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ImprovBoston is closing after 40 years of laughter at Cambridge theater: ‘This is incredibly difficult’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

ImprovBoston will soon be dimming its lights for the final time.After a 40-year run of laughter at the Cambridge comedy theater, ImprovBoston has announced that it’s shutting its doors at the end of the year. The Board of Directors is winding down all operations amid fiscal challenges for the nonprofit.The Central Square staple tried to reemerge post pandemic, with the National Touring Company performing all over New England, and a regular roster of classes each and every week. The organization said it will fulfill all remaining contracts and classes, all staff will be released, and the theater plans on evaluating all options during the remainder of the year.“This is incredibly difficult,” Managing Director Matt Laidlaw said in a statement. “Everyone at ImprovBoston worked extremely hard over these last three years to keep our doors open — from Leadership to our Touring Company, Instructors, Techs, Staff, Ensemble Members, volunteers and students.“...

Crime Briefs: 2 men indicted on Dorchester shooting that left 5 people wounded

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

Two men have been indicted for their alleged roles in a Dorchester shooting last summer that left five people, including two children, wounded.A Suffolk county grand jury on Tuesday indicted Gianni Williams-Johnson, 24, of Dorchester, and Micah Ennis, 24, of South Boston, on five counts of armed assault with intent to murder, four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, as well as single counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and unlawful possession of firearms. Williams-Johnson was also indicted on a charge of unlawful possession of a machine gun.The serious charges stem from the Sept. 17 shooting at an apartment complex on the first block of Ames Street. in Dorchester. Police responded there, according to previous Herald reporting, a little before 8:40 p.m. and found three adults and two juveniles suffering from gunshot wounds in a courtyard toward the rear of the building.Williams-Johnson was arrested on Oct. 2 and has b...

Red Sox will meet with top free agent pitcher this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

The Red Sox will meet with Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the coming days, MLB’s Mark Feinsand reports.With Shohei Ohtani signed to his record-breaking $700 million Los Angeles Dodgers contract, Yamamoto is the biggest star on the free agent market. He’s also one of the most promising talents to hit the posting system, coming off his third consecutive MVP and Sawamura Awards (their Cy Young equivalent) season in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league.Boston has been linked to Yamamoto throughout the offseason and scouted him in Japan this summer. They also have a potential advantage on their roster; he and Masataka Yoshida were longtime teammates on the Orix Buffaloes. They also played together on Team Japan, and took home the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The Red Sox outfielder classified their relationship as a “close” one to the Herald in September.However, the Toronto Blue Jays will also be meeting with Yamamoto this week, and after losing t...

Feds take step toward requiring drunk-proof cars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

DETROIT — U.S. auto safety regulators say they have taken the first step toward requiring devices in vehicles that prevent drunk or impaired driving.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Tuesday that it is starting the process to put a new federal safety standard in place requiring the technology in all new passenger vehicles.Such devices were required in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed by Congress in 2021.The agency says an advance notice of proposed rule making will help it gather information about the state of technology to detect impaired driving. The regulation would set standards for the devices once technology is mature, NHTSA said in a statement.It can take years for a regulation to make its way through the process, which includes public comment periods.In 2021, the latest year for which statistics are available, nearly 13,400 people were killed in drunken driving crashes, costing society $280 billion in medical expenses, lost wage...

Florida fines high school for allowing transgender student to play girls volleyball

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

By TERRY SPENCER (Associated Press)FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s state athletic board fined a high school and put it on probation Tuesday after a transgender student played on the girls volleyball team, a violation of a controversial law enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature. The Florida High School Athletic Association fined Monarch High $16,500, ordered the principal and athletic director to attend rules seminars and placed the suburban Fort Lauderdale school on probation for 11 months, meaning further violations could lead to increased punishments. The association also barred the girl from participating in boys sports for 11 months. The 2021 law, which supporters named “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” bars transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for student athletes identified as girls at birth. The student, a 10th grader who played in 33 matches over the last two seasons, was removed from the...

Red Sox bid for naught: Seth Lugo signs with Royals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

A Red Sox pitching target is officially off the board.On Tuesday afternoon, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers broke the news that Seth Lugo is signing a three-year, $45 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. The deal pays him $15M per year with a player opt-out after two seasons.The Red Sox were not only one of several teams interested in Lugo – insider Robert Murray reported that more than half the league had checked in on the reliever-turned-starter – but actually made him an offer. The Herald confirmed that Boston was planning to take that step last week.  According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, the Red Sox were one of the “top four bidders” for the righty, but it’s unclear if they were willing to go as long as three years.Lugo spent the bulk of his first seven Major League seasons in the New York Mets bullpen, with sporadic starts, but proved himself in San Diego’s rotation this year. He made 26 starts for the Padres, and posted a 3.57 ERA, 3.83 FIP...

With Ukraine aid in peril, Zelenskyy meets with Biden and pleads his case on Capitol Hill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — His country's future at stake, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used inspirational words, optimistic resolve and a nod to Christmas in appealing Tuesday to leaders in Congress for U.S. aid for his fighters in the war with Russia.But after hours of talks on Capitol Hill, additional American support appeared in grave doubt as Zelenskyy arrived at the White House to huddle with President Joe Biden. The U.S. has already provided Ukraine $111 billion since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his grinding invasion more than 21 months ago, but Republicans are insisting on linking any more money to strict U.S.-Mexico border security changes that Democrats decry.The White House is warning that if new money isn't provided by year's end it will have swift consequences for Ukraine's capacity to hold its territory, let alone take back land captured by Russia. Zelensky arrives at White House after failing to sway Republ...

Vancouver police arrest man after claim of gun in Ibrahim Ali murder trial courtroom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

Vancouver Police say a man was arrested after lawyers for Ibrahim Ali said someone brought a loaded gun to the final day of their client’s trial last week, where he was convicted of murdering a 13-year-old girl.Vancouver Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison says in a statement the man was released pending further investigations.Lawyer Kevin McCullough said in an interview Monday that Victoria Police told him someone close to the proceedings brought a loaded Glock handgun to court with an intention “to kill” on Friday.McCullough has filed notice of appeal against his client’s conviction for first-degree murder in the killing of the girl in Burnaby’s Central Park in 2017.The notice of appeal filed Monday lists 25 grounds, including that the court didn’t properly address safety concerns about death threats against Ali’s lawyers, and that there were “third party suspects” in the girl’s death.McCullough says two other men were ar...

How the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT testified to Congress on antisemitism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Over five hours at a congressional hearing, lawmakers pressed the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT on the topic of antisemitism. In some instances, they were unable to say whether calls for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ conduct policies. The backlash started almost immediately. Penn’s leader stepped down within days. Harvard’s president was on the hot seat for nearly a week before a university governing board announced Tuesday she would stay on the job. Republicans and Democrats alike criticized responses the presidents gave at the Dec. 5 hearing of a U.S. House committee on antisemitism on college campuses. In particular, the uproar centered on a line of questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who repeatedly asked how each university’s code of conduct would handle calls for the genocide of Jews. Early in the questioning, Stefanik asked the presidents about chants for “intifada,” a...

FBI to exhume woman’s body from unsolved 1969 killing in Netflix’s ‘The Keepers’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:10 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — FBI investigators are planning to exhume the body of a young woman whose unsolved 1969 killing has been a source of widespread speculation, especially since Netflix’s documentary series “The Keepers” examined the slaying of a Baltimore nun that unfolded days earlier under eerily similar circumstances.Joyce Malecki went Christmas shopping in November 1969 at a suburban mall outside Baltimore and never came home. Her body was found on a nearby military base days later and an autopsy determined she had been strangled.An advocate for the Malecki family confirmed Tuesday that the exhumation was tentatively planned for Thursday. The case received renewed attention after “The Keepers” was released in 2017, raising questions about whether Malecki’s disappearance was linked to that of Sister Cathy Cesnik, who was found dead from blunt force trauma after she went shopping and never returned.Also in 2017, investigators exhumed the body of a Catholic priest, Father Joseph Maske...