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Universal under investigation after it trimmed trees that shaded SAG-AFTRA protesters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

(CNN) — The Los Angeles City Controller’s office is investigating after NBCUniversal severely trimmed a row of trees outside its studios where members of SAG-AFTRA were picketing company executives, eliminating shade during a searing heatwave.“Trees are essential to providing Angelenos with significant environmental and public health benefits, especially during a heatwave,” LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia wrote on Twitter.Last week, SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 actors and other media personalities joined the 11,000 Writers Guild of America (WGA) members who have been on the picket line since May as negotiations between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, broke down. But excessive heat in parts of the country has led strike organizers to caution participants to stay hydrated and use sunscreen. Earlier this week, SAG-AFTRA cut short their Disney and Warner Bros. pickets, citing “extreme heat in LA.”...

A gunman in New Zealand has killed 2 people ahead of Women’s World Cup tournament

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

By NICK PERRY and JENNA FRYER (Associated Press)AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — A gunman killed two people at a downtown construction site in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland on Thursday, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament. Authorities said the shooter was also dead.Police said six other people, including at least one officer, were injured during the shooting, which took place near hotels where Team Norway and other soccer teams have been staying. New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the tournament would go ahead as planned.“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,” Hipkins said. “The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.”Hipkins said the shooter was armed with...

Orioles rally past Dodgers, 8-5, to avoid sweep and pull into tie for American League East lead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

When Dean Kremer jogged out to the Camden Yards mound Wednesday, he did so just past the five-year anniversary of when the team he was about to face traded him to the Orioles.The 27-year-old right-hander is the only player left of the five Baltimore acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers when they traded star infielder Manny Machado five years ago Tuesday. For the Dodgers, the trade was one of many they have made at the cost of continually pushing for World Series titles. It took half a decade, but the Orioles are now at the level to challenge for them, too, with their trade of Machado beginning a painful rebuild that’s finally paying off.With Wednesday’s 8-5 victory to close their series with Los Angeles, the Orioles have gone 70 straight multi-game series without being swept, the eighth-longest streak in major league history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. With the Texas Rangers’ 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, completing a three-game sweep, Baltimore will...

Orioles’ Cedric Mullins returns to injured list with right groin strain; team signs 15 more draft picks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins seemed to be finally returning to himself when he pulled up going into third base on a foul ball Saturday. It turns out that injury will keep from even returning to the field for at least another week.Mullins was put on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a right adductor groin strain, the same injury that cost him 20 games earlier this season. The Orioles and Mullins had been classifying the latest ailment as right quadriceps tightness and said it was unrelated to the groin strain, with Mullins saying Tuesday that he hoped to return to Baltimore’s lineup sometime this week.“It’s just kind of his upper leg, and so groin, quad,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Felt it in his quad, originally. The soreness is moving around in that upper leg area. It’s a lower-body injury that we just want to take a little bit more time with and be careful with. It was progressing, has been progressing. It’s just not progres...

As police try to solve deaths of four women in Oregon, mothers hope for answers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

By ANDREW SELSKY and LISA BAUMANN (Associated Press)SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The announcement that authorities are holding a person of interest in the case of four women found dead this year in northwest Oregon has their mothers hoping they may finally get answers about what happened to their daughters.Melissa Smith, the mother of Kristin Smith, whose body was found on Feb. 19, is optimistic that the cases that have unnerved many in the region will be solved.“I have faith that the police department is going to piece this together, get that proof, and we’re able to get that justice for her and the other girls — if they are linked,” Smith said in a video she posted Wednesday on Facebook.The bodies were found over a three-month period starting in February — in wooded areas, in a culvert and under a bridge — in a roughly 100-mile (160-kilometer) radius. Nine different law enforcement agencies have been collaborating on solving the deaths. The body of ...

Crime Briefs: Brockton teen, 15, killed in Randolph crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

A 15-year-old Brockton boy was killed in a crash in Randolph.Randolph Police were called to North Main Street just before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and found a 2011 Nissan Altima crashed, with four teenagers present.One of the teens, Terry Boston, Jr., 15, of Brockton, was pronounced dead at the scene. Three other teenagers, who authorities have not identified, were transported to area hospitals. Two female passengers were driven by ambulance and a teen boy was transported to Boston Medical Center via helicopter.“I join the Randolph Police in extending my condolences to young Mr. Boston’s family on this tragic loss of life,” Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a Wednesday statement.The initial investigation, according to the DA statement, indicates the Nissan was traveling southbound when it left the roadway and smashed into a tree in the 700-block of North Main Street.Swampscott quarry worker killed on the job identifiedThe worker killed in a rock crusher in Swampscott Mon...

How hard is it to win the lottery? Odds to keep in mind as Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots soar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

The Associated PressNEW YORK (AP) — There’s no shaking it. Your chances of winning the lottery are extremely slim — even as more and more eye top prizes soaring to jaw-dropping heights. Ahead of Wednesday night’s drawing, the estimated jackpot for Powerball reached $1 billion — marking the seventh largest prize across U.S. lottery history. And Mega Millions’ jackpot grew to an estimated $720 million after there was no winner Tuesday.But don’t plan on entering a new tax bracket anytime soon. The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot — no matter the size — stand near 1 in 292.2 million. Chances of taking home Mega Millions’ top prize are even lower, at about 1 in 302.6 million.Because of the almost impossible chance of winning big, experts stress that you shouldn’t spend all your money on lottery tickets. If you choose to play, it’s important to be mindful of what you can afford — and maybe consider other plac...

Campbell, other Dem. AGs, fire back at Republicans on diversity and equity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

A group of Democratic Attorneys General, including the Bay State’s Andrea Campbell, have joined together to tell the nation’s largest corporations that they can go ahead and ignore any assertions on matters of equity and diversity from their Republican counterparts.During a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday, 21 of the nation’s top law enforcement officials announced they had signed on to a letter sharply disagreeing with their conservative colleagues interpretation of a recent Supreme Court decision striking down the use of race as a consideration during college admissions.“As the chief legal officers of our states, we recognize the many benefits of a diverse population, business community, and workforce, and share a commitment to expanding opportunity for all,” the AGs wrote.“The letter you received from the 13 state attorneys general is intended to intimidate you into rolling back the progress many of you have made. We write to reassure you that corporate efforts to recruit diver...

Man killed at quarry job in Swampscott identified as Lynn’s Christopher Perry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

The worker killed in a rock crusher in Swampscott Monday has been identified as Christopher Perry, 37, of Lynn.Police were called to the scene of Aggregate Industries at 30 Danvers Road, Swampscott, at about 1 p.m. Monday for what the Essex District Attorney’s office in a brief statement described as “a problem in a rock rusher” suspended above the quarry.Perry and another worker were cleaning the inside of the device “when an apparent mechanical malfunction occurred,” according to the DA’s office statement.Perry was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other worker was not injured.The incident is being investigated by State Police detectives assigned to the DA’s office, Swampscott Police, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.Aggregate Industries has been cited by OSHA 15 times in the past decade, and its parent company, Holcim US Inc., has been cited 25 times in the same period, according to an analysis of OSHA r...

Martha’s Vineyard man charged with robbing Cape Cod bank; he allegedly zip tied employees and customers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

A Martha’s Vineyard man has been charged with robbing a Cape Cod bank, as the feds accuse him of zip tying bank tellers and customers while he pointed a gun and placed an alleged bomb on the counter.Petar Petyoshin, 40, was charged by the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office with one count of armed bank robbery in connection to the April 8 robbery of the Rockland Trust Bank in Falmouth.The feds say that Petyoshin entered the bank just before 9 a.m., while wearing a blonde wig. He’s accused of placing a purported bomb on the teller counter and brandishing a firearm.Petyoshin then allegedly pointed the gun at employees and customers, telling one bank employee, “I’m robbing you,” before having the customers and bank employees zip tie each other’s hands together.He then had two tellers place more than $20,000 in cash into a brown Walmart bag, took a customer’s car keys, and fled the scene in the customer’s vehicle, the feds allege.Su...