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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg cites ‘uptick’ in aviation incidents at FAA safety summit reviewing ‘serious close calls’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

 (CNN) — Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday cited an “uptick” in recent aviation incidents and called on participants at a Federal Aviation Administration safety summit to help find the “root causes” of the problem.“We are particularly concerned because we have seen an uptick in serious close calls,” Buttigieg said in his opening remarks, referring to a series of near collisions on runways across the US.After the rare summit, the FAA said discussions about how to prevent incidents at airports ranged from overstressed pilots and flight attendants to better air traffic control technology.“Pilots and flight attendants expressed concerns that they continue to feel stress in the workplace, including long work hours under adverse conditions,” the FAA said following closed-door meetings. “A primary concern was workforce experience and attrition.”The summit comes after the FAA said it was investigati...

Group calls for action in case of woman accused of stabbing EMT in 2019

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

The woman accused of stabbing a Boston EMT in 2019 appeared virtually in court Wednesday.Fellow EMTs also gathered, calling for action as the EMT injured in the 2019 attack spoke publicly for the first time since the incident. “I just want to thank everyone for their support – my brothers and sisters on the job, my friends, my family – it means the world to me,” Elaina McAlister said. “It’s made it much easier.”EMTs speaking on Wednesday said this incident where McAlister was hurt underscores how dangerous their job is. Years after the incident, McAlister said she was in court to make sure the patient who she said nearly killed her and who cut her career short is held responsible.“Assaulting an EMT is not ok,” Boston EMS Union President Matthew Anderson said. “Assaulting anybody in public safety is not OK and we’re still gonna fight for justice for Elaina.”Julie Tejeda smiled as she was handcuffed back on July 10, 2019 after she was accused of attacking McAlist...

Dolphins get more secondary help with former Lions safety DeShon Elliott, add tight end

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

The Miami Dolphins continue to bolster their secondary this offseason after their blockbuster trade for star cornerback Jalen Ramsey.The team is signing former Detroit Lions safety DeShon Elliott, according to a league source. It’s a one-year deal for $1.77 million, according to The Score.Elliott started 13 games for the Lions in 2022. After playing his first three seasons in Baltimore, he made 96 tackles with an interception, a fumble recovery and three pass deflections in his lone season in Detroit.The new addition can now compete with fellow safety Brandon Jones, a former college teammate at Texas, for playing time in Miami’s secondary. Jones is coming off a torn ACL that cut his season short last year.Either Elliott or Jones can play alongside starting safety Jevon Holland, who mostly plays free safety but has shown versatility to play either role on the back end.The Dolphins now seem more likely to let safety Eric Rowe walk in free agency. They also have Verone McKi...

AG Andrea Campbell plans to sue towns that don’t comply with MBTA zoning law

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

Attorney General Andrea Campbell said her office will sue cities and towns that fail to comply with the MBTA communities zoning law, adding to penalties that already excluded those municipalities from state funding opportunities.In a Wednesday advisory, Campbell said compliance with the law, signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in January 2021, is mandatory. Offenders could be slapped with civil enforcement action by the AG’s office, she said, and risk liability under federal and state fair housing laws.“Compliance with the MBTA communities zoning law is not only mandatory, it is an essential tool for the commonwealth to address its housing crisis, along with our climate and transportation goals,” Campbell said in a statement.“While the housing crisis disproportionately affects communities of color and poor, working families, it threatens all of us along with our economy, and thus requires all of us to do our part, including ensuring adequate development of affordable, transit-oriented hous...

Committal hearing continued for East Boston woman accused of stabbing EMT

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

A local union representing Boston emergency medical services personnel will have to wait a little longer to learn the fate of a woman accused of nearly killing one of their own.Julie Tejeda, of East Boston, was involuntarily committed to a correctional unit of a local hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial for assault to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and assault and battery on a public employee for allegedly attacking EMT Elaina McAlister — and pepper spraying EMT Robert Lord — in the back of an ambulance in 2019.Tejeda appeared virtually Wednesday morning in Suffolk Superior Court from the correctional unit of Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, where she has been involuntarily committed and held without bail. Prosecutors were considering releasing her from involuntary commitment, but the hearing was continued until April 3.“Ms. Tejeda poses a substantial risk to every resident of the Commonwealth and we implore that the Suffolk Coun...

Boston University warns against drinking BORGs ahead of St. Patrick’s Day

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

Ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, Boston University is warning students to stay away from a viral TikTok college drinking trend that recently sent dozens of UMass Amherst students to the hospital for alcohol poisoning.A “BORG,” or a “black out rage gallon,” has taken off on college campuses. In a typical personal borg, the gallon container is half full of water, with a devastating fifth of alcohol (about 17 shots), and a liquid flavor enhancer like Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier.Boston University Student Health Services — in a post addressed to students for a “safe St. Patrick’s Day” — wrote that they should not drink BORGs, and emphasized it’s not a safer way to drink booze.“We don’t recommend drinking a BORG,” Boston University Student Health Services posted on Instagram.“Since BORGs contain water and sometimes electrolytes, there’s a misconception that a BORG is hydrating and therefore a s...

Caleb Martin wasting no time while playing as Heat closer

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

The pattern recently at Miami Heat games has been to play “Narco” during critical closing stages, the Timmy Trumpet and Blasterjaxx collaboration made famous on the sports scene as the walk-on song by New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz.But when it comes to Heat closers, it has reached the point where Caleb Martin might have earned his own late-game anthem.Entering Wednesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Miami-Dade Arena, Martin had played all but three seconds of fourth quarters of his previous eight appearances (he missed Saturday night’s overtime loss to the Orlando Magic due to knee soreness).When it comes to the 12 minutes of fourth quarters, the 6-foot-5 Martin has made himself a lineup staple:Feb. 27 at 76ers: 12:00;March 1 vs. 76ers: 12:00;March 3 vs. Knicks: 11:59 (Kevin Love entering in the final second to serve as an inbounder);March 4 vs. Hawks: 12:00;March 6 vs. Hawks: 12:00;March 8 vs, Cavaliers: 11:58 (Love entering in a lat...

Ravens place right of first refusal tender on restricted free agent quarterback Tyler Huntley

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

Lamar Jackson’s future with the Ravens remains unknown, at least for now, but fellow quarterback Tyler Huntley’s became a little clearer just before the NFL free agency window opened at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.Baltimore has placed a right of first refusal tender on Huntley, a restricted free agent, his agent, Joseph Behar, confirmed to The Baltimore Sun.That means that any team has the chance to sign the 25-year-old to an offer sheet. If the Ravens decline to match it, they won’t get any compensation; that’s unlike the situation for Jackson and the Ravens, who could match any offer Jackson receives or obtain two first-round draft picks from that team.If Huntley plays on the low RFA tender, he’ll stand to make $2.67 million this year.Huntley made eight starts in the regular season over the past two years for Baltimore while Jackson was injured. That included last season’s wild-card playoff debacle against the Bengals when early in the fourth quarter on...

Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease ‘checked all the boxes’ in an outing that included a unique strikeout

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

It had to have been one of the most unusual strikeouts ever for Dylan Cease.The Chicago White Sox right-hander was credited with a punchout when Oakland Athletics shortstop Kevin Smith got called for an automatic strike for batter violation tied to the clock to end his second-inning at-bat.Cease pumped his fist as he walked back to the Sox dugout.“It was a little bit of sarcasm, but a little bit of, ‘This is nice’ kind of mixed in together,” Cease said with a smile Tuesday.He agreed it was one of his best pitches of the afternoon.“Saved a bullet and got a strikeout?” Cease said. “You’re killing two birds with one stone there.”The 2022 American League Cy Young runner-up was back to form Tuesday at Camelback Ranch, allowing one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts in 3⅓ innings in a 5-4 victory.Cease rebounded from a rare off night in his last start when he allowed 11 earned runs in two-thirds of an inning on March 8...

Maura Healey’s DPU appointments indicate MBTA watchdog change, observers say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:28:12 GMT

Notably missing from Gov. Maura Healey’s three appointments to the Department of Public Utilities was a commissioner with transit safety expertise — a deficiency highlighted by state and federal lawmakers in past MBTA oversight hearings.Two observers said the move to appoint commissioners focused on climate and energy rather than transportation signals a larger plan from Gov. Maura Healey to shift MBTA safety oversight from the DPU to a new state agency, pointing to legislation that has already been filed for such a change.But the Healey administration denied this on Wednesday, saying that the governor’s appointments are part of her efforts to create a “21st-century DPU, which includes expanded, in-house expertise in transit safety.”Healey’s EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper appointed Jamie Van Nostrand, a 30-year veteran of the energy industry, as DPU chair and Staci Rubin, vice president of environmental justice at the Conservation Law Foundation, as commissioner.Cecile Fraser, a...