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WATCH: Falling debris nearly hits rider at Downtown Crossing MBTA station

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

7NEWS has obtained shocking surveillance video that shows a commuter nearly being struck by debris falling from the ceiling of the MBTA’s Downtown Crossing station earlier this week.The video shows a man waiting for a Red Line train Monday night when a chunk of concrete suddenly fell from the ceiling and landed next to him. This is the third time this year that a passenger was struck or nearly struck by falling debris at an MBTA station.In March, a falling insulation tile weighing about 25 pounds nearly struck a passenger at Harvard station in Cambridge. Two months later, a heavy utility box hit a Harvard PHD student at the same station. She is planning to sue the agency.7NEWS cameras found more ceiling damage at other parts of the station on Friday.The MBTA says it is working to create a new position to oversee the upkeep of station facilities.

Kristaps Porzingis, Celtics finalizing agreement on two-year contract extension, per report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

The Celtics and Kristaps Porzingis are finalizing a two-year extension worth $60 million that would keep the 7-foot-3 big man in Boston through the 2025-26 season, according to a report Friday from TNT’s Chris Haynes.The Celtics – who acquired Porzingis in the three-team deal that sent Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies last week – are eligible to offer their new addition a two-year extension up to $77 million beginning on July 6. So this deal – if finalized – represents something of a discount as the two sides clearly wanted to get something done to keep Porzingis in Boston as part of the Celtics’ core for the foreseeable future. Porzingis opted into his $36 million player option for this season prior to being traded and the extension would start for the 2024-25 season.“The idea of being here for a long time would be what I want,” Porzingis said in an interview with NBC Sports Boston this week. “It would be what I want and when the time comes, it’s hopefully going to be a discussion and...

Ocean Beach Pier to reopen after six-month closure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Ocean Beach Pier is reopening to the public Saturday just in time for the Fourth of July holiday, city officials said.The pier, which has been closed since Jan. 6 for repairs due to damage caused by powerful winter storms, is also celebrating its 57th anniversary on Sunday. Its grand opening was on July 2, 1966, the City of San Diego said in a press release Friday. The city decided to wait until the winter storm season passed to hire a consultant to assess the damage. In early May 2023, however, a visual assessment showed the pier remained structurally safe, officials said, albeit with some minor, storm-related damage to the pier's railings and pump station. Navy listens to local residents’ input on potential issues of 3 aircraft carriers "While necessary repairs to the pier’s facilities and railings have been completed, repairs to the pump station will continue for several weeks and will not impact public access," the City of San Diego said. "However, the pier’s ...

National City police make arrests in deadly Halloween party shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. -- National City police and other local authorities gathered Friday to announce that two people were arrested this week in the killings of 18-year-old Edwin Barrera and 16-year-old Gillian Aguilera, who were gunned down on East 17th Street after attending a Halloween party last October.“Outside of this Halloween party, emerging criminal street gang members began hunting down what they considered to be rivals and in order to do that, to really make a name for themselves, they were going to commit murder. Victim Barrera was confronted by them, shot and killed -- 16-year-old Gillian Aguilera was a bystander who was tragically also murdered," said San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan.Authorities say the suspects were 17 years old when they committed the killings. They’re in the juvenile court system now, but the district attorney is working to get them tried as adults. Woman gets into housing after more than a decade living on street Police say durin...

Nearly 900,000 fentanyl pills seized at border

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Nearly 900,000 fentanyl pills were seized Monday at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry's cargo facility, authorities said.The drug interception happened around 3:30 p.m. when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers conducted a search of a white 2000 Ford cargo van driven by a 45-year-old Mexican national applying for entry into the U.S., according to CBP. CBP officers inspecting the vehicle found a total of 12 packages containing around 858,000 blue fentanyl pills hidden inside of the porcelain sinks, per border officials. World’s largest cruise ship almost ready to start sailing from Florida “Narcotics traffickers will try new and innovative ways to smuggle dangerous drugs across our borders, but CBP officers are always on their toes,” said Rosa Hernandez, Port Director for the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. “Thanks to our officers’ experience, this interception prevented hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills from ever reaching our communities.”Authorities confirmed the dr...

House to consider resolution pushing for emergency declaration amid Tijuana sewage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego congressional leaders are upping the pressure on officials to declare the ongoing sewage spill from Tijuana into the region's southernmost beaches a federal state of emergency with a new amendment introduced Friday.Rep. Scott Peters introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act -- an appropriations bill for the military, including construction -- that would call on federal officials to declare the wastewater contamination a federal emergency.The resolution, co-sponsored by Representatives Sara Jacobs and Juan Vargas, would also codify the federal government's commitment to abide by a 2022 agreement with Mexico -- known as Minute 328 -- to reduce wastewater contamination through infrastructure projects on both sides of the border. Rare ‘corpse plant’ to go into bloom at San Diego Botanic Garden In a press release, Peters' office said the resolution was introduced as an amendment to the defense appropriation act because of "the dangerous b...

Judge awards Black church $1 million after BLM banner burned by Proud Boys during protest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge on Friday awarded more than $1 million to a Black church in downtown Washington, D.C. that sued the far-right Proud Boys for tearing down and burning a Black Lives Matter banner during a 2020 protest.Superior Court Associated Judge Neal A. Kravitz also barred the extremist group and its leaders from coming near the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church or making threats or defamatory remarks against the church or its pastor for five years.The ruling was a default judgment issued after the defendants failed to show up in court to fight the case.Two Black Lives Matter banners were pulled down from Metropolitan AME and another historically Black church and burned during clashes between pro-Donald Trump supporters and counterdemonstrators in December 2020.The destruction took place after weekend rallies by thousands of people in support of Trump’s baseless claims that he won a second term, which led to dozens of arrests, several stabbings and injuries...

16 kidnapped police employees released in southern Mexico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — After three days of captivity, 16 police employees kidnapped in the southern Mexico were released Friday.Rutilio Escandón, governor of Chiapas state, confirmed their return on Twitter. “I want to inform the people of Chiapas and Mexico that the 16 kidnapped colleagues have been released this afternoon,” he wrote in the post.No details were given on the circumstances of their release. The kidnappers had demanded the dismissal of three local police officials in Chiapas and the release of local singer Neyeli Cinco, who was abducted last week by another gang.The police workers were captured Tuesday by gunmen in several vans that intercepted a police transport truck on the Ocozocoautla-Tuxtla Gutiérrez highway. The gunmen took all the male employees but left 17 women.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the group worked at a local prison, apparently as guards or administrative staff, though they are formally employed by the state police. After the kidnappin...

Passengers were stuck because United Airlines canceled their flights. The CEO took a private plane

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby apologized Friday for hopping on a private plane to get out of the New York area while thousands of United passengers were stranded because the airline canceled so many flights in Newark, New Jersey.“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in a statement issued by the airline. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days — often through severe weather — to take care of our customers.”Kirby concluded by promising “to better demonstrate my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers.”Kirby caught the private flight from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Denver on Wednesday, when United canceled 750 flights — one-fourth of its schedule for the day. That figure does not include flights on United Express. United has canceled nearly 3,000 flights this week, w...

Report: Rockets sign Fred VanVleet to three-year, $130M deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:18:06 GMT

The Houston Rockets have signed former Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet to a three-year, $130-million deal according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.Free agent G Fred VanVleet has agreed on a three-year, $130 million contract with the Houston Rockets, @KlutchSports CEO Rich Paul and agent Erika Ruiz tell ESPN. Rockets land ex-Raptors All-Star in his prime at 29 years old. pic.twitter.com/B6WwPmLYq1— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2023It is the first max contract signed this summer.VanVleet, 29, has always been an advocate for betting on yourself. An undrafted guard out of Wichita State, he spent his entire career with the Raptors organization, rising up the ranks from the Raptors 905 to the sixth man and eventually the heir apparent to fan favourite Kyle Lowry.He was selected to his first All-Star game in the 2021-2022 season when he averaged a career-high 20.3 points while shooting 37 per cent from deep and dishing out 6.7 assists in his first season replacing Lo...