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Boston-area COVID wastewater data spikes: A ‘concerning’ jump in Massachusetts cases as doctors urge people to get vaccinated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

The early January surge has arrived.As the Boston-area COVID wastewater data continues to spike, there has been a “concerning” jump in COVID cases across Massachusetts, according to doctors who are urging residents to get vaccinated.The COVID wastewater data is the first sign of virus cases in the community, and the wastewater levels are now the highest they’ve been since last January.The south-of-Boston virus wastewater weekly average was up to 2,110 copies per milliliter in its most recent reading, which is double from mid-December and triple from late November.The north-of-Boston average was up to 2,084 copies per milliliter — double from mid-December and four times from late November.While the virus wastewater data goes up, the total number of reported COVID cases has been elevated in Massachusetts.The state Department of Public Health on Thursday reported that there were 5,955 COVID cases during the last week of data, which compares to 2,959 reported weekly ca...

Karen Read case back in court for final day of evidentiary motions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

It was an unusual day in the case of Karen Read: a more subdued motions hearing as the nearly 2-year-old case moves closer toward trial.“I don’t want to change the trial date for this,” Judge Beverly Cannone said from the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham Friday. “This case will go to trial March 12th.”The case of Read, a Mansfield woman indicted for the murder of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe — her boyfriend of two years at the time — in late January 2022, has ignited passionate followers who have treated the proceedings almost like sporting events.Waves of people, most of whom seem to be on the defense’s side, attend every hearing. Most of them stay outside around the courthouse steps with signs calling for Read’s case to be dismissed or blaring defense theory tropes that point toward the culpability at two others for O’Keefe’s death. Other followers pack the courtroom gallery.Another 125 or more people signed on to Zoom to follow the hearing remotely. At one point a man could...

David Soul, the actor who portrayed the blond half of TV’s ‘Starsky and Hutch,’ dies at 80

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Actor-singer David Soul, a 1970s heartthrob who co-starred as the blond half of the crime-fighting duo “Starsky & Hutch” and topped the music charts with the ballad “Don’t Give Up on Us,” has died at the age of 80.His wife, Helen Snell, said Friday that “David Soul – beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother – died yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family.”“He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend,” Snell said in a statement. “His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.”Born David Solberg, Soul was a Chicago native whose acting career dated back to the 1960s, when he joined the avant-garde Firehouse Theater in Minnesota. He continued to appear on stage and screen well into the 20th century, but he was best known for hi...

Red Sea attacks to have ripple effect on shippers — and consumers — in Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

MONTREAL — Canadian shippers and consumers could soon be feeling the ripple effect of attacks on cargo vessels in the Red Sea.Shipping companies across the globe are turning away from the key trade corridor after Houthi militants in Yemen stepped up attacks on commercial boats in the region in protest against Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.Shipping giant Maersk said Friday it plans to continue rerouting all vessels bound for the Suez Canal around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope “for the foreseeable future,” following an earlier pause through the waterway that links Asia and Europe.The route change adds 10 days and hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra fuel and crew costs per trip, resulting in potential price increases for wholesale and retail products.Université Laval business professor Yan Cimon says Europe will feel the impact most directly, but that consumer goods and some manufacturing parts destined for Canada also come via the canal, which...

Man and woman charged in fatal East Danforth shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

A man and a woman have been charged in a homicide investigation after a Keswick, Ont., man was fatally shot in the city’s east end last month.Toronto police responded to reports of gunfire just after 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 22 in the Danforth Avenue and Woodbine Avenue area. It’s alleged that there was an altercation between a group of men, and one man was shot. The victim was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died. The victim has been identified as 45-year-old Adam Palermo of Keswick, Ont.Two suspects were identified by authorities and have been arrested. David Wilfred, 27, of Toronto, has been charged with second-degree murder, while 23-year-old Angelica Cunha of Toronto was charged with accessory after the fact to commit an indictable offence.The accused were expected to appear in court on Friday morning.

S&P/TSX composite up in Friday morning trading, U.S. stock markets also higher

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

TORONTO — Broad-based gains led Canada’s main stock index higher in late-morning trading on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also rose.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 81.89 points at 20,953,24.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 61.34 points at 37,501.68. The S&P 500 index was up 23.43 points at 4,712.11, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.98 points at 14,585.28.The Canadian dollar traded for 75.03 cents US compared with 74.88 cents US on Thursday.The February crude oil contract was up US$1.83 at US$74.02 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.74 per mmBTU.The February gold contract was up US$12.60 at US$2,062.60 an ounce and the March copper contract was down less than a penny at US$3.84 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2024.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)The Canadian Press

Heavy rains leave parts of England and Europe swamped in floodwaters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Residents of riverside towns in England that were swamped by rains that washed over Europe this week bailed out Friday as flooding disrupted train service and officials warned that waters could rise in the days ahead.A powerful storm that brought damaging winds inundated more than 1,000 homes and businesses and left several communities under muddy brown water, officials said. Buildings and cars were submerged as streets turned to streams, farmland was flooded and boats were torn from their moorings.A landslide and floodwaters disrupted train travel on several lines operating out of London and on routes in southwest England that stretch into Wales.“It’s been a terrible start to the new year,” Ken Button said as he pumped water out of the furniture shop where he works in the town of Newark-on-Trent. “We’ll have to see what we can salvage.”Heavy rains also left parts other parts of Europe under water as a cold snap gripped northern areas of the continent.Water levels rema...

NYC subway service is disrupted for a second day after low-speed collision that injured more than 20

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City subway service was disrupted for a second day Friday as transit workers labored in the cramped confines of a tunnel beneath Manhattan to remove two trains that collided and derailed, causing minor injuries to about two dozen passengers.The crash happened at about 3 p.m. Thursday when a northbound 1 train carrying about 300 passengers was switching from the express track to the local track at the 96th Street station, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said. The 1 train collided with an out-of-service train with four workers on board.“We’re grateful that this low-speed collision did not injure more people,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber said at a briefing in front of the station on Friday.Lieber said partial service would be restored once workers are able to rerail the derailed passenger train and move it out of the way. Nine of the train’s 10 cars had been rerailed by Friday morning, he said.NYC Transit President Richard Davey said gett...

Two people dead after overnight house fire north of Montreal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

RAWDON, Que. — Quebec provincial police say two people died overnight in a residential fire in Rawdon, Que., about 60 kilometres north of Montreal.Police spokesperson Éloïse Cossette says emergency services responded to a call from someone reporting a fire in their home at around 1:30 a.m.Cossette says police and firefighters arrived to find the blaze had spread throughout the residence.Firefighters later discovered the two bodies.Provincial police are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.Police have confirmed that two people lived at the Rawdon residence, but Cossette says authorities have yet to formally identify the bodies.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2024.The Canadian Press

House Republicans ready contempt of Congress charges against Hunter Biden over a subpoena he defied

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans plan to move forward next week with holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after the president’s son defied a congressional subpoena to appear for a private deposition last month. The Republican chairmen of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees announced Friday that they will hold full committee votes on contempt charges against President Joe Biden’s son as the GOP moves into the final stages of its monthslong impeachment inquiry. If the charges pass the committees, they would then go to the House floor for a final vote. “Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution,” Rep. James Comer, chair of Oversight, and Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of Judiciary, said in a joint statement. “We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name.” Hunter Biden and his lawyers have repeatedl...