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Photos: New England girls were all Belle of the Ball at Boutique Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

It was a fairytale day for many a Bay State high school girl Saturday as they chose their prom dresses at the Belle of the Ball Boutique Day at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.“Life has thrown us many curve balls, but our mission remains the same: every high school girl should have the experience of feeling beautiful,” said Arthur Anton Jr., of Anton’s Cleaners, a founder of the Belle of the Ball. “Because of last year’s hiatus, we have the ability to help more deserving young women than ever before, thanks to our generous corporate partners, dress donors and volunteers.”More than 1,000 girls were invited to take part in the Boutique Day where they spent the day shopping and being pampered ahead of prom.Those who wish to help support getting dresses to a girl in need can donate a dress from Feb. 6 through March at any Anton’s Cleaners, Enterprise Bank or Jordan’s Furniture location in eastern Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire or R.I.Paul Conno...

Chris Sale’s mixed-bag debut couldn’t keep Red Sox down in epic comeback victory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

April showers turned into a Sale storm on Saturday afternoon.Spoiler alert: not the good kind.Chris Sale’s first home game since the 2021 ALCS was a mixed bag from the start.He was a walking contradiction (sans any actual walks) in the first inning, striking out three batters interspersed with an early 3-0 lead for Baltimore Orioles on a single to Adley Rutschman and a pair of home runs. The velocity was there, but his command was all over the place.Zack Kelly was already warming in the bullpen during the third inning, but Sale managed to get out of the frame by striking out Ramon Urías for the third time.In three innings, he allowed seven earned runs on seven hits (three home runs), walked two, struck out six, and hit one batter. 74 of his 43 pitches were for strikes, and he got 13 swing-and-misses, but his command was erratic.Chris Sale's season debut, as told by Baseball Savant pic.twitter.com/fZJ9Z9ryr1— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) April 1, 2023Not an ideal debut...

Tornadoes kill at least 21 across Midwest and South

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

Tornadoes and the storms that created them wrecked havoc on the South and Midwest Friday night, killing at least 21 people in a path of destruction that included Arkansas’ capital city and a roof collapse in a packed concert venue in Illinois.The dead included seven in one Tennessee county, four in the small town of Wynne, Arkansas, three in Sullivan, Indiana, and four in Illinois.The music venue was the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, about 70 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, where the Boston-based metal band Revocation was booked to play Friday night with Morbid Angel, Crypta, and Skeletal Remains.Dan Zaccard, the Emergency Management director for Boone County, Illinois, said in a press conference Saturday that his office issued a tornado warning siren at 7:24 p.m., by 7:47 p.m., the call came in that the roof had collapsed. The area looked like a disaster, he said, with “numerous buildings damaged, trees down, vehicles flipped, a lot of damage.”One 51-year-old ...

Gas station robbed at gunpoint, suspect not located

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Authorities are searching for the suspect in an armed robbery of a gas station near Lake Murray that happened shortly after midnight Saturday, San Diego police said.Around 12:52 a.m., the suspect entered the Speedway Gas Station at 8787 Lake Murray Boulevard and held a black semi-automatic handgun while instructing the clerk in the station to give him the money from the cash register, police said in a release. Driver shot during robbery attempt; suspects have not been located The employee complied, giving the suspect an undetermined amount of money. Afterwards, the suspect fled on foot headed south on Lake Murray Boulevard, according to SDPD.There were no reported injuries in the incident.The suspect was described as an African-American man in his 30's. He was last seen wearing a dark baseball cap, a medical face mask, a yellow vest over a red sweater and black pants.SDPD Robbery Detectives responded to the scene and are handling the investigation. Anyone with informa...

Israeli strikes in Syria’s Homs province wound five soldiers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in Syria’s Homs province early Sunday, wounding five soldiers, Syrian state media reported.It marked the ninth time Israel has struck targets in Syria since the beginning of the year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked war monitor.State news agency SANA, citing military sources, said the strikes had targeted sites in the city of Homs and surrounding countryside. Syrian air defenses intercepted the missiles and shot down some of them, it said.The observatory reported that the missiles targeted Syrian military sites and those of Iran-linked militias, including a research center.There was no immediate statement from Israel on the strikes.Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges specific operations.Israel says it targets bases of Iran-all...

Johnson campaigns with congresswomen Schakowsky, Pressley, while Vallas courts the Latino vote in West Lawn

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

CHICAGO — Only three days remain until the mayoral runoff election in Chicago, and both candidates had a busy Saturday jockeying for position in a race that is coming down to the wire. WGN Poll: Vallas leading Johnson in Chicago Mayoral runoff election Brandon Johnson spent his Saturday at Nha Trang Restaurant in Uptown, campaigning in front of a large crowd with the support of Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.During the event, Johnson shared some of his vision if he is elected mayor of Chicago, which he said included eliminating the structural deficit and making up to $1 billion in investments without raising property taxes."Leadership in this moment requires compassion, collaboration and competence," Johnson said. "That's what I bring to this moment, someone who can bring people together, and I've done that as an organizer … as a teacher. I've done it managing multi-billion dollar budgets." Chicago mayoral candidates look to...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker issues disaster proclamation after tornadoes, storms cause damage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation Saturday to allow immediate assistance and public safety support to help those impacted by Friday's damaging tornadoes and storms. Those areas include Boone, Crawford, DuPage, Marion and Sangamon counties. 4 tornadoes touchdown in Northern Illinois, NWS confirms The Illinois Emergency Management Agency has been directed by Pritzker to coordinate a statewide response.“The devastating storms that swept through our state last night have upended communities and resulted in heartbreaking injury and loss of life,” Pritzker said in a statement. “In response, I am issuing an emergency disaster proclamation to immediately provide all necessary aid to our communities. I am in close contact with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and local partners around the state to ensure every possible resource is provided to those who suffered losses or are experiencing displacement. My deepest thanks go out to the first responders and emer...

'Beat up by other dolphins,' dolphin stuck in Virginia creek

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — It's an unusual sighting: a dolphin that has called a Virginia creek home for more than three weeks. Many people hiking along a nearby trail have routinely seen it, including Jack Evans. He called it unusual."It's been in this area in [Bennett's Creek] surfacing in the same spot now for over three weeks and it's concerning," he said.Marine scientists share the same concern. Chick-fil-A changes mind, won’t discontinue longtime menu item Alexander Costidis, senior scientist of the Stranding Response Program at the Virginia Aquarium, said it's not trapped by mud or by a rope, but by its own mind after being bullied by other dolphins in the ocean."This dolphin probably got beat up by other dolphins, which caused it to escape into the river," Costidis said.He said teams have been up to the creek five different times, three of those actively trying to coax it out. Nothing has worked so far."Seeing if we can encourage it with noise and kayaks to swim back down. We ...

State of Texas: After shootings, lawmakers push plans to make schools safer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — A special committee formed after last year's school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde met Monday to consider 17 bills aimed at enhancing school safety.The House Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety held its hearing just hours after another mass school shooting left three children and three adults dead in Nashville, Tennessee.House Bill 3 is the legislature's sweeping school safety bill and was at the top of the committee's agenda. It is authored by State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, who also chaired the House's investigation into the Robb Elementary school shooting.HB 3 requires Texas schools to meet enhanced security standards for their physical infrastructure and mandates school districts place at least one armed security officer at every campus. It also requires districts to implement a "multihazard emergency operations plan" and perform intruder detection audits every year. Under that bill, school districts would receive at least $10 per student ...

Isolated severe storms possible Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:37:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After a warm first day of April, clouds rolled in and even a few sprinkles late in the day. The limited rainfall is now done and the rest of the night will be partly to mostly cloudy. Overnight lows drop to near 60 making for a mild night. UPDATED April forecast increases chances for rain Sunday's weather should be more active as a cold front reverses course and heads north through the area as a warm front. It should make for a warm day with highs in the middle to upper 80s, but along the front an isolated strong or severe storm could pop up late in the afternoon through mid-evening. The Storm Prediction Center have some areas north of Austin in a Marginal (1 out of 5) severe weather risk. A low wind/hail/tornado threat accompanies the severe weather risk, but most areas stay storm-free tomorrow.Severe risk SundayRecord heat, or close to it, is expected early next week with highs returning to the 90s on Monday and Tuesday. Record heat possible early next weekA str...