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‘We’re starting from scratch’: Leominster business owners cleaning up after flooding

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

Flash-flooding in Leominster forced first responders to use inflatable boats to rescue residents who became trapped by the flood waters. And as the waters recede, loacl business owners are getting their first look at the damage.Those rescued said the water came so quickly that they didn’t have time to evacuate.“When I left there was four feet of water on my porch,” said Arlene Sauler. “We had to get evacuated, the water just kept coming and coming and coming.”The severe weather caused some buildings housing businesses in the area to collapse.On Pleasant Street, the ground beneath the front portion of a house had been washed away and the road made impassable by a large break in the street.Heather Dinitto was among the business owners who said they lost their livelihoods in the storm.“I heard the dam let go and the river ran right through it and took out the entire first floor,” she said. “The bay doors, the garages, gone, the dumpsters ...

More Wet Weather, Latest on Lee

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

With a flood watch up yesterday for the potential of slow moving storms, and rain rates of 2-3″/hr, unfortunately the flooding rains did come into fruition. As the same storms trained over the same locations, dumping locally up to 6-8″+ of rain, flooding became serious very quickly. Some of the higher totals landed in Leominster, and with all the rushing water cascading down the hilly terrain, life threatening, damaging flooding occurred. That prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood emergency. In the wake of the flooding rains, today is a relatively quieter day with just a few pop-up showers from time to time. They won’t last nearly as long, nor produce nearly as much rain, as the storms of yesterday did. Still, it’ll be another muggy and murky day overall with highs in the 70s. Scattered showers and storms slide through tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night. A few of those storms will be locally strong and we’ll also track the pote...

Maryland plans to spend $1.2 billion on stadium improvements for the Orioles and Ravens. How much money is that really?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

There is a small group of predominantly Black neighborhoods in East Baltimore where the homicide rate has plunged, vacant homes have been renovated, property values are rising and new residents have arrived without displacing existing ones.The coalition of religious leaders overseeing those improvements — a nonprofit called BUILD — wants to take its model to neighborhoods across Baltimore and tackle the city’s crisis of empty lots and vacant homes. But many people have balked at the plan’s estimated price tag: $2.5 billion in government bonds.It’s a big number, acknowledged the Rev. George Hopkins, BUILD’s co-chair, but he wishes people could see the same value in Baltimore’s neighborhoods that they see in the stadiums where the Ravens and Orioles play.Those stadiums are slated to receive $1.2 billion of public money — $600 million each — in the coming years. To Hopkins and other Baltimore advocates, it’s proof that politic...

Orioles minor league report: From Samuel Basallo to Jackson Holliday, a look at the biggest risers — and fallers — on the farm

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

Samuel Basallo’s promotion is just further proof of his standout 2023 campaign.At 18 years old, the catcher began his first year of full-season ball with Low-A Delmarva. He’s ending it in Double-A.Basallo, now 19, hasn’t just zoomed up the Orioles’ prospect rankings, but he’s been one of the biggest risers in the sport. He began the season ranked by Baseball America as Baltimore’s 15th-best prospect, nowhere near the publication’s top 100. He leapfrogged up to No. 4 on the Orioles’ list and No. 44 in the top 100 thanks to his impressive production.Basallo, the best player the Orioles have signed internationally under general manager Mike Elias’ regime, posted solid numbers in Low-A (.887 OPS) but then broke out with High-A Aberdeen over the summer, slashing .333/.444/.688 — good for a 1.131 OPS — in 27 games. In his 110 contests between the two levels, he totaled 25 doubles, 20 home runs, 84 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and ...

Patriots-Eagles film review: How Mac Jones and Bill O’Brien are already problem-solving

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

All told, the Patriots’ season opener came as close to a draw as a 5-point game can.Offensively, the Patriots were a smidge more explosive and a touch more efficient than the Eagles. Their defense created one fewer turnover, but allowed three fewer trips into the red zone. The Pats’ special teams won the field position battle, through Eagles kicker Jake Elliott (4-for-4 on field goals) proved to be far and away the best player on the field in that phase.Ultimately, the difference between the Pats and the reigning NFC champions was not the gulf in roster talent many expected. It was that the Patriots committed the only cardinal sign of the game: Mac Jones’ pick-six.That interception yielded an early two-score lead for Philadelphia, which cashed in an Ezekiel Elliott fumble on the Pats’ next snap to jump ahead 16-0. At the Patriots’ invitation and welcome, the Eagles set the terms of engagement Sunday through an early lead that forced Jones and his rookie...

Libyan city buries 700 people killed in devastating floods as 10,000 are reported missing

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s eastern city of Derna has buried 700 people killed in devastating flooding and 10,000 were reported missing as rescuer teams struggled to retrieve many more bodies from the horrific deluge, officials said Tuesday. Mediterranean storm Daniel on Sunday night caused havoc and flash flooding in many towns in eastern Libya but the worst destruction was in Derna, where heavy rainfall and floods broke dams and washed away entire neighborhoods, authorities said.“The situation is catastrophic,” said Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister in Libya’s eastern government. “The bodies are still lying on the ground in many parts (of the city). Hospitals are filled with bodies. And there are areas we have yet to reach.”Authorities estimated earlier that as many as 2,000 people may have perished in Derna alone. The Ambulance and Emergency Authority, which coordinates search and rescue efforts, said about 2,300 people died in Derna but did not clarify what that figur...

Heavy rain brings flash flooding in parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

LEOMINSTER, Mass. (AP) — Heavy rainfall has flooded parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with one city declaring a state of emergency as water poured into homes, created sinkholes and stranded drivers.Mayor Dean Mazzarella in Leominster, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Boston, urged people not to venture outside as roads flooded Monday night, but some residents were evacuated as water came into their basements. All schools were closed Tuesday and two shelters were set up.“Everything’s just one big lake,” Mazzarella said in a recording posted online Monday night. “Find a high spot somewhere. Find a high spot and stay there until this is over.” There were no immediate reports of injuries.Early Tuesday, the city said people living in areas near a brook and the North Nashua River in Leominster should “immediately evacuate” as a precaution, “due to a potential issue at the Barrett Park Pond Dam.”Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said earlier that emergency boat ...

The Taliban have waged a systematic assault on freedom in Afghanistan, says UN human rights chief

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban have waged a systematic assault on the freedom of Afghanistan’s people, including women and girls experiencing “immeasurably cruel” oppression, the U.N.’s human rights chief said Tuesday.United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that human rights are in a state of collapse in Afghanistan more than two years after the Taliban returned to power and stripped back institutional protections at all levels. He urged U.N. member states to help fill the void. “The shocking level of oppression of Afghan women and girls is immeasurably cruel,” Turk said during a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. “Afghanistan has set a devastating precedent as the only country in the world where women and girls are denied access to secondary and higher education.”The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, as U.S and NATO forces withdrew from the country after more than two decades of war. They initially prom...

Fans cheer German basketball team’s return home after winning World Cup title

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Fans cheered Germany’s basketball team on its return home Tuesday after winning the World Cup for the first time.The team, led by tournament MVP Dennis Schröder of the Toronto Raptors, went direct from a long-haul flight from the Philippines to an event Tuesday morning at a sponsor’s headquarters in Frankfurt. A group of fans, including many children, and German politicians gathered to greet the champions.“I hope that we can get a lot of children and older people, move them to play basketball,” Schröder told the crowd as “We Are The Champions” played.In a country where soccer is the most popular sport, Germany’s World Cup campaign initially attracted little attention until the 113-111 upset win over the United States in the semifinals on Thursday.That unexpected victory brought momentum at home ahead of beating Serbia 83-77 in the final on Sunday. Even then, though, the team’s historic success had to compete for attention with the fi...

Farm laborers to receive greater protections under Biden administration proposal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigrant farm workers would receive a raft of new protections under a Biden administration proposal to be announced Tuesday, which would boost safety requirements on farms and raise transparency around how such workers are brought to the U.S., to combat human trafficking. The proposal would reform the H-2A visa program, under which hundreds of thousands of immigrants, mostly from Mexico, take on seasonal jobs in the U.S. agriculture industry. The number of people admitted under the program has soared in recent years, as rapid hiring after the pandemic and a low unemployment rate has left many farmers scrambling for workers. Last year, about 370,000 people were admitted with H-2A visas, double the number in 2016 and five times as many as in 2005, Labor Department officials said. Yet as the popularity of the program has grown, so have concerns about abuses. Reports of overcrowded farm vehicles and fatalities have increased as the numbers have risen, senior departmen...