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The ashes of a Massachusetts man will be launched into deep space on the Enterprise Flight: ‘He was a big science fiction reader’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

The ashes of a local man, who almost always had “a science fiction novel in his hands,” will be launched into deep space on the Enterprise Flight next week.Woburn native Francis Gillis’ cremated remains will be on board Celestis’ first-ever deep space Voyager Mission, known as the Enterprise Flight — which is scheduled for liftoff on Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.Gillis, a U.S. Army veteran who passed away in 2018 when he was 67, wrote in his will that he wanted to be involved in this specific space flight.“He didn’t want his ashes just going around the moon,” his sister Jacqueline Gillis told the Herald this week. “He wanted to be out there in deep, deep space.“We’re just thrilled for him,” she added. “What a crew he’s with.”Gillis will be on board a spacecraft containing the cremated remains, DNA samples, and greeting messages of more than 200 individuals.Among tho...

Duxbury Rep. Josh Cutler heading to Healey administration, opening House seat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey turned to a six-term House Democrat who has focused on labor and workforce development to serve in a new position tasked with expanding registered apprenticeships, work-based learning career pathways, and exploring the future of work.Rep. Josh Cutler, co-chairman of the Legislature’s Labor and Workforce Development Committee, will transition into the role of undersecretary of apprenticeship, work-based learning, and policy for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, a move that creates another open seat in the House.In a statement provided by the Healey administration, Cutler said he looks forward to implementing policies and programs to help support workers and enable businesses “to thrive.”“I am grateful to the 6th Plymouth District for giving me the honor to represent them in the House for the past decade and look forward to supporting them and communities across the state in this new role,” he said.In the past 50-plus years through many redistr...

A Roxbury vocational high school was briefly on lockdown for hoax gun call

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

Madison Park Technical Vocational High School was put into a brief lockdown this afternoon after a caller reported a gun in the school.A Boston Police Department spokesman told the Herald that police received a call sometime around 1 p.m. reporting a gun in the school located at 75 Malcolm X Blvd. in Roxbury.Officer Jason Villanueva told the Herald that responding police could not find any firearm and that the department considers the call a hoax.This is a developing story.

Trump’s race for the White House runs through the courtroom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

By Nancy Cook, Bill Allison and Gregory Korte, Bloomberg NewsIn Iowa, former President Donald Trump appears headed for victory in the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 15.In New York – and in Florida, and in Georgia, and in Washington, DC – Trump is headed for something else: court.For months, a divided nation has confronted the strange prospect of a split-screen election season, with Trump, the candidate, on one side, and Trump, the defendant, on the other.Now, that prospect is about to become reality – and upend presidential politics, if not the American presidency itself. For the first time, courtrooms across the nation are about to become some of the most crucial stops on the road to the White House.Three years after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in support of Trump, the worlds of politics and law are colliding spectacularly over the events of that day and the dueling narratives around them.The legal dramas stemming from Jan. 6 and Trump’s business dealings...

NY seeks more in penalties in Trump’s civil fraud trial. His defense says no gains were ill-gotten

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

By JENNIFER PELTZ (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — New York state lawyers increased their request for penalties Friday in Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial, while his defense argued that 10-plus weeks of testimony produced no evidence of fraudulent intentions or ill-gotten gains. Both sides highlighted their takeaways from the trial in court filings ahead of closing arguments, set for Thursday. Trump is expected to attend, though plans could change. It will be the final chance for state and defense lawyers to make their case in a lawsuit that is consequential for the leading Republican presidential hopeful even while he fights four criminal cases in various courts. The New York civil case could end up barring him from doing business in the state where he built his real estate empire, and state Attorney General Letitia James is now seeking over $370 million in penalties. The figure emerged in her office’s filing Friday; the state had sought $250 million bef...

Actor Christian Oliver, 2 daughters die after plane crashes into ocean

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

(KTLA) – Actor Christian Oliver has died in a tragic plane crash in the Caribbean alongside his two daughters. Oliver, known for his roles in "Speed Racer" and "Valkyrie," was 51 years old. Deadline reports that Oliver and his daughters were in a small plane that crashed into the ocean off a Caribbean island Thursday. The plane's owner and pilot, Robert Sachs, also died in the accident. Oliver, whose real name is Christian Klepser, and his daughters, Madita, 10, and Annik, 12, were the only passengers on the flight, according to TMZ. Christian Oliver attends the WanderLuxxe Celebrates Diversity in Television Honoring 2018 Emmy Nominees with Variety at Craig's in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision for WanderLuxxe/AP Images)Authorities say the flight took off from the J.F. Mitchelle Airport, known as the Bequia Airport, which serves St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and was headed to St. Lucia."Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft experienced difficulties and nose-...

Magnitude 4.2 earthquake rattles Southern California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

An earthquake measuring 4.2 in magnitude shook the Los Angeles area Friday morning and was felt by potentially millions of people across Southern California. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck at 10:55 a.m. Pacific time with an epicenter 5.5 miles underground, just north of Rancho Cucamonga in the San Gabriel Mountains. The temblor, now dubbed the Lytle Creek Earthquake, had a preliminary magnitude of 4.6, was downgraded to 4.1 and eventually the Geological Survey determined it was a 4.2. Interactive California Earthquake Map There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. "The Los Angeles Fire Department remains in a normal operating mode. There have been NO reports of injury, structure or infrastructure damage within our @LACity jurisdiction related to the M4.1," LAFD posted on X, formerly Twitter. Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist and founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, said the earthquake occurred along two fault lines. "The...

Multiple injuries in tour bus rollover on upstate New York highway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

WARRENSBURG, N.Y. (AP) — Multiple people were injured when a tour bus carrying passengers rolled over Friday on a highway in the southern Adirondacks, state police said.The crash occurred just before 1 p.m. on the Adirondack Northway, north of Lake George Village, according to state police. A video posted from a car traveling in the other direction shows a bus resting on its side by the roadway.Gov. Kathy Hochul said police and Department of Transportation workers were at the site performing rescue operations. The southbound highway was closed between exits 23 and 22.Police spokesperson Deanna Cohen said the scene was still being assessed and had no further details.“I join the people of New York in praying for the well-being of all involved in this horrific incident and am deeply grateful for the heroic efforts of our first responders,” Hochul said in a prepared release.The Associated Press

Some TTC surface routes to return following construction, ‘increasing capacity’ on other buses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

TTC riders can breathe a sigh of relief as some bus routes are slated to return Sunday following the completion of some major construction projects in the city.Starting on Sunday, bus and streetcar service will return to the Dufferin Gate Loop. Road crews were doing watermain and streetcar track work on Springhurst Avenue.“The 29/929 Dufferin will return to routing between Wilson Station and Dufferin Gate Loop, and no longer run to Exhibition Place,” the TTC states in a release.At Broadview Station, regular bus service on the 87 Cosburn and 100 Flemingdon Park routes will resume now that the new streetcar track installation has been finished. The two routes join 8 Broadview, 62 Mortimer, and 504/505 King/Dundas replacement buses that have already resumed service to Broadview.As some construction comes to an end, another project is slated to start on King Street West in February. Starting on Feb. 19, riders will have to take the 501A Queen streetcar to go to and from the ...

Massachusetts voters become latest to try and keep Trump off ballot over Jan. 6 attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:11 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Five Republican and Democratic voters in Massachusetts have become the latest to challenge former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the Republican primary election ballot, claiming he is ineligible to hold office because he encouraged and did little to stop the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The challenge was filed late Thursday to Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin’s office ahead of the March 5 presidential primary. The State Ballot Commission must rule on the challenge by Jan. 29.The challenge, similar to those filed in more than a dozen other states, relies on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits anyone from holding office who previously has taken an oath to defend the Constitution and then later “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country or given “aid or comfort” to its enemies. In its 91-page objection, the voters made the case that Trump should be disqualified from the presiden...