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At least 6 organizations opt against holding conventions in Broward; some cite concerns over Florida’s ‘political climate’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

Broward County officials say several groups have had a change of heart about holding their events there, and some are blaming the state of politics in Florida.The group Visit Lauderdale works with organizations across the country to bring them to Broward. The group’s CEO, Stacy Ritter, said there is a clear pattern when it comes to recent cancellations.“I don’t think any of us has ever seen politics creep into tourism,” said Ritter.But officials with Visit Lauderdale say that’s exactly with about half a dozen organizations that opted out of holding their conventions in Broward.“Tourism has always transcended politics. People travel where they’d like to go,” said Ritter.But despite the sun and the sand, some groups are deciding to go elsewhere, according to a spreadsheet provided to 7News.One of those groups explained, “We were so close on this one … but group decided to pull out of Florida due to concerns about what the gov...

Unsettled weather returns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

After a couple of sunny days for most of the area, unsettled weather will slowly work its way back into New England the next few days. Saturday will feature more clouds, especially along the shoreline as a coastal storm system passes out to sea. Meanwhile in central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire a stalled front will produce afternoon showers and storms for some. The front remains in the area on Sunday but also remains stalled, meaning the system will be weaker but could still produce a shower or storm into the afternoon, even for locations a little closer to the coast. Widespread rain moves in on Monday as a second cold front moves through the area with scattered showers and storms in the forecast.

Authorities say inmate who escaped from Pennsylvania jail is dangerous and has survivalist skills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

(CNN) — Pennsylvania authorities are searching for a “dangerous” inmate with survivalist skills who they say escaped Warren County Prison by elevating himself on exercise equipment and exiting the jail yard through a metal gated roof, a county spokesperson said Friday during a news conference.Police in the city of Warren said in social media posts that on Friday officials discovered inmate Michael Charles Burham – who was being held on arson and burglary charges and was a suspect in a homicide investigation – had escaped.Warren Police said Burham “was also associated with the prior carjacking and kidnapping of a local couple while trying to escape capture.”“He is considered very dangerous, and the public is asked to be vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary,” according to police.Burham was last seen wearing an orange and white striped jump suit, a denim jacket and crocs shoes, Warren Police said.In addition to searching on foot and with K-9 units, law enforc...

Yankees Notebook: Left field remains a ‘mixed bag’ and area of concern

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

Everyone knew the Yankees needed a left fielder over the offseason, but the team rolled into spring training with Oswaldo Cabrera and Aaron Hicks as the best options on the roster.Since then, Cabrera, Hicks, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jake Bauers, Billy McKinney, Franchy Cordero, Willie Calhoun, Greg Allen and Giancarlo Stanton have all played the position this season. Bauers went on the injured list Friday, while Calhoun and Allen were already on it. Hicks now plays for the Orioles.The collective group had given the Yankees mixed results offensively entering Friday’s series opener against the Cubs.According to FanGraphs, Yankees left fielders are 28th in on-base percentage (.285), 27th in WAR (0.1), 26th in wRC+ (84) and 24th in average (.227). The position has found ways to score, though, as the group ranks sixth in runs (92), eighth in home runs (22) and ninth in RBI (74).As for the defense, Yankees left fielders rank 28th in defensive runs saved (-12) and ultimate zone rating (-5...

Weymouth double murder trial: Jurors have not reached verdict in Emanuel Lopes case after week of deliberations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

Jurors have now deliberated for a week in the trial of Emanuel Lopes, charged with murdering a Weymouth Police officer and a 77-year-old bystander in 2018, and have yet to reach a verdict.Closing arguments in the case were heard June 28 in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham and the jury began deliberating that day. With no deliberations over the weekend and the holiday, jurors have now had the case for a total of seven days. They were released at around 3 p.m. and instructed to continue deliberations on Monday.Lopes, 25, is accused of shooting Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna, 42, and bystander Vera Adams, 77, in the early hours of July 15, 2018, nearly five years ago. The defendant has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges in Norfolk Superior Court, including two counts of murder.The defense mounted a lack of criminal responsibility argument for Lopes, with defense attorney Larry Tipton arguing that his client has a long history of severe mental illness. In opening arguments, Tipton sa...

Red Sox notebook: Yu Chang excited to be back after ‘up and down’ recovery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

Yu Chang was all smiles as he sat in the home dugout. Back in the lineup for the first time since fracturing his left hamate bone in late April, the Red Sox shortstop said he hasn’t been this excited to play in a long, long time.“I feel like coming back the first time I was called up to the major leagues,” Chang said Friday via translator Patrick Chu.It’s been a long time coming for Chang, who was activated from the 60-day injured list ahead of Friday night’s series opener against the Oakland Athletics. The 27-year-old broke a bone in his hand mid-swing back on April 24, and since then he endured two setbacks that kept him out several weeks longer than originally expected.Meanwhile, with both Chang and projected starter Trevor Story on the shelf, the heavily depleted Red Sox were forced to rely on a revolving door of replacements. The results haven’t been pretty.Chang acknowledged that the prolonged recovery process has been difficult, and at time...

Shark advisory posted at Carlsbad beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Lifeguards posted a shark advisory sign Friday afternoon at a beach in Carlsbad.The sign, which warns beachgoers to "swim at your own risk," was found at Lifeguard Hut Tower 28 at North Ponto Beach near Carlsbad Boulevard and Island Way. Here comes another heat wave San Diego No other information has been released by officials at this time about the incident that prompted the shark advisory.Check back for updates on this developing story.

DNA testing leads to former US Army soldier in 1978 killing of woman in Germany

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

DNA testing has led to the arrest of a Nebraska man who was repeatedly questioned over decades in the 1978 stabbing death of a woman while he was stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany, authorities said.Tommy Molina, 69, was arrested in the western Nebraska city of Gering on June 21, the U.S. Marshals Service in Omaha said in a statement Thursday. He is awaiting extradition to Germany to face a murder charge.German prosecutors in the Bavarian city of Schweinfurt believe Molina, 24 at the time, was having an extramarital affair with 18-year-old Cornelia Hümpfer when she was killed April 20, 1978.He was initially questioned days after the killing and then again in 1996, after he told his third wife, while intoxicated, that a woman with whom he’d been having an affair had revealed she was pregnant and that he killed her, authorities said in a complaint unsealed at his initial appearance June 30 in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska.If extradited, Molina will face murder charges ...

Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin says he’s not running for open US Senate seat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a congressman from the suburbs of the nation’s capital, announced Friday he will not run for the U.S. Senate seat that is opening with the retirement of Sen. Ben Cardin.Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Reform Committee who is in his fourth-term, had been weighing a run for the rarely open Senate seat, but said in a statement Friday evening that he would instead seek reelection in the House.Raskin announced in April that he had completed chemotherapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with a 90% prognosis of no relapse and that his cancer was in remission. It was the second time Raskin had been diagnosed with cancer. He previously battled colorectal cancer in 2010.Raskin, 60, played a leading role in recent years as House Democrats twice impeached then-President Donald Trump and investigated Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. He was the lead impeachment manager when the House impeached Trump one week aft...

UN condemns killings of two more Indigenous residents on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:15:04 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.N. human rights office said Friday it condemned the killing of two more Indigenous residents on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast. The office called on the Nicaraguan government to investigate and punish the crimes. The government has not yet confirmed or commented on the two killings.“The communities in this region have been seriously affected by violence in 2023,” the U.N. office said in its social media accounts. The area where the attacks occurred, known as the Bosawas nature reserve, is set aside for Indigenous groups and environmental protection. But settlers want to clear the land to ranch and farms. The reserve also has been hit by illegal mining and logging.Such killings often go unpunished in Nicaragua, where many of the settlers are thought to be former soldiers.The U.N. rights office said it “calls on the government to investigate and find those responsible for these attacks, take action to prevent this from happening again, and guarantee the rights of ...