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Cold tonight, still cool tomorrow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

It was a chilly day with showers. Western Mass and even some towns in central Mass saw their first snowflakes of the season. Meanwhile, graupel was reported in Plymouth County. Tonight it’s cold with temperatures dipping below freezing. Tomorrow it stays cool. Temperatures will be more seasonable this weekend.Tonight will be our coldest night of the season so far! The wind will taper off and the skies will clear allowing our temperatures to drop from our chilly, below-average highs from today. Neighborhoods away from the coast will experience a hard freeze as temperatures fall below 28°. Along the coast, including Boston and the Cape, it’ll be chilly with temperatures in the 30s.High pressure is nearby tomorrow keeping us dry and allowing a light wind and clear skies. Temperatures will be in the mid/upper 40s. For reference, Boston’s average high tomorrow is 56°. After a cold start Friday morning, temperatures will be more seasonable. The wind will switch out of th...

Mother of Salem State student killed in shooting says basketball was his passion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

While family members and friends mourn, an 18-year-old Salem State University student killed in a shooting Wednesday morning is being remembered as a star basketball player who contributed both on and off the courtCarl Hens Beliard grew up in Worcester. On Wednesday, his mother, his coach and even Gov. Maura Healey spoke about his impact.“Everybody loved him,” said Beliard’s mother, Altagrace Beliard. “He was such a good kid.” The Essex District Attorney’s Office said Carl was found inside a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds around 1:30 a.m. after officers were called to Forest Avenue for a report of a shooting.According to the DA’s office, Carl was pronounced dead after he was taken to Salem Hospital.Carl’s mother said basketball had been her son’s passion since he was just two-years-old. He dreamed of becoming a basketball star, his mother said said. And he was determined. “He never gave up,” Altagrace Beliard. “No matter how hard it was, he kept pushing himself.”&nb...

North End shooting suspect Patrick Mendoza to remain behind bars for 6 months

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

A request to release the North End restaurant owner accused of shooting at a man outside a popular bakery over the summer to the custody of his family has been struck down in court.Suffolk Superior Court Judge Katie Rayburn on Wednesday ordered the alleged shooter, Patrick Mendoza, 54, to remain behind bars until next May, a day after the suspect pleaded not guilty to charges related to the July 12 shooting outside of Modern Pastry on Hanover Street.The incident allegedly involved a man Mendoza is said to have had a long-simmering relationship with. While no one was injured, Modern sustained damage to its window.Mendoza, whose family owns Monica’s Trattoria on Prince Street, has been held without bail since late July after he was charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery.The long-time North End resident also faces charges of carrying a firearm without an FID card or license, possession of ammuniti...

MIAA statewide girls soccer tournament pairings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

   MIAA STATEWIDE GIRLS SOCCER TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS DIVISION 1SEEDS: 1. Natick (16-1-1); 2. Bishop Feehan (16-0-1); 3. Hopkinton (17-0-1); 4. Wellesley (13-5-0); 5. Brookline (13-3-2); 6. Franklin (16-2-0); 7. Acton-Boxborough (11-3-2); 8. Winchester (15-2-1); 9. Concord-Carlisle (13-3-2); 10. King Philip Regional (15-3-0); 11. Algonquin (10-4-4); 12. Needham (8-5-5); 13. Newton North (9-4-5); 14. Arlington (12-5-1); 15. Shrewsbury (9-5-4); 16. Weymouth (7-7-4); 17. Belmont (10-3-6); 18. Central Catholic (14-3-1); 19. Braintree (4-11-3); 20. Marshfield (10-4-5); 21. Woburn Memorial (9-4-5); 22. Lexington (7-8-3); 23. Durfee (13-3-2); 24. Bridgewater-Raynham (12-3-3); 25. Andover (7-6-5); 26. Framingham (2-10-6); 27. Westford Academy (7-7-2); 28. Newton South (4-9-4); 29. Wachusett Regional (7-8-3); 30. Plymouth North (5-7-6); 31. Beverly (6-9-3); 32. Boston Latin (7-7-2); 33. Waltham (10-7-1); 34. North Andover (7-7-4); 35. Cambridge Rindge & Latin (5-5-6); 36...

USD athletic director resigns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- University of San Diego announced Wednesday that its athletic director, Bill McGillis, is leaving the program.McGillis served the role for seven years, during which USD teams made 23 NCAA championship appearances and captured 17 West Coast Conference and Pioneer Football League championships. McGillis most recently earned the 2023 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Cushman & Wakefield Athletics Director of the Year Award."My wife, Margie, and I decided that now is the right time to step away, hit reset and embark on exciting new opportunities that are ahead," McGillis is quoted as saying in a news release. "I have treasured my seven years at the University of San Diego. USD is a special place with a community of amazing students, faculty, staff and alumni. I will be forever grateful to President Harris, our Board of Trustees, university colleagues, our outstanding Athletics administrative team and an incredible group of head and assistant coac...

Upcoming mortgage renewals part of why BoC held rate at 5%: Macklem

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

OTTAWA — Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says the central bank held its key interest rate at five per cent in part because of the effect a wave of upcoming mortgage renewals is expected to have on the economy.Macklem appeared before a Senate committee alongside senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers following the Bank of Canada’s most recent interest rate decision and monetary policy report.The governor says the central bank maintained its policy rate because it knows the effect of previous rate hikes are still filtering through the economy, including through mortgage renewals. As more people renew their mortgages at higher interest rates, households are expected to feel the squeeze from rate hikes more directly, leading to more softness in the economy. Macklem says the Bank of Canada does not want to see the country enter a recession, but a period of slower growth is necessary to fight inflation. Recent data from Statistics Canada suggests the economy may have teetered in...

Nutrien sees earnings drop in third quarter as lower selling prices take a toll

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

SASKATOON — Nutrien Ltd. says it earned US$82 million in the third quarter, down from US$1.6 billion a year earlier. The Saskatoon-based company, which is the world’s largest fertilizer producer, says sales were US$5.6 billion, down 31 per cent from US8.2 billion. Diluted earnings per share were 15 cents US, down from US$2.94. Nutrien attributed its lower earnings mainly to lower net realized selling prices, as well as lower retail earnings. The company says in its Wednesday release that its earnings are “significantly affected by fertilizer benchmark prices, which have been volatile over the last two years.” President and CEO Ken Seitz says the company delivered record potash sales volumes in the third quarter, and says the company is encouraged by the increased level of demand and market stability in the second half of the yearThis report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:NTR)The Canadian Press

Schumer and other Senate Democrats call for a federal probe of huge oil deals by Exxon and Chevron

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 22 other Democratic senators are urging federal regulators to investigate multibillion-dollar acquisitions by oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, saying the deals could lead to higher prices at the gas pump.In a letter Wednesday to the Federal Trade Commission, the lawmakers said Exxon’s proposed $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron’s proposed $53 billion purchase of Hess Corp. are two of the largest petroleum deals in U.S. history and could violate antitrust law.“These deals are likely to harm competition, risking increased consumer prices and reduced output throughout the United States,” the senators wrote. The deals threaten to harm small operators and suppress wages, they added.The letter is signed by 23 senators, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, and antitrust hawks such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie ...

‘A curse to be a parent in Gaza’: More than 3,600 Palestinian children killed in just 3 weeks of war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 3,600 Palestinian children were killed in the first 25 days of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry. They were hit by airstrikes, smashed by misfired rockets, burned by blasts and crushed by buildings, and among them were newborns and toddlers, avid readers, aspiring journalists and boys who thought they’d be safe in a church.Nearly half of the crowded strip’s 2.3 million inhabitants are under 18, and children account for 40% of those killed so far in the war. An Associated Press analysis of Gaza Health Ministry data released last week showed that as of Oct. 26, 2,001 children ages 12 and under had been killed, including 615 who were 3 or younger.“When houses are destroyed, they collapse on the heads of children,” writer Adam al-Madhoun said Wednesday as he comforted his 4-year-old daughter Kenzi at the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah. She surviv...

Speaker Mike Johnson signals that Ukraine aid, coupled with border security, is next on GOP agenda

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — New Speaker Mike Johnson told Republican senators Wednesday that a fresh Ukraine aid package linked to U.S. border security will come quickly in the House, as soon as lawmakers wrap up the $14.5 billion Israel aid package that is heading for passage later this week.Johnson, who has been on the job a week, made the trip across the Capitol to speak privately with GOP senators to outline the agenda ahead. He also said the House plans to pass a stopgap bill to fund the government into next year to avoid a federal shutdown on Nov. 17 when current funding runs out.“Look, we all like the new speaker we want him to be successful,” said Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, who opposes more aid to Ukraine, afterward. “And that was the tenor of the conversation.”Johnson was greeted with applause at the start of the lunch meeting, a get-to-know-you session for the new GOP speaker that many senators had never met — or even heard of — until he won a longshot race for House speak...