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Taunton man, only 25, will spend next 25 years in prison for abusing toddler

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

A 25-year-old Taunton man will spend the same amount of time in federal prison as he’s been alive after sexually abusing an 18-month old toddler in his care and distributing child pornography.U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin on Tuesday sentenced Cody Mercure, 25, of Taunton, to 25 years in prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release on the charges of sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography, to which Mercure pleaded guilty in January.The U.S. Probation Office had computed a maximum sentence of 50 years for the two charges, according to the government’s sentencing memo. The defense sentencing memo asked for 15 years.“It is challenging to find the words that capture just how abhorrent and destructive this conduct was. This man sexually exploited an innocent 18-month-old child — a defenseless toddler who, at the time, was still in diapers — and recorded the abuse to watch again and again for his own sick gratification,” said ...

Oakland A’s are relocating; Tampa Bay Rays are on deck | Commentary

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

Running off at the typewriter. …This is a word of warning to Tampa Bay civic leaders: You are on the clock and it is ticking ever so loudly on your status as a Major League Baseball area.Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has made it crystal clear that he would like to pursue expansion, but only after the league resolves the long-standing stadium issues in Oakland and Tampa Bay.Well, guess what? The situation in Oakland was resolved just a few days ago when the A’s announced they are moving into a new stadium in Las Vegas. That means Tampa Bay is on deck and better step up to plate or the red-hot Rays will someday soon be announcing a move to Nashville, Charlotte, Montreal or some other baseball-hungry city.(We pause here to urge Orlando political, business and tourism leaders to do their due diligence and investigate bringing the Rays to Central Florida. … OK, now back to our regularly scheduled column.)The A’s announced move to Vegas means the city of Oaklan...

Easthampton School Committee again rejects superintendent candidate who wrote ‘ladies,’ district will likely have interim superintendent

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

The Easthampton School Committee has again rejected the district’s top pick for superintendent who wrote “ladies” in an email, as the school board moved toward hiring an interim superintendent following a disaster of a search process.It has been such a mess for the small western Massachusetts town that one parent told the school board Tuesday evening that he’s pulling his kids out of the district.Vito Perrone lost his job offer when he used the term “ladies” in an email to the committee chair, and then the second choice for the district, Erica Faginski-Stark, withdrew herself from running the school system amid students reporting her past Facebook posts.On Tuesday evening, a few residents called for the School Committee to again offer the superintendent position to Perrone, and a board member tried one more time for Perrone — the interim superintendent of West Springfield Public Schools.The School Committee voted 2-5 for Perrone, the same ou...

Watchdog report questions Boston’s ability to sustain ARPA-funded projects

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

A municipal watchdog report found the city is on track to spend the entirety of its $558.7 million use-or-lose ARPA funds by the 2026 deadline, but raised concerns about Boston’s ability to sustain certain projects after the federal cash is gone.The city appropriated the majority, or $362.2 million of its federal allocation for “equitable and transformative investments,” and should begin evaluating “successful projects that can and should be funded” after this grant expires, Boston Municipal Research Bureau concludes in a Tuesday report.Related ArticlesPolitics | Flynn to other Boston city councilors: Hearings should not be virtual Politics | Boston councilors clash over nonprofits not paying their ‘fair share’ of city taxes Politics | Longtime Boston City Councilor Frank Baker will not seek re-election Politics | Boston should hire a rat ‘czar,’ council president says Politics | Bosto...

Level 3 offender accused of sexually assaulting MIT student at sorority

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

A Level 3 predator accused of sexually assaulting an MIT student in the Back Bay was busted along the city’s drug-plagued Methadone Mile.Nahom Getaneh, 33, was tracked down Tuesday by police in the area of Atkinson and Southampton streets — the epicenter of the opioid-crazed zone — after a fuzzy photo was posted of a suspected night stalker.Getaneh faces arraignment in Boston Municipal Court on charges of assault with intent to rape and indecent assault and battery, police said. He is accused of attacking an MIT student Saturday night in the area of Beacon Street just before midnight.The alleged victim was entering her Delta Phi Epsilon sorority on Beacon Street. Further details, police said, will come out at the arraignment, but the charges and other reports indicate the attack could have been much worse.Getaneh also has two outstanding warrants against him for failure to register as a sex offender and possession of class B drugs.He is listed as being 6 feet tall ...

School bus crashes into trees in South Bay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A school bus was involved in a crash Tuesday in the Chula Vista area.Around 5 p.m., SkyFOX captured video over East Palomar St and Heritage Road where the bus could be seen on the side of the road after colliding into what appears to be two trees. DUI suspected in I-15 crash that killed 2, including 4-year-old At least one child and a driver were on board, but it is unknown of their status at this time, according to Chula Vista police.Check back for updates on this developing story.

Ed Sheeran testifies in ‘Let’s Get It On’ copyright suit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Ed Sheeran took the witness stand in a New York courtroom Tuesday to deny allegations that his hit song “Thinking Out Loud” ripped off Marvin Gaye’s soul classic “Let’s Get It On.”Sheeran, 32, was called to testify in the civil trial by the heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer on the 1973 soul classic. The family has accused the English star of violating their copyright, claiming his 2014 hit bore “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” to the famed Gaye track.Sheeran, in a dark suit and tie, was adamant that he had come up with the song himself. His testimony was at times contentious, as he sparred during cross-examination with the plaintiff’s attorney, Keisha Rice.In response to video footage played in the courtroom that showed the musician segueing on stage between the two songs, Sheeran said it was “quite simple to weave in and out of songs” that are in the same key.“I’d be an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 peop...

Venezuela’s Juan Guaid’0 not seeking political asylum in US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó on Tuesday said he is not seeking political asylum in the United States and has not ruled out the possibility of running in a presidential primary in his homeland planned for October.Guaidó spoke to The Associated Press by phone from Miami, where he arrived on a commercial flight that departed Colombia’s capital Monday night, hours after he crossed the border between that country and Venezuela with the intent of meeting with diplomats and other participants in an international conference focused on Venezuela’s political crisis.“I will have work meetings and obviously also time to assess the security situation among other things,” he said. “I am not requesting political asylum at this time.”His remarks came after Colombian authorities said he was subject to an administrative process for having crossed the border without getting his passport stamped upon entry, like millions of Venezuelans who have left their country in...

Yoon opens state visit with spotlight on space, mega deals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol opened his state visit to Washington on Tuesday by touring a NASA facility with Vice President Kamala Harris as the Biden administration looks to deepen ties with a close ally that it sees as only growing in importance in an increasingly complicated Indo-Pacific.Before Harris and Yoon’s visit to the Goddard Space Flight Center in suburban Greenbelt, Md., the two countries signed a joint statement on cooperation in space communications and navigation, and received briefings from NASA scientists on cooperative efforts on space exploration and addressing the climate crisis,“Our alliance is leading on some of the most important and pressing issues of our time,” Harris said in remarks with Yoon by her side at the NASA facility.Yoon, for his part, recalled his exhilaration as a third-grader watching on television as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped off Apollo 11 to become the first humans to set foot on the moon in 1969. N...

Mom, boyfriend get life sentences in 10-year-old boy’s death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:57 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mother of a 10-year-old boy and her boyfriend were each sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for torturing and murdering the child, who was beaten, brutalized and starved in Southern California.Heather Barron, 33, and Kareem Leiva, 37, were convicted of first-degree murder involving torture last month in a nonjury trial. They also were found guilty of abusing two other children in their Lancaster home.Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta sentenced them both to life without the possibility of parole, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. The sentencing followed emotional statements from the boy’s relatives and friends, ABC7 reported. The judge called Anthony Avalos a “helpless child” dependent on his mother for his basic needs. “Instead Anthony was tortured and killed,” Ohta said.Neither Barron nor Leiva spoke during Tuesday’s hearing, according to the TV station. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies w...