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Storms roll through New England, bringing downpours, flooding

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

Storms swept through parts of New England Friday, causing flooding in several communities and briefly triggering a tornado warning for part of Worcester County. With storms finally moving out of the region around 11 p.m., several communities were left dealing with flooded roads and other damage. One video shared with 7NEWS showed hail falling in Leominster Friday afternoon, while another video captured the moment lightning appeared to strike the ground in Gardner. Photos from Lowell showed multiple cars in a flooded area near the intersection of Moore Street and Gorham Street. At least one police cruiser was spotted nearby blocking the roadway.On another road in Lowell, video showed a car driving down a street covered in water before getting stuck.The Hubbardston Fire Department in a tweet asked community members to avoid the area around Main Street due to “significant flooding” shortly before 6 p.m.In Billerica, local police said par...

Lowry: Trump’s enemies working for his nomination

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

There’s being fortunate in your enemies, and then there’s having enemies who are helping you take the first step in your political comeback.Donald Trump and his adversaries want profoundly different things in the long run — Trump wants to be back in the White House; Democrats want him in an orange jumpsuit.Yet, in the shorter term, they both are seeking the same thing — Trump as the Republican nominee, either so he can sweep to victory (Trump’s view) or be beaten again and held to account for his crimes (the Democrats’ view).The serial indictments of Trump, even if it’s not their primary purpose, advance this mutual interest. With every indictment, Trump dominates media attention and rallies Republicans to his side based on charges of selective prosecution.The routine is so predictable, it’s become boring.The pushback against the notion that Trump’s prosecutorial pursuers know that they might as well be ‘MAGA’ agents ...

Franks: Black Americans aren’t nostalgic for the ‘old days’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

It is amazing how nostalgia turns into public policy.The state of Virginia is wrestling with what to do about an already removed statute of General Robert E. Lee, military leader of the Confederacy and an outstanding student at West Point.However, Lee lost the Civil War to Union General Ulysses S. Grant who died 138 years ago this week. Conversely, Grant was a mediocre student at West Point, and one with a drinking problem at that. Grant, a staunch supporter of Reconstruction, became our 18th president.Which one is remembered in a more favorable light? Not Grant. He has been the butt of many jokes, such as: “Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?”I will always remember a political science class I taught at the University of Virginia. A question I posed to the students was on Reconstruction. Was it good or bad? One of my best students in class quickly raised his hand to give what he thought was the “obvious answer.” He was a white youngster from Mississippi. The class had every color of the ...

Billy McKinney steals the show as Yankees end 4-game losing streak with win over Royals

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

Billy McKinney stepped up Friday night as the Yankees’ unlikely hero, using his bat and glove to help New York end a four-game losing streak and avoid another loss to a last-place team.The journeyman McKinney, who spent the season’s first two months at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, slugged a three-run home run in the fourth inning to put the Yankees up for good in their 5-4 win over the lowly Royals.Filling in for the banged-up Harrison Bader in center field, McKinney also made a sliding catch in the third inning and a leaping grab against the wall in the 7th to rob Kansas City of extra-base hits.The Royals had taken a 3-1 lead on a Michael Massey three-run homer in the top of the fourth when McKinney answered with his blast over the right field wall in the bottom of the frame.Franchy Cordero and Gleyber Torres also hit solo homers. All three of the Yankees’ homes came against Royals rookie Alec Marsh, who was making his fourth career start.The Yankees overcame a...

Editorial: Feds ignore Bill of Rights when its convenient

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

A federal judge last week held that the federal government tried to skirt the First Amendment when it pressured social media companies to suppress “misinformation” during the pandemic. The judge’s conclusions will be litigated further, but they highlight the dangers inherent when private parties are used as government proxies to limit public debate.But free speech isn’t the only vital liberty at risk under such a scheme. Government agents have also eroded the Fourth Amendment by using the private sector to avoid constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.Last month, Rep. Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican, and Rep. Sara Jacobs, a Democrat from California, added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require the government to obtain a warrant before purchasing data on Americans from private information brokers.The amendment comes after revelations that “federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies have repeatedly” purchased ...

Author Nat Segaloff revisits ‘The Exorcist’ phenomenon

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

As “The Exorcist” hits the 50-year mark, what’s remarkable is how, long after the sequels and a TV series are gone and forgotten, it remains fresh.“‘The Exorcist’ remains powerful,” said Nat Segaloff, whose “The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear” (Citadel Press) goes on sale Tuesday, “because it did its job in ways that no other film like it has ever done. It isn’t necessarily a horror film. I think it affects people because it does a very good job in ways the audiences don’t expect it to do.”Adapted from William Peter Blatty’s best-selling novel and directed by William Friedkin who had just won the Best Director Oscar for 1971’s “The French Connection,” ‘Exorcist,’ an immediate if controversial smash hit, was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning for Blatty’s screenplay and its innovative sound design.Segaloff, a Boston Herald veteran, sees two reasons why it worked.  “The first,” he said in a phone interview, “is turning the book into the movi...

Mets-Red Sox suspended Friday due to rain, will play split-doubleheader Saturday

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

BOSTON — The Mets and the Boston Red Sox managed to play just over three innings Friday night before thunderstorms rolled into Boston and the game was suspended. Fans sat through a nearly two-hour delay at Fenway Park before the decision was made to restart the series opener Saturday at 2:10 p.m., as part of a split-doubleheader. The second game of the series was moved from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.The game will resume with the visitors leading 4-3. It’s not a devastating blow for the Mets, but it’s far from ideal.They had to burn Kodai Senga, one of their most reliable starters, and will now look to a leaky bullpen to get them over the finish line. The Mets’ season isn’t over yet, but it’s on life support and time is running out with the Aug. 1 trade deadline fast approaching. The team started the day 6.5 away from an NL Wild Card spot.Senga started the game and pitched well, allowing three earned runs on three hits and one walk while striking out three i...

Dear Abby: After 10 years, love has gone stone cold

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

Dear Abby: I have been in a relationship with “Blake” for almost 10 years. Before we met, I was with “Kaden,” the father of my kids. It was a loveless relationship. Kaden was mean and cold and often had angry outbursts.My relationship with Blake started off as everything I ever wanted. He made me feel loved and appreciated. Ten years later, he, too, is cold. He no longer touches me (he watches porn instead) and makes no effort to show me love or appreciation. He’s a good provider financially, but he thinks he doesn’t have to do anything more than that.I feel lost and hurt. I feel like Blake deceived me in the beginning, and now that he thinks I’m not going anywhere, he doesn’t have to try. My self-esteem has suffered greatly. I have suggested counseling, but he refuses. Any advice will be appreciated. — Unloved in PennsylvaniaDear Unloved: Because Blake refuses counseling doesn’t mean that YOU couldn’t benefit from it...

As Taiwan prepares for anti-invasion exercises, China sends dozens of warplanes toward the island

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China sent dozens of warplanes, including fighter jets and bombers, toward Taiwan, the island’s Defense Ministry said Saturday, marking a forceful display days before the democracy plans to hold military exercises aimed at defending itself against a possible invasion.Taiwan is due to hold its annual Han Kuang exercise next week, during which its military will hold combat readiness drills for preventing an invasion. It will also conduct the annual Wan’an exercises aimed at preparing civilians for natural disasters and practicing evacuations in case of an air raid. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army sent 37 aircraft and seven navy vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. Among them were J-10 and J-16 fighters and H-6 bombers, and 22 of the detected warplanes crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait — an unofficial boundary that had been considered a buffer between the island and mainland — or enter...

Mega Millions jackpot grows to $820 million with a possible cash payout of $422 million

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:24:11 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — No winner for the Mega Millions top prize has sent the jackpot soaring to an estimated $820 million.The numbers drawn late Friday night were: 29, 40, 47, 50, 57 and gold Mega Ball 25.The estimated $820 million in the next drawing would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesday night’s drawing is an estimated $422 million.Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continue to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grows.The last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was April 18.The Powerball jackpot also was approaching near-record levels before a tiny neighborhood store in downtown Los Angeles sold the winning ticket for Wednesday’s drawing, worth an estimated $1.08 billion.Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.The Associated Press