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Battenfeld: Lawrence Police chief abruptly retires amid secrecy, $780,000 buyout

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

In a move that’s a shocking slap in the face to the taxpayers of Lawrence, the city’s police chief has departed with $780,000 in his pocket after reaching a secret deal with city officials.And in neighboring Methuen, the city’s former police chief violated several conflict of interest laws while serving as chief, according to a new report by the state Ethics Commission.These are troubling developments for these two vitally important small cities in Massachusetts, especially the secretive deal leading to Lawrence Chief Roy Vasque leaving amid unanswered questions and silence from city officials.Vasque was placed on leave six months ago without any word as to why. His departure was also not explained.“As of June 30th, after reaching a settlement agreement with the City of Lawrence, I am retired,” Vasque said in a statement on July 4 that did not mention any reason for his departure.City officials were just as non-transparent in kissing Vasque – who served for six years – on the way ou...

Millionaire’s Tax helped push Celtics forward to Dallas Mavericks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

Grant Williams did the math.The Massachusetts Millionaire’s Tax didn’t add up and now the feisty Celtic forward is reportedly heading to Texas to play for the Dallas Mavericks for $54 million over four years.“In Boston,” he was quoted as saying in The Athletic, “it’s really like $48 million with the Millionaire’s Tax, so $54 million in Dallas is really like $58 million in Boston … It was a little strategic on that end.“So to come out with this makes me feel very comfortable,” he added.Williams played for Tenessee but almost went to Harvard. The Mavericks’ owner is also “Shark Tank” gazillionaire Mark Cuban. You can bet the two discussed the Millionaire’s Tax. Now the Celtics have lost a key spark off the bench to the Lone Star State where Williams will team up with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.“The talent on this team is absurd,” Williams told the Athletic. He’s also saved on winter heating bills, but that’...

What are the Orioles getting in the No. 17 draft pick? Here’s a look at the history, by the numbers.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

Seven years ago, the Houston Astros were in a similar situation to the one the Orioles are in now.The Astros ended a brutal rebuild the previous year as the biggest surprise in Major League Baseball, winning 86 games and making the postseason in 2015. The Orioles nearly did the same in 2022, climbing out of the rebuild instituted by some of the same people who operated Houston’s, by winning 84 games and nearly defying the odds to make the playoffs.The natural result of winning more games is a worse position in the draft, and the first time that Astros regime had to pick outside the first round’s top five, the result details the unpredictable nature of the draft. In 2016, the Astros selected high school pitcher Forrest Whitley with the 17th pick and have since watched the right-hander go from the sport’s top pitching prospect to an injury-prone 25-year-old with an 8.04 career ERA in Triple-A.Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was Houston...

Japanese leaders mark 1 year since the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese political and business leaders on Saturday marked one year since the assassination of former leader Shinzo Abe, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledging to tackle pressing political goals as a way of honoring Abe’s wishes.At a Buddhist temple Zojoji in Tokyo, Kishida and his governing Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, as well as representatives from opposition parties and business leaders, attended a closed memorial service hosted by Abe’s widow Akie Abe and the family. Tables were set up at the temple for flower laying by the public later Saturday.Abe was assassinated on July 8, 2022, during an election campaign speech. The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested at the scene and was c harged with murder and several other crimes, including violating the gun control law. A date for his trial hasn’t been set.Yamagami has told investigators that he killed Abe, one of Japan’s most influential and divisive politicians, because of the former prime minister...

Thousands march in Bosnia to mark 1995 Srebrenica genocide as ethnic tensions linger on

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

NEZUK, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A solemn peace march started on Saturday through forests in eastern Bosnia in memory of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe’s only acknowledged genocide since World War II.The annual 100-kilometer (60-mile) march retraces a route taken by thousands of men and boys from the Bosniak ethnic group, made up primarily of Muslims, who were slaughtered as they tried to flee Srebrenica after it was captured by Bosnian Serb forces late in the 1992-95 war.The march is part of several events preceding the actual date commemorating the massacre on July 11.Nearly 4,000 people joined this year’s march, according to organizers. The event comes as ethnic tensions in Bosnia still persist with Bosnian Serbs continuing to push for more independence and their open calls for separation. “I come here to remember my brother and my friends, war comrades, who perished here,” said Resid Dervisevic, who was among those who marched back in 1995. “I believe it is my obligation, ...

Seven people including two children are killed by a gas explosion in a van in eastern Pakistan

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A fire in a passenger van in eastern Pakistan Saturday killed seven people, including two children, a government official said.The dead included four members of the same family — a woman, her daughter and her two granddaughters. Eight passengers received burn injuries of various degrees.Official Nabeel Bhatti said the incident occurred in the Sargodha district of Punjab province after a liquefied petroleum gas cylinder fitted in the vehicle leaked and exploded.The van was immediately engulfed in flames. Five passengers died at the scene, while two others succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. Three of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.Punjab Interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi ordered an investigation into the incident.The Associated Press

Russian fighter jets harass American drones over Syria, US military says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Russian fighter jets have “harassed” American drones over Syria for the third day in a row this week, the U.S. military said. Tension between Russian and U.S. troops is not uncommon in Syria as both countries conduct patrols on the ground as well as overflights. Syria’s 12-year conflict has left half a million people dead and over 1 million wounded. The U.S. military said in a statement that Friday’s encounter lasted for about two hours during which three MQ-9 drones were “once again harassed” by Russian fighter aircraft while flying over Syria.“Russian aircraft flew 18 unprofessional close passes that caused the MQ-9s to react to avoid unsafe situations,” Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said in a statement.Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, said earlier this week that the Russian and Syrian militaries have started a six-day joint training that ends Monday.Gurinov added in comments carried by ...

Ukraine’s president hails the country’s soldiers from a Black Sea island to mark 500 days of war

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the 500th day of the war Saturday by hailing the country’s soldiers in a video from a Black Sea island that became the symbol of Ukraine’s resilience in the face of the Russian invasion.Speaking from Snake Island, Zelenskyy honored the Ukrainian soldiers who fought for the island and all other defenders of the country, saying that reclaiming control of the island “is a great proof that Ukraine will regain every bit of its territory.”“I want to thank – from here, from this place of victory – each of our soldiers for these 500 days,” Zelenskyy said. “Thank you to everyone who fights for Ukraine!”Russian forces took control of the tiny stone island on Feb. 24, 2022, the day Moscow launched its invasion, in the apparent hope of using it as a staging ground for an assault on Odesa, Ukraine’s biggest port and the headquarters of its navy. The island took on legendary significance for Ukraine’s resistance to the Russ...

‘Tornado detectives’ at Western University out to demystify Canada’s twister history

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

WASHINGTON — Confirming a tornado in Canada used to be a bit like the proverbial tree falling in the forest: if no one was there to see it, it never officially happened.But a group of Canadian weather scientists, engineers and university students is out to change all that with modern technology and dogged forensic work — plus no small measure of that aforementioned toppled timber.“I like to think of myself more as a tornado detective,” said Connell Miller, a full-time wind engineer with the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University in London, Ont. “I don’t go out there personally and put myself at risk. I’ll leave that to the storm chasers.”The project, founded in 2017 with the help of ImpactWX, a Toronto-based social impact fund focused on mitigating the consequences of severe weather, is fast becoming a pioneer in the field of post-tornadic investigation. With climate change on the march, the fund’s goals include better tornado dete...

Stolen dinos, giant spiders and burnt jackets: A look at memorable public art fiascos

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:39 GMT

OTTAWA — A recent dino-napping in Ottawa’s Chinatown was just the latest in a string of incidents that had people in Canada’s capital astir about public art. Three people yanked a cartoonish purple dinosaur statue, part of a four-month-old art installation, off the sidewalk in late June.They returned the hostage this past week after police got involved, but other pieces of the Chinatown BIA’s “selfie station” project have also been subject to neighbourhood torment — like a yellow dino that disappeared earlier this year.Pandas have gone missing, too, and Logger Vick, a character from the popular Chinese cartoon Boonie Bears, has been beheaded. The dinosaur crime saga came as Ottawans were squawking about a new National Capital Commission art installation made of torn-up tires. The piece, called When Rubber Meets Road, portrays a large crow that symbolizes roadkill.But is Ottawa really cornering the market on the country’s zaniest public art — or th...