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NH woman faces federal charge in Tyngsboro daycare child porn investigation 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

A former New Hampshire state representative is now facing a federal charge in connection with a child pornography investigation involving a daycare in Tyngsboro, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced. Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, has been charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and aiding and abetting, the US Attorney’s office said. Investigators said another woman, Lindsay Groves, took explicit photos of children while she was working at Creative Minds Daycare in Tyngsboro. Laughton and Groves, officials said, were once in a relationship.In a statement on Tuesday, the US Attorney’s office said investigators found more than 10,000 text messages between Laughton and Groves “that included discussion about, and transfer of, explicit photographs that Groves had taken…”Among the text messages, the US Attorney’s office said investigators found “at least four sexually explicit images of children who appear to be approximately three t...

Young artist recognized for portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

A young artist who painted a portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama was recently recognized with a special surprise from the Obamas.9-year-old Grace Jean originally painted her Obama as part of a class at the Cambridge Art Center. Speaking with 7NEWS, Jean said the choice was easy after she was tasked with depicting her role model. “I decided to make Michelle Obama because she always inspired me by always saying ‘Don’t give up and always keep going,’” Jean said. After almost a month of work and a few roadblocks, Jean’s work was complete. “She used to come home and cry and say, ‘I can’t do it, I can’t do it,’” said Jean’s mother, Jenny Andre-Jean. “I said ‘Listen, you’re not a quitter. You have to continue going. Not everything in life is going to come easy.”Inspired by the sight of Mrs. Obama’s official portrait during a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts, Jean always hoped, one day, her role model would see her own work. The portrait won the praise of Jean’s ...

Meet the new board: Healey overhauls Convention Center Authority 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

As Gov. Maura Healey swore in her seven new appointees to the board of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority on Tuesday, they were joined by another new member who had already been quietly appointed by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty, who earlier this month announced he wouldn’t seek reelection after two decades on the council, was introduced as a new member of the board that oversees two convention centers in Boston, the MassMutual Center in Springfield, and the Boston Common parking garage.After the State House ceremony, the mayor’s office said Wu swore Flaherty into his new post on July 17. Flaherty’s name does not appear on the MCCA’s list of board members on its website, and he was not mentioned in a Healey administration press release on June 29 that included other mayoral appointees.Flaherty stood off to the side and appeared to take a ceremonial second oath of office next to fellow South Boston resident Michael ...

Las Vegas police serve search warrant in Tupac Shakur killing investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

By RIO YAMAT and MARIA SHERMAN (Associated Press)LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities in Nevada confirmed Tuesday that they served a search warrant this week in connection with the long-unsolved killing of rapper Tupac Shakur nearly 30 years ago.Shakur, one of the most prolific figures in hip-hop, was killed on the night of Sept. 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He was 25.The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the search warrant was executed Monday in the nearby city of Henderson. Department spokesperson Aden OcampoGomez said he could not provide further details on the latest development in the case, including whether it was served at a home or a business, citing the open investigation.Nevada does not have a statute of limitations for prosecuting homicide cases.Tupac was gunned down inside a black vehicle stopped at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip. Shot multiple times, the rapper was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died a week later.Largely considere...

Phoenix scorches at 110 for 19th straight day, breaking big U.S. city records in global heat wave

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

By SETH BORENSTEIN and ANITA SNOW (Associated Press)PHOENIX (AP) — The extreme heat scorching Phoenix blazed into the record books Tuesday, the 19th consecutive day temperatures hit at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) in a summer of suffering echoing around much of the globe.As human-caused climate change and a newly formed El Nino are combining to shatter heat records worldwide, the Phoenix region stands apart among major metropolitan areas in the U.S.No other major city – defined as the 25 most populous in the United States – has had any stretch of 110-degree days or 90-degree nights longer than Phoenix, said weather historian Christopher Burt of the Weather Company.“It’s the longest streak that we’ve ever seen in this country,” said NOAA Climate Analysis Group Director Russell Vose, who chairs a committee on national records. “When you have several million people subjected to that sort of thermal abuse, there are impacts.&#...

Healey administration declines to detail cost of other state-funded trips

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

The Healey administration declined Tuesday to provide records detailing the cost of all state-funded business trips taken by Gov. Maura Healey this year even as they provided figures for a recent trek to Ireland.Not all of Healey’s trips are funded by taxpayers, only those that are considered state business. Personal and political trips are not paid for using state dollars, and are typically covered personally or with campaign cash.The administration declined a Herald records request filed May 10 for airfare and hotel receipts for all flights leaving and returning to Massachusetts and hotel stays outside the state since the start of the year for the governor and accompanying staff members.“By law, records held by the Office of the Governor are not subject to the Massachusetts public records law,” a letter to the Herald said. “Governor Healey’s Office will evaluate public records requests based on the public records law, established exemptions, and any unique ...

As the planet warms, increasing worry about the impact that may have on infectious diseases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

By ZOYA TEIRSTEIN, GristNEW YORK (AP) — People around the world are living longer, healthier lives than they were just half a century ago. Climate change threatens to undo that progress. Across the planet, animals — and the diseases they carry — are shifting to accommodate a globe on the fritz. And they’re not alone: Ticks, mosquitos, bacteria, algae, even fungi are on the move, shifting or expanding their historical ranges to adapt to climatic conditions that are evolving at an unprecedented pace.These changes are not happening in a vacuum. Deforestation, mining, agriculture, and urban sprawl are taking bites out of the globe’s remaining wild areas, contributing to biodiversity loss that’s occurring at a rate unprecedented in human history. Populations of species that humans rely on for sustenance are dwindling and getting pushed into ever-smaller slices of habitat, creating new zoonotic-disease hotspots. Meanwhile, the number of people experienc...

Crews battle brush fire near Kearny Mesa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Fire crews were battling a brush fire near Kearny Mesa Tuesday, officials said.According to SDFD, the approximately one acre brush fire began burning shortly before 1 p.m. near Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and Interstate 15, east of the freeway.No structures are currently being threatened and no evacuation orders are in place, SDFD said in a tweet. Mountain biker dies while trying to save dehydrated hikers in Jacumba Residents were asked to use caution when traveling near the area.Shortly before 1:40 p.m., SDFD announced that the eastward progress of the fire had been stopped.Air and ground assets, as well as brush engines designed for off-road capabilities have been assigned to the incident to assist, officials said.The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Bison attack visitors in North Dakota and Wyoming national parks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A bison severely injured a Minnesota woman on Saturday in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the National Park Service said in a statement on Tuesday.Park officials reported she was in serious but stable condition after suffering “significant injuries to her abdomen and foot.”The woman was taken to a Fargo hospital after being transported by ambulance to a hospital in Dickinson, about 30 miles (48.28 kilometers) east of Painted Canyon, a colorful Badlands vista popular with motorists, where she was injured at a trailhead.The attack is under investigation; exact details are unknown. Park Superintendent Angie Richman did not immediately respond to an email requesting information.On Monday, a bison charged and gored a 47-year-old Phoenix woman in Yellowstone National Park. She sustained significant injuries to her chest and abdomen and was taken by helicopter to an Idaho Falls hospital.Park officials reminded visitors that bison are large, powerful and wild, and ca...

Michigan charges 16 fake electors for Donald Trump with election law and forgery felonies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:17 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s attorney general filed felony charges Tuesday against 16 Republicans who acted as fake electors for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, accusing them of submitting false certificates confirming they were legitimate electors despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state.Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that all 16 individuals would get eight criminal charges, including two counts of forgery, which is a 14-year felony. The group includes Republican National Committeewoman Kathy Berden and Meshawn Maddock, former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party. “It would be malfeasance of the greatest magnitude if my department failed to act here in the face of overwhelming evidence of an organized effort to circumvent the lawfully cast ballots of millions of Michigan voters in a presidential election,” Nessel said in a statement. The group is alleged to have met on December 14 and signed their names to multiple certificates stating the...