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DeSantis plays up his personal side and swipes at Trump in campaign blitz across Iowa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and WILL WEISSERT (Associated Press)SALIX, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis was making a four-stop blitz through Iowa during his first full day of presidential campaigning on Wednesday, aiming for a personal connection with voters while intensifying his criticism of former President Donald Trump.The Florida governor’s first appearance was the floor of Port Neal Welding in Salix, a rural town near Sioux City, in the heart of the most Republican-heavy part of the state. Lining the highway outside the welding shop were metal structures including a towering Jesus, a version of the Statue of Liberty and the Minions.DeSantis talked up his efforts to push his state farther to the right. But he often barreled through his 30-minute speech in workmanlike fashion, leaving few pauses for applause from the audience of a bit more than 100 people, some wearing caps bearing seed company logos. The governor is opening his campaign trailing Trump in the polls. He’s also f...

Peter Durant plans to announce Senate run next week for Anne Gobi’s seat, source says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

State Rep. Peter Durant, a Spencer Republican, plans to announce next week a run for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Sen. Anne Gobi, who is leaving the Legislature to join the Healey administration, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.Republicans view Gobi’s district as a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in the Senate, where there are only three Republicans and Democrats hold a super majority. Durant’s decision to run will pit him against his House colleague, Rep. Jonathan Zlotnik, a Gardner Democrat.Durant did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.All three of the Senate’s Republicans told the Herald last week that they are confident a Republican can win a race in what they view as a competitive district.As of the end of April, Zlotnik reported $32,114 in campaign cash and Durant reported $828 on hand, according to state campaign finance records.Durant is a sixth-term state lawmaker who serves as the ranking minority member on both the Judi...

MIAA state baseball tournament pairings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

 BASEBALL DIVISION 1SEEDS: 1. Franklin (19-3); 2. Taunton (16-4); 3. Westford Academy (18-0); 4. Central Catholic (19-3); 5. Xaverian Brothers (13-7); 6. Saint John’s (16-4); 7. Boston College High (12-8); 8. Weymouth (17-5); 9. Bridgewater-Raynham (16-4); 10. St. John’s Prep (12-8); 11. Milford (12-8); 12. Andover (15-5); 13. Chelmsford (14-6); 14. Lincoln-Sudbury (12-10); 15. Natick (15-5); 16. Wachusett Regional (13-7); 17. Walpole (12-8); 18. Springfield Central (16-2); 19. Saint Paul Diocesan (13-7); 20. Boston Latin (13-7); 21. Methuen (11-9); 22. Beverly (15-5); 23. Braintree (10-10); 24. Bishop Feehan (11-9); 25. Shrewsbury (11-9); 26. Barnstable (13-7); 27. Waltham (12-8); 28. Algonquin (9-11); 29. Attleboro (9-11); 30. Winchester (14-6); 31. Durfee (9-11); 32. Lexington (13-9); 33. Hingham (10-10); 34. Lynn Classical (17-3); 35. Marshfield (10-10); 36. Doherty Memorial (9-9); 37. Acton-Boxborough (10-10); 38. Newton South (12-8); 39. Cambridge Rindge ...

Do you know how sunscreen was created? A look back at its history

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Sunscreen has only been around a century but pharmacy shelves are now lined with an assortment of sunscreens with a variety of active ingredients aimed to please everyone from the outdoorsman to the beauty-conscious shopper. The timeline below from the National Library of Medicine tells a brief story of sunscreen.1798: Robert Willan, the father of modern dermatology, describes a skin condition called eczema solare, or skin sensitivity to light.1820: English physician Sir Everard Home first proposes that skin pigmentation has protective effects against the sun and that a component of sunlight other than heat affects the skin.1878: Otto Veiel of Austria describes tannins as a form of sun protection. However, the darkening effect of tannins on the skin prevents them from being commercialized as a sunscreen.1889: Erik Johan Widmark of Stockholm publishes a landmark study that experimentally proves UV radiation can cause skin erythema and burns.1891: Dr. Hammer of Stuttgart, Germany, is ...

Woman hit, killed in City Heights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect that the pedestrian killed in the collision was a woman. SAN DIEGO -- A pedestrian was fatally struck by a vehicle in the City Heights neighborhood Wednesday morning, authorities said.The San Diego Police Department says a call came in at 4:53 a.m. reporting an individual down on the 4100 block of Home Avenue. Gunman robs Mission Hills restaurant According to authorities, a 61-year-old woman was driving a black 2007 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck eastbound in the number two lane of 4100 Home Avenue at the time of the incident. At that same time, a 59-year-old woman was walking west in the number two eastbound lane, parallel to the roadway, and was not in a crosswalk, SDPD explained. The pickup truck collided with the pedestrian and the woman was thrown into the number one lane, according to police.A white pick up truck then ran over the victim as she was laying in the roadway, SDPD said.The woman was pronounced dead at the sce...

Police in Atlanta arrest 3 behind bail fund supporting protests against police training complex

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Police on Wednesday arrested three key Atlanta organizers who have been aiding protesters against the city’s proposed police and fire training center, striking at the structure that supports the fight against what opponents derisively call “Cop City.”The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced its agents and Atlanta police had arrested three officers of the group that runs the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, which has bailed out protesters and helped them find lawyers.Charged with money laundering and charity fraud are Marlon Scott Kautz, 39, of Atlanta; Savannah D. Patterson, 30, of Savannah; and Adele MacLean, 42, of Atlanta.State investigators said they found evidence linking all three to the alleged financial crimes after executing warrants Wednesday morning at a house owned by Kautz and MacLean that is emblazoned with anti-police graffiti in an otherwise gentrified neighborhood east of downtown Atlanta.The Associated Press wasn’t immediately able to obtain...

Nikki Haley’s husband to deploy with National Guard to Africa as she seeks 2024 GOP nomination

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley’s husband will soon begin a yearlong deployment with the South Carolina Army National Guard to Africa, a mission that will encompass most of the remainder of his wife’s campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.A formal deployment ceremony will likely happen in the next few weeks, Maj. Karla N. Evans with the National Guard told The Associated Press on Wednesday.Michael Haley will be deployed as a staff officer with his unit, which will be at “the core of” a task force that supports the U.S. Africa Command, Evans said, “replacing a unit from a different state as part of a regular rotation of forces.” It will be Michael Haley’s second active-duty deployment since he joined the Guard as an officer in 2006. Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor, has been highly critical of President Joe Biden’s competency as commander in chief as she campaigns for the GOP nomination. She has spoke...

Texas governor appoints John Scott as interim attorney general after Paxton impeached

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday appointed John Scott to temporarily serve as Texas’ attorney general after the House of Representatives voted to impeach Ken Paxton, a Republican, over allegations of misconduct and crimes.The historic impeachment triggered Paxton’s automatic suspension from office pending the outcome of a trial in the state Senate that could result in his permanent removal. The Senate has set the trial to begin no later than Aug. 28. Scott, an attorney, has previously worked in the attorney general’s office and recently served as Texas Secretary of State. Abbott appointed him as the state’s chief elections officer in October 2021 and he served until December 2022, when he left the post before the state Senate would vote to confirm his appointment.Abbott made the announcement in a statement that did not mention Paxton by name or comment on the accusations against him. The governor has been publicly silent about Paxton since t...

Unprecedented Nova Scotia wildfires have evacuees fearing what awaits them

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

HALIFAX — As an unprecedented string of wildfires in Nova Scotia continued to burn out of control Wednesday, thousands of residents forced to flee their homes spent a fourth day wondering what their neighbourhoods will look like when they return home.Fire officials were hoping for a break in the dry, windy weather, but the forecast did not include any rainfall until Friday night.As of Wednesday, there were three wildfires burning out of control in Nova Scotia and about 18,000 people forced from their homes by mandatory evacuation orders. In the Halifax area, fire officials said 200 structures, including 151 homes, had been destroyed by a fire that started Sunday in a suburb northwest of downtown.Joe Benvie, one of 16,000 Halifax-area evacuees, said he was anxious to get home to rescue his two cats.“It’s horrible, horrible to have to wait,” the 45-year-old mechanic said Wednesday as he sat on a curb in a parking lot near a firefighting command post in Upper Tantallon, N.S...

Vatican questions how priest moved $17 million meant for missionary work into investment fund

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The former monastery on a quiet residential street in Rome once sheltered Jews fearing deportation during World War II. Purchased by the Vatican in 2021 as a dormitory for foreign nuns studying at Rome’s pontifical universities, the building now stands empty, a collateral victim of the latest financial scandal to hit the Holy See.Pope Francis has asked aides to get to the bottom of how at least $17 million, including money to refurbish the dorm, was transferred from the Vatican’s U.S.-based missionary fundraising coffers into an impact investing vehicle run by a priest, The Associated Press has learned. Two years later, the U.S. fundraiser says the money is gone, and the monastery is shuttered. Its renovation is tied up in bureaucratic red tape, while the nuns studying in Rome are still housed at a convent a 90-minute commute away.The story of what happened to the money is one that has vexed Vatican officials on both sides of the Atlantic, all the more because th...