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Illinois appeals court affirms actor Jussie Smollett’s convictions and jail sentence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

An appeals court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions Friday of actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and then lying about it to Chicago police.Smollett, who appeared in the TV show “Empire,” challenged the role of a special prosecutor, jury selection, evidence and many other aspects of the case. But all were turned aside in a 2-1 opinion from the Illinois Appellate Court.Smollett had reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks. The manhunt for the attackers soon turned into an investigation of Smollett himself, leading to his arrest on charges he had orchestrated the attack.Authorities said he paid two men whom he knew from work on “Empire.”A jury convicted Smollett in 2021 on five felony counts of disorderly conduct, a charge that can be filed in Illinois when a person lies to police.He now will have to finish a 150-day stint in jail that was part of hi...

PREVIEW: Chargers and Herbert stumble into New England to find a Patriots team with even more problems

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — At least the Los Angeles Chargers don’t have to worry about who should play quarterback.The New England Patriots are still trying to figure out who’ll be the starting signal caller Sunday against Justin Herbert and the Chargers. And they’re hoping it’s the same guy who finishes the game.In each of the last two games – and four times this season – 2021 first-round draft pick Mac Jones has been pulled in favor of backup Bailey Zappe. Zappe was a bit better in the 10-7 loss to the New York Giants last week, but he also threw loss-clinching interceptions in back-to-back games. The Patriots (2-9) also have Will Grier hanging around, and rookie Malik Cunningham on the practice squad.“They’re trying to get the best guy out there for their team,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “We just need to be ready for whatever they come with.”New England coach Bill Belichick said he won’t announce a starter in advance, maintaining the secretive approach he r...

State trooper who fatally shot man at New Hampshire Hospital likely prevented more injuries, attorney general says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire state trooper who fatally shot a man at a psychiatric hospital shortly after the man killed a security guard likely prevented further injuries or deaths, the attorney general said.The trooper, identified in a news release Thursday as Nathan Sleight, fired at John Madore on Nov. 17 after Madore fatally shot Bradley Haas, a state Department of Safety security officer who was working at the New Hampshire Hospital’s front entrance. Madore was a former patient at the Concord hospital.Attorney General John Formella said that while his office will follow its normal protocol for uses of deadly force by officers and conduct a complete investigation, the evidence so far indicates Sleight’s actions “were legally justified” under state law, “and very likely prevented further injuries or loss of life.”Sleight has about 11 years of law enforcement experience, Formella said. It wasn’t immediately known if he is on leave or back...

New England’s decades-old shrimp fishery, a victim of climate change, to remain closed indefinitely

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — New England’s long-shuttered shrimp business, which fell victim to warming waters, will remain in a fishing moratorium indefinitely, fishery regulators ruled on Friday.The shrimping business was based mostly in Maine and produced small, pink shrimp that were a winter delicacy in New England and across the country. The industry has been in a moratorium since 2013 in large part because environmental conditions off New England are unfavorable for the cold water-loving shrimp.That moratorium will remain in effect with no firm end date, a board of the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Friday. The board stopped short of calling the move a permanent moratorium because it included a provision to continue monitoring the shrimp population and consider reopening the fishery if the crustaceans approach a healthy level.But it was clear board members saw little chance of a future for a fishery that once provided a beloved seafood i...

Bruins notebook: Matt Poitras to relish homecoming

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

Not only is Matt Poitras precocious as a hockey player, he has displayed an even-keeled maturity for a 19-year-old kid.But it might be hard for the Bruins rookie not to be wowed by the moment on Saturday night when he goes back to his native Toronto area to play the Maple Leafs in his first foray into Scotiabank Arena.Poitras’ smile was pretty wide when he was talking about his homecoming at Warrior Ice Arena before heading out for the flight.“It’s pretty surreal just to think last year during Christmas break, me and my Dad went to watch a game there and now I’m going to be playing there. It’s pretty crazy,” said Poitras on Friday.“It’s going to be pretty cool to take it all in in warmup. But when the puck drops, I’ll just dial it in and play it like any other game.”As confident as the young centerman is that he won’t be unnerved by the moment, coach Jim Montgomery is as well. Poitras is coming off one of his better games this year. He came ...

1 in 3 people dropped by Utah Medicaid left uninsured, a ‘concerning’ sign for nation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

Phil Galewitz | (TNS) KFF Health NewsAbout 30% of Utah residents who were cut from Medicaid this year say they became uninsured, according to state officials who conducted a first-of-its-kind survey of people disenrolled from the program.Utah has dropped more than 130,000 out of about 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries since April, after the federal government lifted a pandemic-era requirement that states keep people enrolled in the insurance program for low-income people. Since then, every state has started what’s called an “unwinding” to reassess whether people in Medicaid are still eligible and drop those no longer qualified — including people who fail to respond to government inquiries.Utah’s survey sheds light on the fate of the 11 million people cut from the program nationwide so far. While officials predicted some of them would wind up uninsured, little information is yet available about how many obtained coverage elsewhere. States have renewed Medicaid coverage for more than 20 ...

Traffic exhaust could increase blood pressure, study finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

David Kroman | The Seattle Times (TNS)SEATTLE — Even brief exposure to highway pollution could cause significant increases in blood pressure, a new study from the University of Washington has found, adding to a growing body of work correlating vehicle exhaust with negative health outcomes.The effects are near immediate: Two hours in Seattle’s rush hour was enough to increase blood pressure by nearly 5 millimeters of mercury, a jump that would push someone with normal levels to elevated or from elevated levels to stage 1 hypertension.The peer-reviewed study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was conducted by a team at the UW, led by Dr. Joel Kaufman, a university physician and professor of environmental and occupational health sciences. The increase, he said, was about what you’d expect to see in someone who switched from a low-salt to high-salt diet.“It’s a real interesting, important number that if you think of millions of people having this exposure every day, that’s m...

Procedural war over controversial budget bill continues Friday on Beacon Hill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

A procedural war over a budget bill that includes critical funding for union contracts and the state’s ability to respond to an influx of migrants continued Friday as Massachusetts Republicans pledged to keep up their blockade.Democratic leadership in the House and Senate released a compromise version of a nearly $3.1 billion supplemental budget Thursday that included $250 million for Massachusetts’ struggling shelter system and nearly $400 million for 95 union contracts.But Republicans, who had voiced concerns with the shelter aid for weeks, blocked the advancing agreement after attempting to move consideration of the bill from an informal session — where any one lawmaker can object to a proposal — to a formal session, where legislators can debate and take recorded votes.After a private meeting Friday afternoon with other House Republicans, House Minority Leader Brad Jones said he believed minority party members would continue to object to the supplemental budget if Dem...

What happened to mortgage rates this week? There’s room ‘to fall further’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

Jeff Ostrowski | Bankrate.com (TNS)The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages retreated to 7.41% this week, down from 7.55% the previous week, according to Bankrate’s weekly national survey of large lenders.The recent reprieve could signal a prolonged drop in mortgage rates, housing economists say. The average rate on 30-year home loans in October topped 8%, but that’s changing because of a number of factors, including a slowing job market and signs that the Federal Reserve’s ongoing war on inflation is working.“Part of it is the Federal Reserve is pausing on interest rate hikes,” says Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, a real estate listing service in the Mid-Atlantic region. “Of course, mortgage rates are affected by things other than what the Fed does. For example, mortgage applications are down, and lenders are competing for a shrinking pool of applicants.”Meanwhile, yields on 10-year Treasury bonds, an informal benchmark for 30-year mortgage rates, have dropped fr...

Source: Boston Police union, city reach tentative 5-year contract deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:51 GMT

The city has reached a deal with the largest union representing the Boston Police Department, the Herald has learned.The city and the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association have reached a breakthrough 5-year tentative contract deal that is pending ratification by the union members, according to a source familiar with the matter.The union was not immediately available for comment or to provide further details. The mayor’s office would not immediately confirm whether a release with information was coming today.The basics of the deal include changes to arbitration rules, the detail system that has been under fire in recent months and “union retention time.”This is a developing story.