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Robbie Robertson, soul of The Band, dies at 80

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

Robbie Robertson, The Band’s lead guitarist and songwriter who in such classics as “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” mined and helped reshape American music, has died at 80.Robertson died surrounded by family, a statement from his manager said.From their years as Bob Dylan’s masterful backing group to their own stardom as embodiments of old-fashioned community and virtuosity, The Band profoundly influenced popular music in the 1960s and ’70s, first by literally amplifying Dylan’s polarizing transition from folk artist to rock star and then by absorbing the works of Dylan and Dylan’s influences as they fashioned a new sound immersed in the American past.The Canadian-born Robertson was a high school dropout and one-man melting pot — part-Jewish, part-Mohawk and Cayuga — who fell in love with the seemingly limitless sounds and byways of his adopted country and wrote out of a se...

Peabody man found guilty of shooting wife to death in Everett in 2018

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

A Peabody man was found guilty of shooting his wife to death with a shotgun a month after she had filed for divorce in 2018.Ersilia Cataldo Matarazzo, 50, had filed for divorce from her husband Emilio Matarazzo on Nov. 15, 2018, and moved out of the couple’s Peabody home to live with her parents on Central Avenue in Everett.On Dec. 19, 2018, Emilio Matarazzo — angered by the divorce and fearful that she was having an affair, according to prosecutors — shot her to death as she sat in her car, ready to leave for work as a secretary at St. Anthony’s Parish in Everett.On Tuesday, a Middlesex Superior Court jury found Emilio Matarazzo guilty of first-degree murder. The sentencing is scheduled for Thursday.“Intimate partner violence continues to be a significant public safety and public health issue. Ms. Cataldo Matarazzo had been subjected to a long history of abuse that escalated when she tried to leave the defendant,” Middlesex DA Marian Ryan said in a statement following the verdict.“...

Massachusetts again could see a tornado after 2 twisters, heavy rain may spark more flooding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

After two tornadoes touched down on Tuesday, there will be yet another twister threat on Thursday for southeastern Massachusetts.According to the National Weather Service, there is some potential for an isolated tornado in the same areas that saw them on Tuesday. A brief tornado hit Mattapoisett on the South Coast, and then a twister touched down in Barnstable on Cape Cod.“It should be a similar set up as we saw on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean it will necessarily pan out in the same way,” Bill Leatham, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald ahead of Thursday.“The combination of this tropical environment and spin in the atmosphere can bring the risk for brief tornadoes,” he added. “The risk is there, and we’ll be monitoring it later on Thursday.”So far this year, four tornadoes have been confirmed in the Bay State — doubling the annual average of two tornadoes. The Tuesday tornadoes ...

COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising, fueled by heat and waning protection

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

By Matthew Griffin, Bloomberg News COVID-19 hospitalizations are creeping up in the U.S. for the first time this year as extreme heat keeps people indoors and protection against infection fades.COVID hospital admissions rose 43% in the last week in July from a low in the week ending June 24, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. While they’re still lower than at any other point over thee past three years, public health officials across the country are urging caution about increases.As COVID-19 becomes more established, experts say occasional bumps in cases and hospital admissions will likely continue — though the virus’s future course isn’t set in stone. It still poses a threat to older people and those with compromised immune systems, they caution, and can cause lingering long COVID symptoms even among those without risk factors.It’s not a “full-blown, terrifying global outbreak, but nor is it gone,” said Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine at Georgetown ...

'Bunnie Fire' prompts evacuations in Ramona

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

RAMONA, Calif. -- A vegetation fire is threatening structures in the area of Chuck Wagon Road in Ramona, Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire warned on Twitter.At 11:35 a.m. Wednesday, fire officials confirmed crews were on the scene of what they called the "Bunnie Fire." Officials say the fire has a moderate rate of spread, warning structures on Chuck Wagon Road are threatened. People fleeing Hawaii wildfires pulled from ocean 'Bunnie Fire' map locator for Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2023 in Ramona, Calif. (Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire)At 12:39 p.m., the San Diego Sheriff's Department announced an evacuation order is in place for those who live in the shaded area of the map shown below:"Bunnie Fire" in Ramona prompts an evacuation order in this area. (Credit: San Diego Sheriff's Department)A temporary evacuation point is being set up at Olive Pierce Middle School located at 1521 Hanson Lane, said SDSO. Officials say the safest route is going north on San Vicente Road or south on Baro...

Photos: Rare ‘Scrippshenge’ sunset awes San Diego

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- And just like that, the rare and remarkable "Scrippshenge" sunset has come and gone again. This fleeting San Diego phenomenon can be viewed once or twice a year when the setting sun dips toward the horizon, perfectly aligning between the support beams of the Scripps Pier in La Jolla. This usually occurs in May and August, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. SpaceX rocket launch seen tracing San Diego skies Sunset chasers, photographers and locals flock to witness this perfect balance between pier, ocean and sky with many capturing the moment on camera. Others choose to sit in the sand and keep their eyes on the prize for a unique moment that passes as quickly as it comes. University of California, San Diego campus photographer Erik Jepsen captured the moment on camera down from beneath the pier while local photographer Vishwas Lokesh chose an angle from above -- both seizing the balanced moment with their lenses .An above view of the "Scrippshe...

Global Affairs says Michael Chong targeted by foreign smear campaign on Chinese app

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada believes Conservative MP Michael Chong has been the victim of a foreign smear campaign, which the department suspects was conducted by Beijing.The department said a co-ordinated network of news accounts on the social-media app WeChat posted a large volume of false or misleading narratives about Chong from May 4 to 13.WeChat is one of the most popular apps in China and many Chinese speakers in Canada use it to keep up with friends and read news.Global Affairs Canada said it stumbled across the postings this spring as part of an ongoing project to monitor foreign manipulation on social media, primarily linked to Russia.The project, dubbed the rapid response mechanism, was monitoring activity on social media in the lead-up to June byelections in ridings that did not include Chong’s constituency.The department said the information didn’t represent a direct threat to Chong or his family, but it did make false claims about his background, politic...

Biden issues an executive order restricting US investments in Chinese technology

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sign of growing strains between the world’s two biggest powers, President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that would block and regulate high-tech U.S.-based investments going toward China. It covers advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence.Senior administration officials said that the effort stemmed from national security goals, rather than economic interests and that the categories it covered were narrow in scope. The order seeks to blunt China’s ability to use U.S. investments in its technology companies to upgrade its military while also preserving broader levels of trade that are vital for both nations’ economies.The United States and China appear to be increasingly locked in a geopolitical competition, along with their deep trade relationship as the world’s two largest economies. Biden administration officials have insisted that they have no interest in “...

Biden claims his econ policies are reviving manufacturing, making his case at a wind farm plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

BELEN, N.M. (AP) — President Joe Biden declared Wednesday that his economic policies are reviving U.S. manufacturing, touring the West to drum up support for his efforts on jobs and inflation in the face of voters’ doubts.“I’m not here to declare victory on the economy. We have a lot more work to do,” Biden said at Arcosa Wind Towers, a plant that once made Solo cups and other plastics but is now shifting to manufacturing wind towers. “But we have a plan. And it’s turning things around.”Arcosa, the president said, was a “great example” of how the administration’s legislative achievements have bolstered jobs and investments in the U.S. The company had to lay off workers in Illinois and Iowa before Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act became law last year, but customers placed $1.1 billion in wind tower orders with the company afterward, according to the White House. The stock has risen more than 20% in the past 12 months.“Folks — when I think climate, I think...

If you’ve ever wanted to be in ‘Hamilton,’ you can now do so – on Roblox

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The landmark Broadway musical “Hamilton” has landed on Roblox, turning the innovative stage show into an immersive online environment for a new generation.“’Hamilton’ has global recognition. Roblox has 66 million daily active users from all around the world. What a perfect match,” Matt Edelman, president and chief commercial officer for Super League, which designed and built the online experience in collaboration with Small World Games. In the Hamilton Simulator, players use their own avatars as they rub shoulders with the musical’s characters and negotiate through 10 levels set during the Revolutionary War. It starts at the New York docks and the goal is to free the city from British yoke. Appropriately, the music-filled game requires no real money from players.“The intent here was to create a fun experience for this community and by doing so, introduce them to ‘Hamilton’ if they don’t already know it, or to honor and inspire the passion that...