single day,” and said that one of his key objectives was “deepening security cooperation” between their countries, including on organized crime.“Our nations are not only united by the challenges we face but, what I’...

Bodies of 3 US Marines killed in Australian aircraft crash retrieved from crash site

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The bodies of three U.S. Marines killed in a tiltrotor aircraft crash during a training exercise in Australia were retrieved from the crash scene while another Marine remained in critical condition, the Marine Corps said Tuesday.Those killed were from Illinois, Virginia and Colorado.The Marine V-22B Osprey with 23 Marines on board crashed Sunday in tropical forest on Melville Island while taking part in Exercise Predators Run, a drill that includes the militaries of Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.All 20 survivors were injured and were flown by rescue aircraft 80 kilometers (50 miles) south to the city of Darwin within hours of the crash. Three of those Marines remained in Royal Darwin Hospital on Tuesday, one in critical condition and two stable, a Marines statement said.The three casualties had been declared dead at the crash site and their bodies were returned to Darwin late Tuesday, a statement said.Up to 2,500 U.S. Marines have be...

UN warns that hundreds of thousands in Southeast Asia have been roped into online scams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office says criminal gangs have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia into participating in unlawful online scam operations, including false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a new report, cites “credible sources” that at least 120,000 people in strife-torn Myanmar and roughly 100,000 in Cambodia “may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams.”The report sheds new light on cybercrime scams that have become a major issue in Asia, with many of the workers trapped in virtual slavery and forced to participate in scams targeting people over the internet. Laos, the Philippines and Thailand were also cited among the main countries of destination or transit for tens of thousands of people. Criminal gangs have increasingly targeted migrants, and lure some victims by false recruitment — suggesting they are destined...

University of North Carolina graduate student left building right after killing adviser, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:30 GMT

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — A University of North Carolina graduate student charged with killing his faculty adviser walked into a classroom building, shot the victim and then left, authorities said Tuesday, shedding light on an attack that led to a campuswide lockdown as police searched for the gunman.Tailei Qi, 34, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and having a gun on educational property in Monday’s killing of Zijie Yan inside of a science building at the state’s flagship public university.Chapel Hill city police arrested Qi in a residential neighborhood near the campus within two hours of the attack and didn’t need to use force to take him into custody, UNC Police Chief Brian Jones said at a news conference. He said investigators were still trying to determine a motive and were still searching for the gun used to kill Yan.UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said his team has met with Yan’s colleagues and family to express condolences and offer support.“He was a beloved...