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MBTA hopes to lift ‘global’ speed restriction on Green Line on Saturday, other restrictions remain

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

The MBTA has announced plans to lift a global speed restriction in place on the Green Line on Saturday, just over a week after the restriction went into effect last Thursday.  Though officials said they hope to lift the 25 mile per hour end-to-end Green Line restriction, other restrictions will remain in place on sections of tracks across all T lines, continuing to cause headaches for some riders.MBTA Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville discussed the changes at a press conference Friday afternoon.The T previously announced system-wide speed restriction on the Orange, Red, Green and Blue lines last Thursday after a Department of Public Utilities safety inspection identified issues. The T lifted global restrictions on the Red, Blue and Orange lines on Friday of last week. It then lifted the global restriction for the Mattapan Trolley on Thursday of this week even as block restrictions linger in some spots.Asked about the speed of inspections and repairs, Gonneville ...

NH man ordered held without bail after allegedly threatening plow driver with gun

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

A New Hampshire man was ordered held without bail this week after police said he threatened a snow plow driver with a gun during Tuesday’s nor’easter. Wesley Quiroz was arrested Thursday in Nashua following the incident around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, according to Nashua police. Police said Quiroz and the plow driver started fighting after Quiroz hit the driver’s plow during the storm. Quiroz, police said, at one point threatened the driver with a handgun. Quiroz was charged with criminal threatening with a firearm.At his arraignment, Quiroz’s attorney told the judge his client was acting in self defense. 

Evacuation Day ‘spectacle’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

As the late Bay State historian David McCullough wrote in his book “1776,” Evacuation Day was “a spectacle.”“There were 120 ships departing with more than 11,000 people packed on board — 8,906 King’s troops, 667 women and 553 children, and in addition, waiting down the harbor, were 1,100 Loyalists,” McCullough wrote.On March 17, 1776, British troops and loyalists fled Boston by ship for Canada. The rest is history and then some!BOSTON. MA – March 17: Scott Tourtellot a member of the The Colonel Henry Know Regimental Color Guard on Dorchester Heights during Evacuation Day festivities on March 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)BOSTON. MA – March 17: Period time militia soldiers march on Dorchester Heights during Evacuation Day festivities on March 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)BOSTON. MA – March 17: The Colone...

Allen Lazard says if Jets add Aaron Rodgers that ‘Super Bowl’ will be the expectation

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

Aaron Rodgers and Allen Lazard played the previous five seasons together in Green Bay.Now it appears the dynamic quarterback-wide receiver duo will suit up again for the Jets.Lazard officially signed a four-year contract worth $44 million — including $22 million guaranteed — on Friday. Earlier this week, Rodgers announced his “intentions” to play for the Jets and the two sides continue to discuss a trade.The Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010, but they’re hoping to change that with the addition of Lazard, along with Rodgers if the Jets can get that deal across the finish line. During his first interview with the Jets media, Lazard said if the Jets land Rodgers that automatically changes expectations within the organization.“I think with Aaron Rodgers as quarterback the possibility to win is always a thing,” Lazard said Friday. “With that being said, it is really the Super Bowl, especially the point in his career and his ab...

MBTA to lift full speed restriction on Green Line Saturday

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

The MBTA plans to lift a speed restriction covering the entire Green Line by the start of service on Saturday, more than a week after the agency implemented a systemwide slowdown.The Green Line is the final subway line to be relieved of its full 10-25 mph speed restriction, but like the remainder of the system, will continue to be plagued with a high number of slow zones until track defects are addressed.The MBTA lifted the cap on the Mattapan Line on Thursday, and end-to-end slow zones were removed on the Red, Blue and Orange Lines last Friday, a day after the systemwide restriction went into effect.Interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville said that by Saturday morning, 16.5% of the light rail system, which includes the Green and Mattapan lines, will be covered in speed restrictions, and slow zones will encompass 31.9% of heavy rail, or the Red, Blue and Orange lines.“Riders should continue to plan for longer headways and additional travel time throughout the system,” Gonneville ...

Ticker: Prince Harry sues tabloid; Ford recalls 1.5M vehicles

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

Lawyers for Prince Harry asked a judge Friday to rule that a tabloid newspaper libeled the British royal with an article about his quest for police protection when he and his family visit the U.K.Harry is suing Mail on Sunday publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd. over an article alleging he tried to hush up his separate legal challenge over the British government’s refusal to let him pay for police security.During a hearing at the High Court in London, Harry’s lead attorney asked Judge Matthew Nickin either to strike out the publisher’s defense or to deliver a summary judgment, which would be a ruling in the prince’s favor without going to trial.Lawyer Justin Rushbrooke said the facts did not support the publisher’s “substantive pleaded defense” that the article expressed an “honest opinion.”He said the article was “fundamentally inaccurate.”Ford recalls 1.5M vehicles to fix brake hoses, wiper armsFord is recalling mor...

Maura Healey proposes $734M supplemental budget

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey filed a $734 million supplemental budget proposal that invests in public health, free school meals, clean energy and technology, and recruitment efforts to enhance the MBTA’s strapped workforce.The bill, filed Friday, builds upon the $55.5 billion fiscal year 2024 state budget proposal the governor submitted on March 1.“In our supplemental budget, Lt. Gov. (Kim) Driscoll and I are proposing additional investments that will move us forward on our goals of increasing affordability, competitiveness and equity in Massachusetts,” Healey said in a statement.The supplemental budget would direct $171 million to extend state-funded universal free school meals through the 2023-24 school year.It also directs the Executive Office of Education to report, by Jan. 15, 2024, on ways to modify or extend this program “in a way that promotes equity, maximizes federal revenue and improves predictability and sustainability of funding into the future,” Healey wrote in a letter to the Le...

Kansas appeals court reinstates lawsuit over voting law

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

The Kansas Court of Appeals on Friday reinstated a lawsuit that challenged provisions of a voting law enacted in 2021 that opponents argue is unconstitutional and limits voting rights.The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by Loud Light, the League of Women Voters of Kansas, the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center and the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. They challenged provisions of a law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that limit how many advance mail ballots individuals can collect and require election officials to match the signatures on an advance ballot to a person’s voter registration record.Supporters of the law argued that restricting individuals from collecting and returning more than 10 advanced ballots per election would reduce “ballot harvesting” and limit voter fraud. Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the measure, but lawmakers overrode her veto.The unanimous opinion Friday, written by Judge Stephen Hill, said the two provisions impair ...

Supreme Court honors legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose death ahead of the 2020 election led to a conservative shift on the Supreme Court, was remembered Friday during ceremonies at the high court as a legendary champion for women’s rights.Speaking just two days after what would have been the justice’s 90th birthday, Chief Justice John Roberts called her a “woman of conviction, courage and quiet compassion.”“Small in stature, she stands as a giant in the history of this court,” Roberts said during a ceremonial session of the court attended by its nine current members as well as former justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer.Ginsburg’s death just over six weeks before the 2020 election was immensely consequential. It allowed then-President Donald Trump to fill the liberal justice’s seat on the court with a conservative, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and gave conservatives a 6-3 majority on the bench. Barrett was among the justices who voted last year to overturn Roe v. Wade...

Judge orders more Trump lawyer testimony in Mar-a-Lago probe

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:02:30 GMT

Federal prosecutors investigating the potential mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate will be able to again question a Trump lawyer before a grand jury, a judge ruled Friday in a sealed order.The order will require M. Evan Corcoran to answer additional questions as prosecutors pursue their investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago as well as potential efforts to obstruct that probe. The order was described by a person familiar with it, who was not authorized to discuss a sealed proceeding and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.The precise scope of the order, which is expected to be appealed, was not immediately clear. Neither Corcoran nor his lawyer returned messages seeking comment, and a spokesman for special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation, also did not respond to an email about the order.A Trump spokesman said the Trump team would “fight the Department of Justice...