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Opinion | Who Was the Real Shaved Woman of Chartres?

In August 1944, in a city near Paris, Robert Capa took a photograph of a woman cradling a baby in the middle of a jeering crowd, her head shaved and her forehead marked with a swastika. The woman, Simone Touseau, would become infamous — first as a symbol of the brutality of post-occupation France and later, through painstaking scholarship, as an example of the Nazi sympathies among some of the French during World War II. A novel released in France this summer has reinvented her once again, this time as a woman scorned. It’s a reinvention that is a disservice to the complicated truth about Ms. Touseau and her and other Frenchwomen’s deliberate collaboration with the Nazis. Women collaborated out of cowardice, self-interest and a whole range of ideological fervor. A reality we should contemplate frankly if we’re to have a proper accounting of the history of the war in France. The photograph, “The Shaved Woman of Chartres,” with the young Ms. Touseau at its center, was understood for a long time as a document of the brutal purges that took place during the liberation of France at the end of World War II. Extrajudicial punishments were carried out all over the country, including shaving the heads of women suspected of sleeping with the enemy.

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Quebec Still Longs for Its Lost Hockey Team, a Nationalist Symbol

When the Nordiques left Quebec nearly 30 years ago, the hockey team’s departure fueled the kind of mythologizing and nostalgia familiar to fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Nordiques’ stint in Quebec, playing there in the N.H.L. from 1979 to 1995, overlapped with the French-speaking province’s two failed attempts to secede from the rest of Canada, and the team’s identity melded with that of their fans: a linguistic minority struggling to assert itself in a part of the world dominated by English speakers. The Nordiques wore their politics on their sleeves, literally, putting the Quebec flag’s fleur-de-lis on their uniforms. They also sang Canada’s national anthem only in French. The team’s exit “left a hole in Quebec City and Quebec regional politics, and a hole in Francophone identity, as well,” said Jean-François Lisée, who led the separatist Parti Québécois from 2016 to 2018, and who is now a columnist for the newspaper Le Devoir.

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FanDuel promo code for Seahawks-Cowboys unlocks 30 to 1 odds bonus

Sports Betting Dime provides exclusive sports betting content to MassLive.com, including real-time odds, picks, analysis and sportsbook offers to help sports fans get in on the action. Please wager responsibly. The latest FanDuel promo code offer is getting football fans ready for Thursday Night Football. Bet $5 on either team’s moneyline to win $150 in bonus bets. The Dallas Cowboys (8-3) and Seattle Seahawks (6-5) would both make the playoffs if the season ended today. Bettors can boost the odds on this game by clicking here. FanDuel Sportsbook BET $5, WIN $150 BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER 21+ and present in participating states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. The Cowboys and Seahawks are in a strong position when it comes to the wild card, but both teams are running out of time to win the division. Dallas is facing a gauntlet of opponents to finish the season. Meanwhile, Seattle has a tough schedule with games against the 49ers, Eagles and Steelers left to play. With all that said, this is a pivotal game for both teams. The FanDuel Sportsbook app is the only place bettors can lock in this moneyline wager. Download the app and start betting on the NFL with the largest odds boost on the market. Click here to enable this FanDuel promo code offer and bet $5 on the Cowboys or Seahawks to win $150 in bonuses. Cowboys vs. Seahawks betting preview, odds Despite the fact that both of these teams are holding onto a playoff spot at the moment, the Cowboys are massive favorites tonight. The fact that they are playing at AT&T Stadium is definitely contributing to that spread, but it still feels like Dallas is a cut above Seattle. That doesn’t mean the Seahawks can’t pull off an upset. But at this point in time, the Cowboys should be the favorite. Both teams played on Thanksgiving, which means they have had a full week to prepare for this game. Sure, it’s a little different coming off of Thanksgiving and playing on Thursday again, but they have had a full week to prepare. Here’s a quick look at the current odds on Cowboys vs. Seahawks on Thursday Night Football (odds are subject to change before kickoff): Teams Spread Moneyline Total Points Seattle Seahawks +8.5 (-105) +350 Over 47.5 (-108) Dallas Cowboys -8.5 (-115) -450 Under 47.5 (-112) How to redeem this FanDuel promo code offer New users can sign up with FanDuel Sportsbook by following the step-by-step guide below: Click this link and create a new account by filling out the required fields with basic identifying information. Using any of the available payment methods, make a cash deposit of at least $10 into your newly created account. Download the FanDuel Sportsbook mobile app straight from the App Store or Google Play Store. Bet $5 on the Cowboys or Seahawks to win tonight. Players who choose right will win $150 in bonuses. Bettors can also take advantage of other promos. New and existing users can grab a no sweat same game parlay on Thursday Night Football. Bettors who place a same game parlay of three legs or more with +400 odds or longer will qualify for this promo. If that same game parlay loses, players will receive up to $100 back in bonus bets. Click here to enable this FanDuel promo code offer and bet $5 on the Cowboys or Seahawks to win $150 in bonuses. FanDuel Sportsbook BET $5, WIN $150 BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER 21+ and present in participating states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Get the latest sports betting news, advice and promos sent straight to your inbox. Enter your email here: Think you know Patriots football? Play the MassLive.com Prop Bet Showdown for a chance to win prizes! 21+ and present in a state with legal gambling? Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org to speak with a trained specialist to receive support. Specialists are available 24/7. Services are available in multiple languages and are free and confidential.

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Will a new day dawn for adult victims of clergy abuse?

Early this year, a retired phys ed teacher left her ranch house in Easthampton and drove down the interstate to tell her story of clergy abuse. It wasn’t Nancy A. Dunn’s first time before the Springfield Diocese’s review board, which meets in the red-brick Maguire Pastoral Center to hear allegations of clergy misconduct. But it was her last. The board later informed Dunn she needn’t have come back. Why? The diocese had already written her a six-figure check, she says she was told, to compensate her for a priest’s misconduct in the 1990s. Dunn still had questions. She wanted to know whether the Rev. Warren Savage had been held accountable, as the diocese had said he would, for engaging in a year-long sexual relationship with her nearly three decades ago. Savage remains in active ministry at Westfield State University. “My intention was never to destroy this man, it was to hold them accountable,” Dunn said of Savage and the diocese. “I wanted accountability and transparency from the church.” Today, Catholics worldwide continue to debate the circumstances under which sexual contact between priests and adults constitutes an abuse of power, even when it does not involve coercion. One new term is “vulnerable adult,” distinguishing that from decades of revelations of clergy abuse of children. Bishops in dioceses like Springfield’s face a call to reexamine how they can better protect vulnerable people, following this year’s apostolic letter, “Vos Estis Lux Mundi (You are the Light of the World).” The message from Pope Francis took effect April 30 and expanded the definition of who should be seen as vulnerable, after revelations of abuse of adults. That step has been hailed as a breakthrough for adult survivors of misconduct, though some observers caution conflicts in its wording could blunt reform. The case of Nancy Dunn presents local Catholic leaders with an opportunity to show how their thinking is evolving about a duty of protection. Statements by the diocese, however, seem to show no eagerness to adopt a more expansive view of adults who deserve to be treated as survivors of clergy misconduct. ‘Struggling with my sexuality’ Dunn believes that when Savage began a sexual relationship with her, she was “vulnerable” – and used that word in her first written statement to the diocesan review board. The board upheld her claim in 1997 and recommended Savage “be removed from his priestly duties and parish work immediately.” Evidence of her vulnerability lies in plain sight. Before entering into a sexual relationship with Savage, Dunn had been hospitalized for two weeks at the Brattleboro Retreat, a psychiatric facility in Vermont. “I was struggling with my sexuality,” she said. Dunn had thoughts of suicide. Nancy Dunn stands in front of the former Notre Dame Church and rectory on East Main Street in North Adams. (Gillian Jones / The Berkshire Eagle)Gillian Jones As a high school student, she had told her parish priest, the Rev. Homer Gosselin, she felt attracted to women. She recalls the priest telling her it was OK to have such feelings, but never to act on them. In her early 30s, Dunn met Savage, newly assigned by the Most Rev. Thomas Dupre, the Springfield bishop at the time, to oversee a consolidation of parishes in the northern Berkshires. Dunn’s psychotherapist, who she saw twice a week, had recently died. She said she asked Savage for a counseling referral, wanting to reconcile her sexual orientation with her deep faith and ongoing service to Notre Dame du Sacre-Coeur, her childhood parish in North Adams. “It troubled me, as a Catholic,” she said of her feelings for women. She said Savage volunteered his counsel. “He said, ‘You don’t need a therapist, you have me.’” In November 1995, Dunn says Savage initiated a sexual relationship with her during what she viewed as a pastoral counseling session. Savage disputes that he was counseling her. It was Dunn’s first sexual relationship with a man. Dunn believed at the time Savage brought a divine message about her sexuality. “I thought Warren was God,” she said. “He said my sexuality needed to be integrated. I took it to mean I needed to have sexual experiences with him.” Later, Dunn saw what she experienced as “spiritual rape.” “Once, when I questioned him about why this happened, he goes, ‘I chose you.’ He made me feel like the chosen one. I know some people are going to be like, ‘How dumb are you?’ But I was vulnerable. I had just lost a therapist. I take responsibility for my role in this, but I was a vulnerable adult. I struggled with being lesbian. He made me feel special. And then I thought, ‘Maybe I’m not gay.’” ‘Major setback’ Nancy Knudsen, a Northampton psychotherapist who directs the Couple and Family Institute of New England, has been counseling Dunn for 14 years. Knudsen said her client has spoken clearly about having been in a counseling relationship with Savage. “This has flavored Nancy’s entire life,” Knudsen said in an interview. “It was a major setback and left a very, very deep scar, because she thought she was loved and that this love was a message from God. The sense of betrayal was enormous.” Patricia P. Martin, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist based in Longmeadow, was a member of the diocesan review board that first heard Dunn’s account. Martin said ethics rules prevent her from speaking about how the committee handled Dunn’s case, but offered a professional opinion on the dynamics of cases involving clergy. “In cases of sexual abuse by priests with parishioners, there is an imbalance of power,” she said. “This disparity of power and spiritual authority can be used as a means of coercing sexual activity.” “This abuse is exacerbated if the person is a ‘vulnerable person,’ such as someone with a past or present mental health condition, who puts trust in the person of authority,” Martin said. Looking back, Martin feels this would have been true for Dunn. “The sexual abuse of power and control is especially egregious if the survivor has been in any type of spiritual counseling relationship with the perpetrator. This poor woman, she was so naive about any of this.” Given the passage of years, Dunn’s mental state at the time was perhaps best recorded in notes taken by a therapist she saw just weeks after halting contact with Savage. The Rev. Warren Savage outside the Albert and Amelia Ferst Interfaith Center at Westfield State University in 2020. “To my great regret, I entered into an inappropriate consensual relationship with a 35-year-old woman ... almost three decades ago," he said in a written statement. (Don Treeger / The Republican) In a July 1997 report to the diocesean review board, Carla Brennan, M.Ed., said Dunn had come to her in early October 1996 “extremely agitated, confused and distraught [with] major symptoms of anxiety and depression. She was disillusioned, feeling hopelessness and despair and had lost her spiritual faith.” Brennan’s memo, a copy of which Dunn provided to The Republican, includes Dunn’s statement that her sexual contact with Savage arose from a counseling relationship. “She revealed to him, within the assumed safety of the spiritual counseling session, her deepest insecurities, her wounds, her most private desires and needs and he used that knowledge to take advantage of her vulnerability and initiate inappropriate contact to satisfy his emotional and sexual needs,” Brennan wrote. Diocese: Case doesn’t qualify Though its review board concluded in 1997 that Dunn had been the target of “sexual exploitation,” the diocese maintains she does not qualify as a “vulnerable adult.” “At no point, neither when the complaint was first received nor during subsequent reviews, was the individual deemed a vulnerable adult based on civil or canon law,” said Carolee McGrath, the diocese’s media relations manager. When asked by The Republican how that could be, given the review board’s finding of sexual exploitation, a spokeswoman cited Catholic “moral teaching” that uses a narrow definition. “Sexual exploitation covers any sexual conduct outside of marriage, which is a sacrament,” McGrath said in a follow-up statement. This year, Pope Francis approved church law that has led to competing definitions of “vulnerable adult.” Here in Massachusetts, Cardinal Séan O’Malley of Boston has long advocated for an expansion of the definition of vulnerability. In November 2018, he told a conference of U.S. bishops that “we need to extend [the definition] to adults who can be the victims of abuse of power.” This year’s “Vos estis” letter from the pope defines a vulnerable adult as “any person in a state of infirmity, physical or mental deficiency, or deprivation of personal liberty which, in fact, even occasionally, limits their ability to understand or to want or otherwise resist the offense.” It falls to bishops to interpret and apply that definition. The Springfield diocese says a committee is reviewing policies related to adult survivors of abuse. “When they complete their work, updates with any new information or policies will be made to the website,” McGrath said. Knudsen, Dunn’s Northampton therapist, notes that her client had been hospitalized before meeting Savage and was not in a healthy state of mind. “She was highly distraught about her sexuality and went to the priest with that in mind, looking for a counseling referral,” Knudsen said, and was in a state that left her unlikely to “resist the offense.” “There is a power dynamic between a client and therapist which makes the client particularly vulnerable,” she said, speaking in general of the counseling field. “This was a powerful adult and a representative of the church. She was a lesbian woman in great conflict about her sexuality. This made her vulnerable.” Like the diocese, Savage dismisses the idea that Dunn was a “vulnerable adult.” While Savage declined to be interviewed on the record about his relationship with Dunn, he met for two hours with a reporter for The Republican at a Starbucks in Westfield and spoke with pride of his years of work on behalf of Catholics in Western Massachusetts. In response to written questions, Savage provided a short statement: “To my great regret, I entered into an inappropriate consensual relationship with a 35-year-old woman – who was never in pastoral counseling with me – almost three decades ago.” “Since that time, I have been held appropriately accountable, always maintained proper boundaries, and note that the new ‘vulnerable person’ standard is not retroactive,” he wrote. “Even if it was, this situation would not meet that standard.” ‘Expressed remorse’ A year ago this week, Savage met with Dunn at her therapist’s Northampton office and expressed remorse over his behavior in the 1990s. It wasn’t his first apology. In a letter to Dunn on Oct. 16, 1996, he had taken responsibility; she kept that letter and shared it while recounting her story. In a small, cursive hand, Savage wrote that he had become “more aware of the irreparable damage that I have done to you since November ‘95. … I am sorry and ashamed of the way I have treated you. … The bottom line is that I have messed up your life, which means I must pay a heavy price for this indignation.” The Rev. Warren Savage, of Holy Family Church in Springfield, speaks in 2000 about AIDS at a breakfast event at the Springfield's Boys' Club.The Republican The Republican spoke with three people familiar with Savage’s ministry today. All said that regardless of what happened in the 1990s, Savage is an exemplary priest worthy of public trust. “He made a mistake and took the consequences,” said Sister Mary McGeer, who has known Savage for more than 40 years. “No one’s perfect. This man has spent his whole life doing good for everyone. He’s always come through.” A Westfield parishioner wrote the Most Rev. William D. Byrne in 2021 to praise Savage’s current work at Westfield State University’s interfaith center, where he hears confessions and presides over a Sunday Mass. “He is on the front line, an army of one, who is doing God’s work,” wrote Jack Kurty. “One conversation, one phone call, one smile at a time. … I have never seen a better example of the advice that we should ‘practice what we preach.’” Nancy Sterling, a spokeswoman for the Westfield State University Foundation, said officials learned of Savage’s history in 2021, after he’d been on the campus for seven years. The foundation provides a stipend to Savage for his work at the interfaith center. “A detailed review of the matter was conducted,” Sterling said. It found Savage had complied with steps for his return to ministry, including required counseling. “Father Savage poses no threat whatsoever and is an asset to our campus ministry.” The diocese notes that Savage admitted his wrongdoing “and followed all the steps required by the Misconduct Commission’s report.” That has included ongoing therapy and counseling. “Since then, no other complaints were brought forward. This was also verified by the Diocesan Review Board when they were presented [with] the case in 2022,” McGrath said, in response to questions. “It was determined that he had fully complied with everything requested of him and that over the years he has provided valuable priestly ministry with no additional complaints of inappropriate behavior,” McGrath said. “Clearly, there is deep hurt that remains.” The diocese reached a financial settlement with Dunn on May 31, 2022. Of the total sum, the settlement specifies that a portion was allocated “as compensation to Ms. Dunn for personal physical injuries, and emotional distress and anguish resulting from such physical injuries that Ms. Dunn alleges she suffered on account of Fr. Savage’s sexually assaultive acts ….” ‘Important step’ Advocates for victims of clergy misconduct, even within the Catholic church, are pressing nationally for a wider understanding of harm, arguing that the needs of adults who endured inappropriate sexual conduct with clergy deserve to be addressed. “This is a very important step in the right direction,” said the Rev. Thomas V. Berg, a Catholic moral theologian at Saint Joseph’s Seminary and College in Yonkers, New York, who has written extensively on the issue. Berg believes decades of revelations about the clergy abuse of children has created a sense of fatigue – and the perception that priestly misconduct with adults is a lesser offense. Beyond that, he and others say the high moral regard accorded to priests overrides any sense of equality between a priest and a parishioner who have sexual contact. “It’s much more manipulative and it has much more of the nature of an abuse of power,” Berg said. “The difficult position is that priests who are sexually active normally will be exceedingly good at covering their steps and keeping this secret and probably manipulating their adult victims into keeping this quiet.” In a recent article co-authored with Timothy G. Lock and Justin M. Anderson, Berg explored internal church debate in recent years over the meaning of “vulnerable adult” and who it covers, noting the pull, for some, of a narrow definition of mentally disabled people. That persists even with this year’s “Vos estis” letter, Berg and his co-authors wrote in the essay, “Fully Equipped for Every Good Work,” published by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame University. “Most advocates for adult victims of abuse have urged Church authorities to adopt a broader definition of vulnerable adult that reflects the dynamic by which predator priests gain leverage from the power differential existing between themselves and their adult victims to groom and manipulate them,” the essay says. “A new paragraph now added to canon 1395 recognizes this dynamic, referring to it as an abuse of authority and identifying it as a canonical crime in the context of sexual abuse.” Stephen E. de Weger, a scholar at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, who studies clergy abuse, believes this year’s revision to what constitutes a vulnerable adult falls short, leaving Catholic leaders discretion not to act. His dissertation research found that people in power in the Catholic church tend not to believe accounts by adult survivors. “Unless they came under the very narrow strictures of the Vatican’s definition of vulnerable adult,” he told The Republican, “the go-to choice of response is dismissal of the complaint.” In a presentation last year at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, de Weger said the new definitions have some value, but are strangely vague. “I am left wondering, why do such vagaries for such important documents, and for such a serious issue, still exist?” he asked his audience. “Is the church actually trying to avoid clarity, and if so, why?” Catholics seek change Catholics across the country are pushing for change. Since 2019, members of AwakeMilwaukee have been meeting to raise awareness about sexual abuse in the church and to find solutions and bring about healing. Sara Larson, the nonprofit’s executive director, says the Catholic church in the U.S. must make a stronger commitment to protecting adults from clergy misconduct, guided by the Vatican’s action. “Individual dioceses have been slow to embrace this understanding and implement the necessary changes,” she said. Part of the problem, Larson said, is public ignorance about the risks that adults who are active in their faith can face, including “grooming” and what she termed “the power differentials [that] can make true consent impossible.” Often, adults who speak up are blamed and their abusers never face consequences. “I speak every day to survivors who are deeply traumatized by not only their abuse, but also the callous response they have received from church leaders in the aftermath of that abuse,” Larson said. Berg said the public is often not receptive to accounts of misconduct that targeted adults. “Fatigue is absolutely real. People don’t want to hear this news. There is a default in the minds of people – that you knew what you were doing and could have kept your clothes on.” Question of consent The diocese says today the sexual relationship between Savage and Dunn – while “inappropriate” and “a violation of the vows he took as a priest” – was consensual. That is the same position that a former bishop, the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, took in a 2005 letter to Dunn, after she asked that year about consequences Savage faced. McDonnell told Dunn he reviewed her statements to the Misconduct Commission. “There was a follow-up that was appropriate for a situation involving two consenting adults, as was the case here. It was very much different from a situation with an adult and a child, as I know you understand.” Berg, the priest at Saint Joseph’s Seminary and College, rejects the idea that a parishioner brought into a sexual relationship with a cleric can be said to have freely offered consent. “That’s preposterous,” he said. “That’s brain dead.” Berg grants that there can be consensual sex between a priest and an individual who is not a parishioner, depending on the circumstances, even though that violates the vow of celibacy. “In reality, far too many of these relationships are manipulative and the perpetrator uses the power differential in that relationship to gain sexual access,” he said. Berg questions the Springfield diocese’s decision to pay a settlement to Dunn, given its stance. “You don’t ‘settle’ in the case of a consensual relationship,” he said. “This is what I find problematic.” He also disputes the diocese’s definition of sexual exploitation as any contact outside marriage. “If [the review board] deemed the relationship exploitative, that means a power differential was in play. That lies at the heart of sexual abuse of any kind, which in the opinion of many of us renders a woman vulnerable,” Berg said. “So the conjunction of ‘consensual’ but ‘exploitative’ is highly questionable.” Today, the diocese continues to describe the relationship as consensual. It says Savage admitted to behaving inappropriately and that the priest’s behavior, and fitness for the ministry, has been monitored through decades of outpatient counseling. “The more they told me I was a consenting adult, the more pissed I got,” Dunn said. de Weger, the scholar in Brisbane, Australia, calls the issue of consent a moot point. “Priests are religious professionals, having the double whammy of power, religious and professional, two spiritually and socially pedestaled elements of such men,” he said after being briefed on Dunn’s case. “It is very easy for such powerful men to groom, bamboozle, seduce the other person into what they then think might be ‘consent.’” “Mature consent is not just giving in to such pressure, it is consciously saying yes with an equal person under no pressure or confusion,” de Weger said. “Anyway, it doesn’t really matter in the end. The priest should not be having sex with his ‘children,’ his parishioners, his ‘clients,’ full stop. Most people don’t get this and for some reason some even seem happy enough to let the priest off the hook because they’re ‘lonely’ or something.” But if they were doctors or lawyers, he notes, they’d be fired. ‘Church everything to me’ Dorothy Small, a lifelong Catholic who lives in Woodland, California, sued a Sacramento County diocese in 2017 after having twice reported that a priest groomed her for sex. Small received a $200,000 settlement in 2019. Now in her late 60s, she has left the church, she said in a phone interview. “The Catholic Church was everything to me.” “They teach you that the priest is the mediator between man and God. They are seen as Christ personified,” she said. “He represents Jesus Christ. There is no higher power. You’re actually more vulnerable to a priest than you would be to an actual therapist. You hold nothing back.” Dorothy Small, poses for a portrait in her hot tub in the backyard of her home in Woodland, Calif., in 2019. (AP Photo / Wong Maye-E)AP Small was 60 when she says a priest visiting her home engaged her in sex. “Consent can only be had between two people of equal power,” she said. “Submission is not consent. They’re in your head. They’ve got you. You’re not in your rational mind.” “What was most important was that I retain my voice,” Small said. “You learn to walk to your own truth. It’s worth making a stink out of it – that’s what it takes. If we don’t say anything, we’re complicit to evil that continues to be perpetrated. " Dunn says she’s learned that lesson. “It has not been easy to speak up or tell my truth,” she said. “I was very alone in this process for years, with the exception of my therapist.” This fall, Dunn joined a program for adult survivors run by the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. After receiving training, she plans to create a new support group in western Massachusetts. “Ever since I got involved in this, I became aware of how other victims have been treated. I’m appalled,” she said. “This will be my new life mission.”

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New Hampshire ranked smartest state in the nation, study finds

NEW HAMPSHIRE — A New England state has been ranked the smartest state in the nation, according to a new study. Research by free online education platform Guru99 analyzed six different metrics: average IQ, graduation rates, percentage of the population with low literacy rates, average SAT scores, % of the states that don’t have a high school diploma or GED and GDP per capita and ranked New Hampshire as the smartest state in the nation. When looking at the metrics, states were given a total score out of 60. New Hampshire scored a 56.82. “New Hampshire is the smartest state in America, data shows that on average the state has the highest IQs across the country with 103.2,” the platform said. “The state also has the smallest % of the population with low literacy skills with 11.5%. New Hampshire also has one of the highest GDP per capita with $74,663.” Here are the top 10 smartest states in the nation: New Hampshire: 56.82 Minnesota: 55.82 Wyoming: 54.98 Vermont: 54.91 Montana: 54.64 North Dakota: 54.38 Maine: 53.83 South Dakota: 52.61 Wisconsin: 52.45 Utah: 52.21 “America is home to many of the greatest educational institutions across the globe; as one of the world’s largest economies and powerhouses in industry and innovation, it’s pivotal that every generation continues to learn and develop, to progress the foundations that have already been built in the country,” said Krishna Rungta, Founder & CEO of Guru99. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW ©2023 Cox Media Group

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Man accused of stabbing mother to death at NH home

A police officer who brutalized a 22-year-old Black man with an expandable baton during an arrest seven years ago was convicted by a French court on Friday of “intentional violence” in one of the country’s highest-profile cases of police abuse. The young man, Théo Luhaka, sustained a four-inch tear to his rectum after the police subdued him during an identity check while he was cutting through a known drug-dealing zone in his housing project in a suburb northeast of Paris. Two other officers who assisted in the arrest were also found guilty at the court in Bobigny, a suburb northeast of Paris, in a decision that was, however, unlikely to fully satisfy either police unions or anti-police brutality activists. The officer who wielded the baton was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence, meaning he will serve time only if he commits a new crime within a given time frame and a court then orders the full sentence to be served. The two other officers were sentenced to three-month suspended sentences. The sentences were less than what prosecutors had requested.

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How to watch Tyler Perrys Sistas season 7 premiere for free Jan. 3

Season 7 of Tyler Perry’s “Sistas” premieres on BET this Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. Those without cable can watch the show for free through either Philo, FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, each of which offer a free trial to new users. “‘Sistas’ follows a group of single Black women as they navigate the ups and downs of modern life, which includes careers, friendships, romances, and even social media,” FuboTV said in a description of the series, which is written, directed and executive produced by Tyler Perry. “The comedy-drama series features Andi Barnes, an ambitious divorce lawyer, Danni King, a funny and fearless airport employee, Karen Mott, a street-smart hair salon owner, and Sabrina Hollins, a smart and stylish bank teller,” FuboTV added. “The TV show takes viewers on a roller coaster ride of emotions and moments that epitomize ‘squad goals.’” Season 7, episode 1 is titled “New Beginnings” and in a description FuboTV said “New romances and old tensions collide as we check in on the lives of Andi, Karen, Danni, Sabrina, and Fatima three months later.” How can I watch Tyler Perry’s “Sistas” without cable? Those without cable can watch the show for free through either Philo, FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, each of which offer a free trial to new users. What is Philo? Philo is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers 60+ entertainment and lifestyle channels, like AMC, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and more, for the budget-friendly price of $25/month. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, like sports, news, entertainment and local channels. It offers DVR storage space, and is designed for people who want to cut the cord, but don’t want to miss out on their favorite live TV and sports. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels.

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To Handle a Surge of Illegal Crossings, Border Officials Stop Legal Ones

The 18-year-old wrote poetry about the beauty in the world and read novels that explored the complexities of humanity. She channeled her passion for music on stage, found solace in songwriters such as Samia and Weyes Blood, and savored the spectacle of operas. To those who knew her best, the words captured her very essence. Last summer, Aria Kamal wrote that her purpose in life was to “open my heart and love.” Most of all, she listened without judgment to friends and reminded them often how much they meant to her. Now, through their grief, Kamal’s loved ones are remembering how much she meant to them. Just days after Christmas, she was killed by her father, Rakesh Kamal, who also killed his wife, Teena, inside the family’s Dover home before taking his own life, officials said. Advertisement “I loved Aria very, very much. She was an extraordinarily gifted and wonderful person and I feel so lucky that our paths crossed,” said Owen, who met Kamal at Middlebury College, where she was a freshman. The two were in a relationship, and he asked that his last name not be used to protect his privacy. “The thing I loved most about her was that she just radiated love. She was kind to everyone she knew, and let her love shine into the world unconditionally.” They struck a connection by sending each other song recommendations. Soon, they were walking around campus together, gazing at the stars and sharing poetry. The last poem they read together was “Mysteries, Yes” by Mary Oliver, which opens with the line, “Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous to be understood.” “We always talked about how we were so lucky to have met so early in college — that we had so much time together,” he said by email. “No one saw this coming. I am still shocked every day. Please hold your loved ones as tight as you can.” Advertisement Before the tragedy, police said they had no interactions with the family, and if there were trouble at home Kamal never let it show, said Sophie, a close friend from Milton Academy, where Kamal attended high school. “There was no indication from her recently that anything was wrong with her home life,” she said via email. She asked to only be identified by her first name. During their junior year, Sophie and Kamal sat next to each other in English class every day. Sharing a taste for dry humor, they quickly became close. Kamal had a “witty irreverence” that Sophie admired and made her giggle so much she would kick her under the table to stop. When the class was reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go,” Kamal offered a deft analysis that Sophie nodded along to, “as if I had had any clue who Ishiguro was prior to our class.” “As I began to know her more, I started realizing what an incredibly special person she was,” Sophie said. Sophie said she trusted Kamal to listen to her with an open mind and offer her insight. With an innate empathy, Kamal was an unwavering source of support for many friends, she said. She stood out for her ability to be her true self without fear, another classmate recalled. “Most importantly, she wasn’t afraid to show that she loved, something that I think most high schoolers were afraid to do,” the classmate said. “She meant so much to so many people, and I really hope she knew that.” Advertisement For a creative writing assignment during her senior year, Kamal wrote a narrative detailing her personal struggles and periods of isolation when she entered high school. By learning to find joy in small things and seeking out companionship, she described gaining a renewed appreciation for life. “The love of life, of people, of the world, that she developed clearly didn’t come easily, which made me admire it even more,” Sophie said. The friends hadn’t seen each other since graduating in June but called and texted regularly. During one of their last conversations, Sophie reached out to let Kamal know she was listening to “Linger” by The Cranberries, a band she loved. The friends reflected on “how truly happy we were for the first few months of college,” she said. At Middlebury, where Kamal was studying neuroscience and involved in a range of student groups, including Women in Computer Science, the college choir, theatre, and a group for students interested in foraging, she was “finally finding her people,” Sophie said. Aria Kamal. LinkedIn Kamal told her a lot about Owen and how good things were between them. “I think the last few months of her life were the happiest she had been since I knew her,” she said. “She wanted to fall in love and stay in love, to sing opera, to see lots of beautiful places, and to have kids someday, who she would have loved so well,” Sophie said. Advertisement Devastated by her death, Owen described Kamal as a “brilliant and unique person who had a wonderful and full life.” “She saw all the good, and all the beauty, and had a wonderful gift in that she could make you see it, too,” he said. “She truly made you feel like the only person in the world when she spoke to you, love and light just radiated from her. She could hold her own in even the most niche topics of conversation and was one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.” Many aspire to make the world a better place. But Kamal “really had the will and ability to do so,” Owen added. “She would want us all to go on, to live twice as hard, and twice as beautifully, for her. And to hold the beauty of this world in our hearts. She knew that love would save us all,” he said. Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her @shannonlarson98.

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Moving on from Belichick the right call, but still bittersweet

The deed is done. The divorce between the Patriots and Bill Belichick is now a reality. Even though this news doesn’t come as a surprise given it’s been a hot topic for months, with one report suggesting the decision was made after the early November loss in Germany, it still seems a bit surreal. And sadly bittersweet. Letting go of a coach who was part of six championships, and largely considered the greatest coach of all time, closes a significant chapter in Patriots lore. And while it falls into the category of making a decision that seems best for the franchise, it also tugs at the heart strings. There’s also the element of being careful what you wish for. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. What if the Patriots don’t turn it around, and Belichick wins a Super Bowl someplace else? What if there’s a deja vu on par with what happened with Tom Brady his first year outside of Foxborough? No doubt team owner Robert Kraft weighed all of those factors, but in the end, with a 4-13 team that’s finished out of the playoffs three of the last four seasons, a team that falls woefully short on the talent meter, a change needed to be made. Unlike Brady however, Belichick isn’t leaving at or near the top of this game, especially when it comes to picking the groceries. Over the course of the last five years, and a bit beyond, Belichick the G.M. has gotten failing grades. He hasn’t helped Belichick the coach do his job. Instead, he’s left himself, the coaching staff, not to mention his quarterback, trying to do more with less. That worked with Brady for the most part, but it doesn’t with quarterbacks who aren’t superstars and can’t elevate the team. At 71, Belichick can still coach. He’s still able to get players to play and he’s still capable of devising elaborate schemes that foil the game’s top quarterbacks. Ultimately, he lost his fastball when it came to assembling a winning team. Poor drafts have been a killer, along with failures in free agency. Belichick’s philosophy on what wins in the NFL just isn’t up with the times. As a defensive coach, he still believes that’s the side of the ball that wins. Why else would he use the first three draft picks in the 2023 draft on defensive players, while ignoring glaring needs on the offensive side of the ball? The game has evolved. It’s an offense driven league now, and Belichick’s failure as a G.M. to stock that side of the ball with elite talent has led to his undoing and ultimate departure. But that shouldn’t undermine what Belichick has meant to the organization over time. Given how poorly Belichick has done without Brady, that’s swayed some to believe the half-dozen championships attained were due to having the greatest quarterback of all time in the building. That’s a simplistic, and uninformed view. And it’s flat out wrong. This was a great marriage of head coach and quarterback. It was Belichick who was the mastermind of the defense that stalled the Greatest Show on Turf en route to the first Super Bowl win over the St. Louis Rams. He also devised the schemes to take down the Rams offensive juggernaut 17 years later in Super Bowl LIII. Together, Brady and Belichick, along with the perfect complement of players Belichick assembled for each of those championship teams, made it happen. It’s a disservice to Belichick to think all of those Lombardi trophies were won without his imprint. 48 1 / 48 Bill Belichick through the years John Beattie So his departure should be met with appreciation for his part in creating a dynasty. There’s also a tinge of sadness given how it ended. Losing to the Jets on the final week in a snowstorm had to be embarrassing for Belichick, who had beaten them 15 straight times. He just walked off the field, cloaked by a ski mask covering his face. There’s no question his legacy has taken a bit of a hit having failed to achieve much success without Brady, but Belichick is still revered as a defensive genius. Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce made sure to reach out to Belichick after the Chiefs Week 15 win over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. “I just mentioned how much I respect him and how much it’s always the biggest challenge I go up against in the National Football League is going up against one of his defenses,” Kelce said on the “New Heights” podcast. “I just wanted to make sure he heard that from my mouth, man,” he added, “because it’s been a pleasure going up against him all these years.” Since Brady left, Belichick’s been the face of the franchise. Belichick’s mug was the one that was most often been used to capture the essence of the team. With Brady gone, and no megastars on the roster, Belichick gave the Patriots its remaining cachet, and outside of Kraft, he was the last remnant of all of the team’s championships. He was the one remaining on-field link to the team’s entire dynastic run and two decades of dominance. And now, he’s left the building after 24 years. While it was time, it’s still tough to cut that cord. It’s tough to break with the team’s last vestige of greatness. A new chapter awaits. NFL fans can wager online on Massachusetts sports betting with enticing promo codes from top online sportsbooks. Use the FanDuel Massachusetts promo code and the DraftKings Massachusetts promo code for massive new user bonuses.

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Boston's newly re-opened archaeology lab connects the past with the present

The city of Boston has collected more than 1 million artifacts through its Archaeology Program over the past 40 years. Those artifacts — and the process of preserving them — is being done at Boston's newly re-opened Archaeology Lab. Radio Boston visited the lab to see some of the collection. City archaeologist Joe Bagley and Rev. Mariama White Hammond, Boston's chief of environment, energy and open space, joined us for the conversation. As part of the tour, Bagley and Hammond showed Radio Boston three artifacts pulled from the archives. They included a cowrie shell, a necklace, and the oldest artifact ever found to date in Boston. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Interview Highlights On centering people and purpose in archeology: Cow bell from Boston Common, recovered by the city of Boston Archeologists in 1986. (Courtesy City of Boston Archeology Program) Joe Bagley: "We have a saying here that 'It's not about the stuff, it's about the story.' And archaeologists know a lot about what these things are and some of the story, but the story is really only completed when other people have a chance to actually look at it and interpret what we're finding. Because, to me, a ceramic shard can tell me about dates and locations of where trade was happening. But to a ceramicist, they could tell me about what kind of techniques are being used or what kind of technology went into actually firing those pot shirts. And even today, an artist could look at those same things and then turn them into new art. And so I think that what we're trying to do here is get everything to the point where we have completed what we can say about the story and it can now go out and so more people can add to that story." "These things come from places and the places are part of that story. It's not just a toothbrush. A toothbrush that was found at the factory where they're made has a totally different story than a toothbrush found in an outhouse at a brothel." On reckoning with the city's past with slavery: Mid-18th century chamber pot made at the Parker pottery in Charleston. Jack and Acton were potters enslaved by Grace Parker, owner of the pottery, and likely contributed to making this vessel. It was found during archeology ahead of Boston's Big Dig project in 1985 at the Three Cranes Tavern site next to the pottery. (Courtesy City of Boston Archeology Program) Rev. Mariama White Hammond: "We have an image of ourselves in Boston as abolitionists, but we have not had accurate understandings of how many enslaved people did live here and contributed to the building of this city ... The team spent lots of time ... to pull out the names of over 2,000 [enslaved residents.] Many of them who are named and some of whom are not ... I knew that there were enslaved people in the city, but I didn't know the extent of how many, nor did I really understand their contributions nor their names." "One of the things that they discovered is that there were two enslaved potters who were contributing to ceramics in Charlestown. And the question is, 'What was their story? And where did they come from?'" "One of the reasons we have you out here and wanted to do this is that more people need to know there is power in these artifacts. There is healing in these artifacts. There are tough conversations in these artifacts, but we need to have them. And I believe our city will be richer and better if more of us are leaning in and interacting with this material, even if sometimes it's hard." On the oldest artifact in the city's collection: A broken blade of a spear or knife that's believed to be between 5,500 and 7,500 years old. This is the oldest artifact found, to date, in the city. It was discovered in 1986 in Boston Common. (Courtesy City of Boston Archaeology Program) Joe Bagley: "If you looked at Boston's history as a hundred foot long timeline, 1630 happens in the last three feet. So the vast majority of the story that we know of the place we now call Boston happened before 1630. And so one of the things that we've been really trying to make sure is talked about and heard is, is the story of the native community in Boston. In working with the community, we've been asked to use the term 'creation' instead of artifact to keep the humanity of the person that made these things in the storytelling of it." "This is the base of a spear point or a knife of some kind. It broke probably around the time that it was made ... it became part of the ground and was found during the 1980s during a dig to build some lighting projects in the [Boston] Common ... this is between 5,500 and 7,500 years old. So that means that when this was being made, there were no pyramids in Egypt. There was no Stonehenge. But there were people in Boston living here. And on that 100-foot timeline of the human history of Boston, this is only halfway down. So we still have 5,000 years of history in Boston where we know people are here." On working with indigenous groups and the changing role of archeology: An 18th century cowrie shell found at 42-44 Shirley St. in Roxbury, across the street from the Shirley-Eustis Estate. (Courtesy City of Boston Archaeology Program) Joe Bagley: "Archaeology is an inherently colonial act. Archaeologists, especially back in the day, were like, 'I have every right to go wherever I want and to dig up whatever I'm interested in learning about, regardless of whether people think it should or shouldn't be dug up.' And we're really trying to go back to square one and fundamentally question archaeology: What is archaeology? What should archaeology be? "Now we have policies where we only dig if there's something going to happen to the site [and] we're working with the tribe to come up with a plan together ... my goal is to more or less make a new archaeology that says when you're doing archaeology of Native things, Native time periods, you're doing that with the Native community. Answering their questions and doing what they ultimately want done with those things if it means putting them right back. Okay. If that means turning them over to the tribe afterwards for curation. Great. But archaeology is now needing to become more of a technical service that can answer questions that communities who's stuff we're digging up actually have, and not just, I'm digging it up because I want to know the story."

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Despite neighborhood objections, Springfield mortuary to be torn down, replaced with car wash

SPRINGFIELD — The obituary for a century-old funeral home has been written, after the City Council agreed to allow the Sampson family to close one of its locations and turn it into a car wash. The controversial proposal to sell the Liberty Street Funeral Home to ModWash, a company that has more than 90 sites across the country, drew dozens of Hungry Hill residents who protested the plan, saying traffic that a car wash would add to a congested and crash-prone area that is worsened by the complicated Armory Street rotary. But John Sampson, owner of the business that began on Bridge Street around 1878, said keeping the Liberty Street Funeral Home simply doesn’t make sense to his company, which is one of the oldest in the city that has continually been run by the same family. “It is 1% of our business. It is not cost-effective to keep it,” he said, adding he has resisted recommendations to sell for years. “People don’t go there, because it is tiny.” While the inside of the building is beautiful, there is limited parking. It harkens back to the days when Hungry Hill was a neighborhood full of blue-collar workers who walked to the building for wakes, he said. Now, most people book funeral services at the Chapel of the Acres on Tinkham Road, which is run by the fifth and sixth generations of the Sampson family. That building, constructed by Sampson’s father, has parking for at least 250 and is large enough to comfortably handle several services at the same time, without having mourners spill outside, which happens at the Liberty Street location. During Monday’s City Council meeting, Mary Ellen Russell O’Brien said the Hungry Hill Neighborhood Council is opposed to the project, and that there already are huge traffic problems on Liberty Street created by businesses, two nearby schools and the rotary. “This is not an ideal location for a car wash,” said O’Brien, a neighborhood council member. “This is the least appropriate neighborhood to put a car wash.” During a meeting with neighbors, developers said they have to serve nearly 400 cars in the 12 hours that it will be open every day to make the business profitable. That means 800 additional cars coming and going daily, she said. But owners of ModWash said later they anticipate 250 cars a day at least when the car wash first opens. To build a car wash, the developers needed a zoning variance and a special permit; part of the lot is residential, not zoned for a car wash. Antonio Dos Santos, the lawyer representing the Sampson family, argued that the property at 710 Liberty is surrounded on all sides by businesses, including a gas station, an auto glass firm, a Dunkin’ and two fast food restaurants. “I believe the zone change comes down to fairness,” he said. “This is a spot zone.” The Planning Board and city’s Economic Development Department endorsed the change, saying it fit with the existing neighborhood, Dos Santos said. After a long meeting, the City Council on Monday approved the variance and permit in 10-3 votes. The overall plan would have the business with a curb cut on Liberty Street. Other existing entrances will be closed and landscaped over. When asked, John Harter, the traffic engineer, said one curb cut is safer than having multiple. “We control the site, and the access to it. We really cannot control what happens outside the site,” he said in answer to a question about traffic safety. The business, which will be the first ModWash in Massachusetts, will operate seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and employ between 12 and 15 people, with half working part-time, officials said. “I don’t see any reason that this is not appropriate,” City Councilor Victor Davila said. Several other councilors said they wanted to support the Sampson family, which has long supported the city and understand that it is time for the property to be used for something else. “Times are changing, and they want to make a change, and I’m supporting that change,” Councilor Kateri Walsh said. Sampson said the last funeral services will be held in mid-December, and developers said they hope to begin construction in February or March.

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Which queer holiday song are you?

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts has begun awarding grants to local agencies to set up temporary housing sites for homeless families as officials grapple with finding newly arriving migrants places to stay after hitting a state-imposed limit of 7,500 families in the state’s emergency homeless shelter system. Catholic Charities Boston is the first organization to be awarded a grant to provide temporary rooms to extremely low-income families with children and pregnant individuals, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay announced this week. The grant will pay for a site in the greater Boston area that opened on Tuesday evening and can accommodate up to 27 families, or about 81 people, as they wait to enter the state’s emergency shelter system, officials said. Catholic Charities Boston will provide bedding, meals, staff, and security. The site is available to families eligible for the state’s family shelter system but who could not be immediately placed in a shelter. Democratic Gov. Maura Healey announced the $5 million grant program earlier this month. Sarah Bartley of the United Way said the agency has already received several other grant applications. The grants are meant to support community gathering spaces with restrooms and heat, such as places of worship, community centers, and school buildings, to provide safe space for families to find short-term, congregate shelter, meals, and other basic necessities, she said. The flexible program will remain in place through the winter and spring, officials said. On Monday, the state began letting homeless families stay overnight in the state transportation building in Boston. The space in the office building is large enough to provide overnight shelter for up to 25 families with cots and limited amenities and will only be used in the evening and overnight hours, officials said. The space will be available to families determined eligible for emergency assistance and is expected to operate for about two weeks until additional safety net shelter sites are operational. The spike in demand is being driven in part by migrant families entering the state. About half of the current shelter caseload are new arrivals to Massachusetts, according to the Healey administration. As of last Friday, there were 92 families on the state’s waiting list for emergency shelter.

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Deatrich Wise credits defensive coach for frustrating Josh Allen

As good as Josh Allen is, the Buffalo Bills quarterback is prone to making mistakes. His 16 picks on the season is testament to that. But the effort put forth by the defense against Allen in Sunday’s 27-21 loss went above and beyond, considering four turnovers by the offense leaving the Bills with good field position. Even in the win, Allen completed just 15 of 30 passes for 169 yards. He threw an interception, and fumbled twice, with his team recovering both. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Defensive lineman Deatrich Wise, who had one of the sacks, credited the Patriots defensive coaching staff for their effort against Allen on Sunday, as well as the Patriots win over Buffalo (29-25) earlier in the year. In particular, he cited linebackers coach Jerod Mayo for coming up with the game plan, and sparking the defense’s effort against Allen and the Bills offense. “It’s a big testament to Mayo. He gets us ready every day,” said Wise. “You know what Josh Allen wants to do. He’s a playmaker, so he wants the ball in his hands for the most part ... we knew what he was going to do. We knew the formations they were going to run during the game. “Our goal was to make them one-dimensional. Some things didn’t happen the way we planned it,” he went on. “But for the most part, I felt like we held them pretty good for what it was.” Producing a 53.3 passer rating from Allen, holding the Bills to 281 total yards, which was less than the Patriots offense in the game, was a credit to the defense, which keeps fighting no matter how bad the offense is. “We have great leaders,” said Wise. “And we have great coaches, keeping us motivated, and keeping us mentally tough.” NFL fans can wager online on Massachusetts sports betting with enticing promo codes from top online sportsbooks. Use the FanDuel Massachusetts promo code and the DraftKings Massachusetts promo code for massive new user bonuses.

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What forecasters are saying about the potential for snow on Wednesday

Weather What forecasters are saying about the potential for snow on Wednesday “A few inches of accumulation is possible.” Erin Clark/Globe Staff Parts of Massachusetts could see some wintry weather this week. The National Weather Service is forecasting that snow showers are possible Tuesday night through Wednesday, particularly across eastern Massachusetts. “A few inches of accumulation is possible,” the service wrote on Monday night. Service forecasters said the conditions could coalesce to bring “fairly steady snow showers,” resulting in potentially 1 to 2 inches in some areas, with pockets of 3 inches possible across Plymouth County. Below, what local forecasters are saying so far about the potential snowfall. Chris Lambert, 7News: ‘Scattered flurries/snow showers Wednesday, especially near/just east of I-95.’ Scattered flurries/snow showers Wednesday, especially near/just east of I-95. Rain drops mixed in far southeast Mass along the coast. pic.twitter.com/G5beqLzkbH — Chris Lambert (@clamberton7) December 4, 2023 Pete Bouchard, NBC10 Boston: ‘Lots of trepidation in amounts & placement for this ocean-effect snow on Tuesday night/Wednesday.’ Lots of trepidation in amounts & placement for this ocean-effect snow on Tuesday night/Wednesday. More certain about chilly temps & the warmer air late week. 👀 pic.twitter.com/lv8lAxYbPk — Pete Bouchard (@PeteNBCBoston) December 4, 2023 Shiri Spear, Boston 25 News: ‘We’ll take a chilly turn tomorrow and may see some ocean effect snow along the coast/eastern MA Wednesday.’ We’ll take a chilly turn tomorrow and may see some ocean effect snow along the coast/eastern MA Wednesday. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/EH8hdo5acU — Shiri Spear (@ShiriSpear) December 4, 2023 Kelly Ann Cicalese, WCVB: ‘A few coastal snow showers Wednesday.’ Your Monday morning weather headlines include a few coastal snow showers Wednesday and single digit wind chills Thursday morning! This weekend will be milder. #wcvb pic.twitter.com/d5ryvnTrrU — Kelly Ann Cicalese (@kellyannwx) December 4, 2023 Terry Eliasen, WBZ: ‘Has the potential for a minor accumulation in a few spots.’ Quiet week of weather ahead…only minor disturbance will be some light rain/snow showers along the Coastline late Tuesday and Wednesday…has the potential for a minor accumulation in a few spots pic.twitter.com/whoq0xVG7C — Terry Eliasen (@TerryWBZ) December 4, 2023 Daily Local Weather Forecast Boston, MA 44° An afternoon shower High 48° Low 36° RealFeel® 42 ° F Humidity 88% Precipitation 10% Wind 5 MPH SSE Visibility 10MI Hourly Forecast 42 ° 42 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 10% 9PM 42 ° 42 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 10% 10PM 41 ° 41 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 10% 11PM 40 ° 40 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 7% 12AM 40 ° 40 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 2% 1AM 39 ° 39 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 2% 2AM 39 ° 39 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 2% 3AM 38 ° 38 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 2% 4AM 37 ° 37 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 2% 5AM 37 ° 37 degrees mooncloud mooncloud Precipitation 2% 6AM 36 ° 36 degrees clouds clouds Precipitation 3% 7AM 36° 36 degrees clouds clouds Precipitation 3% 8AM powered by: Daily Local Weather Forecast Today Partly sunny with showers Partly sunny with showers 48° 36° Tue Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy 40° 30° Wed Flurries Flurries 34° 24° Thu Intermittent clouds Intermittent clouds 37° 28° Fri Intermittent clouds Intermittent clouds 45° 37° Sat Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy 52° 43° Sun Intermittent clouds Intermittent clouds 57° 46° Down Arrow powered by:

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Trump transformed the Supreme Court. Now the justices could decide his political and legal future.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the Missouri woman who persuaded an online boyfriend to kill her mother after she had forced her to pretend for years that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses, was released Thursday, Dec. 28 from prison on parole. Blanchard was released early in the day from the Chillicothe Correctional Center, said Karen Pojmann, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Corrections. Blanchard was granted parole after serving 85% of her original sentence, Pojmann said. Blanchard’s case sparked national tabloid interest after reports emerged that her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, who was slain in 2015, had essentially kept her daughter prisoner, forcing her to use a wheelchair and feeding tube. It turned out that Gypsy Blanchard, now 32, was perfectly healthy, not developmentally delayed as her friends had always believed. Her mother had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children, said her trial attorney, Michael Stanfield. “People were constantly telling Dee Dee what a wonderful mother she was, and Dee Dee was getting all of this attention,” he said. Through the ruse, the mother and daughter met country star Miranda Lambert and received charitable donations, a trip to Disney World and even a home near Springfield from Habitat for Humanity. Stanfield said Gypsy Blanchard’s mother was able to dupe doctors by telling them her daughter’s medical records had been lost in Hurricane Katrina. If they asked too many questions, she just found a new physician, shaving the girl’s head to back up her story. Among the unnecessary procedures Gypsy Blanchard underwent was the removal of her salivary glands. Her mother convinced doctors it was necessary by using topical anesthetic to cause drooling. Gypsy Blanchard, who had little schooling or contact with anyone but her mother, also was misled, especially when she was younger, Stanfield said. “The doctors seem to confirm everything that you’re being told. The outside world is telling you that your mother is a wonderful, loving, caring person. What other idea can you have?” Stanfield said. But then the abuse became more physical, Stanfield said. Gypsy testified that her mother beat her and chained her to a bed. Slowly, Gypsy also was beginning to understand that she wasn’t as sick as her mom said. “I wanted to be free of her hold on me,” Gypsy testified at the 2018 trial of her former boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn of Big Bend, Wisconsin, who is serving a life sentence in the killing. She went on to add: “I talked him into it.” When she took the stand at his trial, prosecutors already had cut her a deal because of the abuse she had endured. In exchange for pleading guilty in 2016 to second-degree murder, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The first-degree murder charge she initially faced would have meant a life term. “Nick was so in love with her and so obsessed with her that he would do anything,” Godejohn’s trial attorney Dewayne Perry argued in court, saying his client has autism and was manipulated. Prosecutors, however, argued that he was motivated by sex and a desire to be with Gypsy Blanchard, whom he met on a Christian dating website. According to the probable cause statement, Gypsy Blanchard supplied the knife and hid in a bathroom while Godejohn repeatedly stabbed her mother. The two ultimately made their way by bus to Wisconsin, where they were arrested. She has been incarcerated since then at a state women’s prison in Chillicothe. “Things are not always as they appear,” said Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott as the strange revelations began to emerge. Even Gypsy’s age was a lie. Her mother had said she was younger to make it easier to perpetuate the fraud, and got away with it because Gypsy was so small: just 4 feet, 11 inches (150 centimeters) tall. Law enforcement was initially so confused that the original court documents listed three different ages for her, with the youngest being 19. She was 23. Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson described it as “one of the most extraordinary and unusual cases we have seen.” Stanfield recalled that the first time he met Gypsy, she got out of breath walking the 75 yards (69 meters) from the elevator to the room where he talked to her. He described her as malnourished and physically frail. “I can honestly say I’ve rarely had a client who looks exceedingly better after doing a fairly long prison sentence,” Stanfield said. “Prison is generally not a place where you become happy and healthy. And I say that because, to me, that’s kind of the evidence to the rest of the world as to just how bad what Gypsy was going through really was.” Gypsy Blanchard later said it wasn’t until her arrest that she realized how healthy she was. But it took time. Eventually, she got married while behind bars to Ryan Scott Anderson, now 37, of Saint Charles, Louisiana. The bizarre case was the subject of the 2017 HBO documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest,” the 2019 Hulu miniseries “The Act” and an upcoming Lifetime docuseries “The Prison Confession of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.” Daytime television psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw interviewed her from prison. The novel “Darling Rose Gold” draws upon the story for its premise and Blanchard’s own account, “Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom” is set for publication next month. Amid the media storm, corrections department spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said no in-person coverage of her release on Thursday would be allowed “in the interest of protecting safety, security and privacy.”

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Compelling artworks await State House visitors

I admire artist Robert T. Freeman’s painting “Black Tie,” which is now displayed in Governor Maura Healey’s office (“Artworks to make the House everyone’s home,” Metro, Dec. 9), and appreciate the governor’s commitment to the state’s diversity in the artwork at the State House. Freeman’s work depicts Black Americans gathered for a social occasion during the period of segregation. Not far off on the fourth floor, just outside the House gallery, is another painting of a group, “Notable Women of Boston” by Ellen Lanyon. Among the nine notables in the mural are poet Phillis Wheatley, the first Black person in America to have a book published, and community activist Melnea Cass, the Black campaigner for racial equality.

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Players to Watch: Longmeadow, Pope Francis girls hockey to face off for first time this winter

The two girls hockey programs in Western Massachusetts will face off for the first time this winter Friday night at Smead Arena. Pope Francis and Longmeadow are both off to strong starts this season, with the Cardinals standing at 8-3-1 in Division I and the Lancers at 6-2 in Division II. Last winter, the programs tied in their first meeting before Pope Francis won the second. Ahead of the 5 p.m. puck drop between the two programs, get to know the top players for each team.

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2024 Hoophall Classic: Boozer Twins, Richardson brothers put on a show (photos)

SPRINGFIELD ― Christopher Columbus’ (FL) quartet of NBA royalty fueled an impressive fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Long Island Lutheran (NY), 81-62, Saturday at the 2024 Hoophall Classic. Cameron Boozer, son of 13-year NBA vet Carlos Boozer, led Columbus with a game-high 26 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five blocks, earning himself the Most Outstanding Player award. His twin brother, Cayden, shined as well with 17 points, three assists and six rebounds as Columbus outscored its opponents 29-7 in the fourth quarter. “Our toughness, our rebounding, limiting turnovers and limiting points off turnovers- that’s what really changed the game,” Cameron said afterward. “In the first half, (Long Island Lutheran was) much tougher than we were, but in the second half I think we were the tougher team.” Jase Richardson, son of 15-year NBA vet Jason Richardson, also performed well for Christopher Columbus, closing with 20 points, six rebounds, nine assists, two blocks and four steals. His younger brother, Jaxon, finished the game strong off the bench with nine points and eight rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. Jase, a Michigan State commit for next year, transferred to Columbus from Bishop Gorman (NV) over the summer alongside his brother. The two have quickly meshed with their new teammates and have built a strong chemistry with the Boozer twins. “We have a great group of guys that can do a lot of things, we are a very versatile team,” Jase said. “Anybody can (take over) any given day. Christopher Columbus' Jason Richardson in the first half. The Christopher Columbus boys basketball team defeated Long Island Lutheran during the Hoophall Classic at Springfield College's Blake Arena on Jan. 13, 2024. (MEREDITH PERRI / MASSLIVE)Meredith Perri “(Playing at Hoophall means) a lot, we’re playing teams that we’re probably going to see at GEICO Nationals. Hopefully we make it there so it’s definitely a challenge coming in playing (Long Island Lutheran and Paul VI). We definitely got to set an example, set the tone and get the wins.” Cayden spoke highly of his Hoophall experience, with this weekend being the second Hoophall appearance for himself and his brother. “It’s a great experience, Hoophall is one of the best tournaments in the country,” Cayden said. “Just being able to play against all these good teams and succeed as a team is a great experience.” Christopher Columbus' Cayden Boozer sets up a play in the first half. The Christopher Columbus boys basketball team defeated Long Island Lutheran during the Hoophall Classic at Springfield College's Blake Arena on Jan. 13, 2024. (MEREDITH PERRI / MASSLIVE)Meredith Perri Jaxon and his older brother, Jace, made their Hoophall debut last year together with Bishop Gorman. As one of only three underclassmen on the roster, Jaxon took advantage of his chances in the second half and made several key plays on both ends of the court to help secure the victory. Christopher Columbus' Jaxon Richardson looks for an open lane in the first half. The Christopher Columbus boys basketball team defeated Long Island Lutheran during the Hoophall Classic at Springfield College's Blake Arena on Jan. 13, 2024. (MEREDITH PERRI / MASSLIVE)Meredith Perri “(I’m) learning from these guys, playing with Cayden, Jace and Cameron, it’s helped my game overall,” Jaxon said. “They can guide me and lead me to do what I need to do.” Christopher Columbus returns to Blake Arena on Monday, Jan. 13 for their second and final game at the 2024 Hoophall Classic, facing off against Paul VI (VA) at 1:00 p.m.

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McCrays Farm sees enthusiastic response to holiday lights walk

SOUTH HADLEY — For the last month, an eruption of bright, colorful light greeted people rounding the curve on Alvord Street in South Hadley, welcoming patrons to stop by and wander through the Holiday Light Walkthrough at McCray’s Farm. From Nov. 24 through Dec. 31, the farm put on a display of nearly 500,000 holiday lights, showcasing themes such as Halloween, Santa’s workshop and Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” After scanning barcodes on their phones, viewers take about 40 minutes to stroll through the farm. 2023 was the second year McCray’s Farm offered a holiday lights walk. The response it received has it planning to host holiday lights walks for seasons to come. Stephen McCray, owner of McCray’s Farm, is one of about a dozen people who were heavily involved with designing and setting up the displays. Six years ago, McCray’s fiancee suggested that he put together a holiday lights walk, but he was too busy and knew he wouldn’t be able to get the monetary help he would need from a bank. However, after he visited the holiday light show at Sandy Hill Farm in Eliot, Maine and spoke to the farm’s owner, Bill Widi, he was inspired to take the risk and invest in his own stroll. The initial investment is huge, McCray said, but once it is up and running, it requires very little labor, which is completely different from the rest of the farm’s operations. The farm organized the holiday lights for the first time in 2022. At the beginning, McCray was concerned about competing with Bright Nights at Forest Park. But he saw a market for a smaller, yet still impressive, light show. The farm was blown away by how many people came out to the stroll in its first year, McCray said. Many guests would return throughout the season and offer their praise. “Most things you do in life, you don’t get a lot of gratification out of,” McCray said. “But we got so much love for doing this and it’s just incredible. Like I said, most stuff you do, you just really don’t get people telling you ‘thanks’ and stuff like that. We just got so much love, it was incredible.” Although large amounts of rain have led to a slight drop in the number of attendees this past year, McCray said that the farm still enjoys doing the stroll and is appreciative of the support it continues to receive. Many families have told the farm that they are making an outing to walk the light displays an annual tradition. McCray’s personal favorite display is the Love Shack, which he conceptualized and team member Mandi Carroll built. Crowd favorites include the Fog Room, which uses fog machines and lasers to create an electric effect, and the sports section. Viewers get to see the four major Boston sports team logos lit up while being serenaded by the Boston anthem, “Sweet Caroline.” McCray said the farm would like to keep running the stroll in the future and is excited for the challenge of innovating new ideas and themes each year. “We’re going to do the best we can,” McCray said. “We have to keep changing it up. You know, one of the most uncomfortable feelings is when people tell me ‘This is better than Bright Nights, because Bright Nights is always the same.’ I can only imagine how much money is invested in Bright Nights, and I’m sure they try to change it up, so the pressure is on for us to keep trying to change it up enough.”

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Why More Chinese Are Risking Danger in Southern Border Crossings to U.S.

Gao Zhibin and his daughter left Beijing on Feb. 24 for a better life, a safer one. Over the next 35 days, by airplane, train, boat, bus and foot, they traveled through nine countries. By the time they touched American soil in late March, Mr. Gao had lost 30 pounds. The most harrowing part of their journey was trekking through the brutal jungle in Panama known as the Darién Gap. On the first day, said Mr. Gao, 39, he had sunstroke. The second day, his feet swelled. Dehydrated and weakened, he threw away his tent, a moisture-resistant sleeping pad and his change of clothes. Then his 13-year-old daughter got sick. She lay on the ground, vomiting, with her face pale, her forehead feverish, her hands on her stomach. Mr. Gao said he thought she might have drunk dirty water. Dragging themselves through the muddy, treacherous rainforests of the Darién Gap, they took a break every 10 minutes. They didn’t get to their destination, a camp site in Panama, until 9 p.m. Mr. Gao said he felt he had no choice but to leave China. “I think we will only be safe by coming to the U.S.,” he said, adding that he believed that Xi Jinping, China’s leader, could lead the country to famine and possibly war. “It’s a rare opportunity to protect me and my family,” he said.

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Patriots lose 27-17 to the Chiefs, fall to 3-11 on season

Quarterback Bailey Zappe and the New England Patriots were unable to keep the momentum going for a second straight win, instead falling 27-17 at home to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. It was again a tale of two halves for Zappe, who got his fifth career start. He threw for one touchdown and one interception. The Patriots are now 3-11 on the season, with their only victories coming against the Jets back in Week 3, the Bills in Week 7, and the Steelers last week. The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who came in struggling after losing back-to-back games for the first time since September 2021, avoided losing a third straight game, improving to 9-5 on the season. Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters. The highlight for many at Gillette Stadium on Sunday was seeing Taylor Swift on the videoboard, as the pop superstar returned to Foxborough, Massachusetts, to watch her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Next up for New England is traveling to Denver to take on the Broncos at 8:15 p.m. on Christmas Eve. This game story will be updated. Check back

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A Reinvented True Detective Plays It Cool

There were times, a year ago, in Iceland, on a glacier, in the dark, in temperatures well below freezing, when Issa López thought to herself: “Who wrote this? What is wrong with this person?” López, the showrunner and director of Season 4 of the HBO anthology series “True Detective,” had only herself to blame. This shivery “True Detective,” subtitled “Night Country,” premieres on Jan. 14. Set in Ennis, a fictional town in northwest Alaska, it stars Jodie Foster as the chief of police and Kali Reis as an intimidating state trooper. Opening just as the area descends into months of unrelieved darkness, the six-episode season has an icy milieu and a female gaze forcefully distinct from the show’s past outings. Created by Nic Pizzolatto, “True Detective” debuted nearly a decade ago as a bayou noir starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Sultry, macho and spanning two timelines set 17 years apart, it entwined a familiar serial killer investigation with sweaty philosophy and intimations of the supernatural. Though that first season had its critics, it made for essential, much debated viewing. The second season, set in an unglamorous Southern California exurb and starring Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch, Rachel McAdams and Vince Vaughn, made a smaller, grimmer splash, as did the third season, which starred Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff and relocated the action to the Ozarks.

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Amid staff shortages and capacity issues at hospitals, state paves way for quick discharges

Health Amid staff shortages and capacity issues at hospitals, state paves way for quick discharges Health insurers agreed to waive some "prior authorizations" that delay the discharge of patients who are ready to leave their hospital beds. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. David L. Ryan/Boston Globe As state officials issue a warning about high occupancy levels in hospitals and workforce shortages, multiple health insurance providers are agreeing to waive prior authorizations for certain admissions. Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh sent a memo to officials on Jan. 9 outlining the situation. Issues like a “significant” shortage of health care workers, a lack of space in hospitals, and the circulation of COVID alongside RSV and the flu prompted the changes. Walsh’s office requested “temporary operational and practice flexibilities to mitigate the impacts of this significant surge,” and there has been support for the measures by “respective membership organizations.” Advertisement: Hospitals agreed to “commence discharge planning and care coordination as early as practicable in the admission and ensure that patients are discharged as early as prudent in the day,” according to the memo. Some patients in hospital beds are ready to be discharged to rehabilitation facilities, but this can sometimes require a “prior authorization” procedure before insurers will agree to cover the rehab stay, according to the Healey administration. This can cause delays of hours or days before patients can be discharged. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and members of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans agreed to voluntarily waive prior authorization beginning Jan. 9 and ending April 1, according to the memo. This will apply to admissions “from acute care hospitals to sub-acute care facilities and rehabilitation facilities across commercial, Medicaid, Medicare, and Medicare Advantage lines of business.” It does not apply to long-term or custodial admissions. The Executive Office of Health and Human Services confirmed the changes Wednesday. “Due to rising cases of respiratory illness, EOHHS implemented these measures to ensure people are getting the care they need while reducing strain on the healthcare workforce. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated against respiratory viruses like RSV, COVID and flu in order to reduce the severity of illness.” a spokesperson said in a statement to Boston.com. Advertisement: Nursing facilities also agreed to extend their hours to accept admissions Monday through Saturday “at a minimum,” according to the memo, and they will “continue capacity-building efforts to accommodate admissions 24/7.” These measures can be put in place when cases of respiratory illnesses increase and impact hospital capacity. They were also implemented last winter. Hospitals are being directed to “seek innovative ways to improve their staffing plans with a goal to fully staff all licensed adult medical/surgical beds,” according to the memo. Staffing shortages have been an ongoing problem for hospitals. A $38 million investment by Bloomberg Philanthropies will aim to fill those gaps by allowing the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers to gradually double its enrollment and offer three more health care career tracks. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper joined other leaders in announcing that investment Wednesday.

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Neri Oxman, wife of Bill Ackman, apologizes amid allegations of plagiarism

Business Insider’s reporting points to multiple instances of purported plagiarism by Oxman in her 2010 doctoral dissertation for MIT and other pieces of her published work. Ackman was a central figure in the push to remove Claudine Gay as president of Harvard University over her response to antisemitism on campus and instances of plagiarism in her own academic work. Gay resigned on Tuesday . Neri Oxman, an architect and former MIT professor who is married to billionaire investor Bill Ackman, is facing allegations of plagiarism in her academic writing following two reports by Business Insider. The Globe could not independently verify the online news publication’s reports Friday. Advertisement In response to the accusations against his wife, Ackman said on X, formerly Twitter, that he will conduct a plagiarism review of all MIT faculty and leadership. “It is unfortunate that my actions to address problems in higher education have led to these attacks on my family,” Ackman wrote on X Friday evening, less than an hour before Business Insider published a second story reporting further allegations of plagiarism by Oxman. “This experience has inspired me to save all news organizations from the trouble of doing plagiarism reviews.” In a later post on X, Ackman said he would extend his plagiarism review to include Business Insider journalists. Business Insider published its first article about Oxman’s work Thursday, which highlighted three paragraphs in her dissertation where Oxman failed to use quotation marks when quoting the work of other scholars, and a fourth paragraph where she paraphrased another author but did not cite their work. Shortly after the article was published online, Oxman responded Thursday in a post on social media where she apologized and acknowledged “errors” with those paragraphs in her 330-page dissertation titled “Material-based Design Computation.” “For each of the four paragraphs in question, I properly credited the original source’s author(s) with references at the end of each of the subject paragraphs, and in the detailed bibliography end pages of the dissertation,” Oxman said in a post on X. “In these four paragraphs, however, I did not place the subject language in quotation marks, which would be the proper approach for crediting the work. I regret and apologize for these errors.” Advertisement She said Business Insider did not give her enough time to review the source material, some of which is not available online. “When I obtain access to the original sources, I will check all of the above citations and request that MIT make any necessary corrections,” Oxman wrote on X. The report noted that the instances of plagiarism raised in Oxman’s dissertation were similar the examples found in Gay’s work, which Ackman amplified in his push for Gay’s removal as Harvard president. Ackman responded in his own post on X after Business Insider published its initial report. “You know that you struck a chord when they go after your wife, in this case my love and partner in life,” he wrote. “Part of what makes her human is that she makes mistakes, owns them, and apologizes when appropriate.” Business Insider published its second story Friday evening, reporting that Oxman “stole sentences and whole paragraphs from Wikipedia, other scholars, and technical documents in her academic writing.” The outlet reported that “at least 15 passages from her 2010 MIT doctoral dissertation were lifted without any citation from Wikipedia entries.” Advertisement About an hour before that story was published Friday, Ackman posted on X that Oxman was “just contacted” by Business Insider regarding additional instances of plagiarism in her work. “Business Insider told us that they are publishing their story this evening,” he wrote. “As a result, we don’t have time to research their claims prior to publication.” He then said he would launch a plagiarism review at MIT. “We will begin with a review of the work of all current @MIT faculty members, President [Sally] Kornbluth, other officers of the Corporation, and its board members for plagiarism,” he wrote. “We will share our findings in the public domain as they are completed in the spirit of transparency.” In response to a request for comment on Business Insider’s reporting and Ackman’s intent to review the work of MIT faculty and leadership, a university spokesperson said, “Our leaders remain focused on ensuring the vital work of the people of MIT continues, work that is essential to the nation’s security, prosperity and quality of life.” Messages were sent to Business Insider’s public relations department and a representative for Ackman and Oxman seeking further comment late Friday. Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com. Follow him @NickStoico.

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Powerful Earthquake Strikes Eastern Philippines but Tsunami Fears Abate

The spacious, recently built property located at 62 Black Rock Road in Cohasset was sold on Nov. 15, 2023. The $2,900,000 purchase price works out to $885 per square foot. The house, built in 2020, has an interior space of 3,278 square feet. This two-story house boasts a generous living space with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The home’s outer design showcases a a gambrel roof frame, with roofing materials crafted from asphalt. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area. The property is equipped with forced air heating and a cooling system. In addition, the home provides an attached garage. Additional houses that have recently been purchased close by include:

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NFL Power Rankings: Plenty of twists and turns in AFC/NFC playoff races

Week 15 saw the San Francisco 49ers extend their winning streak to six games, tops in the league thus far. With three games to go, they’ve also pretty much locked up the NFC West with their sights now set on landing the NFC’s top seed. With the Eagles losing their third straight after a stunning loss to the Seattle Seahawks Monday night, the Niners have a bit of breathing room for that top seed. Over in the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens won their fourth straight, and currently hold the top spot in the conference. Jacksonville’s loss, meanwhile, left the Jaguars in a three-way tie for the division lead in the AFC South with Indianapolis and Houston. As for the Patriots, they had a visit from Taylor Swift with the Kansas City Chiefs in town. They managed to keep Travis Kelce, Taylor’s beau, in check. But they couldn’t stop Patrick Mahomes. So they’re holding firm on the No. 2 pick in the draft. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Here’s the Power Rankings heading into Week 16: 1. San Francisco 49ers (11-3): When Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel are on, they’re impossible to beat. The Cardinals defense had no chance on Sunday. 2. Baltimore Ravens (11-3): The Ravens are on a roll and Lamar Jackson is healthy in December. But let’s not jinx it for the Ravens star quarterback. 3. Miami Dolphins (10-4): They didn’t have Tyreek Hill, but Jaylen Waddle was enough to coast by the Jets. With the Cowboys and Ravens on deck, we’ll see if they can finally beat a good team. 4. Kansas City Chiefs (9-5): Beating the Patriots sure doesn’t mean what it once did. But they’ll happily put an end to a two-game losing streak. 5. Detroit Lions (10-4): They played their best game in quite awhile on Saturday night. Maybe it should have been expected. Lions are 4-0 in primetime games this season. 6. Dallas Cowboys (10-4): Did the Bills expose a chink in the armor? We’ll see if other teams run the ball, and then run it some more en route to taking down the Cowboys. 7. Philadelphia Eagles (10-4): So what happened after Matt Patricia was inserted as the defensive play caller? The Eagles give up a game-winning touchdown in the final minute for their third straight loss. Can’t make this stuff up. 8. Cleveland Browns (9-5): When you’re Joe Flacco, and you’re signed off the street to rescue the Browns, and deliver wins even while throwing three picks, style points don’t matter. 9. Buffalo Bills (8-6): They basically ran the ball down the Cowboys throats and embarrassed Jerry’s boys in the process. Playing with their backs against the wall seems to suit the Bills. 10. Cincinnati Bengals (8-6): At different points Saturday, it looked like it was time to write the obituary on their 2023 season. Only, the Bengals managed to survive, coming back from 14 in the fourth quarter to pull off an overtime win and stay alive for a playoff spot. 11. Jacksonville Jaguars (8-6): They’ve surrendered their lead in the AFC South, and no longer have the look of a legitimate contender. 12. Houston Texans (8-6): It wasn’t pretty, but they managed to survive without C.J. Stroud and pull out a win against the Titans. 13. LA Rams (7-7): They needed to win to keep their postseason hopes alive, and win they did behind another stellar performance by Matthew Stafford. 14. Indianapolis Colts (8-6): With backup Gardner Minshew leading the charge, they just might be the most surprising eight-win team in the lot. 15. Denver Broncos (7-7): Not the best time for the run game to disappear. But the loss to the Lions shouldn’t hurt them too much in the fight for a wild card berth. 16. Minnesota Vikings (7-7): They need to take some lessons from the Philadelphia Eagles on the brotherly shove, a.k.a. tush push. And why do it back-to-back after flunking the first time? Kevin O’Connell will be second-guessing himself all week. 17. Tampa Bay Bucs (7-7): If Baker Mayfield plays like he did against the Packers the rest of the way, the Bucs will emerge from a crowd of bad teams and win the NFC South. 18. Seattle Seahawks (7-7): Losers of five straight, they were pretty much down to their last gasp to keep their playoff hopes alive. The game-winning TD pass from Drew Lock to Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a thing of beauty. So was the ensuing pick by Julian Love. 19. New Orleans Saints (7-7): Derek Carr finally looked like the quarterback the Saints thought they were getting. Better late than never, I suppose. 20. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7): Three straight losses and you have to wonder if there’s any more wins left in them this season. 21. Green Bay Packers (6-8): Something’s not right if Baker Mayfield is carving you up for nearly 400 yards with four touchdown passes. 22. Las Vegas Raiders (6-8): Three points scored in a loss Sunday. Sixty-three in a win Thursday night. What accounted for the turnaround? Playing against Brandon Staley’s defense. 23. Atlanta Falcons (6-8): Losing to Carolina is cause to turn up the heat on head coach Arthur Smith, and lump him in with the rest of the coaches on the hot seat. 24. New York Giants (5-9): Tommy DeVito has been a nice, feel-good story. But he just may have turned into a pumpkin in New Orleans. 25. Chicago Bears (5-9): They merely blew their third double-digit fourth quarter lead this season. Ho-hum. 26. New York Jets (5-9): The Jets have now gone 13 straight seasons without a playoff berth. That’s the longest active drought not only in the NFL, but the NBA, NHL and MLB, too. 27. Tennessee Titans (5-9): Mike Vrabel’s team was officially eliminated. So the Titans attention will turn to fixing what’s broken. They have plenty of money to spend to accomplish the mission. 28. LA Chargers (5-9): The surprise would have been if Brandon Staley survived after the Raiders put up 63 on his defense. 29. New England Patriots (3-11): Back to their losing ways, back to making a slew of mistakes and back to the reality of wondering if Bill Belichick is coaching his final games with New England. 30. Arizona Cardinals (3-11): The only silver lining to getting smoked by the 49ers, was the Cards being able to rush for 234 yards. Other than that, nothing to see here. 31. Washington Commanders (4-10): Sam Howell looked like he was poised to be their starter for the long haul. The fact he was yanked for Jacoby Brissett on Sunday is all you really need to know. 32. Carolina Panthers (2-12): Stop the presses. Bryce Young led a game-winning drive - in a 9-7 game no less - but they’ll certainly take it. NFL fans can wager online on Massachusetts sports betting with enticing promo codes from top online sportsbooks. Use the FanDuel Massachusetts promo code and the DraftKings Massachusetts promo code for massive new user bonuses.

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This Cake Maker Finds Beauty in Change, Time and Even Life and Death

A decade ago, Jasmine Rae de Lung, a San Francisco-based cake maker, wanted to test out some new decorating elements. She headed to Clement Street in the Richmond, a neighborhood with several Asian markets. Her haul that day included some rice paper sheets, typically used to form Vietnamese spring rolls. Back in her Mission District kitchen, de Lung realized the sheets wouldn’t work for draping on a cake; they became flimsy when wet and shrank and shattered when refrigerated. The diaphanous material offered greater potential, though, in detailing: Cut into pieces, dyed, dried and attached to wire, the rice paper resembled delicate flowers. But de Lung also learned the paper couldn’t be commanded; it curled and changed in unexpected ways. Instead, she had to create multiple versions and choose which ones worked best with the cake. “You have to let it be the beauty that it wants to form,” she said.

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Boys Basketball Scoreboard for Dec. 16: Gavier Fernandez, Granby prevail over Hopkins Academy

The Warriors will be looking for their sixth straight win on Christmas day as they hit the road for a matinee matchup with the Nuggets. Denver is riding a four-game winning streak heading into the home contest that will feature a battle between two of the NBA’s biggest stars in Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets rotation will be at full strength for the matchup while the Warriors will be without starting forward Draymond Green who remains out indefinitely due to suspension. What TV channel is the game on? What time will it start? Monday’s game will tip off at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN or ABC from Denver, Colorado. Live stream info: WatchESPN | Sling | fuboTV - You can watch on ESPN or ABC or stream the game on WatchESPN by logging into your credentials. If you don’t have cable, you can stream the game on smart TVs and streaming devices via Sling and fuboTV, which has a free trial. More coverage via the Associated Press Golden State Warriors (15-14, 10th in the Western Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (21-10, second in the Western Conference) Denver; Monday, 2:30 p.m. EST FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Nuggets -5.5; over/under is 233.5 BOTTOM LINE: The Denver Nuggets host the Golden State Warriors. The Nuggets are 13-8 against Western Conference opponents. Denver leads the Western Conference averaging 55.2 points in the paint. Nikola Jokic leads the Nuggets scoring 16.0. The Warriors are 11-12 against conference opponents. Golden State is 5-2 in games decided by 10 points or more. The Nuggets make 48.9% of their shots from the field this season, which is 2.7 percentage points higher than the Warriors have allowed to their opponents (46.2%). The Warriors score 7.2 more points per game (117.2) than the Nuggets allow (110.0). The two teams match up for the second time this season. The Nuggets defeated the Warriors 108-105 in their last matchup on Nov. 9. Jokic led the Nuggets with 35 points, and Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 23 points. TOP PERFORMERS: Jokic is averaging 26.4 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray is averaging 19.8 points and 4.2 assists over the past 10 games for Denver. Klay Thompson is scoring 17.6 points per game and averaging 3.8 rebounds for the Warriors. Curry is averaging 4.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Golden State. LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 7-3, averaging 115.9 points, 46.3 rebounds, 28.1 assists, 7.5 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 47.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.2 points per game. Warriors: 6-4, averaging 121.6 points, 49.6 rebounds, 28.8 assists, 6.3 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 118.1 points. INJURIES: Nuggets: Vlatko Cancar: out (knee). Warriors: Gary Payton II: out (calf), Andrew Wiggins: day to day (illness).

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Heres what Boston meteorologists are saying about Mondays severe weather

Here's a look at what to expect over the next 24-36 hrs across SNE. Heavy rain will ramp up overnight. The greatest threat for damaging winds will be between 7 am and 2 pm tomorrow. Rapid improvement tomorrow evening will give way to scattered flurries and showers on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/omJtw1vPtP

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Auction of Nelson Mandela Items Set After Court Fight With Government

Nelson Mandela’s eldest daughter is moving forward with an auction next month of the former president’s personal belongings after a two-year legal battle with the South African government, which had tried to block such a sale saying the items were artifacts of national heritage. The proposed sale had drawn attention when it was announced in 2021. South African officials balked, objecting in particular to the sale of a key to the Robben Island prison cell where Mr. Mandela was held. Proceeds from the auction are intended to finance a memorial garden honoring Mr. Mandela, who dedicated most of his life to emancipating South Africa from white minority rule, the organizers said. He died in 2013 at 95, 23 years after his release from prison and 19 years after he was elected president.

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Springfield Technical Community College receives $791,000 grant to improve energy efficiency

SPRINGFIELD – Springfield Technical Community College will use $791,694 in state money to replace windows and doors, weatherize buildings and make other improvements to reduce use of fossil fuels. The money comes from Fair Share funds, generated from a 4% surcharge on income from people who earn more than $1 million annually. Spending is earmarked to pay for education, public transportation and to repair roads and bridges. The state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance provided $11,875,404 to be divided among the 15 community colleges. Each received $791,694 to help them meet Massachusetts’ decarbonization goals and advance energy-efficiency. “Combating climate change and securing resources for environmental justice communities continues to be a priority of mine for my district and our commonwealth,” said Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield. He said the grant will help the state meet the net zero carbon goals it set in 2021. Gomez joined with Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll in announcing the grant. The college will also use the money to catch up on deferred maintenance, officials said.

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Opinion | I Can Help Rebuild Gaza. First I Need to Survive Today.

I was a young child, living in the Jabaliya area, in the north of Gaza, when I first saw an Israeli soldier up close. The Israel Defense Forces invaded the camp and our home. They stayed for three days. After that, I was afraid of Israelis. I always thought that they were coming to kill or kidnap me. And yet I know the world can be better. I’ve seen how people in other conflicts have worked toward coexistence, and I know that one day I will work to better Gaza, to rebuild our community and to move forward. But this week I took the only opportunity that secured my immediate future: to flee. I’m a Palestinian raised in the Gaza Strip, so I have long known conflict. My family are refugees from 1948; my grandmother used to tell me really great stories about our village, Al Muharraqa. It was on the eastern border of Gaza, about nine miles from Gaza City. Still, every other time there has been a war in Gaza, it hasn’t really come to this level of intensity. This is the first time in my life I really didn’t know where to go or if I would survive at all. But because I have seen a different version of this world, I still held out hope.

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Expedition Unknown episode 6: How to watch for free on Dec. 20

Josh helps recover the richest stash of lost treasure in the Americas in the newest episode of “Expedition Unknown” airing on Wednesday, December 20 on the Discovery Channel. The new season will air a new episode at 9 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel. Viewers looking to stream the new season can do so by using Philo, FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. All three streaming services offer free trials for new users. According to a description of the series from the Discovery Channel, intrigued by legendary mysteries and driven by curiosity, Josh Gates is on a mission for answers.`Expedition Unknown’ chronicles his global adventures as he investigates iconic unsolved events, lost cities, buried treasures and other puzzling stories. In the sixth episode of the new season, Josh helps recover the richest stash of lost treasure in the Americas; deploying cutting-edge technology and an armada of boats, the team dives the Caribbean to bring coins and jewels from the legendary Spanish galleon Maravillas to the surface. Here is a look at the series from Discovery’s YouTube Channel: How can I watch “Expedition Unknown” if I don’t have cable? The new season will air a new episode at 9 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel. Viewers looking to stream the new season can do so by using Philo, FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. All three streaming services offer free trials for new users. What is Philo? Philo is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers 60+ entertainment and lifestyle channels, like AMC, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and more, for the budget-friendly price of $25/month. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels

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Wolverines receives Endangered Species Act protection due to climate change

As New England transitions into late fall and gears up for winter's onset, we are watching the days shorten up and the sun appears lower in the sky. This change in sun angle significantly impacts people living in northern altitude’s ability to produce vitamin D. A combination of Boston's latitude and the tilt of the northern hemisphere on Earth’s axis away from the sun during the winter makes it more difficult to soak up the sun. Everywhere south of the 37th parallel can still get enough sun in the winter to produce vitamin D. But Boston's latitude is at 42 degrees N, well north of the 37th parallel. If you are looking at the sky, the sun only rises 25 degrees above the horizon in December. In contrast, the sun would be at a 70-degree angle from the horizon in the summer. Consequently, from November to February, the sunlight is not direct enough to facilitate the absorption of vitamin D. Vitamin D is vital for various bodily processes, with two significant reasons to maintain adequate levels during winter immune system support and the influence on brain function related to mental health. Notably, individuals experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or seasonal depression often exhibit low levels of vitamin D. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. To address this deficiency during winter, individuals in regions with limited sunlight can consider alternative sources of vitamin D, such as dietary supplements or vitamin D-rich foods and considering vitamin D supplements if recommended by health care professionals can contribute to maintaining optimal vitamin D levels.

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South Koreas City of Books

The book city’s mission — to “actively support culture and arts based on books” — can be seen in buildings all over town. Photopia, a serene purple structure curved like an ocean wave, serves as a photography production and processing studio. One publishing company, Dulnyouk, has its headquarters in a towering, geometric structure that resembles the kind of cumbersome transport vehicle found in “Star Wars.” Quaint cafes, where visitors can sip their drinks while reading, dot Paju’s street corners. Everything is designed to preserve and spread a love for books. At the core of Paju Book City is where Lee works, the Asia Publication Culture and Information Center, a five-story complex that includes an education facility, events hall and exhibition space, and that serves as a social and professional nucleus for local publishers. The center draws almost 10,000 visitors a year. On the building’s first floor is the Forest of Wisdom, a central library with tens of thousands of books on display and tens of thousands more in storage, according to Lee. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, some more than 25 feet tall, line the walls. Though visitors are not allowed to check out books — fiction and nonfiction, reference texts, picture books and other works — they are welcome to browse the shelves and read in common areas. The seemingly boundless collection means guests include families with children, young couples on dates and groups of older people on social outings. The center includes a hotel for anyone who wants to spend the night.

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Opinion | History Argues for Disqualifying Trump

One of the most difficult things to ask a judge to do is issue a ruling that he or she believes is actually dangerous. Even if you can make a strong case that the letter of the law is on your side, judges are tempted to narrow the reach of disfavored laws or sometimes virtually rewrite them in order to avoid outcomes that are deemed too radical or disruptive. Thus, it’s incumbent on good lawyers to argue not merely in favor of the letter of the law but also for the underlying merit of the law itself. My newsletter two weeks ago focused mainly on the legal argument for disqualifying Donald Trump from the presidency on the basis of the text and history of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. I made the case that the plain language of the amendment should disqualify Trump regardless of the consequences, which many observers — including some strongly opposed to Trump — believe would be dire and violent. Today, by contrast, I will make the case that even the consequences argue for Trump’s disqualification. Or, put more directly, that the consequences of not disqualifying the former president are likely to be worse than those of disqualifying him. This is the lesson of history both recent — the Trump era and Jan. 6, 2021 — and more distant. The profound mistakes of the Reconstruction-era Congress, just years after the Civil War and the ratification of the 14th Amendment, teach us about the high cost of welcoming insurrectionists back into high office. I addressed these points briefly in a short post for our new Opinion blog, but they deserve more attention. Critics of applying Section 3 to Trump have correctly and eloquently argued that removing him from the race could trigger a convulsive and potentially violent backlash in the American body politic. Millions of Americans would feel as if their choice was taken from them and that scheming elites were destroying American democracy.

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A new attraction for Boston: What's up with the WNDR?

On a recent morning, Markos Doyle walked inside a screen-lined garden shed, itself contained within a darkened exhibit hall in Boston's Downtown Crossing neighborhood. He sat down at a white table inside the facsimile greenhouse to answer the question: What exactly is this place? "The WNDR Museum is a digital, interactive, immersive experience," said Doyle, the general manager of WNDR Boston. "Lights, sounds. It's a place of complete immersion and wonderment." "Our message is simple," the museum's website states. "We are all artists. And as artists, our visitors are more than passive onlookers. Whatever they do in our museum, IS art." Founded in Chicago in 2018, the WNDR Museum is set to open its largest location in Boston next month at 500 Washington St. It's just one of a growing group of technology-driven immersive installations popping up around the world. The garden shed at WNDR Boston is part of "INSIDEOUT," one of more than 20 exhibits that will be featured at the space's February launch. It's the work of artist Leigh Sachwitz, inspired by childhood memories of taking cover from thunderstorms in Glasgow, where she experienced bursts of rain and sunshine within a short timespan. "She’s recreated that inside the museum using projection mapping, soundtracks, lights," Doyle said as lights flowed on the walls of the shed around him. "We’re experiencing it now, and it’s a completely enveloping environment that makes you feel like you’re in that storm.” From a seat at the same white table, visitors pull a string attached to an incandescent lightbulb hanging above to begin the three-minute multimedia experience. "You hear a change in the sound of, slowly winds picking up, clouds rumbling in," Doyle said. The digital windows slam shut, and rain starts falling. "The storm whips through; there's winds and rain. And then all of a sudden, the storm has cleared, and slowly the light returns." The lights and sounds fill the space inside and out. “It’s pretty enchanting for anybody between the ages of 3 and 93, can go in and enjoy the majority, if not the entirety of the museum. What a wonderful thing," WNDR Museum President Chris Freeman said. "And I can’t say the same thing for maybe a slightly more traditional museum.” Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone into establishing and expanding similar for-profit experiential spaces — generally referred to as "immersive art" — in new cities, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. But what exactly makes this art immersive, and how does the experience differ from other, more traditional, museums? Immersive art goes all the way back to panoramic, 360-degree paintings, said Sofie Hodara, a professor who teaches interactive design and immersive media at Northeastern University. But more recently, she explained, when we hear "immersive art," we think of spaces where the audience is an active member of the exhibition; the work wouldn't exist in the same way without its participation. Gloria Sutton, an associate professor of contemporary art history at Northeastern, said WNDR falls under the umbrella of "immersive experiences," which range from virtual reality to historical reenactments. She pointed to the rise of Google Images and social media platforms as a catalyst for the rise of attractions like WNDR. "The term 'immersive' oftentimes refers back to something like hallucinatory escapism, that people want to immerse themselves in a gaming console or in a different universe because they're escaping the reality of the world," Sutton said. Another one of WNDR Boston's featured exhibits is Yayoi Kusama's "Let's Survive Forever," one of the artist's more than 20 Infinity Mirror Rooms. Visitors are given one minute inside the room, where, as WNDR describes, "A sense of infinity is offered through the play of reflections between the circular shapes and the surrounding mirrors." A woman sees her reflection inside Yayoi Kusama's infinity room, "Let's Survive Forever." Courtesy of Kirsten Miccoli Kusama is one of the most important visual artists of the post-war period, Sutton said, and seeing her work in a space that contextualizes her art is different than seeing it abstractly. "I'm not arguing one is better than the other," Sutton said, adding that viewing work like Kusama's infinity rooms without that context leads to a different experience for visitors, often one of reflection and self-disorientation. It's part of the reason why Kusama's work is so successful and captivating for audiences, regardless of their context. "You can go in there and have an experience that is, you know, transformative for people, and that's why this work, her practice, is legible and exciting," Sutton said. On bringing "Let's Survive Forever" to Boston, WNDR creative director David Allen said in a statement, "We are committed to breaking down the sense of distance and exclusivity often associated with art and we're proud to redefine the museum experience as a dynamic, inclusive source of engagement and connection." Sutton also makes a distinction between a place like WNDR and an art museum that's interested in cultivating a long-term relationship with a collection and an audience. “To call it a museum is a misnomer, right? So it’s not really a museum; it’s more of a commercial attraction," Sutton said. Freeman, Allen and Doyle all told GBH News the WNDR Museum is in the process of building relationships with the city of Boston, schools and the local arts community. Allen said that process took time during the organization's prior expansions to San Diego and Seattle. "People have to see that we care and who we are," he said. “We have to, you know, be nothing other than reverential when coming into a market that we don’t live in,” Freeman said. “Boston is hopefully going to be our best yet." Tickets to WNDR Boston are on sale now. The museum is set to open on Feb. 1, 2024.

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Single-family house sells in Northborough for $1.2 million

The spacious property located at 17 Thayer Street in Northborough was sold on Oct. 31, 2023 for $1,234,000, or $303 per square foot. The house, built in 2002, has an interior space of 4,074 square feet. This two-story home offers a spacious layout with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. On the exterior, the house is characterized by a gable roof design, featuring roofing made of asphalt. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area. The property is equipped with forced air heating and a cooling system. In addition, the house is equipped with an attached one-car garage, offering a designated parking space and extra storage capacity. Additional houses that have recently been purchased close by include: On Davis Street, Northborough, in May 2022, a 1,688-square-foot home was sold for $918,000, a price per square foot of $544. The home has 5 bedrooms 1 bathroom. In August 2022, a 5,196-square-foot home on Harrington Lane in Northborough sold for $1,850,000, a price per square foot of $356. A 1,050-square-foot home at 62 Hamilton Road in Northborough sold in June 2023, for $550,000, a price per square foot of $524. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Real Estate Newswire is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to generate analysis of data from Propmix, an aggregator of national real-estate data. See more Real Estate News

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Mass. Gas Prices Tumble Four Cents With Arctic Blast On Horizon

BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — With an Arctic blast of cold weather gunning for New England, AAA Northeast says Massachusetts' average gas price is down four cents from last week at $3.13 per gallon. Officials say there's been an uptick in energy demand as the temperatures continue to drop, though overall need has been lower than previous winters. Because of that, regional inventories of oil and gasoline have been seeing steady price decline. Still, the Commonwealth's average price for gas is seven cents higher than the national average. Read More: Cinema For All: Belmont World Film Fest Comes To Greater Boston “The national average for a gallon of gas is very close to a flat $3 a gallon and we’re not far behind here in the Northeast. But prices might waffle a bit on weather-related concerns and the potential for escalating tensions in the Middle East, which so far, have not had a lasting impact on oil prices,” said Mark Schieldrop, Senior Spokesperson for AAA Northeast. AAA Northeast's most recent survey found that the current national average is also down— one cent below last week at $3.06.

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Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts addresses rumors he was dead, transitioning

For a while, fans of the country music band Rascal Flatts thought guitarist Joe Don Rooney was dead or transitioning to become a woman. Now Rooney has broken his silence to address the rumors and explain his absence from social media. “First off, I am alive,” the member of the Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum-selling group said on X Wednesday, Jan. 3. “There have been so many rumors and opinions thrown around about me - but I’m finally healthy and ready for the world. And NO, I’m not transitioning to be a woman,” Rooney continued. “That thought has never entered my mind. Nothing against the trans community whatsoever but I needed to set the record straight.” Read More: Country music star shocks fans with farewell tour announcement The musician said the reason for his absence came from his long battle with alcoholism. Rooney recalled an incident on Sept. 9, 2021, when he drunkenly crashed into a tree and nearly died. Rooney’s progressive drinking coupled with his fears, depression and anxiety caused him to spin out in a way he never had before. “The pressures of my career and the many mistakes I made in regards to my home life, coupled with a lot of pain and trauma from my childhood and early on in my adult life, had become too much to bear,” he said. “I was not a good father - I was not a good husband - and I was not a good band mate to my business partners. I probably would’ve never taken responsibility for any of this if it hadn’t been for my car wreck on Sep 9, 2021.” Rooney was arrested and charged with driving under the influence as a result of the crash, ET reported. The incident came just a few weeks after Rooney and his former bandmate, Jay DeMarcus, accepted the Academy of Country Music’s Cliffie Stone Icon Award, the news outlet continued. Rooney saw the crash as a sign to get help. He eventually sought treatment for his drinking “in the beautiful mountains of Utah” for four months. Rooney will now celebrate 28 months of sobriety on Saturday, Jan. 13. “I never believed I could actually live my life without drinking. It had become such a huge part of my daily and nightly routine,” Rooney continued. “With the help of my family and so many other professional clinical advisors and now numerous new sober forever friends, I’ve been able to get the train back on the tracks and live without the burden of alcohol.” Read More: Concerts to catch in Boston this winter and spring before summer series rolls in Rooney added that he has set “new healthy boundaries” for the first time to help protect his family and sobriety. “Thank you for all the love, support and prayers. I promise you, I’ve felt them all and I’m super appreciative,” he concluded. “Here’s to making the best of 2024 and living our most healthiest, happiest and goal oriented lives ever.” Rascal Flatts disbanded in 2020 following a farewell tour after twenty years together. The farewell tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band’s disbandment was officially confirmed in October 2021.

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Kristaps Porzingis credits unbelievable Celtics crowd in Pistons win

St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced Tuesday night that the team has relieved Craig Berube of his coaching duties and named Springfield Thunderbirds head coach Drew Bannister interim head coach. Bannister will travel to St. Louis on Wednesday and serve his first game behind the bench when the Blues host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Bannister, 49, has spent the past three seasons with the Blues’ AHL affiliate in Springfield, leading the team to a 93-58-19 regular-season record. The Belleville, Ontario, native has also guided the Thunderbirds to consecutive playoff appearances, including 2021-22, when they won the Eastern Conference and reached the Calder Cup Final. Bannister began his coaching career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he spent three seasons as an assistant with Owen Sound and three as head coach with the Soo Greyhounds. He also served as head coach of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage and as an associate coach with the Utica Comets. Bannister’s career spanned over 20 years as a player and included 164 NHL regular-season games between the Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and New York Rangers. In addition, Thunderbirds general manager Kevin Maxwell has announced that Daniel Tkaczuk will take over the head coaching duties in Springfield on an interim basis. Tkaczuk, 44, joined the St. Louis Blues organization in 2016 as an assistant coach with the club’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. After spending the 2017-18 season as a Skills Coach with the Blues, he rejoined the AHL affiliate as an assistant coach under Bannister in 2018, a role he has held ever since, including a promotion to Associate Head Coach in 2022. The Toronto, Ontario native began his coaching career in the OHL as an assistant coach with the Owen Sound Attack from 2011-15 before spending the 2015-16 season with the Kitchener Rangers. Tkaczuk and Bannister were co-assistant coaches with Owen Sound from 2012-15. Tkaczuk was the sixth overall draft pick in the 1997 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames and played 12 professional seasons in North America and Europe. As a member of the Saint John Flames, Tkaczuk captured a Calder Cup championship in 2000-01. He was tied for second among Flames skaters with 10 goals in the Calder Cup Playoffs that season. In 286 AHL games with Saint John, the Worcester IceCats, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Charlotte, Syracuse, Rochester, and Hartford, Tkaczuk posted 59 goals and 109 assists for 168 points. He was a career point-per-game performer in the playoffs, scoring 14 goals and adding 17 assists in 29 Calder Cup playoff contests. Tkaczuk also skated in 19 NHL games with Calgary, putting up 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in the 2000-01 season. Tkaczuk’s first game as the Thunderbirds’ interim head coach is slated for Wednesday night as Springfield hosts the Rochester Americans inside the MassMutual Center at 7:05 p.m.

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Massachusetts woman pleads guilty to calling in hoax bomb threat at Boston Children's Hospital

Massachusetts woman pleads guilty to calling in hoax bomb threat at Boston Children's Hospital A sign hangs on the Boston Children's Hospital, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, in Boston. A Massachusetts woman pleaded guilty on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, to calling in a fake bomb threat to Boston Children’s Hospital as it faced a barrage of harassment over its surgical program for transgender youths. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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Fall River man sentenced for OUI crash that killed his friend

A Fall River man was sentenced to state prison on Wednesday after he pled guilty to a drunk driving crash that resulted in the death of his friend, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III’s office announced. Jason Lindsay, 23, pled guilty in Fall River Superior Court to indictments charging him with manslaughter while operating under the influence and two counts of operating under the influence with serious injury, Quinn’s office said in a statement. On Jan. 29, 2021, Lindsay picked up Jaedin Monteiro, 18, along with another Fall River man, 19, and a Fall River teenager, 15, in his 2003 Lexus sedan. That afternoon, they went to a liquor store where Lindsay met an unknown man who bought several alcohol mini bottles of Captain Morgan for him, Quinn’s office said. Lindsay drank one outside the car and one inside the car as he drove off. The four then smoked marijuana as the car kept moving, Quinn’s office said. When they entered Dartmouth, Lindsay started to drive recklessly and driving fast at about 100 mph, Massachusetts State Police later determined. Driving on Route 6, the car swerved and Lindsay lost control, striking a utility pole near the China Belle Restaurant, Quinn’s office said. The crash ripped the back seat passenger door behind Lindsay, next to where Monteiro sat. He had serious injuries to his head and died. Read more: Franklin teen killed in Hopkinton car crash identified The 19- and 15-year-olds were both seriously injured, with the 15-year-old suffering a fractured vertebrae, a neck fracture and fluid on his right knee, Quinn’s office said. The 19-year-old had two fractures to his lower back. Lindsay only had minor injuries. The State Police investigation found that Lindsay over-corrected the car’s speed and it began to spin after the back end of the driver’s side hit the utility pole. The back of the car had “catastrophic damage and continued hundreds of feet before coming to a rest,” the statement read. The speed limit for that stretch of road where the crash happened is 35 mph, Quinn’s office said. No one in the car was wearing a seatbelt. Read more: Former Stoneham police officer sentenced for defrauding landlords Lindsay was sentenced to serve five to seven years in state prison. “This is yet another tragic example of a defendant driving recklessly while drunk, and causing death and serious injuries to his friends,” Quinn said in the statement. “My heart goes out to the families of all who have been impacted for the rest of their lives by this terrible, yet avoidable, accident.”

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Wrestling Scoreboard: Frontier scores big with win over Northampton & more

Frontier wrestling defeated Northampton, 48-24 on Wednesday to pick up its first dual meet win of the season. Wednesday, Dec. 13 SUBURBAN NORTH Frontier 48, Northampton 24 - Box Score SUBURBAN SOUTH Frontier 48, Northampton 24 - Box Score TRI-COUNTY Mohawk Trail 22, Gateway 21 - Box Score VALLEY LEAGUE Agawam 65, Central 17 - Box Score

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Leaping NH murder suspect caught in Malden

Jumping from one building to another in Malden as he tried to escape authorities, a New Hampshire man wanted in connection to a fatal shooting earlier this month ran out of luck. Authorities on Tuesday arrested Giovanne Morris, 31, who allegedly shot and killed a 42-year-old man in Manchester, N.H., in the early morning of Nov. 18 near a diner in that city. Morris had eluded police for nearly two weeks until investigators determined the fugitive had been staying at an apartment on Kennedy Drive in Malden. Massachusetts State Police teamed up with a United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force to make the arrest. After members of the joint collaboration knocked the door to the apartment that Morris was staying at and announced themselves, the suspect escaped onto a fifth-floor balcony and jumped to the balcony of an adjacent apartment, according to authorities. Officers positioned outside the building observed the leap, with an arrest team then gaining access to the balcony of the initial apartment where they gave Morris verbal commands to surrender peacefully. Authorities said the suspect “eventually” adhered to their request before Morris was placed into custody. Troopers took Morris to the State Police-Medford Barracks, with authorities booking him as a fugitive from New Hampshire, where he faces a charge of being a felon in possession of a dangerous weapon. The charge stemmed from the fatal shooting, a release states. Morris, last known to have an address in New Hampshire, was arraigned Tuesday in Malden District Court as a fugitive from justice, and prosecutors in both states are arranging his rendition to New Hampshire. Morris is alleged to have shot and killed Carlos Rodriguez, of Manchester, N.H., near the Red Arrow Diner in the city. Manchester Police received a call for a reported shooting in the area of 61 Lowell St., just after 2 a.m. on Nov. 18. Officers responded to the scene and found Rodriguez suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers had been dispatched to the area less than an hour beforehand for a reported motor vehicle crash, according to authorities. Rodriguez died from his injuries later that day. The shooting remains under investigation by Manchester Police and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Individuals involved in the shooting have been identified, while investigators are working to determine whether the person who shot Rodriguez acted in self-defense. Investigators believe there are additional bystanders who have yet to come forward to report what they may know about the incident.

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Milford construction firm, Boston developer sued over $5M Waltham contract

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Mass. State Lottery winner: $4M prize, 2 $1M prizes claimed same day

A spacious house located at 40 Bigelow Road in Southborough has new owners. The 2,140-square-foot property, built in 1966, was sold on Dec. 28, 2023. The $875,000 purchase price works out to $409 per square foot. This two-story home provides a generous living space with its four bedrooms and two bathrooms. On the exterior, the home features a gable roof design constructed with asphalt roofing. Inside, a fireplace adds character to the home. Additionally, the house includes an attached two-car garage, ensuring ample room for parking and storage. These nearby houses have also recently been sold:

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Cruise ship intended for Florida, Bahamas reroutes to Boston

“The guy helping us with our luggage said, ‘You’re going to Canada’ and we all laughed it off,” said Girish Keswani, who runs a design school with his wife in India. “We thought it was a joke.” It sounds like a prank engineered by climate change activists, or a vengeful ex-lover. But the situation was all too real: At the last minute, because of adverse weather, thousands of passengers who thought they were about to cruise from New York to Florida and a private island in the Bahamas were informed that they would instead be sailing to Boston, Portland, and Canada. Dreaming of sunshine and piña coladas, they were now facing clam chowder and Bruins fans. And rain, lots of rain. Advertisement Ha ha ha! Who needs a beach coverup when you can rock one of the flimsy ponchos that MSC Cruises was giving out? Keswani and his family had flown in from India for the seven-day cruise. The ship departed New York on Saturday, and on Monday, when his daughter, Aashima, 17, should have been posting tropical-weather selfies on Instagram, she was instead futilely clutching a poncho around her body and fighting off suggestions from friends that she salvage the trip by visiting colleges. “I’m supposed to be on vacation,” she said. Get The Big To-Do Your guide to staying entertained, from live shows and outdoor fun to the newest in museums, movies, TV, books, dining, and more. Enter Email Sign Up Girish Keswani, with his family, was on his way to Harvard University for a quick visit but they all got hit with a strong blast of wind for their welcoming at Black Falcon Pier. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff The Keswanis learned about the switcheroo as they were boarding, but the notification from MSC Cruises was sent the night before, and it’s a master class in chutzpah. “To ensure the safety and well-being of everyone onboard, we will sail to New England and Canada instead, where we expect to encounter fairer weather conditions that will allow us to offer you the pleasant cruise experience that you expect,” it read. Pleasant cruise experience that you expect? With the doomed ship — the monstrous, 214-feet tall, 19-deck big, 5,700-guest capacity Meraviglia — docked at the Flynn Cruiseport Boston, in the “at the end world” part of South Boston, it felt a little late for “pleasant.” Advertisement The city was under a “damaging winds” alert. The rain was rushing sideways. Umbrellas and shoes were history. MSC Cruises gave customers the option to rebook. But because the Good news — you’re sailing to Boston in December! alert went out the night before, it’s safe to assume that many/most/all passengers had already: lined up pet sitters, taken vacation time, and paid for hotels and gas and airfare and the cruise itself. On the MSC Cruises website, a cruise slated to leave Dec. 23 with the same itinerary starts at $739 per person and goes up from there. Passengers who spoke with the Globe outside the ship, on Black Falcon Avenue, as they waited for Ubers, had traveled to New York from India, Atlanta, Aruba, and, perhaps most cruelly, Canada, where the ship is poised to land on Thursday. At the the Flynn Cruise Port Boston, on the Black Falcon Pier, passengers from the Meraviglia cruise ship had to stop off in Boston because of a coastal storm. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Actually, perhaps the Canadian passengers, angry though they were, didn’t have it worst of all. That honor may go to Connie C. She lives in Pennsylvania but regularly travels here for work. On her company’s tab. “I did not want to pay $5,000 [for my family] to come to Boston,” she said angrily as she took shelter under a covered area. “This was supposed to be our Christmas vacation.” Many passengers decided to stay onboard rather than schlep around the city trying to make the best of things. But others headed out, wearing either the light clothes they’d packed in happier times, or winter coats they had just bought (how fun to spend your vacation shopping for puffers to wear on a trip you didn’t want to take!). Advertisement As for passengers whose idea of a good time isn’t New England and Canada in winter, MSC Cruises offered an option-ish. “If you are not satisfied with this change,” the company wrote, “you can cancel your cruise free of charge and receive a refund in the form of a Future Cruise Credit **” MSC Cruises did not return a Globe request for comment, so heaven knows what that double asterisk means (maybe that you can only rebook to Alaska in February, or to the underworld itself). Before the ship even left New York, news of its bad luck was already going viral on Reddit. “We have all of our holiday plans built around this cruise, lots of money, hotel bookings, airfare, etc.,” one person wrote. “Really upset. In my 30 years of cruising, almost 50 sailings, this has NEVER EVER happened, with such a drastic change in itinerary with almost zero notice. Advice?” Among the tips: Enjoy the emptier ship. Life is short, go with the flow. And considering that the cruise line is expecting high winds and rain in the waters off Florida and the Bahamas, be GLAD you’re not heading south. “I’m sitting on a drillship in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and if the seas there are as bad as what we’re getting right now, you’ll be glad you didn’t sail in these seas,” read one popular response. “We’re currently getting 25ft waves and our rig is completely shut down. . . . It wouldn’t be a fun vacation being sea sick 75 percent of the time.” Advertisement Meanwhile, with reports that New England is warming faster than the rest of the world, perhaps we should lean into this thing. Start selling ourselves as a warm-weather winter getaway. Just don’t expect us to develop Southern charm. Beth Teitell can be reached at beth.teitell@globe.com. Follow her @bethteitell.

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Police: Boston SWAT at the scene of active shooter at building fire in Mattapan

Boston police responded to a report of gunshots in Mattapan Saturday shortly after firefighters were called to the scene to extinguish a fire, authorities said. Members of the city’s SWAT team were brought in after a suspect opened fire on first responders, who were called to 50 Fairlawn Ave at about 11:35 a.m., according to police. City data shows there have been 107 shooting incidents in Boston in 2023 with 141 victims through Dec. 24. That is down from the 145 fatal and non-fatal incidents in 2022, according to Boston police data. The address where the shooting occurred Saturday is just off Cummins Highway. This is a developing story.

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Army and Navy football uniforms will honor infantry, submariners

As has become tradition, the Army and Navy football teams will each wear specially designed uniforms for their annual rivalry game which this year takes place Saturday at Gillette Stadium. Here’s what each side is wearing according to their sports information departments: Army's uniform for Saturday's Army-Navy gameArmy Athletics Army’s NIKE gear will honor the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division: “The 2023 Army West Point uniforms for the 124th Army-Navy Game tells the story of the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division during the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the Marne Division’s participation in the initiation of offensive operations in Iraq, the longest and most rapid armored advance since the Second World War. The 3rd Infantry Division’s success hinged upon its ability to seize and maintain the initiative against a determined adversary in harsh and unforgiving terrain. The Dogface Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division accomplished this feat through the clear application of the U.S. Army’s characteristics of the offensive: surprise, concentration, audacity, and tempo.” BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Navy's uniform for the 2023 Army-Navy gameNavy Athletics Navy Under Armour uniforms salute the Silent Service, which is the U.S. Submarine Force: “The entire uniform is flooded with Eclipse Navy (UA’s darkest shade of navy blue) to mimic the covert design of a submarine hull. The uniform was purposefully designed to embody the Force’s nickname: Silent Service. The overall design was intended to be simple and utilitarian to convey the stealth purposes of a submarine’s design. The design elements mimic the classification numbers of a submarine hull. ... On the pants, numbers are stacked vertically to mimic depth numbers of a submarine hull. The sleeve patch was executed using the Naval Academy Athletics anchor locked-up with the Submarine Warfare insignia or “dolphins/fish”. The design encompasses a historically inspired rendering of dolphins flanking a submarine in the middle. The back neck of the uniform features the slogan “Silent Service” and features the silhouette of a U.S. submarine on top of a sonar screen that is dotted with stars to indicate targets. Each helmet has the right side depicting a Virginia Class Submarine underwater and the left side depicting Navy’s customary Navy anchor with the submariner pin integrated into it with color changing pragmatic paint. The front flex panel depicts a color changing radar which is used on submarines to find their target. The front decal of the helmet says Navy, while the back decal says Silent Service.”

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Third man convicted in 2021 fatal stabbing of Boston man protecting girlfriend

A third man has been charged with the fatal stabbing of a 34-year-old Boston man who died while protecting his girlfriend in 2021, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Thursday, Jan. 18. Dravon Robison, 39, of Everett, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter under the theory of wanton and reckless conduct for his role in the death of Ricardo Garcia in August 2021, a release from Hayden’s office said. Robin’s cousin, Karonn Brown, 51, was convicted of first-degree murder in November 2023, the release stated. Meanwhile Brown’s son, Derrell Sanford, 29, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this month. On Aug. 8, 2021, the three men were driving in Roxbury and approaching women in the area, according to a previous news release from Hayden’s office. They went up to Garcia’s girlfriend, left their car, and confronted her. Read More: Norfolk DA denies being told he is target of federal investigation Garcia ran over to defend his girlfriend and the three men beat and stabbed Garcia to death, according to the district attorney’s office. Video surveillance captured a majority of the incident. Robinson was the driver of the car during the incident and participated in the attack, the office said. Sanford also participated in the beating and stabbing of Garcia. “There were three men involved here and not one of them chose to de-escalate the situation,” Hayden said. I’m grateful for all who worked to hold each of them accountable for this shocking attack. I can only hope these convictions will bring some sense of justice to Mr. Garcia’s family.” Sentencing for both Robinson and Sanford is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 5 at 9:30 a.m. in Suffolk Superior Court.

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Refusing to Accept Loss of Power, Polish Right Occupies State TV

Amid a turbulent change of power, Poland’s main state television news channel went abruptly off the air on Wednesday, as the former governing party sent legislators and other supporters to the public broadcasting headquarters to try to prevent new management from taking over. Members of the ousted former government staged a sit-in inside a building in southern Warsaw that houses the studios and offices of state television, including TVP Info, a news channel and website that served as a propaganda bullhorn for the right-wing Law and Justice Party during its eight years in power. The protesters, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Law and Justice’s combative chairman, tried to prevent the new, centrist administration of Prime Minister Donald Tusk from asserting control, accusing it of staging a “coup d’état” by firing loyalists of Law and Justice, which lost a general election in October. With Mr. Kaczynski and his supporters vowing to “defend democracy” and block a change of management ordered by Mr. Tusk’s culture minister, technicians who support the new government yanked TVP Info off the air and disabled its website, which had been featuring appeals for resistance against an “illegal attack on public television” by Mr. Tusk.

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How Metas New Face Camera Heralds a New Age of Surveillance

For the past seven years, headsets have remained unpopular, largely because they are bulky and aesthetically off-putting. The minimalist design of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses represent how smart glasses might look one day if they succeed (though past lightweight wearables, such as the Google Glass from a decade ago and the Spectacles sunglasses released by Snap in 2016, were flops). Sleek, lightweight and satisfyingly hip, the Meta glasses blend effortlessly into the quotidian. No one — not even my editor, who was aware I was writing this column — could tell them apart from ordinary glasses, and everyone was blissfully unaware of being photographed. After wearing the Ray-Ban Meta glasses practically nonstop this month, I was relieved to remove them. While I was impressed with the comfortable, stylish design of the glasses, I felt bothered by the implications for our privacy. I’m also concerned about how smart glasses may broadly affect our ability to focus. Even when I wasn’t using any of the features, I felt distracted while wearing them. But the main problem is that the glasses don’t do much we can’t already do with phones. Meta said in a statement that privacy was top of mind when designing the glasses. “We know if we’re going to normalize smart glasses in everyday life, privacy has to come first and be integrated into everything we do,” the company said. I wore the glasses and took hundreds of photos and videos while doing all sorts of activities in my daily life — working, cooking, hiking, rock climbing, driving a car and riding a scooter — to assess how smart glasses might affect us going forward. Here’s how that went.

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David Ziembko IDd as driver killed in I-495 solo crash in Haverhill

A Connecticut man who died in a crash on Interstate 495 in Haverhill on Friday, Dec. 1, was identified by Massachusetts State Police on Monday. David Ziembko, 62, of New Britain, was driving a 2017 Honda CRV in the southbound lefthand lane at around 2:54 p.m., state police said. Before reaching the Route 97 overpass, the Honda exited the roadway and entered the grass median and struck a guardrail, state police said. This caused the car to roll over onto its roof. Ziembko was taken out of the car by first responders and then taken to Lawrence General Hospital, where he died, state police said. The crash remains under investigation, with state police looking into what caused the car to go off the road, “including whether Mr. Ziembko may have suffered a medical event prior to driving off the road,” state police added.

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Burglars target four Beacon Hill businesses over the weekend

Crime Burglars target four Beacon Hill businesses over the weekend Security footage caught a suspect throwing a brick through one store's front window before ransacking it. Four businesses on Charles Street in Beacon Hill were targeted in break-ins or attempted break-ins over the weekend, according to incident reports shared with Boston.com by Boston Police. Security camera footage captured one of the break-ins, at Soodee, a clothing store located at 63A Charles St. According to police, the footage showed a man in black pants and a blue sweatshirt throwing a brick through the window, entering the store, and stealing the cash register late Saturday night. Officers who responded to Soodee on Sunday morning observed “possible drops of blood” near the cash register, according to their report. The owner inventoried the store and reported a box of rings of unknown value stolen, plus an estimated $600 from the cash register. Advertisement: Sunday morning, an employee reported a second burglary down the block at 96 Charles St., home to the clothing store Remy Creations. The employee told police she had found the store in disarray that morning, and reported an iPad stolen. Police noted in their report that a glass panel on the door had been shattered just below the doorknob. The third burglary, at a rental storage facility at 53 Charles St., triggered the business’s alarm system early Monday morning. Officers responded to the building and contacted the owner, who provided them with security footage of a white, male suspect wearing black pants, a gray hooded sweatshirt, and sneakers. The incident report notes that the suspect shattered a window in the door to force it open, and stole an Apple laptop and about $200 cash. The fourth burglary triggered an alarm early Monday morning around the same time as the third. Officers responded to the home goods store J. Grady Home at 133 Charles St., and found that a glass panel in the front door had been shattered, but the door was still locked. They were unable to immediately reach the owner. All four incidents are under investigation by Boston Police. No arrests have been made.

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How Columbias President Has Avoided Fallout Over Israel-Gaza Protests

She might also have benefited from a bit of luck. When Congress invited her to a congressional hearing on antisemitism on Dec. 5 with her peers from Harvard, Penn and M.I.T., Dr. Shafik said she could not go. She told representatives that she had already planned to attend the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, where she introduced a panel about women leaders. The Congressional hearing did not go well. The University of Pennsylvania president lost her job and the Harvard president became mired in weeks of controversy. But instead of fighting for her job, Dr. Shafik was announcing a new initiative, called Values in Action, in which she called for informed debate, not “taunts and cruelty.” Still, she is walking a precarious path. Her call for compassion and respect, some students said, does not reflect what they say has been a repressive effort to rein in pro-Palestinian protesters that has gone farther than at other Ivy League universities: In November, Columbia’s administration made the extraordinary decision to suspend temporarily two pro-Palestinian student groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. “I just think the university is not identifying the proper threat,” said Deen Haleem, a third-year law student and a leader of Law Students for Palestine. “The current threat right now are the universities that are shutting down pro-Palestine speech.”

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Brockton homicide suspect dies in hospital days after shooting himself

Gelson Fernandes, the 29-year-old Brockton man authorities accused of shooting and killing 22-year-old Stephanie Beatty, has died, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. Authorities said Saturday they found Fernandes after issuing a warrant for his arrest for Beatty’s killing, but that he appeared to have shot himself. He was taken to a Boston hospital for treatment in police custody. Brockton police found Beatty dead inside a car near 17 Nason St. around 12:20 a.m. Friday, authorities said previously. The Norwich, Connecticut, resident had been shot, and her death was soon ruled a homicide. Authorities have not specified a motive in Beatty’s killing, but said previously that she and Fernandes “were previously acquainted.” No further information has been released.

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Mortgage rates drop under 7% for the first time since August

Washington, DC CNN — Mortgage rates fell under 7% for the first time since mid-August this week. It is the seventh straight week that rates have dropped, as inflation improves and the Federal Reserve paused its rate increases. With the Fed signaling in its most recent meeting that rate cuts may be coming in 2024, mortgage rates are expected to continue falling. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate fell to an average of 6.95% in the week ending December 14, down from 7.03% a week before, according to data from Freddie Mac released Thursday. A year ago, the average 30-year fixed-rate was 6.31%. The average mortgage rate is based on mortgage applications that Freddie Mac receives from thousands of lenders across the country. The survey includes only borrowers who put 20% down and have excellent credit. A current buyer’s rate may be different. “Potential homebuyers received welcome news this week as mortgage rates dropped below 7% for the first time since August,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist said in a statement. “Given inflation continues to decelerate and the Federal Reserve Board’s current expectations that they will lower the federal funds target rate next year, we likely will see a gradual thawing of the housing market in the new year,” Khater said. The average rate rose above 7% in mid-August and reached as high as 7.79% at the end of October. Recent weeks of declining rates indicate the highest mortgage rates of this cycle may have passed. That’s welcome news for would-be buyers who have been facing the least affordable market since the 1980s. Mortgage applications increased Mortgage applications for the week ending December 8 increased from the week prior for the sixth consecutive week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Bob Broeksmit, MBA’s CEO, said the increase was a strong indication that borrower demand is rising as a result of the recent decline in mortgage rates. “Lower mortgage rates are especially welcoming for prospective first-time buyers, who are still struggling to find available homes in their price range,” he said in a statement. Homebuyers have been acting opportunistically, jumping on rates when they dip and making offers during this period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, which is typically when the housing market slows to a crawl, said Lisa Sturtevant, Bright MLS’s chief economist. But, even as rates dip heading into the new year, the market won’t heat up too fast due to stubbornly low inventory, she said. “We often talk about how lower mortgage rates will bring more buyers into the market,” Sturtevant said in a statement. “But in this very unusual market, where inventory has been locked down, it is more important to watch how falling rates influence prospective sellers’ decisions.” Nearly two-thirds of current mortgage holders carry an interest rate of 4% or lower, and more than 90% have rates 6% or lower, according to ICE, a mortgage data company. That means that even if rates come down to the mid-6% levels, motivating homeowners with ultra-low mortgage rates to sell will still be difficult. This reluctance will keep inventory low, said Jiayi Xu, an economist at Realtor.com, in a statement, and buoy prices higher in the new year. “The disparity between today’s higher market mortgage rates and the lower rates that existing homeowners benefit from on their current mortgages, commonly referred to as the lock-in effect, is expected to play a role in maintaining low inventory levels,” said Xu. “As home shoppers compete over the still-limited inventory, prices are expected to stay elevated, maintaining affordability as a top concern.” This is a developing story and will be upated.

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Boston City Council District 4 Race: Brian Worrell

Politics Boston City Council District 4 Race: Brian Worrell Brian Worrell, a constituent since 2022, is running uncontested for District 4. Boston councilor Brian Worrell poses for a portrait outside of City Hall. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff) We surveyed Brian Worrell on his priorities and some of the most pressing issues facing the Boston City Council this election season, based on input from our readers. Here’s what he had to say. The following responses have been lightly edited for clarity. What are two of your top priorities that you would like to address? The first initiative my office launched was the ‘Black & Brown Economic Empowerment Agenda,’ a multi-faceted approach to give Bostonians of color access to more opportunities and address long-standing economic and educational disparities in our City. Two major pieces of this agenda, which are my top priorities, include housing access and affordability and creating opportunities for our Boston Public School students. In my first term, I have focused my efforts on addressing the housing crisis and expanding homeownership by working with the administration to direct Federal ARPA funding to be used to create a homeownership voucher program and hiring the first-ever Boston Housing Authority (BHA) position solely focused on creating pathways to homeownership. I have also moved initiatives forward to study how we can build more accessible and affordable housing in my district and find creative ways to spur more private investment in our neighborhoods, activating vacant lots, and reimagining existing spaces to help solve the housing crisis. Advertisement: Lastly, I introduced the Cradle-to-Career initiative to help improve our Boston Public Schools and utilize data, institutions, and partnerships, including labor, to prepare our students for emerging careers and economic opportunity. What solutions would you support regarding the area of Mass and Cass and the underlying issues of addiction, mental health, and homelessness? It is important to remember that the crisis at the intersection of Mass Ave and Melnea Cass Boulevard is a reflection of not only our public health and housing crises, but also a public safety crisis for those who live and work in that area. I believe that we should be giving the mayor and our public safety professionals every resource possible to address the public safety and public health crisis at Mass and Cass and continuing to work towards a permanent solution by reactivating the Long Island Recovery Campus. I also believe we need to ensure our response to this crisis is coordinated across departments to ensure our approach is comprehensive and that our state leaders, and surrounding communities, have a responsibility to be our partners in decentralizing these services and addressing the underlying issue. How can housing in Boston be more affordable and inclusive of all communities while mitigating gentrification? As someone with a background in real estate, I have worked to address the housing and affordability crisis during my first term in office and it remains a top priority. I am committed to continuing to ensure we are expanding pathways to homeownership and prioritizing stable housing both for longtime residents and new folks we are trying to attract to our City. In order to do that, we need to continue to maximize state and federal funding to expand pathways to homeownership, provide rental support and assistance, and increase our housing production around public transit for workforce housing and more units available for families at affordable price points. We must continue to work closely with community stakeholders, real estate professionals, and the City to spur more private investment in our neighborhoods, activating vacant lots, and reimagining existing spaces to help solve the housing crisis. What does the city need to do to address gun violence and improve public safety? My district continues to feel the impacts of violence in our communities and I have convened local leaders during my first time to better understand what solutions are needed and address the root causes of inaction to move those solutions forward. I believe we need to address root causes of violence by investing in our youth, expanding economic opportunities, and addressing housing insecurity. Additionally, we need to shift the way we are advancing public safety in these neighborhoods to a more community-driven approach. I support efforts to regularly convene residents and public safety departments to best assess resources currently available and needs we must address, increase diversity and accountability within our police department to build public trust, expand programs and services for mental health, trauma response, and recovery, and create centralized point of contact in our City to focus on violence prevention. How would you improve Boston’s roads and public transit? My proudest achievement has been delivering a massive increase in City funding for projects and improvements to District 4. After demonstrating the generational inequities in capital spending for District 4 in relation to the other districts, I was able to secure increased spending on our local parks, playgrounds, infrastructure, trees, schools, and so much more by over $11 million in a single year. As we continue to focus on high priority infrastructure projects, from the work the Mayor has launched on complete streets to much-needed improvements to the MBTA, I will continue to advocate for an equitable approach to how we prioritize these projects and ensure that residents have access to reliable and safe transit in their communities and roadways and corridors that are safe for all types of commuters. Many readers say they’ve lost faith in the Boston City Council. How would you work to regain their trust? As public officials, we have a responsibility to those we serve to operate with the utmost integrity and accountability and act with urgency on the issues impacting our residents. I will continue to lead in a way that centers those duties every day and work to collaborate with colleagues on the Council and in the Mayor’s office to move our city forward. I am hopeful that work can be the focus going forward to rebuild public trust. Advertisement: Find out more about Brian Worrell on their website and social media.

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Girls Basketball Season Stats Leaders: Who are the current Western Mass. stats leaders?

Note: Stats Leaders is based on results sent to MassLive. If a player is missing, coaches should email sports@masslive.com. MassLive is highlighting the top stats leaders for each girls basketball category throughout the season. Take a look at the season’s top performers so far below:

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Salmonella concerns prompt recall of 11,000 pounds of dried meat

A New Jersey-based food company — Fratelli Beretta USA, Inc. — is recalling more than 11,000 pounds of ready-to-eat meat products after concerns over Salmonella bacteria contamination, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. The potentially contaminated products include Busseto Foods brand charcuterie meats. The product subject to recall are 18-ounce plastic tray packages called “Busseto Foods Charcuterie Sampler Prosciutto, Sweet Sopressata, and Dry Coppa” with lot code L075330300 and “Best if used by APR 27 24.″ The products are sold as a twin pack with two 9-ounce packages. The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 7543B” inside the USDA mark of inspection and “EST. #47967″ printed with the lot and date codes. The Food Safety and Inspection Service was told a sample collected by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture tested positive for Salmonella. The packages were shipped to Sam’s Club distribution centers in eight states, including Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. People who have bought the products, which were produced in October, should throw them away or return them to their place of purchase. The test was taken as a part of an ongoing investigation into a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Salmonella bacteria cause an infection of the intestinal tract. Infections with Salmonella are common, according to the Mayo Clinic — most people develop diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps between eight hours and three days after exposure. While most people recover within a few days to a week, in some cases severe dehydration caused by the infection can require medical attention, according to the Mayo Clinic. Life-threatening complications can occur if the infection spreads beyond the intestines, the clinic said.

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Wisconsin Judge Dismisses Felony Charge in Ballot Selfie Case

A New Bedford teen was killed after being thrown from a car in Dartmouth Friday night, according to police. Jacob Pothier, 18, of New Bedford, was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, according to a post on the Dartmouth Police Department’s Facebook page. It appears Pothier and another person in the car, Kathleen Martins, 44, of Dartmouth, were thrown from a 2022 Honda Accord in the area of Gulf Road at Smith Neck Road in Dartmouth some time before police arrived at 10:35 p.m. Jan. 5, police said. That stretch of two-lane roads is a T-intersection surrounded by Apponagansett Bay near a causeway leading to the village of Padanaram, according to Google Maps. Emergency responders found Pothier and Martins unresponsive in the roadway near the heavily damaged Honda, police said. They treated them at the one-car crash scene and brought them to St. Luke’s, where Pothier was pronounced dead, police said. Martins was seriously hurt, with life-threatening injuries, police said, and her condition is “guarded.” The Dartmouth Police Department Crash Reconstruction Unit, Massachusetts State Police and Dartmouth Police Department detectives are investigating the crash.

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Arts Beat: Sounds of the season include symphony horns, Caribbean folk music

Ricardo Arjona, the Guatemalan singer and songwriter known for dozens of Latin pop ballads that became international hits over a career that spanned more than 30 years, said he would stop touring, citing back problems and an imminent surgery. Arjona, 59, wrote in social media posts on Sunday that he would stop performing on his “Blanco y Negro” tour after a show in Santiago, Chile, though his statement fell short of announcing a retirement. “I’ll have to disappear to invent a reason that’s bigger than this,” he wrote in Spanish. “If I can’t find it, I prefer not to return.” Arjona said he had received “six spinal infiltrations,” also known as epidural injections, over the past two months to be able to stand during his concerts, and to delay surgery. Before he performed on Saturday, Arjona said he wasn’t sure if he would be able to take a step. His “Blanco y Negro” tour, which began last year in Buenos Aires, included dozens of shows, with several stops in Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala. The North American leg of the tour this year included stops at Madison Square Garden in New York, as well as dozens of other cities across the United States.

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Commentary on false flags missed recent trickery from right wingers (Letter)

A Dec. 26 guest commentary in The Westfield News argues correctly that there have been many wars and events in American history whose justification or causes were not explained honestly by the media or political leaders of the time (“False Flags, Trickery Abound in Annals of American History”). Some of the commentary’s examples — Paul Revere’s propagandistic, anti-British engraving of the Boston Massacre, the anti-Spanish yellow journalism following the sinking of the USS Maine that led to the Spanish-American War, and the somewhat fabricated account of the Gulf of Tonkin torpedo attack that led to escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam — correctly illustrate the dishonesty and propaganda used to garner support for the war to follow. However, the writer’s examples from contemporary history are less convincing. Concerning the battle to confront climate change, he argues that supposedly big-mouthed climate crusaders such as John Kerry, Al Gore and Greta Thunberg are themselves the greatest profiteers from climate change initiatives. Well, in truth, it’s quite apparent that it is the oil, natural gas, and coal industries that have been the greatest profiteers from their near-monopoly on energy production for the past 200 years. They have a vested financial interest in trying to convince Americans that climate change is a hoax, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

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Their Songs Were Stolen by Phantom Artists. They Couldnt Get Them Back.

But not long after “The Jukebox of Regret” was finished in July and posted on SoundCloud, nearly every song on it somehow turned up on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and at least a dozen other streaming platforms. This might have counted as a pleasant surprise, except for a bizarre twist: Each song had a new title, attached to the name of a different artist. This mysterious switcheroo might have gone unnoticed. But by happenstance, it was discovered when the guy who produced the album posted one of the songs on his studio’s Instagram account. To his astonishment, Instagram automatically tagged the song “Preston” by Bad Dog as a song called “Drunk the Wine” by Vinay Jonge — a “musician” with no previous songs and zero profile on the internet. He didn’t seem to exist.

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What the Japan Airlines and Alaska Airlines Incidents Tell Us About Airline Safety - The New York Times

It was only when I attempted to make small talk with my visibly squirming seatmate on a Raleigh-Durham to New York flight that I realized it was me causing that look of horror on his face, rather than the slight turbulence we had been experiencing since takeoff. A friendly chat, I had thought, might help distract him from flight anxiety. But then I noticed his eyes — wide with fear — were fixed on my computer screen, which displayed an investigative report on an airplane crash I had been reading. I slammed the laptop shut, stammered an apology and mumbled about how these detailed crash reports were, in fact, highly comforting, and it had just slipped my mind where I was, and it hadn’t been my intention to spread worry … Well, never mind. But it’s true. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation report reads like a how-to book for pulling off miracles and achieving seemingly incredible levels of safety. These reports renew one’s faith in what humanity can achieve if we apply our brainpower and resources to it. But they also remind us that, much like liberty, these exceptional levels of commercial airline safety require eternal vigilance against the usual foes: greed, negligence, failure to adapt, complacency, revolving doors at regulatory agencies and so on.

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Karen Read case: Canton residents vote to review police department

The town’s Select Board “has already indicated its intent to proceed with review of the police department,” Finance Committee Chair Cindy Thomas said during the meeting. The article passed 903-800 during a nearly four-hour meeting that drew a large and boisterous crowd. It calls for the town’s procurement officer or a designee “to proceed with an administrative, policy, procedures and compliance review” of the department “to be conducted by an independent consulting firm,” according to a video stream of the meeting. Residents voted in favor of an outside review of the Canton Police Department during a special Town Meeting on Monday night, as controversy continues to swirl around a murder investigation in the town. Advertisement The vote came amid allegations of police corruption in Canton related to the investigation into the 2022 death of Boston police Officer John O’Keefe, whose girlfriend, Karen Read, has been indicted by a Norfolk County grand jury on charges of murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. Get Breaking News Alerts Stay up-to-date with important news developments, delivered right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Read’s attorneys insist that she is innocent and allege police engaged in a coverup of O’Keefe’s killing. In response, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, whose office is prosecuting the Read case, issued an unusual video rebuttal, condemning those “absolutely baseless” allegations. “It should be an outrage to any decent person — and it needs to stop,” said Morrissey, who released a three-page transcript of the statement in August along with the video. “Innuendo is not evidence. False narratives are not evidence.” Conspiracy theories about the case have been amplified by the Turtleboy website, whose primary author, Aidan Kearney, was charged last month by a special prosecutor for allegedly harassing multiple witnesses in the Read case. Kearny has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The article that passed in Canton on Monday night also establishes a committee consisting of the procurement officer or a designee, two members designated by the residents who petitioned for the motion, and two members of the community “at large” as nominated or selected by the procurement officer. Advertisement A maximum cost of $200,000 is set for the review, according to the approved motion, and a public report on the “process and outcome of the procurement” will be available once the committee has hired an outside investigator. The motion had 307 petitioners, according to a warrant posted online for Monday’s special meeting. The phrasing of the motion was changed from the posted warrant to a new version presented by the town’s financial committee after discussion with petitioners, which was approved by the petitioners and later chosen by voters. Three rooms in Canton High School were allocated for the meeting: the auditorium for only Canton registered voters, the cafeteria for auditorium overflow, and the gymnasium for residents not from Canton and those not registered to vote, according to a layout posted on the town’s website. A separate area was also available for those who wanted to “rally.” Time allotted for public comment often turned contentious. Many shouts, boos, or yells from the crowd led to gavel bangs and calls for “order.” Some who were in favor of the article said they support the police but still called for an independent review. Some people opposing the measure said what it proposed was already covered by current procedures. Advertisement Other motions included in the warrant were withdrawn without prejudice. A motion to move annual municipal elections to November failed. Breanne Kovatch can be reached at breanne.kovatch@globe.com. Follow her @breannekovatch. John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe.

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Man faces murder charge in fatal stabbing of soon-to-be father in Boston

A 20-year-old man from Everett has been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a soon-to-be father in Boston last week, Boston police said Friday. Edwin Mendez, was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Wilfredo Landaverde Arevalo, 34, of Medford on Dec. 22. Mendez, who was wanted on a warrant for murder, is expected to be arraigned in East Boston District Court, police said. Read More: Victim identified in fatal Boston stabbing was about to become father Landaverde Arevalo was found stabbed near 186 Gove St. on Dec. 15 in East Boston and was brought to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. Born on April 16, 1989, Landaverde Arevalo was a native of El Salvador and was called “a loving young man” in his obituary. He was also about to become a father to a baby girl, which he took great pride in, his obituary said. Read More: Man found stabbed on Gove Street in Boston dies at hospital “He was a very intelligent man, as he studied both Spanish and English,” his obituary read. “He set off to become an American citizen and gained so much knowledge along the way.” A GoFundMe page organized by Landaverde Arevalo’s mother, Marina Arevalo, raised more than $4,400 of its $20,000 goal as of Friday afternoon. “We are heartbroken,” the GoFundMe says in Spanish. “Thank you to all who appreciate my son.” An investigation into the stabbing is still ongoing, police said. The department’s homicide unit asked that anyone with information about the incident is urged to call them at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tips can be sent to the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).

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R.I. plans to place small shelters for homeless individuals behind Foxy Lady strip club in Providence

The Department of Housing will construct a “village” of 45 small, one-room structures on a vacant plot of state-owned land on Victor Street behind the strip club. The one-room structures were ordered from Pallet , a public benefit corporation working to end unsheltered homelessness. PROVIDENCE — The R.I. Department of Housing will place temporary shelters for homeless individuals and couples on a state-owned plot of land behind the Foxy Lady strip club in Providence, the department announced Thursday. “We’re pleased that the development of this pallet community is moving forward. ECHO Village will offer both shelter and supports to individuals who are currently experiencing homelessness,” said Secretary of Housing Stefan Pryor. “This initiative reflects our dedication to fostering well-being, dignity, and opportunity for vulnerable Rhode Islanders.” Advertisement The pallet shelters are single-occupancy units, but couples will be allowed to stay in them if they are in separate beds. Pets will also be allowed. Sources said House of Hope, a nonprofit organization, will provide around-the-clock services on-site. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up The state has ordered the pallet shelters, and they are expected to arrive by the end of the month. Some site work will be necessary, such as utility hookups. The pallet village will take up less than one acre of open field the four-acre property, which is owned by the Department of Transportation. Each unit will be 70 square feet, with screened windows, fire extinguishers, smoke and CO2 detectors, electrical outlets, and heating and cooling units. The idea to use of temporary, rapidly deployable pallet shelters to provide emergency winter housing has been in the works for the last several winters, but the state has been unable to identify a suitable location until now. In October, Pryor confirmed to the Globe that he was in “active discussions” with more than one city in Rhode Island, but that negotiations were at a “high level.” Advertisement As the pandemic began in 2020, House of Hope executive director Laura Jaworski suggested using pallet shelters in a plan she called “Echo Village.” While pallet shelters are new to Rhode Island, they have been used in other parts of New England, including like Boston and Burlington, Vt. In October 2022, advocates called on Rhode Island to place 30 of these tiny homes at the Pastore Complex in Cranston, but the idea faced opposition from the city’s council members. Crews from Pallet move new pods into a homeless camp in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Craig Mitchelldyer/Associated Press As the housing crisis gets worse, homeless encampments have been popping up across the state in highly visible and public places — underneath highway bridges, in downtown parking lots, and even in front of the State House in the last year alone. Community frustration tends to fester over homeless encampments, even as Rhode Island’s housing crisis continues, with a shortage of affordable units and people getting priced out of the housing market. In most cases, encampments that are visible to the public have been dismantled, forcing service providers to quickly identify shelters that could take individuals in, or figure out a makeshift housing solution. Shelters in Rhode Island are consistently at maximum capacity, and unlike neighboring Massachusetts, Rhode Island has no “right-to-shelter” law requiring the state to provide housing for people who qualify. Many who are forced to leave an encampment have no choice but to set up tents somewhere else — or sleep in their cars or in other places not meant for human habitation. Advertisement The state’s approach to clearing encampments of homeless people has been previously challenged in court. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.

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Heres What We Know About the Israel-Hamas Deal

A deal between Israel and Hamas for a temporary cease-fire appeared to take effect on Friday. Here is a closer look at the agreement, mediated in part by Qatar, and how it is expected to play out. What’s in the deal? The agreement is for at least a four-day pause in hostilities. During that time, at least 50 women and children — from the roughly 240 people that Israeli officials say were abducted on Oct. 7 — were expected to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian women and minors imprisoned in Israeli jails. The deal also includes an increase in humanitarian aid for Gaza, but Qatar’s foreign ministry did not release details. Hamas said Thursday that 200 trucks carrying relief supplies and four fuel trucks would enter the territory each day during the four-day pause. Israeli officials did not immediately comment. Israel said its warplanes would not fly over southern Gaza for the duration of the cease-fire, and would not fly over the northern part of the territory for six hours each day. How is it being carried out? The pause had been scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Gaza time (midnight Eastern) on Friday, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari said Thursday, which Hamas confirmed. Mr. al-Ansari said a first group of 13 hostages would then be released starting at 4 p.m., in exchange for an undisclosed number of Palestinian prisoners. In general, both Israel and Hamas have signaled that roughly 30 Palestinians will be exchanged for every 10 Israeli hostages. Each day of the pause, Israel and Hamas will receive lists of the hostages and prisoners to be released, with Qatar passing them between the two parties, according to Mr. al-Ansari. He said that the International Committee of the Red Cross would be designated to receive the hostages, though he gave no further detail on the group’s role or where the hostages would cross the border. The Israeli government has said that the hostages would be freed in four groups during the truce, each with at least 10 people. An Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity on Wednesday said hostages turned over by Hamas would be taken to hospitals, and the seriously injured transported by helicopter. Those under 12 will be met at the border by their families, the official said, while older hostages will meet their families at hospitals, where they will also be debriefed by security services. The official said the first Palestinians to be released from Israeli prisons will be allowed home only after the first tranche of Israeli hostages are freed. Who are the Palestinian prisoners? The Israeli government this week published a list of 300 names — all people 18 years old and younger or women — of Palestinian prisoners being considered for release. It was not immediately known who would be among the 150 to be released. All the names on the list were described as “security prisoners,” or people who had been arrested in connection with offenses against national security. The prisoners are accused of offenses including supporting terrorism, acts of violence and throwing stones. There are also several charges of attempted murder. Most of the prisoners on the list had not been convicted of the charges. There were 32 women and girls listed, including two 18-year-olds and a 15-year-old. Of the boys, 144 are 18 years old and 123 are between 14 and 17. Who are the hostages being freed? The Israeli prime minister’s office said it had received an initial list of names of the hostages who would be released and had contacted their families. It did not specify how many names were on that list. At least 36 children and teenagers, ranging in age from infancy to the final year of high school, are being held in Gaza, and little is known about their whereabouts or well-being. Some, but perhaps not all, of them are expected to be among the hostages released in the coming days. White House officials said on Tuesday that they expected the agreement to include the release of three Americans: two women and a toddler. What happens after the cease-fire? Israel has said that it will restart fighting after the truce ends and that it still intends to force Hamas from power in every part of Gaza. But some analysts say that it could prove difficult for Israel to regain momentum, particularly if Hamas dangles the possibility of further hostage deals — and if Israel’s partners push for a longer truce. Patrick Kingsley contributed reporting.

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Injured Bruins defenseman still 'a ways away' from returning

Derek Forbort hasn’t played in a game for the Bruins since Dec. 3. The Bruins defenseman was placed on long-term injured reserve Dec. 7 and doesn’t have a timetable for when he’ll get back on the ice. “He’s still a ways away,” coach Jim Montgomery told reporters Sunday. “He’s not day-to-day.” The extent of Forbort’s injury is unknown, but Montgomery said last month it’s something the defenseman has been dealing with since the beginning of training camp. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. “At one point we gave him five days off and it was doing well. But the nine games in 16 days, just the repetitive demands on the body, it’s come back and we’re going to give him a little extended time to try to nip this for the rest of the year,” Montgomery said Dec. 7. Before the injury, Forbort appeared in every game for the Bruins this season. He played a big role on the Bruins’ penalty kill and has left a void in that spot in his absence. The Bruins recalled Mason Lohrei to fill the void, and he’s been making the most of his time in the NHL. While he only has a point in Boston’s last five games, the 22-year-old has been playing big minutes and making his presence known on the ice. Boston will continue on without Forbort for the foreseeable future as it looks to extend its win streak to four games Tuesday when the Bruins play the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road.

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Dear Annie: Should I try to connect with my biological dad to get over my anger?

Dear Annie: My mother separated from my father when I was 3. She left my father, who never came looking for us. She later married a wonderful man who loves me more than anything. When I was 15, a family member was able to get in touch with my biological father. The next day, he changed his phone number. Recently, I did a DNA test and was able to connect with a cousin. I’ve been told that my biological father has since remarried and has two children. She gave him my number, and he has reached out to me. He wants to meet me but has no intention of telling his family about me. I’m hanging onto this hatred and wondering if that is why, at the age of 40, I still can’t see past the worst in men. Do I live with this anger or do I move on? — Stuck in Anger Dear Stuck: Living in anger is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It is understandable that you are angry with your biological father. He sounds like he was an unhappy man. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself, not the other person. Try to see that your biological father was very limited in the love or support that he could give you. This had nothing to do with you and everything to do with his limitations. As for your anger with men, try putting your attention on the wonderful men in your life instead of those who aren’t present. Case in point: the man your mother married. You said that he loves you more than anything. That type of love between a daughter and stepdad is so beautiful. Focus on that, and you will be much happier. If you need help in letting go of the anger and hurt of your father’s abandonment, then consider seeking the help of a professional therapist. There is a kindness about your letter, and kind people let go of anger. Dear Annie: The letter from “Shepherd With a Lost Sheep,” who feels that his adult daughter is not making good life decisions, reminded me of my own daughter, “Jane.” Jane easily graduated with honors from college, but like “Shepherd’s” daughter, she has never been employed in her educational field and worked only at fairly menial jobs. In addition, she has been divorced twice and had several questionable live-in relationships. What I didn’t know for many years, and what “Shepherd” may not realize about his daughter, is that Jane had a mental illness. She was able to function marginally OK for daily life, but she could not make the best life decisions. Even though she took the initiative to see numerous mental health counselors, and did her own exhaustive self-study, it wasn’t until 25 years after college that her mental illness finally reached a crisis that resulted in getting the help she needed. I recommend “Shepherd” contact his local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which has exceptional programs for the loved ones of persons with mental illness. NAMI and my counselor have helped me to understand and cope with Jane’s illness and how to properly assist in ensuring she gets the help she needs. I now accept that Jane is doing the best she can, and we maintain a wonderful relationship. I wish the same for “Shepherd.” — Dad at Peace Dear Dad at Peace: Thank you very much for your letter. I am delighted that you are able to maintain a wonderful relationship with your daughter. So much of having a good relationship with others stems from understanding where they are coming from or what they are going through. I have a feeling your letter will help many readers. “How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner?” is out now! Annie Lane’s second anthology — featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation — is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM

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Westfield Gas & Electric building added to Saturdays Downtown WinterWalk

WESTFIELD — The Westfield Gas & Electric building, at the corner of Arnold and Elm streets, has been added as a display space to Saturday’s Downtown WinterWalk, according to ArtWorks Westfield President Bill Westerlind. There will be three artists displaying their work in the lobby. On Thursday, Westerlind confirmed a final headcount of 51 artists at the event, which combines a downtown art walk with a European-style winter market. Twelve artists will be at the Olver Transit Pavilion, 10 Arnold St., as part of ArtWorks’ “Art in Unusual Places” series. All artists’ displays will be inside the bus station building. Twenty artists will be set up along School Street, which will be closed off to traffic during the event. Westerlind said it will be interesting to see the community reaction to the street being pedestrianized. Some business owners on the street have recommended making it a permanent pedestrian mall.

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How Your Childs Online Mistake Can Ruin Your Digital Life

SPRINGFIELD– V.J. Edgecombe, the top uncommitted college basketball prospect in the country, committed to Baylor at halftime of the Montverde Academy-Prolific Prep game on Sunday night at the HoopHall Classic. Edgecombe is a consensus five-star recruit, ranked fifth in the class of 2024 by ESPN and sixth by 24/7. His final two schools were Baylor and Duke. Edgecombe joins Hillcrest Prep small forward Jason Asemota and Montverde Academy point guard Robert Wright III in Baylor’s 2024 class. A 6-foot-5 Bahamian combo guard with jump-out-of-the-gym athleticism, Edgecombe scored 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal to earn player of the game honors in a Long Island Lutheran loss against Christopher Columbus on Saturday afternoon. He plays once more at the HoopHall Classic, against Arizona Compass Prep on Monday at 3 p.m.

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Looking ahead to this weekend's storm: Could Boston see its first serious snowfall?

A quiet and seasonable day is on tap for the region, with ample sunshine and temperatures in the 30s to around 40 Tuesday afternoon. The wind will be fairly light – which means no real added wind chill – making for a pleasant early January day across New England. After dropping into the teens and 20s Tuesday night with widespread frost, we’ll rebound nicely and be a tad milder Wednesday, with highs in the 40-45 degree range in many communities and in the 30s in the far North Country. It won’t be as bright, as a number of clouds are anticipated to mix with the sunshine and a few mountain flurries are likely. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. A cold front will slide through the region on Thursday, marked by scattered snow showers in northern and western New England a flurry or sprinkle elsewhere. Ahead of the boundary, we’ll still reach 40 in central and southern areas before colder air arrives. Sunday snow storm forecast That cold air sets the stage for our next disturbance, set to arrive Saturday night. Before it gets here, we’ll have a quiet, sunny and cold day on Friday (in the 30s, 20s north) and very similar temperatures on Saturday with thickening clouds. Saturday night, an area of low pressure will track towards southern New England with an exact track to be determined. A period of accumulating snow is likely starting Saturday night and lasting into Sunday. How much snow will Massachusetts get? With water temperatures in the 40s and a northeast wind closer to the coast, a rain/snow line will likely come into play, cutting down on amounts in those areas. Of course, this many days out, exact details of timing and amounts will be pinpointed down as we progress through the week, so stay tuned for updates. After that, another storm moves in later Tuesday into Wednesday, and looks like a milder scenario, with a burst of snow changing to rain for many, as seen in our exclusive 10-day forecast.

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Biden Hosts Angolas President, Seeking to Strengthen Africa Ties

President Biden hosted President João Lourenço of Angola at the White House on Thursday, promoting a major U.S. investment in the country as he tries to shore up his pledge to revitalize relations with African nations. The visit marked three decades of diplomatic relations between the countries, and the two leaders discussed cooperation on critical issues such as trade, energy, climate and a $1 billion U.S.-backed infrastructure project that would aid Angola’s economy. But it came as the administration has faced questions about the United States’ commitment to the continent as plans for a long-promised visit by Mr. Biden — originally expected this year — remain up in the air. Mr. Biden made the pledge nearly a year ago at a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, during which he convened delegations of 49 nations for the first time in eight years. At the summit, Mr. Biden declared that the United States “is all in on Africa’s future,” and made a litany of promises for how it would demonstrate its commitment, including telling leaders that he was “looking forward to seeing many of you in your home countries.” On Thursday, Mr. Biden appeared to try to kick-start that commitment again at a critical time. The United States lags behind major countries like Russia and China in competing for influence on the continent, which has become an increasingly important sphere of global competition, with the fastest-growing, youngest population in the world.

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Harmony Montgomerys dad wants police footage barred from murder trial

A New Hampshire father charged in the killing of his missing 5-year-old daughter wants key pieces of evidence barred from his upcoming trial, including body camera footage from an encounter with police. In the footage, father Adam Montgomery explains to police how he had not seen his daughter Harmony Montgomery for nearly two years after evading questions about her whereabouts for nearly half an hour. He had sole custody of his daughter at the time. Harmony disappeared in late 2019 but authorities were not aware she was missing until 2021. Last year, police announced they believed she was killed in Manchester, New Hampshire in early December 2019. Her remains have not been found. Montgomery, 33, pleaded not guilty in October 2022 to charges of second-degree murder, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse in connection with Harmony’s disappearance. In August, Montgomery was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison on two counts of armed career criminal charges in an unrelated case. Montgomery received an additional sentence of 7.5-15 years for two theft charges. Unsealed court documents last summer gave new insights based on testimony from Harmony’s stepmother, Kayla, who told investigators that Montgomery struck his daughter in the face and head on three separate occasions because she had a bathroom accident. A trial against Montgomery is scheduled to start in February 2024 and his defense attorneys want a New Hampshire judge to block a recording of a police encounter early in the search for Harmony. The encounter happened on Dec. 31, 2021, after police found Montgomery sleeping in a car in a parking lot on Harvill Street in Manchester, New Hampshire. A judge previously ruled in September that statements made to law enforcement that morning by Montgomery would not be allowed during a trial. No rulings have been made on whether the footage will be allowed in court yet. “We just need to find out where she is to make sure she’s OK,” an officer tells Montgomery in the video. “Right now, I have nothing to say to you guys,” Montgomery responds. Montgomery, dressed in a black hoodie and smoking a cigarette, avoids answering most of the questions by police detectives throughout a 53-minute video. “Why are you so concerned that I want to check on your daughter?” asks Detective Jack Dunleavy. “I have nothing else to say,” Montgomery said, which he repeated throughout the interview. Police assured Montgomery they did not have a warrant for his arrest but were concerned for Harmony’s whereabouts and that her biological mother said she hadn’t seen her for two years. After avoiding answering questions for nearly half an hour, Montgomery tells the detective that Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, had picked up Harmony nearly two years earlier and he hadn’t seen her since. The detective told Montgomery that Crystal also hadn’t seen her daughter in two years. “I didn’t know where she was staying but somewhere in Mass.,” Montgomery said. “You haven’t seen your daughter in two years?” the detective asks. “No,” Montgomery responded. “That’s not concerning to you?” asked the detective. “It is but at the time I had no way of getting a hold of Crystal,” Montgomery said. At one point, detective Dunleavy said, “I just want to know she’s OK. I didn’t sleep at all last night knowing I could have a kid that’s dead.” Why defense wants footage barred from trial Defense attorneys for Montgomery, Caroline Smith and James Brooks, wrote in a motion that he used his “right to silence” when law enforcement found him that morning. The attorneys argue that the entire encounter should not be admissible because it would make jurors speculate about what happened and make them prejudicial against Montgomery. In their own motion, officials from the New Hampshire Department of Justice argued that, at the time of the encounter, Harmony had not been seen for about two years, and that the purpose of the encounter was for police to figure out her whereabouts. It was not until much later that police came to suspect that Montgomery had killed his daughter and disposed of her corpse in an unknown location. Prosecutors argue that the video footage would be a small piece of a larger investigation into the disappearance of Harmony. During Montgomery’s sentencing in August on armed career criminal charges, he publicly denied that he killed his daughter and asked the judge to only consider the facts in this case when determining his sentence. “I loved my daughter unconditionally and I did not kill her,” he said. “I understand that I was found guilty by a jury and I’m not here to dispute that at all. The only consideration that I ask of you this morning is for you not to consider anything as it relates to the case regarding my daughter, Harmony.”

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Red Sox free agent target must sign by Thu. but Boston considered long shot

The pressure to marry began when Amiee was in her early 20s. By 25, her Chinese parents were accusing her of causing them a public loss of face because she still had no plans to wed. Her father warned her that women are worth less to a man as they near the age of 30, when — according to Chinese government propaganda — their peak childbearing time has passed. When Amiee was 29, her mother threatened to jump off a building if she didn’t find a husband. At family gatherings like Chinese New Year, relatives badgered her to help her “entire clan find peace,” she told me, and at work she was pressured into company-organized blind dates, chaperoned by several colleagues. These were “terrifying,” she said. Amiee — whose full name is being withheld to avoid potential repercussions for questioning government policy — wasn’t against marriage, per se. She simply hadn’t found her soul mate at that age and didn’t want to rush into marriage to please her parents or a government eager to push up the birthrate. Today, still single and with a successful career in public relations, she is finally enjoying some peace; she’s 34, past what China’s government says is a woman’s reproductive prime, and her family has stopped pressuring her. I hear similar stories from single women across China, where sexist state propaganda labels single professional women older than 27 as sheng nu, or leftover women. While conducting fieldwork in China for my Ph.D. in sociology from 2011 to 2013, I spoke with many who endured relationships they didn’t want, often making great personal, financial and career compromises. I wanted to tell them to just walk away.

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The Westfield News Scoreboard: Norwell, Marthas Vineyard deal Bombers hockey back-to-back losses

BOYS ICE HOCKEY Norwell 6, Westfield 2 Nolan Petrucell and Matt Cerrutti each scored two goals to lead Nowell past Westfield at Gallo Arena in Bourned on Dec. 23.

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Heated blanket from Mass. company recalled due to fire and burn hazard

A heated blanket distributed by a Massachusetts company and sold by stores like L.L. Bean, Target, Macy’s and Amazon has been recalled due to fire and burn hazards. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Thursday that the electric heated throws and blankets, which are manufactured in China but distributed by Ware-based Berkshire Blanket & Home Company, after the company received nine reports of the blankets burning, melting or overheating. No injuries have been reported. The heated throws and blankets come in a variety of colors and come in twin, full/queen and king sizes. They are controlled by a white cord attached to a digital controller. The products were sold in stores by L.L. Bean, which offers blankets with both L.L. Bean and Berkshire Blanket branding, and by Army and Air Force Exchange Service. They were available online at berkshireblanket.com and from Amazon, Target, Macy’s and QVC. They were available from August 2022 to October 2023 for between $50 and $180. Read more: New England ice cream brand recalls several products due to listeria Customers who purchased a blanket or throw with one of the model numbers listed on the recall page should contact Berkshire Blanket & Home Company for a full refund.

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Sale closed in Chatham: $2.3 million for a three-bedroom home

A 2,840-square-foot house built in 1962 has changed hands. The spacious property located at 47 Geranium Drive in Chatham was sold on Nov. 17, 2023. The $2,250,000 purchase price works out to $792 per square foot. The layout of this two-story home consists of three bedrooms and three baths. On the exterior, the home features a gable roof design constructed with asphalt roofing. Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby: On Monomoit Lane, Chatham, in September 2022, a 1,638-square-foot home was sold for $925,000, a price per square foot of $565. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. In January 2022, a 1,788-square-foot home on Monomoit Lane in Chatham sold for $1,000,000, a price per square foot of $559. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. A 1,116-square-foot home at 107 Seaquanset Road in Chatham sold in September 2022, for $600,000, a price per square foot of $538. The home has 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom. Real Estate Newswire is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to generate analysis of data from Propmix, an aggregator of national real-estate data. See more Real Estate News

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Single family residence in North Falmouth sells for $6.1 million

The spacious property located at 35 Sunset Point Road in North Falmouth was sold on Dec. 15, 2023 for $6,084,000, or $1,258 per square foot. The house, built in 1998, has an interior space of 4,835 square feet. This two-story home offers a capacious living environment with its four bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The home's external structure has a gable roof design, covered with asphalt roofing. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area. The property is equipped with forced air heating and a cooling system. Additionally, the house features an attached garage. Additional houses that have recently been sold close by include:

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Why Iran Is the Common Link in Conflicts From Gaza to Pakistan

Israel and Gaza. Yemen and the Red Sea. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq — and now Pakistan, too. At every flashpoint in a set of conflicts spanning 1,800 miles and involving a hodgepodge of unpredictable armed actors and interests, there’s been a common thread: Iran. Tehran has left its imprint with its behind-the-scenes-backing of combatants in places like Lebanon and Yemen, and with this week’s direct missile strikes on targets in Iraq, Syria and Pakistan. The Iran connection stems partly from Iran’s decades-long efforts to deter threats and undermine foes by building up like-minded militias across the Middle East. In addition, Iran itself, like neighboring countries, faces armed separatist movements and terrorist groups in conflicts that readily spill over borders.

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Heres when you can see the devil comet hurtling toward Earth

2024 is off with an astronomical bang. A gigantic comet is currently hurtling its way toward Earth. But before you start to think we’re going the way of the dinosaur, rest assured it’s going to be totally okay. According to Astronomy.com, this Devil comet — so called for the horn-looking points it developed after it underwent an outburst back in July — is “bigger than Mount Everest” and has been recognized by scientists since the 1800s (it’s real name is the Comet Pons-Brooks, as well as Comet 12P, in honor the man who discovered it). Earth.com further explains how this Devil comet is cryovolcanic, meaning it’s made of ice that spews water, ammonia, or even methane rather than lava. The New York Post reports how the comet actually most likely exploded again over the weekend, letting lose a large amount of gas and ice in space. “The last few outbursts have been a 15-day cadence,” tells Nick James of the British Astronomical Association to Spaceweather.com. “And we might be coming up on another one.” “It’s like Old Faithful,” adds Richard Miles, also of the BAA. “Comet 12P has a super cryogeyeser, [an] eruption of which is triggered after local sunrise at its location.” But while the idea of an enormous celestial body heading toward our planet may be unnerving, Astronomy.com wants you to know that everything’s going to be fine: The comet will be making its way between Earth and Venus as it passes through our inner solar system, coming its closest in June. It’ll also be visible during this year’s solar eclipse, so keep your eyes peeled come April 8.

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Some Things I Think I Think: On Chris Sales complicated legacy and more

* Before being traded to the Atlanta Braves Saturday, Chris Sale spent seven seasons with the Red Sox. The first two couldn’t have gone better, with the lefty contributing 59 starts, winning 29 decisions and fashioning a 2.56 ERA, culminating with a World Series-clinching inning of dominant relief at Dodger Stadium. The next five? Not so much. Other than a few patches of brilliance, Sale was mostly injured or limited. He lost an entire season recuperating from Tommy John and large chunks of two others. In 2022, Sale endured a run of injuries that were so frequent - broken rib, broken pinkie finger, broken wrist — that they defied belief. But always, Sale fought to return. Contrary to the conspiracy theories of some who envisioned the pitcher laughing as he hobbled to the bank twice a month, the injuries and unavailability ate at Sale. Anyone who doubted his competitiveness or will to win is forgetting Game 4 of the 2018 World Series, when he put his entire team on blast in the dugout, designed to stir them from their torpor. It’s always mystified me when fans vent against injured players. Frustration? That’s understandable. But outright anger at a player who, through no fault of his own, suffered an injury? That’s difficult to fathom. Understand this: Sale was hyper competitive, always professional and the ultimate teammate. Those who played with him held him in the highest regard, and so, too, did his managers and coaches. The notion that Sale didn’t care whether he contributed or not, and was only motivated by his paycheck, couldn’t be more off the mark. In retrospect, it’s inarguable that the Sox certainly erred when they gave Sale a five-year, $145 million extension in March of 2019. They didn’t get nearly enough return for their investment. But if you think you’re more bothered about that than Sale himself, you’re wrong. * It’s hard to watch the Patriots in the waning weeks of a forgettable season and think about what might have been. Had Bill Belichick made the switch from Mac Jones to Bailey Zappe earlier in the season, how different would things look now? It’s tough to imagine the Patriots being in the playoff picture even if the quarterback change had happened sooner. But at the very least, the Pats would have additional time to evaluate Zappe, determine if he could be someone around whom the team could build, and perhaps be in position to focus their draft prep on offensive linemen and wide receivers. Instead, by stubbornly sticking with Jones long after such a move made sense, the Pats squandered both the 2023 season and additional development time for Zappe. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. * It’s probably a little early to start with the second-guessing, but it sure seems as if the Bruins missed out by not targeting Patrick Kane more. Sure, there were some risks and adding him would have required some additional salary cap machinations. But Kane is already scoring at a point-per-game rate, and has six goals in 12 games. For a team starved for secondary scoring up front, Kane could have helped. * Watching the Celtics toy with the hapless Detroit Pistons Thursday night was a little like watching one of those races at Truist Park in Atlanta featuring “The Freeze” and a fan from the stands. Having spotted them the Pistons a huge lead, it was only a matter of time before the Celts caught up and overtook them. * Every time I’m channel-flipping and come across some obscure bowl game featuring two 6-6 teams in a stadium one-third full, I remember that someone, somewhere is, inexplicably, betting on that game. * And on the subject of bowls, I generally determine my rooting interest by deciding which of the two head coaches is less odious than the other. So you can imagine the conundrum I find myself in when it comes to the Rose Bowl: Jim Harbaugh (Michigan) vs. Nick Saban (Alabama). C’mon, scoreless tie! * I know TV producers like to “mic up” players in-game in order to reveal more of the players’ personalities. But when it comes to hockey players, the value is limited since it seems every sound bite is some variation of: “OK, boys....let’s go......need to get the next one.” * I’ll be revealing my Hall of Fame ballot later this week, but the notion that voters should feel compelled to vote for the maximum number of players allowed is one I’ve never understood. Just because you’re allowed that many votes doesn’t guarantee that there are 10 Cooperstown-worthy choices on each ballot. I checked six names this year and that may be the most I’ve had on a ballot in 25 years of voting. * For the life of me, I’ve never understood how the concept of “opt-out” clauses has become so prevalent in baseball. For teams, it’a lose-lose scenario: if the signed player outperforms his contract, he’s (likely) going to leave for more money elsewhere; if he underperforms, he stays and you continue to pay his bad contract. It’s one thing to do it for a true superstar free agent, if doing so will separate you from other competitive offers and land you the player. But now, they’re so commonplace, it seems like every other player gets an opt-out. * Don’t hold your breath waiting for the feckless NFL Players Association to come to the aid of Russell Wilson. If a team — the Denver Broncos — can essentially extort a player by threatening to cut him unless he restructures his contract, why even have a collective bargaining agreement? * There have been whispers about the Red Sox soliciting offers on Kenley Jansen, which I guess makes some sense. Jansen would have immense value to a contending team. But he solidified the back end of the bullpen last year, something the Sox lacked for a number of previous seasons. And while he could theoretically be replaced by signing a free agent like Robert Stephenson, let’s hope they remember that 1) Not everyone is built for the ninth inning and 2) Stephenson has all of three saves in eight major league seasons. * If the Kansas City Chiefs don’t have their act together after 15 games, maybe they’re not quite the dynasty they’ve been made out to be. I suppose it can still be anyone’s year in the AFC, but after the Baltimore Ravens, I find it hard to get excited about another team. The Dolphins appear unreliable and while the Bills could be the proverbial “tough out” in the postseason, they’re far from a sure thing. * Happy New Year to all, and as always, thanks for reading.

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NOAA rocket to study weather in final stages before April liftoff

Whether you are sober, doing Dry January or trying to cut back on your drinking, there is a shop in Boston where you can taste non-alcoholic beverages before committing to buying a bottle. If you go to your local liquor or grocery store, you may find some alcohol-free options, but odds are they are limited. Enter Dray Drinks: Boston’s first store dedicated completely to non-alcoholic beverages. Paying homage to its founders Midwestern roots, the shop is called Dray Drinks “as a play on the phrase ‘on the wagon,’ and because non-alcoholic options are far from ‘dry;’ instead, they’re Dray,” the store’s website reads. The shop sells everything from wine and beer to ready-to-drink beverages, and customers can try the drinks before they take them home. But free samples are not the only reason people keep coming back to Dray, according to its owner. “We have hand selected stuff that tastes really good to us, that’s manufactured well, and is not going to be the same thing as you get it in the grocery store for the one month a year that they actually carry it,” said Pat Dooling, owner and founder of Dray Drinks, who added non-alcoholic beverages have a reputation for tasting bad. “So we convert a lot of people on that,” he continued. “We really show them something unique, something they can’t see anywhere else.” Dray Drinks, located at 18 Union Park St. in Boston, is the city’s first non-alcoholic bottle shop. Dray is also an online marketplace and community for anyone looking for alcohol alternatives.David Cifarelli Dray Drinks operates on two principles. The first being a space to showcase non-alcoholic products that often do not get as much shelf space at other stores. The second being space for anyone looking for alcohol alternatives, no matter their reason. “We don’t sell anything in the store that could be of concern,” Dooling told MassLive Wednesday. “If people come in here, particularly people who are sober and really care about it or for religious reasons, there’s nothing concerning here.” Upholding that value was important to Dooling, who quit drinking a little more than two years ago. During his journey, Dooling was looking for drinking alternatives so he could still be included in social settings. “I’m a big food and beverage guy. I generally love that kind of experience and having something that’s like a true adult beverage just without the alcohol,” he said. “I kind of looked at it and was like, ‘I want to be part of this industry. I want to be part of the change occurring here.’ And then it just sort of became obvious that Boston doesn’t have any of this,” Dooling continued. “That’s what caused me to jump into this sort of store concept specifically.” Dray Drinks, located at 18 Union Park St. in Boston, is the city’s first non-alcoholic bottle shop. Dray is also an online marketplace and community for anyone looking for alcohol alternatives.David Cifarelli However, the ultimate goal of Dray Drinks is to help change the narrative around sobriety, which Dooling described as being very black and white. “From what I’ve seen, we’ve traditionally viewed sobriety, or whatever you want to call it, in really stark circumstances,” Dooling explained. “What we’re really aiming to do is create this broader spectrum [and] bring some of the great stuff from sobriety and recovery out into the open and out to more people.” Dray Drinks, which officially opened in late November, is located at 18 Union Park St. in South Boston. Dooling, who lives half a block away from the store, said South Boston was the perfect neighborhood to set up shop. “It’s a great small-business community, incredibly supportive of small local family and founder-owned businesses, which is fantastic,” he said. “It’s also historically a place of really eclectic groups of people coming together, driving change within the neighborhood and the city at large.” Dooling has also placed an emphasis on community engagement. So far, Dray Drinks has hosted mixology demonstrations, a yoga event and hosted private parties and tastings. The shop has also catered corporate and non-profit events. Dray Drinks is also affiliated with a non-profit organization called Dray’s Better Days, which supports local alcohol and substance use recovery causes. A portion of the store’s sales goes toward the non-profit. “We think people value the fact that local businesses are giving back to important local causes,” Dooling said. “It’s kind of the typical one-for-one giving concept in retail and we think consumers really value it.” The shop posts upcoming events on its website’s calendar in addition to selling its products online. More information can be found by visiting the shop’s website. Dray Drinks is open 12-8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

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Yarmouth husband, wife found guilty of child abuse charges

A Yarmouth couple was found guilty on Thursday of several child abuse charges after a seven-day trial in Barnstable Superior Court, Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois’ office announced. Brian Barnicle, 42, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, three counts of assault and battery, two counts of reckless endangerment of a child, one count of strangulation and four counts of intimidation of a witness, Galibois’ office said in a statement. Crystale Barnicle, 43, was found guilty of two counts of reckless endangerment of a child and three counts of wanton/recklessly permitting bodily injury to a child under 14. Read more: Longmeadow woman sues Costco over spinal fracture after she tried to lift bulk water On several dates between 2016 and 2021, two victims were repeatedly physically abused by Brian Barnicle, Galibois’ office said. This included physical strikes using a belt, a cane and fists, and strangling. These assaults on the victims caused gashes, a black eye, physical discomfort, permanent marking and moments of unconsciousness. Crystale Barnicle did not strike either of the victims, Galibois’ office said. However, she was aware of the abuse, watched it happen and never attempted to intervene, call for help or remove the victims from “the substantial and unjustifiable risk of injury,” Galibois’ office noted. An investigation of the abuse ensued by Yarmouth police, but the Barnicles intimidated the victims and any witnesses involved, the district attorney’s office said. The statement added that Galibois wished to recognize the “courage of the victims and witnesses that testified before the court and jury on this case.” The Barnicles are due to return to Barnstable Superior Court for sentencing on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

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Putin Vows to Keep Up Bombardment After a Russian City Is Hit

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia vowed on Monday to continue missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, in retaliation for what he called a “terror” attack on the Russian city of Belgorod last week. “They want to scare us, to create a certain uncertainty inside the country,” Mr. Putin said during a televised meeting with the veterans of the war in Ukraine. “From our side, we will build up the strikes.” Mr. Putin’s rare public comments about an attack on the Russian territory comes as his armed forces in recent days have pummeled Ukrainian cities with some of the largest rocket strikes since the start of the invasion, and as both sides look for ways to break a stalemate on the battlefield. The cycle of strikes and retaliation is raising fears of escalating civilian casualties in the conflict, which began in February 2022.

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A Masterpiece That Inspired Gabriel Garca Mrquez to Write His Own

But at its core, “Pedro Páramo” is a tale of two journeys, or perhaps one journey that unfolds into two. The first is a linear one driven by a Telemachean quest: a man searching for his missing father. The narrator, Juan Preciado, goes to his parents’ hometown after his mother dies, seeking his long-estranged father, Pedro Páramo. He plans to demand reparations. But what he finds is a ghost town. Then he dies. (This is not a spoiler; the story continues after his death as if nothing really happened.) The second journey is Dantesque: a spiraling descent into a kind of underworld. But unlike Dante’s mathematically plotted inferno, with its concentric circles and somewhat navigable geography, Rulfo’s is largely sensory, densely packed with sounds and their endless reverberations. Many Latin American readers know the opening sentence of the novel by heart: “Vine a Comala porque me dijeron que acá vivía mi padre, un tal Pedro Páramo.” From the beginning, we find ourselves in an unstable space-time that we will question and redefine as we move through the novel. For English-language readers, key differences in two translations of the opening line will help bring this ambiguity to light. The 1994 translation, by Margaret Sayers Peden, reads: “I came to Comala because I had been told that my father, a man named Pedro Páramo, lived there.” The most recent translation, by Douglas J. Weatherford, is: “I came to Comala because I was told my father lived here, a man named Pedro Páramo.” Just as the exchange of “here” for “there” radically changes the story’s spatiality (where the narrator is speaking), the use of “was told” — less removed than “had been told” — shifts its temporality (when the narration happens). Nothing can fall into place in a novel if the author does not have control over its sense of time, be it linear or fractured. In novels of fractured time, the sequence of events must be governed by a logic of its own, one justified by the book’s central questions. Throughout “Pedro Páramo” — in which a central concern is how the world of the living haunts the world of the dead, and not vice versa, as with most ghost stories — time ebbs and flows in a kind of tidal pattern. It is not quite circular, because circles are closed circuits, but the cadence is similar to something cyclical, to the uprush and backwash of water breaking over sand, over and over again. The dead, tormented by lives they can no longer participate in but which their memories replay, over and over again, produce a steady undercurrent of murmurs, laments, mutterings, chatter, whispers, quiet confessions. If where and when we are in “Pedro Páramo” is constantly shifting, then sound is the swift and sinuous vehicle that carries us through it. For a class I taught this fall, I asked my students to find the many sonic markers in the novel. (It was a fun experiment, and we shared the results with the sound designers of a forthcoming “Pedro Páramo” film. They wrote back to say they were inspired by our sound lists and wanted to credit the students.) I was astonished to see how much of the novel is composed of aural details. Still air shattered by doves’ flapping wings. Hummingbirds whirring among jasmine bushes. Laughter. A tap of knuckles on the confessional window. A church clock ringing out the hours, “one after another, one after another, as if time had contracted.” Also sounds we cannot hear, but can almost imagine: “the earth rotating on rusted hinges, the trembling of an ancient world pouring out its darkness.” And of course, the myriad sounds of rain.

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Joe Mazzulla earns NBA award after strong Celtics start

As the Celtics have put together the league’s best record to start the season, they’ve earned some recognition in the process. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December 2023, guiding his team to a 12-2 record over that time. It’s the second time in Mazzulla’s career he’s earned the honor. When the Celtics came out on fire last season, Mazzulla earned the Coach of the Month honor for games played in October and November 2022 to start the campaign. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Of course, Mazzulla will likely shrug off the honor and instead defer to the team’s success. He has a point in that the C’s need to play well and win games in order for him to get the award. However, the second-year coach also gets credit as he looks significantly more comfortable at the helm this season. Those around the team and organization have also noted how Mazzulla looks, and he recently got some glowing words from Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck. The Celtics will look to continue to ride that recent momentum as they boast a league-best 26-7 record. “I think Joe’s done a great job out of the gate of saying, ‘This is how we need to be. This is what we need to do for each other to be the best that we can be. These are the strengths of your teammates. How can we get those out of them and make it a focal point?’” Boston president Brad Stevens said. “People use the word sacrifice a lot. It’s the idea of serving a team. Like, being there for the good of the group. And I think he’s done a great job of that all the way through.”

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Chris Sale details the thinking behind waiving his no-trade rights

Thanks to his status as a 10-5 player — at least ten years in the big leagues, including at least five with his current team — Chris Sale had the option of vetoing the trade that sent him from the Red Sox to the Atlanta Braves last weekend. Instead, after some consideration, Sale gave his permission for the trade to go through, noting that he felt a sense of obligation to the Red Sox. “There were obviously a lot of factors on this,” said Sale in a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. “Again, I had to kind of work quick. The biggest thing for me was, I wanted to put myself and my family in a good situation. That meant not a whole lot of other places to go. I wanted to be in Florida for spring training and I wanted to play for a team that’s good. Atlanta’s had an unbelievable run; they have one of the best teams in baseball and I was excited to join them and do that. “Leaving Boston wasn’t easy. I’ve been there for a long time (seven seasons). It was a second home to me. My family loved it, my kids loved it and (the organization) treated my family the best. It was great. But at the same time, I felt like I went through some really tough times there and they always had my back. I felt like this was an opportunity to put me in a situation to help myself and put (the Red Sox) them in situation to help them, too. I felt like I kind of owed them something because the last few years (I) haven’t quite lived up to what I wanted to be there. “It was in favor to both parties.” Sale said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow reached out late last week to let him know that trade talks were progressing. “It definitely caught me by surprise,” Sale said of the development. “Things worked quick. So it was a little bit before the New Year, Bres reached out and kind of put this on the table. And like I said, it was quick. I had conversations with my wife, with my agent, family, stuff like that. So right around the New Year, that’s when we kind of pulled the trigger on it and went ahead with it.”

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New Bedford teen dies after thrown from car in Dartmouth Friday

Two people were hospitalized after they were hit by a car in Pittsfield on New Year’s Day, according to the Pittsfield Police Department. Both pedestrians were hit by a 2014 Toyota Corolla, being driven by a 23-year-old Pittsfield man, near 55 West Housatonic St. around 2:47 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 1, Pittsfield police said on Facebook. Read More: Winchendon firefighter and divemaster Jim Bevilacqua unexpectedly dies The pedestrians, a 34-year-old man and woman, were brought to Berkshire Medical Center with serious injuries. The woman was later brought to Bay State Medical Center where she was listed in critical condition, according to police. So far no charges have been announced. The crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Anthony Dayton of the Pittsfield Police Deptartment at 413-448-9700 ext 543.

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Police: Unlicensed Mass. driver crashed into New Hampshire troopers cruiser

An unlicensed Massachusetts driver crashed into a New Hampshire State Police cruiser Saturday while a trooper was helping another driver who had crashed, according to state police. The crash happened just before 11:20 p.m. on I-93 in Canterbury when 38-year-old Chelsea resident Melvin Ruiz Chaperon hit a trooper’s car, state police said in a press release. Ruiz Chaperon was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. At the time, troopers were responding to several crashes on the road caused by icy conditions, state police said. The trooper who the cruiser belonged to was outside his car helping another driver and was not injured. State police charged Ruiz Chaperon with operating without a valid license. He was summonsed to appear at Concord District Court.

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Lee Sun-kyun, Parasite Actor, Found Dead at 48

Lee Sun-kyun, the award-winning South Korean actor who rose to international fame after starring in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” was found dead in Seoul on Wednesday. He was 48. Mr. Lee had recently been under police investigation on suspicion of illegal drug use, and he denied the accusations. The police said they were investigating the death as a suicide. The police found Mr. Lee’s body in a parked vehicle in central Seoul just before 11 a.m., said Jeon Yu-deung, the chief detective at Seongbuk police station, which is investigating his death. After Mr. Lee’s manager reported him missing earlier in the day, the police found his body using the location signal from his phone. Mr. Jeon said that Mr. Lee had also left what appeared to be a suicide note.

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Power cut to Boston apartments near manhole explosions, Eversource says

The weather for New Year’s in Massachusetts is shaping up to be drier and colder than the anticipated wet and foggy end to 2023, according to the National Weather Service. Inconsistent rain and fog is expected to plague Massachusetts from Wednesday until Saturday before things dry out for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. AccuWeather expects the weather to be nearly as good as it can get for outdoor New Year’s Eve celebrations across the United States, with no major storms or Arctic cold in the forecast. However if you have plans to spend New Year’s Eve outside in Massachusetts, you may still want to bundle up. The forecast for Sunday, Dec. 31, calls for mostly sunny skies with highs between 40-42 degrees statewide. Sunday night temperatures could drop to the high 20s, according to the National Weather Service. Monday, Jan. 1 will also be partly sunny with highs between 39-42 degrees across the state. Monday night could see temperature drops into the low-to-mid 20s, making for a rather chilly start to 2024.

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8 pop-up restaurants worth checking out in RI in January 2024

If you’ve ever wanted a celebrity in your home, then keep dreaming. But you can get the next best thing if you adopt a loving stray cat from the Dakin Humane Society. While she may not have the same musical skills as the rapper Doja Cat, Doja the cat does have enough “pet material” to make your home truly special, the animal shelter said. Doja was a stray who showed up in a feral colony one day. After she decided to stick around, Dakin volunteers soon realized that Doja was not a feral cat. “She was shy but friendly and affectionate,” her adoption page reads. “If you’re looking to adopt a sweet kitty and don’t mind that she doesn’t have celebrity status as the singer, she might be the purrfect match for you.” Read More: Creating hope together at Dakin Humane Society Those interested in meeting Doja can visit Dakin Humane Society during open adoption hours from Tuesday through Saturday from 12:30-3 p.m. More information can be found online.

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4 Takeaways from another Bruins blown lead, OT loss

Matthew Stafford vs. the Lions. Mike McCarthy vs. the Packers. Tyreek Hill vs. the Chiefs. The NFL’s wild-card weekend is all about reunions and some rematches, too. Stafford leads the Los Angeles Rams to Detroit to face his old team where he spent 12 seasons and didn’t win a playoff game. McCarthy’s Dallas Cowboys host Green Bay, the team he led to a Super Bowl title with Aaron Rodgers 13 years ago. Hill and the Miami Dolphins head to Kansas City, which won one Super Bowl with the dynamic wide receiver and one without him last season. The upstart Houston Texans take on the Browns for the second time in three weeks and they’ll have sensational rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud under center for this one while veteran Joe Flacco aims to continue his remarkable journey from semi-retirement to Cleveland folk hero. The Buffalo Bills ride a five-game winning streak into their matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who won their last three games and got the help they needed to get into the postseason. Lastly, the Monday night game features two teams who just met in the playoffs two years ago and faced each other in Week 3. The defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles slump into the playoffs after losing five of six following a 10-1 start. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won five of their last six to clinch a third straight NFC South title. Three of the six games are within a 3-point spread, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Pro Picks looks to carry momentum from a strong regular season into the playoffs. *** CLEVELAND at HOUSTON Line: Browns minus 2 1/2 Flacco is 4-1 since the Browns (11-6) called him off his couch to become the team’s fourth starting QB this season. Myles Garrett has led the NFL’s No. 1 defense but the Browns are a different team away from home. They gave up the most points in the NFL on the road this season, 29.6 per game. Stroud, who sat out a 36-22 loss to Cleveland in Houston on Dec. 24, came back from injury to lead the Texans (10-7) to a victory with another impressive performance in an elimination game last Saturday night at Indianapolis. Houston couldn’t stop Amari Cooper in a 36-22 loss in Week 16. He had 11 catches for a franchise-record 265 yards. Expect Texans coach DeMeco Ryans to find a way to slow down Cooper but the Browns will still emerge on top. BROWNS, 24-20 BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. *** MIAMI at KANSAS CITY Line: Chiefs minus 4 Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs (11-6) sure missed Hill this season. Mahomes couldn’t overcome mediocre wide receivers and Kansas City slipped to a No. 3 seed. Mahomes will still most likely have to play his first career road playoff game at some point if the Chiefs advance but they’re home Saturday night and it’ll be cold. Tua Tagovailoa and the high-octane Dolphins (11-6) missed out on the No. 2 seed by losing their last two games. They couldn’t do much against Kansas City’s stingy defense in a 21-14 loss in Germany in Week 9. This one should come down to the final minutes. CHIEFS, 23-22 *** PITTSBURGH at BUFFALO Line: Bills minus 10 Josh Allen and the Bills (11-6) have come a long way since they were 6-6. They’ve won five straight games, including a road victory last week in Miami for the AFC East title. They won’t have to face superstar edge rusher T.J. Watt, who is sidelined with a knee injury. The Steelers (10-7) are sticking with QB Mason Rudolph, who has led them to three straight wins. Bills coach Sean McDermott and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin have a strong connection going back to playing football together at William & Mary. No. 7 seeds are 0-6 vs. No. 2 seeds and have been outscored 196-123 since the NFL added the extra playoff teams in 2020. The Bills should run away with this one. BILLS, 30-17 *** GREEN BAY at DALLAS Line: Cowboys minus 7 1/2 Dak Prescott and the Cowboys are 8-0 at home so overcoming a two-game deficit in the standings and beating out Philadelphia for the NFC East title was crucial for them. The Prescott-CeeDee Lamb connection has been on a roll this season for Dallas (12-5). Micah Parsons and a tough defense will make things difficult for Packers QB Jordan Love, who makes his first career playoff start. The teams have met eight times in the playoffs, each winning four games. Three straight wins to close out the season put the Packers (9-8) in this position, but Dallas has won six games at home by at least 20 points or more. COWBOYS, 31-20 *** LOS ANGELES RAMS at DETROIT Line: Lions minus 3 The Rams (10-7) enter the playoffs as a dangerous team in a season that started with low expectations. Sean McVay has won a Super Bowl, but this could be his best coaching job yet. Stafford has been outstanding for much of the season. Rookie receiver Puka Nacua and running back Kyren Williams have been revelations. On the defensive side, star tackle Aaron Donald is having another excellent season. But the Lions (12-5) matched a single-season franchise record for victories and won a division title for the first time in 30 years. Former Rams QB Jared Goff has led a powerful offense that could be missing rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, who has an injured knee. Goff may have to depend more on Amon-Ra St. Brown and his running backs. UPSET SPECIAL: RAMS, 27-26 *** PHILADELPHIA at TAMPA BAY Line: EAGLES minus 3 The talk in fickle Philly is whether coach Nick Sirianni should be fired despite going 34-17 in his first three seasons and almost winning the Super Bowl last year. Jalen Hurts has regressed, the defense is struggling and there’s some finger-pointing in the locker room. The Buccaneers (9-8) barely managed to get here with a 9-0 win over lowly Carolina last week, but they’ve played inspired ball over the past six weeks. Baker Mayfield revived his career in Tampa and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin could give the Eagles’ beleaguered secondary trouble. Rachaad White has become an all-purpose back for the Buccaneers and he can create matchup mismatches. Still, the Eagles (11-6) are the more talented team. They dominated the Buccaneers on the road in a Monday night game in Week 3 and have a chance to start fresh in the playoffs. BEST BET: EAGLES, 26-18 *** Last week: Straight up: 11-5. Against spread: 11-5 Final regular season: Straight up: 168-104. Against spread: 144-118-10. Best Bet: Straight up: 9-9. Against spread: 6-11-1. Upset Special: Straight up: 8-10. Against spread: 10-8.

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Dear Annie: Must I put up with photos of fiancs dead wife in the den?

Dear Annie: This letter is a message to “Fed Up,” the reader whose husband dotes on their daughters. She needs to know that her husband, as well-meaning as he is, is NOT doing your daughters any favors. I know this all too well by example. My mother never learned to be independent. From her earliest childhood, my grandparents took care of my mother and father: Paying for their mortgage, bailing them out when they got into monetary trouble because of my father, and so much more. Grandma continued this practice after my Grandpa passed, until the day she passed away. I was informed by Grandma, who I loved dearly, on my 16th birthday, that she expected me to grow up and fill her shoes. I was expected to take care of my mother, as she knew very well that my mother wasn’t capable of it. I quietly refused and moved several hundred miles away. Upon Grandma’s passing, I was shocked to learn that she had gone through six figures in money taking care of my mother. My mother did inherit a little money from Grandma, had my father’s pension and her own Social Security and other tiny incomes — enough that, if she were careful, she could have lived comfortably to the end. Instead, she spent it on cruises, trips and other expensive things. In the end, she passed utterly penniless; her home was foreclosed upon because she ignored the property taxes that Grandma had always paid, and she neglected to have things repaired in the house that needed repairing. When she was evicted, she had no heat and no hot water. Is this an extreme case? Likely, but it is also what could happen if “Fed Up’s” husband doesn’t make his “little girls” grow up. Show him my letter and ask him this: What will happen to them when you and I are gone? — Saw It Before Dear Saw It Before: Thank you for your letter. You give some stark examples of what can happen when you give and give without teaching your children personal responsibility. Dear Annie: I’m very much in love with a man three years younger than me, and we are getting married in February. We are both in our 60s. He is an incredible man. His wife of 32 years died four years ago, and I’ve been widowed for 10 years. My issue is that he still has pictures of his wife with him on vacation, on cruises and sports events, and a huge portrait of them that hangs in the den. Am I being crazy? This bothers me a little, but I don’t know how to approach him about it. He placed a picture of the two of us right next to a picture of him with his late wife. I own my own house, and he owns his house, and the plan is for me to move into his house. Should I let this go? It is absolutely the only thing that gets to me about our relationship. Help! — A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words Dear Picture: His wife of 32 years is a part of what made him special — the person you love. At the same time, it is not fair to you to be reminded all the time about his late wife. I would let him know your feelings. Perhaps, as you move in, you could agree to have one photo of you and your late husband and one photo of him and his late wife, along with photos of the two of you. The other photos can be saved in boxes and albums, so you will both have them to see whenever you want, but neither of you will be forced to focus on the past. You did not mention children. If there are photos of his late wife with their children or of your late husband with your children, then you might agree on a compromise for displaying them — or giving them to the children. He sounds like a very reasonable man, and if you have this conversation before you are married, my guess is that he will understand. Congrats on finding true love. “How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner?” is out now! Annie Lane’s second anthology — featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation — is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM

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How to prevent pipes from freezing in your home when it's cold

A NASA telescope has captured the biggest solar flare in years, which temporarily knocked out radio communication on Earth. The sun spit out the huge flare along with a massive radio burst on Thursday, causing two hours of radio interference in parts of the U.S. and other sunlit parts of the world. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it was the biggest flare since 2017, and the radio burst was extensive, affecting even the higher frequencies. The combination resulted in one of the largest solar radio events ever recorded, Shawn Dahl of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said Friday. Read more: Dartmouth professor captures images of two dying stars colliding Multiple pilots reported communication disruptions, with the impact felt across the country, according to the space weather forecasting center. Scientists are now monitoring this sunspot region and analyzing for a possible outburst of plasma from the sun, also known as a coronal mass ejection, that might be directed at Earth. This could result in a geomagnetic storm, Dahl said, which in turn could disrupt high-frequency radio signals at the higher latitudes and trigger northern lights, or auroras, in the coming days. The eruption occurred in the far northwest section of the sun. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the action in extreme ultraviolet light, recording the powerful surge of energy as a huge, bright flash. Launched in 2010, the spacecraft is in an extremely high orbit around Earth, where it constantly monitors the sun. The sun is nearing the peak of its 11-year or so solar cycle. Maximum sunspot activity is predicted for 2025.

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A Creamy, Melty Potato Casserole Thats Outrageously Easy to Make

One of Sweden’s most delicious exports, Jansson’s temptation, otherwise known as Janssons frestelse, is a creamy potato casserole flavored with melty onions and umami-packed tinned sprats. As to the origin of the Swedish classic, which is often served with schnapps as part of the Julbord (“Christmas table”), there are a few theories. One suggests that it was named after a 1928 Edvin Adolphson film, while an older one says that it was named after the Swedish opera singer Per Adolf Janzon — “not so likely,” according to the Swedish food writer Jens Linder. What we do know, Linder says, is that Jansson’s temptation did not appear on the Christmas table until World War II, establishing itself as a holiday food only in the 1970s. What’s perhaps most tempting about a Jansson’s temptation are the potatoes. They’re cut into long, narrow matchsticks, like French fries, which lets the cream fully envelop their starchy irresistible nooks and crannies. While Linder prefers his taters cut skinny, as they are in restaurant iterations of the dish, his co-author, the television chef Johanna Westman, says she prefers them thick, as in her Grandma Alva’s recipe. The recipe in their holiday cookbook, “The Swedish Christmas Table,” calls for quarter-inch batons. For a dish with so few ingredients — potatoes, onions, tinned fish, breadcrumbs and cream — the possibilities for personalization are infinite. Sprats aren’t for everyone, for instance, and I don’t subscribe to the whole “don’t tell people they’re in there” school of ingredient-hiding in cooking. It’s one way to lose trust in your diners. But here, I couldn’t recommend them more, not least because Swedish tinned sprats, or ansjovis, are nothing like the salty, auburn-copper anchovies we eat in the United States. They’re milder baby herrings that don’t make the casserole taste fishy by any means; they just add a lingering savoriness and salinity without the need for extra salt. The fish’s brine perfumes the cream with warm spices, such as nutmeg and cinnamon, and the sprats themselves melt into oblivion after a long bake. Ordinary anchovies work in a pinch, or you can just leave the fish out altogether, Westman says. Her family’s Christmas lunch includes two versions of Jansson’s temptation (one with sprats, one without) and, of course, schnapps and singing. It stirs something in people. Recently, while making Jansson’s temptation with my mother, Jean, for the first time, I watched her take a single anchovy out of the tin with chopsticks and place it, gingerly, on a spoonful of cold white rice from the rice cooker. After she relished it, she told me about how much her father loved eating tinned fish at the dinner table and how that must be where she inherited her love for them. It’s funny how these stories come out only at the dinner table — in person — which is, I think, why she then said, “I wish you lived in Atlanta.” When I think of the best gifts I’ve received in my life, I can’t think of any physical objects. I think of last year, when I spent the holiday stuck on the road, driving from New York to Atlanta in a rental car with my dog, Quentin, in the back seat, and how I didn’t make it home in time for Christmas. And how much I regretted that. I think of how I came home empty-handed, and how my mother told me it didn’t matter. No one expects anything! We’re not that kind of family! Anyway, she said, there are other kinds of gifts.