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Local researchers test high-tech barriers as new way to keep swimmers safe from sharks 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

With the recent uptick in shark encounters along the coast of Cape Cod, a new device could soon be used to keep swimmers safe. “Exclusion Barrier” is a network of black plastic pipes that are supposed to keep people and sharks separate. 7NEWS recently spoke with Dr. Craig O’Connell, a shark researcher with the O’Seas Conservation Foundation, who said any measure to minimize risk is one worth trying.“It is the sharks’ realm,” O’Connell said. “It is their environment and we do have to enter with caution.”O’Connell said a large, visual structure such as the Exclusion Barrier system “works very well on visual predators like the great white shark.” “As those sharks swim closer and closer to the barrier, the electromagnetic field gets stronger and stronger and it basically gives them a little bit of a shock and they swim away,” O’Connell said. The barriers were tested in Chatham this past summer. Tuna bait was even used to tempt the sharks. “We had to ...

Car rolls over guardrail on I-495 in Haverhill 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

A car rolled over a guardrail along I-495 in Haverhill Friday, drawing an emergency response and causing multiple injuries, according to officials.The state Department of Transportation in a post on X around 3:40 p.m. said there was a “rollover crash with injuries” on the southbound side of I-495 near Exit 107. MassDOT said two left lanes were closed and told drivers to expect delays. SKY7-HD soon flying over the scene spotted a white car resting on its roof on the edge of a wooded area near the highway. Numerous emergency crews were responding. No further information was immediately available.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

When Don and Barbara Rickles met Bob and Ginnie Newhart, they became friends for life — as told in Judd Apatow’s latest film

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

Rick Kogan | Chicago Tribune (TNS)CHICAGO — Here, ladies and gentlemen, is Bob Newhart:“Somebody called me up and they said, ‘Look, Don Rickles is looking for a best friend … and none of us wanna do it. Would you?’“And I said, ‘How long?’“They said, ‘A year at the most.’”Bob Newhart and Don Rickles were friends for nearly 60 years and that unlikely pairing has been captured, the above joke included, in the latest film from Judd Apatow, the acclaimed director/producer of such hit movies as “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “The King of Staten Island,” and TV’s “Freaks and Geeks.”This movie, co-directed by Michael Bonfiglio, is titled “Bob and Don: A Love Story.” It is only 20 minutes long and playing not in theaters or on any streaming service. But it is on The New Yorker magazine’s website, accompanied by a fine story by Bruce Handy, in which Apatow tells him, “I don’t think there are two comedians that most comedians like more than Don Rickles and Bob Newhart. They’re just completely be...

Patriots-Chargers injury report: Keenan Allen questionable, two Pats WRs out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

The Patriots ruled out wide receivers Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte on Friday, when the Chargers listed Keenan Allen as questionable on their injury report.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots missing two WRs at final practice before Chargers game New England Patriots | Bill Belichick shares what he’s seen from Bailey Zappe in practice New England Patriots | Patriots mailbag: Will Malik Cunningham get another shot in Week 13? New England Patriots | Patriots QB Bailey Zappe will apply these lessons to likely start Sunday New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick made the right — and only — QB call he could The Pats also listed six players as questionable, including left tackle Trent Brown (ankle/chest). Center David Andrews and linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley were removed from the injury report.Both teams’ complete injury reports are below.PATRIOTSOutWR Demario Douglas,...

New Red Sox hires have legend’s stamp of approval

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

The Red Sox are hoping that two blasts from the past can build a brighter future.In an endeavor to right the ship after three last-place finishes in four years, they fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and pitching coach Dave Bush, and replaced them with Craig Breslow and Andrew Bailey.As pitchers, Breslow and Bailey shared the Boston bullpen (and the Oakland A’s bullpen before that) for a couple of seasons, including the 2013 championship run. Since retiring, they’ve found success on different tracks: Breslow as an executive credited with turning the Chicago Cubs into an impressive pitching development machine, Bailey as a coach who made San Francisco’s pitching staff one of the best in baseball over the last four years.Both hires have been met with overwhelming approval, including from a notable former teammate.“I think it’s a good idea,” David Ortiz told the Herald on Friday. “Hiring guys that are familiar with what we got going on i...

Inmate stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times, charged with attempted murder, prosecutors say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

A federal inmate was charged Friday with attempted murder in the prison stabbing of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.John Turscak stabbed Chauvin 22 times in the law library at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, with an improvised knife, federal prosecutors said. Turscak, 52, told correctional officers he would’ve killed Chauvin had they not responded so quickly, prosecutors said.Turscak later told FBI agents that he’d been thinking about assaulting Chauvin for about a month because he is a high-profile inmate but denied wanting to kill him, prosecutors said.Turscak told the agents that he attacked Chauvin on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, as a symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement and the “Black Hand” symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia gang, prosecutors said.An attorney for Turscak was not listed in court records and Turscak, who has represented himself in numerous ...

Montreal Chinese groups threaten to sue RCMP over ‘secret police station’ allegations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

MONTREAL — Two Chinese community groups in the Montreal area say they will sue the RCMP if they don’t apologize for alleging that the groups hosted secret Chinese government “police stations.”In a lawyer’s letter sent to the federal police force today by the Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal and the Centre Sino-Québec de la Rive-Sud, the groups also demand $2.5 million in alleged damages.The RCMP said in March that it was investigating allegations that Chinese government officials operating out of the two groups’ facilities were intimidating and harassing members of Montreal’s Chinese community.In the lawyer’s letter, the groups call those allegations false and defamatory. The groups say they’ve lost government funding, forcing them to cut back programs, including French language education and supports for victims of domestic violence.The RCMP declined to comment on the lawsuit threat but said the investigation remains on...

Global Red Cross suspends Belarus chapter after its chief boasted of bringing in Ukrainian children

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The International Red Cross on Friday suspended the Belarusian chapter after its chief stirred international outrage for boasting that it was actively ferrying Ukrainian children from Russian-controlled areas to Belarus. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies halted the membership of the Belarus branch after it refused to oust its leader Dzmitry Shautsou. He is accused of having breached the Red Cross’ much-vaunted and much-defended standards of neutrality and integrity. The board of IFRC had given the Belarus Red Cross until Nov. 30 to dismiss him, and said it would suspend the branch if it didn’t. “The suspension means that the Belarus Red Cross loses its rights as a member of the IFRC,” the Geneva-based international organization said in a statement Friday. “Any new funding to the Belarus Red Cross will also be suspended.”Shautsou, in comments to the state Belta news agency, called the decision to suspend the...

Police say man charged with hate crime demanded that TPS take down transgender flag from city property

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

A man is facing charges in a hate-motivated investigation after he allegedly demanded that the Toronto Police Service (TPS) remove a transgender flag from city property, threatening an officer in the process.TPS said an employee received online threats on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. It’s alleged the accused replied to a social media post issued by a member of the police force. The man allegedly made a demand for the transgender flag to be taken down from city property.A police spokesperson said the accused further threatened harm to the TPS member if they did not comply. On Friday, 28-year-old Robert Ranieri was arrested and charged with two counts of uttering death threats.He was expected to appear in court earlier Friday morning.

5 takeaways from AP’s Black attorneys general interviews about race, justice and politics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:18 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — At a moment of record visibility and influence for Black attorneys in the United States, debates over race, criminal justice and democracy are increasingly at the center of the public conversation. Many of these Black litigators and law enforcement officials have made history, from the White House and the Supreme Court to the halls of Congress, but their perspectives and approaches to role aren’t monolithic.In wide-ranging interviews with The Associated Press, six sitting Black attorneys general discussed the challenges and opportunities of serving as the top law enforcement officer in their respective states. The interviews shed light on the interplay between public safety, criminal justice reform, the rule of law and other foundational questions facing a justice system under unprecedented strain and doubt from the American public.Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the conversations: Black attorneys general are at the forefront of criminal justice refor...