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Death toll from fierce storms and flooding in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria rises to 14

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — The death toll from severe rainstorms that lashed parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria increased to 14 on Wednesday after rescue teams in the three neighboring countries recovered seven more bodies.A flash flood at a campsite in northwestern Turkey near the border with Bulgaria killed at least five people — with three found dead on Wednesday — and carried away bungalow homes. Rescuers were still searching for one person reported missing at the campsite.Another two people died in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, where Tuesday’s storms inundated hundreds of homes and workplaces in several neighborhoods.The victims in Istanbul included a 32-year-old Guinean citizen who was trapped inside his basement apartment in the low-income Kucukcekmece district, Turkish broadcaster HaberTurk TV reported. The other was a 57-year-old woman who died after being swept away by the floods in another neighborhood, the private DHA news agency reported.The surging floodwaters af...

Larger than life puppet begins 6,000 mile journey to San Diego to raise awareness, donations for refugees 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

A larger-than-life puppet walked with a purpose through the streets of Boston Thursday, arriving in the city as part of a mission to raise awareness and donations for refugees. The puppet’s name is Little Amal. Standing 12-feet tall, though, she is anything but little. Now, she is scheduled to travel 6,000 miles to San Diego as part of a journey that started with this latest Boston event.With a puppeteer on each hand and on inside on stilts, the journey will be no easy feat. “There’s a whole coordination team,” said Leslie Burton of Puppet Showplace Theater. “If you watch this process happening, there’s people giving cues. There’s all three puppeteers. There’s knowing where you’re going.”Little Amal was met this week with a crowd of hundreds braving the heat on local streets to walk with her. Little Amal’s visit, in turn, came as Gov. Maura Healey has declared a state of emergency over the number of immigrants making their way into Massachusetts. Speaking wi...

2 people injured after tree falls on car in Douglas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

Two people were injured Thursday when a tree fell on a car in Douglas, the town’s police chief said.The incident happened on South Street where a photo shared with 7NEWS showed a car stuck under a tree laying across the roadway.Douglas Police Chief Nick Miglionico in a statement said the tree fell around 3 p.m., causing significant injuries for the car’s driver and minor injuries for a passenger in the car.In addition to hitting the car and a nearby home, the tree also took down electrical wires, according to Miglionico. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported 566 energy customers without power in Douglas as of around 5:50 p.m. As crews work to restore power, Miglionico said South Street will remain temporarily closed between its intersections with Main Street and Downs Road.While crews had cleared electrical wires from the road as of around 6:30 p.m., they were still working to get wires clear from the branches of the fallen tree. There were also some branches s...

House lawmakers rip Healey for lack of communication on migrants

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

House lawmakers blasted the Healey administration Thursday for not providing clear communication about a shelter crisis that has prompted a state of emergency in Massachusetts, with top officials arguing information is not flowing smoothly from the executive office to cities and towns.House Republicans and Democrats huddled privately with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll inside the State House for a briefing on the state’s emergency shelter crisis, which has been fueled in part by crushing housing costs and a steady stream of migrant arrivals. More than 6,200 families were in the state shelter system as of Thursday, with more than third estimated to be migrants, according to state data.The hour-long meeting took place behind closed doors and included a predetermined list of people who could ask questions after a presentation from Driscoll, according to lawmakers who attended.Revenue Committee Chair Mark Cusack, a Braintree Democrat, said he did not learn anything new at the meeting and took aw...

Boston College to host Holy Cross in regional rivalry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

Boston College coach Jeff Hafley has chosen his starting quarterback for Saturday’s (noon) regional rivalry clash with Holy Cross at Alumni Stadium.He’s just not saying who it is.“We have made our decision on the quarterback and you will respectively see (who) when we kick off on Saturday,” said Hafley. “We know what our quarterbacks are going to do and we will continue to work that way in practice.”Emmett Morehead was the incumbent atop the depth chart coming out of training based on his four ACC starts at the end of last season. Morehead’s stay at No. 1 ended after two possessions in last weekend’s 27-24 overtime loss to Northern Illinois in the home opener.Morehead was replaced by dual threat sophomore Thomas Castellanos, a transfer from Central Florida. Castellanos played the remainder of the game and erased a 14-point deficit late in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Castellanos completed 13-of-28 passes for 138 yards, threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another.“(The d...

UMass excited to battle Miami (Ohio) in home opener

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

The UMass Minutemen got road tough in a hurry.UMass opened the 2023 season on Aug. 26 with an inspiring 41-30 win at New Mexico State. Last Saturday the Minutemen tried to take a big bite out of the SEC apple but got more than they could chew. After a slow start, the Auburn Tigers dispatched UMass 59-14 before a capacity crowd at historic Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.“We were playing a very good opponent, an SEC caliber opponent and we need to play better for things to happen,” said UMass second-year coach Don Brown.“But what we really needed to happen was to take care of the ball and that’s a complementary thing that didn’t happen in any phase.”After securing a road split, the Minutemen return to McGuirk Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) to engage Miami (Ohio) in the most anticipated home opener in years. UMass had gone 1-11 the last two seasons under Walt Bell and Brown. But the win over the Aggies in Las Cruces, N.M., was an early indicator that the Minutemen are no longer in...

Only media report spurred Yukon to tell parents of sexual abuse in a school: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

WHITEHORSE — Yukon’s ombudsman says the territory’s government had a policy and legal duty to notify parents at a school where a child was sexually assaulted, instead it delayed revealing the information for 19 months. Ombudsman Jason Pedlar and investigator Rick Smith concluded in a report issued Thursday that the delay to tell parents at Hidden Valley Elementary School was unwarranted and unfairly denied them an opportunity to take steps to help their children. The investigation found the Yukon government “did an about-face” and shared information with parents on the case in August 2021 only after CBC published a report weeks earlier about a civil lawsuit alleging an education assistant had sexually assaulted a student. The education assistant pleaded guilty to sexual interference in late 2020 and was sentenced in January 2021, months before parents learned of the criminal charge. In a written response, Yukon Education Minister Jeanie McLean says the result...

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem expected to endorse Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is expected to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign when he travels to her state for a Republican fundraiser on Friday.Trump will appear in Rapid City for an event hosted by the state’s GOP, and Noem is expected to introduce and endorse Trump, according to a senior Republican who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans.Noem’s spokesman Ian Fury said only that the event should be watched for such a development.The Republican governor has been coy about her endorsement plans, telling Fox News only that “you’ll hear something from me, too.”CNN first reported news of the endorsement.When Trump was asked Thursday whether Noem will endorse him, he said, “I don’t know exactly.” “But I am going,” he said. “I like her a lot. I think she’s great. Kristi’s done a great job.” He praised her for taking a hands-off approach to pandemic restrictions and at times encouraging people to resume mass gatherings...

Robbery suspect who eluded capture in a vehicle, on a bike and a sailboat arrested, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

GEORGIA, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont armed robbery suspect who police say eluded capture in the past week in a vehicle, on a stolen bike, on foot and in a stolen sailboat was arrested Thursday after he was spotted in a kayak on a river, authorities said. Eric Edson, 52, was wanted for the robbery of a store in Burlington on Aug. 24, impeding and assaulting two police officers, and the theft of a sailboat and vehicles, police said. “Because of the unusualness of Mr. Edson’s various modes of flight, from cars to bikes to paddle boards to sailboats to tractors, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Mr. Edson is a dangerous person,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said Wednesday. On Aug. 30, Burlington police responded to a man passed out in a running vehicle that matched the description of one used in a robbery a week before, they said. When officers roused him, he fled at a high rate of speed, assaulting both officers with the vehicle, police said. That evening, he fled police on foot a...

Chicago to move migrants from police stations to tent camps before winter under mayor’s plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:10 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Nearly 1,600 migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. will be relocated from Chicago police stations to winterized camps with massive tents under a plan by Mayor Brandon Johnson, according to a report released Thursday.The relocations will occur “before the weather begins to shift and change,” Johnson said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.The tents could hold up to 1,000 migrants, he said, and the camps would provide meals and recreational and educational programming.Sixteen city shelters now house 13,500 migrants, with more arriving every day, at a cost to the city of about $30 million per month the newspaper reported.Johnson’s administration is working with the state and Cook County to create more shelters to relieve some of the pressure on Chicago, he said.“These families are coming to the city of Chicago. . . . If we do not create an infrastructure where we’re able to support and, quite frankly, contain these individuals who have experienced a great dea...