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Billerica softballers move to 12-0

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

BILLERICA – For the first time in Patty Higgins’ 29 years as coach, the Billerica softball team is 12-0.Senior star pitcher Naomi Boldebuck dialed up 11 strikeouts as part of a three-hit shutout from the circle, pacing the Indians past another Merrimack Valley Conference power in an 8-0 win over Methuen (6-3) Monday afternoon. An ultra-aggressive baserunning display from the team sparked a three-run lead through the first three innings on only three hits and no RBI.Once the bats got going through Katherine Medeiros (2-for-3, two runs), Maggie Quin (RBI single) and Sam Gaona (two-run single, two runs), Billerica wore down Rangers pitcher Ilene Rickard to run away late with a dominant win.“There’s a group that’s been together for years, and they take it one game at a time,” Higgins said. “They respect their opponent, but they feel confident in themselves. They think, ‘If we use what we have, we’re in a good position to do something.’ I don’t think anyone has said, ‘Oh wow, we’re 12-0....

Mets split doubleheader with Braves after Francisco Alvarez carries team with 2 RBI in nightcap

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

Pitching help is on the way for the Mets, but it can’t come soon enough.The Mets split a pair of games with the Atlanta Braves on Monday at Citi Field, losing the series 2-1. In the first game, Denyi Reyes was shaky as the opener but in the second, Tylor Megill had a solid outing and Francisco Alvarez had a fantastic game behind the plate and at the plate.Calling up Reyes to make a start was always a gamble. There have always been questions about whether or not his stuff could play at the big league level and the Mets thought he possessed the traits to be able to start.Reyes (0-1) was used as an opener Monday in the first game of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves and he put the Mets in a hole right away. The Mets were nearly able to overcome it, coming within one run of tying the game in the sixth inning and again with one in the ninth. But Sean Murphy hit his second home run of the game in the seventh inning off right-hander Jeff Brigham to doom the Mets in a 9-8 loss...

DeSantis board sues Disney in latest tug-of-war in Florida

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

By MIKE SCHNEIDER (Associated Press)ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Days after Disney sued Florida’s governor in federal court for what it described as retaliation for opposing the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Disney World’s governing board — made up of Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees — filed a lawsuit Monday against the entertainment giant.The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District sued Disney in state court in Orlando, and board members voted to defend itself in federal court in Tallahassee where the entertainment company filed its lawsuit last Wednesday.The Disney lawsuit against the governor, the board and its five members asks a judge to void the governor’s takeover of the theme park resort district previously controlled by Disney for 55 years. The governing board’s lawsuit seeks to maintain its oversight of design and construction in the district that governs Disney World’s 25,000 acres after the previous...

‘Touchdown’ group looking to help local businesses and community have win-win with Bears proposed move to Arlington Heights

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

A new group backing the Chicago Bears’ proposed $5 billion mixed-use megaproject at the site of the former Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights has emerged — as local and state leaders consider different pitches for funding the potential redevelopment.Leaders of Touchdown Arlington said in a statement that they have met with the football team to begin discussing how the team and local business owners might collaborate.“The coalition believes they can bridge the communication gap, advocate for the community and create a winning team to better the future of the region,” the group’s April 26 statement reads.Real estate broker Holly Connors, who started the group and is on the six-person steering committee, told Pioneer Press she is optimistic that Bears brass is invested in a positive relationship with the village and the region.“They have really talked me through what they think is important, and I think that they really are a fam...

Red Sox notebook: Paxton to make one more rehab start, but decision day looms

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

What are the Red Sox going to do with James Paxton?That question has hung over the pitching staff ever since the 34-year-old lefty picked up his $4 million player option to remain with the club this past offseason. Paxton, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, missed all of last season and suffered a hamstring injury early in spring training that delayed his progression.All told, Paxton has barely pitched since 2019 and it’s anyone’s guess how effective he’ll be once he does finally return to the mound in the big leagues.One way or the other, the Red Sox will have to make some kind of decision on him soon.According to a Red Sox source, Paxton will make his next start in Triple-A, putting him in line to start Friday for the Worcester Red Sox. It will be his sixth rehab appearance with Worcester since April 9.Under league rules rehab stints can last a maximum of 20 days for position players and 30 days for pitchers, so Paxton is eligible to remain on assignment u...

Boston Globe Media Partners is sued over sports betting deal; Globe calls it a ‘meritless suit’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

Boston Globe Media Partners is facing a lawsuit over a sports betting deal with a Danish company, which claims the Globe owes it more than $750,000 after the multimedia organization apparently broke the contract and went with DraftKings instead.The Globe’s parent company fired back on Monday, calling the lawsuit “meritless” and added that they plan to file counterclaims against the Danish firm, Better Collective — which publishes online content about sports betting and gambling.In the lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Friday, Better Collective claimed that Globe Media had reached out to the company headquartered in Copenhagen to develop sports betting content for the website Boston.com ahead of the launch of legalized sports gambling in Massachusetts.The two sides struck a deal in August, but it has gone sideways since.“To induce BC to do business with it and pay it substantial fees, Globe Media held itself out as a willing, reliable, good fait...

Escondido teachers suing school district over gender identity policy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Two teachers at Rincon Middle School are suing the Escondido Union School District and the State Board of Education over gender identity privacy policy.According to state and district guidelines, a transgender student’s identity must be kept private, even from parents, unless the student says otherwise.“It forces them to lie to parents and to deceive parents and to participate in a student's social transition," said Paul Jonna, the attorney representing the teachers. 2 killed in house party shooting identified According to the lawsuit, policy requires teachers to refer to students by preferred names and pronouns at school, while reverting to biological pronouns and legal names when speaking with the students’ parents.“Experts on both sides of the spectrum agree that when you're dealing with a child that has gender dysphoria the solution is not to leave the parents out of the picture, the solution is not to leave the parents in the dark," Jonna said. "Thes...

Met Gala: Vintage, Jared Leto as Choupette, Kim K. in pearls

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Met Gala’s starry carpet was on fire with vintage haute couture Monday as Dua Lipa walked in a Chanel ballgown from the fashion house’s archive and Nicole Kidman chose a look Karl Lagerfeld himself made for her 20 years ago.But elegant wasn’t entirely the hallmark of the evening. Jared Leto dressed as Choupette, the beloved fluffy cat of Lagerfeld, the evening’s honoree. And there were some bombshells: Serena Williams wore a flapper Gucci look when she announced she’s pregnant with her second child.Lipa, a gala co-chair, wore a Tiffany & Co. diamond around her neck that she called “very special.” The singer’s cream-colored dress, by Chanel from 1992, was also “very, very special” as it has been on her mood boards, she said.Claudia Schiffer wore the gown on the runway for its debut, although hers had a matching hat. Lipa’s necklace in platinum included a center diamond of more than 200 carats.Nicole Kidman said it was Lagerf...

B.C. coroner’s jury says Vancouver police should expedite use of body cameras

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

BURNABY, B.C. — The jury in the British Columbia coroner’s inquest into the police beating death of Myles Gray has recommended that the Vancouver Police Department expedite its use of body-worn cameras for all officers. The five-member jury began deliberating Monday at the end of 11 days of testimony about the 33-year-old man’s death in August 2015.The jury found Gray died by homicide, a death due to injury intentionally inflicted by another person, but coroner Larry Marzinzik told jury members that it was a neutral term and doesn’t imply fault or blame.The jury also recommended to Vancouver’s police chief that his department review and enhance the crisis de-escalation and containment training that its officers receive.Several police officers told the inquest that Gray appeared not to feel pain as they hit him with their batons, punched him in the face, kneed him and held him to the ground.   A forensic pathologist who preformed the autopsy on Gray’s body tol...

Southern Baptist leader selection process fails amid dispute

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:22:26 GMT

A powerful Southern Baptist committee was looking to appoint a new leader Monday who could navigate controversies over its handling of sexual-abuse reforms and the ousting of churches with women serving as pastors.Instead, the Executive Committee found itself tangled in yet another dispute, voting down a recommendation to make its own former chairman its president in what had become a racially fraught decision.That 50-31 vote came after some of the denomination’s prominent Black clergy questioned the selection process, which they saw as bypassing an African American pastor who has led the committee as interim president for more than a year. The selection process hit a nerve in a denomination that has lost some Black clergy in recent years over what they have seen as a failure of the mostly white-led denomination to make good on its pledges to reform after its history of supporting slavery and segregation. While the SBC elected its first Black president in 2012, no African Amer...