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Denver City Council to vote on $1.15M in funding to rebrand 16th Street Mall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver City Council will soon vote on adding $1.15 million more in funding to the 16th Street Mall revitalization project. From working in the kitchen for 16 years to making his restaurant dreams come true, Javier Fernandez recently opened Que Rico! in the 16th Street Mall area of downtown Denver.  Denver’s 16th Street Mall is getting greener “Fifteen years ago, I was working in downtown and I saw a lot of people walking on the streets, and I told my wife that would be a great idea to open Que Rico! downtown, we have to bring Denver alive again,” Fernandez said.Three months into opening, Fernandez has hope for a busier and brighter future within the mall area, but currently, he sees a lack of people coming to the area.In April 2022, the City and County of Denver broke ground on a reconstruction project to address infrastructure and public realm repairs and improvements to the mall. According to documents submitted to the city council, that part of the project came ...

Lawmakers to present bill to explore racial inequities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- In less than a month, state lawmakers will be back at the capitol and working on new legislation. Some lawmakers are getting a jump on getting their legislative agendas out before they gavel in.Over the past few years, there have been plenty of calls to end systemic racism. A group of lawmakers is backing a bill they said is a crucial step in putting Colorado on the path to doing that. Polis to Biden: Reschedule marijuana before 2024 "Today marks a pivotal moment in our commitment to racial justice as we unveil plans for a groundbreaking bill," said Colorado Senate President Pro Tempore James Coleman.Members of Colorado's Legislative Black Caucus and leaders of Colorado's Black community joined forces to call on the state to investigate its past through a task force looking into how the state could have contributed to systemic racism, spurring inequities in the everyday lives of Black Coloradans."It's important that this is a collective comprehensive task for...

13-year-old boy identified as suspect in shooting at Pembroke Pines convenience store

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

Police have identified a 13-year-old boy as the suspect who, they said, shot a cashier several times during an attempted robbery at a convenience store in Pembroke Pines.While most middle school-aged teenagers were working on homework or maybe participating on sports or clubs after classes, Pembroke Pines Police said Wednesday, Joshua Munoz shot a clerk at the Pasadena Drive Thru Food Store, located in the area of University Drive and Pasadena Boulevard.“We’ve been here for like five, six years now, and I live in this community, and we were not expecting this,” said John Oonnoonny, the food store’s owner.According to detectives, the victim in Tuesday afternoon’s incident was at the cash register and tried to escape.Police said Munoz followed the victim and fired his weapon, hitting the clerk several times. Oonnoonny said the clerk, who is a member of his church, called him first to tell him what had happened.“He called at 5:40 to say that he got ...

Police: Nearly $1M in narcotics, stolen merchandise recovered from Miami home amid drug, retail theft ring probe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

Police said officers executing a search warrant in Miami have made a big bust, not only involving drugs, but hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday evening, City of Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales said the discovery is part of an investigation by the department’s Special Investigation Section.Morales used a holiday season icon to describe the man they took into custody.“This guy right here is absolutely a real-life Grinch,” he said. “We’re glad that he’s off the streets.”Detectives said there was an organized drug ring as well as an organized retail theft ring being operated from inside a house in the area of Northwest 24th Avenue and 14th Street.Investigators said the officers who executed the narcotics search warrant recovered large quantities of cocaine, several firearms and large sums of U.S. currency.“We will work with the state attorney and even the U.S. attorney,” sai...

Waltham Police Department seeking info on hit-and-run that killed officer, utility worker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

Authorities are asking for help as they continue to investigate the killings of a Waltham police officer and utility worker that have left the community reeling.Anyone who may have information is urged to share what they know surrounding the Dec. 6 incident in which a suspect allegedly barreled through a Waltham construction site, striking and killing veteran officer Paul Tracey, 58, and National Grid utility worker Roderick Jackson, 36.The tragedy unfolded around 4:15 p.m. in the area of 166 Totten Pond Rd., about a mile away from Bentley University and Interstate 95.“If you saw or heard anything that day that you think may be related to the investigation, please reach out,” the Waltham Police Department stated on Facebook Wednesday. “Even if you think it may not be of value, trained investigators may find evidentiary value in what appears to be the most minor of details and would like to hear from you.”Waltham PD, partnering with State Police in the investigation, added that it’s ...

Massachusetts State Police troopers convicted of attempting to conceal overtime fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

Two former Massachusetts State Police troopers stationed in Framingham were convicted in relation to actions they took to cover up their part in the overtime scandal.A federal jury in Worcester on Tuesday convicted Lt. Daniel Griffin, of Belmont, and Sgt. William Robertson, of Westboro, on one count each of conspiracy, one count each of theft concerning a federal program and four counts each of wire fraud.Just before the Worcester trial commenced, Griffin on Nov. 27 pleaded guilty to four additional counts of wire fraud and 11 counts of filing false tax returns.Both men are facing serious prison time, with a charge of wire fraud alone providing a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman scheduled sentencing for March 20.The troopers were stationed at the Traffic Programs Section at State Police headquarters in Framingham.According to the indictment filed December 2020, the pair “and their coconspirators would purposely arrive late to, and le...

DCF social worker built intricate narrative of an ‘extremely traumatized child’ over years to enroll in BPS high schools, prosecutors say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

For six months ahead of the 2022-23 school year, former DCF social worker Shelby Hewitt laid groundwork of false identities and intricate fictions of special education needs and emotional trauma for six months, Suffolk prosecutors say.It was all to con her way into high school, the DA alleges.“Posing as a child, the adult defendant enrolled herself in Boston Public Schools and attended school with children in the community, first as a ninth grader, and then later as a seventh grader at a different school within BPS,” the Commonwealth’s summary of the case reads. “In reality, the defendant was a woman in her early thirties who had attended both college and graduate school and was employed as a social worker.”Hewitt, 32, was arraigned on new charges in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday, following her prior arraignment in West Roxbury Court in July. The former social worker is charged with several counts of forgery, uttering false writing, identity fraud, ...

A Harvard event was moved off-campus after Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss criticized president for comments on antisemitism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

An event at Harvard involving Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss was moved off-campus a day after the Harvard alum criticized the university’s president for her controversial Congressional testimony about antisemitism.Democratic U.S. Reps. Auchincloss and Seth Moulton, both from the Bay State and both Harvard alums, issued a joint statement after Harvard President Claudine Gay was questioned on Capitol Hill about rising antisemitism on college campuses. Gay refused to characterize calls for the genocide of Jews as a breach of Harvard’s code of conduct.“Harvard ranks last out of 248 universities for support of free speech,” Auchincloss and Moulton said in the joint statement. “But when it comes to denouncing antisemitism, suddenly the university has anxieties about the First Amendment. It rings hollow.”A day after that joint statement, an event on Harvard’s campus involving Auchincloss and California Congressman Ro Khanna was moved of...

Boston City Council approves voting rights for immigrants with ‘legal status’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

The Boston City Council approved a home rule petition that grants immigrants with “legal status” the ability to vote in local elections, over concerns that the move could jeopardize their path to attaining full citizenship.The 8-4 vote taken Wednesday was described as a largely “symbolic gesture” by Councilor Gabriela Coletta who stated that conversations with her constituents drove her to vote ‘yes’ on the measure, despite the serious legal ramifications that could arise from non-citizens mistakenly voting in state or federal elections.“After checking with members of my community, to them a ‘yes’ vote would show solidarity with those who are here legally, pay taxes and are members of, not just East Boston, but Boston as a whole,” said Coletta, who represents East Boston. “I do intend to vote ‘yes’ for them and for them only.”Coletta, in a lengthy prepared statement read prior to the vote, directed the councilors to “be real” about what their ‘yes’ vote meant.The mayor “may or may n...

Battenfeld: Michelle Wu defends holiday party excluding white city councilors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:13:51 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s publicly hosted holiday party excluding white elected officials is questionable optics and judgment for someone who is supposed to be uniting the city.As the Herald first reported, Wu hosted the party for an “electeds of color” group only on Wednesday night at the city-owned Parkman House despite criticism from some councilors who got disinvited.Wu’s director of City Council relations, Denise DosSantos, mistakenly sent an invite to the party to all city councilors, seven of whom are white.Fifteen minutes later she sent another email apologizing for sending the invite to everyone.“I did send that to everyone by accident, and I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused,” she wrote.Wu spokesman Ricardo Patrón told the Herald the city was not paying for the party, though it was using city resources — the Parkman House.The disclosure of the party quickly spread nationally on the Internet – y...