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Massachusetts state budget proposes limit on prices for commissary items in prisons

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

Prisons, correctional facilities, and contractors working with those facilities in Massachusetts would be barred from charging incarcerated people more than 3% of the purchase cost for commissary items under a policy included in the state’s pending fiscal 2024 budget.Advocates in support of the measure said incarcerated people in Massachusetts are often forced to pay for basic necessities like food and hygiene products at commissaries. But not everyone is on board with the plan, which includes language that would bar state and county facilities from receiving commissions or other financial incentives in any contract with a seller, supplier, or vendor for commissary items.“While the sheriffs recognize the concern regarding commissary commissions, eliminating or reducing these revenues without a separate funding stream would have a significant if not devastating effect on the current programming and re-entry services dedicated to improving successful outcomes for all of the just...

Vintage Chicago Tribune: How Wrigley Field got lights and why Cubs fans had to wait past 8/8/88 to raise ‘W’ flag

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

Maybe Charlotte Newfeld prayed for rain.Two weeks before the Chicago Cubs were set to play their first game under Wrigley Field’s $5 million permanent lighting system, Newfeld stood outside the stadium during a Cubs Care fundraiser, for which the lights had been switched on. As the president of Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine (CUBS), she opposed the Cubs playing homes game at night.Then she said something prophetic: “It may rain Aug. 8.”It did.CUBS wasn’t successful in stopping nighttime baseball from coming to the North Side forever. Mother Nature was — for one day. Weather was a key factor 35 years ago when the Cubs became the last major league team to add lights to its home field.Wrigley Field had hosted events after dark previously — they just weren’t Major League Baseball games. Jim Londos pinned Ed “Strangler” Lewis for the world heavyweight wrestling championship on Sept. 20, 1934, preceding MLB’s first nigh...

MBTA agreement with union gets unanimous approval from Board of Directors

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

To the eventual applause of those in the room, the MBTA Board of Directors unanimously accepted an agreement between the T  the union representing frontline workers for a pay hike.The contract between the state’s beleaguered transportation system and Carmen’s Local 589 — the union representing the T’s maintenance workers, bus drivers, train drivers, and other mostly non-management employees — will provide an 18% wage increase over the next four years while codifying a number of attraction and retention measures, such as sign-on bonuses and sick leave, and offers better pay progression for new hires.“The four-year contract is going to give the agency and our workforce long-term stability and that’s very important to us as we look forward to the future here, but also to immediate needs,” MBTA General Manager Philip Eng told the Board before their vote.Coming in at a cost of about $55 million, the new contract will be paid for as time advances, Eng told the Board, with the first ...

Carlos Carrasco allows 6 ER in start, Mets get swept by Royals after 9-2 loss

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

KANSAS CITY — This time last week, the Mets were still clinging to hope that they would keep the 2023 group together and have a shot at a run. But if there was ever a series that validated the front office’s decision to sell at the trade deadline, it was this one.The Mets (50-58) were swept by the Kansas City Royals on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium in a 9-2 loss. They were defeated by the owners of the league’s second-worst record for the second game in a row.Sure, the Mets were playing with a depleted roster, but there were several regulars in the lineup and a veteran on the mound in Carlos Carrasco. It was more of the same from Carrasco, who has battled through bone spurs and ineffectiveness all season.The right-hander allowed six earned runs on eight hits over six innings, walking one and striking out none. He pitched into the seventh inning but failed to get an out and was chased from the game after Drew Waters drove a three-run shot into the right field bleache...

Hot Property: Summer fun in Falmouth

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

Location, location, location matters on Cape Cod, too, and 149 Clinton Avenue in Falmouth captures the essence of Cape Cod living.Nestled in Falmouth Village’s coveted Belvidere Plains neighborhood, the home occupies a prime corner lot between downtown Falmouth Village, Surf Drive Beach, and Falmouth Harbor. Spend the day at the beach, hop on your bike and cruise down the Shining Sea Bikeway, and end your perfect summer days with dinner at one of the many local downtown eateries.The four-bedroom, three-bath shingle-style home dates to 1870 and has been lovingly maintained and updated throughout the years without losing that warm and familiar coastal magic.Step inside and be captivated by the serene sunroom and the open dining and family room area with a wood-burning fireplace offering cozy comfort. A first-floor bedroom adds convenience. Upstairs, discover a spacious ensuite primary bedroom and two additional bedrooms sharing a full bath, providing ample space for relaxation a...

Mets Notebook: Starling Marte hoping to be activated in Baltimore

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

KANSAS CITY — Starling Marte is nearly ready to be activated off the injured list.The right fielder has been with the team in Kansas City this week working out. He’s been taking swings in the cages and running the bases. Marte also took batting practice on the field Thursday ahead of the Mets’ series finale against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.The hope is that he’s ready to play Friday when the Mets start a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, the AL’s best team. However, it’s still tentative, given he’s still having migraine headaches.“Compared to previous weeks, I feel a lot better,” Marte said through a translator Thursday. “I’ve been working to try to get better and, God willing, I’m able to continue to stay healthy and be on the right track so I can be out there on the field.”Marte was placed on the 10-day injured list July 20, when he was having migraines on back-to-back...

Illegal immigrant who tried to scam Westport couple out of $6,000 let off too easy, Bristol County DA says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III is ticked off at a Fall River judge who set a bail he says is “clearly too low” for a 28-year-old illegal immigrant who allegedly tried to scam a Westport couple out of $6,000.Assistant District Attorney Nicole Cheney pressed Judge Thomas Barrett to hold Hector Arias-Guzman, of Boston, in jail on $25,000 cash bail during an arraignment earlier this week on attempted larceny and conspiracy charges.Arias-Guzman, however, has been free since he immediately posted a $4,000 cash bail that Barrett set during the Tuesday court appearance. Customs and Border Protection apprehended the defendant in January for entering the United States illegally via the Del Rio area of Texas, according to Quinn’s office.“The amount of cash bail set in this case is clearly too low,” Quinn said in a release yesterday. “The defendant entered the country illegally in January and while residing here in Massachusetts is alleged to have used deception and manipulation to ...

Water quality grades are in for Boston-area rivers: How did the Charles, Mystic and Neponset score?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

The annual water quality grades for the three rivers that flow into Boston Harbor — the Charles, Mystic and Neponset rivers — were released on Thursday, revealing a mix of progress and sliding scores across the region.In the Charles River, EPA grades ranged from A’s in the upper and middle watershed, B’s in the headwaters and Lower Basin, and a C in the Muddy River.Some areas saw grades drop slightly due to various factors, according to environmental officials. They noted that increased rainfall, drought, and heat from climate change has led to combined sewer overflows (CSOs), stormwater pollution, low water levels, and toxic cyanobacteria blooms.The upper watershed fell from a B+ in 2021 to a B last year, the upper middle watershed decreased from an A in 2021 to an A-, and similar trends were seen in the Stop River (B+) and Lower Basin (B).The Muddy River’s grade improved from a C- to a C. But a C grade is still not acceptable, the officials emphasized...

Ed Flynn is Boston’s acting mayor while Michelle Wu takes 10-day break

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

City Council President Ed Flynn will be Boston’s acting mayor for 10 days while Michelle Wu takes a family vacation, her office said.Wu filed a letter of absence with City Clerk Alex Geourntas on Wednesday, stating that she will be “out of town” until Saturday, Aug. 12 at 10 p.m. She left Boston at 10 a.m. on Thursday, temporarily relinquishing her mayoral authority to Flynn.Per the city charter, the president of the council is acting mayor “whenever the mayor is absent from the city or unable from any cause to perform his duties, and whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the mayor from any cause.”“Yes, I am acting mayor,” Flynn told the Herald. “It is in the city charter.”Flynn will “perform the duties of mayor” while Wu’s “absence, inability or vacancy continues,” the charter states.He will also preside over next Wednesday’s City Council meeting, which overlaps with his time as acting mayor.“I’m honored to work closely with the Wu administration, city officials,...

Ex-NFL QB Alex Smith gears up to bike 200 miles across Massachusetts for the Pan-Mass Challenge; last year has been ‘extremely difficult’ as daughter fights brain tumor

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:22:59 GMT

A few years after suffering a catastrophic leg injury, former NFL QB Alex Smith is aiming to bike 200 miles across the Bay State in this weekend’s Pan-Mass Challenge as he raises money for cancer research.The bike-a-thon fundraiser for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has become quite personal for the ex-quarterback, he told the Herald this week. Last year, his daughter Sloane was diagnosed with a very rare brain tumor.“It has changed our lives forever,” Smith said ahead of this weekend’s PMC. “The last year-plus has been extremely difficult.”His daughter last May was rushed to the ER with stroke-like symptoms. After an MRI, doctors discovered that she had a very rare brain tumor — called a neuroepithelial tumor — and she needed to undergo an emergency craniotomy.Sloane bounced back from the brain surgery, but the tumor remains an unknown. She has to get scanned every eight weeks, and she underwent another resection a few months ago. Again...