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Parents killed in front of children in parking lot in Maine, police say

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

WESTBROOK, Maine (AP) — A man and woman were fatally shot in front of their children before bystanders tackled the gunman, police said.The gunman assaulted a 75-year-old bystander before several others joined in tackling and disarming the assailant Monday evening, said Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.Marcel Lagrange Jr., 24, of South Portland, was charged with two counts of murder, she said.Westbrook police officers responded at about 8:30 p.m. Monday to reports of gunfire and officers arrived to see a woman being shot near a vehicle in a parking lot, Moss said. Police officers found a decesaed man in the vehicle, along with an 11-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl who witnessed the shooting, she said.The state medical examiner’s office concluded Tuesday that the victims, Brittney Cockrell, 36, of Westbrook, and Michael Hayter, 41, of Westbrook, were shot to death, Moss said. Their children were unhurt.Investigators said Tuesday there was no know...

Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck set to have surgery to insert a plate for a facial fracture

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck is scheduled to have surgery next week to insert a plate to help a facial fracture heal after he was hit by a batted ball.Houck was hit below the right eye by a line drive from the New York Yankees’ Kyle Higashioka on Friday night. The 26-year-old right-hander saw a doctor Tuesday and it was determined a plate was needed.Boston manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that the outcome was a “best-case scenario” for Houck because he was hit below the eye and temple. Cora said he envisions Houck returning to pitch this season.“Sounds bad, right? Fracture,” Cora said. “But the fact that he knows he’s going to be part of this, it’s good. It’s the best news we can get.”Cora said there’s currently no timetable for Houck’s return.Houck received stitches after the incident and was checked at a hospital after he walked off the mound on his own with a towel covering his bleeding face. He’s 3-6 with 5.05 ERA this se...

41 women die in grisly riot in Honduran prison that president blames on ‘mara’ gangs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A grisly riot at a women’s prison in Honduras Tuesday left at least 41 women dead, most burned to death, in violence the country’s president blamed on the “mara” street gangs that often wield broad power inside penitentiaries.Most victims were burned but there also were reports of inmates shot or stabbed at the prison in Tamara, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, said Yuri Mora, the spokesman for Honduras’ national police investigation agency.At least seven female inmates were being treated at a Tegucigalpa hospital for gunshot and knife wounds, employees there said.“The forensic teams that are removing bodies confirm they have counted 41,” said Mora.Local media interviewed one injured inmate outside the hospital who said prisoners belonging to the feared Barrio 18 gang burst into a cell block and shot other inmates or set them afire.Honduran President Xiomara Castro said the riot was “planned by maras ...

Julius Randle learned the hard way to respect Nikola Jokic

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

Like so many others, Julius Randle underestimated Nikola Jokic.Then, like so many others, he was cooked by “The Joker.”“I remember my second year we had played against him and he was killing,” Randle said  on the ‘Podcast P’ with host and fellow NBA All-Star Paul George. “I’m like, ‘Man, why is this dude killing, bro? He’s slow and fat.’ Like, ‘He ain’t nice like that.’“This is in my head. He hit like 25 [points]. I’m like, ‘Man, how the hell this happened, bro?’”Randle and Jokic were both in the 2014 draft class, but only one was considered a worthwhile prospect. The other — Jokic — was selected 41st overall as a Taco Bell commercial was shown on the ESPN draft broadcast.“Nobody knew who Joker was,” said Randle, who was taken seventh overall by the Lakers. “That wasn’t even a thought.“There’s always that stigma around...

Tight market: Home sales down, but prices around Boston sky-high

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

Statewide home prices ticked down again in May, but those seeking to buy in certain areas, namely Boston, are facing sky-high values, according to data released by the state’s top market-watchers.The median sales price for a single-family home statewide dropped by just a fifth of a point to $589,000 in May, the second straight month that costs declined on a year-over-year basis, according to the Warren Group.But that number is lower than the decline in April, when the statewide median sales price for a single-family home dropped 1.2% compared to April 2022. Massachusetts hadn’t seen a year-over-year price drop since 2018.“That definitely indicates a change in the market,” Warren Group associate publisher Cassie Norton told the Herald Tuesday, “but I don’t think it’s necessarily one that’s helpful. I think this is easing more toward a stalemate as opposed to being a red hot buyers market.”Moving to Greater Boston may be tougher than ever though, with the median sales price for a sing...

Outgoing CDC director says resignation spurred by sense of accomplishment and exhaustion

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

By MIKE STOBBE (AP Medical Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — The outgoing head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday her reasons for stepping down were complicated, driven in part by a desire to take a break from the frenetic pace of the job during a pandemic.Dr. Rochelle Walensky surprised many in public health circles last month by announcing her departure after two years and five months — one of the shortest tenures for a CDC director in recent decades. She resigned as the pandemic’s national public health emergency was winding down.“I did what I came to do — which was get us through the darkest days of a pandemic,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press.Walensky, 54, described her time at the agency as intense, but stopped short of saying she was burned out. She said she had looked for a quiet moment to withdraw from a job that gave her a sense of pride and accomplishment but also led to criticism, protests outside he...

Orioles designate Spenser Watkins for assignment; Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcasle to begin rehab assignments

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

Spenser Watkins, who started 30 games on the mound for the Orioles between 2021 and 2022, was designated for assignment Tuesday, the club announced amid a flurry of roster moves.The 30-year-old right-hander was recalled twice this season, including as the 26th man Saturday in Chicago, to add length to Baltimore’s bullpen, but he didn’t pitch in either instance.The Orioles recalled right-handed reliever Logan Gillaspie to replace Watkins on the 26-man roster, and Baltimore selected the contract of catcher Anthony Bemboom to replace Watkins on the 40-man roster.Watkins, who missed a month earlier this year with a cut on his right ring finger, had a 7.27 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP in 26 innings in Triple-A this season. In 160 innings with the Orioles in 2021 and 2022, Watkins was 7-13 with a 5.85 ERA and 5.5 strikeouts per nine innings.He made his major league debut with Baltimore in 2021 after joining the organization on a minor league deal earlier that year. He struggled in his ...

Palestinians fatally shoot 4 Israelis before being killed, spurring revenge attacks in West Bank

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

By ISABEL DEBRE (Associated Press)JERUSALEM (AP) — Two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a restaurant and gas station near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on Tuesday, killing four Israelis and wounding several other people before they were shot dead, authorities said, as violence roiled the occupied territory the day after a deadly Israeli military raid.Israeli settlers attempted to carry out revenge attacks across the northern West Bank, raising fears of a repeat of a rampage last February that resulted in damage to dozens of Palestinian homes and vehicles and the killing of a Palestinian man. Carloads of Israeli settlers drove to the northern Palestinian towns of Hawara, Beit Furik, Burin and surrounding villages, setting dozens of cars on fire, hurling stones and trying to set homes ablaze, said Nablus official Ghassan Daghlas. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries.Tuesday’s violence underscored the fragility of the situation in the West Bank, ...

Healey plans Ireland trip 30 years after country decriminalized homosexuality

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey is traveling to Ireland next week to address local lawmakers on the country’s 30th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality, her office said Tuesday afternoon.During her first international trip as governor, Healey plans to speak at a series of business-focused events and offer remarks to the Irish Senate in Dublin over the course of her three-day visit. The trip also lines up with former President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 state visit to Ireland, which Healey’s office said “launched a new era of economic and cultural partnership” between the two nations.Healey said she is “honored” to have been invited to Ireland as a granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Irish immigrants and the first openly LGBTQ governor of Massachusetts.“I’m excited to meet with Ireland’s renowned business, technology, clean energy and education leaders to share with them all that Massachusetts has to offer – from our world-class education and research institutions to our cu...

Hunter Biden tax-and-gun ‘sweetheart deal’ ripped by GOP

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:55:03 GMT

President Biden’s son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid a full prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars.The news quickly triggered a response from Republicans, with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) slamming the Justice Department.“It continues to show the two-tier system in America,” McCarthy said. “If you are the president’s leading political opponent, the DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. But if you are the president’s son, you get a sweetheart deal.”Hunter Biden, 53, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses of failing to pay his federal income taxes on what he earned from overseas business dealings.The agreement will also avoid prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he adheres to conditions agreed to in court. It’s somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time charges...