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MBTA track inspectors had ‘limited track maintenance experience,’ didn’t understand job duties: Report

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

A bombshell report examining MBTA track safety revealed major flaws in the transit agency’s record, including inspection teams that were unqualified, inexperienced, or both, and workers “not completely understanding” their jobs.Workers responsible for track inspections in the MBTA’s Maintenance of Way (MOW) organization also had “inadequate training,” according to an independent report focused on track maintenance safety released on Thursday.“This is about ensuring that the workforce — even at the entry level, all the way to the top — have the proper training, qualifications and clear direction from management,” MBTA GM and CEO Phillip Eng said during a press conference announcing release of the report.“I continue to challenge the leadership team to take a hard look in the mirror,” he added. “As an agency, we need to evolve. The status quo is unacceptable. And this is about strengthening our organization and emp...

Trump White House official Navarro convicted of contempt after defying House Jan. 6 subpoena

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump White House official Peter Navarro was convicted Thursday of contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.The verdict came after a short trial for Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost. Navarro was the second Trump aide to face contempt of Congress charges after former White House adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon was convicted of two counts and was sentenced to four months behind bars, though he has been free pending appeal.Judge Amit Mehta scheduled Navarro’s sentencing for Jan. 12. He was convicted in Washington’s federal courthouse of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress, both punishable by up to a year behind bars. Defense attorney Stanley Woodward move...

Matthew Judon wants every Patriots pass rusher to be a ‘threat’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has harped on the Eagles’ dangerous pass rush as the team gets prepared for their season opener Sunday. But Eagles QB Jalen Hurts could be under siege, as well, on Sunday.The Patriots are returning two of the NFL’s most productive pass-rushing edge defenders this season in Matthew Judon and Josh Uche. Now they’ve added defensive end Keion White to a mix that already included Deatrich Wise and Christian Barmore, as well.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | What Mac Jones learned from ‘good friend’ Jalen Hurts ahead of Patriots-Eagles matchup New England Patriots | Patriots’ Mac Jones’ areas of improvement include attitude, lesson from Tom Brady New England Patriots | Patriots have concerning absence from practice ahead of Week 1 New England Patriots | Patriots S Kyle Dugger: No update on possible contract extension New England ...

More Americans plan vacations, even as they sour on the economy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

Augusta Saraiva | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsAmericans might be fretting about the job market and inflation, but it’s not stopping them from splurging on vacations.Nearly half of consumers in August were planning a trip in the next six months — the highest share all year, according to Conference Board survey data Tuesday. And about one in five of them are going abroad, a record share in the data going back to the 1970s.Demand for international travel has largely recovered as Americans take advantage of reopening borders, a strong dollar and lower airfares in recent months. That’s prompting airlines to boost service and expand routes, and has helped drive a measure of spending abroad by US travelers to an all-time high earlier this year.The vacation plans reflect Americans’ incessant demand for experiences in a post-pandemic world. Despite an overall easing in consumer confidence in August as inflation and interest-rate expectations rose, many households are still buoyed by the healthy labo...

Search for escaped Pennsylvania murderer enters eighth day, residents say they’re feeling unsettled

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA and MARYCLAIRE DALEWEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — As the hunt for an elusive murderer stretches into a second week, residents of suburban southeast Pennsylvania say they’re unsettled and perhaps frustrated — but not panicked — as hundreds of heavily armed searchers scour through roads, neighborhoods and dense woodlands.Danilo Souza Cavalcante, a 34-year-old from Brazil, escaped from the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31 by scaling a wall, climbing over razor wire and jumping from a roof. The breakout mirrored an earlier escape there in May and wasn’t detected by guards for a full hour, authorities say. “This is an outrage. It never should have happened,” said Chester County District Attorney Deb Ran at a news conference Thursday. Cavalcante has been spotted at least eight times since he escaped, said state police Lt. Col. George Bivens. The most recent was at around noon, when a civilian saw someone who looked like Cavalcante ...

Legal sports betting opens to fanfare in Kentucky; governor makes the first wager at Churchill Downs

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear plunked down a $20 bet Thursday on two home-state college football teams — and against an arch-nemesis school — in a quick transaction signaling that legal sports wagering is off and running in the Bluegrass State.The Democratic governor placed the first sports bet at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, fulfilling a pledge that his administration would launch sports wagering in time for the NFL regular season.“This is entertainment,” Beshear said. “It’s what Kentuckians were looking for. It’s going to boost tourism. It’s going to make sure we don’t lose that many people to Vegas in the first couple rounds in the NCAA tournament.”With an eye toward public approval from voters in a state election year, the governor bet that the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville football teams will win more games this season than oddsmakers predict. A third part of the $20 parlay, all of which must happen for Beshear to ...

Concerns about ongoing inflation pressures weigh on TSX, U.S. markets

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index moved lower Thursday on broad-based weakness a day after the central bank chose to hold its key interest rate, while U.S. markets were mixed. Ongoing concern over inflationary pressures and the future of interest rates continued to put pressure on equities as bond yields rose, said Macan Nia, co-chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management. “As we entered September, global markets, especially in the U.S., were priced for perfection. There was this notion … that the Federal Reserve was going to cut six times next year in 2024, and it was also the sentiment that we had maybe perhaps avoided a recession in the U.S.,” said Nia. But that made markets vulnerable this month, he said. “The focus on inflation, the focus on bonds as a result is not going away anytime soon.”The S&P/TSX composite index was down 94.88 points at 20,132.08.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 57.54 points at 34,500.73. The S&P...

Man struck by tree while cleaning hurricane debris is third Florida death from Hurricane Idalia

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

CROSS CITY, Fla. (AP) — An elderly man who was cleaning debris from Hurricane Idalia in north Florida when a tree fell on him has been declared the state’s third death from the Category 3 storm, officials said Thursday.The 90-year-old man died Tuesday in Dixie County after a tree fell on a tractor he was operating, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Hurricane Idalia made landfall with 125 mph (201 kph) winds across the state in Florida’s remote Big Bend region.Other Idalia-related deaths in Florida confirmed by the state’s 25 local district medical examiners are a man who died in a traffic crash near Gainesville hours before Idalia made landfall on Aug. 30 and a windsurfer who went missing that same day off Florida’s Space Coast.A man in Valdosta, Georgia, also died when a tree fell on him as he tried to clear another tree out of the road, according to the Lowndes County Sheriff Office.The Associated Press

VIA Rail re-introducing some Ontario round trips this fall

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

VIA Rail Canada Inc. (VIA Rail) announced on Thursday it’s ramping up service back to pre-pandemic levels by re-introducing two round trips this fall.The routes include Toronto and Ottawa and one round trip between London and Toronto, starting this October.A VIA Rail spokesperson said passengers can start booking trips on train 82/83 as of Thursday and on the other returning frequencies over the next week.Photo: VIA Rail Canada.VIA Rail said to accommodate the changes, the Saturday trip on train 44 will be cancelled starting October 28.Mario Péloquin, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail, said the introduction of VIA Rail’s 32 new trainsets is already yielding positive results.“Recent increases in equipment availability, coupled with intense recruitment and training efforts, are now allowing us to reintroduce these high-demand frequencies,” Péloquin said.“As we continue to strike a balance between meeting our passengers’ evolving trav...

Man charged with aiding Whitmer kidnap plot says scheme didn’t seem serious

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:40:18 GMT

One of three men accused of assisting a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer testified in his own defense Thursday, portraying himself as a scared participant in a daytime ride to see her vacation home in northern Michigan.Eric Molitor and twin brothers William Null and Michael Null are charged with providing material support for terrorist acts.Molitor said Whitmer’s name didn’t come up when he was encouraged by the scheme’s leader, Adam Fox, to go to Antrim County to check out a “high-profile vacation house” in August 2020.But Molitor said he became anxious when he learned that it was the governor’s lakeside house in Elk Rapids. He was in a pickup truck with Fox and an FBI informant when they twice drove by the property.“What do I say? How do I act? What do I do? How do I get out of this situation?” Molitor told the jury. “I don’t have training. I don’t have backup. I got nothing.”Molitor’s decision to testify was a rar...