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Battenfeld: Southie Bridge sign faux pas removes late Boston City Councilor Jimmy Kelly’s name

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

A mysterious “error” has led to the abrupt cancellation of Jimmy Kelly.The conservative former City Council president’s name has been wiped off the South Boston bridge welcoming sign named after him — replaced by Mayor Michelle Wu’s name.Instead of Kelly’s name, the sign now just says “Welcome to South Boston West Broadway Bridge” and Wu’s name underneath.It’s a very fishy situation. Some Boston activists have been trying to get the Wu administration to rename the bridge because of the late Kelly’s anti-busing views and allegations of racism.And now it’s done — at least temporarily.What’s next, renaming the Moakley courthouse? Joe Moakley was vehemently anti-busing, too.“This was an error on the part of our sign vendor,” Wu spokesman Ricardo Patron said in a statement to the Herald. “The old sign was to be updated but not changed, and the vendor accidentally included the location of the sign. The property management team is working to address this issue as soon as possible.”Wu is no...

Charles E. ‘Chick’ Silberstein, orthopedic surgeon and Baltimore Orioles team physician, dies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

Charles Eliot “Chick” Silberstein, an orthopedic surgeon who had been the Baltimore Orioles’ team physician from 1978 to 2009, died of sepsis June 25 at the Gilchrist Center Towson.He celebrated his 90th birthday on June 13.“Chick was a very special human being and he helped me get to the mound,” said Jim Palmer, the Hall of Fame pitcher who played for nearly 20 years for the Orioles. “He did both of my knees … he was a neighbor, a friend and a mentor.”Born in Baltimore and raised on Denison Road, he was the son of Louis Silberstein, an assistant Baltimore City solicitor in the administration of Mayor Thomas J. D’Alesandro Jr., and Bessie Rabinowitz.Family members said he told stories of his summer camp days at Camp Saginaw in Pennsylvania and was still singing camp songs throughout his 80s.He attended Liberty School and the old Robert E. Lee School and was a 1950 graduate of Baltimore City College.While in elementary school he b...

Somerville’s Green Line Extension Community Path proving to be a recreational oasis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

Jon Metzger has been on the move ever since the highly-anticipated but long-delayed Green Line Extension Community Path opened earlier this month in Somerville.A resident of the nearby Maxwell’s Green apartment complex, Metzger continued to take advantage of the recreational oasis by walking with Hudson, his 10-year-old goldendoodle, during a Wednesday workbreak.“It is a huge draw,” said Metzger, who moved to Magoun Square three years ago from Assembly Row. “I think there are some improvements especially on the T, waiting 15 minutes for each stop definitely needs to be improved. But walking on this path, this is huge.”Somerville dignitaries, gathered for a ribbon cutting, said they believe the two-mile segment, stretching the off-street, multi-use path from Lowell Street to Cambridge Crossing, has been transformational. Many pedestrians and cyclists had been getting around a fence that blocked the extension for weeks before it officially opened June 10.The path runs parallel to the ...

UK appeals court rules that plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A British court ruled Thursday that a government plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda in an attempt to deter migrants from making risky journeys across the English Channel is unlawful.Court of Appeal judges said Rwanda could not be considered a “safe third country” where migrants could be sent.The government is likely to challenge the ruling at the U.K. Supreme Court.The Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to “stop the boats” -– the overcrowded dinghies and other small craft that make the journey from northern France carrying migrants who hope to live in the U.K. More than 45,000 people arrived in Britain across the Channel in 2022, and several died in the attempt.The U.K. and Rwandan governments agreed more than a year ago that some migrants who arrive in the U.K. as stowaways or in small boats would be sent to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed. Those granted asylum would stay in the East African country rather than re...

French police officer who shot 17-year-old under investigation for ‘voluntary homicide’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

NANTERRE, France (AP) — French prosecutors said magistrates will investigate a police officer who shot and killed a 17-year-old driver for “voluntary homicide,” following two days of violent fires and violent protests. Overnight, protesters set cars and public buildings ablaze in Paris suburbs and unrest spread to some other French cities and towns, despite increased security efforts and the president’s calls for calm.The killing of 17-year-old Nahel during a traffic check Tuesday, captured on video, shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between young people and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods around France. Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said that based on an initial investigation, he concluded that “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met.”Two magistrates have been named to lead the investigation, he said. Under the French legal system, which differs from the U.S. and British systems, magistrates of...

Woman’s leg is amputated after being trapped under a moving walkway in a Thai airport

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A woman’s leg had to be amputated in a Thai airport after it was trapped by a movable walkway Thursday, officials said.The 57-year-old Thai passenger was due to board a morning flight from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport to the southern Nakhon Si Thammarat province when she was caught by the walkway in the airport’s Terminal 2. A medical team there eventually had to cut her left leg off from above the knee, according to the airport’s officials.“On behalf of the Don Mueang International Airport, I’d like to express my deepest condolences regarding the accident,” Don Mueang Airport Director Karun Thanakuljeerapat said during a news conference. “I’d like to insist that we will ensure that no such accident will happen again.”He said the airport will be fully responsible for the woman’s medical costs and will be open for negotiations on other compensations. The medical team at the hospital she was initially sent to informed Karun that they could not reattach...

Expect a hot, smoky summer in much of America. Here’s why you’d better get used to it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

The only break much of America can hope for anytime soon from eye-watering dangerous smok e from fire-struck Canada is brief bouts of shirt-soaking sweltering heat and humidity from a southern heat wave that has already proven deadly, forecasters say.And then the smoke will likely come back to the Midwest and East.That’s because neither the 235 out-of-control Canadian wildfires nor the stuck weather pattern that’s responsible for this mess of meteorological maladies are showing signs of relenting for the next week or longer, according to meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center. First, the stuck weather pattern made abnormally hot and dry conditions for Canada to burn at off-the-chart record levels. Then it created a setup where the only relief comes when low pressure systems roll through, which means areas on one side get smoky air from the north and the other gets sweltering air from the south. Smoke or heat. “Pick you...

Boris Johnson’s allies tried to stymie probe into his partygate lies, UK lawmakers say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A committee of British lawmakers on Thursday slammed allies of Boris Johnson in Parliament for trying to interfere with their investigation into whether the former prime minister lied about rule-flouting parties in his office during the coronavirus pandemic.The House of Commons Privileges Committee said senior Conservatives, including past Cabinet ministers under Johnson, “took it upon themselves to undermine procedures of the House of Commons.”It said Johnson allies — including former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and ex-House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg — mounted “vociferous attacks” on the committee on social media, radio and television. The forums for the attacks included shows hosted by Dorries and Rees-Mogg themselves on a right-wing news channel, the panel said.They and several other legislators called the ethics probe into Johnson a “kangaroo court,” a “witch hunt” and a miscarriage of justice – echoing language used by the embattled former prime minis...

US guitar maker Fender opens flagship store in Tokyo banking on regional growth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Fender, the guitar of choice for some of the world’s biggest stars from Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton, is opening what it calls its “first flagship store” in its 77-year history.The American guitar manufacturer has chosen for its location Tokyo’s Harajuku, a hot spot for Japanese youngsters who love animation, outlandish fashion and, of course, American music. The store was unveiled to reporters Thursday ahead of its official opening Friday. Asia-Pacific is on track to become the biggest music market in the world by 2030, and more stores are planned for the region, Fender says. The company’s revenue in Japan has recorded double-digit percentage growth each year since 2015.“I’ve played various brands, but what I like about the Fender is its power to help you play at more than 100% of your ability, letting you become aware of your potential and take up new challenges,” said Erino Yumiki, a guitarist, songwriter and one of the world’s many Fender artists.“Sometimes mu...

125 Sudanese army soldiers held by paramilitary force are freed, Red Cross says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:33 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it had facilitated the release of 125 Sudanese army soldiers held captive by the country’s rival paramilitary force.The soldiers walked free on Wednesday, the ICRC said, as the violent conflict between the army, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, enters its 11th week. Fighting between the rival forces broke out on April 15 and has killed more than 3,000 people, the country’s Health Ministry said. Over 2.5 million people have been displaced, according to the latest U.N. figures.The freed men — 44 of whom were wounded — were transported from the capital, Khartoum, to the city of Wad Madani, 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the south, the ICRC said in a short statement. It remains unclear where the 125 men were being held.“This positive step means that families will be celebrating Eid-al Adha with their loved ones,” said Jea...