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Wu speaks out about increasing criminal activity around Mass and Cass

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu is now sounding the alarm about the situation in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, or Mass and Cass, and said it’s reaching a breaking point.“With additional drug activity, human trafficking and violence, the number of emergency calls have gone up significantly,” Wu said Wednesday. “The workers who’ve been out there day after day after day, are not feeling comfortable and like they can safely be there anymore.” For years, homeless people have flocked to the troubled area around Mass and Cass near where the South End and Roxbury neighborhoods meet. It’s also been a hub for drug dealing and for those with opioid-use disorder.“As always, we’re looking to connect people with housing, services, and supports, but we also know many of the people at Mass and Cass during the day do have housing. We continue to engage regularly with everyone to understand what their needs are,” Wu said.The mayor said she’s worked to sec...

Farmers’ Almanac predicts snowy, cold winter while 7News meteorologist says maybe not

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

Most people are still focused on beating the heat this summer, but the Farmers’ Almanac is predicting an ice-cold winter with snowstorms, sleet and chilly temperatures. The Almanac is predicting New England will see below average temperatures, especially in January and February.  The Almanac is advising that the second week of January will be stormy, snowy and in the second week of February, the Almanac said New England will see snowfall, cold rain and frigid temperatures. The journal is also predicting a snowy spring with possible late-season snowfall in the third week of April. The 7NEWS Weather Team is putting the winter prediction to the test. “First, I would struggle to call it a prediction,” 7NEWS Meteorologist Josh Wurster said. “It’s kind of like shooting a dart and hoping that you hit the bullseye.” Wurster explained what goes into forecasting the weather in New England.“Farmers’ Almanac doesn’t really have the best track record,” he said...

Beyoncé honors dancer stabbed to death at Brooklyn gas station while dancing to her music

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

(CNN) — Beyoncé has paid tribute to O’Shae Sibley, a 28-year-old professional dancer who was fatally stabbed at a Brooklyn gas station while vogueing to her music in what police say they are investigating as an anti-gay hate crime.“REST IN POWER O’SHAE SIBLEY,” reads a message displayed prominently on Beyoncé’s official website. Sibley was vogueing to a Beyoncé song at the gas station on Saturday night.A group of men approached Sibley as he danced with friends and started to shout gay slurs at the group, Sibley’s friend Otis Pena said on Facebook Live.The slurs eventually led to a dispute, an NYPD spokesperson told CNN.The argument escalated and a man stabbed Sibley, said Pena, who witnessed the incident and put pressure on Sibley’s wound. Sibley, who was stabbed in the torso, was taken to Maimonides Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, according to police.Police are searching for a 17-year-old they believe is responsible for the stabbing death of the Brooklyn...

Warmer Tomorrow, Storms on the Way

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

Editor’s Note: This blog was written by 7Weather intern Tyler Hughes. Another comfortable August day in the books! The August supermoon was in full force last night, and if you didn’t get a chance to see, tonight will again feature clear skies perfect for viewing. Look to the Eastern sky around 9-10pm for the best viewing. When a supermoon occurs, the moon is in the closest point to Earth in its orbit, so this also affects our tides – just like last night, a Coastal Flood Statement is in effect this evening for localized splashover in our coastal communities. The next high tide is around 12:30am tonight.If you don’t have a chance to catch tonight’s moon, you’re in luck – the full moon at the end of August will also be a supermoon. Tomorrow, expect temperatures to climb into the lower 80s, remaining in the 70s along the coastline. It will be breezy at times, especially in the afternoon hours.Tomorrow will also be hazy at times, thanks to...

Fort Point Channel given F and D grades for water quality

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

Updated grades from the MWRA for Boston Harbor show the beleaguered Fort Point Channel was given an F and a D in the past two years.This comes after the Herald first reported this week the city is applying for a grant from the CDC to monitor for communicable diseases in runoff flowing into the channel.The MWRA poor grades are a result of fecal coliform and enterocci in the water — the EPA states both are “indicators of the presence of fecal material in water and, therefore, of the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.”Both the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and Boston Public Health Commission acknowledged the grant application to the CDC’s Center for Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling has been submitted, but the Health Commission did not return Herald calls Wednesday to explain the application further.This comes as city officials — both Beacon Hill lawmakers and councilors — have had enough with the Mass and Cass ...

IRS aims to go paperless by 2025

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

Most taxpayers will be able to digitally submit a slew of tax documents and other communications to the IRS next filing season as the agency aims to go completely paperless by 2025.The effort to reduce the exorbitant load of paperwork that has plagued the agency — dubbed the “paperless processing initiative” — was announced Wednesday by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel.The effort is being financed through an $80 billion infusion of cash for the IRS over 10 years under the Inflation Reduction Act passed into law last August, although some of that money already is being cut back.“Thanks to the IRA, we are in the process of transforming the IRS into a digital-first agency,” Yellen said during a visit to an IRS paper processing facility in McLean, Virginia.“By the next filing season,” she said, “taxpayers will be able to digitally submit all correspondence, non-tax forms, and notice responses to the IRS.”&...

Judge agrees to let lawyers for football player Araiza to ask rape accuser about her sexual history

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Lawyers for former San Diego State punter Matt Araiza will be allowed to ask about the sexual history of the woman who accused him and other men of raping her at a house party near San Diego State University, a judge ruled this week. Superior Court Judge Matthew Braner said Monday he will allow deposition questioning in the woman’s civil suit to focus on the year before the alleged assault in October 2021. He also ordered that most of the questions be phrased to elicit a “yes” or “no” response, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday. The accuser's credibility "will be a central issue in this case,” the judge wrote, and so Araiza should be permitted to ask the woman about her public statements regarding her age and number of sexual partners.The woman is suing Araiza and four other former Aztec football players. The lawsuit alleges Araiza had sex with her in a side yard of the house then brought her into a bedroom where she said men took turns raping her. The ...

Family of a Black man killed during a Minnesota traffic stop asks the governor to fire troopers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Racial justice groups and relatives of a Black man shot and killed this week by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper demanded Wednesday that the governor fire three officers who were involved in stopping the man on a Minneapolis freeway.The groups and relatives of 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II made the demands at a news conference outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, two days after Cobb was killed during a traffic stop.Troopers had pulled over Cobb, who was Black, for a traffic stop early Monday on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis. According to the head of the Minnesota State Patrol, after stopping the car the troopers tried to take Cobbs into custody for allegedly violating a restraining order before fatally shooting him as he began driving away. Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, The Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and Cobb’s relatives gathered at the government center to demand that Democratic Gov. Tim Walz fire the state t...

Federal appeals court upholds ruling giving Indiana transgender students key bathroom access

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that transgender students in Indiana must have access to the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identities.The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Tuesday upheld a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana last year ordering the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville and the Vigo County Schools to give the transgender students such access.Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, issued a statement welcoming the appeals court ruling.“Students who are denied access to the appropriate facilities are caused both serious emotional and physical harm as they are denied recognition of who they are. They will often avoid using the restroom altogether while in school,” Falk said. “Schools should be a safe place for kids and the refusal to allow a student to use the correct facilities can be extremely damaging.”M...

Grand Canyon West in northern Arizona reopens attractions a day after fatal tour bus rollover

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:14:59 GMT

GRAND CANYON WEST, Ariz. (AP) — Grand Canyon West and its Skywalk attraction and helicopter tours was back in business Wednesday, a day after one person was killed and at least eight others hospitalized after a tour bus rollover in northern Arizona.Hualapai tribal officials said a private tour operator and a visitor’s personal vehicle collided near the Grand Canyon West parking lot at around 10 a.m. Tuesday within the resort’s Corp Circle in Terminal 1.They haven’t released any other information, citing their ongoing investigation.Cheyanne Majenty, who is with Hualapai Emergency Operations, said the resort was open and fully operational Wednesday after being closed following Tuesday’s fatal rollover.John MacDonald, a spokesman for the tribe, said the person who died was a woman but he didn’t have her name, age or hometown yet.Eight of the 57 people aboard the bus were flown to a Las Vegas hospital and reported to be in fair condition Tuesday night. However, MacDonald didn’t have any...