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April 18, 2024

She was surprised Concord Academy removed her as commencement speaker. She thinks it had to do with her ‘politics.’

“I didn’t have any proof as to why they removed me, but I had an educated guess, which is my politics,” said Porsha Olayiwola, Boston’s poet laureate.

‘It’s complete political theater’: Congress spins its wheels — again — while crucial legislation languishes
Wednesday was an unusually chaotic day in Congress. And that’s saying something.

With the clean energy transition, low-income communities fear they’ll be saddled with big infrastructure projects, again
Advocates worry environmental justice neighborhoods are being saddled with this infrastructure, taking away open space and exposing residents to risks such as fire, while wealthier communities that are more able to push back are spared.

Suffolk County youths three times more likely to be held after arraignment

The Suffolk district attorney’s office said it is responding to a rising number of firearm cases among young people while trying to balance how best to help children involved in crimes.

Columbia president tells Congress action needed against antisemitism

The president of Columbia said the university had suspended 15 students. She promised that one visiting professor “will never work at Columbia again."
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The Nation

Johnson pushes ahead on foreign aid bill, teeing up a weekend vote

Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday told Republicans that the House would vote Saturday evening on his foreign aid package for Israel and Ukraine, pushing through resistance in his own party to advance a long-stalled national security spending package for US allies.

Senate dismisses impeachment charges against Mayorkas without a trial

The Senate on Wednesday dismissed the impeachment case against Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, voting along party lines before his trial got underway to sweep aside two charges accusing him of failing to enforce immigration laws and breaching the public trust.

What we know so far about the jurors in Trump’s New York hush money trial

There will be 12 jurors total, plus about six alternates, according to the New York judge overseeing the case.

Prosecutions of fake electors for Trump gain ground in swing states

As former President Donald Trump goes on trial in the New York criminal case, other investigations and prosecutions in five crucial swing states are continuing to scrutinize the steps that he and his allies took in trying to circumvent the will of voters after the 2020 election.

GOP lawmakers block effort to repeal Arizona’s strict abortion ban

The Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling last week to uphold the Civil War-era near-total abortion ban infuriated supporters of abortion rights, exhilarated abortion opponents, and set off a political firestorm in Arizona.

Tesla wants shareholders to reinstate $56 billion Musk pay package tossed by a Delaware judge

In a filing with federal regulators early Wednesday, the company said it would ask shareholders to vote on both issues during its annual meeting on June 13.

Biden vows to block US Steel acquisition by a Japanese company and promises tariffs on Chinese steel

Biden said during a visit to the headquarters of the United Steelworkers union that US Steel “has been an iconic American company for more than a century, and it should remain totally American.”

The World

Israeli response to Iran attack seems inevitable, despite allies’ pleas

European diplomats traveled to Israel on Wednesday to make one more plea for restraint in response to the aerial attack that Iran launched this weekend, but Britain’s foreign secretary acknowledged that an Israeli reprisal seemed inevitable.

Attack by Hezbollah injures 14 Israeli soldiers in border village

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a cross-border drone and missile attack in northern Israel on Wednesday that the Israeli military said had injured 14 soldiers, six of them severely.

Russian missile strikes north of Kyiv kill at least 17, Ukraine says

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the death toll, reported by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, might rise and blamed Ukraine’s lack of air defenses for the loss of life. The prosecutor general said 61 people had been reported injured.

US restores oil sanctions on Venezuela as hopes dim for free election

The United States, as a sign of goodwill, temporarily lifted some of the economic sanctions that have crippled the country’s crucial oil industry.

Suu Kyi moved to unknown location from prison by Myanmar junta

The unexpected movement of Suu Kyi, 78, comes as the military is under intense pressure from a rebel alliance. In recent months, it has suffered its worst losses since seizing power in a coup in 2021.

Looking for a fight in Ukraine

For all the similarity to Europe’s trench warfare a century ago, much has changed.

Metro

On the verge of a breakup, Lawrence and Methuen make amends to keep public health partnership alive

The rift between Lawrence and Methuen highlights the difficulties municipalities can face amid the effort to regionalize public health in Massachusetts.

Here’s how jury members are being chosen for the Karen Read murder trial

Out of roughly 90 potential jurors in the courtroom, nearly 60 said that they’d heard about the case. Two dozen said they had an opinion, and 12 said they had a bias against one side or the other.

Lithium-ion battery fires on the rise in Mass.; officials identify 50 blazes over past six months

The state Department of Fire Services has identified 50 lithium-ion battery fires in Massachusetts over the last six months, more than double the annual average documented by a national fire data reporting system, the agency said Wednesday.

Advocates push back after Cardinal O’Malley denounces bill to permit physician-assisted suicide

Advocates for medical aid in dying said the cardinal is using “fear-mongering” tactics and basing his arguments on policies in other countries that are unlike the “End of Life Options Act” being considered by state lawmakers.

Beloved school bus at Salem’s Greenhouse School vandalized while kids were outside gardening

Security cameras at the small, private school on Route 1A caught four youths, who appear to be high school age, allegedly breaking into the bus, a fixture at the grade school since its founding in 1983.
CRIME

Man up for parole more than 2 decades after Dartmouth professor stabbing deaths

James Parker was 16 when he was part of a conspiracy with his best friend that resulted in the deaths of Half and Susanne Zantop in Hanover, N.H.

Lowell teenager charged with robbing mail carrier in New Hampshire

Baraka Janvier, 18, of Lowell, was arrested Wednesday.

Blue Line track work gets underway — with a rail cart derailment, MBTA says

The MBTA’s effort to eliminate slow zones on the Blue Line started Wednesday — with a derailment.

Quabbin region being studied for MWRA expansion

As House Democrats eye the expansion of its public drinking water service area, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is considering whether the communities where that water comes from should finally get to reap the benefits of the system.

Woman killed while walking on I-195 in Westport after leaving car following fight with boyfriend, police say

Two witnesses told State Police they saw the woman “suddenly” run into the road, police said.

Man arraigned on arson charges after allegedly tossing two ‘incendiary devices’ into Mattapan home

The woman who lives in the home said she knew the alleged perpetrator and that they had been friends since high school.

Oklahoma man arrested for allegedly tossing pipe bomb at Satanic Temple in Salem

Sean Patrick Palmer, 49, will make an initial court appearance Thursday in the Western District of Oklahoma. He will be brought to federal court in Boston at a later date, the Massachusetts US Attorney's office said.
NH Crime

A former N.H. youth detention center resident testifies about ‘hit squad’ attack

Jurors heard from a former resident who says his house leader and another staffer restrained him while two others sexually assaulted him in a stairwell decades ago.

Sports

peter abraham | on baseball

If only for one night, Tanner Houck’s complete-game gem offers hope that all is not lost for Red Sox

Houck's last professional shoutout was a six-inning game ended by rain when he was with Double A Portland in 2019.
Red Sox 2, Guardians 0

Tanner Houck throws rare complete game, a ‘Maddux’ in fact, as Red Sox blank Guardians

Houck yielded just three hits and fanned nine, needing only 94 pitches.
bruins

Here’s what to know about the Maple Leafs, the Bruins’ opponent in the first round of the playoffs

Toronto has not won a playoff series against Boston since 1959, with the Bruins triumphing in seven games in 2013, 2018, and 2019.
Christopher L. Gasper

The Patriots have a chance to go big in this year’s draft. They best not miss.

Trading down for more picks is not the answer. Nor is selecting Michigan's J.J. McCarthy. New England needs to emerge with either UNC's Drake Maye or LSU's Jayden Daniels.
ben volin | on football

J.J. McCarthy is getting the hype, but a lot of NFL Draft experts don’t understand why

There is hard-to-explain buzz connecting the Michigan quarterback to the Patriots. Is it just the usual pre-draft bluster, a smokescreen, or what?

Five takeaways from ESPN’s report detailing Bill Belichick’s failed attempt to land the Falcons job

According to the report, Belichick was blindsided when he didn't get the position, and Robert Kraft may have had something to do with it.
NBA

NBA bans Jontay Porter after gambling probe shows he shared information, bet on games

The league determined that Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using another person's betting account, including wagers on the Raptors to lose.
Celtics notebook

As they await their playoff opponent, the Celtics are preparing ‘to be ready for the unexpected’

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has shown his team clips and details of the paths of other NBA champions, stressing that there is no predetermined route to a title.
RED SOX notebook

Garrett Whitlock’s promising start to the Red Sox season put on hold with trip to 15-day IL, but Rafael Devers back in the lineup at DH

Whitlock, 27, is 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA and 1.15 WHIP through four starts and 18⅓ innings.
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' LACROSSE NOTEBOOK

Wellesley’s Ben Palli had never played lacrosse until he picked up a stick two years ago and developed a love for the game

The 5-foot-6-inch senior didn't let his size limit his success in lacrosse. “You don’t have to be 6-5 to play at a high level, and I just fell in love with it ever since.”