Category Archives: Massachusetts

Stormy Daniels honored at witches’ ceremony in Salem, Massachusetts

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Organizers award embattled actor and magic practitioner, under belief she has fallen victim to modern-day witch hunt

Practicing witches from around the world gathered in Salem by the hundreds on Thursday night to honor Stormy Daniels at their annual “magic circle” ceremony recognizing loved ones who have died.

Daniels – the adult film actor who allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump and was at the center of his May criminal trial that led to the former president’s conviction on 34 felonies – was chosen to be honored in the Halloween ceremony as the organizers believe that she has been the victim of a modern-day witch hunt.

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Nibi the beaver sees dam of unwavering support as rescuers try to stop her release into wild

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Massachusetts court to decide whether internet-famous ‘diva’ beaver will stay with rescuers or be released into wild

Whether a two-year-old beaver named Nibi gets to stay with the rescuers she has known since she was a baby or must be released into the wild as winter approaches in Massachusetts has ended up in court – and caused such an uproar that even the governor has weighed in.

“To literally see people from around the world come together to protect this beaver is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life,” said Adam Teper, an attorney representing Nibi’s rescuers.

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Massachusetts police recruit dies after boxing training exercise

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Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died in hospital one day after suffering ‘medical crisis’ in defensive tactics training

A Massachusetts state police recruit died a day after he became unresponsive and suffered a “medical crisis” during a defensive tactics training exercise, authorities said.

While authorities would not elaborate, the Boston CBS affiliate WBZ reported that Enrique Delgado-Garcia was mortally injured during a boxing exercise that was a standard part of the police academy which he was attending. He was knocked out for nearly 10 minutes after absorbing a blow to the head, the outlet reported, citing sources familiar with details about the recruit’s death, which occurred less than a month before he was set to graduate from the training academy.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

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Mosquito-borne virus prompts public health restrictions in Massachusetts – and backlash

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Climate crisis could accelerate spread of mosquito-borne diseases like eastern equine encephalitis, experts warn

Local officials in Massachusetts have issued warnings about mosquitoes carrying eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), and, in one case, placed restrictions on the use of public fields at night, prompting backlash from some residents.

Public health experts, and others, are also concerned that such mosquito-borne viruses could become more common in the United States because of the climate crisis.

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Rare mosquito disease prompts Massachusetts to close public parks

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State also bug spraying in several communities due to virus that spreads to humans via bite of an infected mosquito

A rare but serious – and potentially lethal – mosquito-borne disease has prompted officials to close public parks as well as implement targeted bug spraying in several communities in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, a resident of nearby New Hampshire has died after testing positive for the disease, eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, according to the Associated Press.

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Massachusetts judge rules Karen Read can be retried for murder after mistrial

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January retrial likely after judge declines to dismiss two charges against Boston woman accused of killing boyfriend

The Massachusetts judge presiding over the high-profile murder trial of Karen Read has rejected a defense motion to dismiss two charges, including murder, setting the stage for the case to be retried in January after jurors deadlocked this summer.

Read, 44, is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, 46, by hitting him with her sport-utility vehicle and leaving him to die in a snowbank. She pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder, manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of a deadly crash.

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Harvard declines to remove Sackler name from museum and campus building

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Committee rejects student denaming proposal despite role of Sackler-owned Purdue Pharma in US opioid epidemic

Harvard University has decided that it will not remove the name of the Sackler family from two of its buildings, despite years of protests from families of opioid overdose victims and anti-opioid groups.

In its recent denaming proposal update, a Harvard review committee rebuffed a 23-page proposal filed in October 2022 by Harvard College Overdose Prevention and Education Students to dename the Arthur M Sackler Museum, part of the Harvard Art Museums, and the Arthur M Sackler Building, a campus building.

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Karen Read saga set for sequel after mistrial in gripping murder case

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A Boston jury was unable to reach a verdict in the death of police officer John O’Keefe – now the city is readying for another trial

In the days since a jury failed to reach a verdict on charges against Karen Read, a 44-year-old financial analyst, there’s been no shortage of her name in the headlines.

She’s been seen getting cozy with her married defense lawyer. The lead investigator has been fired for sending crude texts about her and searching her phone for nude photos. Police have said they are investigating a dead turtle left outside the family home of a blogger, aptly named Turtleboy.

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Mistrial declared in Karen Read’s case over killing of her Boston police boyfriend

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Prosecutors say Read ran over John O’Keefe with an SUV and fled scene in 2022, but jury was unable to reach verdict

A mistrial has been declared in the Karen Read case after a jury was unable to reach a verdict on charges that she murdered her boyfriend, a Boston police officer.

The local district attorney’s office quickly issued a statement saying that prosecutors intend to retry the case, which jurors first began hearing in late April.

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More than 100 dolphins stranded in shallow water around Cape Cod

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Volunteers work to herd Atlantic white-sided dolphins found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, into deeper water

More than 100 dolphins have become stranded in the shallow waters around Cape Cod on Friday in what an animal welfare group is calling “the largest single mass stranding event” in the organization’s 25-year history.

A group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, about 100 miles south-east of Boston, in an area called the Gut – or Great Island at the Herring River – which experts have said is the site of frequent strandings, due in part to its hook-like shape and extreme tidal fluctuations.

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Uber and Lyft agree to minimum pay and benefits for Massachusetts drivers

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Ride-share companies sign off on $175m settlement that will give workers paid sick leave and other protections

Uber and Lyft drivers will be guaranteed among the highest wages in the US for ride-share workers under a historic deal agreed with Massachusetts prosecutors.

Andrea Campbell, the state’s attorney general, and the two companies agreed to a $175m settlement Thursday evening that requires a minimum pay floor of $32.50 per hour, and introduces a slew of other benefits and protections that drivers didn’t already have.

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Woman’s trial for murder of police-officer boyfriend captivates Boston

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Karen Read, 44, accused of hitting boyfriend with SUV and leaving him to die in snowbank, claims she was framed

Over the last eight weeks, a jury in Massachusetts has pondered whether 44-year-old Karen Read murdered her boyfriend, a police officer, in an act of domestic violence, or was framed by corrupt authorities trying to cover up the killing.

Read’s trial has captivated Boston residents’ attention and triggered a wave of conspiracy theories far beyond the city. At the center is Read, a suburban woman who worked as an equity analyst, and her boyfriend, 46-year-old John O’Keefe, a veteran Boston officer who was found dead in the snow on 29 January 2022.

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Emergency services in Massachusetts restored after statewide 911 outage

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Number of people affected unclear after disruption made it impossible to reach emergency services through number

The 911 system across Massachusetts was restored Tuesday after going down for several hours, which made it impossible for anyone to reach emergency services through the call number.

The Massachusetts state police announced around 3.45pm that the system had been restored and that people could resume calling emergency services. They didn’t provide any details about the cause of the outage.

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Massachusetts allows transport of marijuana to Martha’s Vineyard in a first

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Regulation had barred moving cannabis over state waters which risked running afoul of federal laws

Cannabis regulators in Massachusetts have issued an administrative order that will allow marijuana to be transported to the state’s famous islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket for the first time.

The order came amid reports Martha’s Vineyard was about to run out of pot, with one dispensary temporarily closing in May and the other saying it would close by September without further supplies.

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Police disband pro-Palestinian student encampments across the US

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Authorities moved in overnight to clear campuses from Arizona to Massachusetts of students demanding schools cut ties to Israel

Police moved in to disband several pro-Palestinian student encampments on US campuses on Friday morning as the foment over protests against academic ties with Israel over the war in Gaza continued to roil academia.

Tent encampments at the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Arizona, Tucson, were all dismantled in early morning raids that saw cordons of police sweep in and clear the makeshift protest settlements. In Tucson teargas was used, and demonstrators responded by throwing bottles at officers.

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Columbia University calls for inquiry into leadership as student protests sweep 40 campuses

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Professors at Emory University arrested as campuses follow Columbia’s lead in demanding ceasefire and divestment

At least 40 pro-Palestine protest camps have arisen across US campuses following Columbia University’s example earlier this month, as the New York school’s senate called for an investigation into its leadership, the New York Times reported.

While many remain provocative though peaceful, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment by their institutions from companies with ties to Israel, hundreds of students and outside protesters have been arrested, and there have been some fierce clashes with police.

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Fugitive former US city councillor enlists with Russia for war in Ukraine

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Wilmer Puello-Mota, wanted on child sexual abuse image charges, enlists after apparently volunteering for assault on Avdiivka

A former city councillor and member of the Massachusetts national guard who is wanted in the US on child sexual abuse image charges has fled the country and joined the Russian army fighting in Ukraine.

Wilmer Puello-Mota, 28, former city councillor of Holyoke, Massachusetts, went missing on 7 January, two days before he was scheduled to appear in court in Rhode Island in possession of child sexual abuse images and obstruction of justice charges.

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‘A new beginning’: US man who received pig kidney transplant returns home

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Richard Slayman was discharged from Massachusetts hospital on Wednesday after pioneering surgery

The Massachusetts man who received the world’s first transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney has returned home less than three weeks after the pioneering surgery, and says he feels just fine.

Richard Slayman, who had been diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, was discharged from Boston’s Massachusetts general hospital on Wednesday, and thanked doctors who performed the four-hour operation on 16 March.

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William Delahunt, former congressman of Massachusetts, dies aged 82

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Representative postponed his own retirement from Washington to help pass Barack Obama presidency’s legislative agenda

Longtime Democratic congressman William D Delahunt, who postponed his own retirement from Washington to help pass the Barack Obama presidency’s legislative agenda, has died after a long-term illness, his family announced.

Delahunt died Saturday at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts, at the age of 82, news reports said.

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FBI returns 22 looted artifacts to Japan after discovery in Massachusetts attic

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Investigation of items that were stolen during the Okinawa battle began after family discovered them in late father’s belongings

The FBI has returned 22 centuries-old artifacts to Okinawa, Japan, after a family discovered them in their late father’s attic in Massachusetts.

Agents with the FBI’s Boston division on Friday announced that the return of the looted items followed a lengthy investigation that began when they received a call from a family who came across the items while sorting through their dead dad’s belongings.

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