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Saucy: Winning tomatoes in 38th Massachusetts Tomato Contest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

Boil the pasta!The state’s 38th annual Tomato Contest yesterday featured some impressive beefsteak-to-Valencia varieties.In the heavyweight division, Verrill Farm in Concord took home the top prize for their Aussie variety weighing in at 2.370 pounds.In the Slicing Category, Langwater Farm in North Easton was the champ for their BHN 589 variety.The Cherry Category went to Red Fire Farm in Montague for their Starlor tomato.Heirloom Category was won by Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon for their Valencia.Of the 7,241 farms in Massachusetts, 517 farms annually produce more than 5.9 million pounds of tomatoes on 569 acres with a value of approximately $10.9 million, the state says. Get out the salt!Rose Arruda arranges some of the contestants on the tasting table as the city of Boston holds it’s 38th annual Tomato Contest at Boston Public Market on August 22, 2023 in , BOSTON, MA. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

As theft hurts Dick’s Sporting Goods, Massachusetts retailers losing $2 billion a year to ‘organized criminal theft activity’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

With Dick’s Sporting Goods on Tuesday saying rampant theft is seriously impacting its bottom line, a leading retail advocate for Massachusetts estimated that local businesses are losing about $2 billion a year to “organized criminal theft activity.”Dick’s Sporting Goods reporting that its profit slipped in its second quarter and blaming theft at its stores “is not surprising,” Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst told the Herald.“A number of companies have reported the effect of this organized criminal theft activity on their bottom line,” Hurst added. “We’ve certainly seen more of this organized stealing, and this smash-and-grab.“Stores have actually closed,” he said. “You can only keep a store open for so long when you’re losing money on it.”For the second quarter that ended July 29, Dick’s earned $244 million, or $2.82 per share. A year earlier, the company earned...

Chicago White Sox clean house in front office, firing GM Rick Hahn and executive VP Ken Williams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

The Chicago White Sox have relieved executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn of their responsibilities effective immediately, the team announced Tuesday.“This is an incredibly difficult decision for me to make because they are both talented individuals with long-term relationships at the White Sox,” Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “Ken is like a son to me, and I will always consider him a member of my family. I want to personally thank Ken and Rick for all they have done for the Chicago White Sox, winning the 2005 World Series and reaching the postseason multiple times during their tenures. I have nothing but the greatest respect for them as people and appreciate the commitment and passion for the White Sox they exhibited over the years.“Ultimately, the well-worn cliche that professional sports is results-oriented is correct. While we have enjoyed successes as an organization and were optimistic heading into the co...

Lonzo Ball promises ‘I’m coming back’ while shooting down Stephen A. Smith report — but he still isn’t expected to play for the Chicago Bulls this season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

Lonzo Ball delivered an emphatic message Tuesday as reports continue to fill doubt surrounding his ability to return from a left knee injury: “I’m coming back.”Ball posted a video on social media in response to a report by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who claimed on Tuesday’s edition of “First Take” that Ball is still struggling to stand up five months after his third operation to address the knee injury.“I’m incredibly, incredibly sad for Lonzo,” Smith said. “It’s really sad what happened to him. Something went wrong in terms of these procedures that he has had. I don’t think he’ll ever be the same based off of what we’re seeing and hearing. I’ve heard that it’s even hard for him to get up from the sitting position.”Ball’s response was delivered poolside from his home in Los Angeles while standing and sitting repeatedly from a chair on his injured left leg.“Who are yo...

With Everson Pereira in the majors, other Yankees prospects await their opportunity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

With rumors flying and the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate holed up in a Scranton hotel on an off day, RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan and hitting coach Trevor Amicone requested a meeting with Everson Pereira on Monday.Those who follow the Yankees have been waiting for the team to call up the outfielder, who is the organization’s third-best prospect and the 80th-best in baseball, per MLB.com. So the coaches wanted to make sure Pereira could tune out the noise.At least that’s what they told him at first.“We just wanted to bring you in and make sure you weren’t getting distracted by all the social media rumors,” Amicone told the Daily News of the message relayed to Pereira. “Just wanted to make sure that you are able to stay in the present and be focused on what’s in front of you and be where your feet are. So we just wanted to sit down and be able to focus you on tomorrow’s starting pitcher.”That’s when Duncan and Amicon...

In-state tuition costs for undocumented students rolls out

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

Joan Shauri didn’t appear nervous as she approached a microphone at Northern Essex Community College in Lawrence.Just after Gov. Maura Healey helped her stow her purse away under the podium, despite the fact it was probably the first time she’d ever stood next to so many state officials for a press conference, when she started to share her story she did so standing straight-backed and without a quaver in her voice.The nursing student was an obvious outlier in a line-up otherwise composed of public figures, visibly far less advanced in years than those around her, and one of the last to speak after about a dozen state officials and college system administrators had explained what brought everyone together Tuesday morning.They’d gathered because for some students, like Shauri, the state has paved the way for them to get a higher education otherwise made more difficult or denied through no fault of their own.Brought to the U.S. from her native Tanzania as a 10-year-old, Shauri told the...

Indianapolis police release bodycam footage showing man fleeing police shot in back by officer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released body camera footage Tuesday showing an armed man fatally shot in the back by an officer as he ran from a traffic stop.Gary Dwayne Harrell, 49, died Aug. 3 following the shooting on the city’s northeast side.The seven-minute video released by police shows Harrell running directly away from Officer Douglas Correll, who is heard saying, “Stop it! Drop it!” Within a second later, with Harrell’s back to Correll and looking away from the officer, Correll fired two shots, and Harrell was hit once. The video showed Harrell dropping the firearm and falling onto grass. It never clearly showed Harrell pointing the gun at Correll, and narration provided on the video doesn’t indicate that he did.A .357 revolver was retrieved from a driveway and carried five live rounds, police said in the video. Police provided aid to Harrell until medics arrived, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.The Indianapolis Metropoli...

Dominican Republic shutters schools and offices ahead of Tropical Storm Franklin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic shut schools and government offices Tuesday as Tropical Storm Franklin took aim at the island of Hispaniola that it shares with Haiti and threatened to unleash landslides and heavy floods.The storm was expected to make landfall on the island Wednesday and drop up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in both countries, with up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) in isolated areas. Heavy rainfall is of great concern to Haiti, where severe erosion in many places can lead to catastrophic flooding. A storm surge of up to three feet (one meter) also was forecast.Dominican officials announced the closures of schools, government offices and businesses until Thursday. It also planned to close its main international airport and five others through Wednesday. In Haiti, where a day of heavy rain from a thunderstorm in June left more than 40 people dead, government officials urged caution but did not announce closures, though schools ...

1-year-old dies in hot day care van as scorching weather hits central US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Scorching weather hitting nearly 100 million people across a huge swath of the U.S. forced schools and outdoor workers to scramble to adjust Tuesday — and claimed the life of a 1-year-old girl left in a Nebraska day care center’s van on one of the hottest days of the year.Officers and medics were called Monday afternoon to Kidz of the Future Childcare in Omaha for an unresponsive baby inside the van, police said. Temperatures at the time reached into the upper 90s (mid-30s Celsius), part of a dayslong heat wave.The child, Ra’Miyah Worthington, was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Court documents say her body temperature was 109 F (42.8 C). Her parents questioned why her absence at the day care wasn’t noticed.“She loved, loved, loved her family,” her mother, Sina Johnson, told the television station WOWT. “She loved her daddy. She was daddy’s little girl.”Prosecutors charged the 62-year-old van driver, Ryan Williams, of Omaha, on Tuesday with...

Georgia school district is banning books, citing sexual content, after firing a teacher

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:38 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s second-largest school district says that it has removed two books from 20 school libraries, saying the books had “highly inappropriate, sexually explicit content.”The announcement, sent in an electronic message to parents in some Cobb County schools on Monday, comes days after the Republican-majority school board voted 4-3 along party lines to fire a teacher for reading a book about gender identity to fifth-grade students.Although not new, book removals have surged since 2020, part of a backlash to what kids read and discuss in public schools. Conservatives want to stop children from reading books with themes on sexuality, gender, race and religion that they find objectionable. PEN America, a group promoting freedom of expression, counted 4,000 instances of books banned nationwide from July 2021 to December 2022. Cobb County, with 106,000 students, said Tuesday that 20 libraries had contained “Flamer” by Mike Curato or “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” ...