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Battenfeld: MBTA chief dishes out high-paying jobs with no bidding or advertising

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

The MBTA did not advertise or put out to bid four new high-ranking hires that could end up costing more than $1 million a year, officials admit.T General Manager Phillip Eng instead dished out the four new positions to cronies that he worked with at previous jobs in New York.Dennis Varley, the new “chief of stations” who worked with Eng at the Long Island Railroad, will be making $265,000 a year.Another Long Island Railroad official, Rod Brooks, the new “senior adviser for capital operations and safety,” will be making $120 an hour. If Brooks works a 40-hour week that comes out to more than $250,000 a year.Sam Zhou, the new “assistant general manager of engineering and capital,” who comes from the New York Department of Transportation, will also be making $265,000 annually.Doug Connett, the new “chief of infrastructure” who worked with Eng in New York, will be pulling down a mere $260,000 a year.Eng must be emulating the UMass system, which routinely hires “assistant vice chancellor...

Could top prospect Jackson Holliday join the Orioles this season? GM Mike Elias ‘wouldn’t rule it out.’

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

The chances Jackson Holliday makes his MLB debut this season are small. But they’re not zero.Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Friday he “wouldn’t rule it out” when asked if Holliday could play for Baltimore in 2023. However, Elias followed that by downplaying the possibility of the 19-year-old top prospect from jumping two more levels in the season’s final two months.“I wouldn’t rule it out, but, I mean, I don’t rule out anything, as you can probably tell,” Elias said during his pre-trade deadline news conference. “One step at a time. He’s in Double-A. He was in high school a year ago.”Holliday, the No. 1 overall pick in last summer’s draft, has dominated every level of the minor leagues. The shortstop hit .396 with Low-A Delmarva to begin his first full professional season, posted a .940 OPS in 57 games with High-A Aberdeen and is now hitting .357 in 10 games with Doubl...

Bono: How to stop our kids from vaping

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

At a recent congressional hearing, Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, expressed concern about the illegal Chinese-manufactured flavored, disposable vaping products widely available nationwide. He noted that many of these products are made in unregulated facilities and could be laced with fentanyl — threatening the health and well-being of children.In response, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said it is of great concern that the highly lethal drug is now ending up in illegal, foreign-made vapes and that the United States needs an all-of-government approach to protect kids from this threat.As a parent and grandparent, I couldn’t agree more.It is not that the government has done nothing, but it needs to do more.In 2020, the FDA removed flavored, cartridge-based e-cigarettes from store shelves.  Unfortunately, it did not include the illegal, flavored, disposable vapes that appeal to minors. As a result, these products continue to be produced and aggressively market...

Editorial: Red states are powering Biden’s economy

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

The economy President Joe Biden likes to brag about is powered by Republican states.Economic warning signs abound. Inflation is cooling off, but it remains elevated. Our massive national debt means inflation won’t retreat permanently into the night either. Credit card debt has hit a record, nearing $1 trillion. Banks are tightening lending standards, which is likely to put a damper on future economic growth.The inversion between the yields of two- and 10-year treasuries reached a four-decade high this month. That’s perhaps the most accurate historical indicator that a recession is coming within the next two years.But running for re-election demands economic happy talk. After all, “Vote for me, I wrecked the economy” won’t win much support. So Biden is left looking for data points to convince you things are humming along.One such statistic is earnings, which jumped an average of 5.4% between the first quarters of last year and this year. Biden wants to claim credit for this improveme...

Boston’s Extreme on ‘Rise’ again with new album, tour

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

“Rise” thumps along nicely for two minutes. The lead track from “Six,” Extreme’s first album in 15 years, “Rise” makes use of a tough riff, big chorus, and furious stomp. But the first half of the song is purely prologue to Nuno Bettencourt’s guitar solo.Bettencourt’s guitar breakdown is a Frankenstein’s monster built out of blues-on-speed, neo-classical metal, triple time prog rock, and thrashy and trashy grunge (and a ton of indescribable-and-infinitely -complex flourishes).“There are two ways to solo, one is that you are thinking, ‘How can I show off here, how can I impress people,’ and I think that’s the bad way to go,” Bettencourt told the Herald. “The other is that it doesn’t have to impress anybody else. But it has to excite you… There’s a feeling that you get and it’s the same feeling you got when you first started to play.”Bettencourt knows he’s on to something good when he gets that teenage jolt. He got it when he came up with the solo on “Rise.” So did a million other lis...

Dear Abby: Son’s PDA with girlfriend makes mom cringe

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

Dear Abby: My son is dating a girl I can’t stand. I’m not too crazy about my son right now, either. I no longer want to be out in public with them because their public displays of affection are so over the top it makes me ill. I cannot imagine spending every holiday, birthday or whatever with them for the rest of my life. He hasn’t told us anything about this person. We don’t even know her last name. Help! — Turned-Off Mom in IndianaDear Mom: You didn’t mention your son’s age or how long he has been involved with this young woman. It appears they are both quite young. Romances that burn with this kind of intensity usually cool down fairly quickly. In the meantime, be patient. Say nothing that will cause you to be perceived as the “enemy.”If you would like more information about the girl, ask her in a non-threatening way. (“Are you a schoolmate?” “Do you have a last name?” “Does your family live in to...

Judge sends mom accused of DUI in deaths of kids on SR-78 back to jail

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A teary Sandra Ortiz was sent back to jail Friday afternoon.The 33-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence, gross vehicular manslaughter and child endangerment. Ortiz was released from custody last month with specific terms to follow. On Friday, prosecutors said she violated three of those conditions by drinking alcohol, leaving San Diego County and not charging her monitor, leaving the battery to die without her being monitored."Now it’s concerning that the defendant has violated 3 of her SOR conditions in matter of 2 to three weeks," said Deputy District Attorney Stephanie De Jesus. Fatal crash prompts road closures along I-805, SR-52 connector Ortiz was taken into custody and her bail was set at $100,000. She can be transferred to an alcohol treatment facility once a bed becomes available. On Father’s Day, Ortiz was driving her six children to a park in San Marcos, when luggage fell off their car. According to authorities, she pulled o...

B.C. port workers vote to reject mediated agreement

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

Port workers in British Columbia have voted to reject a mediated contract offer, extending job action that prevented billions in goods from moving for almost two weeks earlier this month.In a letter posted on the union’s website, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada President Rob Ashton says workers are now calling on their employers to “come to the table” and negotiate directly, instead of doing so through the BC Maritime Employers Association.The rejection raises the prospect of back-to-work legislation to end the uncertainty at more than 30 port terminals and other sites, including Canada’s largest port in Vancouver.The four-year agreement between the union and maritime employers went to a vote of about 7,400 workers on Thursday and Friday, after union leaders presented the deal to local chapters on Tuesday.The deal worked out with federal mediators had put a temporary halt to a 13-day strike that had commenced July 1, but its fate see-sawed ...

‘God willing, we will meet again in Libya.’ A migrant family’s tale shows chaos at Tunisian border

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

When Mbengue Nyimbilo Crepin regained consciousness after collapsing in the desert, the sun had already set. Tunisian authorities had violently forced him, his wife and their 6-year-old daughter across the border to Libya by foot without water, in the blazing heat, he said. Nyimbilo crumpled to the ground, exhausted and dehydrated, but urged his wife to carry on with little Marie and catch up to dozens of other migrants ahead.“God willing, we will meet again in Libya,” he told them. Nyimbilo eventually made it there — only to find out days later that his wife and daughter almost certainly did not. A graphic photo widely shared on social media shows the lifeless body of a Black woman with braided hair next to a little girl, their faces down in the sand. The child is curled up next to the woman, her bare feet red and swollen, likely from walking on blistering hot sand. Nyimbilo said he immediately recognized his wife’s yellow dress, pulled up on her body, and his daughter’...

A timeline of events surrounding strike action at B.C.’s ports

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:19:40 GMT

The union representing about 7,400 port workers in British Columbia has announced that its members have voted to reject a mediated contract with employers, in a move that prolongs uncertainty surrounding the province’s ports.Here is a timeline surrounding the events.2022Nov. 30: The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association provides notice to commence collective bargaining to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada.2023Feb. 16: Negotiations begin.March 20: The ILWU serves a notice of dispute to the federal government, signalling an impasse, and requests the appointment of a conciliation officer.March 29: Talks enter a 60-day conciliation period.March 31: The existing collective agreement between the BCMEA and the ILWU expires.May 30: Conciliation ends. Talks enter a cooling-off period of 21 days.June 5: The ILWU’s negotiating committee authorizes a strike vote to be conducted on June 9 and 10.June 12: The ILWU says members voted 99.24 per cent in fav...