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MTA board unanimously votes to back MCAS ballot question

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

The board of the Massachusetts Teacher Association has voted unanimously to back a ballot question eliminating the state’s MCAS exam graduation requirement, kicking off the next step in the prominent campaign.“The elected leadership of the MTA has made clear how educators feel about the high-stakes nature of the MCAS exams and the unjust use of them as a graduation requirement,” MTA President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy said in a statement following Sunday’s vote.Two ballot initiative petitions ending the MCAS graduation requirement were filed by the Aug. 2 deadline. If approved by the Attorney General’s office, the petitions must receives about 75,000 signatures by mid-November to be put on the November 2024 ballot.McCarthy and other MTA members were among the signatures on the filed petitions. The union’s board of directors met Sunday to officially vote to support and approve the gathering of signatures for the ballot initiative.The...

Boston Acting Mayor Ed Flynn tours Mass and Cass: ‘It was worse than I expected’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

Ed Flynn started his week with boots on the ground at the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue, making good on his pledge to address the squalid conditions there during his 10-day stint as Boston’s acting mayor.Flynn initiated the 90-minute tour, which was held at 6 a.m. on Monday, allowing him the opportunity to observe what the area looks like before the city has a chance to clean it up.He was joined by members of the Boston Police Department, including Larry Calderone, who heads the city’s largest police union.“I think it was important for me to see for myself the deteriorating conditions at Mass and Cass,” Flynn said, later adding, “It was worse than I expected.”He pointed to the “squalor” and “rampant drug abuse in public” he saw in the area long known for its open-air drug dealing and homeless encampments, adding that the mental health challenges of almost everyone he encountered there was not something he was expecting.“The mental health aspect of it...

Megan Thee Stallion describes daily suffering after Tory Lanez shooting during rapper’s sentencing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

By Andrew Dalton, Associated PressLOS ANGELES (AP) — Megan Thee Stallion said she has suffered daily since rapper Tory Lanezshot her in the feet three years ago in a written statement read during Lanez’s sentencing, which will stretch into Tuesday.“Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace,” Megan said in a statement read by Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta. “Slowly but surely, I’m healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”The hip-hop star, who testified during the trial, said she struggled with whether she would appear to give the statement in person, but said she “simply could not bring myself to be in a room with Tory again.”She asked that her absence not be taken as a sign of indifference, and urged Judge David Herriford to issue a stiff sentence.The judge had been expected to sentence Lanez Monday at a hearing that often can take only a couple of hours, but Herriford had attorneys for t...

Family demands answers after girl, 14, found in Camp Pendleton barracks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The family of a 14-year-old girl who was discovered in the barracks on Camp Pendleton in June is demanding answers.The girl was reported missing on June 13, four days after running away from home, according to San Diego County Sheriff's Department. She was found on the Marine Corps base north of Oceanside on June 28.USMC officials say they questioned a Marine with the Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 1st Marine Logistics Group, but he was released to his command while the investigation continues. “My niece was trafficked and potentially purchased by a Marine at Camp Pendleton," the girl's aunt Cassandra alleged, speaking to reporters Monday. “She was raped by a Marine at Camp Pendleton. His identity is still unknown to the family.” Previously homeless teen reunites with police officer who changed his ‘whole course of life’ The family says it learned this week from Naval Criminal Investigative Service that the investigation into what happened only began a week ago.&n...

East County license plate-reading cameras result in stolen vehicle arrests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

EL CAJON, Calif. -- License plate-reading cameras, or Flock Safety ALPR, helped El Cajon police in the arrest of two stolen vehicle suspects over a two-day span, authorities said.The street light surveillance cameras, which were on a brief test run last week and are expected to be fully deployed by the end of the month, alert authorities when a stolen vehicle or known wanted vehicle from a state or national crime database is detected, Lt. Keith MacArthur with the El Cajon Police Department said in a news release Monday.The first incident occurred Sunday when authorities received multiple alerts on the cameras about a stolen vehicle driving through the west end of El Cajon, according to police. Officers identified the vehicle as one taken on Aug. 2 from a San Diego neighborhood. Previously homeless teen reunites with police officer who changed his ‘whole course of life’ When the suspect attempted to drive away from police, the stolen car's tire blew out and crashed into a curb...

Gold Star families of troops killed in Kabul airport bombing speak out

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Several Gold Star families of U.S. troops killed in the 2021 Kabul airport bombing spoke at a public forum Monday in Escondido.Families representing six of the 13 servicemembers killed nearly two years ago in the suicide bombing at the airport during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan gave emotional testimony.“To say it's time to move on and there's nothing more to be said, as to the planning and the execution of how our country wrapped a two-decade war, is an insult to all of us," said Alicia Lopez, mother of Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez. Family demands answers after girl, 14, found in Camp Pendleton barracks Families testified during a public forum at City Hall in Escondido, organized by Congressman Darrell Issa.“One of the questions, of course, is did they have to die?” Issa asked during the forum.Families expressed pain and anger over the U.S. evacuation and the bombing that killed 11 Marines -- many of those from Camp Pendleton -- along with a Navy sailor a...

Thousands of flight cancellations, 1.1 million lose power as strong storms hit eastern US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of U.S. flights were canceled or delayed, and more than 1.1 million homes and businesses lost power Monday as destructively strong storms, including potential tornadoes, hail and lightning, moved through the eastern U.S.Rain began falling in the Washington area shortly after 5 p.m., and the skies gradually turned an ominous dark gray, a precursor to the severe weather and mass power outages that were predicted. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the greater D.C. area, lasting until 9 p.m., as well as a flood warning extending through Tuesday morning. A special Weather Service statement warned, “There is a significant threat for damaging and locally destructive hurricane-force winds, along with the potential for large hail and tornadoes, even strong tornadoes.”The storms’ spread was massive, with tornado watches and warnings posted across 10 states from Tennessee to New York. The National Weather Service said more than 29.5 milli...

New York City doctor charged with sexually assaulting unconscious patients and filming it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City doctor was charged Monday in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of at least six women, including several patients who were drugged, filmed and assaulted during appointments at a prestigious local hospital, prosecutors said. Zhi Alan Cheng was arraigned Monday on charges of sexually abusing three of his patients at New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital and raping three other women inside his apartment in Queens, New York. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. The 33-year-old gastroenterologist was terminated from his hospital job in December after his arrest for allegedly raping a female acquaintance in his Queens home. At the time, the woman told authorities she had discovered videos of Cheng abusing her and multiple other women.As investigators searched his home and devices, they uncovered a trove of video evidence showing the doctor abusing women inside his home and workplace, according to the new indictment. The footage showed Cheng groping t...

K-pop star Suga becomes 3rd BTS member to begin military service in South Korea

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Following his debut solo tour earlier this year, Suga, the K-pop superstar rapper/singer/songwriter, has become the third member of BTS to begin South Korea’s compulsory military service.“We would like to inform our fans that SUGA has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement,” Big Hit Music said in a statement. “We ask you for your continued love and support for SUGA until he completes his military service and safely returns. Our company will spare no effort in providing support for our artist.”In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 are required by law to perform 18-21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea.The law gives special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers if they have obtained top prizes in certain competitions and are assessed to have enhanced national prest...

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi reinstated to India’s Parliament days after top court’s order

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:19:30 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament on Monday reinstated top opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker three days after the country’s top court halted his criminal defamation conviction for mocking the prime minister’s surname.His reinduction as a member of Parliament is likely to strengthen the opposition’s effort to corner Narendra Modi’s government ahead of a no-confidence motion this week over deadly ethnic violence that has roiled India’s northeastern state of Manipur for more than three months.A fierce critic of Modi and his main challenger in the 2024 polls, Gandhi was ousted from Parliament after his conviction by a magistrate’s court in March. The Supreme Court stayed his conviction Friday, which means it is temporarily halted while the court goes into Gandhi’s appeal in detail before issuing a final ruling.The court’s order also means that Gandhi will be able to contest next year’s general elections unless a final court decision goes against him.The defamation case invo...