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With Ideas, LGBTQ Youth Commission Eyes “Lighthouse” Role

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

A state commission charged with advocating for LGBTQ youth called on Massachusetts lawmakers Thursday to support an array of bills meant to ensure access to gender-affirming care, curb discrimination and harassment, and install new safeguards in the child welfare system.In its new nearly 300-page annual report, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth urged Gov. Maura Healey and the Legislature — plus about 20 state agencies and departments — to enact the new policies and training opportunities to protect a growing community that’s facing rising attacks around the country.About 470 anti-LGBTQ bills have been filed across the U.S., targeting gender-affirming care, school curriculum and books, said Noemi Uribe, co-chair of the commission. In Massachusetts, 43 school districts have logged anti-LGBTQ incidents in recent years, such as removing pride flags and banning drag shows, Uribe said during a State House event as the commission unveiled its recommendation...

Mass. hospitals get new emergency room accessibility regulations through ‘Laura’s Law’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

Hospitals in Massachusetts will soon have new specific regulations in effect aimed at helping patients find and get inside emergency departments efficiently following the passage of “Laura’s Law,” officials announced.The law is named in honor of Levis, who died outside an emergency room in 2016 when she couldn’t find the entrance. Her widower, Peter DeMarco worked with state legislators to propose and pass the law in 2021. This week, officials announced that the state Department of Public Health had issued a completed set of regulations for hospitals in accordance with the legislation. “I know Laura’s name is on these new regulations, but they are not just for the rare case of someone collapsing outside an emergency department door — far from it,” DeMarco said in a statement shared with the announcement. Regulations include new required signage pointing individuals toward emergency departments, required training for hospital staff and required audio/video inter...

Lamar Jackson marched to his own beat. With a lucrative contract as proof, it worked out for the Ravens star.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

Lamar Jackson didn’t hire an agent. He didn’t agree to an extension when he became eligible. He requested a trade.Jackson did all of the things elite players like him do not do, taking seemingly unnecessary risks and marching — mostly through inaction — to his own beat. But the proof of his success is in the pudding: Jackson, a unique player who took a unique approach, reportedly became the highest paid player in NFL history by signing a five-year, $260 million contract Thursday, just hours before the NFL draft.Most top-flight quarterbacks, like recently signed Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, negotiate a lucrative, long-term contract before their rookie contract expires. It’s usually the safer approach and it usually makes the most financial sense.Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, drafted 25 picks ahead of Jackson in 2018, agreed to a sizable deal two years ago and that’s been the norm for many quarterbacks. Jackson isn’t the nor...

Nantucket zoning change could slash short-term rentals by 95%: UMass report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

A Nantucket zoning change proposal could slash the number of short-term rentals on the island by 95%, according to a recent analysis from the UMass Donahue Institute.Next month, Nantucket residents at Town Meeting will be voting on Article 60, which would place restrictions on short-term rentals in residential districts. The amount of short-term rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo have been spiking across the island in recent years.The UMass Donahue Institute looked at the immediate impacts of Article 60, and the number of short-term rentals that would be affected by new zoning conditions. Of the 2,293 short-term rentals on Nantucket, it appears that only 114 short-term rentals would be eligible to rent — a 95% cut overnight.“Our interpretation of Article 60 suggests that a lot of short-term rentals would have a hard time complying with the zoning change,” Rod Motamedi from the Institute told the Herald.“That’s not to say that in a few years the owners couldn...

Jayson Tatum, Celtics not surprised by Heat’s upset of Bucks in first round

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

ATLANTA — The Celtics know firsthand how good the Heat is in the postseason. They saw it in the 2020 bubble, where they lost to them in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. They saw it last spring, when they were pushed by the Heat over seven games en route to the NBA Finals.The Heat had an underwhelming regular season. They lost the No. 7 seed play-in game, and advanced into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. But when they eliminated the top-seeded Bucks with a thrilling Game 5 overtime win in Milwaukee on Wednesday, the Celtics weren’t shocked.“I wasn’t too surprised,” Marcus Smart said. “The Heat is a dangerous team. We all know the Heat play different in the playoffs, and they played the Bucks really well.”The Heat became the fifth No. 8 seed in NBA history to upset a No. 1 seed in the first round, and the first since the 76ers knocked off the Bulls in 2012, when Derrick Rose tore his ACL in Game 1.“I wouldn’t really call it an upset,” Jayson Tatum said. “Miami is a really g...

Trump rallies small but energetic crowd in New Hampshire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

A star-spangled crowd gathered outside the DoubleTree hotel in Manchester hours before the scheduled arrival of former President Donald Trump.Some waited through the entirety of the morning and most of the early afternoon before they were eventually let into a 750-person capacity room rented by Trump’s 2024 campaign.“I’m very honored to be here in Manchester, a place I’ve gotten to know very well,” Trump said to uproarious applause, beginning his speech about half an hour after his scheduled start. “Next year we’re going to make history together when we win the New Hampshire primary for a third straight time.”Trump’s speech was wide-ranging and lasted about an hour and a half. He began by assuring New Hampshire Republicans that their coveted first-in-the-nation primary would not be changed, before thanking by name several state politicians who have endorsed his campaign.He predictably attacked both President Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, claiming he woul...

Chaotic, unpredictable: RCMP lay out timeline of mass killing at James Smith Cree Nation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

RCMP in Saskatchewan laid out a timeline Thursday of how a mass killer moved around a First Nation selling drugs, stealing vehicles, busting down doors and attacking people while leaving others unharmed.The brother of one woman who was killed last year said it’s impossible to know what was in the attacker’s mind.“There was so much confusion, there was so much turmoil,” said Darryl Burns, whose sister Lydia Gloria Burns was killed.“Looking back on it, you couldn’t really tell where he was going to go or what he was going to do.”Mounties said the killer, 32-year-old Myles Sanderson, was selling cocaine and causing trouble in the days before the Sept. 4 rampage on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon.Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured. RCMP had previously said 18 people were wounded but revised the number during the investigation.Sanderson also died in police custody a few days later.Supt. Joshua Graham sai...

Court reinstates charges against leaders of veterans’ home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ highest court overruled a lower court judge Thursday and reinstated criminal neglect charges against two top former officials at a veterans’ home. Nearly 80 veterans died at the Veterans’ Home in Holyoke after contracting the coronavirus in one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in a long-term care facility in the nation. The ruling allows the case against Bennett Walsh, the former superintendent at the facility, and Dr. David Clinton, its former medical director, to move forward. In their ruling, the majority of the justices found that the facts presented to the grand jury constituted probable cause to believe that Walsh and Clinton violated the elder abuse statute and that Hampden Superior Court Judge Edward McDonough Jr. erred in dismissing the charges.“Of course, sometimes bad things happen for no discernable reason, and no one is to blame. At any subsequent trial, prosecutors will need to prove their case. We conclude only that they will have the...

UN urges Afghanistan’s Taliban to reverse bans on women

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday calling on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to swiftly reverse their increasingly harsh restrictions on women and girls, which range from very severely restricting education to banning women from most jobs, public spaces and gyms.The council condemned the Taliban’s ban on women working for the U.N., a decision the resolution calls “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations.”The unanimous vote, with the United States, Russia and China all in favor, was a sign of the widespread global concerns over the Taliban’s actions. It was a rare moment of unity on a high-profile issue at a time of steep international divisions over the Ukraine war.When the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were pulling out of Afghanistan after two decades of war, they initially promised a more moderate rule than during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. But there has been a g...

West Virginia Gov. Justice running for Manchin’s Senate seat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:44 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced Thursday that he is running for Democrat Joe Manchin’s U.S. Senate seat in 2024, setting up what could be a hard-fought campaign against two of the state’s most prominent politicians.Justice, an ultrawealthy businessman who is barred from running for a third consecutive term as governor, ended months of speculation with the announcement at a posh resort he owns in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It came on Justice’s 72nd birthday.“I absolutely will promise you to God above that I will do the job, and I will do the job that will make you proud,” Justice told a crowd to a standing ovation.Among the speakers at the announcement were West Virginia’s other U.S. senator, Republican Shelley Moore Capito, and South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham. Earlier Thursday, Justice’s campaign filed a statement of organization for a Senate run on the Federal Election Commission’s website.“Jim Justice is a proven...