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Gaskin: Use ARPA funds to crowdsource problem-solving

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

As American Rescue Plan Act funds dwindle and the time to use them draws down, here’s an idea worth pursuing: Set aside $1 million from Boston’s ARPA funds to crowdsource solutions to the city’s biggest problems.This money would fund $100,000 worth of prizes in each of 10 categories: violence and shootings, homelessness and the affordable housing shortage, economic development in poor areas, health care disparities, recidivism, food insecurity, the mental health crisis, education inequality, immigration, and climate change, including environmental and energy justice. The first prize in each area would be $50,000, with $30,000 and $20,000 prizes for the second and third-place ideas.In addition to prize money, there should be a budget for an extensive media campaign to get the word out, plus some money to manage the contest.Ideas could range from policy recommendations to specific projects that cost anywhere from $0 to $2 million to implement. We could use ARPA money for implementatio...

Scherer: Airport rideshare fee repeal good for consumers

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

Americans already have enough to worry about when flying. The last thing passengers need is to spend more money to get to the airport. Yet, in many cases, that is precisely what happens when they use popular rideshare services.In a new study, the American Consumer Institute highlights how airports nationwide increasingly impose fees on ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft. Airports say these fees — which consist of pickup fees and occasionally drop-off fees — are needed to subsidize ground transportation services, fund road maintenance and reduce traffic congestion. However, such arguments are unconvincing.Consumers should be free to choose the transportation service that best fits their needs. That requires airports to treat all services individually and sometimes be willing to scale down less popular transportation offerings. In addition, private vehicles, taxis and limousines each use airport roads but, in most cases, they are not subject to fees or are subject to lower fees. ...

Editorial: Many programs could use $915M planned for shelters

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

Thanks to Joe Biden & Co.’s spending sprees, $915 million doesn’t elicit the sticker shock it once did when attached to a government budget item. But it’s still a hell of a lot of money, especially when so many worthy projects need funding.That almost-a-billion is what the Healey administration expects it will need to fund emergency assistance shelters in Massachusetts in fiscal year 2025, according to a report executive officials prepared for the Legislature’s two budget writing committees.That $915 million has to cover a lot: shelter and associated services, staffing, intake sites, clinical and safety risk assessment sites, school district reimbursements, immigration and refugee health, community, and workforce supports, and municipal supports, according to the report, a copy of which was provided to the Herald on Monday.To be fair, the report did some math and determined that after fiddling with projected costs and assumed budget resources, the figure is mor...

‘American Fiction’ familiar story for Jeffrey Wright

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

“American Fiction,” which stars Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown as warring brothers, scored in its September world premiere at Toronto’s international film festival by taking home the coveted People’s Choice Award, often a precursor to Oscar attention.A satirical look at contemporary race relations, “Fiction” has Wright, 57, as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a frustrated novelist who, in disgust, writes an outrageous cliché-ridden “Black” book – only to see it become a critically acclaimed bestseller.Along the way, Monk becomes caretaker for his aging mother (Leslie Uggams) and roommate to his brother Cliff who has left his wife and two kids to come out as a party-hearty, drug and disco indulging homosexual.For Wright, Monk was a man he knew intimately. “I can tell this man’s story, I know this man’s journey. There were just a number of overlaps,” Wright said at an LA press conference.  “Particularly his becoming the caretaker. That was an experience I knew probably too intimately....

Christmas Bears add a sweet touch to holiday

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

My children have fond memories of making little dough bears from 
sweet bread dough at Christmastime. Early on the day we made them, 
I would get out everything we would need to bring the bears to life and 
give them personality: currants for the eyes, coarse sugar for the body, 
and pieces of colorful ribbons to tie as bows around their necks.TAG GOES HEREChristmas BearsINGREDIENTS1-1/3 cups milk1 tablespoon active dry yeast2/3 cup sugar5 to 5-1/4 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon salt8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg washTurbinado (coarse brown) sugar for sprinklingRaisins or currantsDIRECTIONSIn a saucepan, scald the milk (bring almost to a boil). Let cool until warm (110º to 115ºF). Pour the milk into a large bowl, add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar and stir to blend. Cover and let proof for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.In another bowl, mix 5 cups flour, the salt, and the remaining sugar together. Add ...

Dear Abby: Wife’s flustered whenever hubby flirts

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

Dear Abby: My husband is desperate for women’s attention, and I’m sure he’d cheat on me the instant he had the chance. We have been together for 12 years. When we met, he was 24 and I was 31. I realize now that while I have had four long-term relationships and a fair share of sexual partners, my husband has had little sexual experience outside of our relationship.Any time he’s around women, whether I am there or not, he makes it a point to strike up a conversation or gain their attention. It doesn’t matter if they’re young or old, attractive or not. He has fostered many “friendships” with women I don’t know, like gas station attendants or his employer’s office staff.He swears he has never cheated, and I have never found any solid proof other than pornography. I just can’t shake this feeling that he needs or wants to experience other women, and I don’t know what to do. Please help. — More Experienced in Sou...

Amber Alert canceled: Teen girl last seen in Imperial County found

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A 13-year-old missing girl, who was last seen on Dec. 10 in Imperial County, has been found, authorities said Tuesday.Around 8:43 p.m., California Highway Patrol canceled the Amber Alert for Raine Gonzales.Before Gonzales was located, she was last seen on Dec. 10 with 43-year-old Lorenzo Guerrero on I Street and 18th Street in Brawley, according to law enforcement. Police investigate shooting near Tailgate Padres Parking Lot CHP believed the pair were in a 2007 silver Mercedes-Benz C230 with California license plate 5ZFS158.On Dec. 17, the FBI offered up to a $10,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of Gonzales.There is no information on how Gonzales was located.Check back for updates on this developing story.

States trashing troves of masks and pandemic gear as huge, costly stockpiles linger and expire

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in an unprepared U.S., states scrambled for masks and other protective gear. Three years later, as the grips of the pandemic have loosened, many states are now trying to deal with an excess of protective gear, ditching their supplies in droves.With expiration dates passing and few requests to tap into its stockpile, Ohio auctioned off 393,000 gowns for just $2,451 and ended up throwing away another 7.2 million, along with expired masks, gloves and other materials. The now expiring supplies had cost about $29 million in federal money.A similar reckoning is happening around the country. Items are aging, and as a deadline to allocate federal COVID-19 cash approaches next year, states must decide how much to invest in maintaining warehouses and supply stockpiles. An Associated Press investigation found that at least 15 states, from Alaska to Vermont, have tossed some of their trove of PPE because of expiration, surpluses and a lack of willing take...

States are trashing troves of masks and pandemic gear as huge, costly stockpiles linger and expire

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in an unprepared U.S., many states like Ohio scrambled for masks and other protective gear. Supplies were so limited in 2020 that the state bought millions of medical gowns from a marketing and printing company and spent about $20 million to try to get personal protective equipment made in-state.Three years later, as the grips of the pandemic have loosened, Ohio and other states are now trying to deal with an excess of protective gear, ditching their supplies in droves.With expiration dates passing and few requests to tap into the stockpile, Ohio auctioned off 393,000 gowns for just $2,451 and ended up throwing away another 7.2 million, along with expired masks, gloves and other materials. The now expiring supplies had cost about $29 million in federal money.A similar reckoning is happening around the country. Items are aging, and as a deadline to allocate federal COVID-19 cash approaches next year, states must decide how much to invest in mai...

What we know about Texas’ new law that lets police arrest migrants who enter the US illegally

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:12:02 GMT

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — How far can a state go to keep migrants out of the U.S.? The answer may soon come out of Texas, where a new law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott this week will allow police to arrest migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and give local judges the authority to order them to leave the country. Acting quickly, civil rights groups and a Texas border county filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to stop the measure from taking effect in March, calling it unconstitutional. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also blasted the Texas law but wouldn’t say whether the Justice Department would challenge it. Here are some things to know:WHO CAN BE ARRESTED?The measure allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people who are suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, migrants could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t leave cou...