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Massachusetts State Police suspend entry to Esplanade due to weather

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

The Massachusetts State Police is shutting down entry to the Esplanade due to the weather.“URGENT—Due to expected heavy rain and possibility of lightning thru 5 PM we are temporarily suspending entry onto the Esplanade at the security checkpoints,” the agency tweeted at around 2:30 p.m. “This is being done so that if we do have to evacuate venue in case of lightning, fewer visitors will have to be evacuated.”The July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and runs until around 11 when fireworks wrap up. Gates opened at noon, and officials say they are ready for an all-day affair.Fireworks are planned for about 10:30 p.m., and the State Police did not elaborate on changes that far in advance.After the rain and storms on Tuesday, it should finally be drier on Wednesday and Thursday, the Herald has reported, but it’s expected to be very warm and humid with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s.

Orange Line track flooding, I-93 truck rollovers in Boston spark travel issues on July 4th

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

T riders and highway motorists dealt with some travel headaches on the Fourth of July, as Orange Line track flooding and truck rollovers on Interstate 93 in Boston wreaked some havoc on the holiday.Early Tuesday morning, the MBTA announced that Orange Line service had been suspended between Back Bay and North Station because of track flooding near Haymarket. The region has been in a flood watch due to significant rainfall in recent days.The MBTA told riders that they could use the Green Line for alternate service between North Station and Copley.Then at 10:35 a.m., after employees worked to resolve the flooding near Haymarket, the MBTA announced that regular Orange Line service had resumed between North Station and Back Bay.Related ArticlesLocal News | MBTA reveals cause of Orange Line track fire Local News | MBTA on-time service dropped last fall, T cites staffing shortages and delays of heavy rail rapid transit cars Local News | Chinese c...

Chicago White Sox call up OF prospect Oscar Colás from Triple-A Charlotte

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

Oscar Colás went on a tear recently for Charlotte with seven homers in his last seven games.Colás earned a return to the majors, as the Chicago White Sox recalled the outfielder from Triple A on Tuesday.He slashed .211/.265/.276 with one homer and seven RBIs in 25 games with the Sox before being optioned to Charlotte on May 2. He hit .140 (6-for-43) in his last 15 games.At the time, manager Pedro Grifol said Colás needed to slow the game down.“This is a tough level to play at,” Grifol said on May 2. “Some guys get here and produce right away, some guys don’t. Some guys need to go back down and continue to develop.”The No. 2 prospect in the organization according to MLB.com, Colás is slashing .293/.358/.508 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 48 games with the Knights.In the corresponding move, the Sox optioned outfielder Clint Frazier to Charlotte. Frazier slashed .197/.303/.242 with three RBIs in 33 games after being called up on May 21...

Five dead in Philadelphia-area shooting that’s nation’s worst violence yet around July 4

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA (Associated Press)PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 40-year-old man with a rifle, a pistol, extra magazines, a police scanner and a bulletproof vest fatally shot four men in a Philadelphia neighborhood and chased and killed a fifth man inside a house, police said. A 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old were also wounded in the Monday night violence that made the working-class area of Kingsessing the site of the nation’s worst violence around the July 4 holiday. The gunman fired at police as they chased him for blocks, police said. When they caught up, he surrendered in an alley, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference. The shooter had no connection to the victims before the shooting, she said. “Thank God our officers were on the scene and responded as quickly as they did. I can’t even describe the level of bravery and courage that was shown, in addition to the restraint that was shown here,” Outlaw said.About four hours after...

Giant Dipper rollercoaster at Belmont Park turns 98

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- While Fourth of July symbolizes the nation's birthday, it also marks a local anniversary: the opening of Belmont Park's iconic wooden coaster, the Giant Dipper.The Giant Dipper, which first opened with the park in 1925, turns 98 today. The Mission Beach wooden coaster is the 10th oldest rollercoaster in the world.The wooden coaster was built by the Prior and Church Company, during what Belmont Park calls "the Golden Age of wooden roller coasters." Big Bay Boom: Watch fireworks over San Diego Bay John D. Spreckels, a wealthy sugar magnate, commissioned the coaster in the early 1900's as part of his plan to erect an amusement park in the up-and-coming Mission Beach neighborhood with the goal of driving real estate sales and promoting an electric railway.The Mission Beach Entertainment Center -- later renamed Belmont Park by the City of San Diego -- opened to the public in 1925, with the Giant Dipper serving as one of the park's star attraction.The 2,600 foot-long rolle...

External report on ousted AFN chief RoseAnne Archibald found harassment, wrongdoing

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

OTTAWA — An investigation into allegations against former Assembly of First Nations national chief RoseAnne Archibald found the ousted leader was guilty of workplace harassment and created a toxic work environment. The report by Emond Harnden LLP reviewed five complaints against Archibald and found her behaviour amounted to harassment in more than one instance.A summary of the findings obtained by The Canadian Press says Archibald failed to maintain confidentiality and breached AFN policy, including by retaliating against a complainant.The report was delivered in April to the assembly’s legal counsel prompting the special assembly last week where chiefs voted to remove Archibald as the head of the AFN.The resolution passed with support from about 70 per cent of those who took part in the virtual meeting.Archibald said in a video posted online Monday that she wants to be reinstated, calling her ouster a “violent” attack on “an Indigenous, First Nation woman le...

UN urges Security Council to extend Turkey border crossing into northwest Syria for 1 year

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — The U.N. secretary general is hoping that the Security Council will vote later this month to keep a key border crossing from Turkey to Syria’s rebel-held northwest open for critical aid deliveries for a period of one year instead of six months, a U.N. official said Tuesday.Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom were earlier displaced during the 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly half a million people. Hundreds of thousands live in tent settlements and rely on aid that comes through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. The Security Council is expected to vote in the coming days, as the current six-month opening period expires on July 10. The situation got worse after the Feb. 6 earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving many more homeless and in need of aid.In the past, Russia, the main backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, abstained on or vetoed reso...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelling to Latvia and NATO summit in Lithuania

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to Europe next week for the annual NATO leaders’ summit.The two-day summit in Lithuania starts July 11 and comes as the alliance has agreed to extend the term of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg by another year.NATO also recently expanded its membership to include Finland and Canada and other nations are pushing to allow Sweden to join as well.Before the summit Trudeau will stop in Latvia where he will meet with the Latvian president and prime minister in Riga on July 10.Canada’s largest overseas mission is as the leader of an 11-nation NATO battle group in Latvia.Defence Minister Anita Anand recently committed to adding a tank squadron and around 130 troops as part of an effort to expand that battle group into a combat-ready brigade. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2023.The Canadian Press

Defined benefit pension plans improve in second quarter: Mercer

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

TORONTO — The health of Canadian defined benefit pension plans continued to improve in the second quarter of 2023, according to consulting firm Mercer. The company said that the median solvency ratio of defined benefit plans in its database ticked upward to 119 per cent at the end of June, meaning more than half had a surplus of funds. That’s despite the U.S. debt ceiling scare and the lingering effects of the banking crises south of the border, Mercer said. Pension funds’ investment returns were mostly positive in the second quarter, it said, and increases in bond yields helped reduce plan liabilities. The company estimated that 85 per cent of the plans in its database were in a surplus position at the end of the second quarter, up from 83 per cent in the previous quarter. “The question that should now be on plan sponsors’ minds is how best to manage this surplus, and potentially locking it in, in order not to re-experience the dark days of significant pension def...

Hockey Canada names former Curling Canada exec Katherine Henderson as president, CEO

Published Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:18:29 GMT

Hockey Canada is appointing Katherine Henderson as its next president and chief executive officer.She spent the last seven years as Curling Canada’s CEO.Hockey Canada is coming off a scandal-filled year related to the national sport organization’s handling of sexual assault allegations and settlement payouts.WATCH: Where does Hockey Canada go from here?  Federal and corporate funding was slashed as scandals mounted. Public faith in the organization took a significant hit.The board of directors resigned last October along with interim board chair Andrea Skinner. President and CEO Scott Smith also left the organization.Related stories: Nicholson tells parliament he should’ve done more as Hockey Canada CEOHockey Alberta may withhold fees if Hockey Canada doesn’t take actionTim Hortons removes Hockey Canada sponsorship for men’s 2022-23 seasonRetired judge Hugh L. Fraser was later named Hockey Canada’s new chair and a new board of director...