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Battenfeld: Maura Healey must take action to protect vulnerable children

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

As police intensify their search for the body of Harmony Montgomery, Gov. Maura Healey should be a catalyst for change in the way the state protects and often fails our most vulnerable citizens — children.HarmonyA new report by the Office of the Child Advocate concludes Massachusetts has not done enough to protect children in the wake of Montgomery’s tragic murder.How many more Harmonys must there be before the state takes action? How many more task forces or study groups do we have to have before another kid dies in custody?Now is the time for the new governor to intervene and appoint an independent special counsel to oversee reform at the Department of Children and Families and state judicial system, including the Committee for Public Counsel Services.The entire child protection system, including courts and court-appointed lawyers, which now favors biological parents over the safety of children, should be Healey’s focus. Give the special counsel the power to investigate and ...

ASK IRA: Was Friday hubris or common sense for the Heat ahead of play-in?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

Q: This was ridiculous, considering this team still had something to play for. This team needs players who aren’t looking to be babysat. – Paolo.A: And I agree that it was surprising the Heat sat out so many regulars when there remained a (longshot) chance to move up in the seedings. But I’m sure Erik Spoelstra and his staff also appreciated that the odds were overwhelmingly in favor of the Nets holding on to No. 6. And that, in fact, is how it played out, with Brooklyn defeating Orlando, therefore making the Heat result moot. So look at it the other way: Can you imagine the outrage if, four nights before a win-and-in play-in game on Tuesday night, a key member of the rotation was lost to injury in a relatively insignificant game? That’s the difference with the play-in round, that there is not a weeklong buffer to protect against a late-season injury.Q: Something’s got to change. The end of the NBA regular season is a joke. – Kevin.A: I would say ...

Friday’s high school scores and highlights

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTSBASEBALLIn nonleague action, Finn Hydra tossed a no-hitter for Monomoy (1-2) in a 6-0 shutout win over Cape Cod Tech. … Nick Ayres belted a grand slam for Duxbury (2-1) in an 11-5 win over Nauset.Michael DeGagne finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a double to go with a trio of RBI and a run scored, as Westport (1-1) coasted to a 12-4 victory over Case in the South Coast Conference. … Center fielder David Johnson went 3-for-3 and scored three runs, and Dom Pefine got the win on the mound as North Andover (1-0) bested Arlington, 18-3. … Kevin Doyle batted 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI as Bridgewater-Raynham (3-0) defeated Framingham 10-0 in six innings.GIRLS LACROSSEFreshman Kayden Smith scored four goals in her debut, while junior Eva Kelliher netted a hat trick as Hanover (1-0) topped Plymouth North 14-8 in Patriot League play.Abby Pitts found the back of the net three times for Old Colony in a 6-5 Mayflower Athletic Conference win over Tri-County.Lucy Mawn sni...

Lucas: Showdown on Beacon Hill

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

You don’t audit us, and we won’t audit you.That is what House Speaker Ron Mariano should or could be saying to Diana DiZoglio.DiZoglio is the 39-year-old new state auditor who has caused consternation at the State House — and particularly among the legislative leadership — with her vow to audit the Legislature, beginning with the 160-member House and ending with the 40-member Senate.Both branches are controlled by Democrats. DiZoglio also is a Democrat who served in both the House and Senate before being elected auditor in the last election.She promised to audit the Legislature during her campaign and is now planning to do so.Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka maintain that DiZoglio, under the three equal but separate branches of state government — the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive — does not have the authority to conduct such audits.DiZoglio believes she does.“Maybe she thinks she’s uber-powerful,” Mariano said. The Legislature, he and Spilka maint...

Boston gun violence concentrated in four neighborhoods

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

A weeklong workshop aimed at reducing gun violence in Boston concluded that most of the crimes were occurring among a small number of people in four neighborhoods, with primarily Black men harmed.The data, compiled by the Boston Police Department, show serious violence was highly concentrated in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan and Roxbury from 2018 to 2022, according to a presentation provided by the city.Further, 84.6%, or roughly 115 of the city’s 136 homicide victims, and about 78%, or 49 of 63 homicide offenders from 2020-2022 were Black, with the majority of these crimes committed by or killing men in general.“We will not tolerate any neighborhood feeling like residents have to live in fear of violence or experience loss that ripples down, generation after generation,” Mayor Michelle Wu said at a Friday press conference in Roxbury. “We have the resources. We have the expertise. We just have to put it all together.”The data presented at this week’s Violence Reduction Center ...

All the important milestones to track during the 2023 Red Sox season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

Baseball is a team sport, but watching players strive for and reach significant milestones can be as thrilling as the season itself.Fans probably don’t remember much about the 2015 Red Sox, who went 78-84 with a finish at the bottom of the division, but David Ortiz’s odyssey to the 500 Club is unforgettable.Rafael Devers has already spent years putting his name all over the pages of the franchise record books, and he’s still only 26 years old. The 2017 ALDS ended in disappointment, but he become the youngest player in MLB history to hit an inside-the-park home run in a postseason game. Amidst the unsatisfactory 2022 campaign, he set a Red Sox record for extra-base hits before turning 26.Of course, the overall, collective results matter. But why not appreciate the parts as well as their sum? Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters the world has ever known. Does the fact that he never won a ring change that? It shouldn’t.This is a team full of players on t...

Liberals pledge revamp of forced-labour bill, possible enforcement rules surprise MP

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

OTTAWA — The Trudeau government is revamping its approach to modern-day slavery, promising new legislation that caught off guard the Liberal MP who has been steering a bill on forced labour through Parliament.“There is a limited lifespan to this Parliament,” Toronto MP John McKay said in an interview.McKay has been stickhandling Bill S-211, which would update Canada’s laws of forced labour and child labour in supply chains.The bill is nearing its final phase before becoming law as soon as this month. It would require Canadian firms and government departments to scrutinize supply chains, with the aim of protecting workers.Firms would have to check that none of their products or components are made in sweatshops employing children or people forced to work excessive hours for free or for paltry pay, and issue reports.The bill was first tabled in the upper chamber by Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne, whose office did not respond to an interview request.Miville-Dechêne has pr...

Budget watchdog troubled by spin around latest report on carbon pricing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s Parliamentary budget officer said he is troubled by what he describes as the selective use of facts from his new financial analysis of carbon pricing. Yves Giroux said the report has to be put into context alongside the costs of all other climate policies, including doing nothing.“There will be costs no matter what we do,” Giroux said in an interview with The Canadian Press.Giroux opened a political firestorm last week with a new report which concluded carbon price rebates are worth more than the direct cost of the carbon price for 80 per cent of families. But he said when the carbon price’s economic impact on job growth and incomes is factored in, 80 per cent of families in most provinces might end up with less money.The Liberals, who campaigned successfully on carbon pricing in both 2019 and 2021, jumped on the first point to insist the strategy makes life more affordable.The Conservatives, who have campaigned heavily on scrapping carbon p...

Ask Amy: Retired teachers not fans of loan forgiveness

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

Dear Amy: I belong to a group of nine women who are all retired teachers of various ages. We have met monthly for 35 years.We started this group because, although we worked for the same school district, several moved to different schools, and this was a way for us to stay connected.In the past we have been respectful, loving, and supportive toward each other. Lately I have not been feeling the love, and I am devastated.At our last meeting I announced, very proudly, that my daughter (also an educator) received loan forgiveness of $52,000.My daughter has two master’s degrees and has been working with children for 20 years. She has paid promptly on her loans for 10 years now, and this debt forgiveness is truly a blessing.When I mentioned this news — my goodness, you would have thought I told them she’d robbed a bank!All but one person (who I had told earlier and was very supportive), expressed their opinions about the loan forgiveness program and how they were against their tax d...

Horoscopes April 8, 2023: Patricia Arquette, choose personal growth

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:05 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Taylor Kitsch, 42; Patricia Arquette, 55; Robin Wright, 57; John Schneider, 63.Robin Wright (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP) Happy Birthday: You have high expectations. Monitor what’s possible, and consider the best way to take advantage of an offer without taking on more than you can handle emotionally or financially. Set a budget you can afford and make it clear to anyone trying to talk you into something. Choose personal growth over boosting up someone else. Your numbers are 7, 18, 26, 28, 37, 42, 45.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take nothing for granted. Do for yourself and be clear regarding what you are willing and able to do for others. Expand your interests, learn something new and refuse to let anyone talk you out of your hard-earned cash. Don’t share personal information. 2 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Formulate a plan, share your strategy with people you want to help or know you can count on, and proceed. A change in the way...