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Robbins: It’s tiki torch time on American campuses

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

Lexington, Mass. is a peaceful town, famous for being an ideal place to raise children. Young couples move there from everywhere so that their children can attend its public schools, which in disproportionate numbers send students to the finest universities in the land. Lexington has a robust library serving its hyper-educated residents, and its own symphony. It is a community of bake sales and charity drives and back-to-school nights.A walk into Lexington Center one recent morning revealed that heart-wrenching posters had been pasted onto a window of a vacant store. They said “Kidnapped,” and featured pictures of the Israeli babies, toddlers, children, elderly and disabled, including Holocaust survivors, who had been brutalized by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, and then shoved – maimed, raped, bleeding, terrified – onto the backs of trucks and abducted into Gaza. These were the “lucky” ones, who were not butchered to death, blown to pieces or burned to dust by 3,000 Hamas killers who ...

Red Sox have roster decisions to make before Rule 5 draft deadline

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

The Red Sox have a few roster decisions to make before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. deadline, or come December, they’ll lose some of their best pitching talent in the Rule 5 Draft.Luis Perales, Wikelman Gonzalez, and Shane Drohan are the likeliest candidates to be added. They’re pitching at such a level that teams wouldn’t have a problem giving them a spot on the 26-man roster for the entire season, as the draft stipulates.There’s almost zero chance the Red Sox leave Perales unprotected. Though he’s only 21 years old and spent the 2023 season in Low- and High-A, he’s the No. 1 pitching prospect in their system.Gonzalez, named Red Sox Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year for 2023, is another all-but-sure thing. Over 25 starts between High- and Double-A this year, he posted a 3.96 ERA and struck out 168 batters across 111 1/3 innings.Drohan, 23, earned an early promotion to Triple-A by posting a 1.32 ERA across six Double-A starts. Though he struggle...

Shark chased off by seals along Cape Cod, school of bluefish spotted rubbing up against a shark

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

The ocean water temps are plummeting as Thanksgiving quickly approaches, but plenty of great white shark interactions are still being reported along Cape Cod.The latest instance of a shark being spotted close to shore was off of Nauset Inlet, where a white shark was seen struggling in shallow water while trying to catch a seal.The apex predator was then chased away by a pod of seals.“Awesome video of a white shark looking for seals in shallow water,” tweeted MA Sharks, which is run by shark researcher John Chisholm, who confirms shark sightings for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app.“Also yet another reminder the sharks are still here so remain vigilant if you’re still surfing, SUPing (standup paddleboarding) or using the water,” MA Sharks added.Earlier this month, two Cape surfers evaded an “aggressive and agitated” 10-foot great white shark off an Eastham beach.Cape shark researchers also recently spotted a great ...

Yankees could steal top Red Sox pitching coach candidate

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

If the New York Yankees make Andrew Bailey an offer, he may refuse the Red Sox.Bailey, who’s considered a top candidate to fill Boston’s pitching coach vacancy, also interviewed for their rivals’ bench coach job on Monday, the New York Post reported.After winning 2009 American League Rookie of the Year as a member of the Oakland A’s, Bailey went on to pitch for both teams during an eight-year career marred and truncated by injuries. He’s been the San Francisco Giants’ pitching coach for the last four years.Whereas leaving the Giants for the Red Sox would technically be a lateral move, an opportunity to serve as Yankees bench coach would be a significant promotion. Bench coaches are often viewed as managers in the making, or are former managers themselves, dispensing wisdom and guidance as the skipper’s right-hand man.Bailey has a close friendship with Boston’s new chief baseball officer, Craig Breslow, dating back over a decade, but if...

Boston City Council to weigh ordinance that would track gun trafficking

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

The Boston City Council is expected to consider an ordinance Wednesday that would task police with compiling annual data on firearms trafficking, an illegal activity that the body says is a major contributor to gun violence.City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, chair of the Committee on Government Operations, filed a report Monday recommending that the ordinance, with amendments, “ought to pass” at this week’s Council meeting.Related ArticlesPolitics | Wu downplays reported Mass and Cass spillover spike Politics | Boston City Council president claim prompts backlash Politics | Greater Boston Food Bank passes 1,200 turkeys along ‘human chain’ to kick off holidays Politics | Boston Medical Center ups security after spike in Mass and Cass dwellers sheltering there Politics | A breakdown of Boston City Council election results “Passage of this ordinance in its amended draft will provide data and informa...

Orioles’ Henderson is unanimous AL Rookie of the Year over Casas, Yoshida

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

Two Red Sox rookies received votes in this year’s American League Rookie of the Year, but the prize went to a division rival, instead.Baltimore Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson is the unanimous AL ROY, MLB Network announced on Monday evening.Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida finished third and sixth, respectively.While Henderson outdid them in Wins Above Replacement (6.2), games (150), home runs (28), RBI (82), and stolen bases (10), Casas and Yoshida put up impressive numbers of their own. Among the three, Casas led the way in walks (70), on-base (.367) and slugging (.490), OPS and OPS+ to become Boston’s first ROY finalist since Andrew Benintendi in 2017.Yoshida led all qualified AL rookies with 155 hits, 33 doubles, and a .289 batting average, and finished second to Henderson in extra-base hits and total bases. Casas ranked second in OPS and third in OBP, and despite playing 18 fewer games, finished second (to Henderson) on the AL rookie home run leaderboard. They ...

Rep. Gabe Amo, the first Black representative from Rhode Island in Congress, is sworn into office

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — New Democratic Rep. Gabe Amo, the first Black representative from Rhode Island in Congress, was sworn into office Monday.Amo, a Democrat, won a special election in November to replace Democratic Rep. David Cicilline, who stepped down this summer to lead a nonprofit foundation.The House chamber burst into applause as Speaker Mike Johnson swore in the new lawmaker.The son of Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants, Amo worked most recently as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden. He previously worked in state government and in the Obama White House.The Associated Press

Canadian feared taken hostage in Hamas attack dead, reports say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

There are multiple reports that a Canadian peace activist believed to have been taken hostage during the Hamas attack in Israel five weeks ago is dead.CBC is quoting Vivian Silver’s son as saying the remains of the 74-year-old woman had been found in the kibbutz where she lived but were only identified now.Israel’s consul general in Toronto, Idit Shamir, says on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that Silver has been confirmed dead.Women Wage Peace, an organization Silver worked with, also confirmed her death on X.More coming.

CP NewsAlert: Canadian feared taken hostage in Hamas attack dead, reports say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

OTTAWA — There are multiple reports that a Canadian peace activist believed to have been taken hostage during the Hamas attack in Israel five weeks ago is dead.CBC is quoting Vivian Silver’s son as saying the remains of the 74-year-old woman had been found in the kibbutz where she lived but were only identified now.Israel’s consul general in Toronto, Idit Shamir, says on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that Silver has been confirmed dead.Women Wage Peace, an organization Silver worked with, also confirmed her death on X.More coming.The Canadian Press

Defense digs into Manuel Ellis’ drug use at trial of Washington officers accused in man’s death

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:16:36 GMT

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A lawyer for one of three Washington police officers charged in the death of Manuel Ellis — a 33-year-old Black man who was punched, shocked with a Taser, then put in a chokehold and held face-down as he pleaded for breath — urged jurors Monday to focus on Ellis’ drug use and prior arrests.The opening statement from Casey Arbenz, an attorney representing Tacoma officer Matthew Collins, came seven weeks into the trial, after prosecutors rested their case last Thursday. Collins and Officer Christopher Burbank face second-degree murder and manslaughter charges, while Officer Timothy Rankine is charged with manslaughter in Ellis’ death in Tacoma on March 3, 2020.Three witnesses have testified that they saw Collins and Burbank attack Ellis as he walked past their vehicle, and two of them recorded cell phone video of the struggle. But Arbenz highlighted two previous arrests — in 2015 and 2019 — when Ellis was under the influence of methamphetamine, suggest...