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Smoking manhole snarls traffic, Green Line service in Boston

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

A smoking manhole drew an emergency response while snarling roadway traffic and Green Line service near the intersection of Huntington Avenue and Parker Hill Avenue in Boston Wednesday.The area had reopened to traffic as of around 5 p.m., though congestion was lingering. While firefighters left the area around 5 p.m., the T said its crews were remained on scene as repairs are needed.The T said buses were available as of around 6 p.m. for passengers in the area of the Green Line’s E branch. SKY7 cameras captured the emergency response earlier Wednesday, showing firefighters pouring water into the exposed manhole. Firetrucks were parked diagonally across area Green Line tracks as vehicle traffic was diverted around the area. The MBTA said a manhole with MBTA utilities inside had a smoldering cable causing smoke.The T said the Boston Fire Department responded to the area.

”Date’ our son’: Billboard offers car in exchange for a date

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

A bizarre billboard supposedly paid for by parents trying to find a date for their son has recently captured the attention of drivers on some local highways. “Need a car?” the billboard asks. “‘Date’ our son.” Asked about the ad, some said they don’t know what to believe. “I think I’m naturally skeptical of ads with so much going on right now,” one person said. “I mean, if you’re in need, maybe it’s just good timing,” they added.The billboard continues, offering a reward in return for a “date.”“He’s smart but socially very shy,” the billboard says. “Bring him out of his shell before college. In exchange, we’ll give you a 2004 Buick Regal. Clean, rust free, 40k miles.”The billboard asks for “serious inquiries only” to an email address provided. 7NEWS reached out to the email. In response, the apparent parents said they’ve received many responses. They said they plan to make their final decision on Thursday. With all the attention the billboards are attra...

Ravens hire Greg Lewis, who spent past six seasons with Kansas City Chiefs, as wide receivers coach

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

The Ravens have hired Greg Lewis, who helped the Kansas City Chiefs win two Super Bowls in recent years, as their wide receivers coach. He’ll be tasked with leading one of the Ravens’ most oft-criticized position groups.Lewis spent the past six seasons in Kansas City, first as their wide receivers coach from 2017 to 2020 and then as running backs coach in 2021 and 2022. During that time, the Chiefs won six straight AFC West titles and two Super Bowls, including the most recent.He’ll replace Tee Martin, who served as the Ravens’ wide receivers coach for the past two seasons and is now coaching the team’s quarterbacks.A walk-on at Illinois and then an undrafted free agent, Lewis played in the NFL as a receiver from 2003 to 2010. He caught a touchdown for the Philadelphia Eagles in their Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots at the end of the 2004 season and went on to play for the Minnesota Vikings.He then coached wide receivers at the college level...

Patriots CB Jonathan Jones on pending free agency: ‘It’s hard to say no to New England’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

FOXBORO – Jonathan Jones wants to remain in New England as a member of the Patriots. But the veteran cornerback is well aware anything can happen in free agency.With the doors officially opening March 15, the 29-year-old isn’t sure what to expect.“There’s not much anxiety. You just take it in stride,” Jones said Wednesday after speaking with girls and mentors from Big Sister Boston at the Patriots Hall of Fame in honor of International Women’s Day. “It’s something new for me. I’ve never been through free agency. But I just have faith it’ll all work out in the end.”Listening to him, having it “work out” means he’ll be back in New England, a goal he repeated several times during the course of his appearance.“That’s the desire, to be back here. It’s what I know, it’s what I love, It’s New England,” he said. “It’s hard to say no to New England.”Jones ...

Cooperation of lawmakers questionable following audit announcement

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s nearly unprecedented announcement that her office has begun an audit of the state Legislature is not being met with applause.“Under the Massachusetts Constitution and as the separation of powers clause dictates, the Senate is required to manage its own business and set its own rules,” a spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka told the Herald.On Tuesday, DiZoglio, in keeping with a long-standing campaign commitment, announced the Office of the State Auditor had begun an audit of the House and Senate.“As I committed, my office has begun an audit of the state Legislature. We hope this will increase transparency, accountability and equity in an area of state government that has been completely ignored,” the former state Senator from Methuen said in a statement announcing the audit.According to DiZoglio, the last time her office conducted an audit of the Legislature’s procedures and practices was in 1922, while Massachusetts “ranks as one...

Ticker: When the shoe don’t fit; Feds launch Tesla investigations

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

Adidas is still wrestling with how to dispose of $1.3 billion worth of Yeezy shoes after its breakup with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. The split forced the German sportswear maker into a big loss at the end of last year and expectations of more pain ahead.The company’s CEO said Wednesday that selling the popular line of shoes would mean paying royalties to Ye. He says destroying them could raise “sustainability issues,” while restitching them for resale “is not very honest.” Donating them would likely mean a resurgence of the shoes “so that’s not really an option.” The breakup helped drive the company to a net loss of 513 million euros in the fourth quarter.Feds launch Tesla investigationsU.S. safety regulators are turning up the heat on Tesla, announcing investigations into steering wheels coming off some SUVs and a fatal crash involving a Tesla suspected of using an automated driving system when it hit a parked firetruck.The National Highway Traffic S...

Snowstorm will miss Massachusetts, but meteorologists ‘keeping a close eye’ on another potential storm

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

The Bay State will be dodging a winter storm bullet this weekend, but before spring celebrations begin, there’s a chance that another storm with heavy wet snow could arrive here early next week.The National Weather Service is closely watching the next potential winter storm that might hit Massachusetts in the Monday to Wednesday timeframe.“We’re keeping a close eye on that,” Kyle Pederson, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald on Wednesday. “The European/Canadian models have a stronger storm tracking right over us, leaving us with a lot of snow in some areas.“The American/GFS is weaker,” he added about the different forecast models. “There’s still a high uncertainty on the track, and mixed precipitation could become an issue… This far out, it’s nearly impossible to figure out.”Early forecast models had shown the potential for a potent storm to impact the region this...

From the Archives: The last World War I ace remembered

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

Arthur Raymond Brooks was a hero of World War I and a gracious man. I think of him almost every day.I’m a journalist to my core and I owe a weekly “From the Archives” report today (sorry for being late), so I’ll share my story of Arthur.He’s now being honored by his hometown of Framingham by being inducted into the city’s hall of fame, posthumously of course. The ceremony will take place on April 28.I interviewed Lt. Arthur Raymond Brooks a year before he died in 1990. If you go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, he told me then, you could see his biplane hanging from the rafters. I wonder if it’s still there. Tens of thousands of people must have seen his plane over the years.Arthur was the nation’s last surviving World War I ace when I interviewed him over the phone one November day. He told me he could still recall seeing the beard of a feared German pilot from the cockpit of his biplane during World War I.“I was trying ...

Federal protection granted for imperiled freshwater mussels

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Federal regulators designated two U.S. freshwater mussels as threatened on Wednesday, a further sign of trouble for native mollusks that help cleanse waters by filtering out pollutants as they feed.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it was granting protection to longsolid and round hickorynut mussels, which have declined in many Eastern and Midwestern streams.The primary cause is habitat damage from urban sprawl, farming, oil and gas development, pipelines and mining. Other factors include competition from nonnative mussels and rising stream temperatures linked to climate change.“Both of these mussels have suffered proverbial deaths from a thousand cuts,” said Gary Peeples, deputy supervisor of the agency’s field office in Asheville, North Carolina. “A lot of little things have added up.”Flourishing mussel populations signal healthy streams, he said. North America is a historical showcase of mussel diversity, hosting about 300 of the world̵...

Women’s Day measures by Brazil’s Lula take aim at setbacks

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:55:06 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced measures Wednesday seeking to promote and protect women after years of setbacks in their causes blamed in part on a rise in far-right forces.At a ceremony in the capital, Brasilia, Lula presented a package of over 25 measures, the most significant of which is a bill that would guarantee equal pay for women and men who perform the same jobs. He also announced plans to spend 372 million reais ($72 million) to build domestic violence shelters and 100 million reais ($19 million ) for science projects led by women.The president has expressed his indebtedness for the votes of women who helped him beat incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election. And on Wednesday he blamed his predecessor for policy decisions that harmed Brazilian women.“The previous government lacked respect when it opted for the destruction of public policies, cut essential budgetary resources and tacitly motivated violence against women,” said the...