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Jermaine Wiggins introduced as new Brockton High football coach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

BROCKTON — When it comes to naming a new coach, it’s a pretty common trend to see schools try to make a splash.Brockton High did that and then some by tabbing former New England Patriots tight end and longtime WEEI personality Jermaine Wiggins as the school’s new football coach. Wiggins will look to bring the Boxers back to prominence as he returns to the gridiron.“You have to learn from the past to forge ahead for the future,” Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan said during a press conference held at Marciano Stadium. “I want to personally thank the Colombo family. I’ve had the honor to play for coach Armond Colombo and now coach Peter Colombo. (That’s) 53 years of Colombo legacy here at Brockton High School. Thank you Colombo family.“I am really excited about today in Brockton to have the announcement of Jermaine Wiggins to be the next Brockton Boxers football coach. Coach, welcome to the City of Champions.”Wiggins takes over for former Brockton coach Peter Colombo, who ret...

Multiple car crash prompting significant delays on I-5

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A Sig Alert has been issued along the northbound Interstate 5 through Carlsbad following a multi-car crash near Palomar Airport Road.Reports of the collision came in around 1:36 p.m., notifying the Carlsbad Fire Department of a vehicle on fire on the freeway. According to department logs, six cars were involved in the collision: three smaller vehicles, two vans and a semi-truck. SkyFOX aerial footage showed significant damage to the front of at least two of the vehicles involved in the incident. Empty fishing boat pulled from rocks in Carlsbad It is unknown at this time what caused the crash. No injuries have been confirmed by authorities.All lanes were blocked following the crash. As of 2:30 p.m., only one lane is open for through traffic, according to aerial footage captured by SkyFOX. Sig Alert indicated that significant delays for drivers on the I-5 through Carlsbad are likely and could last up to two hours.

It’s ‘The Joe Show’ as Biden closes out Ireland visit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

BALLINA, Ireland (AP) — Quoting Irish poetry and soaking up the cheers of thousands, President Joe Biden on Friday pronounced Ireland not just part of his family history but part of his soul as he wrapped up a trip that gave him the kind of adoration that eludes him back in the U.S.Roughly 27,000 people gathered at the foot of St. Muredach’s Cathedral, constructed in part with bricks made by Biden’s great-great-great grandfather. Biden drew a crowd was nearly double the size of the town’s population — some drove from hours away and waited nearly all day in the rain and cold for a chance to see him, calling out for “the Joe show” to begin. “Over the years, stories of this place have become part of my soul,” Biden told the massive crowd, associating himself with those in the audience as “we Irish” and a “part of my family lore.” It’s no wonder he said repeatedly during his trip that he didn’t want to leave. Back home, Biden’s approval rating is near the l...

At Irish shrine, Biden meets priest who gave Beau last rites

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

KNOCK, Ireland (AP) — President Joe Biden was moved to tears on Friday during a stop at a Catholic shrine when he discovered that a chaplain there had performed last rites for his late son Beau Biden. “It was incredible to see him,” Biden said later during remarks at the foot of a cathedral in nearby Ballina. “It seemed like a sign.”Knock Shrine is a pilgrimage site where, according to Catholic lore, the saints Mary, Joseph and John the Evangelist appeared near a stone wall in 1879. Biden touched the remaining old wall, and toured the site with priest Father Richard Gibbons.Gibbons said he discovered earlier in the day that the Father Frank O’Grady working at the site was the same one who’d performed last rites, a ceremony in the Catholic faith that spiritually prepares people for death, for Beau. It’s common in the Catholic faith for priests to move around to different posts during their lives in the church. O’Grady is a former U.S. Army chaplain and was for...

Ohio governor postpones 3 more executions scheduled in 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. Mike DeWine continued Ohio’s unofficial death penalty moratorium on Friday, postponing an additional three executions scheduled for this year.DeWine, a Republican, attributed the need for the reprieves to the state’s ongoing inability to obtain drugs from pharmaceutical companies to carry out its lethal injection program. The state’s last execution was July 18, 2018, when Robert Van Hook was put to death for killing a man he met in a Cincinnati bar in 1985. On Friday, DeWine postponed executions scheduled for August, September and October to three dates in 2026. Two men remain scheduled for executions this year, the next being Keith Lamar on Nov. 16. Lamar was condemned in the slayings of fellow inmates during a 1993 Lucasville prison riot.The governor’s decision comes as momentum builds for Ohio to eliminate the death penalty altogether. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers proposed legislation to do so last month and Republican Attorney General Da...

Biden to host Colombia leader Petro for White House talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is hosting Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House for talks next week, offering a high-profile visit to the leftist leader who has vowed to bring “total peace” to his nation of 50 million after six-decades of conflict.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that Biden and Petro during the April 20 visit will discuss economic and security cooperation as well as efforts to combat climate change, counter narcotics trafficking, migration, and more.Colombia’s government and its largest remaining rebel group – the communist-inspired National Liberation Army, known as ELN—launched talks in November shortly after Petro was elected president.Petro has called the talks with the ELN a cornerstone of his plan aimed at resolving a conflict that dates back to the 1960s.Some rural areas of Colombia are still under the grip of drug gangs and rebel groups despite a 2016 peace deal with the larger Revolutionary Armed...

‘Maisel’ costumes enhance storytelling with boldness, color

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — In the cavernous Brooklyn warehouse where “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was filmed were towers of pillbox hats, double-stacked racks of dresses and coats in rainbow order, and vision boards teeming with fabric swatches.At an October set visit during the shooting of the comedy’s latest season, Emmy-winning costume designer Donna Zakowska gave marching orders to her team in order to translate the characters’ emotions and aesthetic tone of each scene. Over five seasons, Zakowska says she’s dressed nearly 50,000 principal actors and extras for Amazon Prime Video’s hit show, which launches its final season Friday.“Maisel” follows a New York City housewife who makes an unlikely turn to standup comedy in a journey of self-discovery after her husband’s infidelity blows up their conventional life.Before filming, Zakowska gave each player a once-over to ensure every shoe, brooch and belt looked right. When seeking inspiration, Zakowska often referred to what she called the...

FAA gives OK for SpaceX’s Starship test flight from Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has cleared the final hurdle for launching its new giant Starship from Texas as early as next week on a first test flight.The Federal Aviation Administration issued the long-awaited license on Friday. SpaceX announced that Starship — the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket — could soar as soon as Monday. No people or satellites will be aboard the 394-foot (120-meter) rocket. SpaceX will attempt to send the spacecraft atop the colossal booster around the world, from the southern tip of Texas all the way to Hawaii. The first stage will be discarded in the Gulf of Mexico and the spacecraft into the Pacific. No landings will be attempted for this debut.It will be the first launch attempt of a full-size Starship, made of shiny stainless steel and powered by methane-fueled engines.The FAA said SpaceX had met all requirements, including safety and environmental. The license is valid for five years.“We carefully analyzed the public safety risks ...

22 overdoses in one night: Ex-paramedic looks back on 7th anniversary of B.C. crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

VANCOUVER — Brian Twaites remembers the first time he realized toxic drugs in British Columbia had hit a crisis level.On one shift as a paramedic, he handled 26 calls and more than 22 of them were drug overdoses.“Twenty-two of them were narcotic overdoses that we actually resuscitated,” he said.“Another couple of those calls were, unfortunately, cardiac arrests and were more than likely related to drug poisonings but we were unable to resuscitate those people, and then there were a couple of other general medical calls that I did in that shift. “I think that was a big realization of how hard it hit us.”That was in either 2016 or 2017. It’s difficult to remember for sure, he said, as the increasing number of calls have become a bit of a blur.On April 14, 2016, B.C. became the first jurisdiction in Canada to declare a public health emergency over the increasing number of overdoses in the province.At the time, officials said there had been 474 overdoses in 2015 and the numbers we...

Canada’s pledge to make more vaccines at home is still a work in progress

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

OTTAWA — The COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t even six months old, and not a single vaccine for it had been approved for use anywhere, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to a podium in Montreal to promise that Canada’s National Research Council would be able to start churning out millions of doses by the end of 2021.Nearly 1,000 days later, it hasn’t produced even one dose for clinical use.But that day is coming.Earl Brown, a virologist and professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa, said getting a new plant from the ground up was never going to happen in less than a year.“As soon as I heard that, I thought, ‘Well gee, that’s overly optimistic by a couple or three years.’ You have to have an objective, but that one wasn’t realistic.”Still, Brown said if another coronavirus pandemic hits the world, Canada is now in a better position to make its own vaccines and medicines than it was when COVID-19 arrived three years ago.“We...