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Healey leading new push for sex ed updates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey moved Wednesday to update the state’s sex education guidelines for the first time in 24 years.The updates are “inclusive, medically accurate and age appropriate,” Healey said at a State House press conference about the proposal, which she said covers LGBTQ+ health and wellness, mental and emotional health, personal safety, bodily autonomy, dating safety, violence prevention, physical health and hygiene, nutritionally balanced eating, physical activity, substance use disorder, and public, community and environmental health.In proposing the regulatory updates, the governor is trying to accomplish by the start of next school year something that lawmakers have been unable to accomplish for over a decade.Healey’s description of the framework covers much of the same ground and language as legislation aimed at updating schools’ approaches to sex education, a bill that has died several sessions in a row in the Massachusetts House.The Senate ha...

Aquarium welcomes Bray, a recently hatched endangered African penguin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

A new African penguin made her public debut at the New England Aquarium Wednesday. Bray hatched in late March and is now fully grown and able to join the rest of the penguins. Aquarium staff said breeding more of these penguins could help save the endangered species.“Their population has diminished by about 97% over the past 100 years so unfortunately there’s only about 10,400 pairs left in the wild as of last summer,” Brendan Dugan of the New England Aquarium said. “We’ve had 108 African penguin chicks over the New England Aquarium’s history, (Bray) being our first African penguin chick since 2019.” Bray joins some of her relatives in the penguin exhibit, including her great-grandmother Deco, the oldest penguin at the aquarium at age 41.

MASN: Orioles, Nationals reach agreement on some past payments, but others are headed to more arbitration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

After more than a decade of dispute over precisely how much the Orioles and Washington Nationals each were owed by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network for 2012 to 2016, the two clubs have reached a settlement, according to a person familiar with the agreement.The network, majority-owned by the Baltimore club, will pay both teams $99.2 million, according to the person, who said the calculation of interest payments, had been among the sticking points. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because neither team had made an announcement.The settlement closes a lengthy, bitter chapter between the teams during which they disagreed over the distribution of hundreds of millions of dollars for the broadcast rights to each teams’ games.But it does not necessarily end the quarrel between the clubs.Going forward, they must agree on how much each are owed beyond 2016. That determination is to be made by a Major League Baseball arbitration panel that has not yet convened a hearing on th...

Accused military secrets leaker Jack Teixeira pleads not guilty to the charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

WORCESTER — The Massachusetts Air National Guard member who is accused of sharing sensitive military secrets has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.Jack Teixeira, 21, of North Dighton, appeared in federal court in Worcester Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to all six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to national defense a federal grand jury leveled against him six days before.Teixeira was walked into Courtroom One right on time, 3:45 p.m., and offered his family seated in the front left benches a sustained smile, with a quick glance toward the media on the other side of the courtroom, as he was uncuffed. His attorneys waived a reading of his indictment.“We remain as committed as ever and our entire family continues to share complete and unwavering support of Jack as he faces this matter,” his family wrote in a statement distributed right after the hearing.“The important thing is Jack will now have his day in ...

Former Yankee Aaron Hicks excelling with rival Orioles after being cut with 2-plus years left on his contract

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

Aaron Hicks apparently just needed to get out of the bright lights of the Big Apple.That’s the way it looks as the ex-Yankee has set the world on fire as a member of the Baltimore Orioles over the last few weeks.The 33-year-old is slashing .340/.444/.604 with three homers and 10 RBI in 17 games with the O’s since agreeing to a deal to stay in the American League East on May 30.On Tuesday, Hicks smacked a homer and had four RBI as the Orioles — five games ahead of the Yankees in the standings — beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-6.“It’s been awesome,” Hicks told reporters after the game. “The team has really welcomed me since I got here, and been able to have opportunities pretty much from day one to play every single day. It’s been fun.”His outburst with the Orioles has been so good that his season OPS — including his .188/.263/.261 28-game performance with the Bombers this season — has shot up to .755 with an WRC+ of 1...

Search continues for suspect in SWAT standoff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- It's was an eventful Wednesday morning for some in the Clairemont neighborhood as a SWAT standoff lasting more than eight hours led to evacuations.The situation took place in a residential neighborhood on Diane Avenue and Appleton Street, which is right off of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. The San Diego Police Department responded to a domestic violence call reporting a firearm at a home in the area, just after 1 a.m. Police confirmed to FOX 5 that it involved a man and a woman. Father of two kids hit, killed on SR-78 speaks out The woman left the home at some point during the incident and authorities say she is safe. However, the man who is believed to be armed, remained inside the residence and refused to come out, SDPD said.According to authorities, a SWAT unit and a negotiations team were called to the scene to help resolve the matter peacefully. "Police officers responded, tried to call the individual out. That person has not come out yet, so at this point we have ...

S&P/TSX composite posts loss Wednesday despite energy gains, U.S. markets also lower

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

TORONTO — Losses in technology and battery metals helped lead Canada’s main stock index lower despite gains in energy Wednesday, while U.S. markets were also down.Markets were mostly flat, but beneath the surface is a continuing sector rotation as investors start to broaden their interest in the wake of a narrow, tech-focused rally, said Greg Taylor, chief investment officer at Purpose Investments.“If you want to see the market go higher, you need to have other sectors participate. That’s the goal,” he said.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 48.19 points at 19,705.95.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 102.35 points at 33,951.52.The S&P 500 index was down 23.02 points at 4,365.69,while the Nasdaq composite was down 165.10 points at 13,502.20.The Nasdaq led losses on major indexes in the U.S., down 1.2 per cent. Some of the biggest semiconductor names were down Wednesday, said Taylor, but the overall market fared fine.Among those companies were Inte...

WestJet CEO pledges fares will not rise due to airline mergers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech says bringing Swoop and Sunwing Airlines under its banner won’t lead to higher airfares, since integrating the discount carriers will also tamp down costs.Canada’s second-biggest airline will be able to swap out planes more easily and expand the range of destinations for travellers on the hunt for cheap tickets, the chief executive said in a phone interview Wednesday.“I don’t think this will mean higher fares,” he said.“With the scale, we will actually be able to operate more efficiently and also more reliably, because if something goes wrong, if it’s a small airline then it’s far more difficult for them to recover,” von Hoensbroech said. He pointed out the broad pool of reserve aircraft WestJet can draw on — unlike Swoop and Sunwing on their own, which count 16 and 18 planes, respectively.Nearly all 150-odd planes now under the WestJet, Swoop and Sunwing brands — the figure does not include reg...

EPA boosts use of biofuels but holds steady for corn-based ethanol production

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Wednesday increased the amount of biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s fuel supplies over the next three years, but held production totals steady for corn-based ethanol, disappointing the biofuel industry and farm advocates.A plan finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency sets biofuel blending volumes at 20.94 billion gallons in 2023, 21.54 billion gallons in 2024 and 22.33 billion gallons in 2025. The totals under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard are higher than levels set for 2022 and earlier years, but include just 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol in all three years.Most gasoline sold in the U.S. contains 10% ethanol, and the fuel is a key part of the economy in Iowa, Nebraska and other Midwest states. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the final rule would reduce reliance on foreign sources of oil by up to 140,000 barrels per day and support continued growth of biofuels that produce fewer greenhouse gas...

Former AP journalist and spokesman Jack Stokes dies at 73

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jack Stokes, a veteran journalist with The Associated Press who was the news cooperative’s steadfast supporter and served as its spokesman during the last years of his decades-long career before his retirement, has died. He was 73.Stokes, an avid cyclist and athlete, died unexpectedly after collapsing at his home in Queens on Sunday evening, said his longtime partner, Lorene Bradshaw.He was remembered fondly by former colleagues as a calm, funny and charming presence everywhere from shifts working overnight in his early days to the company’s basketball league that ran for a few years toward the end of his time at the AP.“Jack was a beloved colleague to generations of AP employees and at many times felt like our center of gravity,” said Josh Hoffner, national news director for the AP. “He loved the camaraderie of the AP and enhanced it every day.”The widely known and outgoing Stokes was often a bridge among AP’s various departments, making regular st...