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Red Sox notebook: Pitching déjà vu and outfield intrigue

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

After losing out on the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes last week, the Red Sox are pivoting hard in a familiar direction.As first reported by Rob Bradford of WEEI, the club has expressed a “strong interest” in reuniting with James Paxton.The 35-year-old left-hander became a free agent in November following a two-year stint with the Red Sox that saw him missing his entire first season due to injuries. Paxton was recovering from April ’21 Tommy John surgery when he signed a one-year, $10 million deal for ’22 with both club and player options for ’23. When the Red Sox declined to pick up his ’23 option, he exercised his.After a slow ramp-up, the southpaw debuted on May 12. He was excellent in the first half of the season, posting a 2.83 ERA and striking out 31.1% of batters faced across 10 starts (56 innings) before the All-Star break. He earned American League Pitcher of the Month honors for June, and drew considerable interest before the trade deadl...

Massachusetts vocational school admissions ‘moving in the wrong direction’: Legislators push leadership to nix selective criteria

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

Gateway cities’ legislators are railing against the selective criteria in vocational school admissions, urging Gov. Maura Healey and her administration to follow up on “inadequate” efforts to address inequity in the competitive process.“We write today to ask you to direct the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to prohibit selective criteria that discriminates against disadvantaged 8th graders and inhibits their social and economic mobility,” 26 members of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus wrote in a letter to Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.“We believe children who grow up in poverty in Massachusetts — thousands of whom live in Gateway Cities — deserve the same opportunity to attend a vocational school,” the lawmakers added in the letter.Many advocates have long argued the 2003 decision to force vocational schools to implement selective criteria in their admissions discriminates against against students of co...

O’Bryant School move: BPS still open to compromises, Michelle Wu warns district must ‘move urgently’

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

Ahead of the next BPS semester, Mayor Michelle Wu chimed in on the roiling debate over moving the O’Bryant School to West Roxbury in one of her first addresses on the exam school’s future since she rolled out the proposal last summer — arguing despite the ongoing contention, the district must “move urgently.”“If we want to see new schools built anytime in the next decade, we need to get going on it now,” Wu said on a WBUR segment last week, when asked if there is still room for compromise on the issue. “There’s a reason why our school buildings are falling apart. These are hard conversations that are complex and involve a lot of communities.”The proposed move would separate the exam school and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School from their single location in Roxbury, expand both and move the O’Bryant to the large vacant West Roxbury Education Complex after years of construction. The O’Bryant debate and...

A guesthouse blaze in Romania leaves 5 dead and others missing

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A massive fire at a guesthouse Tuesday morning in Romania left five people dead, including a child, authorities said.Emergency intervention teams were deployed to the blaze in the village of Tohani in Prahova county, where 26 people were staying at the guesthouse, according to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. Before the emergency authorities confirmed the deaths of the fourth and fifth victims around noon, search and rescue teams were set up to find five missing persons. It wasn’t immediately clear if the additional two dead had been among those listed as missing.Authorities said 18 people managed to escape the fire and two of them were being treated for burns. At around at 12:45 p.m. authorities said the blaze was extinguished and that the search for the missing people was ongoing.The affected area was about 1,000 square meters (10,800 square feet). There was no indication as to what caused the blaze.Photos of the fire shared by emergency...

Restriction on carrying guns in Omaha and Lincoln violate Nebraska law, lawsuits say

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s two largest cities are violating a new state gun law by prohibiting them from public places such as parks, according to two recent lawsuits.The Liberty Justice Center filed lawsuits Dec. 18 challenging executive orders issued by the mayors of Omaha and Lincoln. The lawsuits allege that the orders are in violation of a new state gun law. The suits were filed on behalf of the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association.State lawmakers in April passed a bill allowing people to carry concealed guns across the state without a permit and without the need to complete a gun safety course. It also said that it overrides stricter local laws, like those in Omaha and Lincoln.The lawsuits state that despite the new law, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird issued executive orders banning all firearms from city property, including parks and sidewalks. The suits said the Omaha City Council also banned “ghost gun” parts and manufacturing, and...

Israeli forces bombard central Gaza in apparent move toward expanding ground offensive

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces bombarded Palestinian refugee camps in central Gaza on Tuesday, residents said, in apparent preparation to expand their ground offensive into a third section of the besieged territory.The opening of a potential new battle zone points to the long and destructive road still ahead as Israel vows to crush Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. For weeks, Israeli forces have been engaged in heavy urban fighting in northern Gaza and in the southern city of Khan Younis, driving Palestinians into further smaller corners of territory in search of refuge.Despite international pressure for a cease-fire and U.S. calls for a reduction in civilian casualties, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned that the fight “isn’t close to finished.”Israel’s offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. More than 20,600 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed, according ...

Stock market today: Asian shares advance in holiday-thinned trading. European markets closed

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

Shares advanced in Asia on Tuesday in holiday-thinned trading, while European markets remained closed for holidays.The future for the S&P 500 was 0.2% higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%. Oil prices edged higher. Shanghai’s benchmark led losses in Asia on heavy selling of technology and computer chip-related shares as worries revived over trade tensions with the U.S. and other western countries. A number of video gaming stocks announced share buybacks meant to stem losses after Chinese regulators issued draft guidelines on Friday that caused shares in game makers like Tencent and Netease to plunge. Hong Kong markets were closed Tuesday, so the impact of an effort by Beijing on Monday to cushion the impact of the new rules by voicing support for the industry and announcing the approval of more than 100 games was unclear. The Shanghai Composite index sank 0.7% to 2,898.88. In Shenzhen, where relatively more high-tech companies are listed, the A-share in...

Horoscopes Dec. 26, 2023: Jared Leto, improve your spirit

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Chris Daughtry, 44; Jared Leto, 52; Ozzie Smith, 69; John Walsh, 78.Happy Birthday: Expand your interests, be proactive and start living the life you want to live. The change you can make will lead to stability, promise a better future, improve your spirit and encourage you to step up and do your part. Personal improvements will build confidence and strength of character. Explore the possibilities and put your trust and faith in your ability to get things done. Your numbers are 5, 16, 23, 29, 34, 37, 44.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Observation will enrich your vision of a situation unfolding in your circle. Time is on your side; watch, evaluate and consider every angle, and you’ll get a clear picture of achieving positive results. Use your intelligence and experience to guide you to victory. 2 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t let anyone talk you into something you don’t want. Keep your money, prized possessions and secrets in a safe ...

Bridge: Dec. 26, 2023

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

You can lead a man to ponder, but you can’t make him think. Judging by today’s deal, neither can you make him count.South played at four hearts when 3NT by North would have been unbeatable. Maybe North should have bid 2NT at his second turn; his king of spades figured to be worthless at a heart contract.East won the second spade with the nine and continued with the ace. South ruffed with the ace of trumps — West threw a club — and next drew trumps with dummy’s honors. South then came to his king of diamonds and returned a club to dummy’s king.DOWN ONEEast took the ace and returned a club. South took his queen, cashed the ace of diamonds, led a third diamond … and put up dummy’s queen. East showed out, and South lost a second club. Down one.South should have cashed his last trump at the end – West would be squeezed – and South also forgot to count. He knew East had started with six spades, three trumps and two clubs. Unless East had hel...

Word Game: Dec. 26, 2023

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — LANCET (LANCET: LAN-set: A sharp-pointed surgical instrument.)Average mark 18 wordsTime limit 30 minutesCan you find 22 or more words in LANCET? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — ADVISING aiding avid dais dang ding diva divan diving vain vang visa said sand sang saving siding sign sing snag gainTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at [email protected].