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New sensory rooms debut at TD Garden

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

A series of new sensory rooms are debuting at TD Garden as officials hope to provide a more welcoming environment for all fans. The four rooms will be open for the upcoming Bruins and Celtics seasons. With the rooms now set up within the TD Garden, organizers have said their program offers the largest number of sensory rooms in a single venue in the world. “When we think about diversity and inclusion, what we’re doing here is creating a community,” said Dustin Giannelli of Hearsdustin.com.The sensory room areas will create a calmer environment for fans to step away from the sometimes overwhelming sights and sounds of the game. Speaking about the rooms, Kulturecity Executive Director Uma Srivastava said they “are geared for anybody who might have a sensory need.” Srivastava continued, saying studies show one in four people have such sensory needs.“As someone who is profoundly deaf, it’s all about awareness and the needs that we all rely on in public venues and are...

Chicago White Sox end 2023 with 101 losses. 5 takeaways from the ‘frustrating’ season.

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

Manager Pedro Grifol summed up the 2023 Chicago White Sox season as the final days of the year approached.“Frustrating, educational, somewhat embarrassed,” Grifol said Saturday afternoon. “But hungry and committed to get it right.”The Sox had hoped to bounce back after finishing 81-81 and missing the playoffs in 2022. Instead, they suffered at least 100 losses for the fifth time in team history.The Sox lost Sunday’s season finale 2-1 to the San Diego Padres in 11 innings in front of 20,588 at Guaranteed Rate Field to wrap up the year 61-101. They matched the 1948 team (51-101) for the third-most losses in a season. The Sox lost 106 games in 1970 and 102 in 1932.They finished 40 games under .500 for the first time since end of the 1970 season (56-106).There is nowhere to go but up. Here are five takeaways from 2023.1. The team never recovered from a dismal April.The Sox knew April would be a challenge.After opening the season in late March against t...

Suspect in Waltham fatal shooting arrested in Florida

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

The suspected shooter of a 22-year-old Waltham man has been located and arrested in Florida.Josh Pierre, 21, of Waltham, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on charges of murder and possession of a firearm in the death of Shelson Jules in the early morning of May 22.“Over the course of the investigation, Pierre allegedly took numerous steps to evade capture before he was ultimately located in Miramar, Florida,” and arrested on Sept. 22, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office wrote in a Wednesday statement.Investigators fingered Pierre as the shooter in July, according to the DA’s office. They say Pierre traveled with others to Waltham to meet with Jules for undisclosed reasons. The meeting became bloody at around 1:30 a.m. when Pierre allegedly shot Jules twice from behind before fleeing the scene.Jules’ family described him in his obituary as “many things: a loving son and brother, a devoted partner, a generous friend, a caring uncle, an aspiring cat dad, a silly dancer,” as well...

Convicted sex trafficker pleads guilty to witness intimidation

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

The feds say a convicted sex trafficker from Mattapan tried to get a woman he exposed himself to detained by immigration enforcement so she couldn’t testify against him.Mark Pinnock, 32, of Mattapan, pleaded guilty to one count of witness intimidation on Wednesday in federal court in Boston. He could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison for the charge. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5.“Let the cleaning lady know” she would be arrested by ICE if she were to go to court, Pinnock wrote to the security officer of a Brockton condo building last November, days before she was set to testify against him.The message was sent over an encrypted platform on a phone handed to the guard by a co-conspirator, who the feds say Pinnock directed to the location to intimidate the witness on his behalf.Pinnock was convicted to eight years in prison for sex trafficking in 2014 and had only recently been let out on probation for that when he got a job as an Amazon delivery driver. While delivering ...

Crime Briefs: Convicted Mattapan sex trafficker pleads guilty to witness intimidation

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

The feds say a convicted sex trafficker from Mattapan tried to get a woman he exposed himself to detained by immigration enforcement so she couldn’t testify against him.Mark Pinnock, 32, of Mattapan, pleaded guilty to one count of witness intimidation on Wednesday in federal court in Boston. He could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison for the charge. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5.“Let the cleaning lady know” she would be arrested by ICE if she were to go to court, Pinnock wrote to the security officer of a Brockton condo building last November, days before she was set to testify against him.The message was sent over an encrypted platform on a phone handed to the guard by a co-conspirator, who the feds say Pinnock directed to the location to intimidate the witness on his behalf.Pinnock was convicted to eight years in prison for sex trafficking in 2014 and had only recently been let out on probation for that when he got a job as an Amazon delivery driver. While delivering ...

MCAS failures and impacts heard at length by education committee

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

Teacher after teacher, parent after parent, and student after student told a joint committee of the Legislature that it’s time to end the use of a standardized test when determining whether Bay State students graduate at the end of high school.Through nearly four hours of testimony given while the Joint Committee on Education considers bills on accountability, assessments, and governance, lawmakers heard repeatedly on Wednesday that the state’s use of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, or MCAS, does little more than demonstrate how well off a student’s district is while only capturing a tiny snapshot of a student’s academic potential.“I believe in academic assessment of students. I believe standardized assessments are part of necessary overall evaluation so that we can see comparisons across students and districts and schools and states, and we can measure student growth in actual and relative terms,” Sen. Joanne Commerford said.“What I do not believe in,...

A new Alzheimer’s monoclonal antibody treatment shows promising results: ‘Hopefully more effective approach’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

A new Alzheimer’s disease monoclonal antibody treatment that takes aim at a new target for the progressive disease has shown promising results, according to Boston researchers.The Mass General Brigham treatment strategy mimics a genetic mutation that’s resistant to the neurodegenerative disease. In the study, the treatment was reportedly effective at reducing abnormal tau proteins associated with Alzheimer’s.The research team from Mass Eye and Ear and Massachusetts General Hospital developed this monoclonal antibody treatment as a follow-up to their work when they identified a genetic variant in the APOE Christchurch gene that provides extreme resistance against Alzheimer’s.To turn those gene findings into a potential treatment, the researchers have now developed antibodies that could target interactions between APOE and proteins.They found that one antibody, called 7C11, could lead to resistance to Alzheimer’s. Their therapy, tested in mice, resulted i...

Mattapan nightclub Macumba Latina ordered closed for lapse of judgment on night of shooting

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

The Boston Licensing Board says owners at a Mattapan nightclub had a serious lapse of judgment the night a double shooting occurred last month, ordering them to remain closed until it reviews a security and operations plan.The board received the plan outlining security measures Macumba Latina will implement after the Sept. 4 shooting, which left two patrons with non-life threatening injuries, just 10 minutes before its meeting Wednesday, Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce said.Macumba Latina will also be receiving a written warning and be scheduled to appear at the board’s violation hearing on Oct. 24.Club owners Max Fernandes and John Lopes, during a Tuesday hearing, highlighted how they’ve fired two bouncers for letting the alleged shooter – Regan Feliz, 29, of Jamaica Plain – in through a locked backdoor that night.The bouncers had only been on the job for about a year, with one manning the backdoor and the other, stationed by a bathroom, providing backup whenever needed, Fernandes said.O...

A $19,000 lectern for Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders sparks call for legislative audit

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Sarah Huckabee Sanders rose to national prominence in part during her time at the lectern as White House press secretary, but the purchase of a $19,000 lectern for the Arkansas governor is undergoing scrutiny and prompting claims that records about it have been altered. A legislative panel next week will take up a lawmaker’s request for an audit to review the purchase of the lectern, which was bought in June for $19,029.25 with a state credit card. The Arkansas Republican Party reimbursed the state last month for the wood-paneled and blue lectern, which the state received in August. “From my experience, where we’re at with this particular thing is we need to allow legislative audit go in,” Republican Sen. Jimmy Hickey, who requested the audit, said. “Everyone knows them, they do their work, they’re very thorough and then they produce a detailed report that comes to the Legislature through an open committee.”Questions about the lectern, its ...

California workers will get five sick days instead of three under law signed by Gov. Newsom

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:11:47 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Workers in California will soon receive a minimum of five days of paid sick leave annually, instead of three, under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Wednesday.The law, which takes effect in January, also increases the amount of sick leave workers can carry over into the following year. Newsom said it demonstrates that prioritizing the health and well-being of workers “is of the utmost importance for California’s future.”“Too many folks are still having to choose between skipping a day’s pay and taking care of themselves or their family members when they get sick,” Newsom said in a statement announcing his action.It was one of more than a dozen bills the Democratic governor signed Wednesday. He has until mid-October to act on all the legislation sent to him this year. He can sign, veto or let bills become law without his signature.Beyond preventing workers from choosing between taking a day off or getting paid, proponents of the sick day legislation ...