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Jeff Bezos donates millions to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

It’s the season of giving, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is doing his part.His Day One Foundation” donated $5 million to the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.That agency provides shelter for homeless families across South Florida.“More and more, we’re seeing homeless families come to our doors. These are the most vulnerable of all, our children, and small children, and this grant will go a long way in helping us continue to provide dignity and a home and a roof over their heads,” said Peter Roustis-Arroyo of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.Including the Archdiocese of Miami, the foundation awarded $117 million to a total of 38 nonprofits across the U.S. that are working to end homelessness.

Man who battle leukemia meets bone marrow donor at Amerant Bank Arena during Hockey Fights Cancer night

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

A man was given the gift of life and was able to get the chance to meet his life saver.A bone marrow donor and recipient were honored at the Amerant Bank Arena during Hockey Fights Cancer night in Sunrise, Monday.Owen Hern said that he was just doing a good deed with his college friends in 2018. Little did he know, he was saving the life of of William Anderson, who was battling leukemia.“I was in college at the time, my entire fraternity was getting swabbed together, I didn’t really think much of it at the time,” Hern said. “And then a couple years later, I get an email that I was potentially a match. If you asked me in ’18 if you thought I’d be standing here, I’d tell you you’re crazy.”“And actually, the crazy thing is, I was only on the list for like a month and they found a perfect match, and here I am,” Anderson said.The match was made possible by the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Registry.

Saints alive for Andy Munoz and his Joliet Catholic teammates as they play for Class 5A state title. ‘It’s amazing.’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

There’s only more game left for senior quarterback Andy Munoz to play with a handful of lifelong teammates at Joliet Catholic. And the memories have already started to flow.After Saturday’s 31-21 victory over Providence in the Class 5A state semifinals at Joliet Memorial Stadium, Munoz remembered playing in 2018 for the Plainfield Saints.Munoz, HJ Grigsby, Adrian Washington, Anthony Brown, Austin Bernhard, Nate Magrini and Tai Sesta went to a Pop Warner national tournament that year in Orlando, Florida.“It’s great to be along for the ride with all of them,” Munoz said. “From Pop Warner to high school football, it’s a great experience. It’s amazing.”The Hilltoppers (10-3) hope to keep their amazing ride going at 10 a.m. Saturday when they face Nazareth (8-5) in the state championship game at Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium in Normal.The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Munoz said he will miss walking onto the field with teammates that ...

MBTA lifts speed restrictions on Red Line between JFK/UMass and Park Street in Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

The MBTA has removed nine speed restrictions on the Red Line, leaving less than 10 miles of track with slow zones, which officials say is the lowest amount since March.Officials on Tuesday said the beleaguered transportation network has completed “critical track work” between JFK/UMass and Park Street stations after commuters had to take shuttle buses a couple evenings last week and then over the weekend.Six of the slow zones lifted are in the area between South Station and JFK/UMass, as planned, while officials said the agency “maximized the unencumbered access to the track … by alleviating another three restrictions near Downtown Crossing Station.”“Each step we take to repair our infrastructure is the building block for rebuilding public trust and restoring the level of service that the public deserve,” MBTA GM Phillip Eng said in a release.  “As we continue to move towards restoring service levels across the system, lessons learned will continue to be incorporated to streamline e...

3 arrested in New Hampshire for allegedly trespassing at Israel-based defense contractor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

Two Massachusetts residents and a Connecticut resident were arrested Monday in New Hampshire for allegedly trespassing on and causing damage to the roof of an Israel-based defense company, police said as the incident drew condemnation from Gov. Chris Sununu.Merrimack, New Hampshire police arrested Calla Walsh, 19, of Cambridge; Sophie Ross, 22, of Housatonic, and Bridget Shergalis, 27, of Dayville, Connecticut on the roof of a building used by Elbit Systems, which describes itself as a “high technology company” engaged in defense and homeland security. The company is headquartered in Haifa, Israel, according to its website.Police said they received calls just before 8 a.m. from employees at Elbit Systems reporting protestors blocking the driveway and “multiple people believed to be on the roof.” The local fire department responded alongside police “due to a report of smoke coming from the roof.”Protestors eventually left the driveway after they voiced “support for Palestine,” accord...

After parts of Massachusetts see snow, a rainy and windy travel day before a sunny Thanksgiving

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

Travelers trying to get an early start on the day before Thanksgiving should expect some rainy and blustery conditions on the roads before conditions clear out for a sunny Turkey Day.After some parts of Massachusetts were under a “Winter Weather Advisory” for up to 4 inches of snow and slippery conditions Tuesday night, all areas of the Bay State will be dealing with periods of rain on Wednesday.Fairly gusty winds are also in store for the busy travel day, with the strongest winds expected along Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Ann. Wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible, in addition to downed tree branches and isolated power outages.“It will definitely be a rainy and blustery morning for those heading on out,” Torry Dooley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald.“By the early afternoon, we’ll see improvements from west to east with rain showers coming to an end,” he ad...

Mexican officials admit secrecy-shrouded border train project had no environmental impact study

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The governor of Mexico’s northern state of Sonora acknowledged Tuesday that a secrecy-shrouded train project was an army undertaking that has not yet submitted any environmental impact statement, months after construction had already started.The rail link between the port of Guaymas and the border city of Nogales threatens to cut through and damage environmentally-sensitive conservation lands.Sonora Gov. Alfonso Durazo justified the new rail line project saying it would solve the problem of a rail line that passed through the center of Nogales by diverting rail traffic outside the city.But while the state is partially financing the project, it is “being carried out by the Defense department,” Durazo said Tuesday, adding that the state’s operational role is limited to helping the Army secure the rights-of-way.The Sonora state government is trying to convert Guaymas, on the Gulf of California, into a major container port, but the current railway connecti...

Review: Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’ leaves many notes of Bernstein unplayed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” a high-wire act of a biopic, leaps constantly between on stage and off, flying through Leonard Bernstein’s very public life as a conductor while diving into his more private marriage to Felicia Montealegre. How each side of Bernstein’s existence interacts with the other is the tension and harmony of “Maestro.” Which is authentic? Which a performance?Resolving those dichotomies is, thankfully, not the aim of Cooper’s admirably ambitious if performative drama about the musical conscience of 20th century America. Bernstein’s polymorphous life was spread between his family life and a string of male lovers, just as it was between conducting and the solitary toil of composing. “Maestro” resists neat conclusions about any facet of an expansively contradictory life.“If you carry around both personalities, I suppose that means you become a schizophrenic and that’s the end of it,” Bernstein (Cooper) says with a laugh in a TV interview alongside Montealegre (Carey M...

Founder of far-right Catholic site resigns over breach of its morality clause, group says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

The founder of a far-right, unofficial Catholic media group has resigned for an unspecified violation of the organization’s morality clause, the group said in a statement Tuesday.Michael Voris stepped down as president of St. Michael’s Media and Church Militant, a Michigan-based enterprise established to address what Voris’ official biography calls “the serious erosion of the Catholic faith in the last 50 years.” Voris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.“Michael Voris has been asked to resign for breaching the Church Militant morality clause,” the organization said in its statement. “The board has accepted his resignation.” More details were not provided, and the board said it “has chosen not to disclose Michael’s private matters to the public” but asked for prayers for him as he is “focusing on his personal health.”The Church Militant site and its sleek newscasts have drawn a loyal following with a mix of fiercely right-wing p...

Rain helps ease wildfires in North Carolina, but reprieve may be short

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:55:44 GMT

PINNACLE, N.C. (AP) — Heavy rain and lower temperatures helped slow down some wildfires in North Carolina on Tuesday, including blazes that had prompted evacuations of homes and campgrounds, forestry officials said.But the reprieve for crews will likely only last through the Thanksgiving weekend, since rain isn’t expected again for another 10 days, according to Shardul Raval, director of fire and aviation for the U.S. Forest Service’s southern region.“Unless we get some more continuous rain, we will probably be back to being active again in a few days,” he said. On Saturday, a fire broke out in North Carolina’s Sauratown Mountains and grew to more than 750 acres (303 hectares) by Tuesday, according to Jimmy Holt, a ranger with the North Carolina Forest Service. The rainfall helped crews reach 41% containment Tuesday, Holt said. Evacuations there have been lifted. “It’s so much better than it was a couple of days ago,” Holt said. The Black Bear Fire in N...