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Ex-Saugus selectman guilty in $1.3M embezzlement scheme

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

A former Saugus selectman pleaded guilty to 18 counts of forgery, larceny and other charges related to an embezzlement scheme totaling more than $1 million last week, officials announced.Mark Mitchell pleaded guilty to five counts of larceny by scheme, six counts of improper campaign expenditures, three counts of forgery, three counts of false entries in corporate books and one count of publishing false or exaggerated statements, officials said. He was sentenced to 18 months in the House of Correction which will be followed by three years of probation upon Mitchell’s release, according to officials.The amount Mitchell will have to pay will be determined during a restitution hearing on Nov. 9, according to the Suffolk DA’s office. Mitchell embezzled the funds from the Boston Center for Adult Education, where he served as comptroller, officials said.Mitchell’s embezzlement scheme ran from 2011 to 2018, during which time he wrote checks to himself totaling $896,537, officials sai...

Biden renews push for Ukraine aid

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday that American aid to Ukraine will keep flowing for now as he sought to reassure allies of continued U.S. financial support for the war effort. But time is running out, the president said in a warning to Congress.“We cannot under any circumstances allow American for Ukraine to be interrupted,” Biden said in remarks from the Roosevelt Room after Congress averted a government shutdown by passing a short-term funding package late Saturday that dropped assistance for Ukraine in the battle against Russia.“We have time, not much time, and there’s an overwhelming sense of urgency,” he said, noting that the funding bill lasts only until mid-November. Biden urged Congress to negotiate an aid package as soon as possible.“The vast majority of both parties — Democrats and Republicans, Senate and House — support helping Ukraine and the brutal aggression that is being thrust upon them by Russia,” Biden said. ...

Brazil’s President Lula back at official residence to recover from hip replacement surgery

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was discharged from the hospital Sunday, two days after undergoing successful hip replacement surgery that will have him working from home while he recovers.Lula, 77, underwent the operation Friday. Doctors also performed minor eyelid surgery. He has returned to the official presidential residence and will work there during the coming weeks, Lula said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. He previously said that he had suffered hip pains since August of last year.“Thank you for all the prayers and the caring messages. I’m recovering to work even more for Brazil,” Lula wrote on X, adding — as a joke, presumably — that he intends to run a marathon.A medical bulletin from Lula’s doctors earlier Sunday said that he had ascended and descended stairs with assistance.Recovery for hip replacement surgery varies from patient to patient, but most can resume light, day-to-day activities within three to six weeks, according ...

Blue Jays to face Minnesota in wild-card playoffs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

Win-or-loss in Game 162 wouldn’t have made a difference for the Toronto Blue Jays, as it turned out, after a Houston Astros victory and a Texas Rangers defeat locked them into wild-card three and a date with the Minnesota Twins.Kevin Gausman versus Pablo Lopez in Game 1 on Tuesday at Target Field.Let the fun begin.“It’s very unique to get to the post-season,” Gausman said before a just-get-through-it, 12-8 loss Sunday to the Tampa Bay Rays capped an 89-73 season for his Blue Jays. “You have to be a very good team to advance. We’ve talked from Day 1 about the talent in this room. Now we’ve got to put it together in the most important games of the year.”A high-stakes, severe-pressure run through the final two-and-a-half weeks after a four-game sweep Sept 11-14 by the Rangers at Rogers Centre should have the Blue Jays as prepared as they can be for the grind ahead.Their season has regularly alternated between inspiring and infuriating.During series in which they swept major...

NDP leader calls on government to adopt legislation to lower food prices

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is urging the government to adopt his party’s proposal to lower food prices across the country.Singh introduced the Lowering Prices for Canadians Act to the House of Commons Sept. 18. It would give the Competition Bureau more power to issue penalties for certain “anti-competitive acts,” including price-fixing.On Sunday, Singh and Taylor Bachrach, MP for Skeena—Bulkley Valley, held a news conference in Terrace, B.C., to discuss the legislation. They say it would close loopholes that let large grocery chains “price out the competition.”Related links:Are grocery stores greedy or a scapegoat? Group pushes back on feds’ ultimatumLack of competition is driving up grocery prices, federal watchdog says“For almost two years, the Liberal government has stood by and watched while grocery CEOs made record profits off the backs of working families,” said Singh in a news release. “The reality is Justin Trudeau only started...

Tim Wakefield, former Red Sox pitcher, dies at 57

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballing workhorse of the Red Sox pitching staff who bounced back after giving up a season-ending home run to the Yankees in the 2003 playoffs to help Boston win its curse-busting World Series title the following year, has died. He was 57.The Red Sox announced his death in a statement Sunday that detailed not only his baseball statistics but a career full of charitable endeavors. Wakefield had brain cancer, according to ex-teammate Curt Schilling, who outed the illness on a podcast last week — drawing an outpouring of support for Wakefield. The Red Sox confirmed an illness at the time but did not elaborate, saying Wakefield had requested privacy. Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson dies at 86 “It’s one thing to be an outstanding athlete; it’s another to be an extraordinary human being. Tim was both,” Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner said in the team's statement. “I know the world was made better because he was in it.”Drafted by the Pit...

Woman who fled Maui wildfire on foot dies after weeks in hospital burn unit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — A woman who escaped Hawaii’s Lahaina wildfire by running through a flaming field has died after spending more than seven weeks in a hospital burn unit.Laurie Allen died Friday at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu, according to a gofundme page set up for her and her husband, Perry Allen.“Laurie slipped away peacefully. Her heart was tired, and she was ready,” her sister-in-law, Penny Allen Hood, wrote on the website. Videos show winds whip flames through Maui and the deadly aftermath Allen's husband, two brothers, a sister and other relatives were at her side.Allen was among at least 98 people killed by the fire Aug. 8 that devastated historic Lahaina on the west coast of Maui. The fire was the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century and destroyed 2,200 buildings, most of them homes.The fire began when strong winds appeared to cause a Hawaiian Electric power line to fall and ignite dry brush and grass. After being declared contained, the fire flared up and race...

Twins drop final game of regular season, set for postseason matchup with Blue Jays

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

DENVER — It’s Toronto.At long last, the Twins finally know their opponent for the best-of-three Wild Card Series, which will begin on Tuesday at Target Field.As a result of a Houston win over Arizona and a Toronto loss to Tampa Bay, the Blue Jays dropped to the third Wild Card spot and will take on the Twins, who concluded their regular season with a 3-2 loss in 11 innings to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.The Twins split six games against the Blue Jays this season, winning two of three in Toronto and losing two of three at home. But those six games were in May and June, and the Twins, who surged ahead in the second half of the season to capture their third division crown in the past five years, are a much different team since the last time the two teams played.“I think the thing I’m most pleased about with our group is the way that our team melded in the second half and we’re playing our best baseball when it matters the most,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “… The way that all ...

Rookies Marvin Mims Jr., Jaleel McLaughlin provide spark in Broncos’ comeback win over Bears

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

Rookie wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. has a special trait very few on Denver’s roster seem to possess. Whenever he touches the ball, big plays happen.In Week 2, Mims hauled in a 60-yard touchdown catch against Washington. A week after that, he returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score in Miami. And in the Broncos’ 31-28 victory over Chicago on Sunday afternoon, Mims’ latest burst helped put the “tank for Caleb Williams” discussions on hold.With the game tied at 28 and 2:52 left in the fourth quarter, Denver desperately needed to make something happen. Quarterback Russell Wilson stepped up into the pocket and threw a deep pass near the sideline to Mims, who maneuvered past one defender and another before getting tackled for a 48-yard gain to Chicago’s 33-yard line. Three plays later, kicker Wil Lutz nailed the go-ahead 51-yard field goal with 1:46 to go.A fumbled kick return from earlier in the day suddenly seemed like a distant memory.“I was on the other side of the field w...

Rockies end 103-loss season with 3-2, 11-inning win over Twins

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:55 GMT

You can close the book on the 2023 Rockies, who finished with a franchise-worst 103 losses.At least there was a happy ending Sunday afternoon at sun-splashed Coors Field when the Rockies celebrated a 3-2, 11-inning win over the Twins before a crowd of 33,375.Rookie Brenton Doyle, who opened the 11th inning as the ghost runner at second base, stole third base and came around to score on a wild pitch by outfielder-turned-emergency reliever Jordan Luplow.THE ROCKIE WAY: Inside Colorado’s three decades of mediocre baseballCover-to-cover, it was a lousy season for Colorado, albeit with a few nice chapters in the mix.Related ArticlesColorado Rockies | Charlie Blackmon, already on “Mount Rushmore of Rockies,” gets chance to pad Colorado legacy in 2024 Colorado Rockies | Twins’ big home runs send Rockies to 11th loss in 13 games Colorado Rockies | Rockies Journal: Nolan Jones is most valuable, Kris Bryant most disappointing ...