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MBTA track worker injured Friday morning after brushing up against electrified third rail

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

An MBTA track department employee dropped his wrench Friday morning and brushed his right leg against an electrified third rail while working at North Quincy Station, according to an internal safety alert and a spokesperson for the agency.The employee was transported “conscious and alert” to Boston Medical Center with a minor burn to their leg, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in a statement to the Herald. The Quincy Fire Department and transit police responded, according to an internal MBTA safety alert.“The MBTA Safety Department and the Department of Public Utilities are investigating,” Pesautro said.The incident did not pause work on the track, Pesautro said, because the overnight work was just ending at the time of the incident.The MBTA shut down other parts of the Red Line — JFK/UMass through Ashmont and Mattapan stations — for two weeks so crews can make repairs to tracks in an effort to eliminate slow zones.A work site inside the Red Line’s Ashmont Tunnel was shut down over ...

House Republicans rejecting Jim Jordan for a third time as he tries for speaker’s gavel

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

By LISA MASCARO, FARNOUSH AMIRI, STEPHEN GROVES and KEVING FREKING (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Jim Jordan was failing again Friday on a third ballot for the House speaker’s gavel, rejected by a steady roll call of more mainstream Republicans who warned the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump that no threats or promises could win their support.Republicans have no realistic or workable plan to unite the fractured GOP majority, elect a new speaker and return to the work of Congress that has been languishing since hard-liners ousted Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month.Ahead of the vote, Jordan showed no signs of stepping aside, insisting at a Capitol press conference: “The American people are hungry for change.”Drawing on his Ohio roots, Jordan, who is popular with the GOP’s right-flank activist base of voters, positioned his long-shot campaign alongside the history of American innovators including the Wright brothers, urging his colleagues to elect him t...

Patrick Williams and Coby White are set to start for the Chicago Bulls — and 5 other takeaways from their preseason finale

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

The Chicago Bulls ended the preseason with a 114-105 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, finishing 1-4 in exhibition games.Nikola Vučević led the Bulls with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Ayo Dosunmu scored 15 points and added two steals in his second start of the preseason.The Bulls have five days to prepare for their season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.Here are six takeaways from Thursday’s game.1. Patrick Williams and Coby White likely to start in the opener.Coach Billy Donovan started Williams and White in all five preseason games — and that will most likely continue into the regular season.Donovan did not commit to a starting lineup for opening day after Thursday’s game. But he said it’s a “fair assessment” that White and Williams will continue in their roles.2. Zach LaVine and Andre Drummond sit out, Alex Caruso returns.LaVine (illness) and Drummond (personal reasons) did not attend Thursday...

Overturned big rig prompts closure of SR-905 ramp to I-805 in San Ysidro

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The westbound State Route 905 connector ramp to the northbound Interstate 805 in San Ysidro is closed due to an overturned big rig.The semi-trailer truck was seen on its side at an incline with water bottles strewed about downhill, FOX 5 confirmed at the scene. There are no reported injuries at this time.The eastbound lanes on SR-905 appeared backed up around 8:20 a.m.The cause of the incident has yet to be determined.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Police activity prompts closure on State Route 94 in La Mesa

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Eastbound State Route 94 to the Spring Street ramp was temporarily closed Friday morning due to police activity, according to Caltrans.All lanes are were blocked for about an hour. At 6:04 a.m., Caltrans confirmed the right lane had since reopened to traffic. In another update at 6:55 a.m., transportation said all lanes have since reopened.FOX 5 is working to gather more information about what prompted this closure.Please check back for updates.

Man fined $50K in Vermont for illegally importing carvings made of sperm whale teeth, walrus tusk

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A California man has been fined $50,000 in Vermont for illegally importing carvings made from sperm whale teeth and walrus tusk across the U.S.-Canadian border, federal prosecutors said. The man and his wife arrived at the Highgate Springs border crossing after buying nine Inuit carvings from an art gallery in Montreal, according to court papers. He told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer that he was bringing back one stone statue from Quebec, court papers said. The officer inspected the trunk and found nine statues, including four made of ivory, the Vermont U.S. attorney’s office said. The man, who was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the time, admitted that the four were made from walrus tusk and Customs and Border Protection seized them. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service later determined that three of those carvings were made of sperm whale teeth and the fourth was made of walrus tusk, prosecutors said. The 69-year-old man on Tuesday ...

Canada ‘firm and steadfast’ in call for two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada remains “firm and steadfast” in its commitment to a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.He says the Middle East, and the world, needs both a Palestinian state and Israel to exist alongside each other in peace, safety and prosperity.Canada has long called for a negotiated two-state solution in the region, and considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be occupied territories.Trudeau is reiterating this position in the context of the latest Israel-Hamas war, which began after militants from Hamas, which Canada considers a terrorist organization, killed 1,400 Israelis in a brazen attack on Oct. 7.Israel retaliated with airstrikes in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, where it has also cut off the Palestinian territory’s access to water, food and electricity.Trudeau, who says Israel has the “full right to defend itself in accordance with international law,” is not saying what plan Canada would ...

Trucks mass at Gaza border as they wait to bring aid to desperate Palestinians

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

Satellite photos analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show a long convoy of trucks filled with humanitarian aid waiting to cross the border from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tons of aid were positioned near the crossing, according to aid officials. The provisions are intended to bring some relief to the Palestinians in Gaza, which is being blockaded by Israel in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on towns in southern Israel. Many in Gaza, reduced to eating one meal a day and without enough water to drink, are waiting desperately for the aid. It was unclear whether fuel would be allowed across to power hospital generators. On Friday, workers began repairing damaged to the crossing caused by Israeli bombings. Officials hoped to open the crossing on Saturday.The Associated Press

A man, a plan, a chainsaw: How a power tool took center stage in Argentina’s presidential race

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Politicians usually talk about belt tightening, or trimming wasteful spending with scissors. Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei is ready to attack the system with a chainsaw. The self-declared anarcho-capitalist totes a power tool at some events as a symbol projecting defiance and strength to disaffected Argentines. They see themselves in Milei’s crusade to shred the bloated state and what he calls “the political caste”. Most polls show him winning a presidential vote Sunday and going to a runoff next month.“The caste is trembling!” he yelled while brandishing a chainsaw spewing diesel fumes on a crowded street last month. In the poor, northwestern province of Salta last week, his caravan was welcomed by a group of workers waving their own buzzing chainsaws in the air.Argentina’s economy has been engulfed in crisis for years, but lately people feel they are being pushed to the brink: I nflation has rocketed into the triple digits, pove...

Hunter Biden prosecutor to appear for closed-door Congressional testimony

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:40:02 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The special counsel overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation is expected to testify before a Congressional committee behind closed doors as a GOP probe into the Justice Department’s handling of the case continues to unfold. In a rare step, David Weiss is set to appear for a transcribed interview before members of the House Judiciary Committee on Nov. 7, sources told The Associated Press Friday on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door appearance. It comes months after an Internal Revenue Service agent testified as part of a GOP probe that the investigation into the president’s son was “slow-walked” and mishandled. Weiss has denied one of the more explosive allegations by saying in writing that he had final say over the case.Questions about Hunter Biden’s business dealings have been central to a GOP-led impeachment inquiry into the president. That’s been led in part by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who was also running for spea...