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Red Sox legend David Ortiz alleges he is a victim of extortion and fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

Red Sox legend David Ortiz is warning people to be careful with how they handle their personal information, as the Hall of Famer alleges he is a victim of extortion and fraud.Authorities in the U.S. and his native Dominican Republic are investigating the situation, the former slugger said in a video posted on his Instagram account early Wednesday morning.“I am being the victim of extortion. There are people who hacked my phone from more than fifteen years ago who hadn’t used it in recent times,” Big Papi said in Spanish.“He browsed through my personal life and wanted to extort me with that, meaning that he will sell part of my personal life from what he found on my phone,” Ortiz alleges.Ortiz did not say how many people are involved in the case, adding the suspect(s) also allegedly defrauded his bank accounts. He did not disclose the specific actions or amount of money taken, according to ESPN Deportes.The FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration are investigating in the U.S., whi...

Patriots practice squad tracker: Bailey Zappe, Malik Cunningham re-sign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

The Patriots made 24 moves to trim their roster down to 53 players on Tuesday, and there will be plenty more transactions to keep up with Wednesday.Waivers cleared at noon, so players can begin signing to practice squads. The Patriots practice at 1:45 p.m. ET, so the team will be in a rush to bring back players to begin preparing for their Week 1 matchup with the Eagles.12:45 p.m.The Patriots are signing QB Bailey Zappe, QB/wide receiver Malik Cunningham and S Joshuah Bledsoe to their practice squad, per sources.12:40 p.m.The Patriots’ first signing is wide receiver Thyrick Pitts, who spent part of training camp in Foxboro. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound wide receiver runs a 4.45-second 40-yard dash and had some impressive moments in camp.

Forklift operator dies in accident at Boston’s Logan International Airport

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

A forklift operator has died in an accident at Boston’s Logan International Airport, authorities said Wednesday.The 51-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was an employee of a JetBlue contractor.He was trying to drive a forklift through a service entrance at an outdoor landing area on Tuesday. The machine collided with a beam, tipped over and landed on top of him, Massachusetts State Police said.A JetBlue employee heard the crash and several co-workers rushed to help, using an aircraft tow bar to lift the forklift and pull him out, police said. Troopers arrived moments later and started performing life-saving measures, state police said. The man was taken to the Boston Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said.The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Create a care plan for older parents (or yourself)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

By Liz Weston | NerdWalletAt some point, most older people will need help getting through the day. Someone turning 65 today has a 70% chance of eventually requiring assistance with basic living activities, such as bathing, dressing and using the toilet, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.That’s the grim reality. Even grimmer is that Medicare typically doesn’t pay for such help. Plus, families often don’t try to figure out how to provide this care until there is a health crisis, which can lead to unnecessary stress, conflicts and escalating costs, says certified financial planner and physician Carolyn McClanahan of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.Making a care plan well in advance allows families to get organized, locate appropriate resources and figure out ways to pay for care before a crisis hits.“A care plan is thinking through the logistics of what you’re going to need as you age, so that when the poop hits the fan with aging, then...

A summer spent in a barn helped turn Astros’ Pena into a champion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

Before he was a World Series champion, before he was Carlos Correa’s heir apparent as Houston Astros shortstop, Jeremy Peña was just like the thousands of other minor leaguers willing to do anything to achieve their dream of reaching the big leagues.For the Providence, R.I., native and former UMaine baseball star, that dream included an unusual detour.During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Peña was left in the lurch when spring training was cut short and the minor league baseball season cancelled. Then a High-A prospect, Peña connected with former college teammates Joe Bramanti, Jake Rainess and Alex McKinney and spent the summer in Maine working out in an old barn.Bramanti, a North Andover resident, first shared the story last season after Peña initially established himself with the Astros. Now back at Fenway Park for the first time since winning the World Series, Peña reflected on his own memory of that formative experience.“Everyone cleared the school, fa...

Photos: Hurricane Idalia aftermath

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

Hurricane Idalia brought “catastrophic storm surge” to a swath of the Gulf coast, according to the National Hurricane Center, leaving a wake of destruction in Florida, including two deaths.The storm, which rapidly intensified into a major Category 4 storm before dropping back to a Category 3 early Wednesday, made landfall at the crux of Florida’s Big Bend region. Idalia will move near or along the coasts of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina late Wednesday or Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.More than 330,000 customers in Florida and Georgia were without electricity, according to the Associated Press.READ MORE: ‘This is actually unbelievable’: Idalia floods Gulf coast, careens inland with 90 mph windsLIVE UPDATES: Thousands without power in FloridaThe Florida Highway Patrol reported two deaths related to the storm. A man died about 6 a.m. in Gainesville while driving in “extremely rainy conditions,” according to FHP.  His pickup veered into a ditch and hit a tree...

San Diego International Airport is busiest single-runway airport in US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Did you know San Diego International Airport (SAN) only has a single runway for arriving and departing flights? Not only that, but it is the busiest of its kind in the nation.The runway, which is 9,401 feet in length and 200 feet in width, originally accommodated World War II-era long-range bombers in 1942 until United Airlines became the first airline to offer pure jet service in September 1960, according to SAN.Aerial view of the San Diego International Airport, river and Pacific Ocean, in Southern California. Lindbergh Field is the busiest single runway commercial airport in the United States of America.Although San Diego International Airport is not designated as an airline hub, its single runway is the busiest in the U.S. The airport brings in more than 20 million passengers a year, seeing roughly two million passengers per month this summer. UC San Diego among top public universities in U.S., according to new ranking SAN offers 16 major and commuter airlines, in...

Opponents of Nebraska plan to use public money for private school tuition seek ballot initiative

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

Organizers of an effort to have Nebraska voters weigh in on whether to use taxpayer money to pay for private school tuition scholarships said Wednesday they have more than enough signatures to put that question on the November 2024 ballot.The Support Our Schools effort turned in 117,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State, who must now verify them. That’s nearly double the roughly 60,000 valid signatures needed to make the ballot, and organizers are confident they have met that goal.“This bill needs to be repealed,” Jenni Benson, a Support Our Schools Nebraska sponsor and president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said at a news conference Wednesday. “This wildly successful petition effort has shown that Nebraskans agree.”The effort was launched even before Nebraska lawmakers passed a bill this spring to funnel millions in taxpayer money from public coffers to scholarships for private school tuition. Support Our Schools was funded mostly throu...

Non-permanent residents in Canada undercounted by one million: CIBC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

TORONTO — A new CIBC Capital Markets report says the official number of non-permanent residents in Canada often cited by policymakers could be vastly underestimated.The report says the actual number could be off by one million, meaning any policies around housing or those aimed at capping the number of non-permanent residents might be more urgent than previously thought.Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC, says the significant gap is in part because the federal government does not have a system to track people with expired visas who continue to stay in the country.While forecasting is difficult, population estimates are crucial because cities and provinces use them to inform their budgets and plan future housing and infrastructure projects. Canada’s population hit a milestone of 40 million earlier this year. With the underestimation of non-permanent residents, the report says from a housing perspective, it’s the equivalent of more than two years of building capa...

Crown hires ‘Big Little Lies’ publisher Amy Einhorn to boost its fiction program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The editor of such best-selling novels as Liane Moriarty’s “Big Little Lies” and Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help” is joining a division of Penguin Random House. Amy Einhorn, most recently president and publisher of Henry Holt and Company, will begin as senior vice president and publisher of fiction at Crown Publishing Group on Oct. 2.“Over the course of her career, Amy’s exceptional editorial taste and astute commercial instincts have helped shape the modern fiction market,” Crown President David Drake wrote in a company memo shared Wednesday with The Associated Press.Crown has been known in recent years for such nonfiction bestsellers as former President Barack Obama’s “Promised Land” and former first lady Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” and the hiring of Einhorn is part of an effort to boost its fiction. Einhorn’s mandate will be “to build an impactful fiction program comprised of approximately 20 titles published each year,” according to Dra...