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Wheelchair warranty bill clears Senate alongside fentanyl test strip legalization, blue envelope bill

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

Dan Harris, a wheelchair user who works at the Boston Center for Independent Living, said without the use of his powerchair, he cannot leave his apartment safely and a loaner chair from the company who makes the product has been a “sticking point” during all of his repairs.“Every time I’ve called for a repair, and every time a repair is needed to be done, the first thing I ask about is, when can I get back to doing what I do, and is a loaner chair available?” he said at the State House Thursday. “And every time I’m told ‘oh, we’ll look.’”Legislation outlining new requirements for wheelchair warranties and temporary loaner chairs unanimously cleared the Senate Thursday, alongside two other bills that legalize the use of fentanyl test strips and direct state officials to create a blue envelope people with autism can use to ease interactions with police officers.Sen. John Cronin, the Senate sponsor of the wheelchair bill, said the proposal is “a consumer protection bill that stre...

The best way to enjoy sweet potatoes? Make oven fries

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

Beth Dooley | Star Tribune (TNS)First off, sweet potatoes are not yams. Yams hail from Africa, are not sweet or very nutritious. Our growers created this confusion to differentiate the drier, firmer sweet potatoes from the moister varieties they promote during the holidays.Second, sweet potatoes are for more than Thanksgiving. These members of the Morning Glory family are perfect winter foods, a key ingredient in comforting curries, soups and stews. But I like them best when fried — not in bubbling grease, but in the oven.It’s been a great year for local sweet potatoes. In our farmers markets and co-ops you’ll find a wide variety — tiny, skinny, plump, brown, orange, and pale — in a range of flavors and textures. Take the Murasaki variety, sometimes labeled Japanese. Characterized by its deep purple skin, it has pale golden flesh that’s dry and fluffy with a lovely chestnut-like taste. The more familiar coppery skinned Beauregard and Jewel are orange-fleshed, moist...

New Revolution coach Caleb Porter has a blueprint for success

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

FOXBORO — New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter has a history transforming a contender into an MLS Cup champion in short order.Porter, 48, did it in the Pacific Northwest with the Portland Timbers (2015) and in the nation’s heartland with the Columbus Crew (2020). Porter would like to add New England to his collection of transcontinental triumphs with an original MLS franchise that has never won a league championship.Porter was formally introduced as the Revolution’s ninth head coach during a press briefing on Thursday morning at Gillette Stadium.Porter was joined at the podium by his new boss, first-year sporting director Curt Onalfo, with team owners Robert and Jonathan Kraft and club president Brian Bilello in attendance.“Caleb is a proven winner, he has incredible experience and he has won everywhere he has been,” said Onalfo. “At the college level, at Portland, in Columbus and he is going to do it here.”Porter was the 2013 MLS Coach of the Year who compiled a record of...

Is your 2024 resolution to waste less food? Here are some tips from dieticians

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

A bag of spinach that started to stink before it was even halfway finished. A cut of meat that got left in the back of the freezer for a year. Leftovers that became a colony for fungal life. A rotisserie chicken where all the bones went in the trash instead of a stock. Most people can probably think they wasted perfectly good food, or let their food go bad.About 80 million tons of food, or the equivalent of about 149 billion meals, are wasted each year in the United States, according to Feeding America. Individual consumers only shoulder part of the blame: Businesses are responsible for a significant amount of waste. The food industry alone accounts for about 46% of all food waste, and about 38% of food that isn’t sold goes uneaten.But dietitians The Morning Call spoke to said not wasting food is something their patients think about a good deal. Especially since fresh and unprocessed food is generally more nutritious and healthful than preservative-packed counterparts, but is also f...

MA public payroll: ‘Your Tax Dollars at Work’ 2023 database home 💸

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

Here it is! The 17th edition of the Herald’s “Your Tax Dollars at Work” public payroll report. You can sort for Gov. Maura Healey on down to the MBTA, UMass, MassDOT, DOC, DOR, DMH and DAs. It’s all searchable — 175,000+ entries!To search on this database, click the magnifying glass icon (at right) and enter names and more. Use the scroll bar at the bottom to move the data over to the right to sort by highest to lowest. Send any tips or questions to [email protected]. Follow the Watchdog newsletter for related coverage.Look for more as this list grows:Top 2,000 overtime earners for 20232022 database homepage 

Police pursue murder suspect on southbound I-5 to San Diego County

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A high-speed chase of a murder suspect on southbound Interstate 5 ended in San Diego County Thursday morning after making its way down from the Los Angeles area.California Highway Patrol had been in pursuit of the suspect since just after 9 a.m. when a gray Honda Civic took off with an armed suspect believed to be connected to a murder investigation.The chase ended just after 10:45 a.m. in Encinitas after the driver pulled off I-5 onto side streets with CHP behind. As the driver attempted to make their way to the northbound lanes, CHP says officers performed a pit maneuver, stopping the sedan on an the Birmingham Drive on-ramp.The suspect, who was in the passenger seat of the vehicle, was taken into custody. No further details were immediately available about the incident that prompted the chase or the suspect.During the pursuit, the Civic was recorded reaching speeds near 150 miles per hour on the freeway, according to CHP. The suspect was also seen throwing items out o...

'Fat Leonard' seeks new attorneys ahead of sentencing in Navy bribery case, causing another delay

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis, who fled to South America weeks before he was scheduled to be sentenced in one of the biggest bribery schemes in U.S. military history, said Thursday that he wants new attorneys now that he is back in U.S. custody after a Venezuelan prisoner swap.An enigmatic figure who was 6-foot-3 and weighed 350 pounds at one time, Francis was visibly thinner at the hearing in U.S. District Court. He told the judge he has agreed to end his relationship with Warren & Burstein, the law firm that has represented him during much of the decadelong salacious saga involving dozens of American Navy officers. The change was initially requested by the firm, which made the decision with a “heavy heart,” attorney Jeremey Warren said. “We have a loyalty to our clients. We don't like to step away.”Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard objected to the change, saying it would set back Francis' sentencing yet again because it would take time f...

Toronto Crime Stoppers celebrating 40th anniversary with boost in tip numbers

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

Over 40 years after its inception, Toronto Crime Stoppers is proving its value once again with a significant increase in tips.According to Toronto police, there were over 7,000 new tips and 15,000 follow-up tips provided in 2023 leading to 106 arrests, 720 charges and the clearing of 148 cases. Five homicides were solved, 42 vehicles recovered and 30 illegal firearms were seized. The tips represent a 17 per cent increase over the year prior and 42 per cent increase in follow-up tips.Sean Sportun, Toronto Crime Stoppers Chair, attributes the jump to their revamp of the program after 2019.“We started looking at a new way to manage our program and that’s where we removed individual reward payouts and replaced it with a reward program, a community reward program that we give back to the community, if you will.”He adds they also weren’t able to do much outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic. “People are [now] back out in their communities, crime is now happening an...

Sudan paramilitary leader says he’s committed to cease-fire, but no progress on proposed peace talks

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Sudanese paramilitary leader Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo said Thursday he was committed to a cease-fire to end the devastating war that has wrecked his country, even as fighting continues and there has been no progress on proposed peace talks between Dagalo and Sudan military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan.Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces, said in a statement following a meeting in Pretoria with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that he had briefed Ramaphosa on the “considerable efforts taken to end this war.”“I emphasized our unwavering commitment to cease hostilities,” Dagalo said, although he didn’t say if or when he would meet with Burhan. The warring generals agreed last month to a face-to-face meeting and to start talks over a possible cease-fire, according to the East African regional bloc IGAD.No date or location for the talks have been announced.During Thursday’s meeting with Dagalo, Ramaphosa said he hoped there wo...

Terminally ill Connecticut woman ends her life on her own terms, in Vermont

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:20 GMT

MARSHFIELD, Vt. (AP) — A Connecticut woman who pushed for expanded access to Vermont’s law that allows people who are terminally ill to receive lethal medication to end their lives died in Vermont on Thursday, an event her husband called “comfortable and peaceful,” just like she wanted.Lynda Bluestein, who had terminal cancer, ended her life by taking prescribed medication.Her last words were ‘I’m so happy I don’t have to do this (suffer) anymore,'” her husband Paul wrote in an email on Thursday to the group Compassion & Choices, which was shared with The Associated Press.The organization filed a lawsuit against Vermont in 2022 on behalf of Bluestein, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Diana Barnard, a physician from Middlebury. The suit claimed Vermont’s residency requirement in its so-called patient choice and control at end of life law violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce, equal protection, and privileges and immunities clauses. The state agreed to a settl...