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DeSantis to get 5th Supreme Court pick as Polston retires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ already strong stamp on the Florida Supreme Court will be even greater for years to come after Justice Ricky Polston retires at the end of this month.DeSantis will have appointed five of the court’s seven justices when he replaces Polston, who sent DeSantis a three-sentence letter Monday announcing his resignation. He didn’t give a reason for his decision.Polston, 67, has been one of the court’s most conservative justices since being appointed by then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008. Crist has since become a Democrat, and was criticized by other Democrats while while running for governor last year for appointing Polston to the court.Having five appointees on the court will be a critical fact as DeSantis faces court challenges to a number of laws enacted by his administration, including new abortion restrictions and restrictions on how race and gender issues can be taught in schools.This year the Legislature is...

67-year-old skier from Shrewsbury killed in apparent accident on Wachusett Mountain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

A skier was found dead following an apparent accident at the Wachusett Mountain ski resort Monday morning, according to the officials.The Westminster Fire Department said first responders were called to the ski area around 10:30 a.m. after an adult male skier was found unresponsive by another person on the slopes.“The initial call came in from somebody riding up the chairlift, going to the top of the mountain to go skiing,” said Fire Chief Kyle Butterfield.Mountain officials said the ski patrol responded immediately and located the 67-year-old man in the area of the Oxbow Chute. Ski patrol members rendered aid as they brought the skier to the bottom of the mountain, where he was later pronounced dead. “If they could’ve, they would’ve saved him,” said Wachusett Mountain Ski Area co-owner Carolyn Crowley Stimpson. “They did CPR immediately, all the way down to the base area, put him on the ambulance.” “A member of our family is los...

WATCH: Man arrested after allegedly stealing construction vehicle, driving down road in Brookline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

A man accused of stealing a small construction vehicle and driving it down a road in Brookline earlier this month is facing charges, police announced this week. The wild ride was caught on camera on March 9 before 7 a.m. when a traffic camera mounted at the intersection of Boylston Street and Cypress Street captured video of the man driving the vehicle with at least one package on it. Police said the man is accused of stealing several packages from nearby apartment buildings on Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue, in addition to the vehicle itself. Police said officers spotted the man, who initially tried to flee. Officials were later able to catch up after what police described in a statement as an “extremely slow pursuit.” “His claim was that he was an Amazon driver and that he was delivering packages to people,” Brookline Police Deputy Superintendent Paul Campbell told 7NEWS. “Again this is about 20 minutes to seven in the morning and, clearly, this not an ...

Woman drops lawsuit claiming Dolphins’ star Xavien Howard gave her STD

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

A negligence lawsuit against Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard alleging he transmitted genital herpes to a woman has been dismissed.Howard’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the complaint the day after it was filed in Broward County court in October, writing in the motion that the woman, who used a Jane Doe pseudonym, had “engaged in a campaign of stalking” Howard, had threatened him with “multiple acts of violence” and extorted him for money.The woman’s attorneys voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit Wednesday, court records show.“In order to sue somebody for failing to disclose that you had herpes and then transmitting herpes to you, the person you’re accusing has to actually have herpes. He didn’t,” Howard’s lawyer Brad Sohn told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Monday.Sohn wrote in a tweet Monday afternoon that the “the entire basis of her lawsuit was a literal impossibility.”“His accuser n...

Play pickleball? Here are 10 tips to avoid injuries (for starters, don’t run backward!)

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

Lois K. Solomon | South Florida Sun-SentinelSouth Floridians trying to get in shape are calling their doctors with a new complaint: They got injured playing pickleball.Besides ankle, hamstring and lower back strains, many are suffering from arthritis flares, torn rotator cuffs and Achilles tendon ruptures. Another frequent affliction is the broken wrist — that’s what Shelly Turetzky of Delray Beach endured about three months ago.Turetzky, who plays at least three times a week, took a few steps back to reach for an overhead ball, then lost her balance and landed on her side.“I went to my orthopedist and he said pickleball is giving him his biggest boom ever,” said Turetzky, 66, a self-described “couch potato” before she started the game during the pandemic. “I’m now fully healed and back out there again because I get so much joy from the game.”Many middle-aged players who say tennis is too hard on their bodies have migrated to pickleball; others have never played tennis but heard pic...

Ticker: Amazon cuts 9,000 more jobs; Gas prices down on lower oil costs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

Amazon plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday.The job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company’s history, adding to the 18,000 employees the tech giant said it would lay off in January. The company’s workforce doubled during the pandemic, however, in the midst of a hiring surge across almost the entire tech sector.Tech companies have announced tens of thousands of job cuts this year.In the memo, Jassy said the second phase of the company’s annual planning process completed this month led to the additional job cuts. He said Amazon will still hire in some strategic areas.The job cuts announced Monday will hit profitable areas for the company including its cloud computing unit AWS and its burgeoning advertising business. Twitch, the gaming platform Amazon owns, will also see some layoffs as well as Amazon’s PXT organizations, which handle human resources and other funct...

Jimmy Carter had ‘a certain magic,’ says former aide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

James Fallows was 27 when he went to work in Jimmy Carter’s White House and 29 when he left, but the Redlands, California, native is still thinking about Carter. Even more so since the former president, now in hospice care, seems to be in his final days.Carter was 56 when he left the presidency after a single term. At 98, he has been a former president for an astonishing 42 years.“He’s been a former president 10 times longer than he was president,” Fallows told me by phone Thursday from his home in Washington, D.C.“Most of today’s Americans,” Fallows said, “were born after Carter left office.”(That’s sobering news for someone who just turned 59. I had no clue that being alive during Carter’s presidency meant I was on my way to taking Carter’s Little Pills.)Because most know Jimmy Carter as a former president, not as president, his so-so record has been eclipsed by his undeniably successful retirement years.“He has essentially invented what the post-presidency can be,” Fallows said. ...

Red Sox: Delayed by visa issues, Yu Chang will have less than week to compete for roster spot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

Yu Chang is one of several ballplayers competing for a spot on the Red Sox roster, but unlike the others, he’ll have less than a week to make his case.On Monday morning, Alex Cora told reporters that visa issues have delayed Chang’s arrival. He’s now expected to arrive Thursday, exactly one week before Opening Day.The versatile infielder played for Chinese Taipei, who were mathematically eliminated (due to Pool A’s five-team tie) in the first round of the World Baseball Classic. Though he hasn’t played in over a week and wasn’t at spring training prior to the tournament, he won’t be starting from scratch when he arrives. Sources tell the Herald that since Chang was playing at a high level in the World Baseball Classic, it shouldn’t be long before he sees some action.But including his estimated day of arrival, all that stands between the Red Sox and their first game of the regular season are six Grapefruit League games and a day off on ...

Police seek victims of sexual molestation at East County motel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

EL CAJON, Calif. — Authorities are seeking help identifying underage victims of alleged sexual molestations at an East County motel, El Cajon police said Monday.The alleged incidents happened at a Motel 6 at 550 Montrose Court in El Cajon, according to police.On Friday, police received a call from an employee with People Assisting The Homeless (PATH) reporting suspicious circumstances with a client, ECPD Public Information Officer Lt. Jeremiah Larson said in a news release.The PATH client, 34-year-old Lawrence "Larry" Cantrell, allegedly told the employee that he and another man had sexual contact with a minor and that he had a recording of the incident on his cell phone, police said.According to police, Cantrell is a convicted felon and sex registrant who wears a GPS-monitored ankle bracelet. He had been staying at the Motel 6 for five to six days through the PATH program and was believed to have been kicked out of another motel in San Diego for causing a disturbance, Larson said. ...

Newsom visits San Diego to talk mental health, fentanyl

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:36 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- California Governor Gavin Newsom stopped in San Diego Sunday, as part of his four-city tour to address issues across the state.Newsom gave several speeches throughout the day, discussing policies surrounding the behavioral health system, homelessness and the fentanyl crisis. In his first remarks at 1:30 p.m. from Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, Newsom delivered remarks on new policies to modernize and expand the state's behavioral health system.One of the key proposals he announced Sunday is a potential 2024 ballot measure that will expand funding to build residential facilities where those with mental health conditions can be treated. Newsom to start California tour with homelessness proposal The governor then stopped by a National Guard facility in National City at 4:30 p.m. to deliver remarks on the fentanyl and opioid crises in the state. In his speech from the facility, Newsom discussed additional funding going towards the state's efforts to combat the crisis, ...