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Taylor Swift gifts signed hat to 10-year-old from Connecticut during Gillette Stadium show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

A young Taylor Swift fan recently got the experience of a lifetime and a souvenir to go with it in the form of a signed hat at one of Swift’s sold-out shows at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro this past weekend. Ten-year-old Leyton Barnett from Connecticut and his mother said they’re ultimate Swift fans. It turns out, the star is a fan of Barnett and his mom, as well. Stephanie Barnett connected with Swift over social media years ago to thank her for the music that helped Barnett carry on during a fight with infertility Swift then surprised the family at home back in 2014 when Leyton was a baby. The connection has carried on in the years sense.“I literally, probably would have given up the fertility fight if it hadn’t been for her song ‘Change,’” Stephanie said this week. It was because of Stephanie’s history that friends and fellow Swifties started rallying on social media for Leyton to receive the hat that Swift has been handing to a fan during performances of her ...

Undocumented immigrant in-state tuition plan stays in Senate budget

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

The state Senate will move forward with a plan to allow some undocumented immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition at state schools after an amendment to remove the proposal was rejected following impassioned speeches from several Democratic lawmakers.The Senate met in formal session for a second straight day on Wednesday, when they dispensed with more than 300 of the over 1,000 amendments lawmakers have appended to the already more than $55.8 billion spending plan.Among the proposed changes to the budget document rejected by lawmakers was an amendment offered by Republican state Sen. Ryan Fattman which struck language from the spending bill aimed at providing an easier path into higher education for young undocumented residents.To qualify for in-state tuition, according to the plan as written, a student must graduate from a Massachusetts high school and have been a resident for three years.Fattman told his colleagues that after the Senate budget was made public, despite its multi...

Can competition elevate deep Giants WR room with no obvious No. 1?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

Saquon Barkley won’t be at the Giants’ first open OTA practice on Thursday and likely not at any other practice until he receives a new contract.So while Daniel Jones’ top running back bides his time, it will be worthwhile to evaluate the quarterback’s increasingly deep stable of targets in the passing game and determine who will rise to the top.Even though a star No. 1 receiver continues to elude the Giants, Jones appears to have more options due not only to free agency and the draft but players returning from injury, as well.Tight end Darren Waller and wide receiver Parris Campbell are the obvious apparent free agency upgrades in the pass game, added to a receiving corps steadied by returning Giants Isaiah Hodgins and Darius Slayton.And third-round pick Jalin Hyatt and undrafted free agent Bryce Ford-Wheaton provide different combinations of speed, size and intrigue.But the return of Collin Johnson (Achilles) to this week’s practices is also a breath ...

Boston Arts Academy building renamed for Boston arts educator and icon Elma Lewis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

The Boston Art Academy building will now be named for Dr. Elma Lewis, city officials heralded Wednesday, celebrating a trailblazing educator and Boston cultural icon.“(Dr. Lewis) encouraged and demanded us to be the best we could and pushed us to excellence,” said School Committee Chair Jeri Robinson, a former student of the building’s namesake. “She encouraged to be curious, disciplined and to go after our dreams. It’s a surreal moment to stand in front of the school, knowing the letters on this building speak about a past that is familiar to me and a future that is so great for our students.”Robinson attended a celebration of the renaming at the BAA building along with the mayor, other city officials and members of the school community Wednesday morning. The new upgraded BAA building relocated the school next to Fenway Park and opened for the 2022-23 school year.Elma Lewis was born in Boston in 1921 and died in 2004, spending much of her life as...

Michael Kopech ‘in complete control’ for the Chicago White Sox: 3 hits, 19 strikeouts over 15 straight scoreless innings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

Michael Kopech had quite the encore.In his first start since taking a perfect game into the sixth inning, the Chicago White Sox right-hander retired the first 12 batters he faced Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians.Josh Naylor singled to left-center leading off the fifth for the Guardians’ first hit. Kopech allowed two hits and one walk and struck out nine in seven innings, pitching the Sox to a 6-0 victory in front of 17,767 at Progressive Field.“I’m back to trusting my stuff,” Kopech said. “The first few starts of the season I was kind of searching, trying to feel what it felt like to throw my stuff with confidence again. Now I feel everything working out front. I have good life on my stuff. The results are showing up.”Kopech and relievers Reynaldo López and Jimmy Lambert combined for a four-hitter.“He was in complete control of himself,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He was focused, he was controlling the strike z...

ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza hopes other teams regret not signing Masataka Yoshida, and other Red Sox thoughts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

Nearly two months into the regular season, the 2023 Red Sox are somewhat mystifying.They’re 26-23, which ties them for last in their division, but is still one of the better records in baseball. After winning their series in San Diego, they’ve fallen into a three-game slump, and have only scored one run over their last 32 innings.Who are the 2023 Red Sox? What are they doing, what can they do, and what might happen?Ahead of the west coast trip, the Herald caught up with ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza to hear her thoughts on this roller coaster season.Like many baseball fans, the Olympic gold medalist-turned-sportscaster is intrigued by the Red Sox.“I actually love that Chaim Bloom’s priority wasn’t exactly what fans wanted,” she says. “It felt like (the bullpen) was one of their best focuses in the offseason, but at the time, you looked at what they were doing and it was like, ‘Really? That guy?’ ”She points out that expectat...

DeSantis 2024 launch marred by technical glitches

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday declared his presidential bid on Twitter — though the launch did not go off without a hitch.Hours after he filed paperwork declaring his candidacy, DeSantis made his intentions clear by launching an official campaign video on Twitter ahead of a live chat with the social media platform’s owner Elon Musk. “We need the courage to lead and the strength to win,” DeSantis said in his launch video. “I’m Ron DeSantis and I’m running for president to lead our great American comeback.”The filing — and DeSantis’s video announcement — confirmed months, if not years, of speculation that the Florida governor is eyeing the White House. It also amounted to one of the most significant developments in the 2024 Republican presidential contest since November, when former President Donald Trump announced that he would once again seek the party’s nomination.But the Florida governor’s Twitter launch was rife with technical problems, with hundreds of thousand...

4-year-old child is 'OK' after being dropped from high border wall in San Diego

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 4-year-old child was dropped into the United States from a high border wall with Mexico in a surveillance video that captures a routine — and highly risky — occurrence.“Remarkably, the child is ok!” Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz tweeted in his caption to the agency's one-minute, 37-second video, which was posted on Twitter on Monday. “Do not trust smugglers!"The jerky, black-and-white images appear to show the child and one adult being aided by another adult over the wall, which rises as high 30 feet (9.1 meters) between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California. Ortiz said agents heard gunfire while tending to the child.The child came with two adults, all of whom were in Border Patrol custody, agency spokesman Michael Scappechio said Tuesday. It had not been confirmed if the adults were the child's parents or what nationality they were. It was also unclear if they would be released in the United States to pursue immigration cases or deported.Attempts to get ove...

Kentucky man accused of shooting roommate who ate last Hot Pocket, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A man in Kentucky’s largest city is facing criminal charges after allegedly shooting his roommate during a dispute over a Hot Pocket, authorities say. Clifton Williams, 64, was arrested on assault charges Sunday after he accused his roommate of eating their last Hot Pocket and attacked him, shooting him in the buttocks, Louisville Metro Police Department officials told WLKY-TV. According to police, Williams started throwing tiles at the man after he realized the last microwaveable turnover was gone. He then shot him in the buttocks as he tried to escape, the TV station reported.Williams is prohibited from contacting the victim, who was taken to UofL Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. His bond was set at $7,500.The Associated Press

Pastor says Alberta premier lied about nature of phone call before his criminal trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:02:24 GMT

EDMONTON — The Calgary street pastor at the centre of an investigation that concluded Premier Danielle Smith interfered in Alberta’s justice system says she is lying about the nature of their pivotal phone conversation.Smith has said publicly her conversation with Artur Pawlowski was supposed to be about politics and not his criminal trial relating to a COVID-19 protest at Coutts, Alta., which blocked the United States border-crossing for more than two weeks.However, Pawlowski told reporters Wednesday the discussion was never supposed to be about anything but his trial and about whether Smith would follow through on her public promise to pardon those charged with offences related to violating health restrictions.Audio of the 11-minute call, which prompted an investigation by Alberta’s ethics commissioner, focuses on charges Pawlowski was facing and his subsequent trial. There was no discussion of him in his role as then-leader of the fringe Alberta Independence Party.Smith is heard ...