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Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell appears to freeze up again, this time at a Kentucky event

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to briefly freeze up and was unable to answer a question from a reporter at an event in Kentucky on Wednesday, weeks after he had a similar episode in Washington.According to video from a local news station, the 81-year-old McConnell was asked whether he would run for reelection in 2026. The senator asked the reporter to repeat the question before trailing off and staring straight ahead for about 10 seconds.A woman standing at the front of the room with McConnell asked him whether he heard the question and she repeated it. When McConnell did not answer, she announced to the room that “we’re going to need a minute.” McConnell eventually answered two additional questions — though not the one about a 2026 campaign — and was halting and appeared to have some difficulty speaking. The woman then ended the news conference and McConnell left the room, walking slowly.McConnell’s reaction was similar to the time when he...

Ex-Catholic cardinal McCarrick, age 93, is not fit to stand trial on teen sex abuse charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The once-powerful Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will not stand trial on charges he sexually assaulted a teenage boy decades ago, as a Massachusetts judge dismissed the case against the 93-year-old on Wednesday because both prosecutors and defense attorneys agree he suffers from dementia.McCarrick, the ex-archbishop of Washington, D.C., was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after an internal Vatican investigation determined he sexually molested adults as well as children. The McCarrick scandal created a crisis of credibility for the church, primarily because there was evidence Vatican and U.S. church leaders knew he slept with seminarians but turned a blind eye as McCarrick rose to the top of the U.S. church as an adept fundraiser who advised three popes.During Wednesday’s hearing, Dr. Kerry Nelligan, a psychologist hired by the prosecution, said she found significant deficits in McCarrick’s memory during...

Police release images of person sought in connection with Dorchester shooting that left 8 wounded

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

Boston police are asking the public to help ID a person believed to be connected to a shooting that left eight people wounded over the weekend.Sharing two photos of the individual, who’s seen wearing a black hooded-sweatshirt, black pants with white stripes, and white sneakers, Boston PD said the request comes as part of their investigation into the shooting that happened near the Caribbean Festival in Dorchester on Saturday.At least eight people were wounded after gunfire broke out in the area of Blue Hill and Talbot avenues around 7:45 a.m.Authorities later said the shooting had been between rival gang members, and left six men and two women suffering non-life-threatening injuries.Police went on to arrest four suspects, including a 17 year old who was seen fleeing the scene and 21-year-old Sebastian Fernandez, who was shot in the leg.Fernandez was arraigned from a hospital bed on numerous firearm and assault to murder charges on Tuesday, according to the Suffolk County Dist...

From the Archives: Mayor on vacation page 1 news (circa 1926)

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

Is a mayor taking a vacation news?Related ArticlesLocal News | Boston Mayor Wu leaves town without telling council president he’s in charge, source says It depends on the circumstances. In times like this, we turn to the Herald archives for perspective.BOSTON_HERALD August_5_1926__p1This front page is the first example from the archives for the term “Mayor on vacation.” As you can see, Mayor (Malcolm) Nichols (1926–1930) was front and center for taking time off. Historical fact: It appears he was the list Republican mayor of Boston. (Email me if I’m wrong.)BOSTON_HERALD September_7_1849__p4BOSTON_HERALD September_7_1849__p1The first story ever published by the Herald that referred to an “acting mayor” appeared on Sept. 7, 1849. (I added a link to that year’s page 1 for historical context.) Another 3,411 stories follow that also contain the term “acting mayor.”The city rules state the Council president is the actin...

DeVante Parker among 3 Patriots missing at practice Wednesday, several others return

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots wide receiver DeVante Parker was among three players missing at Wednesday’s practice.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots re-signing Bailey Zappe, Malik Cunningham to practice squad New England Patriots | Patriots practice squad tracker: Bailey Zappe, Malik Cunningham re-sign New England Patriots | Callahan: The Patriots failed to help Mac Jones this offseason and paid for it on cutdown day New England Patriots | Patriots depth chart reset: Projecting New England’s starters after surprising 53-man roster cuts New England Patriots | Patriots’ offensive line gets good news on roster cutdown day Parker was spotted walking in the locker room late Tuesday afternoon and did not exhibit any sign of injury. He was also present for the start of Tuesday’s practice. Offensive tackle Riley Reiff (right leg) and wide receiver Tyquan Thornton were the other a...

North Korea launches ballistic missiles toward the sea after US flies bombers during drills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and MARI YAMAGUCHI (Associated Press)SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Wednesday night, its neighbors said, hours after the U.S. flew long-range bombers for drills with its allies in a show of force against the North.The launches, the latest in the North’s barrage of weapons tests since last year, came amid ongoing annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises that North Korea regards as a rehearsal for invasion.There were no reports of damages caused by Wednesday’s launches. But observers say North Korea likely aimed to demonstrate again it has missiles capable of striking key targets in South Korea in protest at its rivals’ military exercises.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the North Korean missiles both travelled about 360 kilometers (225 miles) before landing in the waters of the Korean Peninsula’s east coast. It said the missiles were...

Meant to be shared, paella is a colorful party in a pan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

Gretchen McKay | (TNS) Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe last few weeks of August and the first of September are often bittersweet.With the kids heading back to school, our kitchen gardens rapidly maturing and vacations to the beach sadly in our rear-view mirror, it means the sunny days of summer will soon be behind us.Not that fall is bad, of course. If the weather cooperates and you can sweet-talk someone into helping you rake leaves and replace screens with storm windows, it can be wonderful, what with all the colorful leaves, cooler temperatures and the return of apple- and pumpkin-flavored everything. It just doesn’t have the easy, relaxed feeling we associate with summer.But still.Fall doesn’t officially start until Sept. 23, so there’s still time to plan one last outdoor “summer” party for family and friends.My final outdoor get-together of the summer season was a paella party for about 15 friends and colleagues on a balmy Friday evening in my backyard....

Naming suicide in obits was once taboo. Changing that can help loved ones grieve

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

Debby Waldman | (TNS) KFF Health NewsWhen Deborah and Warren Blum’s 16-year-old died by suicide in November 2021, they went into shock. For two days, the grief-stricken Los Angeles couple didn’t sleep.But when it came time to write a death notice, Deborah Blum was clearheaded: In a heartfelt tribute to her smart, funny, popular child, who had recently come out as nonbinary, she was open and specific about the mental health struggles that led to Esther Iris’ death.“Esther’s whole thing was that people should know and talk about mental health and it shouldn’t be a secret,” Deborah Blum told KFF Health News. “The least I could do was to be honest and tell people. I think being embarrassed just makes it worse.”While it was once unheard-of to mention suicide as a cause of death in news obituaries and paid death notices, that has been changing, especially in the past 10 years, said Dan Reidenberg, a psychologist and managing director of The National Council for Suicide Prevention. High-pr...

Police seek suspects in Richmond Hill tow truck arson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

York regional police believe a tow truck fire in Richmond Hill on Tuesday was intentionally set.Police were called to a home on Bayel Crescent near Bayview Avenue and Elgin Mills Road East at around 5:15 a.m. and arrived to find the tow truck engulfed in flames.The fire was quickly extinguished and no injuries were reported.“Investigators believe the fire was intentionally set and that the suspects may have been operating a dark-coloured SUV,” investigators said in a release.Earlier this month, Toronto police said three tow trucks were set on fire in one night in Scarborough.At the time, police said the fires were being treated as suspicious but couldn’t confirm if they were related.

Arrest made in cold-case sex assaults, suspect released by judge: Vancouver police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:05:38 GMT

Vancouver police say they have solved a series of cold-case sexual assaults dating back 14 years, leading to the arrest of a suspect in Saskatchewan.Arturo Garcia Gorjon, 45, has been linked to four “blitz-style” assaults in Vancouver from July 1, 2009, to Christmas Eve 2010, Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Wilson told a briefing on Wednesday.She said Gorjon, who is believed to live in Vancouver but travels for work, went before a judge and has been released with conditions.He was only identified as a suspect in the past six to 12 months, she said.A “safety plan” is in place to monitor Gorjon’s behaviour to make sure he abides by the conditions of his release, she said.The investigation stretches back to the early hours of Canada Day in 2009, when a 20-year-old woman was sexually assaulted while walking near Granville Island by a stranger who fled before officers arrived, police said in a statement.A 25-year-old woman was sexually assaulted while entering ...