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Raise a glass to Oktoberfest fun

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

If you love fun, festivals and maybe a little beer, you know what this time of year means: Oktoberfest.Greater Boston and New England at large is at no shortage of Oktoberfest choices. From cityscape to mountainside to overlooking the sea, you can find the perfect Octoberfest for you.While Oktoberfest is centered around great brews, it’s not just about the beer. Great Octoberfests marry brewing and brats, kegs and camaraderie. It’s a kind of festival atmosphere that yes, does celebrate beer, but works more as an Autumn outdoor party.City setting: Boston is a beer bonanza, to be sure, and perhaps the king (unless you’re old enough to recall the days of Haffenreffer), is Sam Adams and the Boston Beer Company. While they celebrate everywhere with their annual Oktoberfest beer, you can mark the festivities with them at their annual Oktoberfest Sept. 22-24 at their Boston Taproom and their brewery in Jamaica Plain.You’ll find live music (plenty of Oompah bands) and DJ’s, festival-inspire...

Dear Abby: Son chooses possessive GFs over aging mom

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

Dear Abby: My son’s former wife was difficult — manipulative, spoiled and possessive. I tried to get along with her, but no matter what I did, she gave me no respect and turned my son against me. They have been divorced for six years. He began dating a few years ago, and each woman is a carbon copy of the ex-wife. He falls right back into the same pattern of ignoring me and letting his girlfriends “possess” him. I’m deeply hurt. I don’t understand why he feels he has to choose between them and me. He is my son, and I shouldn’t have to compete for his love.I’m getting older now and have asked him for some help, but he refuses. I would just like a regular phone call and to see him. I am no longer invited to his house for holidays, nor does he randomly call just to talk. He has a new girlfriend, and it’s back to the same old pattern. Please advise me. — Low Priority in OhioDear Low Priority: Please accept my sympathy. I know y...

2 San Diego spots rank among top pan dulce places in US: Yelp

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Pan dulce, which means "sweet bread" in Spanish, is a popular pastry in the Hispanic culture.Yelp recently ranked the top 20 pan dulce spots in the U.S., with two San Diego spots making the list.Panchitas Bakery in Golden Hill ranked No. 15, while Cafeina Cafe in Teralta East came in at No. 20.Panchitas Bakery offers a variety of pan dulce on its menu such as Terrones, Ladrillos, Campechana and Piedras. 2 local ‘Bachelorette’ contestants among 5 saved after boat sinks on fishing trip "Authentic panadería. Fresh, no-nonsense. Delish and fresh!!! Located in the heart of Golden Hill. This is a real Mexican bakery," Yelper Jeffrey E said.Cafeina Cafe has a rotating menu with partner Split Bakehouse, a vegan bakery in La Mesa."This place is a hidden gem. The coffee was delicious and the pan dulce was amazing! I would have taken a pic but everything was gone so quickly I didn't have time. Will definitely be returning!" Yelper Patricia G commented.Yelp's methodology for the ...

Testimony begins in officers’ trial over death of Elijah McClain, who was put in neck hold, sedated

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Prosecutors were set to call their first witnesses Thursday in the trial of two Denver-area police officers charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was put in a neck hold and injected by paramedics with a powerful sedative in a case that became a rallying cry for protests and spurred police reform.In the first of several trials stemming from McClain’s death, opposing lawyers used opening statements Wednesday to paint contrasting pictures of the fatal struggle after he was stopped by police in Aurora. Prosecutors said officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt ignored McClain’s pleas of “I can’t breathe” and failed to follow their own training. Defense attorneys said the death was a tragedy but it was not the officers’ fault as they sought to shift blame to the paramedics. The officers approached McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, as he walked home from a convenience store on Aug. 24, 2019, carrying only his phone and a plasti...

Russian strikes cities from east to west Ukraine, starting fires and killing at least two

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Air alerts sounded again and again in Kyiv and residents headed to shelters early Thursday morning, as a massive Russian attack on at least six cities across Ukraine killed at least two people, started fires and wounded at least 21.In the southern city of Kherson, near the front lines, two people were killed dead and at least five injured after a strike hit a residential building, said regional Governor Oleksand Prokudin.Seven people were injured in Kyiv, including a 9-year-old girl, reported Mayor Vitalii Klitschko, and some residential and commercial buildings were damaged.At least six strikes hit the Slobidskyi district of Kharkiv, damaging civilian infrastructure damaged, said regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov. The city’s mayor added that two people had been sent to hospitals.Seven were injured and at least one person was rescued from under rubble in Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, according to Ihor Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.An industri...

Iran’s president says US should ease sanctions to demonstrate it wants to return to nuclear deal

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said Wednesday that relations with the United States can move forward if the Biden administration demonstrates it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, and a first step should be easing sanctions.He told a news conference that the Americans have reached out through several channels “saying they wish to have a dialogue, but we do believe that it must be accompanied by action.”“So talk alone is not going to do it,” Raisi said. But action on sanctions can be “a solid foundation for continuing” discussions.The Iranian leader added: “We have not left the table of negotiations.”Raisi reiterated that the American withdrawal from the 2015 agreement, aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear program, trampled on U.S. commitments including on sanctions.Then-President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, restoring crippling sanctions. Iran began breaking the terms a year later, including by enriching uranium to h...

Inside a Ukrainian brigade’s battle ‘through hell’ to reclaim a village on the way to Bakhmut

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

ANDRIIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — The Russian bullet struck the sergeant just above the left ear. The leader of the Ukrainian platoon was down. Headquarters radioed a battlefield promotion to the private who had called him “brother” — a man known as Courier.Courier knew the platoon’s orders were to move forward through the forest, on the road to Bakhmut. He hesitated for 30 seconds near his mortally wounded commander. Maybe a minute. Then he decided: There would be no turning back. “Forward!” he howled.He fired toward a trench just ahead until he was sure the Russians inside would never shoot again. Then the men stumbled through the charred spindles of trees toward the village of Andriivka — the objective of the 3rd Assault Brigade since the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive this summer, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of the city of Bakhmut.The sergeant, Gagarin, and other injured soldiers could only be evacuated after dark, because the Russians were also hunting downed Ukraini...

Italian rockers Måneskin continue to revive the genre, selling out Madison Square Garden

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Huddled together on a snakeskin couch in a New York hotel, their euphoria was infectious.Måneskin just played a pop-up lunchtime show in Times Square, and now they learned their Madison Square Garden show scheduled for later in the week was a sellout.Pleasantly surprised, frontman Damiano David called the news “very special.”“It’s one of the most important places where you can ever dream to play,” David said.That show Thursday night will kick off the North American leg of their Rush! World Tour that began earlier this year.In an era where rock bands seem endangered and most of the top acts in the genre came from the last millennium, Måneskin has become something of an anomaly.Coming to prominence in 2021 after an unexpected win at the Eurovision Song Contest with their high-energy rocker, “Zitti E Buoni,” the Italian quartet seems to be reviving rock music, or at least, providing a breath of hope.Bass player Victoria De Angelis says it was never intentional.Instead, ...

LittleOak Infant, Follow-on Formula recalled for not being evaluated by Health Canada

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for two varieties of LittleOak brand infant formula because they have not been approved by Health Canada.The LittleOak Infant Formula made with Natural Goat Milk and the LittleOak Follow-on Formula made with Natural Goat Milk were both sold online in 800g and 150g packages.The CFIA says the company has not submitted the required pre-market submission, and the products have not been evaluated to determine whether they meet Canadian food safety and nutritional standards and regulations. The agency says the products also do not meet Canadian labelling and composition requirements. The CFIA says it issued the warning following a recall of the products in another country.There have been no reports of any illnesses linked to the products.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2023.The Canadian Press

Alex Murdaugh plans to do something he hasn’t yet done in court – plead guilty

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:37:51 GMT

Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh is expected to step before a judge Thursday and do something he hasn’t done in the two years since his life of privilege and power started to unravel: plead guilty to a crime.Murdaugh will admit in federal court that he committed 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering, his attorneys said in court papers filed this week.Murdaugh, 55, is serving life without parole in a South Carolina prison for shooting his wife and son. He has denied any role in the killings since their deaths in June 2021 and insisted he was innocent in two days of testimony this year before he was convicted of two counts of murder.The federal guilty plea likely locks in years if not decades in prison for the disbarred lawyer, even if his murder conviction and sentence in state court is overturned on appeal.The deal for pleading guilty in federal court is straightforward. Prosecutors will ask that any federal sentence Murdaugh gets will run at the same time as any p...