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MBTA explores low-income fare program, estimates revenue loss

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

The MBTA expects to be able to implement a low-income fare program in 12 months, should the $5 million start-up cost included in the governor’s state budget proposal make it through the legislative process.Roughly 60,000 additional riders between the ages of 26-64, with incomes  at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, are expected to become eligible for half-price fares through this program, according to a presentation shared at Thursday’s Board of Directors meeting.“The implementation of a low-income fare program is a significant and complex project with a lot of different moving pieces,” said Steven Povich, MBTA director of fare policy and analytics.Healey, when presenting her state budget earlier this month, characterized means-tested fares as an equity initiative, saying the $5 million investment would provide start-up costs to implement such a program.Those funds would go toward building an online application, hiring additional staff, conducting the standard fare change ...

Surge in eating disorders spurs state legislative action

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Stranded at home amid pandemic lockdowns in spring 2020, Emma Warford stumbled down a social media rabbit hole in her quest to get in shape. Viral 28-day fitness challenges. YouTubers promising “hourglass abs.” Diet videos where slim-stomached influencers peddled calorie-tracking apps.Warford, then a 15-year-old starting volleyball player, bought a food scale and began replacing meals with energy drinks hawked by social media stars. Soon, her calorie cutting became a compulsion. By season’s end, she began volleyball games benched, too feeble to start. A year into the pandemic, her heart rate slowed and she was rushed to the hospital.Stories like Warford’s are why lawmakers in Colorado, California, Texas, New York and elsewhere are taking big, legislative swings at the eating disorder crisis. Warford, who’s now in recovery after two years of treatment, is among nearly 30 million Americans — about the population of Texas — who will struggle with an eating disorder ...

Senate Ethics admonishes Graham for campaign solicitations

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Ethics Committee is admonishing South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham for soliciting campaign contributions inside a federal building after a Nov. 2022 Fox News interview in which he asked viewers to donate to a GOP candidate. Graham violated Senate rules and standards of conduct because he was in a Senate office building when he did the interview, the leaders of the ethics panel said in a rare public letter released on Thursday. “The public must feel confident that Members use public resources only for official actions in the best interests of the United States, not for partisan political activity,” wrote Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Chris Coons, D-Del., and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, the panel’s Republican vice chairman. “Your actions failed to uphold that standard, resulting in harm to the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate. You are hereby admonished.” Coons and Lankford wrote that Graham solicited campaign contributions...

Appeal Court hears trucker convicted of killing Edmonton woman wants new trial

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

EDMONTON — Alberta’s Court of Appeal heard arguments Thursday that a former Ontario truck driver should be tried for a third time in the 2011 death of an Indigenous woman.Bradley Barton, 55, was sentenced to 12 1/2 years for manslaughter in the death of Cindy Gladue, a Métis and Cree woman who bled to death in a bathtub at the Yellowhead Inn in Edmonton.Peter Sankoff, one of Barton’s lawyers, said the exclusion of some evidence and the question of consent should warrant a new trial.Sankoff said Barton was unlawfully detained for an exceptionally long period of time.“You try spending 6 1/2 hours in police custody,” Sankoff told reporters outside the courthouse. “That is not a pleasant time no matter how many coffees they bring you. You’re not allowed to leave. That’s the problem.”During the hearing, Sankoff referred to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.“Everyone has rights,” he said. “To deny someone their rights just...

Endangered hooded vulture escapes from Bay Area zoo

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — An endangered hooded vulture escaped from a zoo aviary in the San Francisco Bay Area that was destroyed after a massive tree fell on it during a storm. But the bird has remained on zoo grounds, and officials were working Thursday to entice it back.The male hooded vulture and five other exotic birds, including two pied crows and three superb starlings, flew out from the aviary at the Oakland Zoo on Tuesday amid a wind-packed storm that pummeled the Bay Area, zoo spokeswoman Erin Dogan said. But the birds stayed on zoo grounds, and a team of at least 12 zoo workers armed with binoculars, nets and crates has already recovered the three starlings, Dogan said. “They are choosing to stay near the zoo and near the aviary because it seems that’s where they feel safe,” she said. The team has been working since Tuesday to entice the vulture with dead rats and the crows with mealworms to trap them and bring them back to safety, she said. All the birds hatched in captivit...

North Korea simulates nuclear attacks with drone, missiles

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday its latest cruise missile launches this week were part of nuclear attack simulations that also involved a test of a purported underwater attack drone as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to make his rivals “plunge into despair.”North Korea has stepped up its weapons demonstrations this month in a tit-for-tat response to the United States’ expanding military exercises with ally South Korea aimed at countering the North’s growing nuclear threat. The allies completed an 11-day exercise that included their biggest field training in years on Thursday, but North Korea is expected to continue its weapons tests as the United States reportedly plans to send an aircraft carrier in coming days for another round of joint drills with the South.Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim supervised a three-day exercise through Thursday that simulated nuclear counterattacks against enemy naval assets and ports that involved detonations of mock ...

Tom Brady becomes minority owner of WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady has acquired an ownership stake in the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.He attended an Aces game on May 31 and later sent Las Vegas star Kelsey Plum a jersey and other gifts.“I am very excited to be part of the Las Vegas Aces organization,” Brady said in a statement Thursday. “My love for women’s sports began at a young age when I would tag along to all my older sisters’ games — they were by far the best athletes in our house! We celebrated their accomplishments together as a family, and they remain a great inspiration to me. “I have always been a huge fan of women’s sports, and I admire the work that the Aces’ players, staff, and the WNBA continue to do to grow the sport and empower future generations of athletes. To be able to contribute in any way to that mission as a member of the Aces organization is an incredible honor.” Brady announced his retirement Feb. 1 at age 45. He won six Super Bowls with the New England...

Official: Willow oil project holds promise, faces obstacles

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Willow oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope is part of a “new era” of large-scale development in the region but it isn’t a sure thing, with litigation and costs among the factors that stand as potential impediments, a state official told lawmakers Thursday. John Crowther, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, said the scale of projects like Willow, which is on federal lands in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and was approved by the Biden administration last week, is “tremendous” and would benefit Alaska. He also lumped in as significant the Pikka oil project, which is on state lands east of the petroleum reserve.But he also said multibillion-dollar, multi-year projects are complex and there is “significant runway” for the ConocoPhillips Alaska-backed Willow project to get to the development and production stages. Australia-based Santos is working with Repsol to advance the Pikka project.Stat...

4 hospitalized after car crashes into Crystal Lake restaurant

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. -- A car crashed into the front of a restaurant in Crystal Lake Thursday evening sending four people to the hospital.According to the Crystal Lake Police Department, a Nissan Altima crashed into a restaurant located on the 1500 block of Carlemont Drive in Crystal Lake at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.Investigations revealed that the Nissan Altima was traveling westbound in the parking lot when they attempted to park their car. For an unknown reason, the vehicle continued driving over the sidewalk and struck the building before finally coming to a rest inside the restaurant.Four people were transported to a location hospital with injuries that varied from minor to serious.The driver of the vehicle was not injured.No further information has been provided at this time.Stay with WGN as this story develops.

Boil order issued in Bridgeview amid water main break

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:58:42 GMT

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Residents in the Village of Bridgeview are urged to boil their water as a precaution due to ongoing work on a water main break.The water system required repairs on Thursday. The Village of Bridgeview Public Works submitted a water sample for bacteriological testing and is awaiting confirmation that the water quality in Bridgeview is safe for drinking.This process is expected to take anywhere from 24-48 hours. Residents are asked to boil their water for a least five minutes before use for cooking, drinking, food preparation, washing dishes and/or brushing teeth.