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Flash flood warnings in effect for parts of Mass., RI, NH; Flash flood emergency declared for part of Worcester County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

A flash flood emergency has been declared for parts of Worcester County including Leominster, Fitchburg, Lunenburg, Princeton and Sterling as flash flooding hits several communities around southern New England. A larger swath of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire was included under a series of flash flood warnings as of around 8 p.m. Monday night.Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella in a message on Facebook around 6:30 p.m. said “Leominster is under a state of emergency.” “Do not venture out,” Mazzarella said. “It is not safe.” In a subsequent Facebook Live video, Mazzarella shared a view from a parking lot near the Leominster police station which he said had been flooded since around 4:30 p.m.“Every crew is out here,” Mazzarella said, adding “We’ve called in everybody.” Mazzarella further urged community members to stay off the roads and said some buildings in the area had eight feet of water in them around 7:45 p.m. “I’ve never seen anything like th...

‘It’s definitely something that I’ve had my mind on’: After MLB promotion, top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong ready to help Chicago Cubs get to the postseason

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

When Pete Crow-Armstrong walked into the visitors clubhouse Monday afternoon at Coors Field, plenty of familiar faces were ready to welcome him.The Chicago Cubs called up Crow-Armstrong, their top prospect, ahead of their series opener against the Colorado Rockies. As they try to lock down a playoff spot, the Cubs have not shied away from giving opportunities to younger, less experienced players.Standing in front of his locker stall where his new gray No. 52 road jersey hung as he got settled in, Crow-Armstrong exchanged hugs with Hayden Wesneski and Alexander Canario. The Cubs optioned Canario to Triple-A Iowa as the corresponding move. Left-hander Anthony Kay was designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for Crow-Armstrong.When he crossed paths with first-base coach Mike Napoli and third-base coach Willie Harris, both former big leaguers told Crow-Armstrong to take it all in.“I‘m sure there’s going to be an influx of information and stuff, but ultima...

Retired Dedham state police detective attacked after court case keeps him out of jail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

The lawyer for an ex-State Police detective and his wife is demanding the DA “do his job” after his client was attacked after a sentencing that kept the couple out of jail.James and Leslie Coughlin pleaded guilty Monday in Dedham District Court to furnishing alcohol to a minor and admitted to “sufficient facts” for reckless endangerment of a child. Their one-year jail sentence was suspended for three years.Basically, they will not serve time behind bars if they face no further charges.The case was over the drowning death of 17-year-old Alonzo Polk at a high school graduation part at the couple’s Dedham home in June of 2021. But that’s not the end to this story.James Coughlin, a former MSP captain, was “punched in the head and knocked to the ground” outside the court Monday, according to his lawyer Brian Kelly. Police confirmed the attack and said the case is open and under investigation.“You can’t assault people outside the...

Red Sox/Yankees series opener postponed, now doubleheader Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

For the second time this season, a Red Sox/Yankees game at Fenway Park has been postponed due to heavy rain.Monday night’s series opener will now be the first game of a doubleheader, at 1:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Monday tickets will be honored for that game only.Tuesday’s originally scheduled game will be played at its original time, 7:10 p.m.Red Sox right-handers Nick Pivetta and Kutter Crawford will start Game 1 and Game 2, respectively. Randy Vásquez and Carlos Rodón will take the mound for the Yankees.The Red Sox are 8-1 against the Yankees this season, with this week’s 4-game set being the rivals’ last meeting. Divisional play was reduced from 19 games to 13 this year in order to accommodate Major League Baseball’s new balanced schedule, which enables each team to play at least one series against the other 29 clubs.

On the brink of joining NATO, Sweden seeks to boost its defense spending by 28%

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Swedish government said Monday it wants to increase its defense budget by 28%, putting it on track to reach the military spending target 2% of gross domestic product set by the NATO alliance, which the Scandinavian country is preparing to join. “We are in the most serious security policy situation since the end of World War II, which requires Sweden to have a defense that is ready to protect Swedish territory,” defense minister Pål Jonson said.Unveiling a defense bill for 2024, Sweden’s center-right coalition government said military spending would increase by a total of 27 billion kronor ($2.4 billion). Of that amount, approximately 700 million kronor ($63 million) will be spent on Sweden’s future membership of NATO.Jonson said Sweden must adapt its preparedness and its military exercises to prepare for NATO membership but must also continue its support for Ukraine. In May last year, Sweden — and neighboring Finland — sought protection under NATO’s securi...

Aaron Rodgers carted from sideline after suffering ankle injury in his first series for Jets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers was injured on his fourth snap in his debut with the New York Jets, needing to be carted from the sideline with an ankle injury Monday night.Rodgers was sacked by Buffalo’s Leonard Floyd and sat on the MetLife Stadium turf, where he appeared to reach down at his leg before trainers attended to him. He stood up after a few moments, but needed help getting to New York’s sideline.The 39-year-old Rodgers was taken to the blue medical tent to be examined — and then sat on a cart. Halfway to the locker room, he hopped off the cart and limped inside.“He’s dealing with an ankle right now. We’re getting him checked out,” Jets coach Robert Saleh told ESPN in a sideline interview.The Jets announced Rodgers was questionable to return. Zach Wilson replaced him.Before the game, Rodgers jogged onto the field with an American flag in hand and received his first official welcome from Jets fans.He was introduced along with the Jets’ starters on o...

Earthquake robbed Moroccan villagers of almost everything – loved ones, homes and possessions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

TAFEGHAGHTE, Morocco (AP) — His dead relatives have been dug out and buried, but the remnants of Musa Bouissirfane’s former life are still trapped under rubble and dust in the ruins of the mud-brick Moroccan village of Tafeghaghte.“It’s incredibly challenging to lose your entire family and all your possessions,” Bouissirfane said as tears welled in his eyes in the community less than a two-hour drive from Marrakech. “We have lost everything — our homes, our livestock and all our possessions.”Less than a week ago, he was excited about his daughter starting second grade. Now he’s mourning her death. Far from ambulances and authorities, villagers could not retrieve her body for more than 14 hours, until Saturday afternoon. The earthquake also killed Bouissirfane’s mother and father and a niece. His wife is hospitalized in an intensive care unit.The toll of the massive earthquake that killed more than 2,800 people was on stark display Monday in remote villages such as Tafegh...

Evidence insufficient to charge BTK killer in Oklahoma cold case, prosecutor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

PAWNEE, Okla. (AP) — There isn’t enough evidence to charge the BTK serial killer in the 1976 disappearance of a 16-year-old girl, an Oklahoma prosecutor said Monday despite statements from law enforcement officials calling Dennis Rader a prime suspect.District Attorney Mike Fisher said at a news conference that he’s not at a point where he could file charges against Rader in the disappearance of Cynthia Dawn Kinney, a cheerleader from the northern Oklahoma city of Pawhuska who was last seen at a laundromat.But Fisher asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to open a formal investigation into Kinney’s disappearance because of the public interest in the revived cold case, and he will file charges if he learns of evidence that would warrant it, he said. Osage County sheriff’s officials, including Undersheriff Gary Upton, have recently called Rader a “prime suspect” in Kinney’s disappearance and the death of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber, whose bo...

Pre-registration for re-entry flights set to begin for some N.W.T. communities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — It remains unclear when residents in the Northwest Territories’ South Slave region will be allowed to return home, but officials are set to open pre-registration for re-entry flights in anticipation.Jay Boast, an information officer with the territory’s Emergency Management Organization, says online and phone pre-registration for flights is set to begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday for wildfire evacuees from the communities of Hay River, Enterprise and K’atl’odeeche First Nation. Boast says the process will allow officials to develop passenger lists, which will help identify appropriate transportation needs.He says pre-registration is set to close on Thursday at 8 p.m.An evacuation order was issued for the 3,500 residents of Hay River, as well as Enterprise and K’atl’odeeche First Nation, on Aug. 13, three days before people in Yellowknife were ordered to leave.Yellowknife’s evacuation order was lifted Wednesday, but wildfire information ...

US sets record for billion-dollar weather disasters in a year – and there’s still 4 months to go

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:13:25 GMT

The deadly firestorm in Hawaii and Hurricane Idalia’s watery storm surge helped push the United States to a record for the number of weather disasters that cost $1 billion or more. And there’s still four months to go on what’s looking more like a calendar of calamities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday that there have been 23 weather extreme events in America that cost at least $1 billion this year through August, eclipsing the year-long record total of 22 set in 2020. So far this year’s disasters have cost more than $57.6 billion and claimed at least 253 lives.And NOAA’s count doesn’t yet include Tropical Storm Hilary’s damages in hitting California and a deep drought that has struck the South and Midwest because those costs are still to be totaled, said Adam Smith, the NOAA applied climatologist and economist who tracks the billion-dollar disasters.“We’re seeing the fingerprints of climate change a...