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Boston COVID wastewater data drops, Massachusetts virus cases down 21%

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

COVID wastewater data in Boston continues to take a plunge, as state health officials on Thursday also reported a drop in virus cases.Data from the Boston Public Health Commission’s wastewater surveillance program shows that the number of COVID particles in the city’s wastewater decreased 22% over the past week. The wastewater data helps predict virus waves and lulls in the community.Meanwhile, the average number of new COVID cases in the city has gone down 25% during the last week.Related ArticlesHealth | As Massachusetts’ COVID public health emergency ends, advocates worry about the lifting of mask mandates Health | Mission accomplished?: What does the end of the COVID emergency mean? Health | George Santos charged with stealing campaign cash, covid unemployment Health | Allen: COVID policies failed kids – what can we learn? Health | Had pink eye recently? There’s a chance it could h...

More than 30 million US drivers don’t know if they’re at risk from a rare but dangerous airbag blast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)DETROIT (AP) — More than 33 million people in the United States are driving vehicles that contain a potentially deadly threat: Airbag inflators that in rare cases can explode in a collision and spew shrapnel.Few of them know it.And because of a dispute between federal safety regulators and an airbag parts manufacturer, they aren’t likely to find out anytime soon.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is demanding that the manufacturer, ARC Automotive of Knoxville, Tennessee, recall 67 million inflators that could explode with such force as to blow apart a metal canister and expel shrapnel. But ARC is refusing to do so, setting up a possible court fight with the agency.NHTSA argues that the recall is justified because two people have been killed in the United States and Canada and at least seven others have been injured by ARC’s inflators. The explosions, which first occurred in 2009, have continued as recently as this year...

Shot fired in robbery at Pacific Mall in Markham, forcing lockdown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

York Regional Police are investigating after a gunshot was fired during a robbery at Pacific Mall in Markham on Thursday.Police tweeted about the robbery at the mall in the Steeles Avenue and Kennedy Road area at around 4:00 p.m., saying “fortunately” no one was injured.The CityNews 680 helicopter flew over the scene, capturing a heavy police presence at the mall and in the general area.The mall’s security officials confirmed the shopping centre was locked down for several hours, but police say it has since reopened.Police tell CityNews the robbery involved “multiple suspects” but no descriptions have been provided at this time.More to comeOfficers are investigating after a robbery at a mall in Markham in the area of Steeles Avenue and Kennedy Road. Fortunately no one was injured. Any witnesses or anyone with info are urged to come forward.— York Regional Police (@YRP) May 18, 2023

Videos show gunman saying ‘kill me’ to onrushing officers in New Mexico rampage that killed 3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Videos released Thursday of this week’s deadly rampage in northwest New Mexico recorded a voice said to be the shooter urging police to “kill me” and officers rushing toward the 18-year-old gunman before fatally shooting him outside a church. “He is yelling on the Ring footage, ‘Come kill me,'” Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said of Beau Wilson, the high school senior who authorities say killed three older women during the attack.“He’s making a stand, he has opportunities to run off, he does not use those opportunities,” Hebbe said. “So yes it’s my belief that ultimately in his head, he has made the decision that he is going to stand and fight it out until he is killed.”Three older woman were killed Monday by the shooter, including a mother and daughter who happened to be driving through the neighborhood. The victims were identified as longtime Farmington residents Gwendolyn Schofield, 97, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old ...

Thousands remain out of homes as wildfire officials urge caution for long weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

Officials urged caution ahead of the long weekend as thousands of residents in Western Canada and the Northwest Territories remained out of their homes due to wildfires.“Don’t be responsible for starting a new wildfire,” Christie Tucker of Alberta Wildfire said Thursday.She said there were 92 active wildfires in the province, with 26 of them classified as out of control.Two weeks after evacuation orders started being issued in the province, about 10,000 evacuees are still out of their homes.More than 2,600 people are helping to fight Alberta’s fires, including crews from across Canada, the United States and the Armed Forces. Tucker said another 113 firefighters from the U.S. and 18 from Yukon were joining Thursday.Todd Loewen, Alberta’s Minister of Forestry, Parks and Tourism, urged people in the northwestern region near fires to voluntarily restrict recreational activities on Crown land, including backcountry camping, mountain biking and hiking.He said...

Train engineers union reaches first sick-time deal with Norfolk Southern railroad

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The union that represents railroad engineers finally secured its first deal for paid sick time with Norfolk Southern, several months after other rail unions began reaching similar agreements with the major freight railroads.The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen announced the deal with the railroad Thursday. Roughly 3,300 engineers who operate trains for Norfolk Southern will soon get five days of paid sick leave along with the option to convert two personal leave days to sick time, for a total of seven days a year.This deal follows the model established by the conductors union in its first sick-time deals with Norfolk Southern and CSX. Those train crew workers are getting better deals, with five days of sick time, than the other smaller rail unions that received four days of sick time. But train crews work much more unpredictable and demanding schedules than other rail workers.The railroads have also agreed to pay workers for any unused sick time at...

Music Review: Marty Stuart’s new album ‘Altitude’ is vibrant country inspired by the Byrds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

“Altitude,” Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives (Snakefarm)The geekiest fan would be hard-pressed to match Marty Stuart’s vast memorabilia collection, which will be displayed as part of his ambitious country music complex being built in his hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi.But Stuart wants to ensure the genre he loves isn’t a mere museum piece. No country artist is better at bringing the past into the present than the Country Music Hall of Famer, who approaches the music with passion, earned authenticity and enormous chops. “Altitude,” his first album in more than five years, was inspired by the Byrds’ groundbreaking cosmic country of the late 1960s. As such, it sounds like a throwback, but also entirely fresh. The set is an intoxicating mix of guitar reverb and tremolo, bent notes, chiming 12-string and keening harmonies in support of Stuart, whose robust tenor is filled with wit and wisdom. The 13 original tunes are as vibrant as the colorful suits worn by Stuart’s ban...

‘Make it go away’: Ethics probe finds Alberta Premier Smith in conflict of interest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

EDMONTON — Alberta’s ethics commissioner says United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith undermined democracy and broke conflict-of-interest rules by intervening in a criminal case and pressuring her attorney general to “make it go away.”Marguerite Trussler said Smith’s actions illustrate how democratic freedoms can quickly disappear when politicians start deciding who is and isn’t above the law.“(Judicial independence) is a fundamental pillar of our democracy,” said Trussler in a report released Thursday.“The premier breached this principle by discussing the accused’s case with him.”The accused is Artur Pawlowski, who was convicted earlier this month of mischief for inciting the continuation of a border blockade in protest of COVID-19 pandemic rules. The protest blocked Alberta’s main border crossing into the United States for more than two weeks in early 2022.Trussler’s investigation focuses on a Jan. 6 phone conversation between Smith and Pawlowski before h...

Indigenous band could have been more help, says judge in Wisconsin Line 5 dispute

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

WASHINGTON — The Indigenous band in Wisconsin that’s trying to shut down the Line 5 pipeline got a chilly reception Thursday from a federal court judge who is dismayed they aren’t helping Enbridge Inc. to avoid an ecological disaster. The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa has asked district court Judge William Conley to order the pipeline shut down, fearing that heavy flooding last month could cause the line to spring a leak on their territory. But from the outset of Thursday’s hearing, it was clear Conley — who ordered the two sides to work together last fall on finding a solution to their impasse — doesn’t believe the band is holding up its end of the bargain. “The band has not helped itself by refusing to take any steps to prevent a catastrophic failure,” Conley said as the hearing got underway. “You haven’t even allowed simple steps that would have prevented some of this erosion.”In court documents, Enbridge has ac...

US inks modest trade deal with Taiwan in show of support in the face of pressure from China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has reached a modest trade agreement with Taiwan, signaling Washington’s support for the island democracy as it comes under increasing pressure from China.The first agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is expected to set the stage for a bigger deal later — “a robust and high-standard trade agreement,’’ U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said.The initiative announced Thursday will, among other things, cut red tape at customs and reduce waiting times for U.S. businesses bringing products to Taiwan. It also commits the U.S. and Taiwan to adopting measures to combat bribery and other forms of corruption and to encouraging more trade involving small- and medium-sized businesses.The agreement does not require approval from the U.S. Congress. But there is broad bipartisan support in Washington for Taiwan, an island of 23 million that split from China when the communists took over the mainland in 1949 and has since develop...