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Kristaps Porzingis excited to join Celtics, return to big stage: ‘This is a different level’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

On the night he was traded – finally – to the Celtics, Kristaps Porzingis was just as clueless, just as uncertain about what was happening as the rest of the basketball world.So, he went to sleep.Porzingis was back home in Latvia last Wednesday, when reports of a three-team trade that sent him to the Celtics and Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers seemed to be set in stone. But then, suddenly, as he was about to go to bed, Porzingis saw the news that the trade had broken down.“So that kept me up for a little bit longer,” Porzingis said.But by 4 a.m. local time, Porzingis was done waiting. He finally went to bed, unsure of what team he’d be on when he woke up.“I was like, OK, I’ll go to sleep and see what happens,’” Porzingis recalled. “Wake up in the morning, I saw that it happened, the trade happened, and I was just extremely excited, and extremely happy.”The deal, of course, was finally agreed upon at midnight in Boston. It sent cornerstone Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies in a franchise...

Harborfest kicks off Fourth of July celebrations in Boston

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

Fourth of July celebrations arrive early in Boston, with the Harborfest kicking off Friday with an arts market, music by local groups and other attractions.Secretary of State William Galvin continued his holiday preparations on Thursday, previewing historical documents to be displayed at the Commonwealth Museum’s annual Independence Day exhibit.In years past, several hundred people have flocked to the Columbia Point museum the morning of the Fourth before they head off to other celebrations. Galvin said he’s excited for that tradition to continue Tuesday.The museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and visitors will get a chance to get up close to the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Watertown — a July 1776 international agreement that was the first to recognize the new United States as an independent nation — and other historic passages.“It brings to life the history of our state but also of our country, very much the case that the history of our state is th...

Ticker: Teamsters up pressure in UPS talks; More than 1,400 opt out of gambling

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union is ratcheting up pressure on UPS in labor contract negotiations, with threats of a strike Aug. 1 if the two sides don’t reach agreement.The Teamsters said their negotiators walked away from the bargaining table Wednesday and are demanding a last, best and final offer from the shipping giant by this Friday.UPS said it submitted a proposal last week, and this week submitted a “significantly amended proposal to address key demands from the Teamsters.”“We’re working around the clock to reach an agreement that strengthens our industry-leading pay and benefits ahead of the current contract’s expiration on August 1,” UPS said. “We remain at the table ready to negotiate.”The Teamsters dismissed the counter proposals as “miniscule with  General President Sean O’Brien stating,   “The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable.”More than 1,400 opt out of gamblingThe number of people who have voluntarily joined a pr...

Mets manager Buck Showalter says he’s ‘disappointed’ in team’s performance at halfway point

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

It’s safe to say, things have not gone to plan in Flushing.The Mets and their colossal disappointment of a season reached the halfway point playing Game 81 Thursday against the Brewers at Citi Field. The club entered Thursday (36-44) sitting 8.5 games back of a playoff spot despite owning the largest payroll in MLB history at $344 million.The good news is that there are still 81 more games to go and there is plenty of time for the team equipped with veteran talent to make a turnaround. The bad news is the hole the Amazin’s must climb out of has only gotten steeper as the club didn’t win a single series in the month of June.“[I’m] disappointed in not winning enough games,” said Buck Showalter. “That could change. Knowing that we’ve got a full half-season a full left season left [is nice].“I like the fact that our guys haven’t given in and have stayed together. It’s hard with so many influences and things you are consta...

The complex reasons Josh Hart opted into his contract and skipped free agency

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

Josh Hart is returning to the Knicks at a discount. At least until his expected extension kicks in.With a move that undoubtedly symbolizes other agreements on the horizon, Hart opted into his one-year, $12.9 million contract for next season, a source confirmed. It would’ve been a shock a month ago, when Hart said in an interview that he’ll likely opt out and hit free agency. But circumstances dictated a pivot.By opting into his deal, Hart, 28, is eligible for an extension in August worth up to four years and $81 million. Logic indicates he wouldn’t have opted into his contract without assurances that the Knicks will extend his contract this summer at a strong number.Hart is represented by CAA, the agency closely associated with the Knicks.By taking less money for the upcoming season (his salary in free agency would’ve probably been around $17.5 million compared to the $12.9 option), the Knicks have more financial flexibility for this summer. Put simply: Hart&...

Anti-gang community defense activist Hipólito Mora slain in Mexico

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The leader of an armed civilian movement that once drove a drug cartel out of the western Mexico state of Michoacan has been killed, authorities confirmed Thursday. Tributes quickly rolled in for slain “self defense” leader Hipólito Mora. He was one of the last surviving leaders of Michoacan’s armed vigilante movement, in which farmers and ranchers banded together to expel the Knights Templar cartel from the state between 2013 and 2014. Mora was one of the few fighters to reman in his hometown after the struggle, tending to his lime groves. But Mora complained in recent years that many vigilante forces were later infiltrated by the cartels and that gang violence was worse than ever.“He was a man who could not be corrupted, a natural leader, an authentic voice,” said Rev. Gregorio López, a Roman Catholic priest who accompanied and participated in the self-defense movement of that time. All the leaders of the movement were in constant danger, and López was known for...

Double whammy of new climate policies in Atlantic Canada fuel political battle

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

OTTAWA — There is a clash of wills growing in Atlantic Canada over two new climate policies that take effect this weekend, with premiers demanding Ottawa put the brakes on the plan and the federal government accusing them of playing politics with the planet.“Climate change won’t wait,” Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in an interview.New regulations that come into force everywhere in Canada on Saturday will require gasoline and diesel refineries and importers to start cutting down the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions that come from their products.The situation is particularly heated on Canada’s East Coast, because on the same day, the four Atlantic provinces will move from their own provincial carbon-pricing systems to the national carbon levy.That is creating a double cost whammy for consumers at the gas pump, particularly in Nova Scotia where the outgoing provincial cap-and-trade system wasn’t adding to gas prices anywhere near the amount...

Fraud lawsuit against Black Lives Matter foundation dismissed in California

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

A California judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit that grassroots racial justice activists from around the U.S. brought last summer against a foundation with stewardship of the Black Lives Matter movement’s charitable endowment worth tens of millions of dollars.Black Lives Matter Grassroots Inc., a collective of organizers and BLM chapters, claimed Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. had raised donations off the work of city-based branches of BLM, then defrauded the public and shut activists out of decision-making.In dismissing the lawsuit, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick sided with the foundation’s lawyers, who argued that local BLM activists failed to prove they were entitled to the raised funds or that the foundation’s leaders had siphoned off millions of dollars for nefarious purposes, among other unproven allegations.The fraud claim against the foundation was, in part, based on the alleged misrepresentation of a $6 million Los Angeles-area...

Community in Northwest Territories evacuated as wildfires near

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

WEKWEÈTÌ, N.W.T. — A community north of Yellowknife is being evacuated as three wildfires burn nearby. The Tlicho government says the first plane from Wekweeti, which is home to more than 100 people, left for Yellowknife at 1 p.m. Thursday. The Northwest Territories’ wildfire agency says the closest wildfire is burning between Wekweeti’s airport and the community, and is within two kilometres of homes.It was initially estimated to be half a square kilometre in size, but the agency says the situation is changing quickly.N.W.T. Fire says five airtankers and several helicopters are working to limit its spread toward the community, while structures are being protected with sprinklers on the ground. Another wildfire is burning across Snare Lake from the community while a third is burning at the western tip of the lake.All three fires are believed to have been naturally caused. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2023. The Canadian Press

Police body camera ramp up started a decade ago. How well have they worked?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Body cameras have proliferated in law enforcement agencies in the U.S. over the past decade, amid mounting scrutiny over how officers and agents interact with the communities they serve. They’re forcing major changes in how policing is done, even as research is mixed on their effectiveness. The Associated Press on Thursday sat in on a discussion of the law-enforcement tool with representatives from more than 200 agencies nationwide, hosted by the think tank Police Executive Research Forum.New York City became one of the first large departments to adopt body cameras in 2013 after a federal court found police wrongly targeted minorities with a stop-and-frisk program, and many more joined amid the national outpouring of protest after the 2014 death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri. An influx of federal money accelerated the process, and by 2016, 80% of large departments were using them, according to the most recent Justice Department...