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Same and different, Mookie Betts returns to Fenway for the first time

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

1,426 days.That’s how long it’s been since Mookie Betts played his last game in a Red Sox uniform — though no one knew that for certain at the time — and gave Boston one last magical moment, just in case it was goodbye. Racing around the bases from first to home on a Rafael Devers grounder gone haywire, Betts dove headfirst into home plate for the winning run, then bounced back up, roaring joyfully to the adoring crowd as his teammates rushed out of the dugout to envelope him.How had it already been 1,426 days?The Red Sox-Dodgers series at Fenway Park this weekend is a reunion or homecoming for several players and staff on each side. Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner played 12 and nine years in Los Angeles, respectively. Their manager, Dave Roberts, was Dodgers teammates with Red Sox manager Alex Cora in 2004, of all seasons. Roberts’ current squad includes Kiké Hernández, who’s back in Los Angeles after a midseason trade from Boston, and four members of the Re...

Boston Mayor Wu unveils Mass and Cass plan, highlighted by tent ban and 30-bed shelter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu unveiled plans that would give police the authority to clear out homeless encampments and crack down on the increased crime occurring at the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue.To cushion the blow of removing their tents and tarps, Wu said the city would seek to house the displaced individuals at a temporary 30-bed shelter, which would open at a nearby campus operated by the Boston Public Health Commission.“Today, I believe we’re moving towards a very important phase change that will make a significant difference for the many, many communities made up of workers and residents at Mass and Cass,” Wu said at a Friday press conference. “But this is also not the solution to the opioid crisis or homelessness.”Wu said she plans to file an ordinance Monday that would give the Boston Police Department the authority to remove tents and tarps at Mass and Cass, giving more teeth to an executive order she first tried to enforce in January 2022....

Chaim Bloom reflects on Mookie Betts trade as former Red Sox star returns to Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

Chaim Bloom knew what he was getting into in 2019.Shortly after the Red Sox fired Dave Dombrowski, Bloom was brought in as the team’s new chief baseball officer to build a sustainable winning product. Tough decisions loomed in that effort. And none bigger than Mookie Betts, the homegrown superstar who Bloom, of course, ultimately traded in February 2020. Rather than risk losing Betts in free agency – where he was set to command more than $300 million – Bloom dealt him to the Dodgers.More than three and a half years passed from the trade to Friday night, when Betts finally returned to Fenway Park as a visitor for the first time. He received a loud ovation as he saluted the fans in his first at-bat in the first inning. Some Red Sox fans will never forgive or get over the decision to trade Betts, but on the night of his return, Bloom reiterated that he believed it was in the best interest of the franchise at the time.“Mookie was one of the best players in baseball then and he still is....

Brush fire prompts road closures in East County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

RAMONA, Calif. -- Firefighters battled a brush fire early Friday evening that prompted road closures in the Ramona Oaks area.The blaze, dubbed as the "Oaks Fire," was held to around three acres, according to Cal Fire San Diego.SkyFOX was over the location where a large plume of white smoke could be seen spewing from the brush and into the air. County officials update residents on water boil advisory As of 4:39 p.m., the fire prompted a stretch of SR-78 east of Rancho Santa Fe Court to be closed, according to the California Department of Transportation. Eastbound lanes on SR-78 are closed at Ramona Trails Dr. while westbound lanes are closed at Rancho Santa Teresa Dr. The road closures will remain for the next few hours while crews mop up and extinguish hot spots, Cal Fire San Diego said.No damage to structures or injuries were reported.

Bronny James has a congenital heart defect that caused his cardiac arrest, a spokesperson says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bronny James went into cardiac arrest during a basketball workout at the University of Southern California last month because of a congenital heart defect, according to a family spokeswoman.The 18-year-old son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was stricken on July 24. He was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and later was seen by doctors at the Mayo Clinic and Atlantic Health-Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey.A statement issued Friday by Stephanie Rosa of the LeBron James Family Foundation said the probable cause of James' sudden cardiac arrest has been identified.“It is an anatomically and functionally significant Congenital Heart Defect which can and will be treated,” the statement said. “We are very confident in Bronny’s full recovery and return to basketball in the very near future.”The younger James was released from Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles three days after the incident at USC's Galen Center. The following night he dined out in ...

Ali murder trial: lawyer suggests to dead girl’s mother they had a poor relationship

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

VANCOUVER — A lawyer for a man accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park six years ago has suggested to the girl’s mother that they had a poor relationship, to the point where the teen didn’t want to be around her.Ibrahim Ali’s lawyer Kevin McCullough also suggested to the woman that she didn’t think her daughter was “stable” or “rational.”But the Chinese mother pushed back at the trial in the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, saying her daughter “mostly” listened to her, and she didn’t understand what the lawyer meant by stable and rational.She acknowledged that in a statement to police before her daughter was found dead she told officers the girl “doesn’t really communicate with me” but told the jury that’s not the same as having no communication.The woman, who can’t be identified because of a publication ban protecting the identity of her daughter, was ...

Candidate who lost Guatemala’s presidential election files complaint alleging voter fraud

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The party of former first lady Sandra Torres, who lost Guatemala’s presidential election this week, filed a complaint Friday alleging fraud in the way the votes were counted.The complaint is the latest attempt to eradicate competition to Guatemala’s political elite in one of the most tumultuous elections in the Central American nation’s recent history. Torres, a candidate who came to exemplify the political establishment in a country where many people have grown tired of endemic corruption, has remained silent since her loss in Sunday’s runoff election and has refused to accept Sunday’s results.While the Supreme Electoral Tribunal recognized progressive Bernardo Arévalo of the Seed Movement party as the virtual winner with a significant lead over Torres, final results have yet to be made official.Arévalo emerged as the electoral surprise in the first round of the presidential contest, finishing second in a field of 22 and advancing to the Aug....

Canadian ministers vow to accelerate action at global environment conference in B.C.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

VANCOUVER — Politicians and environmental leaders from more than 180 countries have been in Vancouver, B.C., this week, with many pledging to accelerate action on climate change and biodiversity loss at the assembly of the Global Environment Facility.The organization manages a series of funds aimed at helping developing countries meet their climate goals, such as those established by the Paris Agreement, which sets a target of limiting global heating to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.Facility CEO Carlos Manuel Rodriguez said the need to accelerate action is more urgent than ever, as disasters linked to global heating devastate communities worldwide, including wildfires ravaging British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.“The climate and biodiversity crisis is not something that is going to happen later this century, in 25 years,” Rodriguez said in an interview ahead of the assembly, the seventh since his organization launched in...

Grand Canyon officials warn E. coli has been found in water near Phantom Ranch at bottom of canyon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — Grand Canyon National Park officials warned that E. coli bacteria was detected Friday in the water supply close to Phantom Ranch, the only lodging at the bottom of the canyon.Park authorities said visitors should not consume any water in that area without boiling it first. E. coli can lead to diarrhea, cramps, headaches and sometimes kidney failure and even death. Infants, younger children and immuno-compromised people are more at risk.Water from the Phantom Ranch area — including that being used to brush teeth, make ice and prepare food — should be brought to “a rolling boil” for one minute per 1,000 feet (305 meters) of elevation and then cooled before using, officials said.Phantom Ranch and the immediate vicinity — all reachable only by a long hike or mule ride from the canyon rim or by raft on the Colorado River — are the only areas of the park affected.Park officials are collecting more sampling to figure out the source of the bacteria a...

2 men face hate crime charges after spray painting swastikas, racist language in Round Lake Beach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:00 GMT

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. -- Two men have been charged after they spray painted swastikas and racist language Tuesday at a Walmart in Round Lake Beach.According to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, officers with the Round Lake Beach Police Department responded to a report claiming the Round Lake Beach Walmart had been defaced on Tuesday.Investigators determined several businesses in the 2000 block of Route 83 were spray painted with hate speech and swastikas. Student arrested after threatening Glenbard North High School principal While responding to the Walmart report, other officers saw 18-year-old David Dolan and 19-year-old Anthony Shields riding their bicycles near Rollins Road and Hainseville Road. Officers recognized Dolan from previous contacts and stopped both men.Officers found Dolan and Shields in possession of spray paint that matched the color of the graffiti painted onto the defaced businesses on Route 83.  During the investigation, officers were able to obtain addit...