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Boston Mayor Wu pitches rent control as way to combat ‘housing crisis’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu made another push for rent control Tuesday, telling state lawmakers that she views the controversial stabilization reform as one piece of a broader strategy to address the housing crisis.Wu submitted written testimony ahead of a Joint Committee on Housing session at the State House, where the mayor’s home rule petition for rent stabilization was among a number of similar proposals that were considered.Approved by the City Council last March and filed by state Rep. Samantha Montano, the bill would cap Boston’s year-over-year rent increases at 6% plus consumer price indexes, to a max of 10%.“Much like the rest of the Commonwealth, the city of Boston is in a severe housing crisis,” Wu wrote. “This would allow tenants to have reasonable expectations of the increases in their living expenses and allow them to plan accordingly.”According to statistics provided by the mayor, the majority of residents and families in the city are renters, and more than 50% are cost-...

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien is challenged to a ‘cage match’ by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

Round two between Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin was sure a doozy.The Senate floor on Tuesday almost transformed into a wrestling ring/UFC Octagon when the Republican senator challenged Charlestown’s O’Brien to an actual fight.It never turned physical, but the shouting match led to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders getting in the middle of the battle as he started yelling and banging his gavel.The beef between O’Brien and Mullin has been building for months. They went at each other during a March Senate hearing as they argued about unions, their salaries and union members’ dues. During the intense exchange, O’Brien said Mullin had “hid money” when he owned a company.Then after that Senate hearing, O’Brien — a fourth generation Teamster who joined Teamsters Local 25 in Charlestown when he was 18 — tweeted several times about Mullin.“After you left here, you got pretty excited about ...

2 women accused of helping Georgia inmate who escaped jail last month

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

MACON, Ga. (AP) — Authorities on Tuesday arrested two women accused helping one of four men who escaped from a Georgia jail last month.Jacorshia Smith, 30, and Janecia Green, 30, both of Macon, face a charge of aiding the escape of 37-year-old Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, who was captured Sunday at a home in Augusta, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Authorities did not elaborate on what Smith and Green are alleged to have done.Bond has not been set for either woman and jail records did not indicate if they had an attorney who could speak on their behalf. The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking that information.Barnwell was being held on drug charges when he and three other inmates escaped through a damaged window and a cut fence at the jail early Oct. 16.Authorities continue to search for 52-year-old Joey Fournier, the last of the group who is still on the run.News outlets reported that Fournier was being held on a murde...

Former CEO at center of fake Basquiats scandal countersues museum, claiming he is being scapegoated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A former executive director of a Florida museum that was raided last year by the FBI over an exhibit of what turned out to be forged Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings filed counterclaims Tuesday against the museum, claiming wrongful termination and defamation. The countersuit comes months after the institution sued him and others over the scandal.Former CEO Aaron De Groft said in court papers in Orlando, Florida, that the board chairwoman and outside lawyers for the Orlando Museum of Art had signed off on the exhibit, even after the FBI had subpoenaed the museum’s records over the exhibit in July 2021.De Groft said he was being made a scapegoat and that the museum’s lawsuit against him was a public relations stunt to save face and make him “the fall guy.” De Groft was fired in June 2022 after the FBI raid.After reviewing documents and interviewing De Groft and other staff members, the outside lawyers told the executive director and chairwoman that there was n...

Anchorage adds more shelter beds after unusually high amount of snow and record outdoor deaths

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Anchorage scrambled Tuesday to come up with more temporary housing for the homeless after back-to-back snowstorms dumped more than 3 feet of snow on the city in just nine days, an amount that is high even by Alaska standards.The concern grows as temperatures are expected to plummet to single digits by the weekend.Four people believed to be homeless have already died this month, part of a record 49 deaths of people living outdoors in Alaska’s largest city this year, according to a count kept by the Anchorage Daily News.The Anchorage Assembly met in special session Tuesday and approved a contract to add 50 beds to a shelter that just opened in October.The current shelter was initially set up for 150 beds in the administration building of a former waste transfer site, the city’s answer after the mass shelter established during the pandemic in a sports arena was closed. It’s part of a patchwork of shelters in old hotels, apartment buildings and social services f...

Man charged with abducting Michigan teen who was strangled dies while awaiting trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A man awaiting trial in the kidnapping of a 16-year-old western Michigan girl who was later killed has died from medical complications.Gerald Bennett, 63, of Detroit, was admitted Nov. 7 to a hospital for cancer treatment, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said Tuesday. Bennett was placed on life support after his health declined. He died Monday.Bennett was found competent last April to stand trial in the abduction of Mujey Dumbuya.In 2017, Dumbuya had accused Quinn James — a maintenance worker at her school — of sexually assaulting her when she was 15. She had been scheduled to testify at his trial in April 2018.But Dumbaya was abducted from a bus stop in January 2018 and her partially clothed body was later found in woods in Kalamazoo, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of her Grand Rapids home. She had been strangled.Totten said James hired Bennett to help him kidnap and kill Dumbuya, and the two men were charged in state court with murder. James was conv...

Colombia begins sterilization of hippos descended from pets of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia on Tuesday began the sterilization of hippopotamuses, descendants of animals illegally brought to the country by late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in the 1980s.Two male hippos and one female underwent surgical sterilization, environmental authorities said. It is part of a larger government effort to control the population of more than 100 of the mammals that roam around unsupervised in some rivers. The plan includes the sterilization of 40 hippos a year, transfer some of them to other countries and possibly euthanasia.The hippos, which spread from Escobar’s estate into nearby rivers where they flourished, have no natural predators in Colombia and have been declared an invasive species that could upset the ecosystem.A group of hippos was brought in the 1980s to Hacienda Nápoles, Escobar’s private zoo that became a tourist attraction after his death in 1993. Most of the animals live freely in rivers and reproduce without control.Sterilization takes time,...

Judge’s ruling advances plan to restructure $10 billion debt of Puerto Rico’s power company

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday tentatively approved a portion of the newest plan to restructure $10 billion of debt owed by Puerto Rico’s power company amid heated negotiations between creditors and the U.S. territory’s government.The overall debt restructuring plan has been amended four times this year by a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances. A confirmation hearing is set for March 2024 as various bondholders continue to oppose the plan.The board did not have immediate comment on the judge’s decision regarding the plan’s disclosure statement, which requires modifications before bondholders vote on it. The decision was issued after an hours-long hearing that drew protesters to the courthouse who are opposed to electric bill increases outlined in the plan.The bankruptcy of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority has dragged on for years amid intense debate on how to restructure its debt — the largest of any government agency in th...

1 woman in critical condition a day after knife attack at Louisiana Tech University

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

RUSTON, La. (AP) — One woman remained in critical condition Tuesday after what officials say was a random knife attack on a college campus in north Louisiana. Two other women were still hospitalized. One was in serious condition, according to an email from Louisiana Tech University, and the other was recovering and could be released as early as Wednesday. A fourth victim had not required medical attention.The suspect in the case, Jacoby Johnson, was taken into custody soon after the Monday morning attack outside a recreation center on the Tech campus in Ruston. Johnson, a senior at the university, was being held on four charges of attempted second-degree murder. Neither the court clerk nor the district attorney’s office in Louisiana’s Lincoln Parish had information on whether Johnson had an attorney who could comment.Debby Hollimon of Ruston, was grazed by the attacker’s knife, according to The Ruston Daily Leader. She told the newspaper she heard screams and saw a...

Semi-truck fire shuts down portion of I-294 in Willow Springs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:58 GMT

WILLOW SPRINGS, Ill. — Emergency crews are on the scene of a semi-truck fire that broke out on the Tri-State Tollway on Tuesday.A car hauler truck, which appeared to be carrying at least two vehicles, was in flames when SkyCam 9 was over the scene along northbound I-294 in Willow Springs around 4:45 p.m.Illinois State Police say the fire broke out after a crash involving two commercial vehicles, and no injuries were reported. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines At least two overturned vehicles could be seen immediately next to the fully engulfed truck and another overturned vehicle could be seen nearby, as fire crews worked to get it under control. Troopers with the Illinois State Police say all northbound lanes at milepost 21.25, near LaGrange, are closed due to the fire. It is unclear how long the closures will last. WGN Traffic Map: Get the latest real time traffic updates This is a developing story, stay with WGN News for the latest updates.