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Preparations continue for Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular on the Esplanade

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

Crews and performers alike continued preparations Monday ahead of this year’s Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, setting the stage for musical acts and setting up security, all while keeping a close eye on the weather forecast for Tuesday night. Even with fears of bad weather, though, both the Pops’ conductor and the event’s fireworks designer said they’re optimistic festivities will move forward“If it is raining lightly and there is not a lot of wind, we can perform in almost anything,” said conductor Keith Lockhart. “Everything is designed to be shot in rain, heat — no matter what it is, we’re able to do that,” said fireworks designer Matt Shay. “So, regardless of the weather situation, as far as we’re concerned, we’ll be able to shoot the fireworks display.”Lockhart said the Pops have only had one rainout in 28 years. They have performed in the rain in the past. Now, he said the organization is focusing on putting on their best show.Others who attend the Fireworks...

Public officials, first responders continue preparations ahead of Sumner Tunnel shutdown

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

As the nearly two-month shutdown of the Sumner Tunnel nears, first responders are mapping out what they’ll need to do to get to emergencies on time. The shutdown will begin on July 5. With preparations underway, people living in East Boston and beyond recently shared their thoughts on the disruption and its impacts.“It’s going to be a disaster,” said Julie Orozco. “I don’t know what they’re going to do.”“Everybody is going to be scrambling,” said Joseph Farinella.State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver spoke to 7NEWS Traffic Anchor Polikseni Manxhari last week, promising safety remains a top priority throughout the Sumner shutdown. “We have worked really closely with first responders now for months coming up with contingency plans adding to our tunnel emergency response plan,” he said.Among preparations, Gulliver said the state is continuing to work closely with Boston EMS.“The critical thing for them is, if there is somebody who is suffering a medical emergency, they wan...

New Hampshire man charged with killing 7-year-old son in January

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man was charged Monday with second-degree murder in the January death of his 7-year-old son.Authorities have said Jaevion Riley was unconscious and not breathing when emergency workers were called to his home Jan. 17. He died a week later in a Massachusetts hospital, and police said he had been beaten and burned.Murtadah Mohammad has been jailed since January on charges he assaulted the boy, endangered his welfare and falsified evidence. The attorney general’s office said Monday those charges will be dropped as prosecutors pursue the murder charge.Mohammad is being represented by the public defender’s office, which was closed Monday. Court documents do not list a specific attorney assigned to his case.

Stocks tack on gains before holiday break

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

NEW YORK — Stocks edged higher in a shortened trading day Monday as momentum slowed on Wall Street following its powerful rally through the first half of the year.The S&P 500 rose 5.21 points, or 0.1%, to 4,455.59 and reached its highest level since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 10.87, or less than 0.1%, to 34,418.47, and the Nasdaq composite added 28.85, or 0.2%, to 13,816.77.Tesla was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 upward after the market heavyweight climbed 6.9%. The company reported that the number of vehicles it delivered during the spring surged by 83% from a year earlier. That was more than analysts expected, though cuts to prices may have driven some of the gains. Investors will see how much the discounts hit profits when Tesla reports its earnings on July 19.Rivian Automotive, another electric-vehicle company, jumped 17.4% after it also reported deliveries for the spring that topped analysts’ expectations.On the losing end of Wal...

Legitimacy of ‘customer’ in Supreme Court gay rights case raises ethical, legal flags

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and COLLEEN SLEVIN (Associated Press)A Christian graphic artist who the Supreme Court said can refuse to make wedding websites for gay couples pointed during her lawsuit to a request from a man named “Stewart” and his husband-to-be. The twist? Stewart says it never happened.The revelation has raised questions about how Lorie Smith’s case was allowed to proceed all the way to the nation’s highest court with such an apparent misrepresentation and whether the state of Colorado, which lost the case, has any legal recourse.It has served as another distraction at the end of a highly polarizing term for a Supreme Court marked by ethical questions and contentious rulings along ideological lines that rejected affirmative action in higher education and President Joe Biden’s $400 billion plan to cancel or reduce federal student loan debts.Here’s a look at the legal questions surrounding the mysterious would-be customer, “Stewart...

Tesla sales jump 83% from a year ago

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

DETROIT — Tesla’s second-quarter deliveries rose 83% from a year ago after the company cut prices several times on its four electric vehicle models and buyers took advantage of U.S. government tax credits.The Austin, Texas, producer of EV, solar panels and batteries said that it sold a record 466,140 vehicles worldwide from April through June, nearly doubling the 254,695 it sold during the same period a year earlier. The vast majority of the sales were Tesla’s popular Model 3 and Model Y versions.But the price cuts, both for special orders and on existing inventory, raised questions from analysts who expect the cuts to reduce Tesla’s profit margins when it announces second-quarter earnings on July 19.Tesla’s sales were better than Wall Street expectations. Analysts polled by data provider FactSet expected deliveries of 445,000 for the quarter.The company produced 479,700 vehicles from April through June, about 13,000 more than it sold, indicating that invento...

7 injured in turbulence on Hawaiian Airlines flight to Australia

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu to Sydney hit severe turbulence, injuring seven people on board.The plane was carrying 163 passengers and 12 crew members on Thursday when it “encountered unexpected severe turbulence approximately five hours into the flight,” said a statement from the airline.“The plane just dropped,” passenger Sultan Baskonyali told ABC News. “We weren’t prepared.” She described one man going upward, hitting his head on the ceiling and dropping back down.Airport medics assessed and released three injured passengers when the flight landed in Sydney, the airline said Monday. One passenger and three flight attendants were “referred for further evaluation.”“Our immediate priority is to continue to care for our passengers and crew affected by this turbulence events, and we thank Sydney airport first responders for their swift assistance,” the airline said. Last year, severe t...

Baltimore samaritan who bandaged a shooting victim from block party says ‘All they know is guns’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

By JULIET LINDERMAN (Associated Press)BALTIMORE (AP) — Authorities searched Monday for the suspects who opened fire during a holiday weekend block party in Baltimore that killed two people, wounded 28 others and prompted one resident to jump into action when she found a wounded teenage girl on her doorstep.Police identified the deceased as 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi. The 28 injured victims ranged in age from 13 to 32, with more than half younger than 18, officials said.Charlene Bowie, 66, who lives close to where the shooting took place, said she saw a huge crowd, largely made up of teenagers.“They were having fun in the beginning, but you know kids … they started drinking and they was getting all out of order,” she said.Bowie said she called the police and told her 15-year-old granddaughter to come inside. They heard gunshots a little while later, and a bullet struck her air conditioner, breaking off a piece of it and hitting ...

Ticker: Yellen books China trip this week; Workers strike at California hotels

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing Thursday as part of an ongoing Biden administration effort to thaw U.S.-China relations, a senior Treasury official said.Yellen, who has called the notion of an economic decoupling from China “disastrous,” has frequently said in the past year that she would like to visit China.She says the two nations “can and need to find a way to live together” in spite of their strained relations over geopolitics and economic development.Yellen will meet this week with Chinese officials, U.S. companies doing business in China and with Chinese people and will stay through July 9, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the trip.The goal of her visit is to deepen and increase the frequency of communication between U.S. and China, the official said. While there are clear areas of common interest where Yellen can make progress, the official said, there are also significant disagreements...

2 dead, 3 hurt in small airplane crash in rural Alaska

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:20:47 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Two people were killed and three others seriously injured when a small plane crashed shortly after taking off from a rural Alaska community over the weekend, officials said.Five people were on board the plane operated by Vertigo Air Taxi when it went down Sunday afternoon about 3 miles (5 kilometers) north of Old Harbor, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Old Harbor is on the southeast coast of Kodiak Island, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southwest of the city of Kodiak.The plane took off from Old Harbor and was bound for Kodiak when it crashed in hilly terrain, said Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region. The agency is investigating the crash, and a National Transportation Safety Board representative arrived in Kodiak on Monday.The names of those on board were not immediately released. Two of the people had serious injuries and the third was in critical condition, Johnson said.Vertigo Air Taxi on its website sa...