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Systemwide subway shutdowns planned to fix MBTA

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

In another new development with big implications for riders, the MBTA’s push to trade near-term headaches for long-term improvements will soon be put to the test on an unprecedented scale.Reduced train speeds associated with safety concerns have plagued riders with sluggish travel for months, and MBTA officials on Thursday announced they now plan to shut down segments of all four subway lines in phases over the next 13 months, allowing for repairs they say will eliminate all “slow zones” by the end of 2024.Repair work will replace rails, fix or replace deteriorated ties, install new ballast, improve signals and switches, and more, MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said. Free shuttle buses will replace subway service during closures.The proposal will inflict widespread disruption on riders, with a portion of the core subway system scheduled to be closed on almost exactly half of the days between now and the end of next year.With their new plan, MBTA officials are provid...

Jury rejects insanity defense for man convicted of Pelham, NH wedding shooting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A jury on Thursday rejected an insanity defense for a man convicted of shooting and wounding a bishop and assaulting the bride and groom at a church wedding ceremony in New Hampshire.Dale Holloway, 41, who acted as his own attorney, had pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from the October 2019 shootings. He said he was mentally unstable at the time.“I’ve been insane before this even happened,” Holloway told the jury.The shootings happened nearly two weeks after Holloway’s stepfather, a pastor at the church, was killed by the son of the groom. The son was later sentenced to prison. A separate celebration of life ceremony for the pastor had been planned at the church for later that day.The jury in Nashua had already found Holloway guilty on Tuesday of one of two attempted murder charges and several assault charges. After deliberating for about an hour Thursday, the foreperson answered “no” when asked if the panel had found clear and convincing evidence that...

Healey Will Stop Disclosing Out-Of-State Travel

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey traveled to North Carolina last month without disclosing her trip and, in confirming the travel, her office said Thursday that it will no longer tell the public in advance when Healey is traveling out of state because of unspecified “security concerns.”A disclosure that Healey filed last month with the State Ethics Commission, which was made available to the News Service on Thursday morning, revealed that Healey planned to travel to Asheville, N.C., for a Democratic Governors Association meeting on Oct. 2 and 3, and that the DGA would foot the estimated $1,341.30 bill for Healey’s travel. The trip was never mentioned on any of Healey’s public schedules and was not disclosed at the time.In response to questions about the governor’s apparent trip to North Carolina, a Healey spokesperson said the administration will no longer publicly announce when the governor travels. Until that trip, Healey’s office regularly informed t...

Exemptions for required vaccines for US kindergartners reach record high

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

(CNN) — The percentage of kindergartners who received their state-required vaccines for measles remained below the federal target last school year, and the rate of vaccine exemptions for children reached the highest level ever reported in the United States, according to new data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Coverage for four key vaccines — the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine; diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine; poliovirus vaccine; and varicella vaccine for chickenpox — declined in a majority of states for the 2022-23 school year, the report said. Lower levels of vaccine coverage raise the risk of outbreaks, leaving the country vulnerable to diseases that can cause severe illness and death.Vaccine coverage rates fell below 95% from the 2019-20 to 2021-22 school years, declining to about 93%. Last school year, coverage remained at about 93% for reported vaccinations, including 93.1% ...

‘I felt so naughty’: New open carry alcohol laws boost downtowns

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

Kevin Hardy | (TNS) Stateline.orgHolly Smith Mount wanted to be first.Smith Mount, chair of the city council in Huntington, West Virginia, was determined to see her community launch the state’s initial outdoor drinking zone — an idea made possible only after the legislature changed the state’s alcohol law earlier this year.“I will fully admit I’m very competitive,” she told Stateline. “And I told the mayor, ‘I want to be first on this one.’”So, when Huntington’s downtown drinking district launched this fall, Smith Mount aimed to be at the front of the line to grab a beer from a local taphouse. The new program sanctions open containers of alcohol within designated boundaries officially known as a Private Outdoor Designated Area, or PODA.“I walked down the street and I felt so naughty,” she said. “I went into one of my favorite shops and I was like, ‘Look, I’ve got a beer!’”Huntington leaders saw the district as a way to encourage economic growth by drawing more people to the heart of...

You make the call. Charlie Winterhalter weathers storm to become Geneva’s defensive leader. ‘He’s that smart.’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

As a junior, Geneva’s Charlie Winterhalter started to emerge as the season moved along.Now, the 6-foot, 195-pound senior linebacker is not only making things happen as the team’s leading tackler, he’s also directing the traffic on the field for the Vikings.“My first job is to make sure everyone is in the right spot,” Winterhalter said. “It’s some pressure, but I called a little bit of the plays last year. During the week in practice, we make sure everyone knows what they’re doing.“I just make sure everyone is on the same page.”The decision to put that responsibility in Winterhalter’s hands was an easy one for coach Boone Thorgesen.“He’s the smartest kid on the team,” Thorgesen said. “We knew he could be the guy that could make the calls for our defense. He’s taken that responsibility and ran with it.“I don’t think he makes a wrong call in a game. He’s that smart. It̵...

States reconsider religious exemptions for vaccinations in child care

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

Matt Volz | KFF Health News (TNS)More than half the children who attend Munchkin Land Daycare near Billings, Montana, have special needs or compromised immune systems. The kids, who range in age from 4 months to 9 years, have conditions that include fetal alcohol syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and Down syndrome, according to owner Sheryl Hutzenbiler.“These families came to me knowing we could offer them a safe and healthy environment,” Hutzenbiler said. Part of ensuring that healthy environment is having a strong vaccination policy, she said, especially for those who are immunocompromised or too young to receive the full slate of childhood vaccines.So, when officials at Montana’s health department revived a proposal that would allow people to claim religious exemptions from immunization requirements at child care facilities, Hutzenbiler was both dismayed and relieved. Dismayed, because allowing more children to claim exemptions could compromise the community immunity levels necessary to...

Will the Fed raise interest rates one more time this year? Some economists aren’t convinced

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

Lane Gillespie | Bankrate.com (TNS)Consumers and investors were spared from a 12th rate hike when Federal Reserve officials voted in November to keep their benchmark borrowing rate steady.Don’t take the pause as an indication that officials are ready to sound the all-clear on their firefight against inflation.Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s main message after the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) November rate decision was that officials are not yet sure they’ve raised interest rates enough to quell inflation. That’s even as the Fed’s key borrowing benchmark sits at a 22-year high of 5.25%-5.5%.In economic projections last updated in September, officials indicated to Fed watchers that one more increase is on the table for this year. If approved, the move would bring the Fed’s key benchmark interest rate to a new 22-year high of 5.5%-5.75%. It could also possibly be the last rate hike. Just one official sees rates rising higher than that next year, those projections show.Those project...

A lighter lasagna that still packs a cheesy punch

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

Suddenly, we are experiencing cooler weather; holiday season is around the corner and more substantial dishes start landing on my dinner table. Lasagna was always one of those dishes but over the past couple of years it began to feel a bit too rich with all that cheese. Everything changed, though, when I made this Chicken and Mushroom Lasagna recipe, which I adapted from Gourmet magazine. It certainly satisfies any lingering lasagna cravings without having to take a nap after the meal.The flavor reminded me of a pizza I ate in a small Italian restaurant in Mill Valley years ago. Chicken was an uncommon item on pizza back then, and my husband and I were immediately hooked. For months after that, we ate it almost weekly.This lasagna has the same delicious combination of chicken and mushrooms along with a cheesy white sauce that gives this dish a luscious flavor. Like a traditional lasagna, there are a few steps, but you can double the recipe for another meal or two and even freeze it....

US childhood vaccination exemptions reach their highest level ever

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:13 GMT

By MIKE STOBBE (AP Medical Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — The proportion of U.S. kindergartners exempted from school vaccination requirements has hit its highest level ever, 3%, U.S. health officials said Thursday.More parents are questioning routine childhood vaccinations that they used to automatically accept, an effect of the political schism that emerged during the pandemic around COVID-19 vaccines, experts say.Even though more kids were given exemptions, the national vaccination rate held steady: 93% of kindergarteners got their required shots for the 2022-2023 school year, the same as the year before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Thursday. The rate was 95% in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic.“The bad news is that it’s gone down since the pandemic and still hasn’t rebounded,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a University of Colorado pediatric infectious diseases specialist. “The good news is that the vast majority...