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MBTA union reaches agreement for largest pay increase for workers since 1990s

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

The MBTA reached a deal with its largest union Wednesday, resulting in some pay raises and other bonuses.Gov. Maura Healey and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng announced the new deal with union ATU Local 589 to increase wages and bonuses to help retain valuable frontline workers.The tentative four-year agreement includes a raise that totals 18% over four years, which is the largest pay increase for T workers since the 1990s.It is also aimed to improve recruitment by adding signing bonuses.“This agreement will help ensure that growth at the pace we need it to and it will also help us keep more of our current employees from leaving,” Healey said.The union’s president said the Healey Administration has shown unwavering support to ensure the success of the T.The agreement also includes better pay progression for new hires, longevity bonuses and certain benefits for part-time employees.

Orioles lose control in sixth inning, walking three and then plunking two with bases loaded, in 4-1 loss to Blue Jays

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

Shintaro Fujinami, the Orioles’ lone bullpen addition ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, brings tremendous upside. Wednesday’s outing showed his downside.Inheriting two runners from Grayson Rodriguez with two outs in the sixth of Baltimore’s matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays, Fujinami issued a four-pitch walk, then hit consecutive batters, allowing both of Rodriguez’s runners to score before an error by shortstop Jorge Mateo brought in another. The three scores in a hitless inning provided the final margin in Baltimore’s 4-1 defeat at the Rogers Centre.At the cost of sending No. 30 prospect Easton Lucas to the Oakland Athletics, Fujinami was a tantalizing acquisition for the Orioles (66-42), with his high-velocity fastball and wicked splitter making him an enticing option to add to manager Brandon Hyde’s All-Star late-inning tandem of Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista. But the right-hander has at times struggled to harness his devastatin...

Man accused of firing shots outside Jewish school in Tennessee charged with multiple crimes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A man suspected of trying to enter a Jewish school with a gun in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday and firing shots outside the building has been charged with multiple crimes, the lead agency looking into the shooting said Wednesday.The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Joel Bowman, 31, of Stanton, Tennessee, was charged with criminal attempted second-degree murder, reckless endangerment, possessing a firearm during the commission or attempt to commit a dangerous felony, carrying weapons on school property, and assault against a first responder.Bowman remained hospitalized in Memphis as of Wednesday, the bureau said. Officers shot Bowman after finding his truck soon after he left the school, and he was hospitalized in critical condition, police said at the time. Bowman had exited the truck with a firearm in hand, and the “situation escalated,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday.A message left at one phone listing for Bowman wasn’t immediately...

Federal jury acquits Louisiana trooper caught on camera pummeling Black motorist

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

A federal jury in Louisiana on Wednesday acquitted a white state trooper charged with violating the civil rights of a Black motorist despite body-camera footage that showed the officer pummeling the man 18 times with a flashlight. The case of Jacob Brown was the first to emerge from a series of FBI investigations into troopers’ beatings of Black men during traffic stops in Louisiana and underscored the challenges prosecutors face convicting law enforcement officials accused of using excessive force. After a three-day trial in Monroe, jurors found Brown not guilty of depriving Aaron Bowman of his civil rights during a 2019 beating that left Bowman with a broken jaw, broken ribs and a gash to his head. Brown, 33, who defended the blows to investigators as “ pain compliance,” would have faced up to a decade in federal prison if convicted. Brown’s defense attorney, Scott Wolleson, told The Associated Press he was grateful for the verdict. “The men and women of the jury recognized ...

83 attendees at the World Scout Jamboree treated for heat-related illnesses in South Korea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — At least 83 people were treated for heat-related illnesses at the World Scout Jamboree being held in South Korea, which is having one of its hottest summers in years.The Ministry of Interior and Safety described the illnesses as “simple exhaustion” caused by overheating and said the ill participants were treated at a hospital. It wasn’t immediately clear how many were children and their ages.The illnesses occurred during Wednesday night’s opening ceremony of the Jamboree, which brought more than 40,000 scouts to a campsite built on land reclaimed from the sea in the southwestern town of Buan. The temperature there reached 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday.The Jamboree’s organizing committee said the events will proceed as planned and was expected to announce safety measures to protect participants in the heat.There had been concerns about holding the Jamboree in a vast, treeless area lacking refuge from the heat. South Korea this...

Body seen along floating barrier Texas installed in the Rio Grande, Mexico says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government reported for the first time Wednesday that a body was spotted along the floating barrier that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott installed recently in the Rio Grande river, across from Eagle Pass, Texas. Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said authorities were trying to recover the body, and did not know the person’s nationality or the cause of death.Many had warned about the danger of the barrier, because it is designed to make it more difficult for migrants to climb over or swim under it.The department said Mexico had warned about the risks posed by the bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys on the Rio Grande. It also claimed the barrier violates treaties regarding the use of the river, and violates Mexico’s sovereignty.“We made clear our concern about the impact on migrants’ safety and human rights that these state policies would have,” the department said in a statement.The barrier was installed in July, and stretches roughly ...

$50K reward offered for information on USPS letter carrier robbery in Berwyn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

BERWYN, Ill. -- USPS is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the artist and conviction to an armed robbery of a letter carrier in Berwyn Wednesday morning.According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, a letter carrier was robbed on the 1400 block of Home Avenue in Berwyn around 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday. 1 dead, 3 injured in South Side shooting The suspect vehicle is a stolen silver TOyota Highlander bearing Illinois license plate number CS86136.One suspect was described as a Black male, in his early 20s, around 6-feet tall, thin build, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, white shoes, and a white surgical face mask.Another suspect and driver was described as a Black male wearing a dark colored hooded shirt.Suspects are considered to be armed and dangerous.Anyone with information regarding this incident are asked to contact USPS at 877-876-2455. Say "Law Enforcement" and reference case number 4089614.

U.S. veterans sue Defense, Veterans Affairs departments to get access to infertility treatments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Defense Department and the Department of Veteran Affairs are making it difficult, and sometimes impossible for veterans to get infertility treatments, according to lawsuits filed Wednesday in federal courts in New York and Boston.The lawsuits seek to hold the United States accountable for creating obstacles to health care access for a population that advocates say has a higher rate of infertility than the population at large.Both suits attempt to obtain in vitro fertilization coverage for military service members and veterans who don’t fit the Veterans Affairs definition of infertility, which is limited to married, heterosexual couples.In a release, West Point graduate and Army veteran Renée Mihail said she has seen many friends and colleagues struggle with fertility after serving in the military."This is not just a coincidence; Our service has seriously impacted our ability to build families,” said Mihail, a law student intern with the Yale Veterans Legal S...

Man convicted of killing, dismembering St. Paul man whose remains were dumped in Lake Superior

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

DULUTH, Minn. — For eight days, the family of Ricky Balsimo Jr. gathered at the St. Louis County Courthouse and tried to remain stone-faced as they listened to defense attorneys argue that the St. Paul man was to blame for his own shooting death.On Wednesday, when a jury rejected Jacob Colt Johnson’s self-defense claim, the Balsimo family could finally let the emotions take over — openly shedding tears for the loss of their loved one while sharing exuberant hugs following a long-awaited verdict.“We’ve been working for two years to find justice,” sister Raquel Turner said in the hallway outside the courtroom. ”We finally got some type of resolution. It’ll never bring Ricky back, but at least in the eyes of the law, we got justice. We got confirmation that Ricky didn’t deserve this.”A 12-member jury took about three hours to find Johnson, 37, of Superior, Wis., guilty of both intentional and unintentional second-degree murder in the June 20, 2021, killing. While the crime occurred in ...

Joe Ryan bitten by the longball — again — in Twins’ 7-3 loss to Cardinals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:48 GMT

ST. LOUIS — The home runs, Joe Ryan said after his last start, were “not really concerning.”“You throw a lot of strikes and guys are going to swing and stuff happens,” Ryan said before professing that he thought he would be fine on that front down the stretch.That was after a game in which he had given up two blasts. This time around, that number climbed to four, and yes, the home runs were concerning for the Twins. The Cardinals clobbered Ryan on Wednesday, forcing him out of the game after just four innings in a 7-3 win at Busch Stadium.Ryan gave up all seven of those runs. Four came during a three-home run second inning and another three came on Alec Burleson’s three-run blast in the third inning.The Twins starter, who threw a complete-game shutout on June 22 against the Boston Red Sox, has now given up 31 earned runs in 32 1/3 innings since. He’s given up 17 home runs in those last eight starts and has an 8.63 earned-run average in that time. Wednesday marked another short start...