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No deal between Andover teachers and school committee as strike continues

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

Striking teachers in Andover made their voices heard Monday, interrupting a planned school committee news conference on the same day that the Andover Public Schools asked a judge to order teachers back to work. Members of the Andover Education Association voted on Friday to authorize a strike after months of negotiations with the Andover School Committee over a new contract. Schools closed on Friday due to the strike and closed again Monday as the strike continued. “What do we want?” said Andover teacher Frank McCall. “We want a fair contract.”Shortly before 12 p.m., teachers chanted and held signs at High Plain Elementary School.The School Committee ended up postponing its scheduled availability for 90 minutes due to “safety concerns.” Speaking with reporters, union members said members of the school committee stayed out of view in a school library with police on hand.“They were very scared of teachers and instructional assistants who want a fair, competitive co...

‘Toucher and Rich’ breakup: 98.5’s Fred Toucher says Rich Shertenlieb shouldn’t go to WEEI, ‘get away from sports’

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

Where will radio host Rich Shertenlieb head to next?His former 98.5 The Sports Hub co-host Fred Toucher is hoping Shertenlieb steers clear of the other sports radio station in town, and avoids sports talk radio altogether.Toucher, the remaining host of 98.5’s “Toucher and Rich,” on Monday addressed the rumors that Shertenlieb made a stop at WEEI on Friday — the same day that Toucher announced Shertenlieb was leaving the morning show after a long run together.“I heard the rumors… that he was at EEI,” Toucher said during a segment on Monday. “If I was Rich, I would not want to work at a sports station. I would want to get away from it. Like wouldn’t you? Like wouldn’t you, if you had this opportunity, wouldn’t you want to get away from sports?”“As someone who still does care about him and I truly like him, I would hope that he just does something  where he can just flex that comedic bone man and have fun,...

Ticker: Horseshoe crab harvest facing limits; Feds eye expanding radio spectrum

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

Interstate fishing regulators are limiting the harvest of a primordial species of invertebrate to try to help rebuild its population and aid a threatened species of bird.Fishermen harvest horseshoe crabs on the East Coast for use as bait and in biomedical products. The animals are declining in some of their range, and they’re critically important as a food source for the red knot, a migratory shorebird listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.The regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said it will allow no harvest of female horseshoe crabs that originate in the Delaware Bay during the 2024 fishing season. The Delaware Bay is one of the most important ecosystems for the crabs, which are also harvested in large numbers in New England.The crabs are used as bait for eels and sea snails. Their blue blood is also used to test for potentially dangerous impurities by drug and medical device makers.Feds eye expanding radio spectrumThe White House on Monday ...

California serviceman dies in U.S. Army helicopter crash

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

(FOX40.COM) -- Among the five U.S. service members killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday, one is reported to be from Sacramento. The U.S. Army Special Operations Command shared over social media on Monday morning that five special operations teammates died in a helicopter crash on Saturday. The man behind the name of Travis Air Force Base Among those killed in the crash included: •Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee • Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California• Staff Sgt. Tanner W. Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire• Sgt. Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona • Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota The helicopter crashed into the eastern Mediterranean Sea "during a routine air refueling mission as part of a military training." In the social media post from the U.S. Army, Lt. Gen. Braga wrote: “We mourn the loss of these five incredible soldiers, each of them a national treasure. They hail ...

Streetcars travelling slower on King Street than before the transit corridor pilot project

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

Traveling along King Street on a streetcar is as bad or worse for than it was prior to the pilot that was intended to make transit a priority on the main downtown corridor. The King Street pilot was made permanent in April of 2019 after a one-and-a-half year project that showed it increased daily weekly ridership by 16 per cent and at the time, it took 16 minutes to travel from Bathurst Street to Jarvis Street. The pilot made it illegal so vehicles could not go through intersections and can only turn right. .CityNews has learned that eastbound travel times from Bathurst to Jarvis during the evening rush hours averaged 19 to 26 minutes before the pilot program in 2017. The latest times show it is now worse with an average of 22 to 29 minutes.TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said the new data is cause for concern for the 45,000 people they move through the area per day. “That’s a problem and transit really needs to be the priority down there. That’s the whole intent of ...

Parents of Michigan school shooter will have separate trials, judge says

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — The parents of a Michigan school shooter will have separate trials for their alleged roles in the deaths of four students, a judge said Monday.James Crumbley and Jennifer Crumbley had presented a united defense for two years. But their lawyers asked for separate trials after prosecutors shared new evidence.“It is apparent that a conflict exists,” wrote Mariell Lehman, who represents James Crumbley.Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews granted the request, though it wasn’t immediately clear who would go first. The Crumbleys had been preparing for a Jan. 23 trial.Ethan Crumbley, 17, killed four fellow students at Oxford High School in November 2021 and wounded six more students and a staff member. He pleaded guilty and faces a possible life sentence on Dec. 8.The parents are charged with involuntary manslaughter. They are accused of contributing to the tragedy by making a gun accessible to their son at home and ignoring his mental health needs.Prosecut...

House readies test vote on impeaching Homeland Secretary Mayorkas for handling of southern border

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is holding a test vote Monday on whether to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a step usually reserved for grave misconduct in office that is instead being wielded in an extraordinary effort to remove the Cabinet secretary for his handling of the southern border.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Republican from Georgia, forced a vote on impeaching Mayorkas floor through a rule that allows any single member to force a snap vote on resolutions, including constitutional matters such as impeachment. Democrats have sought to bottle the matter up through a vote on Monday evening that would “table” or kill the impeachment resolution, but the outcome is uncertain. Several prominent Republicans have become outspoken advocates of pushing ahead on the GOP’s longstanding effort to impeach Mayorkas. House GOP whip Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican, as well as Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican whose congressional district run...

Confederate military relics dumped during Union offensive unearthed in South Carolina river cleanup

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Hundreds of Civil War relics were unearthed during the cleanup of a South Carolina river where Union troops dumped Confederate military equipment to deliver a demoralizing blow for rebel forces in the birthplace of the secessionist movement.The artifacts were discovered while crews removed tar-like material from the Congaree River and bring new tangible evidence of Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s ruthless Southern campaign toward the end of the Civil War. The remains are expected to find a safer home at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in the state capital of Columbia.Historical finds include cannonballs, a sword blade and a wheel experts believe belonged to a wagon that blew up during the two days of supply dumps. The odds of finding the wagon wheel “are crazy,” according to Sean Norris.“It’s an interesting story to tell,” said Norris, the archaeological program manager at an environmental consulting firm called TRC. “I...

Escaped murderer charged with burglary and theft while on the run for 2 weeks

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

A convicted murderer who escaped from a southeastern Pennsylvania prison earlier this year and eluded a massive two-week search before he was recaptured is now facing new theft, burglary and other charges in alleged crimes committed while he was on the run.Danelo Souza Cavalcante, 34, convicted of the murder of an ex-girlfriend before his Aug. 31 escape from Chester County Prison, is now formally charged with having stolen a transit van and burglarizing homes in southeastern Pennsylvania, where a rifle and ammunition, clothing, a sleeping bag and other items were stolen.“The defendant used all means necessary to escape from prison and stay hidden from authorities. These offenses aided his efforts and elevated his threat to the public,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement.Cavalcante was charged Monday with felony counts of burglary, criminal trespass, theft and possession of a firearm as well as a number of misdemeanor charges including theft and receiving stolen prop...

Jury deliberates fate of suspected serial killer accused in six deaths in Delaware and Philadelphia

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 02:15:58 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A Delaware jury heard closing arguments and began deliberations Monday in the trial of a suspected serial killer accused in the deaths of six people in Delaware and Pennsylvania in 2021.Keith Gibson, 41, of Philadelphia, is charged with murder in the killings of Elsmere cellphone store clerk Leslie Ruiz-Basilio, 28, and Wilmington drug dealer Ronald Wright, 42, during separate robberies. He is also charged with attempted murder in the shooting of Wilmington store clerk Belal Almansoori, and the armed robbery of a drug store.The Philadelphia district attorney, meanwhile, has approved murder charges against Gibson in the killings of his mother and a Philadelphia doughnut shop manager, as well as the deaths of two men found shot in the head at a store in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood. Authorities say they will pursue those charges after Gibson is prosecuted in Delaware.Prosecutors in Delaware have relied heavily on video surveillance footage showing th...