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Battenfeld: New MBTA GM must clean house and make bold changes

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

New MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng must be willing to completely clean house at the dysfunctional transit agency to have any chance of success.The question hanging over the appointment by Gov. Maura Healey is: will Eng be bold enough?Healey must also be willing to get rid of the deadwood on the T board of directors, which has essentially turned into a rubber stamp for the old administration.The good news about the appointment is that Healey did not look to Canada – as reported incorrectly by one media outlet – for the new GM.Ottawa GM of transit services Renee Amilcar did not have the experience or proven track record to take over such a large and complex system as the T, but there’s no indication she was a “top tier” finalist, as reported by WBZ-TV. Amilcar says she had no intention to leave her job and denied being contacted by another transit agency.Eng does have experience with a large transit agency and a record of improving the long-troubled Long Island Rail Road, major plus...

Baseball is back and Chicago’s Ira Berkow gives us dozens of tales about ‘Baseball’s Best Ever’

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

The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd … the game of baseball, long part of the American landscape and firmly placed in the hearts of millions, is back. Our new baseball season begins Thursday when the Cubs host the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field and the White Sox visit the Houston Astros.Writers have always been drawn to the sport, to its practitioners, its meaning and its inherent poetry. Walt Whitman, referring to what was then a relatively new addition to the country’s sports scene, may have once said something along the lines of: “I see great things in baseball. It’s our game — the American game.”I am not the wildly passionate fan that I was when young, but still, before every season arrives, I reread what I consider the best novel written about baseball, Bernard Malamud’s “The Natural” (1952) — not to be confused with Robert Redford’s “The Natural” film in 1984 — and John Updike’...

Robert Kraft weighs in on Jerod Mayo’s future with the Patriots

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

PHOENIX — Robert Kraft didn’t flat out say Jerod Mayo would be the successor to Bill Belichick.But listening to the Patriots owner Monday during his session with the media at the NFL’s annual meeting, Kraft wouldn’t be disappointed if that turned out to be the case.“There’s no ceiling on his ability to be a head coach. And he’ll be a head coach,” Kraft said Monday. “I’m sure of that. I hope he’s with us. So we’ll see what happens.”Kraft said he was happy to be able to keep Mayo, who turned down several head coaching interviews during this year’s hiring circuit to remain in New England.While it’s unclear if Mayo will get a new title, he was given a pay hike, a source indicated recently, and likely got some assurances that his role would expand.“Jerod is an individual I think has no ceiling for his ability to grow and how competent he is. We had the privilege of having him as a player and I saw how intense he was and his leadership skills that he had,” said Kraft. “A...

39 dead in fire at Mexico migrant facility near US: official

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

MEXICO CITY (AP) — More than three dozen migrants have died in a fire at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico near the U.S. border, an official said Tuesday.Images from the scene showed rows of bodies lying under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas. Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue could also be seen.Thirty-nine people died and 29 were injured in the fire, which broke out late Monday, according to an official with the National Immigration Institute, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for migrants entering the United States. Its shelters are full of migrants waiting for opportunities to cross or who have requested asylum in the United States and are waiting out the process.Mexico’s attorney general’s office has launched an inquiry and has investigators at the scene, according to media reports.Mar...

Dozens dead in fire at Mexican migrant facility near U.S. border

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

At least three dozen migrants have died in a fire at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico near the U.S. border, according to a newspaper report.Images from the scene showed rows of bodies lying under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas. Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue could also be seen.The Diario de Juarez newspaper, which citied unnamed sources in the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office, said 39 people died in the fire, which broke out late Monday. Injured people have been taken to four hospitals, according to the newspaper.Neither Mexico’s National Immigration Institute nor the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office responded immediately Tuesday to requests for confirmation.Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for migrants entering the United States. Its shelters are full of migrants waiting for opportunities to cross or who have requested asylum in the United States and are waiting out the proce...

US opens investigation into Tesla seat belts coming loose

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

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. highway safety regulators have opened yet another investigation into problems with Teslas, this time tied to complaints that the seat belts may not hold people in a crash.The investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers an estimated 50,000 Model X SUVs from the 2022 and 2023 model years.The agency says it has two complaints from Tesla owners that the front belts weren’t sufficiently connected at the factory.Documents posted by the agency Tuesday say the belt linkage and pretensioners, which tighten the belts before a crash, are anchored to the seat frames.Both complaints allege that the linkage and pretensioner separated from the frames when the vehicles were driving and force was exerted. Neither incident involved a crash.The agency says it’s opening the probe to look into Tesla’s manufacturing processes, how often the problem happens and how widespread it is. Investigations can lead to recalls.A message was left early Tuesday seeki...

Young G2 driver in BMW clocked at 200 km/h on Hwy. 401

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

A couple of young drivers won’t be behind the wheel for at least the next month after being caught travelling at ridiculous speeds on GTA highways.Ontario Provincial Police tweeted early Tuesday that a 20-year-old G2 driver was caught driving 200 km/h on Highway 401 in Ajax.Police say it’s lucky the driver didn’t “kill himself or someone else.”The speed limit on the 401 through the entirety of the GTA is 100 km/h.The driver was charged with careless driving and his BMW has been impounded for 14 days, along with a 30-day licence suspension.200km/h in a 100km/h zone. 20 year old, G2 driver charged with #StuntDriving / Careless driving.#14DayVehicleImpound #30DayLicenceSuspension #WhitbyOPP #TownofAjax #Hwy401 ^tk pic.twitter.com/8PijFjasZc— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) March 28, 2023Police tell CityNews, just hours earlier, a 21-year-old driver was caught speeding well-over the limit on the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto.Officers ...

Freed ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero in Qatar, heading to family in US

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

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The man who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda” and was freed by Rwanda last week from a terrorism sentence has arrived in Qatar on his way to reuniting with family in the United States.Paul Rusesabagina is currently in Doha, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists on Monday.“He will soon be making his way back to the United States. And his family is, as I’m sure no one is surprised, they’re eager to welcome him back here, home. The White House has been and remains engaged in every step of this process,” Kirby said.The 68-year-old Rusesabagina, a U.S. legal resident and Belgian citizen who had left Rwanda after saving hundreds of countrymen in the country’s 1994 genocide, was convicted in 2021 of terrorism offenses and sentenced to 25 years in prison in a widely criticized trial. Rusesabagina disappeared in 2020 during a visit to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and appeared days later in Rwanda in handcuffs. His family alleged...

Cloudy and mild for most of the week

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

Tuesday the clouds will decrease slowly. High of 50 expected and low of 46. W 5-10 G15.Tuesday night will be mostly cloudy. WSW 5-10 G15. Full forecast details at the WGN Weather CenterWednesday set to be mainly cloudy with light snow early in the day.

39 dead in fire at Mexico migrant center near US: official

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

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A fire broke out at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico near the U.S. border, leaving more than three dozen migrants dead, a Mexican official said Tuesday.Hours after the fire broke out late Monday, rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas. Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue swarmed the scene.Thirty-nine people died and 29 were injured, according to an official with the National Immigration Institute, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for migrants entering the United States. Its shelters are full of migrants waiting for opportunities to cross or who have requested asylum in the United States and are waiting out the process.Mexico’s attorney general’s office has launched an inquiry and has investigators at the scene, according to media reports.