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Boston chamber chief blasts council for not freeing $13.3M anti-terror grant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

The head of the Boston Chamber of Commerce is backing the call for the deadlocked City Council to back $13.3 million in federal counter-terrorism funding.In a letter obtained by the Herald, chamber chief James Rooney said delaying the cash as antisemitism and terrorism threaten the holidays is worry enough.He’s urging the council to “reassemble as soon as possible” and pass the multi-million dollar funding.As the Herald first reported, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn said he’s done with playing “politics with the safety of residents” and is asking the mayor to quickly resubmit her request to allocate the grant money. If not, he vowed to call an emergency meeting next week.Those dollars are for the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, which includes Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop.Rooney stressed in his letter supporting Flynn that “last week’s vote by the Boston City Council to reject the  $13....

Ticker: Bristol Myers Squibb acquires Karuna Therapeutics for $14B; Wall Street caps 8th straight winning week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

Drugmaker Bristol Myers Squibb is acquiring Karuna Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that has developed a new antipsychotic, in a $14 billion deal.Bristol Myers Squibb and Karuna announced their merger agreement on Friday. The transaction, which amounts to $330 per share in cash, offers a premium of 53% over Karuna’s stock on Thursday. The deal was unanimously approved by both companies’ boards of directors.Karuna’s top asset is KarXT, an experimental antipsychotic with a promising novel mechanism. KarXT is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of schizophrenia in adults. The drug is also undergoing trials related to Alzheimer’s disease psychosis.“We expect KarXT to enhance our growth through the late 2020s and into the next decade,” Christopher Boerner, Bristol Myers Squibb CEO, said in a prepared statement, noting that the Karuna acquisition strengthens the company’s neuroscience portfolio. BristolR...

San Francisco jury finds homeless man not guilty in beating of businessman left with brain injury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco jury on Friday found a homeless man not guilty after being accused of using a metal pipe to beat a businessman who suffered a broken jaw, fractured skull and traumatic brain injury in an attack caught on video that fueled debate about crime and homelessness in the city.Garret Doty, 25, was charged with three assault and battery charges for the April 5 beating of Don Carmignani. Doty pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said Doty beat Carmignani in an act of revenge. But Doty’s defense attorneys said he was acting in self-defense after Carmignani sprayed him with bear spray.The attack on Carmignani, a businessman who served briefly on a Fire Department commission, happened two days after the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee. Lee’s killing unleashed a wave of criticism against city officials by prominent tech leaders. Among the critics was tech billionaire Elon Musk, who took to Twitter to mourn Lee’s death and blame Sa...

Lightning tears through San Diego sky with Pacific storm

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Unlike the old adage, lightning struck dozens of times across San Diego County overnight Thursday as thunderstorms wrought by a Pacific storm system battered the region.The slow-moving system threw down more than 150 strikes of lightning throughout the night, according to the National Weather Service. Residents from the coast to the inland valleys took to social media to marvel at witnessing the flashes as wind and heavy rain also whipped the region.The vast majority of the recorded lightning strikes — about 133 — were accounted for about 60 miles off the county's coast where the system lingered for most of the evening, NWS said. Roughly 63 were reported on land within the San Diego County NWS warning area, which extends from the U.S.-Mexico border up to Orange County. According to NWS, 31 were recorded on land inside San Diego County's boundaries.Photos of the lightning captured off the coast can be found in the gallery below. A video from a FOX 5 viewer in La Mesa show...

Gas leak prompts evacuations, road closures in Carlsbad

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- A gas leak on Friday prompted evacuations and road closures near a major intersection in Carlsbad, authorities said.The road closure occurred around 3:23 p.m. at the intersection of Carlsbad Village Dr. and Carlsbad Blvd., the Carlsbad Police Department (CPD) posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. San Diego police sergeant shot in head transported out-of-state for treatment "Please avoid or choose an alternate route, as we are evacuating the area," CPD said. "We will provide additional information when it becomes available."Check back for updates on this developing story.

Inmates were locked in cells during April fire that injured 20 at NYC’s Rikers Island, report finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Inmates at New York City’s Rikers Island were kept locked in their cells for nearly half an hour while a fire spread through one of the nation’s largest and most notorious jail complexes this past April, injuring some 20 people, according to a report released Friday by an independent oversight agency. The city Board of Correction also found that the water supply for the sprinkler system serving the affected jail unit had been shut off for at least a year and that jail staff had failed to conduct the required weekly and monthly fire safety audits for at least as long. In addition, the correction officer assigned to the area, at the direction of their supervisor, stopped conducting patrols some two hours before the fire was ignited in a unit that houses people with acute medical conditions requiring infirmary care or Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant housing, the board found. Spokespersons for Mayor Eric Adams didn’t reply to an email seeking comment Friday, bu...

Social housing wait-list grows 27 per cent in Metro Vancouver

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

VANCOUVER — Data from Metro Vancouver show the queue for social housing in the region has spiked in the past year, with 18,865 households on the wait-list, mostly seniors and families. Metro Vancouver’s Housing Data Book for December 2023 shows BC Housing’s wait-list grew 27 per cent since 2022 in the region that is made up of 21 municipalities and other administrative areas. The data book says homelessness is up 33 per cent since 2020 and 122 per cent since 2005, even as more supportive housing is being built. It says low vacancy rates have seen rent more than double since 2002, including a 30 per cent jump in median rental rates in the past five years. Metro Vancouver says the BC Housing wait-list isn’t “exhaustive” for all regional social housing needs and the last five years have seen wait-lists grow massively in “outlying municipalities.”These include Langley, which saw a 113 per cent jump in its wait-list, Delta with a 108 per cent jum...

Graham declares 'war' against NY to protect Chick-fil-A's Sundays off

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

(The Hill) — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) declared “war” Friday over a New York state bill that would require some Chick-fil-A restaurants to operate on Sundays.“This is war,” the Graham wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.He continued in a second post, threatening to introduce legislation that would withhold federal funds from cities that require the fast food chain to stay open on Sundays.“The founders of Chick-fil-A made a decision early on to close on Sunday, consistent with their faith,” the South Carolina senator said. “For any government to try to reverse this decision flies in the face of who we are as Americans.""Chick-fil-A is a great company with thousands of locations serving the public with a quality product and taking care of their employees," he added. "New York is off base and their actions will not go unanswered.”The aforementioned New York bill aims to have restaurants in state highway system rest areas operate for the entirety of the week, according...

Man arrested, victim identified in connection with greenbelt homicide, US Marshals say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A man was arrested on Wednesday in connection with a homicide that happened in the West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt last month, according to a U.S. Marshals news release.That man was identified as Melcolm Martin Lee, AKA "Tanto," 24, of Austin, according to officials.Melcolm Martin Lee, 24 | Courtesy Austin Police DepartmentOn Nov. 27, the Austin Police Department homicide unit “received multiple tips” that a murder happened on the greenbelt trail, located in the 1100 block of South Sixth Street. Further information said the murder victim was buried there. APD: Skeletal remains found in greenbelt trail considered homicide The victim was identified as Jehu Patrick Flores, born on April 19, 1993.Then, on Nov. 29, officials “responded to process the scene with a search and rescue K9,” and that is when the skeletal remains were found.Furthermore, an autopsy “revealed injuries consistent with homicide,” according to police.Then, on Dec. 12, APD requested for the Lone Star ...

Texas men's basketball holds on for win against feisty Islanders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:32 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - It may not have been as easy as many envisioned, but the Texas men's basketball team held off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a 71-55 win Friday at Moody Center."[The Islanders] weren't going to come in here and be intimated," said Texas head coach Rodney Terry. "They have older players, older team. Guys that have played in the NCAA Tournament already."Max Abmas paced the Longhorns with a game-high 17 points. Dillon Mitchell added 14 points and 13 rebounds, six more than anyone else in the game.The story again for Texas may have been Dylan Disu. The senior played in his second game of the season after coming back from a foot injury and making his season debut against LSU.Friday in his home debut, Disu notched 11 points and made a couple highlight plays showing his athleticism.Texas went up by 15 with about 12 minutes left in the second half but the Islanders cut the lead to just five with seven minutes to go. The Longhorns were able to close and separate for their n...