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9/11 ceremony: ‘I just remember that day’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

Even 22 years later, Stephen Kempainen’s memories of Sept. 11, 2001, are still fresh enough to bring the man to tears.While city officials gathered and mingled early Monday afternoon, as they awaited the arrival of the mayor for their yearly 9/11 memorial service, the 59-year-old Bostonian quietly approached the knee-high marble monument which sits in the corner of the Boston Public Garden and is engraved with the names of those lost.After shyly weaving his way past City Council President Ed Flynn and Boston Fire Department Chief Paul Burke with the leash for his small dog in one hand and a pair of pale roses in the other, Kempainen gently placed the flowers among dozens already decorating the memorial, stood silently for a moment, and then retreated back into the crowd without engaging anyone or jostling any elbows to wait for the upcoming ceremony.After Mayor Michelle Wu arrived and marked the passage of 22 years since the death of nearly 3,000 U.S. civilians to terrorism with a w...

Battenfeld: Biden future again in doubt after getting the hook onstage in Vietnam

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

Democrats could soon be thrust into turmoil after the latest signs that Joe Biden won’t be able to run for re-election or may not even serve out his term.The new episode in Vietnam – with aides cutting off Biden’s microphone in mid-sentence – have only fueled fast-moving speculation about the president’s health and political prognosis.“I don’t know about you but I’m going to go to bed,” the 80-year-old president declared after his ill-fated press conference in Hanoi.That seems an apt description of Biden’s political future, too.There are real questions not just about running again but whether he’ll be able to even serve out his term, leaving VP Kamala Harris in charge and leading to a mad scramble among potential contenders.The media and Democratic diehards are clinging to President Biden like a life preserver but even they can’t hide it anymore.Biden held a press conference after meeting with Vietnamese leaders which probably wasn’t a great idea given the president’s lack of stamin...

Patriots’ Mac Jones blames himself for more miscues in loss to Eagles

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

Say what you will about Mac Jones’ performance in the Patriots’ Week 1 loss to the Eagles, but the quarterback has held himself accountable for the 25-20 result.Jones even blamed himself for some perceived offensive line issues from Sunday. The Patriots’ O-line, which was without starting left guard Cole Strange and right guard Mike Onwenu, went all game without letting up a sack until there was 2:59 left in the fourth quarter. Jones was sacked twice in the final three minutes of the game.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Source explains JuJu Smith-Schuster’s lack of snaps for Patriots in Week 1 New England Patriots | Bill Belichick empathizes with Mac Jones after Patriots Week 1 loss New England Patriots | Bill Belichick provides update on Patriots ‘exempt’ QB Matt Corral New England Patriots | Bill Belichick ‘might’ have fourth-down regret from Patriots’ loss to Eagles ...

Red Sox notebook: How Fenway Park will commemorate 9/11 with Yankees in town

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

For the first time in half a decade, the New York Yankees aren’t playing at home on Sept. 11.Instead, they’re spending the week playing four games at Fenway Park against their greatest rivals.Of course, some things are much bigger than a rivalry, bigger than baseball.For Monday’s series opener, the Red Sox will honor and pay tribute to 9/11 victims, survivors, and their loved ones in several ways. They’re holding a “Moment of Remembrance” before the game, and the Boston Fire Department A Capella group will be on hand to perform the national anthem.There will also be a ceremony for the 9-11 First Responder’s Children’s Foundation, during which Olivia Rizzo, a University of Massachusetts Amherst student, will receive a scholarship. She will be joined by her grandfather, retired police officer Joe Westwell, and her father, Christopher, a retired NYC firefighter who was a responder on 9/11. The foundation’s founder, Al Kahn, will deliver the ceremonial First Pitch.For the customar...

Tonight’s Chicago White Sox-Kansas City Royals game is postponed because of rain, with a doubleheader set for Tuesday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

Monday’s Chicago White Sox game against the Kansas City Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field was postponed because of rain.It will be made up as part of a straight doubleheader beginning at 3:40 p.m. Tuesday. The second game will start about 30 to 45 minutes after the opener concludes but not before 6:40 p.m.The Sox will start Dylan Cease in Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Royals’ Brady Singer. Touki Toussaint will start the nightcap against the Royals’ Jordan Lyles. ()

Voters will narrow down 4 Boston City Council races in Tuesday preliminary

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

Voters will be tasked with narrowing down four Boston City Council races to two candidates apiece when they head to the polls Tuesday.The contested preliminary races are in Districts 3, 5, 6 and 7.Seven candidates — John FitzGerald, Jennifer Johnson, Barry Lawton, Matthew Patton, Joel Richards, Ann Walsh, and Rosalind Wornum — are vying for an open District 3 seat left vacant when longtime Councilor Frank Baker opted not to run for re-election.In District 5, three candidates, Enrique Pepén, Jose Ruiz, and Jean Claude-Sanon, are looking to unseat the embattled incumbent, Ricardo Arroyo, who is seeking a third term.City Councilor Kendra Lara, another embattled incumbent, is looking to fend off a challenge from William King and Benjamin Weber, as she vies for a second term.“Turnout is frequently lower in these City-Council-only election years,” Mayor Michelle Wu told the Herald in a prior interview. “These are critical roles in city government and in the work to make sure that Boston i...

Feds approve new COVID vaccines

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. approved updated COVID-19 vaccines Monday, hoping to rev up protection against the latest coronavirus strains and blunt any surge this fall and winter.The Food and Drug Administration decision opens the newest shots from Moderna and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to most Americans even if they’ve never had a coronavirus vaccination. It’s part of a shift to treat fall updates of the COVID-19 vaccine much like getting a yearly flu shot.There’s still another step: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must sign off. A CDC advisory panel is set to issue recommendations Tuesday on who most needs the updated shots.Vaccinations could begin later this week, and both the COVID-19 and flu shot can be given at the same visit.A third vaccine maker, Novavax, said its updated shot is still being reviewed by the FDA.COVID-19 hospitalizations have been rising since late summer although –- thanks to lasting immunity from prior vaccinations and infect...

Texas AG Ken Paxton’s affair took a toll on office, a former staffer says at impeachment trial

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — One of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ‘s former staffers testified Monday that the Republican’s extramarital affair took a toll on employees who had to work long and odd hours because of the secret relationship that is now a factor in his impeachment trial.“I told General Paxton quite bluntly it wasn’t my business who he was sleeping with, but when things bleed over into the office and into the state work, it becomes my business,” said Katherine Cary, the former chief of staff in Paxton’s office. The affair is part of the abuse of power and bribery charges that Texas House Republicans have made against Paxton after years of alleged scandal and corruption. If convicted, he could be banned from holding office again in Texas. His fate is in the hands of the Republican-controlled Texas Senate, where a verdict could happen as soon as this week.His wife, Angela Paxton, is a senator but is barred from voting in the proceedings. She sat at her desk ...

Cybersecurity issue prompts computer shutdowns at MGM Resorts properties across US

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A “cybersecurity issue” led to the shutdown of some casino and hotel computer systems at MGM Resorts International properties across the U.S., a company official reported Monday.The incident began Sunday. The extent of its effect was not immediately known on reservation systems and casino floors in Las Vegas and states including Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York and Ohio, company spokesman Brian Ahern said.The FBI is “aware of the incident,” the bureau said in a statement from its national press office. It characterized the event as “still ongoing” and did not disclose details. MGM Resorts said in a statement it identified a “cybersecurity issue affecting some of the company’s systems” and that its investigation involved external cybersecurity experts.The nature of the issue was not described, but the statement said efforts to protect data included “shutting down certain systems.” It said the investigation was continuing.A po...

Elon Musk’s refusal to have Starlink support Ukraine attack in Crimea raises questions for Pentagon

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:50 GMT

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s refusal to allow Ukraine to use Starlink internet services to launch a surprise attack on Russian forces in Crimea last September has raised questions as to whether the U.S. military needs to be more explicit in future contracts that services or products it purchases could be used in war, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday. Excerpts of a new biography of Musk published by The Washington Post last week revealed that the Ukrainians in September 2022 had asked for the Starlink support to attack Russian naval vessels based at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Musk had refused due to concerns that Russia would launch a nuclear attack in response. Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and claims it as its territory.Musk was not on a military contract when he refused the Crimea request; he’d been providing terminals to Ukraine for free in response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion. However, in the months since...