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Boston-bound JetBlue flight that took off from FLL diverted to Orlando after man attacks passenger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

A problematic passenger is accused of causing trouble in the air after a disturbance on board a JetBlue flight that took off from South Florida, a disruption that forced the crew to land in Orlando.Passengers on board the flight described the chaos on board after taking off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Thursday night.“Out of nowhere, we see this air hostess running to the back,” said passenger Angelee White. “Everybody was like, ‘What’s happening?'”The pilot said a man was attacking another passenger.“We have a violent, disruptive passenger in the back,” the pilot said.Cellphone video captured one of the passengers being escorted off the plane by police. Witnesses who described the ordeal said it was like something out of a movie.“They started to argue, they, you know, started to get physical. The guy was saying that he was the devil,” said one passenger. Passengers said they weren’t told abou...

Former Colorado officer sentenced to 14 months in jail and 4 years of probation in death of Elijah McClain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

(CNN) — Former Colorado police officer Randy Roedema was sentenced to 14 months in jail and 4 years of probation in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was subdued by police and injected with ketamine.Roedema was convicted last year of criminally negligent homicide and assault in the death of the 23-year-old.Another officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was acquitted of all charges, including reckless manslaughter and assault, in the same trial.Rosenblatt was fired by the police department in 2020 and Roedema had been suspended. He was fired after his conviction.After the verdicts were read in October, Reid Elkus, an attorney for Roedema, comforted the former officer’s wife, saying, “He may not go to jail … It’s not mandatory.”“This is not justice,” Sheneen McClain, Elijah McClain’s mother, said after the verdict, KUSA reported. The ex-officer was not acting alone in what led to her son’s death, she added.The case began on August 24, 2019, when officers responded to a call a...

Woman accused of striking 9-year-old in Haverhill while driving drunk appears in court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

A woman accused of driving drunk faced a judge Friday, one day after police said she hit a nine-year-old boy as he was getting off a school bus in Haverhill. The crash happened around 5:30 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Main Street and 13th Avenue. A day later, the mother of Yonis Rodriguez shared a photo with 7NEWS showing her son hooked up to machines at Boston Children’s hospital. “What makes him so special, I guess, is he has a big heart,” said Rodriguez’s older sister,  Stephanie Bonilla. “He cares a lot.”Bonilla said her brother suffered a brain injury in Thursday’s crash, which family members said happened after Rodriguez left an after-school program. The school bus, family members said, dropped Rodriguez off steps from his home. Police said 44-year-old Tiffany Zembower was driving without a license and under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. In court, her attorney said “She feels the bus did not have its lights on.”“She didn’t see...

Zach LaVine faces questions — and heavy expectations — in his Chicago Bulls return: ‘I could care less what people think about me’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

Zach LaVine is back. And after nearly six weeks off the court, the star guard returns to the court to face a litany of questions surrounding his future with the Chicago Bulls.LaVine will play his first game in 38 days Friday against the Charlotte Hornets, making a return from a right foot injury. The Bulls went 10-7 in his absence, somewhat balancing out the dismal 5-14 start that plunged their season into doubt within the opening weeks.But after a morning shootaround at the Advocate Center, LaVine didn’t want to talk about records or questions surrounding his status.“My main objective is to come out here and just get back to playing,” LaVine said. “If I let opinions affect me, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. I could care less what people think about me. I know who I am and what I do. I know what I gotta go out there and do is help provide for the team and help us win so that’s all I’ve been trying to focus on.”LaVine will come...

North End restaurateurs file new lawsuit against city for ‘discriminatory treatment’ over outdoor dining

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

A new year, and the fight over outdoor dining between North End restaurant owners and the city is back on the menu.The North End Chamber of Commerce and restaurateurs who own 21 North End establishments filed a lawsuit against the city in federal court this week, continuing to argue that officials showed “unequal, unfair, and discriminatory treatment” against them the past two outdoor dining seasons.In 2022, officials forced restaurateurs to pay a $7,500 fee for outdoor dining operations, while in 2023, the city banned the option entirely. The North End was the only neighborhood that faced the restrictions.Restaurateurs now demand the city pay for the losses their businesses sustained due to the fees and ban, and declare its actions the past two years were “arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.”“The North End Italian restaurant owners bring this action against their beloved City of Boston — which is their home — with a heavy heart because they are a vital part of the ethnic fa...

Ticker: Lead-tainted applesauce pouches also contained another possible toxic substance; Recalled meat snack trays sold at Sam’s Club are linked to salmonella poisoning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

Recalled cinnamon applesauce pouches that were tied to lead poisoning in hundreds of U.S. children contained an additional contaminant, federal health officials said Friday.Besides lead, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said investigators detected “a high level” of the chemical element chromium, which can be toxic, in WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree and in cinnamon collected from the Ecuador factory where the pouches were manufactured.The additional details come as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 287 confirmed, probable or suspected lead poisoning cases from 37 states in the outbreak first detected in October.Recalled meat snack trays sold at Sam’s Club are linked to salmonella poisoningAt least two dozen people in 14 states have been sickened, including five who were hospitalized, by salmonella poisoning tied to recalled meat snack trays sold at some Sam’s Club stores, the CDC warns.Fratelli Beretta USA, a New Jersey meat processing...

Defense Secretary Austin hospitalized due to complications after minor procedure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

By LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday, due to complications following a minor elective medical procedure, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Friday. It was the department’s first acknowledgement that Austin had been admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.Ryder said Friday that it’s not clear when Austin will be released from the hospital, but said the secretary is “recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today.”He said that this has been an “evolving situation,” and due to privacy and medical issues the department did not make Austin’s absence public.In a statement, Ryder said that at all times, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks “was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required.”Austin, 70, spent 41 years in the military, retiring as a four...

A group representing TikTok, Meta and X sues Ohio over new law limiting kids’ use of social media

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

By JULIE CARR SMYTH (Associated Press)COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies sued Ohio on Friday over a pending law that requires children to get parental consent to use social media apps. The law was part of an $86.1 billion state budget bill that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in July. It’s set to take effect Jan. 15. The administration pushed the measure as a way to protect children’s mental health, with Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted saying at the time that social media was “intentionally addictive” and harmful to kids. The NetChoice trade group filed its lawsuit against GOP Attorney General Dave Yost in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. It seeks to block the law from taking effect.The litigation argues that Ohio’s law — which requires social media companies to obtain a parent’s permission for children under 16 to sign up for social me...

Massachusetts braces for nor’easter, up to a foot of snow, flash freeze, power outages: Will there be space savers in Boston?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

The biggest winter storm in years is nearly on our doorstep.Bay Staters are making their final preparations for this weekend’s nor’easter, as the region braces for up to 12 inches of snow and possible power outages.A “Winter Storm Warning” has been issued for much of Massachusetts — the northeastern, central and western areas — from Saturday evening to Sunday night.“That’s where our confidence is pretty high for 6 to 12 inches of snow,” Kyle Pederson, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s office, told the Herald after NWS Boston issued the warning on Friday.A “Winter Storm Watch” has been issued for the Boston to Providence corridor.“That’s where we have medium confidence in 6-plus inches,” Pederson said. “There’s a chance for rain mixing in there.”Forecasters are warning that travel will be hazardous from Saturday evening to Sunday night.Snow is expected to overspre...

Supreme Court allows Idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban, even in medical emergencies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:20:35 GMT

By MARK SHERMAN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban, even in medical emergencies, while a legal fight continues.The justices said they would hear arguments in April and put on hold a lower court ruling that had blocked the Idaho law in hospital emergencies, based on a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration. The Idaho case gives the court its second major abortion dispute since the justices in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to severely restrict or ban abortion. The court also in the coming months is hearing a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s rules for obtaining mifepristone, one of two medications used in the most common method of abortion in the United States. In the case over hospital emergencies, the Biden administration has argued that hospitals that receive Medicare funds are required by federal law to provide emergency care, potentially including abortion, ...