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Emergency crews respond to damaged wind turbine on Boston’s Deer Island

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

BOSTON (WCVB) — Numerous emergency crews responded to Boston’s Deer Island on Monday morning after a problem involving one of the wind turbines there.Deer Island is home to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s wastewater treatment plant and two wind turbines are located on the southwest side of the island. The island also features walking trails and space for picnicking.Footage of the 100-foot-tall turbine appears to show it wobbling before a piece flies off and lands with an audible crash. Later video appears to show something hanging off one of the three blades as it continues to turn.According to MWRA officials, the turbine has been offline and locked since April 2022 because it was broken.“Although it’s too soon to speculate on what happened, it appears that this morning’s strong winds broke the braking mechanism and the turbine began to free spin,” officials wrote in a statement.MWRA officials said public access near the turbines is being ...

Broward County School Board nears selection of superintendent as ranking process begins

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

In an important step toward the selection of a new superintendent, the Broward County School Board will convene to individually rank the seven semi-final candidates. As part of the transparent and rigorous selection process, each board member will publicly share their respective lists of preferred candidates on Tuesday.With the aim of narrowing down the pool of contenders, the board expects to identify the top three candidates by the conclusion of this ranking process. These individuals will then proceed to the next stage of the selection process and face interviews scheduled for June.

ChatGPT boss to meet Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

BRUSSELS — Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI, will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Thursday, according to the Commission’s calendar.Altman spent the past week roaming across Europe — visiting Poland, Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom — to meet fellow techies, talk AI regulation with national leaders and ministers, and scout locations for a new OpenAI office. A previously scheduled stop in Brussels, where Altman was expected on May 23 to speak at an event organized by OpenAI’s backer Microsoft, ended up being called off. Von der Leyen and Altman are likely to touch upon the bloc’s upcoming Artificial Intelligence Act in their meeting.Altman has expressed skepticism about parts of the rulebook in public appearances, with Reuters quoting him last week as saying that OpenAI would leave the EU if the law proved too burdensome. On social media and again speaking in Paris on Friday, Altman downplayed f...

Aaron Judge’s monstrous night in Seattle leaves Aaron Boone — and his son — in awe

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

SEATTLE — As reporters filed into Aaron Boone’s office at T-Mobile Park, the Yankees manager found himself staring at the small TV hanging below the ceiling in the far corner of the room.Boone watched in amazement as the monitor flashed a replay of Aaron Judge’s eighth-inning home run robbery. The outfielder elevated high above the right field wall and stole a solo shot from the Mariners’ Teoscar Hernandez — a Yankees killer as a Blue Jay — as he crashed into the padding. Judge then revealed the ball by flipping it from his glove to his bare hand — a casual end to a miraculous play.“Just another catch,” a nonchalant Judge said after the Yankees’ 10-4 win, though he had some fun with Hernandez on social media. “I’m just trying to do my job. When you’re 6-foot-7, I better be able to get up there and get those.”While Judge downplayed his thievery, one of Boone’s sons texted their father to say tha...

Biden attends memorial Mass to mark 8 years since son Beau’s death from brain cancer

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden marked Tuesday’s eighth anniversary of one of the saddest days of his life, the death of his son Beau, by attending a memorial Mass and visiting his gravesite.Biden, his wife, Jill, and other family members prayed for Beau Biden during the Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine, the Roman Catholic church where the president worships during weekends at his home near Wilmington, Delaware.Afterward, the family visited Beau Biden’s gravesite in the church cemetery. The first lady carried a bouquet of flowers. The president later traveled to Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle for his annual tradition of paying his respects and laying flowers. Beau Biden was 46 when he died of brain cancer in 2015. His father was vice president.The eldest of Biden’s three children, Beau Biden served two terms as Delaware attorney general before declaring a run for governor. Many saw in him the same aspirations that brought his father to the White House. In...

Trial opens for accused gunman in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The federal jury trial of the suspect in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack got underway Tuesday morning, four and a half years after the shooting deaths of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue.Twelve jurors and six alternates — chosen Thursday after a month of questioning of more than 200 jury candidates — are hearing the case against Robert Bowers. The jurors include 11 women and seven men.Bowers, 50, could face the death penalty if convicted of some of the 63 counts he faces in the Oct. 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life synagogue building. The attack claimed the lives of 11 worshipers from three congregations sharing the building, Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life. Charges include 11 counts each of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and hate crimes resulting in death. Members of the three synagogues arrived at the courthouse in a school bus and went in together.Prosecutors have said Bowers made antisemitic comment...

Stock market today: Wall Street rises as DC moves to avoid default

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is ticking higher in its first trading after Washington struck a tentative deal to avoid a potentially disastrous default on its debt. The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in early trading Tuesday and near its highest level in nine months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly, while excitement about artificial intelligence helped the Nasdaq composite to lead the market with a 1.2% gain. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are working to win votes for a deal reached over the weekend to allow the U.S. government to borrow more money.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street pointed mostly higher early Tuesday after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement on a deal to raise the U.S. national debt ceiling. Futures for the Dow were flat the S&P 500 rose 0.7% before the bell. Biden and McCarthy are now working to gather votes needed to gain congressional approval in t...

South America’s leaders meet in Brazil to discuss greater regional cooperation

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

BRASILIA (AP) — South America’s leaders were gathering Tuesday in Brazil’s capital as part of an effort by the Brazilian president to revive regional cooperation in energy, crime-fighting and the economy. The regional bloc previously known as Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, first gathered 15 years ago to boost cooperation between the 12 South American nations. But the group eventually fractured amid the continent’s political swings and polarization, and this is their first meeting in nine years.Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suggested at a news conference Monday that he might consider floating the idea of a regional currency to challenge the U.S dollar. But he said nothing would be decided during the meeting.“The main idea is that we need to form a bloc to work together,” Lula said.Seen by some as having a leftist bent, the regional bloc had fallen apart on disagreements over Unasur’s leadership. The participation of Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nic...

Halifax wildfire: Officials worry that high winds will cause ‘reburn’ in subdivisions

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

HALIFAX — Fire officials in Nova Scotia say the uncontained wildfire in suburban Halifax remained stable overnight, but they warned the return of dry, windy conditions today could lead to a “reburn” in evacuated subdivisions. Halifax deputy fire Chief David Meldrum told a news conference that firefighters spent the night extinguishing hot spots in neighbourhoods where 200 homes and structures have been damaged since the fire started Sunday.Since then, about 16,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes, most of them about a 30-minute drive northwest of the port city’s downtown.With today’s weather forecast calling for southwesterly winds gusting at 30 kilometres per hour, the concern is that the eight-square-kilometre fire will retrace its original route and set fire to what hasn’t already burned.David Steeves, a forest resources technician with Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources, says trees and other flammable materials in the affecte...

Woman rescued from partially collapsed Iowa apartment building amid calls to delay demolition

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:54:40 GMT

A woman was rescued more than a day after a six-story apartment building partially collapsed in Davenport, Iowa, and after city officials pushed for it to be demolished, saying it was in “imminent danger” of coming down. Protesters urged for a delay, concerned that people could still be trapped inside.Protesters carried signs Tuesday morning near the building site, saying “Find Them First” and asking “Who is in the Rubble.” Some used a megaphone to shout out names of building residents. The city said in a statement that it has been “continually evaluating the timing of the demolition” and that “the building remains structurally insecure and in imminent danger of collapse.” The woman was rescued at about 8 p.m. Monday after calling her family and waving for help, according to multiple news reports. The building partially collapsed shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday. A city statement late Monday said an injured woman had been extricated, but it wasn’t immediately clear if this w...