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Boston drops COVID vaccine mandate for city employees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration will lift the COVID vaccine mandate for all city employees on May 11, a decision that comes about a month after the state’s top court ruled in favor of Boston having this pandemic-era policy in place.Administration officials said this mandate, implemented by Wu in December 2021, is no longer needed — as cases are low and most people have developed immunity to the virus, through either vaccination or infection.They also cited the expiration of federal and state public health emergencies, which will also take place on the same date this month.“The public health landscape has changed considerably,” Chief People Officer Alex Lawrence said in a Wednesday memo to department heads. “We have more tools to manage this virus, data indicate there are fewer large-scale breakouts, and our healthcare system is not under the acute strain it was in December 2021.”Employee testing requirements will also be eliminated on May 11. Although no longer needed, Lawrence s...

Chicago Bears seek to start demolition work on Arlington International Racecourse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

Marking a significant step in the Chicago Bears’ proposal to move to Arlington Heights, the team Wednesday filed paperwork to begin demolition of Arlington International Racecourse.The team said the first phase would begin with gutting the interior of the grandstand, and that any exterior demolition would come later.Team officials emphasized that this does not mean they’re going ahead with the $5 billion plan to build a new enclosed stadium with housing, bars and restaurants on the site. The team has asked to first determine what taxes it would be paying and has said it needs a public subsidy to help pay to build infrastructure like roads and utilities, before it could go forward.The Bears bought the 326-acre former horse track last year for $197 million.The demolition announcement comes a day after Crain’s Chicago Business reported that the Cook County assessor raised the assessed value of the property to roughly the same amount as the purchase price.If approved b...

Century mark

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

Happy birthday Frank Bellotti. The court in Quincy, named after him, was the place to be Wednesday as the Bay State icon turned 100 years old.Bellotti transformed the attorney general’s office from a backwater political Democratic Party hangout to a non-partisan first-class law office. But he’s more than that — the outpouring of support tells that story.Peter Bellotti kisses his dad, Frank Bellotti, at yesterday’s ceremony. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)(Quincy, MA, 05/03/23) Frank Bellotti waves to well wishers as the as Norfolk County celebrates the 100th birthday of Frank Bellotti at the Bellotti Courthouse on Wednesday, May 03, 2023. (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)(Quincy, MA, 05/03/23) A court officer presents a birthday cake to Frank Bellotti as he takes a sneak taste of the frosting, as the as Norfolk County celebrates the 100th birthday of Frank Bellotti at the Bellotti Courthouse on Wednesday, May 03, 2023. (Staff photo b...

Column: Still time for Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and the Chicago White Sox to make fans ‘happy,’ relatively speaking

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

The headline on an internet story about Jerry Reinsdorf’s bombshell comments in Los Angeles was gobsmacking.“Jerry Reinsdorf, why don’t you stop talkin’ for a while?”Reinsdorf, as most Chicago White Sox fans know, rarely talks publicly — at least on the record — thus avoiding putting his foot in his mouth. His handlers told him years ago that he would be better off saying nothing rather than what’s really on his mind, and for the most part he has kept to that strategy.The 87-year-old White Sox chairman is incapable of filtering himself, which might be why he has a soft spot for Ozzie Guillen.But for some reason Reinsdorf agreed to be part of a seminar in Los Angeles that former ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols hosted. He knew his remarks would be available online and disseminated by Sox fans but participated anyway.Perhaps he knew Nichols would chuckle at his sarcastic remarks, whether funny or not. Everyone likes to sound witty. Nichols w...

Massachusetts landlord accused of locking female tenants in his office to sexually assault them will pay $425,000 to victims: US Attorney

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

A landlord accused of sexually harassing female tenants, including allegedly locking them in his office to sexually assault them, will pay $425,000 to victims after the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached a settlement.Salazar Dos Santos, a Chicopee landlord, has been accused of violating the Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing female tenants for at least 11 years.The settlement announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Wednesday also resolves claims against the Trusts of Salazar Dos Santos and America Dos Santos, which held the properties where the harassment allegedly occurred.Under the proposed consent decree, the defendants are required to pay a total of $425,000 to compensate individuals harmed by the harassment and a $25,000 civil penalty. The settlement is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.“Sexual harassment and the conduct alleged here is repugnant and completely unacceptable,” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins...

Cambridge Matignon School to close after 75 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

Another Catholic school in the region will be shutting it’s doors at the end of the 2022-23 school year, officials at the Cambridge Matignon School announced Tuesday.“Although we continue to boast an extensive international student program, strong pipeline to top-tier colleges and universities as well as an immensely experienced and educated faculty, we unfortunately are not immune from the financial challenges that go with continuing this expectation of greatness,” Board of Trustees President Marc-Anthony Hourihan wrote in the announcement.Despite staff’s best efforts, Hourihan said, the school’s inability to secure funding and enrollment issues have “resulted in insurmountable financial pressures that forced us to make this decision.”The co-ed, private college-prep school, under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, is set to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year.The announcement follows closure announcements from an 88-year-old Cat...

Troops won't help migrants nor stem flow of asylum-seekers to the border, advocate says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- Hundreds of migrants continue to congregate daily between two border barriers in the Tijuana-San Diego area, on U.S. soil, hoping to get picked up Border Patrol agents. Some set fires small fires to keep warm while others sleep while they wait.Their goal is to be taken to a Border Patrol station for processing where they can begin their asylum cases. But U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities remain full and unable to take in migrants, so asylum-seekers must wait for days out in the elements. U.S., Mexico agree on tighter immigration policies at border With rain and cold temperatures in the forecast, advocates like Pedro Rios worry about the migrants' well-being and future.Migrants wait to be picked up by Border Patrol Agents along the U.S.-Mexico border between San Diego and Tijuana. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report)"Many of these individuals might not qualify for asylum, which means their future is unknown at this time," said Rios. "Will they be...

Senators back solar tariffs, oppose prairie bird safeguards

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate approved a measure Wednesday that would reinstate tariffs on solar panel imports from several Southeast Asian countries after President Joe Biden paused them in a bid to boost solar installations in the U.S. Lawmakers also approved a separate plan to undo federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a rare grouse that’s found in parts of the Midwest and Southwest, including one of the country’s most prolific oil and gas fields.The two measures are part of efforts by newly empowered Republicans to rebuke the Democratic president and block some of his administration’s initiatives, particularly on the environment. Republicans control the House and have strong sway in the closely divided Senate, where California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein remains out for health reasons and conservatives such as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., often side with the GOP.Congress voted earlier this year to block a clean water rule imposed by the Environmental Protec...

North Carolina House OKs ban on transgender youth surgeries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Transgender youth in North Carolina would have to wait until they turn 18 to receive gender-affirming surgeries under a bill approved Wednesday by the GOP-controlled state House.House lawmakers passed the proposal, which would prohibit doctors from performing surgeries on minors to remove or alter features typical of a patient’s sex assigned at birth, after allowing little time this week for members of the public to testify in committees.Following the 74-44 House vote for passage, the bill now heads to the Senate, where Republicans hold a similar veto-proof majority. Two House Democrats — Reps. Michael Wray of Northampton County and Garland Pierce of Scotland County — and all Republicans voted yes.The proposed measure, which would take effect Oct. 1, also bans using state funds to perform any gender-affirming procedure on a patient younger than 18, which could also restrict access to some hormone treatments and other medications.If it becomes law, North Carolina...

Gordon Lightfoot public visitation set for Sunday in Orillia, Ont.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:58 GMT

TORONTO — A public visitation for Gordon Lightfoot is scheduled for Sunday in the folk singer’s Orillia, Ont., hometown.The family of the late Canadian musician, who died Monday at 84, says people can pay their respects at St. Paul’s United Church from 1 to 8 p.m.A private funeral will be held at a later date in Orillia where Lightfoot will be buried.The death notice provided by the family calls Lightfoot “one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters of his generation” and a “national treasure.”It describes Lightfoot’s songs as having “become part of the Canadian cultural fabric, earning him legions of fans at home and around the globe.”Memorial donations can be made to the United Way at the Mundell Funeral Home in Orillia.Messages of condolence can be left at mundellfuneralhome.com, where service details are posted.After Lightfoot’s death on Monday, Orillia residents began placing flowers at a bronze statue of the singer ...