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Memorial Drive in Cambridge shifts back to pre-pandemic Sunday closures as COVID-19 emergency ends

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation won’t be closing a portion of Memorial Drive in Cambridge for pedestrians and cyclists on Saturdays this year, to the disappointment of many city officials and residents.Instead, residents and those visiting the city will be allowed to stroll along the extended Riverbend Park, next to the Charles River, on just Sundays, as had been the norm before the weekend closures emerged during the pandemic.The DCR on Monday rolled out the updated traffic advisory, which will close the 1.5-mile segment of Memorial Drive to vehicular traffic on Sundays beginning April 30 and continuing through Nov. 12.State Rep. Michael Connolly, D-Cambridge, called the decision “really discouraging” after he said he advocated for the Healey administration to maintain the weekend closures.“There are issues that we as a state have to deal with, like the MBTA, that are extremely difficult and are going to take a long time to make right whereas here is...

Mets Notebook: Reliever Tommy Hunter hits IL with back spasms

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

MILWAUKEE — The injuries are starting to pile up for the Mets only five games into the 2023 season. Right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with back spasms and third base prospect Brett Baty was removed from a Triple-A Syracuse game with right thumb soreness and will undergo imaging Wednesday.Baty underwent ulnar collateral ligament surgery on his right thumb last August. It’s not yet known if the past injury contributed to this one.Baty had a monster weekend at the plate, going 5-for-14 with two home runs, five RBI and four runs scored in three games while the Mets got very little production at third base from Eduardo Escobar. However, there isn’t a high level of concern within the Major League clubhouse right now, especially since the Mets are content to let Baty mature and get reps at third base in Triple-A this season.“I’m more concerned about our team right now,” manager Buck Showalter said Tuesday at...

Aggressive turkeys reportedly ‘following’ and ‘intimidating’ Dedham residents

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

Aggressive turkeys have reportedly been “following” and “intimidating” Dedham residents, according to police who posted safety tips as turkey breeding season ramps up this spring.Breeding season is from March to May, leading to a jump in turkey activity around the region and incidents involving humans.“Animal Control has received a few reports of turkeys, ‘following’ and ‘intimidating’ residents — as well as a USPS letter carrier,” Dedham Police wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.“The increase in activity is due to male turkeys establishing dominance amongst their (male) peers; the increase in intimidation and aggression towards humans is due to turkeys having become habituated around humans — because humans are feeding them — whether intentionally or unintentionally,” police added.The police department’s top tip for curbing their aggressive behavior is for people to stop feeding the turkeys. T...

UMass financial aid rises to $395M

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

UMass’s financial aid continued a rising trend this academic year, the university reported Tuesday, increasing to $395 million.“Keeping a UMass education world-class and affordable is our highest priority,” said UMass President Marty Meehan in a release, calling that the university’s “primary mission.”The financial aid from the institution — as opposed to state or federal grants or loans — rose $22 million between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, UMass reported. The $395 million includes grants from university sources and reductions of the “sticker price” for students. Over the last decade, the total has risen $185 million.The average cost at one of the five UMass campuses ranges between $30,000 and $32,000 as of the 2022-23 school year.According to College Board statistics, grants from colleges across the country increased about 50% in the last decade up to 2021 and most dramatically for private four-year colleges. On...

Several Massachusetts elementary school students hospitalized after eating pepper gum

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

Several elementary school students in Orange were brought to the hospital on Tuesday after they ate a pepper gum product that burned their mouth and esophagus, according to officials.Some kids that didn’t eat the gum suffered eye irritation because they rubbed their eyes after touching the gum.A total of six children from Dexter Park School were transported to the hospital by ambulances, while other students were transported to the hospital by their parents. Several other kids were evaluated by paramedics at the school.A student had purchased the gum online, and offered the gum to classmates during recess.“The product contained levels of pepper, which, when some students ingested it, caused digestive issues, including burning in the mouth and esophagus,” Orange Superintendent Elizabeth Teahan-Zielinski wrote to the school community.“Additionally, students who accepted the product but did not ingest it suffered immediate skin reactions, including eye irritatio...

Boston joins ‘violence reduction’ program amid rising homicides

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

City and law enforcement officials are clamping down on gun violence in Boston, where homicides are occurring at twice the rate they did last year.Mayor Michelle Wu and Police Commissioner Michael Cox announced Tuesday that Boston was selected for a new “Violence Reduction Center Cohort,” a weeklong training program for law enforcement, community leaders and service providers that aims to reduce gun-driven homicides in cities.Despite the need for such a program, buoyed by statistics from the Boston Police Department that show 11 homicides have been committed this year, far outpacing the five that occurred by this time last year, Wu insisted that the Hub is still “one of the safest large cities in the country.”“But I am here to emphasize that historic lows are not good enough when it comes to public safety incidents,” Wu said at a press conference in the Tobin Community Center in Roxbury, which followed the first sessions of a multi-day workshop that concludes on Friday.“We are commi...

Yankee right-hander Hamilton’s hybrid pitch the result of teenage tinkering

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

Aaron Boone created some confusion Monday when discussing Ian Hamilton’s arsenal.The right-hander, who joined the Yankees’ roster and made his pinstriped debut Monday, throws a slider-circle change hybrid with a grip that resembles the latter. Boone and the team call the pitch a “slambio,” which required an explanation. It turns out the moniker stems from the Spanish word for “change,” which is “cambiar.”Following his first appearance with the Yankees, when Hamilton allowed three hits but struck out two over 1.2 scoreless inning, the reliever said that he’s been throwing the pitch since high school. In a follow-up with the Daily News, Hamilton said that he used to practice the offering by throwing it at a tree in his backyard.“If it was missing the tree, I knew it was decent,” Hamilton said.A non-roster invitee, Hamilton used the pitch to twirl nine scoreless frames during spring training and crack the Yankees’ ...

Red Sox notebook: Revamped bullpen has been good as advertised early

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

The Red Sox starting rotation has not gotten off to a good start. Entering Tuesday, three of the club’s first four starters had given up five runs or more and put the team in huge early holes.One silver lining? The new-look Red Sox bullpen has mostly been good as advertised.Outside of an Opening Day hiccup, the bullpen has done well keeping the Red Sox in games. The group played an instrumental role in both weekend wins over Baltimore, and even though the Red Sox couldn’t complete the comeback on Monday, the bullpen still shut Pittsburgh down and made sure it remained a one or two-run game.Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen, the group’s veteran leader and one of baseball’s most decorated closers, said it was important they set the tone early when things are still getting settled.“Once our starting rotation figures it out, which they will, they’re going to have our back most of the time,” Jansen said. “It’s early in the season right now, we’ve got to set the tone. When you take pressure of...

Magic Mushrooms, MDMA would be legalized under Republican’s plan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

A former law enforcement officer turned Republican state representative has offered three pieces of legislation that would see a broad range of psychedelic drugs made legal for adult use.Mushrooms, as they’re usually referred to, could help those suffering from mental health issues, said state Rep. Nicholas Boldyga.“People are suffering from debilitating mental health issues such as PTSD, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, and depression. These psychedelic compounds and plant medicines are offering hope and healing to those that were once hopeless,” state Boldyga added.According to the Southwick Republican, who calls himself “widely regarded as the most conservative member of the Massachusetts Legislature,” the so-called war on drugs has led to “disastrous consequences” and prevented society benefiting from what prevailing research has demonstrated are medicinally useful substances.“Plant medicines have been used for thousands of years by various cultures around the world,...

Eye of the storm

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:22:25 GMT

It was a wild day in Manhattan. When isn’t it? Here’s proof as former President Donald Trump was arraigned.Former U.S. President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court during his arraignment on in New York City. Trump was arraigned during his first court appearance today following an indictment by a grand jury that heard evidence about money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. With the indictment, Trump becomes the first former U.S. president in history to be charged with a criminal offense. (Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (C) arrives at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in New York City, on April 4, 2023. – Donald Trump will make an unprecedented appearance before a New York judge to answer criminal charges that threaten to throw the 2024 White House race into turmoil. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)Supporters of ...