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Column: The Chicago Cubs are right where they need to be to make a September run for the playoffs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

One thing we’ve learned about the Chicago Cubs through five months of the season is they’re not easily pegged.Sometimes they get good pitching and great defense, and other times they let the offense carry them. They’re strong enough to win consistently but have weaknesses that can be exploited if they don’t show up daily.We’ve seen the bad Cubs enough to know what can happen. And we’ve seen them look like a team of destiny.On a cool and crisp Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field, the Cubs overcame a lack of hitting and two unforced errors to eke out a 3-2 win against the Milwaukee Brewers, their 17th victory in their last 23 one-run games.That bodes well for the postseason — if the Cubs make it — because every game potentially can be won or lost on one play.“That is how baseball is going to be played,” Cubs slugger Cody Bellinger said of October. “You’re going to have a variety of games. But to be in the positio...

Cape Cod bridge work and lane closures return, travel delays expected through November

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

Cape Cod bridge maintenance work and 24/7 lane closures will be returning a couple of weeks after Labor Day, as officials warn motorists of travel delays through November.After crews worked on the Sagamore Bridge in the spring, workers will be shifting to the Bourne Bridge for critical maintenance work starting on Sept. 18, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District.Vehicle travel over the bridge will be cut from the current two lanes in each direction to a single 12-foot-wide lane in each direction. Lane restrictions will be in place 24 hours a day until the project is completed.“Motorists planning to use the Bourne Bridge should expect travel delays likely to occur during the morning and afternoon peak travel periods each day,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement.“Repair work and lane restrictions are scheduled to run through late November, weather permitting,” USACE added.USACE delayed the original project start da...

MassDOT, MBTA reduce Green Line Extension closure to 25 days, starting in September

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

A six-week long closure that transportation officials had planned for the Green Line Extension this summer has been reduced to 25 days, with work beginning in mid-September.Initially, the state Department of Transportation and MBTA aimed to close the Union Square branch for 42 days between July and August, to accommodate repair work on the Squires Bridge, which carries McGrath Highway over Green Line tracks in Somerville.But officials announced Wednesday the length of the closure has been cut to 25 days, commencing Sept. 18 and ending by mid October. The project will be focused on “completing critical beam end repairs, along with additional preventive actions, to ensure the bridge can remain open and safe for use,” they said.“Because the Squires Bridge work must be performed within the Green Line right of way, transit service on the Union Branch will terminate at Lechmere Station during construction,” officials said in a release. “Bridge work will not impact motor vehicle travel acr...

2 plead guilty to trafficking sea cucumbers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Two people accused of illegally trafficking sea cucumbers at the Calexico Port of Entry pleaded guilty in federal court this week, federal prosecutors said. Zunyu Zhao (also known as Kathy Zhao), 51, and Xionwei Xiao (also known as Luis Xiao), 52, pleaded guilty to a two-count indictment charging them with conspiracy and illegal importation of sea cucumbers, Kelly Thornton with the Office of the United States Attorney Southern District of California said in a news release Wednesday.From May 9, 2017 to February 10, 2019, Zhao and Xiao conspired to illegally import Isostichopus Fuscus, commonly known as the brown sea cucumber, per the indictment and plea agreement. Isostichopus Fuscus are a species protected under Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species without the appropriate permits and documentation, according to officials."In May 2017, Zhao was stopped at the Calexico Port of Entry, attempting to smuggle 11.50 kg of Isostichopu...

Trump dismissive as New York attorney general accuses him of inflating his net worth by $2 billion

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump defended his real estate empire and his presidency in a face-to-face clash with the New York attorney general suing him for fraud, testifying at a closed-door grilling in April that his company is flush with cash — and claiming he saved “millions of lives” by deterring nuclear war when he was president.Trump, in testimony made public Wednesday, said it was a “terrible thing” that Attorney General Letitia James was suing him over claims he made on annual financial statements about his net worth and the value of his skyscrapers, golf courses and other assets.James released Trump’s 479-page deposition transcript in a flurry of court filings ahead of a Sept. 22 hearing in which a judge could resolve part or all of the lawsuit before it goes to trial in October. She said evidence shows Trump fraudulently inflated his net worth by up to 39%, or more than $2 billion, in some years.Sitting across from James at her Manhattan office on April 13, Trump said, “you d...

Top prosecutors from 14 states back compensation for those sickened by US nuclear weapons testing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and top prosecutors from 13 other states are throwing their support behind efforts to compensate people sickened by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons testing. The Democratic officials sent a letter Wednesday to congressional leader, saying “it’s time for the federal government to give back to those who sacrificed so much.” The letter refers to the estimated half a million people who lived within a 150-mile (240-kilometer) radius of the Trinity Test site in southern New Mexico, where the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945. It also pointed to thousands of people in Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Montana and Guam who currently are not eligible under the existing compensation program.The U.S. Senate voted recently to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act as part of a massive defense spending bill. Supporters are hopeful the U.S. House will include the provisions in its version of t...

Critical fire weather arrives in Northern California; PG&E to restore power after targeted outages

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gusty winds and low humidity brought a high risk of wildfires to the interior of Northern California on Wednesday, and a utility proactively cut electricity to about 8,400 customers to prevent potential ignitions in the blustery conditions.Red flag warnings for critical fire danger were in effect until 8 p.m. in much of the Sacramento Valley and adjacent areas to the west, the National Weather Service said.Pacific Gas & Electric said that shortly before 2 a.m., it began public safety power shutoffs in “targeted high-fire-threat areas” of eight counties. Winds calmed throughout the afternoon, and by 5 p.m. the utility issued a weather “all-clear,” saying it would begin the process of restoring electricity.The gusty northerly winds were generated in the wake of a trough of low pressure that moved through Northern California on Tuesday, the weather service said.Public safety power shutoffs are intended to prevent fires from starting when power lines are downed ...

Sheriff announces prison transport policy changes following killing of deputy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Marion County sheriff in Indianapolis announced changes to a prisoner transport policy Wednesday following the killing of a sheriff’s deputy during an escape attempt.Most significantly, Sheriff Kerry Forestal said all off-site medical transports will require two deputies, local news outlets reported. Deputy John Durm was alone in transporting murder suspect Orlando Mitchell on July 10 when the inmate used the chain of his handcuffs to choke the officer while being returned to the Criminal Justice Center in Indianapolis following a hospital visit, authorities have said.Mitchell, 34, has been charged with murder, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him.“Staffing has probably got too complacent,” Forestal said. “Because we’re so short-staffed, people will make decisions that aren’t in the best interest.”The Marion County Sheriff’s Office currently is 150 deputies short of full staffing.“Additional overtime is being used to accommodate the...

5-year-old dead after shooting inside Gary home, police say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

GARY, Ind. — A five-year-old boy from Chicago is dead after a shooting inside of a Gary home Wednesday morning.According to the Gary Police Department, the shooting happened around 8 a.m. and after arriving on scene in the 2400 block of Fillmore Street, detained a 32-year-old Gary man who told officers that he was given permission from adults who live at the home to visit and check in on a 17-year-old girl and child while the adults were away.Police said the witness alleged he arrived at the home early Wednesday morning after a night out. When he entered the home, he believed he was alone and placed his handgun down and fell asleep. He then told police he was awakened by a loud noise and saw the child was shot, and that he believes the child had accidentally shot himself. CFD: 3 adults, 3 kids injured in Chatham vehicle crash The visitor picked up the child and immediately drove to the hospital, where police said he died from his injuries.Anyone with information that could aid Gar...

Teen pleads guilty in killing of Michael Brasel in St. Paul

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:49 GMT

One of the St. Paul teens charged in the killing of Michael Brasel, who was shot as he tried to stop someone from rummaging through his car in front of his family’s St. Anthony Park home, has pleaded guilty to murder in adult court.Kle Swee, 17, waived his adult certification hearing Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court and then pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder in the May 6 killing of Brasel, a 44-year-old husband, father of two boys and youth hockey coach.Swee, who turns 18 on Oct. 18, appeared in court before Judge JaPaul Harris with his attorney Kristen Turner and parents by his side. An interpreter translated the hearing into the Karen language.Family members of Kle Swee and Brasel, including Brasel’s wife, Hilary, sat on either side of the courtroom gallery.Kle Swee, who was wearing a gray sweatshirt with his hair in a topknot, replied to questions from the judge with, “Yes, your honor.”In exchange for waiving the certification h...