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Hearing on Boston rent control bill could come in October, early November, staffer says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

The top state senator focused on housing policy is eyeing a fall hearing for a controversial bill authorizing rent control in Boston, a legislative aide told the Herald.A staff member for state Sen. Lydia Edwards, co-chair of the Housing Committee, said the committee is looking at holding a public hearing on the measure “likely” in October or early November. But the staff member stressed the hearing date is “subject to change” and will need final approval from both Democrats who chair the committee, Edwards and Rep. James Arciero of Westford.Arciero did not respond to repeated requests for comment.Rep. Samantha Montaño, a first-term Boston Democrat, filed the bill in mid-March on behalf of the Wu administration and City Council. The Legislature referred it to the Housing Committee in mid-April, where it has since sat quietly for more than two months.It has already received local approval from Boston city councilors and is a signature policy proposal from Mayor Michelle Wu.The bill, ...

Encore casino workers approve strike, set June 30 deadline for new contract

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

Unionized service workers at Encore Boston Harbor approved a strike Wednesday after more than 13 hours of voting and set a June 30 deadline for a deal to come together on a new contract.Nearly 1,000 workers covered by UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 casted ballots in Charlestown and nearly all voted in favor of a labor strike scheduled to begin next week, pending any resolution with management at the Everett casino.“Going on strike is not easy for anyone, but the workers have spoken and they are united,” UNITE HERE Local 26 President Carolos Aramayo said in a statement. “They want a better future for themselves, for their families, and for each other. They are not asking for anything outrageous; they simply want Encore Boston Harbor to be the best place to work in Everett. They are ready to do what it takes to win that five-star contract.”The unions’ first contract expired in April, and the two sides have been at the negotiating table since the spring, Aramayo previously ...

Live updates | As oxygen levels on Titan submersible are depleted, there are ways to conserve

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

Follow along for live updates on the submersible that vanished while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.AS OXYGEN LEVELS RUN LOW ON BOARD TITAN, PASSENGERS CAN MAKE MINOR CONSERVATION EFFORTSThe Titan was said to have enough oxygen on board to to last 96 hours, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, meaning they could run out sometime Thursday.But there are ways the five passengers can conserve, said professor professor Hugh Montgomery, director of the Centre for Human Health and Performance at University College London, even as temperatures drop to near freezing.The human body makes every effort to maintain a core body temperature so shivering may increase oxygen demands, he said.“The only effective way to limit O2 demand in this circumstance is not to burn excess energy,” Montgomery said.That means staying immobile or sleeping. Meditation can also slightly reduce oxygen demand by producing less stress hormones, less movement and more relaxed muscles, but such ef...

Supreme Court rules against a man who was given 27 years in prison for having a gun

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a man whose conviction on gun charges was called into question by a recent high court decision is out of luck.The court’s conservatives were in the 6-3 majority against the man, Marcus DeAngelo Jones, who was given a 27-year prison sentence for violating a federal law meant to keep guns out of the hands of people with previous criminal convictions.Jones had argued that he should be allowed another chance to get his conviction thrown out following a 2019 court decision. In that case, the justices ruled prosecutors must prove that people charged with violating federal gun laws knew they were not allowed to have a weapon.Jones tried to reopen his case following the 2019 decision, but a federal appeals court ruled against him. The issue in the case is technical, though important, and involves when defendants can make their claims in court, not the facts of Jones’ case.Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court that peo...

One year after the anti-abortion ruling, the White House keeps a spotlight on the issue

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — One year ago, Democrats suffered one of the most stinging political defeats in recent history as the Supreme Court, which had been methodically stocked with conservative appointees, eliminated the nationwide right to abortion.Unbowed on Saturday’s anniversary, however, it’s the White House, not Republicans, who are calling the most attention to the issue with a cascade of events designed to tap into simmering rage from the overturning of Roe v. Wade. “I don’t think people are tired,” Jennifer Klein, the White House point person on gender policy, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I think people might be mad. I think there’s a lot of fear out there. But I feel like that turns into power.”First lady Jill Biden met this week with women who were denied abortions even though their health was at risk. Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in an hourlong televised special in Dallas and will travel to North Carolina on Saturday for a speech....

Past deep sea rescues show the challenges of saving those on board

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The desperate search for a submersible that disappeared while taking five people to view the Titanic wreckage has drawn attention to other deep-sea rescues. Those rescue efforts — from a submersible off Ireland to a submarine off the New Hampshire coast — offer some measure of hope for the passengers and their families. But some of those rescues were not as complex as the effort to find the Titan submersible. They were often in shallower waters and, in several cases, were much bigger crafts. Many ended with some, if not all, the passengers on board dying — demonstrating the inherent risk of operating in the deep ocean.___PISCES III SUBMERSIBLEFifty years ago, two British sailors sat trapped in a deep-sea submersible more than 1,500 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, facing an uncertain fate while an international team scrambled to figure out a way to free them.In an incident that echoes the efforts to find and retrieve those trapped in the Titan submersible,...

Maine Legislature vote expands sovereignty for Native American tribes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Native American tribes in Maine took an important step toward greater sovereignty as the state Legislature voted to let most federal laws apply to Wabanaki tribes, putting them on the same footing as other federally recognized tribes across the country.Both the Maine House and Senate approved the bill with enough support Wednesday to overcome a potential veto of the bill.“Today signifies a landmark victory in the pursuit of Wabanaki self-determination,” Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis said Thursday in a statement. The Penobscot are one member of the Wabanaki Nations, which encompasses Indigenous peoples living in what is now Maine.Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has opposed the bill, sponsored by House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, expressing concerns that it could lead to confusion and lawsuits. Her office had no immediate comment on the legislative action.Tribes in Maine are set apart from the other 570 federally recognized tribes across the country beca...

After Paris blast crumples building in Left Bank, rescue workers still searching for 1 person

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French rescue workers searched Thursday for a person feared missing after a powerful blast brought down a building on Paris’ Left Bank, injuring more than 30 people, six of them critically.Investigators were working to determine the cause of Wednesday’s explosion. A possible gas leak was one of the theories under investigation. The blast near the historic Val de Grace military hospital in Paris’ 5th district crumpled the facade of a building that held a private academy of design and arts.The Paris prosecutors’ office raised the number of people with critical injuries from four to six on Thursday. Some of those suffered severe burns, said Health Minister François Braun.One person who had been feared missing under the rubble was located in a hospital where they were being treated, the prosecutors’ office said.Efforts were ongoing to locate another person still feared missing, it said. With more than 2 million people densely packed within the ...

Government benefits helped lower-income households afford rising cost of living: PBO

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget officer says lower-income households maintained their purchasing power despite high inflation with help from government benefits.In a report released Thursday, the PBO analyzed how the purchasing power of households at different income levels changed between the final quarters of 2019 and 2022.The report says all households saw an increase in purchasing power over those three years, rising by five per cent overall.That suggests households could buy more with their incomes at the end of last year than they could before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada in early 2020.That is despite a rise in inflation that peaked at 8.1 per cent last summer.But for households in the bottom 20 per cent of income, their earnings were not enough to address the rising cost of living.The report says those households relied on government transfers to make up the difference.“Higher-income households are better able to handle the rising cost of living using their own so...

S&P/TSX composite down as energy and base metal stocks fall, U.S. stocks mixed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:25 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was down more than 150 points in late-morning trading as the price of oil fell below US$70 a barrel and losses in the energy and base metal stocks weighed on the Toronto market.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 157.16 points at 19,548.79.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 49.96 points at 33,901.56. The S&P 500 index was up 0.61 of a point at 4,366.30, while the Nasdaq composite was up 54.81 points at 13,557.01.The Canadian dollar traded for 75.98 cents US compared with 75.86 cents US on Wednesday.The August crude oil contract was down US$2.80 at US$69.73 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was down four cents at US$2.56 per mmBTU.The August gold contract was down US$18.10 at US$1,926.80 an ounce and the July copper contract was down a penny at US$3.91 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press