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Suspended pot boss Shannon O’Brien seeks ‘fair hearing’ after suspension from CCC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

Massachusetts Treasurer Deb Goldberg was inextricably involved in the personnel matters of the state’s cannabis commission despite Beacon Hill lawmakers intending the board to be independent, lawyers for suspended pot boss Shannon O’Brien said.O’Brien’s lawyers used that argument in a Suffolk Superior courtroom as they pushed for a hearing to determine O’Brien’s fate to be held in public and with what they described as an impartial fact-finder. But state lawyers argued Goldberg, over the course of this year, was doing solely what state law permits.Speaking to reporters after the hearing, O’Brien said if she had a “fair hearing” with an unbiased finder of fact, “I would be successful.” And keep her $181,722-a-year post.“I think that we made our case that the treasurer is not an independent finder of fact. She may be a witness, her general counsel might be a witness. And so ultimately, you can’t allow the person who may be a witness to some of these allegations also be the judge...

Does trading Zach LaVine to the Los Angeles Lakers make sense? Chicago Bulls prepare for NBA trade window to open.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

Friday marks a turning point for Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls.The majority of NBA players become tradable on Dec. 15. Although it’s not a mandatory impetus for action, this date opens the reasonable trade window for the Bulls and the rest of the league.For the first time in the three-year tenure of executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas, the Bulls will cross this threshold as sellers. They’re at the forefront of the market as they aim to trade LaVine by the Feb. 8 deadline — and preferably earlier.LaVine’s departure already has taken on a tone of inevitability in Chicago. Bulls fans are less focused on the “if” than the “when” and “where” of a trade. Determining those answers has been a laborious process over the last month.The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be the clear front-runner for LaVine’s camp. He has been linked to them since his interest in a trade first was reporte...

Poll: Where do you want Patriots Coach Bill Belichick to be next year?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

Is Patriots Coach Bill Belichick staying or going? Take the Herald survey here and tell us where you think he should land …New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy as he celebrates after the Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)Foxboro, MA - Bill Belichick on the field during practice at Gillette stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his son, linebackers coach Steve Belichick, watch from the sidelines during the first quarter on Sunday afternoon in Foxboro. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Foxboro, MA - New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick leaves the field at the end of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)With questions about his future swirling, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick looks on during practice Wednesday in Foxboro. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)Foxboro, MA - N...

Michigan court rejects challenges to Trump’s spot on 2024 primary ballot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals said Thursday it won’t stop former President Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot, turning aside challenges from critics who argue that his role in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualifies him.The court affirmed two lower court rulings without determining whether Trump falls under the insurrection clause in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.“Who to place on the primary ballot is determined by the political parties and the individual candidates,” the appeals court said in a 3-0 opinion, citing Michigan law.The court further said Trump’s possible spot on a general election ballot was not ripe for consideration.The two-sentence clause in the 14th Amendment has been used only a handful of times since the years after the Civil War. It’s likely that one of the lawsuits challenging Trump eventually will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which...

Senate passes Liberal bill that enshrines handgun freeze, targets ghost guns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

OTTAWA — Senators have passed a government bill that cements restrictions on handguns, increases penalties for firearm trafficking and aims to curb homemade ghost guns.The legislation also includes a ban on assault-style firearms that fall under a new technical definition.Senators voted 60 to 24 in favour of the bill at third reading today. Upon introducing the bill last year, the Liberals announced a plan to implement a freeze on importing, buying, selling or otherwise transferring handguns to help reduce firearm-related violence. Federal regulations aimed at capping the number of handguns in Canada are now in effect, and the bill contains provisions that would reinforce the freeze. The legislation also ushers in new measures to keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers and increases maximum penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking to 14 years from 10.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2023.The Canadian Press

A new judge is appointed in the case of a Memphis judge indicted on coercion, harassment charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday appointed a new judge to preside over the case of another judge who has been indicted on charges of coercion of a witness and harassment in Memphis.Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Melissa Boyd was indicted Tuesday and booked Wednesday on the charges, which follow her suspension from the bench earlier this year.Boyd’s colleague, Judge Jennifer Mitchell, recused herself from the case on Wednesday. The Tennessee Supreme Court appointed Roy B. Morgan Jr., a senior judge in the state court system, to the case, court documents show.Elected in 2022, Boyd is accused of coercing, influencing or attempting to influence Lashanta Rudd, her former campaign manager, to testify falsely or “withhold truthful testimony” in an official proceeding, the indictment says. The indictment does not describe the official proceeding. The indictment also says Boyd’s communications with Rudd were attempts to annoy, alarm or frighten he...

Prosecutors say NYC courthouse fire suspect burned papers with complaints about criminal justice

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The man charged with setting a small fire at the courthouse hosting Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial burned papers bearing complaints about criminal justice, prosecutors said Thursday. Wednesday’s fire forced an evacuation of the main Manhattan civil court building hours after testimony wrapped up in the former president’s trial. But there was no indication the two events were related. The 38-year-old man was arraigned Thursday on attempted arson and reckless endangerment charges. Bail was set at $50,000 cash or $150,000 bond. It’s not clear what brought the man to the courthouse, familiar to many TV viewers as a backdrop for “Law & Order,” “Night Court” and other shows. While on the fourth floor late Wednesday afternoon, the man set ablaze papers with handwritten criticisms of the criminal justice system, prosecutors said at his arraignment at a criminal courthouse down the street.They said that after the man ignited the document...

NCAA says a redshirt eligibility rule still applies, fears free agency if it loses transfer suit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — College basketball programs with multiple-transfer athletes are pondering whether to let them play after a federal judge gave them a small window to compete as part of a ruling in a lawsuit that the NCAA suggests would open college athletics to free agency.U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey in West Virginia issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA on Wednesday. The ruling said athletes who previously were denied the chance to play immediately after transferring a second time can compete in games for 14 days.As some schools with athletes impacted by the ruling consulted with their internal legal teams to determine the next steps, a document circulated by the NCAA to its member schools clarifies that the redshirt rule for athletes would still apply if the court’s decision is reversed: Basketball players who compete during the two-week window would be using a season of eligibility. The court ruling comes while the transfer window is open...

New Mexico extends ban on oil and gas leasing around Chaco park, an area sacred to Native Americans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New oil and natural gas leasing will be prohibited on state land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, an area sacred to Native Americans, for the next 20 years under an executive order by New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard.Wednesday’s order extends a temporary moratorium that she put in place when she took office in 2019. It covers more than 113 square miles (293 square kilometers) of state trust land in what is a sprawling checkerboard of private, state, federal and tribal holdings in northwestern New Mexico.The U.S. government last year adopted its own 20-year moratorium on new oil, gas and mineral leasing around Chaco, following a push by pueblos and other Southwestern tribal nations that have cultural ties to the high desert region.Garcia Richard said during a virtual meeting Thursday with Native American leaders and advocates that the goal is to stop encroachment of development on Chaco and the tens of thousands o...

South Carolina’s 76-year-old governor McMaster to undergo procedure to fix minor irregular heartbeat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster plans to be put under anesthesia Friday to fix a minor irregular heartbeat, his office said.The 76-year-old governor is being treated for atrial fibrillation where some chambers of the heart beat out of sync with the others, his office said in a statement Thursday afternoon.McMaster underwent a similar procedure nearly two years ago. His cardiologist Dr. Amy Rawl Epps said the elective procedure should take about two to three hours.She called it relatively simple and said the governor has undergone extensive tests that show his heart appears normal and has “no evidence of significant coronary artery disease,” according to a statement from McMaster’s office.If the procedure is successful, McMaster can return home in hours, the doctor said.But since he is being put under, McMaster is letting Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette know. According to the state constitution, the lieutenant governor can act as the governor in an emergency if ...