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Mass. schools cancel classes, dismiss students early as hot, humid weather continues

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

Soaring temperatures and a lack of air conditioning continue to drive school districts to either let classes out early or cancel them altogether this week.Woburn Public Schools was one of them, announcing Thursday that due to excessive heat and safety concerns, the school district would have early releases on Friday, just a day after the school year started.“We are writing to let you know that due to the oppressive heat and safety concerns at some of our buildings without air conditioning, we will be having an early release tomorrow, Friday, September 8th for all schools,” officials said in a statement to the school community. “Our early dismissal times are as follows: 11:30 a.m. for WMHS, 12:00 for Middle Schools, and 12:30 at our elementary schools. Our Kindergarten students will still have the delayed start time, and be dismissed at 12:30.”The decision came after a day of brutal temperatures, with hot, humid and hazy conditions plaguing the state, with are...

Social media influencer Danielle Miller gets 5 years in prison for funding lifestyle through identity fraud

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

How good can a TikTok influencer make federal prison look?Danielle Miller, 32, of Miami, Fla., amassed thousands of social media followers — nearly 35,000 on Instagram alone as of Thursday afternoon — advertising her jetsetting and luxurious lifestyle until it all came crashing down and she faced federal charges that her way of life was funded through identity fraud.She ripped off the regular people, including a resident of Abington, and COVID-era small business assistance grants to finance her lavish lifestyle at least from July 2020 to when the initial federal complaint leveling a charge of wire fraud against her was filed in federal court in Boston on May 10, 2021.A federal indictment would come two months later. Two more years of legal tassels, during which she appeared to still post to her social media accounts until early October of last year, until she finally copped a plea deal in July, in which she pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated id...

Brockton Public Schools budget debacle: Chief, deputy financial officers on administrative leave

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

The Brockton school district is without its top two financial officers to begin the new academic year, amid the fallout of an unexpected $14.4 million budget deficit from last fiscal year.Chief Financial Officer Aldo Petronio and Deputy Financial Officer Chris Correia were placed on administrative leave last Friday, with Mayor Robert Sullivan searching for answers on what exactly caused the massive overspending.In the interim, the city’s Chief Financial Officer Troy Clarkson has expanded his oversight and budget management to include the district, Sullivan said during a School Committee meeting this week. The mayor added he has been in contact with various state agencies.Fiscal year ’23 ended June 30, but Sullivan said he learned about the deficit on Aug. 8 from Petronio and Correia, with the School Committee finding out on Aug. 15. The overspending didn’t come to the public forefront until late last week, only days before students returned.Officials say they learned about the revel...

50th anniversary of BPS busing: Committee announces line-up of event marking chapter in Boston history

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

With the 50th anniversary of the start of Boston Public School busing and desegregation movement rolling in, community leaders and figures present for the period announced a series of forums and events marking the consequential chapter of the city’s history.“September 12, 1974 — I want people to understand, we were really children,” said Leola Hampton, a Boston-native who was bused from Roxbury to South Boston as a student in the era. “I’d actually just turned 14. My birthday was September 10. And what I remember most are the sounds, the explosive impact of rocks and bricks smashing through the windows of the school bus.”Hampton, among others connected to the chapter, briefly spoke to her experience with the desegregation movement — witnessing “unconscionable” things as a child trying to go to school — during a press conference at the State House on Thursday morning.The conference was held by The Desegregation and Bus...

Marty Walsh backs Ruiz over Arroyo for Boston City Council

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

Former Mayor Marty Walsh and Mayor Michelle Wu are both passing on the embattled incumbent Ricardo Arroyo in District 5, but differ on who they want to see replace him on the Boston City Council.Walsh said he’s backing Jose Ruiz, a retired Boston police officer. The decision puts him at odds with the city’s current mayor, who announced two weeks ago that she was endorsing her former employee, Enrique Pepén.“Jose Ruiz has been an amazing mentor to so many youngsters in the city as a youth coach and he’s an amazing person,” Walsh told the Herald Thursday. “His whole life has been devoted to being engaged in the community.”Walsh, who left the Biden administration to run the NHL Players Association, said he has worked with Ruiz over the years when he was a youth coach and Boston police officer.“He would bring all of that vital experience to the City Council,” Walsh said. “That’s why I’m backing him.”Walsh’s decision to endorse Ruiz was first reported by the Dorchester Reporter. He is al...

Toronto exploring municipal sales tax to fill $1.5 billion budget gap. What else is on the table?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

The City of Toronto has passed a few new revenue tools to raise some money it needs right now, but it’s going to require a much bigger toolbox to help make ends meet.After a marathon session last night, Toronto’s city council is now embracing revenue tools, such as taxes and fees. Among them are increases to the municipal land transfer tax on luxury homes worth $3 million or more and the removal of a $5-per-hour cap for street parking.It’s one of a number of revenue tools passed and to be explored with more tough budget decisions on the horizon.“I was very encouraged that there was a vigorous discussion. It was a unanimous agreement that we as a city need revenue tools to grow the economy,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said on Thursday.The city manager’s report was put before councillors Wednesday at a special meeting where they were set to discuss how to manage Toronto’s beleaguered financial outlook, with the city set to open its 2024 budget discus...

Italy’s government approves crackdown on juvenile crime after a spate of rapes and youth criminality

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy’s right-wing government Thursday approved a decree to crack down on juvenile delinquency, allowing children as young as 6 to be arrested, following a spate of high-profile “baby gang” crimes that gained attention this summer.The decree was adopted by the Cabinet a week after Premier Giorgia Meloni visited a crime-infested Naples suburb, where two girls were allegedly raped repeatedly by local youths. During the visit, Meloni promised to improve safety in the town of Caivano and to rehabilitate an abandoned, rundown sports complex where some of the alleged rapes occurred.The decree includes funding for rehabilitation as well as a provision to name a special safety commissioner for Caivano, a Naples suburb rife with drug dealers and organized crime.Meloni’s government, which came to power last year, has sought to show it is tough on crime, making one of its first acts in office a decree to ban rave parties.The Associated Press

Immigrant girl on Chicago-bound bus from Texas died from infection, other factors, coroner says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

MARION, Ill. (AP) — An autopsy shows a bacterial infection and other factors caused the death of a 3-year-old girl on a bus carrying immigrants from Texas to Chicago last month, an Illinois coroner said Thursday.The bacterial infection and aspiration pneumonia along with diarrhea and vomiting led to electrolyte problems, swelling of the brain and eventually the Aug. 10 death of Jismary Alejandra Barboza González, Marion County Coroner Troy Cannon said. Her extremely low weight and length for her age were contributing factors in her death, he said.The child reportedly began experiencing mild symptoms and feeling ill as the family boarded the bus in Brownsville, Texas, Cannon said. At that point, she had only a low-grade fever and was allowed to board the bus. During the trip, her symptoms worsened and developed into vomiting, diarrhea, a lack of appetite and dehydration, Cannon said. She was given electrolyte drinks and registered a temperature of 100.1 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degre...

UN goal of achieving gender equality by 2030 is impossible because of biases against women, UN says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. goal of achieving gender equality by 2030 is impossible to attain because of deeply rooted biases against women around the world in heath, education, employment and the halls of power, the United Nations said in a report Thursday.“The world is failing women and girls,” UN Women, the agency promoting gender equality, and the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in “The Gender Snapshot 2023” report.According to the U.N.’s findings, “ active resistance to gender equality and chronic under-investment are key factors in slow progress and, in some cases, reversals of gains already made.” It said “unequal access to sexual and reproductive health, unequal political representation, economic disparities and a lack of legal protection, among other issues, prevent tangible progress.”Assistant Secretary-General Maria-Francesca Spatolisano told a news conference launching the report that gender equality is becoming “an ever increasingly distant goal.&...

Wynn Resorts to settle sexual harassment inaction claim from 9 female salon workers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Wynn Resorts and nine unnamed women are settling a lawsuit alleging the casino company failed to investigate allegations that female employees were sexually harassed by former company CEO Steve Wynn, according to a court document. Attorneys for Wynn Resorts and the women who worked as manicurists and makeup artists filed the document Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.The women accused company officials of being aware and failing to act on allegations of misconduct before Steve Wynn resigned in February 2018. He was not a named a defendant in the case. Wynn, now 81 and living in Florida, has paid record monetary fines to gambling regulators but consistently has denied sexual misconduct allegations in multiple courts. The plaintiffs are identified in the lawsuit only as Judy Doe No. 1 through Judy Doe No. 9. Their attorneys, led by Kathleen England and Jason Maier, did not respond Thursday to emails from The Associa...