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Jury selection to begin in sexual misconduct trial for former Boston city official

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

Former Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo was working for former Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh when sexual misconduct allegations were made against him and now the former mayor and other officials may be called to testify as the trial gets underway.Arroyo was fired from Walsh’s cabinet in 2017 after a city employee came forward with allegations that she had been sexually harassed by him. The woman also claimed she was demoted and moved to a different department when she reported him. The woman is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages.Arroyo denies the allegations.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Patriots extra points: JuJu Smith-Schuster excited by rookie receivers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster went out of his way to praise the newest additions to his positional group Sunday after an abbreviated training camp practice.The former Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs wideout was asked about Patriots’ receiver room as a whole. He pivoted his answer to talk about the Patriots’ rookie receivers, Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte and undrafted free agents Malik Cunningham and Thyrick Pitts.“Oh man, the young guys, I gotta give it up to the young guys,” Smith-Schuster said. “It’s not an easy playbook to learn, but these guys are coming in and getting it down. As a rookie coming here and being able to participate in practice is really helpful. I would say that room is looking really, really nice.”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots training camp Day 19: Mac Jones sizzles until late INT, Malilk Cunningham back at QB New England Patriots | P...

Sidney Mae Olson’s family keeping her spirit alive through community initiatives

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

More than $100,000 has already been raised for the Sidney Mae Olson Rainbow Fund, which is looking to create ways for children from underrepresented communities to access education that otherwise couldn’t afford it.“We do feel so fortunate for the community support. We’ve got a lot of good things going on,” Sidney’s father Eric Olson told the Herald. He and his family are carrying on the legacy of his 5-year-old daughter through the scholarship fund they created after her tragic death in May.Specifically, the family is working on the scholarship with the SHED Children’s Campus, an Andover-based education center where Sidney had been attending kindergarten.After the unfathomable happened – Sidney was struck and killed at an intersection on her way to art class in May – the Olson family has turned the tragedy into positive community initiatives.To go along with continued road safety advocacy, the family has partnered with the Feaster Five, a 5-mile road race that has a tur...

Road safety changes coming to Andover’s Elm Square, the site where a 5-year-old girl was struck and killed in May

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

Colorful teddy bears and a plastic butterfly brighten a memorial at an intersection in Andover’s Elm Square, honoring Sidney Mae Olson, the 5-year-old girl who lost her life in May when she was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer.Sidney and a family member had been traversing the Elm Street crosswalk on their way to art class, while the walk sign showed it was still safe to cross.The town made a set of changes to the intersection immediately after the May 9 tragedy, including relocation of the stop line and increasing pedestrian cross time. But much more extensive changes are on the way after a road safety audit, compiled by the town and state, was released last week.“Sid was a couple feet away from being here right now,” Sidney’s father Eric Olson told the Herald. “Had the stop line been where it is today, she’d probably be here. Had the lights been where they are now, she’d probably be here. We are happy that this is carrying us forward, but we recognize, too, that this is a sm...

Lucas: Durant shows guts by challenging ‘right to shelter’ law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey is about to help elect Peter Durant.Who?Peter Durant. He is a previously obscure Republican state rep from Spencer who represents Worcester in the State House of Representatives.He is now running in a Worcester special election to succeed Democrat state Sen. Anne Gobi, a fellow obscure legislator from Spencer, who resigned to take a job with the Healey administration.But that is not the story. The story is that Durant is championing an issue that no Democrats will touch.And that is to urge Healey, a progressive Democrat, to file legislation to repeal Massachusetts’ “right to shelter” law that has become a magnet for thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into Massachusetts.Durant to date is the only public official, Democrat or Republican, to openly take on Healey over the illegal immigrant issue.“Our homeless shelters are maxed out,” Durant said. “Hotels across the state have been converted to shelters,”“Worse yet, all this assistance is being taken away fr...

Boston’s future development, housing plans to take shape this week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

The effort to revitalize the downtown lands front and center this week as the Boston Planning and Development Agency gears up to release a PLAN: Downtown report that keys partially on an initiative by Mayor Michelle Wu to incentive conversion of commercial property to residential use.Last month, Wu’s office announced the establishment of a program aimed at solving the area’s housing shortage by offering tax breaks upwards of 75% to building owners that will convert vacant downtown office spaces into residential ones. BPDA officials said that the tax cut for a period up to 29 years “could provide a strong incentive to encourage conversion.”The agency’s PLAN: Downtown team has a significant role in the conversion program, as well as in preserving the city’s cultural heritage, enhancing overall housing access and promoting mixed-use development. The team’s next meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday to go over some of the key enhancement and revitalization efforts that will be inc...

Patriots veteran explains Marte Mapu’s ‘tough’ role in preseason game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots veteran safety Adrian Phillips is not slowing down the Marte Mapu hype train.Mapu, the Patriots’ linebacker/safety hybrid, had a big day of practice Sunday, breaking up passes from backup quarterback Bailey Zappe intended for tight ends Matt Sokol and Hunter Henry.Mapu has yet to shed his red non-contact jersey — so he’s not cleared for action — but still found a way to stay involved in Thursday’s preseason game. The 2023 third-round pick dressed for the game but stood next to linebackers coach/play-caller Steve Belichick with a clipboard in hand for the entirety of the contest.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots training camp Day 19: Mac Jones sizzles until late INT, Malilk Cunningham back at QB New England Patriots | Patriots rookie Malik Cunningham still primarily working at receiver? New England Patriots | Mac Jones, Jack Jones and 28 Patriots thoughts 28 days from the s...

Passenger arrested after flight from Australia to Malaysia returns to Sydney in ’emergency incident’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — An airline flight from Australia to Malaysia returned on Monday to Sydney, where a passenger was arrested hours later in what police described as an emergency incident.The emergency caused dozens of domestic flight cancellations and delays at Australia’s busiest airport.Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 left Sydney Airport with 199 passengers and 12 crew aboard on an eight-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur and returned more than three hours later because of a “disruptive passenger,” the airline said.“In the interest of safety, the commander of the flight made a decision to return to Sydney,” Malaysia’s national carrier said in a statement.Nine News reported that a passenger holding a backpack on the Airbus A330 had threatened to “blow the plane up.” Crew checked the backpack and found no explosives, it said.Australian Federal Police described the situation as an “emergency incident.” A 45-year-old man was arrested without incident and the rest of the passengers were...

Chinese defense minister to visit Russia and Belarus in show of support despite West’s objections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Russia and Belarus in a show of support for those nations which the West has sought to isolate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Li departed Monday on the six-day trip, during which he will deliver an address at the Moscow Conference on International Security and meet with defense leaders from Russia and other nations, the Defense Ministry said on its social media account, citing spokesperson Col. Wu Qian. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to speak at the conference on the topic of the “Majority World countries’ search for ways to development outside Western mechanisms, including strengthening multilateral associations of a new type,” Russia’s official TASS news agency reported. It said representatives from about 100 countries and eight international organizations had been invited to attend. The would “discuss various aspects of security in the conditions of the establishment of a mul...

UK government rejects claims it was slow to evacuate asylum seekers after bacteria detected on barge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:49 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government on Monday rejected claims that it had been slow to evacuate asylum-seekers from a barge moored off the south coast of England once traces of the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease were found in the ship’s water system.In the latest critique of the government’s ballyhooed efforts to control migration and reduce the cost of housing a rising number of asylum-seekers, local health officials said over the weekend that the barge operator was told about the bacteria last Monday — the day before asylum-seekers were moved onto the Bibby Stockholm.But Health Secretary Steve Barclay said ministers weren’t informed about the bacteria until Thursday and they took “very quick action.” The Home Office, the central government department that oversees migration, moved all 39 men who were being housed on the ship into other accommodation on Friday.Questions about the government’s response to the bacteria issue came after immigration dominated the weekend new...