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DCR ‘burdened’ by lack of leadership continuity at urban beaches: Report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

Advocates for city beaches say the Department of Conservation and Recreation is “burdened” by a lack of leadership continuity, clear direction and accountability among top officials.A new report from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the Metropolitan Beaches Commission states the department does not have enough staff or resources to care for local beaches, and has a backlog of maintenance and postponed capital investments.“With six DCR commissioners in the past eight years, DCR has lacked leadership continuity, clear direction, and accountability at the top, with DCR commissioners too often making commitments that they may not be around to keep,” the report said.A group of state politicians and leaders at the advocacy organization said they are looking forward to working with newly-appointed DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo, the former mayor of Revere, to address “systemic problems and implement long-term solutions that they may not be around to solve.”Sen. Brendan Crighton, a co-chair ...

Ravens 2023 schedule: Ranking all 17 games from hardest (49ers) to easiest (Texans)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

Last season, the Ravens finished 10-7 in the regular season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Cincinnati Bengals. But they did so without one of the NFL’s best players, quarterback Lamar Jackson, for their final six games because of a knee injury.With Jackson re-signed to a five-year extension to pair with a remade wide receiver group that includes two-time All-Pro Odell Beckham Jr. and rookie Zay Flowers, along with one of the NFL’s top defenses, the Ravens should be better this season.There was some good news from the schedule-makers, too, with the Ravens’ 2023 slate checking in as the 12th easiest among the 32 NFL teams with opponents having won 48.4% of games last season.The bad news? There are several difficult games, particularly late in the year, including a Christmas night blockbuster against the 49ers in San Francisco and what could be a critical Week 11 matchup against the Bengals.Here’s how the Ravens’ schedule measures up, w...

Charlie Baker could beat Elizabeth Warren, polling shows; can another moderate?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

Former Gov. Charlie Baker would beat U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in a theoretical matchup between the pair during the 2024 Senate contest, according to a poll of likely Bay State voters.Warren announced in March she will seek a third term in the upper chamber of Congress, where the state’s senior senator has made a name for herself as an outspoken proponent of progressive policies. The former Harvard Law professor ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic presidential primary ahead of 2020, but maintained her seat in the Senate.Baker, who did not seek re-election at the end of his second term despite routine citation as the most popular governor in the country, is serving as the president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and has not declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate or any other political office. He has also routinely denied any talk of him seeking the White House in 2024, citing the impact such a race would have on his family.If he did run, it would not be good ne...

Howie Carr: Madness over migrants afflicts even Dems

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

This “migrant” crisis has gotten so big that even the sleepwalking Boston Globe has finally noticed that there may be a problem here with their beloved celebration of diversity.Headline: “Influx of migrants in Massachusetts continues to overwhelm state resources – and more may be on the way.”Stop the damn presses! Who knew?On the very same day that the Globe was bemoaning the end of Title 42 and imminent realization of what the moonbats have always claimed they wanted, the US attorney in Boston announced yet another wondrous side benefit of Democrat beneficence to the Third World.“Chelsea Man Indicted for Fentanyl Trafficking and Unlawful Reentry into the United States.”What? If he’s a “Chelsea Man” that makes him a citizen, does it not, and thus how can he be unlawfully reentering America?Of course, Luis Alberto German-Peguero, a/k/a “Alberto Chirry,” is not really a Chelsea man. They just say that because… Democrats.Crime… welfare dependency… infectious diseases… out of control dr...

Don’t touch Massachusetts tax rebate law, polling shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

Likely voters do not want lawmakers to carry through with the proposal to tamper with a rebate law which just last year sent about $3 billion back to taxpayers, according to new polling.Chapter 62F of the General Law, passed by the will of the voters via a ballot question offered in 1986, was unexpectedly triggered last summer for just the second time since its passage, surprising state lawmakers and effectively ending a push for tax cuts which very nearly made it to then-Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk.The law requires the state to pay taxpayers back when it takes too much in taxes and wages aren’t keeping up, as was apparently the case in 1987 and 2022. This year, House lawmakers have approved a plan to change the law’s rebate calculations, currently tied to a taxpayer’s income and tax burden, so that every resident receives an equal payment should the law again require rebates.According to a poll of 750 likely voters prepared on behalf of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, the ma...

Baker beats Warren in new poll 49-34%

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

The watchdog group Fiscal Alliance Foundation, or MassFiscal for short, is out with a new poll and it sure looks as if U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is vulnerable as she seeks re-election. But there’s more:Gov. Maura HealeyFavorable: 52%Unfavorable: 27%Unsure: 21%Mayor Michelle WuFavorable: 47%Unfavorable: 30%Unsure: 22%U.S. Sen. Elizabeth WarrenFavorable: 49%Unfavorable: 44%Unsure: 7%Charlie Baker vs. WarrenBaker: 49%Warren: 34%Chapter 62F Tax Rebate LawSupport: 56%Change it: 18.5%Unsure: 25%Repeal it: 7%The poll surveyed 750 people and was in the field on May 6 and 7. The margin of error is 3.6% at a 95% confidence level.

Friday is deadline day for candidates to enter Toronto’s mayoral race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

Nominations for next month’s mayoral byelection in Toronto are set to close Friday with nearly 90 people already signed up.Anyone looking to join the race will have until 2 p.m. to file their papers. Friday is also the last day for candidates to withdraw their name as an official candidate.Nomination and withdrawals can still be filed on the last day between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Toronto Elections Office at city hall.As of early Friday morning, there are 88 names on the city’s registered candidates list. The city says a final list of certified candidates will made available by 4 p.m. on Monday, May 15.Related:High-profile names running to become the next mayor of Toronto?What are the top Toronto Mayoral candidates promising if elected?The byelection for a new mayor was triggered after John Tory officially stepped down back on Feb. 17 after announcing he had an “inappropriate relationship” with someone who used to work on his staff.Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie has as...

Kansas City declares itself a LGBTQ+ sanctuary city

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials in Missouri’s largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults.Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas praised the 12 to 1 vote, saying the city is committed to being a “welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community.”Kansas City’s new, sanctuary status sets it apart as a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. Similar actions have been taken in cities that oppose state actions to restrict rights for transgender people, as in Austin, Texas. GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign into law the ban on gender-affirming care, joining at least 16 other states that have enacted similar laws restricting or banning such care for minors. The resolution also comes as a judge co...

Marine veteran who fatally choked NYC subway rider Jordan Neely to surrender on manslaughter charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who kept a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow passenger on a New York City subway, leading to the other rider’s death, is expected to turn himself in to authorities Friday on a manslaughter charge that could send him to prison for 15 years.Manhattan prosecutors announced Thursday they would bring the criminal charge against Daniel Penny, 24, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, in the May 1 death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely.Neely’s death, captured on video by a freelance journalist, has raised an uproar over many issues, including how those with mental illness are treated by the transit system and the city, as well as crime and vigilantism. Penny’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment after the prosecutors made their announcement. They have previously said Penny acted in self-defense.According to an onlooker, Neely, who is Black, had been screaming and begging for money aboard the train, but had not gotten physical with anyo...

Islamabad high court gives ex-PM Imran Khan a 2-week reprieve from arrest in graft case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:56 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A high court in Pakistan’s capital on Friday granted former Prime Minister Imran Khan a two-week reprieve from arrest in a graft case and granted him bail on the charge.The Islamabad High Court made the decision a day after the country’s Supreme Court asked it for a ruling. Babar Awan, a lawyer for Khan, said the former premier was now “a free man,” and that the decision was just. The ruling came after Khan returned to court to hear whether he will be shielded from renewed arrest or taken back into custody — a decision that put the government and legions of Khan supporters on edge after days of violent confrontations.However, Khan did not immediately leave the courtroom after the initial decision as the judges proceeded to deliberate whether to grant him bail in several other corruption cases filed against him. Under Pakistan’s legal system, a person granted bail would still have to face a trial. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story f...