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Massachusetts House speaker unveils $654M tax relief plan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts House Speaker Ronald Mariano on Tuesday unveiled a $654 million tax cut proposal for the 2024 fiscal year aimed at helping seniors, renters, businesses and wealthier homeowners while rewriting the law that sent about $3 billion back to taxpayers last year.The plan, which would increase to $1.1 billion in tax relief for the 2026 fiscal year, includes a number of proposals the Democratic speaker said will help make Massachusetts more affordable and competitive.“We wanted to have something that we felt impacted all segments of the economy, all segments of our constituency with some fairness and some equity,” Mariano told reporters Tuesday.The package would change a series of tax policies, including increasing the estate tax threshold from $1 million to $2 million.Massachusetts is one of just 12 states with an estate tax and has the lowest estate tax exemption threshold in the country, along with Oregon. Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, who released a $742 ...

Ex-candidate to change plea in child sex abuse images case

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A wealthy former gubernatorial candidate charged with possession of images depicting child sexual abuse plans to change his plea next month in Hancock County.The hearing for Eliot Cutler, who previously pleaded not guilty, is scheduled for May 4 in Superior Court, a court clerk said Tuesday. Cutler’s attorney declined to discuss details, including any potential agreement with prosecutors.The 76-year-old Cutler, who remains free on bail, was arrested last year at his waterfront home in Brooklin, a coastal community 130 miles (210 kilometers) from Portland. He was charged with four counts of possession of sexually explicit material of a child under 12.Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A message seeking comment was left with the prosecutor Tuesday.Cutler, a lawyer, ran for governor twice as an independent and used his personal wealth to bankroll both campaigns. He lost by less than 2 percentage points to Republican Paul...

Supermarkets to pay $800,000 in overtime violation case

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston-area supermarket chain will pay $800,000 to settle allegations that it violated state labor laws by failing to pay workers overtime and premium weekend rates, the state attorney general’s office said Tuesday.The C-Mart stores, which specialize in Asian foods and are located in Boston’s South End and Chinatown neighborhoods as well as in Quincy, were issued 15 citations in 2021 following an investigation by the attorney general’s Fair Labor Division.In addition to not properly paying workers for overtime hours or for hours worked on Sundays, authorities concluded that the stores failed to furnish accurate payroll records and failed to post required workplace notices.The settlement was reached after C-Mart appealed the 2021 citations.“I am proud of the office’s work to ensure that the workers harmed by C-Mart will get back the wages they are rightfully owed,” Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a statement.An email seeking comment was ...

Chicago Bears in Arlington Heights: Business owners, others want downtown to withstand $5B redevelopment plan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

As the Chicago Bears and village of Arlington Heights leaders consider the football team’s behemoth, multi-billion dollar plan to redevelop the Arlington International Racecourse site the Bears recently purchased, the town’s downtown area is top of mind for leaders and some business owners already there.For Chip Brooks, who owns the live music venue and restaurant Hey Nonny, downtown Arlington Heights is unique because “we don’t have a lot of outsiders here.” For him, the dominance of locally-owned businesses in the area sets the village’s commercial district apart from its neighbors.The Bears’ official purchase of the former horse racing site, two miles north of downtown, has brought that distinguishing local character into even sharper focus for Brooks. The land sale is the first step in the process of developing what could possibly be a very large neighbor to the existing downtown.The village has already approved a pre-development agreeme...

Alleged serial rapist Ivan Cheung makes appearance in Suffolk Superior Court

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

The former State Street vice president charged with raping a series of girls and women appeared in court today for a scheduling hearing ahead of his upcoming trial expected to take place next January.Ivan Cheung faces 11 charges in Suffolk Superior Court: four counts of forcible rape of a child under 16, two counts of rape of a child under 16, four counts of aggravated rape, and a count of assault with intent to rape.Cheung was initially charged in September of last year. He was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on Sept. 13. He was fired from his job at State Street, where his LinkedIn profile showed he had worked for 18 years and most recently as a vice president of “procurement category strategy,” which is building a new headquarters across from that court, on the same day.“We have made the decision to terminate the individual’s employment,” Ed Patterson, the company’s chief spokesman, told the Herald that evening.His case was kicked up to the Superior Court following an indictm...

The pandemic disrupted their freshman year. It may also have prepared the Class of 2023 for the job market.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

Adonis Brooks is about to graduate from Muhlenberg College, and he has a job lined up. A dual-major in psychology and business, the Brooklyn, New York, native will be going home to New York City to work for a consulting firm.“I have a job, I’ve accepted the offer, which is great,” said Brooks, who has secured a position with Huron Consulting Group’s office in Manhattan. “But while I was looking for the job, I was just super stressed with interviews and stuff like that. Overall, I can’t really complain about the job hunt, it was just a lot of work.”For college seniors over the years, Brooks’ story is a familiar one. But for the Class of 2023 the road to graduation day and the beginning of a career was one that included some unusual obstacles.Midway through the first year, in the spring of 2020, the COVID pandemic hit, forcing a mass exodus away from campuses to virtual classes back home, then back to campus again with almost a whole year of the college experience wiped away.Then ther...

As Earth Day nears, these books for young readers show natural treasures and ways to protect them — every day

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

Caroline Luzzatto | Virginian-Pilot CorrespondentThe theme for this year’s Earth Day is “Invest in Our Planet” — an effort to encourage earthlings to preserve the planetary treasures we have and to look for ways to make the world a better, greener, healthier place. Young readers seeking ways to invest in the world they’ll inherit will find a great wealth of books about plants, animals, water and other resources.Here are just a few worth adding to your Earth Day (and everyday) bookshelf. (Earth Day, by the way, is April 22.)___Young people looking for a thoughtful, user-friendly guide to how and why to recycle will appreciate “Can I Recycle This?” by Jennie Romer. (Ages 4 through 8. Viking. $18.99.)Filled with sketchbook-like illustrations of grinning cans and bottles by Christie Young, this approachable book explains how recycling works and why some items can’t be recycled.But it also aims higher, looking ahead to “a future where all packaging is reusable or refillable, and companie...

Bruins notebook: David Krejci slowly working his way back to form

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

Coach Jim Montgomery said Tuesday morning that David Krejci will not play in the final two games of the regular season, meaning the veteran centerman will miss the last six games of the season with a nagging lower body injury.The good news is Krejci skated prior to the B’s morning skate and Montgomery is hopeful he’ll be ready for the start of the playoffs.“Today was his best day, so that has us optimistic about where he’s going to be Game One,” said Montgomery.It is not yet known whether the B’s will start on Monday or Tuesday against an opponent that’s yet to be determined.The Krejci injury does deprive the B’s of giving the forward group one final test run with all the expected pieces in place. We’ve yet to see the presumed third line of Taylor Hall (who returned after a month-plus absence last Saturday), Charlie Coyle and Tyler Bertuzzi. With Krejci out, Pavel Zacha has been centering the second line with Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak, but...

Supervisors pass 'no confidence' vote against Nathan Fletcher

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors passed a vote of "no confidence" against Nathan Fletcher in a move to pressure him to resign from his position immediately.The vote was held during an emergency special meeting Tuesday morning at the County Administration Center.The resolution passed unanimously with Supervisors Joel Anderson, Jim Desmond, Terra Lawson-Remer and Nora Vargas voting in favor. Fletcher was not present at the meeting.The board does not have the power to outright remove Fletcher from office, so the vote is essentially a move to put pressure on him to resign immediately, instead of the May 15 date he had previously announced.The full letter requesting the vote of no confidence can be viewed here.Fletcher has been accused of sexual assault and harassment in a lawsuit by a former Metropolitan Transit System employee.“Because Supervisor Fletcher is not here, not available to respond to questions and concerns by the public and media about his actions,” Var...

Union for RCMP 911 operators calls for recruitment plan to address staff shortages

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:35 GMT

OTTAWA — The union that represents the RCMP’s emergency dispatchers and operators is calling on the force to come up with a recruitment plan to fix worsening staff shortages.CUPE Local 104 president Kathleen Hippern said hundreds of people are off on long-term sick leave and knows of many more who are looking for an exit. “We’re so understaffed,” she said in an interview Tuesday. When someone dials 911 and asks for police, Hippern said their members take the call and gather the information officers need to know before heading to a scene. “Police are not moving until one of us answers that call.”Hippern said that few centres are fully staffed, specifying that in Nova Scotia, staffing is only at about 50 per cent. She said morale is “abysmal” and she believes the lack of staff is affecting public safety by leaving callers sometimes waiting for minutes before someone is able to answer. “I’m terrified for any of my family membe...