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School bus monitor charged with assaulting Methuen boy with autism appears in court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

A Lawrence woman accused of assaulting a 10-year-old boy with autism while on a bus appeared in court on Friday where she was ordered to be released, but required to wear a GPS monitor.During a dangerousness hearing, prosecutors told the court that bus monitor Nancy Vasquez, 56, regularly abused a 5th grade boy living with autism during his one hour drive to and from school.“Every single day, she does, in fact, abuse this 10-year-old special needs child,” prosecutor Erin McAndrews said. “She hits him with a sandal, she hits him with her cell phone multiple times. She pinches him, she twists his arm – she continuously smacks him in the face.”The prosecution said the abuse was only exposed because the boy’s father, Anthony Amero, reported his child seemed to be terrified every time he got in the van each day.Both Vasquez and a bus driver, Marlene Cruz, 38, were recently arrested by Methuen police, with Vasquez charged with Assault and Battery on a D...

Julian Phillips and Dalen Terry face an uphill battle, but the young Chicago Bulls guards are working for playing time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

The Chicago Bulls rotation is a tough one to crack for a young guard.Dalen Terry knows that better than anyone. A first-round draft pick in 2022, Terry struggled to get on the court last season, averaging 5.6 minutes in 38 appearances.For Terry and rookie Julian Phillips, getting into the Bulls rotation this season will be an uphill battle as they fight for minutes in the secondary rotation behind Jevon Carter, Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu. But both have begun to make their case in training camp.Phillips had made a strong impression during summer league, shooting 56.3% (9-for-16) from the field and 44.4% on 3-pointers in four games. After practice Thursday, coach Billy Donovan praised Phillips for his ability to pick up the nuances of the professional game quickly, making a visible jump in his readiness to be on the court over the last four months.“Julian’s been the guy that to me has really — from where he was at the start of summer league practice to where he i...

Unbeaten Watertown hands Reading girls first field hockey loss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

WATERTOWN – The route the Watertown field hockey team took in a battle of unbeatens on Friday was different from any other this year, but the destination was the same.The No. 1 Raiders (10-0) used a dynamic attack and smothering defense to topple No. 5 Reading (10-1) in a 7-0 win at Victory Field. Molly Driscoll was at the forefront with a flashy hat trick, and Rachel Egan added two more as four different players scored for Watertown in its 64th straight win.The Rockets got much more offensive pressure and held up defensively far better than any other team has against Watertown this year, but it didn’t seem to get in the way. After tight finishes between them over the past two seasons, the Raiders made a statement to win by seven in a game that felt much closer.“That’s (a part of) our development from the beginning of the season and all those tough scrimmages,” said Watertown head coach Eileen Donahue. “Our alignment has changed several times, our people on the field have changed se...

Almost 1,000 migrating birds die after crashing into Chicago building, a 40-year record

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

Nara Schoenberg, Jake Sheridan | Chicago TribuneAt least 960 migrating birds, the highest number on record, died Thursday in “massive carnage” at McCormick Place Lakeside Center, according to David Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Field Museum.Birds were crashing into windows even as monitors collected the casualties, Willard said.“It was just discouraging as can be,” said Willard. “You’re looking at a rose-breasted grosbeak that, if it hadn’t hit a Chicago window, would have made it to the Andes of Peru.”Willard blamed the worst day in 40 years of monitoring on an array of factors, including weather patterns, badly timed rain and lit windows at Lakeside Center.First, there was a stretch of time with few winds out of the north, which left a lot of birds backed up and ready to migrate: “Sometimes, it’s like ‘now or never,’ and they go,” Willard said.Then, when the flight began, it was huge. One local birder who was out Thursday morning told Willard that he ...

It's the final day of a massive health care strike over pay and staff shortages. No deal is in sight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A massive health care strike over wages and staffing shortages entered its final day on Friday without a deal between industry giant Kaiser Permanente and the unions representing the 75,000 workers who picketed this week.The three-day strike carried out in multiple states is set to officially end Saturday at 6 a.m., and workers were expected to return to their jobs in Kaiser’s hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans.The most recent bargaining concluded midday Wednesday. Additional sessions were scheduled by the parties for Oct. 12 and 13, the unions announced Friday.The decision to walk off an important job was very difficult, said Josephine Rios, 55, a nurse attendant who takes in patients for surgery at a hospital in Irvine, California.“Unfortunately, it’s a financial burden for us that live paycheck to paycheck," she said. "We can’t afford to strike a long time, but it’s a double-edged sword. We can’t afford not to strike.”A fall heat wave ...

Hundreds of migrants crossing border daily, gathering in mountains east of San Diego

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

JACUMBA, Calif. (Border Report) -- Samuel Schultz has spent these last two weeks handing out peanut butter sandwiches and bottles of water to hundreds of migrants gathering at three spots near the high desert community of Jacumba, California, about 75 miles east of San Diego.Schultz is a volunteer with a group called Border Kindness.Schultz says he speaks with Border Patrol agents often who tell him they can't keep up with the large volume of migrants coming across."The agents are swamped and they are very straightforward about the fact that this is not their job, this is not what they are set up to do they were never set up to do something like this. They are slammed.”A U.S. Border Patrol agent speaks with a group of migrants at the border on Oct. 6, 2023, in Jacumba, Calif. (Salvador Rivera/Border ReportSchultz said it's easy to spot when smugglers are driving up to the border barrier to drop off migrants who then walk around an area where the border barrier ends."You can see the ...

City of San Diego one step closer to using smart streetlights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The City of San Diego is a step closer to using smart streetlights and automated license plate readers to help fight crime.Friday, the city council’s Public Safety Committee held a special meeting to hear and discuss the contract with Ubiquia, the Florida-based company that is providing the equipment and technology for the program, which would run for five years at a cost of $11.6 million.“The contract is completely transparent, it's on the city's website -- it's downloadable by anyone in the public," said Councilmember Marni Von Wilpert.Von Wilpert led the way as committee chair, deciding to finalize the next step in starting the program, by moving it forward to the full city council, but without recommendation for passage, to allow the city’s Privacy Advisory Board to go over the contract at a meeting later in the month and provide feedback.“We've had a lot of public outreach and public comment on this item. I didn't see the need for further delay. I did see the need...

Woman riding e-bike dead after being hit by pickup truck in Markham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

A woman is dead after being struck by a pickup truck while riding an e-bike in Markham.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said the collision happened on Highway 407 near McCowan Road at around 7 p.m. on Friday.A 42-year-old woman was riding an e-bike when she was struck by a pickup truck on the southbound McCowan Road ramp to the Highway 407 ramp. She was pronounced dead at the scene.Authorities did not immediately provide additional details.Fatal collision: #Hwy407/McCowan Rd. 42-year-old female rider of E-bike struck by a pickup truck on the SB McCowan Rd ramp to #Hwy407 WB. 7pm. Any witnesses call #Hwy407OPP at 905-858-8670 ^ks— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) October 7, 2023

Police did not give Black Alabama homeowner time to respond before killing him, attorney says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — An attorney representing the family of a Black man who was fatally shot at his home by police said Friday that officers did not give the man time to respond before they opened fire.Steve Perkins, 39, was killed by police Sept. 29 in Decatur in a confrontation that began with a tow truck driver trying to repossess Perkins’ truck. The driver reported that Perkins flashed a gun, so officers accompanied the driver when he went back to the home, police said. The Decatur Police Department said Perkins “turned the gun toward one of the officers,” and they shot him. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Perkins had a handgun with a light on it. Lee Merritt, an attorney representing the Perkins family, said video from neighbors’ home security systems indicates that officers accompanied the tow truck driver onto the property but did not announce themselves and opened fire within a second of telling Perkins to get on the ground. Perkins did not appear aware of thei...

Man found guilty of murder in deaths of 3 neighbors in Portland, Oregon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:25 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A jury on Friday convicted a Portland, Oregon, man of murder in the shooting deaths of three of his neighbors.Brett Pruett, 61, was found guilty of first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, burglary and assault, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Police found three people dead at a residence in northeast Portland on July 17, 2020. Pruett killed Tashia Cobb and her fiance Elmer Hughes outside and then killed their friend Lawrence Murphy inside the residence, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Police arrested Pruett the following day. Pruett lived in a house next to the home where Cobb, Hughes and Murphy lived, Senior Deputy District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told the Multnomah County jury. He said Pruett had been taking care of Betty Boyles, who owned both of the houses.When Boyles died that April, Pruett tried to take ownership of her property and demanded rent from the three neighbors, the prosecutor said. Despite an evi...