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‘I wouldn’t wish this on anybody’: Best friend of worker killed in in explosion at Newburyport chemical plant speaks out

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

Family members and friends are mourning after one person was killed and several others were injured when a massive explosion tore through a chemical plant in Newburyport early Thursday morning.“It’s horrible, it’s terrible,” said the victim’s best friend Billy Carter. “I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.” Carter said his friend of nearly 50 years, Jack O’Keefe, was the person who died in Thursday’s blast. Carter and O’Keefe, he said, are the godfathers to each other’s children.“We did everything together,” Carter said. Firefighters from multiple communities responded to what grew to be a seven-alarm incident Thursday, after multiple reports of an explosion just before 1 a.m.Crews said an industrial-sized vat from inside the building was launched 30 feet because of the explosion and was found in the parking lot as crews arrived.Officials said four injured workers were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released. One remained missing.In an update, officials sai...

Orioles bench bat Ryan O’Hearn has bought into his sporadic role, one he believes can keep him in the majors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

Ryan O’Hearn’s job, most days, is to sit on the bench and wait.The Orioles’ first baseman gets the occasional start against a right-handed starting pitcher. But usually his role is as a bench bat, a left-handed hitter at manager Brandon Hyde’s disposal to pinch hit against a right-handed reliever.The role isn’t new for O’Hearn, who spent the past few years in Kansas City as a bench bat for the Royals. It’s not the job O’Hearn wants, but it’s one he’s learned to accept — and even joke about.“We were joking earlier about if I was gonna get a statue over there,” O’Hearn said, recalling a conversation he had with his former teammates earlier this week. “I said, ‘Yeah, maybe on that bench over there they could put a statue for me.’”O’Hearn spent the first nine years of his professional career in the Royals organization and most of the previous five campaigns in the big league...

Stock market today: Global markets up ahead of US jobs data

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were mostly higher Friday ahead of a U.S. jobs update amid worries about the health of banks under pressure from interest rate hikes.London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Wall Street futures advanced. Shanghai declined. Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for holidays. Oil prices advanced.The U.S. government was due to report April employment data that are expected to show a slowdown in job growth. Investors hope more signs the economy is weakening might prompt the Federal Reserve to call off possible additional rate hikes to cool inflation.“We estimate a slowdown in net job growth and tick up in the unemployment rate,” said Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics in a report.In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.4% to 7,733.23. The DAX in Frankfurt gained 0.3% to 15,785.07 and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4% to 7,368.51.On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was up 0.3%. That for the Dow Jones Industrial A...

Yeezy shoes still stuck in limbo after Adidas split with Ye

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Adidas saw operating earnings dwindle in the first three months of the year as the German sportswear company’s breakup with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West and his popular Yeezy shoe brand cost it 400 million euros ($441 million) in lost sales. The company is stuck with 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) worth of unsold Yeezy shoes after cutting ties in October with the rapper now known as Ye over his antisemitic and other offensive comments on social media and in interviews.Adidas was “getting closer and closer to making a decision” on what do to with the sneakers stacked up in warehouses and “options are narrowing,” new CEO Bjorn Gulden said Friday in a conference call. But with “so many interested parties” involved in the discussions, no decision had yet been reached, he said.Gulden declined to say if destroying the shoes had been ruled out, but the company was “trying to avoid that.” He has previously said that other options have drawbacks: ...

Superintendent: Kingston student injured in 'attack'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

KINGSTON, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A Kingston High School student is recovering in the hospital after an attack Wednesday afternoon, according to an online statement from Superintendent Paul J. Padalino. It happened in the school's cafeteria, and lasted only 18 seconds, Padalino said. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "This act was reprehensible and unacceptable," he added. "The students involved are being held accountable and will be subject to not only our code of conduct, but also legal avenues."School security responded within seconds; the statement read. A lunch monitor and custodian, who are certified EMTs, then rushed to help. Latham man pleads guilty to 2022 stabbing "911 was called and a hold-in-place was issued while first responders cared for the victim," Padalino said. "The victim is currently in the hospital."As of Thursday afternoon, the victim remained in the hospital. Their condition is improving, Padalino noted. ...

Moldovan ex-prime minister charged over airport concession

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

Former Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leancă was charged on Tuesday (2 May) with abuse of authority over a deal that handed control of the main airport of the country to a businessman in exile.Veronica Dragalin is the head of Moldova’s anti-corruption prosecutor office. She said that a former minister of economy and six other officials were also facing similar charges in a case she said was referred to court.She told a press conference in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, that all the accused had pleaded innocent.The 2013 concession gave control of the Chisinau International Airport to a company affiliated with businessman and politician Ilan Shor. He fled Moldova after Maia Sandu was elected pro-Western president in 2019.A court of appeal ruled in November last year that the airport's control should be returned to the state.

Horoscopes May 5, 2023: Adele, make this a year to remember

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Adele, 35; Henry Cavill, 40; Danielle Fishel, 42; Tina Yothers, 50.Henry Cavill (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Happy Birthday: Consider the changes going on around you a blessing and a chance to incorporate the things you enjoy doing most into your routine this year. Speak up, share your feelings and work toward better relationships. Put your energy into your home and family, and let your inspiration come from your heart. Use your energy constructively and make this a year to remember. Your numbers are 9, 14, 18, 21, 25, 34, 42, 44.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Go out of your way to get things done. Clear your roster and refuse to take on too much. Have an airtight strategy and desire to improve your workspace, or turn your home into a place of comfort and convenience. Don’t reveal secrets. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Deter people trying to pry into your personal life. Stick close to home and focus on what you can accomplish. A chance...

Ask Amy: Here’s a picture of my dog, and by the way I’m autistic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

Dear Amy: I am a 45-year-old woman who was just diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum.I never suspected I might be autistic until last year, when a friend discovered that she was autistic and sent me some articles about the non-stereotypical ways autism can present itself in women.After going through the professional evaluation process and learning more about autism, I am almost certain that both my older sister and my 80-year-old mother are on the spectrum, too.Should I tell them about my diagnosis and suspicions about them? If so, how? We are a family that never discusses emotions or meaningful experiences, but I am in almost daily text-message contact with both of them (about trivial things like cooking or sharing photos of our dogs).I would be uncomfortable even bringing up my diagnosis because it is virtually taboo to discuss our inner lives within the family.In my teens and early 20s, my mother bluntly told me she didn’t want to discuss the hard parts of my life, and that ...

Ban on Property Sales to Citizens of China, Iran, and Others Is Cruising Through Texas Legislature

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

Last week, the Texas Senate passed a bill putting restrictions on land purchases by citizens of China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea, raising alarms among civil liberties advocates who fear it is the first step toward legally enshrining discrimination based on national origin in the state.The bill, Senate Bill 147, would ban the purchase of “real property” by citizens from China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea, even if they are in the country legally on certain visas. The bill defines “real property” as “agricultural land, an improvement located on agricultural land, a mine or quarry, a mineral in place, or a standing timber.” Currently awaiting review by the Texas House of Representatives, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has publicly vowed that he will sign it into law if it reaches his desk.“The bill perpetuates anti-immigrant bias and racism by unconstitutionally encouraging discrimination on the basis of immigration or citizenship status and national ori...

Interface: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:49 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — ATLANTA (AP) — Interface Inc. (TILE) on Friday reported a loss of $714,000 in its first quarter.The Atlanta-based company said it had a loss of 1 cent per share. Earnings, adjusted for asset impairment costs and non-recurring costs, came to 7 cents per share.The carpet tile company posted revenue of $295.8 million in the period.For the current quarter ending in June, Interface said it expects revenue in the range of $325 million to $345 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on TILE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/TILESource