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Mass. Schools Still Have More Than $1.4 Bil In Fed Aid Funds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

More than half of the roughly $2.6 billion in emergency education aid the federal government steered to Massachusetts during the pandemic remains unspent, according to a top Department of Elementary and Secondary Education official.DESE Chief Financial Officer Bill Bell told the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday that “plenty of federal money” is still uncommitted and ready to be used with deadlines approaching this fall and next fall.The federal government awarded tranches of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) aid in three rounds. The first batch of about $215 million, deployed via the March 2020 CARES Act, has been fully expended, Bell said.In December 2020, a second round of ESSER awards made $740 million in grants available to Massachusetts districts. Bell said about 71 percent of that money has been used so far ahead of the Sept. 30, 2023 deadline.The third and largest pot of money, $1.7 billion authorized in April 202...

Scratch Ticket Rebound Lifts Lottery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

Sales at the Massachusetts Lottery were up more than 20 percent in February, due in large part to a sizable bump in sales of a key product that Lottery officials have been concerned about in the last year.The Lottery sold $513.3 million worth of its products last month, an increase of $88.5 million or 20.8 percent over February 2022.Scratch tickets accounted for about 71 percent of February sales, or $363.8 million, up $82.3 million or just more than 29 percent, according to a report that Interim Executive Director Mark William Bracken planned to give Tuesday morning at a meeting of the Lottery Commission.The month’s sales combined with a $23.9 million decrease in scratch ticket grand prizes paid out during the month to help the Lottery turn a monthly profit of $94.3 million, $23.5 million more than in February 2022.The Lottery also paid out a smaller percentage of its revenue in prizes last month, 74.72 percent compared to 76.26 percent in February 2022.Treasurer Deborah Gold...

Police investigating after man succumbs to injuries from ‘worksite incident’ in Nashua, NH

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

Authorities in Nashua are investigating after a man suffered fatal injuries “related to a worksite incident,” according to the police department.In a press release, the Nashua Police Department said officers, AMR and Nashua Fire Rescue personnel responded to an address on Prescott Street around 8:44 a.m. for an ambulance call.First responders went on to find an adult male who suffered “significant injuries related to a worksite incident,” according to Nashua PD. “The adult male was transported to a local hospital, but ultimately the adult male succumbed to his injuries,” the release stated.The department noted that while an investigation is underway, the worksite incident appeared to be accidental in nature.Authorities ask that anyone who may have more information about what happened contact the police department’s Crime Line at (603) 589-1665.

Bruins notebook: Pavel Zacha looks like a fit at center

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

For the Bruins, there are benefits to securing a playoff spot and home ice so early in this season. One has been the ability to rest some of their older players the last couple of weekends on the second half of back-to-backs. The other has been he ability to take a peek into the future beyond this magical season.Two Sunday’s ago, the B’s sat David Krejci in Buffalo and last Sunday in Carolina, it was Patrice Bergeron’s turn to rest the aching body.Both times, Pavel Zacha, expected to be moved to the middle whenever Krejci and Bergeron retire, has jumped into the center spot and played well in the two victories.Coach Jim Montgomery has liked what he’s seen.“I think it’s been very encouraging. The Carolina game is probably the best 200-foot game he’s had,” said Montgomery after Tuesday’s morning skate. “He’s had a lot of games where he’s helped us at center. It’s pretty amazing how seamlessly he’s gone from left wing to...

Nashville school shooter sent alarming messages before the massacre +video

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale sent alarming messages to a former middle-school basketball teammate shortly before Monday’s deadly massacre, the ex-classmate said.Hale wrote she planned to commit suicide and that she’d likely be covered on the news in a series of direct messages to Averianna Patton over Instagram at 9:57 a.m. Monday, Patton told the Nashville news station WTVF.“One day this will make more sense,” Hale wrote, according to the messages published by the TV outlet. “I’ve left behind more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.”Police say they received an active-shooter call at the Covenant School, where Hale was a former student, at 10:13 a.m. The shooting left three 9-year-old students and three adults dead, and Hale was fatally shot by police, officials said.Patton says she tried to help Hale after receiving her messages.“I tried to comfort and encourage her and subsequently reached out to the Suicide Prevention Help Line after being i...

Covenant School Shooting: Nashville shooter didn't target specific people, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN/NEXSTAR) — Police in Nashville are still searching for answers after six people were killed in a shooting at the Covenant School on Monday.On Tuesday afternoon, Metro Nashville Police Department addressed "rumors" that have circulated in the wake of the tragedy. One such rumor, according to Mayor John Cooper includes misinformation that the shooter — identified as 28 year-old Audrey Hale — targeted specific individuals."We have no evidence that specific individuals were targeted by the shooter," Cooper said. "The school was targeted, but we have no indication that individuals were targeted." Bodycam video shows moments police killed active shooter at Nashville school Nashville resident Hale, who was also killed during the shooting, was reportedly armed with two assault-style rifles and one handgun. On Tuesday, MNPD Chief John Drake explained that Hale had obtained the three weapons used in the shooting legally and were part of seven total she'd purchased loc...

The worst roads in Ontario? You can have your say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

Marking its 20th year, the annual CAA Worst Roads Campaign is back, and once again, it’s that time of year to vote on what you believe is the worst road in Ontario.Whether it’s constant irritation with potholes, lousy signage, unsafe pedestrian crossings or mismanaged traffic lights, CAA wants to hear from you.Announcing the launch Tuesday morning Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice president of government and community relations, CAA SCO, spoke to the importance of the campaign.“Every year, these votes have helped inform various levels of government with an important perspective on what roadway improvements are most important to Ontarians and where infrastructure funding and investments should be made going forward.”Felice added, “In a recent survey conducted by CAA, we found that 78 per cent of respondents are venting about the state of the roads to their friends, families and loved ones rather than to their local government officials.”She said the...

Police: Nashville shooter bought 7 guns before school attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville school shooter legally bought seven firearms in recent years and hid the guns from their parents before the attack at a Christian school where the suspect killed three children and three adults, police said Tuesday.Police said the shooter did not specifically target their victims during the shooting at The Covenant School on Monday. The suspect, Audrey Hale, was a former student at the school.Authorities said Hale was not on their radar before the attack. Police say Hale was under a doctor’s care for an undisclosed emotional disorder.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville police released video Tuesday from a body-worn camera that shows a team of officers entering and searching an elementary school, then confronting and opening fire on an assailant who had murdered three children and three adults in the latest school shooting to roil the nation.The dramatic, six-minute video supple...

Georgia high court considers whether abortion law is void

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court is considering whether the state’s restrictive abortion law is void because it violated U.S. Supreme Court precedent that was in effect at the time when it was enacted.A lower court judge last year ruled that the law enacted in 2019 was not valid because it was it was “unequivocally unconstitutional” at the time for governments to ban abortions before viability based on U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Roe v. Wade and another ruling. Therefore, he wrote, the measure did not become law when it was enacted and could not be law even after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that precedent last year.His ruling came in a lawsuit filed by American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Georgia doctors and advocacy groups that challenged the law. During oral arguments Tuesday before the Georgia Supreme Court on the state of Georgia’s appeal challenging the lower court ruling, state ...

TTC increases outreach as expert call for guaranteed income in response to violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:08:52 GMT

A rise in violence on Toronto’s transit system signals an urgent need to better support people struggling with homelessness, mental illness and addiction, says a forensic psychiatrist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).“It’s that combination that is giving rise to this (violence),” said Dr. Sandy Simpson, chair in forensic psychiatry at CAMH and the University of Toronto,“It’s really impossible to know how much each of those things is to blame. But it’s not a single issue,” he said.More information is needed about the suspects accused in recent attacks against Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) passengers and employees to make that determination, he said.But Simpson said drug addiction is likely a factor in some cases, especially crystal meth and crack. Unlike opioids, those drugs can be associated with violent acts.Lack of social support for people who are living in poverty and who are homeless, as well as poor acces...