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Negotiations set to resume in Andover teachers strike

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

Negotiations are set to resume Saturday between bargaining teams for the Andover Education Association and Andover School Committee after members voted to strike on Thursday night. The bargaining session followed a day of picketing outside of Andover schools, which were scheduled to be open Friday, as well as a community rally that drew more than 1,000 people to the Andover Town Common.In a statement, the Andover Education Association said, “Our strike vote has initiated the kind of bargaining we have wanted for months. We have a lot of ground to cover, but both sides are talking and that is because the community has voiced its support for what educators are fighting for. We want to be back in our classrooms as quickly as possible. The Andover School Committee can make that happen by reaching fair agreements on wages, especially for instructional assistants, paid family leave, protected prep time, and more time for elementary school lunches and recess.̶...

First words of Chicago Cubs managers, from World Series aspirations to needing to be ‘crazy’ — but not going ‘cuckoo’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

Major League Baseball has 29 managerial jobs — then there’s the Chicago Cubs.Managers are hired to be fired, as the saying goes, and we’ve seen them come and go on the North Side.Joe Maddon, who was the franchise’s winningest manager in more than a century and the only one with a World Series championship since Frank Chance in 1908, didn’t get a pass. He ended the curse on Nov. 2, 2016, when the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series. But he was out a few years later.Now, after abruptly firing David Ross to bring in Craig Counsell, the Cubs are looking to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2020, Ross’ debut season as manager.Here’s what happened with the managers who preceded Counsell in the Wrigley Field dugout.Leo Durocher: 1966-72“I just gave myself a title — manager — not head coach. I don’t mean I’m going to be a dictator. I never was. One man can’t do the entir...

Suspect released in fatal stabbing of Detroit synagogue leader

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A suspect who was in custody in the investigation of the fatal stabbing of a Detroit synagogue leader has been released, a lawyer said Saturday.Allison Kriger declined to comment further to The Associated Press beyond saying the suspect was free. The Detroit Free Press said the suspect was a man.No charges have been filed in the case.Samantha Woll, 40, was president of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. She was found dead outside her Detroit home Oct. 21, hours after returning from a wedding, though investigators believe the attack occurred inside.Detroit police didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment Saturday. Police Chief James White announced that a suspect was in custody Wednesday. But he also said it did not “represent the conclusion of our work in this case.”Woll’s death had stoked speculation that it could be tied to animus over the Israel-Hamas war. But White said the attack doesn’t appear to be a result of antisemitism.Besides her work...

Trump joins media outlets in pushing for his federal election interference case to be televised

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

Donald Trump is pushing for his federal election interference trial in Washington to be televised, joining media outlets that say the American public should be able to watch the historic case unfold. The Justice Department is opposing the effort to broadcast the trial, scheduled to begin in March, and notes that federal court rules prohibit televised proceedings. News organizations, including the Associated Press, have argued there has never been a federal case that warrants making an exception to that rule more than a former president standing trial on accusations that he tried to subvert the will of voters in an election.Lawyers for Trump, who has characterized the case against him as politically motivated, said in court papers late Friday that “every person in America, and beyond, should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand.” “President Trump absolutely agrees, and in fact demands, that these proceedings should be fully televised so that the American public can...

Classes on celebrities like Taylor Swift and Rick Ross are engaging a new generation of law students

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A South Dakota law professor typically teaches about dense topics like torts and natural resources. But next semester, he and his fearless students are shaking things up by turning their attention to Taylor Swift. Sean Kammer wanted his legal writing course to draw on music and art to help his students reconsider legal language and craft persuasive arguments. The self-described “Swiftie” thought a focus on the cultural icon was also a way to connect with his students.Never in his wildest dreams did Kammer expect the attention that the announcement generated — the class filled up quickly and jealous alumni even reached out.“The reaction from students has been exciting,” he said. “If we can have fun while we’re exploring some of these complex theoretical problems or issues, I believe students will be inspired to think deeper and to push themselves further.”Swifties at the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law aren’t the only ones having fun. Law prof...

Houseboats catch fire on a lake popular with tourists, killing 3 in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A massive fire Saturday engulfed several wooden houseboats anchored in Indian-controlled Kashmir’s popular Dal Lake and three charred bodies were recovered from the wreckage, officials said.Five houseboats and some huts embedded in water were reduced to ashes in the intense blaze that was extinguished after nearly two hours by fire engines sent from Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, said Mir Aqib, a fire officer.The cause of the fire is being investigated. Aqib said some cooking gas cylinders exploded after the blaze started in the houseboats where tourists from outside Kashmir come and stay.Police are trying to find out whether the bodies were those of tourists or local workers.Some houseboats anchored nearby were removed from the site, police said.Boat rides in Dal Lake are very popular with tourists who also stay there during their visit to Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pa...

Dozens of Chinese ships chase Philippine vessels as US renews warning it will defend its treaty ally

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

ABOARD THE BRP CABRA (AP) — As a U.S. Navy surveillance plane flew in circles, keeping a close watch, dozens of Chinese coast guard and accompanying ships chased and encircled Philippine vessels in the latest confrontation in one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the South China Sea.At the height of Friday’s four-hour faceoff in the high seas, a Chinese coast guard ship blasted a water cannon toward a Philippine motorboat delivering food and other supplies to Filipino forces at a marooned, rusting warship that serves as the country’s fragile territorial outpost at Second Thomas Shoal. China has steadfastly stood by its claim to virtually the entire strategic waterway, clashing with its smaller neighbors and drawing in the United States, Manila’s treaty ally and China’s main rival in the Asia-Pacific region. Washington and its allies have deployed navy ships and fighter aircraft to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, build up deterrence and reassure all...

Pope forcibly removes a leading US conservative, Texas bishop Strickland

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday forcibly removed the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative prelate active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and has come to symbolize the polarization within the U.S. Catholic hierarchy.A one-line statement from the Vatican said Francis had “relieved” Bishop Joseph Strickland of the pastoral governance of Tyler and appointed the bishop of Austin as the temporary administrator. Strickland, 65, has emerged as a leading critic of Francis, accusing him in a tweet earlier this year of “undermining the deposit of faith.” He has been particularly critical of Francis’ recent meeting on the future of the Catholic Church during which hot-button issues were discussed, including ways to better welcome LGBTQ+ Catholics.Earlier this year, the Vatican sent in investigators to look into his governance of the diocese, amid reports he was making doctrinally unorthodox claims. The Vatican never released the findings and Strickland had ins...

Soucheray: In this time of political loneliness, we surrender

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

There are those of us who might as well submit a blank square of cotton, as white as a chef’s hat, as our entry, joining 2,600 others, to be considered by the State Emblems Redesign Commission for the new Minnesota state flag.We surrender.No loons or lakes or walleyes or North Stars or pink lady’s slipper on our flag. Our flag is white, as white as the cloth on the stick that negotiators of the Indian ruler, Zamorin of Calicut, carried as a sign of peace to his enemy, Vasco de Gama.You must remember de Gama. His pronouns were believed to be they/them.The St. Paul City Council is firmly left, all female, and with no ideological distinction whatsoever. So much for diversity. Across the river the Minneapolis City Council, which already was solidly left, went further left, because you cannot be left enough. In fact, the only way a Minneapolis or St. Paul city council candidate can win is to be further left than the incumbent.Melvin Carter, for example, will be compared to Barry Goldwate...

Duluth judge to decide if COVID-19 safety measures violated murder suspect’s trial rights

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:11:07 GMT

DULUTH, Minn. — A judge has been asked to grant a new trial for a Duluth man convicted of murder in a courtroom that was closed to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.Christopher Floyd Boder, 35, is serving 25½ years in prison for his role in the September 2019 shooting death of Timothy Jon Nelson, 33, in West Duluth.A Duluth jury in October 2020 found him guilty of aiding and abetting another defendant, James Michael Peterson, in a fatal confrontation that occurred after Nelson reportedly attempted to rob Boder.The trial, among the first to proceed at the St. Louis County Courthouse after a pandemic shutdown, was held with strict safety protocols enacted under a 6th Judicial District plan.To ensure adequate social distancing, court officials completely rearranged one of the building’s largest courtrooms. As attorneys and court staff were spread out, a public gallery that typically could accommodate several dozen spectators was repurposed as the jury’s seating area.T...