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Thermal turnaround: German government settles dispute over heating law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

BERLIN — The German governing coalition agreed on common guidelines for its controversial heating law on Tuesday, averting a looming government crisis for the moment.The document containing the guidelines, obtained by POLITICO, outlines significant changes pushed through in negotiations. For instance, key deadlines are to be linked to municipal heating planning, which is targeted throughout Germany by 2028 at the latest. In addition, various options for switching to climate-neutral heating systems are to be treated equally.The main driver of Tuesday’s high-level meeting was to pass the reform of the building energy law before the Bundestag’s last seating day on July 7. Following Tuesday’s agreement, the draft law is to be discussed in parliament this week, paving the way for the next readings before summer recess.After a meeting attended by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the German traffic light coalit...

Investigation underway after crashed SUV found abandoned off 495 in Boxboro

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

An investigation got underway on Tuesday after a crashed SUV was found abandoned off 495 in Boxboro, standing upright, leaning against trees.State police said they responded around 7:30 a.m. to the crash site in the median near the southbound side of 495, south of Route 2. State police said no driver or passengers were found at the scene. A K9 unit also searched the area, according to state police, but did not find anyone. State police said the car was later removed from the median, with crews clearing the scene shortly after 9 a.m.Boxboro police and fire officials said they also responded, with the Boxboro Fire Department sharing photos showing the car standing on its nose with visible damage including multiple smashed windows. Boxboro police said the car’s engine was cold when crews arrived, indicating it had been in place for some time.State police said an investigation into the crash was ongoing as of Tuesday afternoon.

Not guilty plea entered for man accused of attacking nurse at Gardner hospital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

A man faced a judge virtually from his hospital bed Tuesday as prosecutors alleged that he stabbed a nurse in the neck with a pocket knife while in an emergency room in Gardner. A member of the nursing staff at the Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital is recovering after the attack on Monday night.David Nichols, 76, had a not guilty plea entered for him, in the meantime. The Gardner Police Department said its officers were called to the incident at Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital around 8 p.m. Monday, responding to a reported assault.Officials said arriving officers went on to arrest Nichols of Greenville, New Hampshire, at the scene. The nurse was taken to UMass Memorial in Worcester to be treated.According to a news release from Gardner police, Nichols was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.In court proceedings on Tuesday, prosecutors said Nichols allegedly stabbed his nurse in the neck, narrowly missing her carotid artery.“The defendant grabbed her by h...

Pair of friends develop new way for MBTA riders to express frustrations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

Trouble for the MBTA has led to growing frustration among riders, and now a pair of friends are giving them a new way to report issues they see.By handing out customized cards so people can voice their frustrations, Andrew Cohen and Sebastian Luu hope it can lead to constructive dialogue with the T.“Obviously, there’s a lot of frustration out there against the T and there’s not a lot of ways to channel that,” Cohen told 7NEWS. “I used to ride the Red Line all the way from Braintree to Kendall/MIT but because that’s become so slow, I’ve switched to the Commuter Rail.”The two friends met at an MBTA meeting where they both spoke out about the issues they see. Together, they have teamed up to pick various stations to pass out their pre-stamped postcards at their own expense to inspire other riders to speak up to.Whether it’s slow wait times on the Red Line, doors that won’t close, runaway trains, derailments like the one that o...

Ticker: Amazon Web Services has outage; Instant Pot maker files for bankruptcy 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

Amazon’s cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services, experienced an outage Tuesday affecting publishers who suddenly found themselves unable to operate their sites as former President Donald Trump appeared in court in Miami.The company said on its website that the root cause of the issue was tied to a function called AWS Lambda, which lets customers run code for different types of applications.Amazon said it was experiencing error rates for multiple AWS services in an availability zone based in Northern Virginia. Patrick Neighorn, a company spokesperson, declined to provide additional details about the outage.Instant Pot maker files for bankruptcyThe maker of Pyrex glassware and Instant Pot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the company that was already struggling is stung by inflation, with Americans pulling back on spending.According to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas this week, Instant Brands, based outside of Chicago, has ...

White House press secretary has violated rule against politics on the job, watchdog says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

CHRIS MEGERIAN | Associated PressSince taking on the role of White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre has become known for frequently dodging questions by citing the Hatch Act. The law bars civil servants from politicking during their day jobs, and Jean-Pierre uses it to deflect reporters’ questions involving campaigns.But apparently she wasn’t careful enough. The Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that enforces the Hatch Act, said in a recent letter that Jean-Pierre violated the law before last year’s midterm elections.Her offense: Making frequent references to “MAGA Republicans” during White House briefings.According to a letter from the Office of Special Counsel, Jean-Pierre “made those references to generate opposition to Republican candidates” and “accordingly, making the references constituted political activity.”The letter was posted online by The Washington Post. It was first reported by NBC News.Penalties for Hatch Act violations are unc...

Cases of check fraud escalate dramatically

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

NEW YORK — Check fraud is back in a big way, fueled by a rise in organized crime that is forcing small businesses and individuals to take additional safety measures or to avoid sending checks through the mail altogether.Banks issued roughly 680,000 reports of check fraud to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, also known as FinCEN, last year. That’s up from 350,000 reports in 2021. Meanwhile the U.S. Postal Inspection Service reported roughly 300,000 complaints of mail theft in 2021, more than double the prior year’s total.Early in the pandemic, government relief checks became an attractive target for criminals. The problem has only gotten worse and postal authorities and bank officials are warning Americans to avoid mailing checks if possible, or at least to use a secure mail drop such as inside the post office.Check usage has been in decline for decades as Americans have largely switched to paying for their services with credit and debit cards. Americans wrote rou...

Henderson School staff member hospitalized after being assaulted by student

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

A staff member from the Henderson K-12 Inclusion School was hospitalized after being assaulted by a student Tuesday morning, the head of school said in a letter to parents.“This morning, a student engaged in a physical assault of a staff member which multiple students witnessed,” Interim Head of School Stephanie Sibley began the letter. “The staff member sustained injuries as a result of the incident.”Boston Police confirmed officers responded to a report of a disturbed person at the Dorchester school at 11:52 a.m., and a Boston EMS spokesperson said they responded to the school “with no associated transports” Tuesday morning.Both school staff and BPS safety services “quickly assisted with de-escalating the incident,” Sibley said. The staff member was taken to the school nurse before being transported to the hospital.Sibley said the student will face disciplinary action “in accordance with the BPS Code of Conduct,” which st...

AWS outage causes some websites to go dark

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

Amazon’s cloud computing unit Amazon Web Services experienced an outage on Tuesday, affecting publishers that suddenly found themselves unable to operate their sites.The company said on its website that the root cause of the issue was tied to a service called AWS Lambda, which lets customers run code for different types of applications.Roughly two hours after customer began experiencing errors, the company posted on its AWS status page that many of the affected AWS services were “fully recovered” and it was continuing to recover the rest.Amazon said it had experienced multiple error rates for AWS services in the Northern Virginia region where it clusters data centers. The company said customers may be dealing with authentication or sign-in errors when using some AWS services, and experiencing challenges when attempting to connect with AWS Support. The issue with Lambda also indirectly affected other AWS services.Patrick Neighorn, a company spokesperson, declined to provide additiona...

Seven men found dead inside truck with California plates in Tijuana; Mayor moving to army base after threats made on her life

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:55 GMT

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- Seven bodies were found inside a pickup on Monday morning in a neighborhood on the east side of Tijuana.Tijuana police officials say officers chased the vehicle, which had California license plates, to the parking lot of a gas station.When the white Ford F-150 finally stopped, officers discovered one body wrapped in a blue blanket inside the pickup.Police reportedly found the other six bodies in the truck bed, along with wooden planks and several tires.According to police, a steel drum filled with gasoline was also recovered, and they believe the suspects intended to set fire to the bodies and the truck.All the victims were men. U.S. warns of violent crime at popular tourist destination "Two officers intercepted and called for help, state and national guard officers responded and when they got to the vehicle they found seven bodies," said Montserrat Caballero, Tijuana's Mayor.Two men were arrested in connection with the discovery of the bodies."We've d...