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Spanish elections: Sánchez holds off right surge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is poised to remain prime minister as a result of Sunday’s inconclusive national elections in which the center-right Popular Party won the most votes but was left with no clear path to form a government.As expected, none of Spain’s major parties secured a governing majority. With 99 percent of the votes tallied, the Popular Party had 136 seats, the Socialists 122, the far-right Vox 33, and the left-wing Sumar 31.Prior to the vote, conservative leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo indicated that he would be willing to form a coalition government with Vox, but both parties fell short of the 176 seats needed to control the Spanish parliament.There is no scenario in which Spanish MPs would back a minority government composed of the Popular Party and Vox, and Feijóo does not appear to have enough support among the country’s smaller, regional parties to cobble together the support he would need for minority rule on his own.The outcome...

Stow plane crash leaves 3 people hospitalized

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

Three people are recovering in the hospital after a small plane crashed in the woods in Stow on Sunday, officials said.Residents of Taylor Road said they heard the sound of a low plane flying overhead before a loud bang shook the otherwise quiet neighborhood.“Right away I knew it was a plane crash,” said Tye Moeancy. “I heard another plane flying over our houses, because that happens, normally, we live near an airfield and this one got louder and louder and there was a large boom and we all knew this is not normal.” Good samaritans rushed to the aid of the two men in their 50s and a woman in her 20s who were injured in the crash.All three were taken to a landing zone at the airport and then flown to UMass Worcester Memorial Hospital with what were considered non-life-threatening injuries.A preliminary investigation suggests the Cessna crashed shortly after taking off from nearby Minute Man Air Field.The cause of the crash remains under investigation.This is a...

Arrest made in connection with shooting of New Bedford police officer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

An arrest has been made in connection with a shooting in New Bedford that left a police officer hospitalized, the district attorney said.New Bedford police, with support of state police and ATF agents, arrested Cheybane Vasconcelos-Furtado,20, of New Bedford, on two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault and battery by discharge of a firearm, and two counts of wanton destruction of property valued above $1,200, and one count each of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury, carrying an illegal firearm, and carrying a loaded illegal handgun, according to New Bedford police.The arrest comes two days after Det. Lavar Gilbert was released from the hospital. Gilbert had been working undercover and in an unmarked car on Monday, July 17, when shots were fired in the area of Rivet and Orchard streets, hitting Gilbert and his vehicle, according to New Bedford police.Officials said the Gilbert remained conscious after being s...

Carver coming on, wins 7v7 tourney

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

WESTWOOD — Ben Shuffain has attempted to build a new culture ever since he arrived at Carver, one where his players can compete with just about any opponent.He has already had plenty of success, and it would appear the Crusaders have many reasons to be excited about this upcoming season. On Sunday, Robbie Peterson corralled an 8-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Lennox, then sealed the game with an interception in the waning moments, as Carver won the annual Northeast 7vs7 South Small Regional football championship Sunday with a very impressive 14-12 win over Dexter Southfield at Xaverian Brothers High School.“It’s awesome,” Lennox said afterward. “We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough challenge. We had a really tough pool going in since they combined the small and the large (schools). We just came in with the same mindset, and got it done.”The Crusaders cruised to a 3-1 record in pool play to begin the day, with wins over Plymouth South (22-12) and Attleboro (22-8). They a...

Plum Island beaches reopen after bacteria in swimming waters tested

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

All Plum Island beaches were reopened on Sunday morning following almost a week of closure due to an excess amount of bacteria in the water, city officials announced.A release from the city of Newburyport Sunday morning said the most recent testing of its Plum Island beaches’ water “showed significantly reduced bacteria levels.” The beach accessible from 55th Street, officials said, was reopened on Friday.As of Friday, the state’s Department of Public Health and Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health listed 64 public beaches in Massachusetts with postings indicating that swimming is unsafe or could lead to illness.City officials said Massachusetts’ beach testing program monitors more than 1,100 public beaches in the state, measuring the amount of Enterococci and E. coli bacteria present in the public swimming waters.Swimming in water containing excess amounts of bacteria, officials said, could lead to a myriad of dermatological, respiratory, eye, gastrointestinal, skin and ear i...

Plane crashes behind Stow home, three seriously injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

A single-engine plane crashed in the woods behind a residential home in Stowe Sunday afternoon, according to the Stowe Fire Department.Officials, in a release, said the department was called to 181 Taylor Road with reports of a plane crash. Upon arrival, officials found the plane landed on its roof in the woods behind the home, which was slightly over a mile from the Minuteman Airfield, a public-use airport also located in Stow.Firefighters extricated two individuals from the craft and treated a third that was able to exit the aircraft on their own, officials said.  Officials said the department was aided by its Maynard, Boxborough and Hudson counterparts.The three were transported to local trauma centers in helicopters with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, according to officials.Police departments from Stow, Maynard and Boxborough also assisted at the scene, along with a variety of EMTs, Boston MedFlight and UMass LifeFlight helicopters, officials said.— Developing

Avid search for missing Texas rodeo goat bringing residents of a small rural county together

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) — First there was Gone Girl. Now there is Gone Goat.The search for a rodeo goat that has been missing for more than a week has the residents of a rural South Texas county enthralled as they are using horses, ATVs and even contemplating utilizing a helicopter to find the missing animal.Local businesses have donated nearly 90 prizes and gifts worth more than $5,000, including brisket, frescoes and salon service, as a reward for the person who finds the goat.“This has just gotten bigger than we ever dreamed. Our county is a really small county, about 20,000 population and a mostly agriculture, farming and ranching community. And we’re very much one big family … So, we’re excited that everybody wants to find our goat,” said Alison Savage, president of the Willacy County Livestock Show and Fair. Residents, including families, have been scouring cotton and sugar cane fields since the goat escaped from a pen in the county’s rodeo arena near Raymondville on Ju...

Spain at risk of political gridlock after conservative win falls short of toppling PM Sánchez

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain appears headed for political gridlock after Sunday’s inconclusive national elections left parties on both the right and left without a clear path toward forging a new government.The conservative Popular Party won the elections, but it fell short of its hopes of scoring a much bigger victory and forcing the removal of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Instead, the party led by candidate Alberto Núñez Feijóo performed below expectations of most of the campaign polls.Even though Sánchez’s Socialists finished in second place, they and their allied parties celebrated the outcome like a victory since their combined forces gained slightly more seats than the PP and the far-right. The bloc that could likely support Sánchez totaled 172 seats; the right bloc behind Feijóo, 170.“It was a Pyrrhic victory for the Popular Party, which is unable to form a government,” said political analyst Verónica Fumanal, adding the conservatives will now have to reach out ...

NBA Board of Governors approves Michael Jordan’s sale of the Charlotte Hornets, AP source says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The NBA Board of Governors has voted to approve Michael Jordan’s sale of the Charlotte Hornets to an ownership group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, according to a person familiar with the situation.The person spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday on condition of anonymity because the sale won’t become official for at least another week.The decision ends Jordan’s 13-year run as majority owner of the franchise. He will remain on as a minority owner.Jordan agreed to sell the team on June 16. However, when an NBA owner decides to sell it first must be approved by the league’s Board of Governors. Jordan’s decision to sell leaves the NBA without a Black majority owner.Plotkin has been a minority stakeholder with the Hornets since 2019, while Schnall has been a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks since 2015. He has been forced to sell his investment in that team.The sale price is reportedly around $3 billion, according to ESPN.As an owner Jordan never came c...

Emmett Till home hosting celebration in honor of Till's 82nd birthday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:50 GMT

CHICAGO — On Tuesday of this coming week, Emmett Till would have turned 82 years old.In honor of his birthday, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the first phase of renovations at the museum that will honor his legacy."The title of the project is 'Be Careful, I Always Am' and that was sparked by one of the quotes Mamie said in the archives she wanted Emmet to be careful," said Germane Barnes.Banes, a Chicago-based artist, will be unveiling a new art installation as exterior renovations kick off for the Emmett and Mamie Till-Mobley House Museum at 64th Avenue and Saint Lawrence Avenue. Owner of Highland Park deli heads to Ukraine to cook for families Hammock's underneath is inviting people to sit with Emmett's story, one that details the time when he was visiting his relatives in Mississippi, and he was lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman when he was just a 14-year-old boy."You would never expect this to happen to a child. You want a kid to be brave, but ...