May 30, 2021

Boston College vs. Syracuse: Women's DI Lacrosse

Saturday Scores:
#4 Boston College 11, #1 North Carolina 10
#3 Syracuse 21, #2 Northwestern


Boston College lacrosse heading to 4th straight national championship game

Boston College women’s lacrosse will play in their fourth-straight NCAA Championship game after they upset previously undefeated North Carolina, 11-10, in Friday’s semifinal at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University.

Eagles junior goaltender Rachel Hall had a standout performance, equaling her season-high 11 saves. It wasn’t easy against the top-seeded Tar Heels (20-1), who had downed BC 21-9 in ACC play early in the season, but she was up to the challenge, especially when UNC mounted a late-game comeback.

BC (17-3) got off to a hot start, with Cara Urbank winning the opening draw. Eagles superstar Charlotte North was Urbank’s passing target, but she faced a Tar Heels double team and was forced to pass it to Caitlynn Mossman. The junior slid a shot past UNC goalie Taylor Moreno to put the Eagles up 1-0 just 1:18 into the game.

But then BC’s offense stalled. UNC won the next draw control, and their depth was on full display. Though BC’s defense covered the Tar Heels leading scorer, Jamie Ortega, she found Caitlyn Wurzburger with a feed that became their first goal of the game. UNC dominated the next seven minutes of play, with both Ortega and Katie Hoeg scoring to open up a 3-1 lead.

Read more: https://www.boston.com/sports/college-sports/2021/05/28/boston-college-lacrosse-heading-to-4th-straight-national-championship-game/

May 30, 2021

Virginia vs. Maryland: Score, live updates from DI men's lacrosse championship

No. 3 Maryland will face No. 4 Virginia in the 2021 DI men's lacrosse national championship game at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, May 31.

Reigning champion No. 4 Virginia will look to once again come out on top, attempting to win its seventh national championship in what is now 11 appearances.

No. 3 Maryland will attempt to preserve what has been a perfect season so far, looking to remain undefeated and capture its fourth national title in now 15 appearances.

Read more: https://www.ncaa.com/live-updates/lacrosse-men/d1/virginia-vs-maryland-score-live-updates-di-mens-lacrosse-championship

Saturday games:
#4 Virginia 12, #1 North Carolina 11
#3 Maryland 14, #2 Duke 5

May 30, 2021

Joe Biden's administration sides with Massachusetts in income tax dispute with New Hampshire

In the legal battle over whether Massachusetts should be able to tax workers from New Hampshire who began telecommuting during the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden’s administration is siding with the Bay State.

In a legal brief Wednesday, acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote that the Supreme Court should not take up the case, arguing that New Hampshire’s claims lacked merit and that any decision would not help answer broader questions about taxing out-of-state remote workers in the wake of the pandemic.

Under an emergency regulation implemented last year, Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration said it would continue to subject out-of-state residents, who had commuted to Massachusetts for work up until the pandemic, to the state’s 5 percent income tax for days they would have otherwise been at their workplaces (though they could still deduct work-from-home days from their taxable income if they worked remotely prior to the pandemic).

The rule is currently set to expire on Sept. 13 — exactly 90 days after Baker’s COVID-19 state of emergency expires.

Read more: https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2021/05/27/joe-bidens-administration-sides-with-massachusetts-in-income-tax-dispute-with-new-hampshire/

May 30, 2021

Are new rail cars win-win for China and Massachusetts? Not yet.

At a 2018 ceremony to celebrate delivery of the first two MBTA trains completed at a Springfield factory that’s operated by a Chinese company, China’s consul general from New York told distinguished guests — including Governor Charlie Baker — that the partnership showcased “China-US win-win cooperation and will benefit everyone’s life.”

So far, the benefit ledger favors China. The state-owned Chinese rail manufacturer CRRC has a nearly $1 billion contract with the MBTA to build 404 cars to replace the entire fleet of aging Red and Orange line trains. The local benefit sounds good: a $95 million factory underwritten by CRRC MA — a subsidiary of CRRC — and the jobs that go with it. But the project is behind schedule. Only a fraction of the 404 cars have been produced, and technical problems have forced them out of service.

When the contract was awarded in 2014, during the administration of former governor Deval Patrick, the state gave up federal funding so it could require rail car assembly to take place in Massachusetts. Breaking ground in Springfield “was a really big deal,” said Patrick this week on Bloomberg Radio. But even Patrick now seems unsure about whether a big deal was also a good deal. The commitment to local jobs “doesn’t mean that the people of Massachusetts should settle for shoddy work,” he told radio hosts Tom Moroney and Joe Shortsleeve. Patrick said he’s frustrated by recent reports of mechanical problems, but “someone else is responsible today for chasing down who is responsible.”

That would be Baker, whose administration expanded the contract in 2017. “I have a feeling this is going to become a really significant flagship for manufacturing and assembly of rail cars here in the US,” Baker said during a tour of the facility back in 2017. That could be. But in Massachusetts, T engineers are currently grappling with a malfunction tied to a pad, described by the Globe’s Adam Vaccaro as “a thin strip of synthetic resin-like material, about a foot long and five inches wide, wedged between the heavy machinery of the vehicles’ trucks, which carry the wheels and the bolsters, which connect the trucks to the cars’ bodies.” The problem was discovered after an Orange Line train derailed last March. A CRRC MA spokeswoman told the Globe the company believes other factors contributed to the malfunction.

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/19/opinion/are-new-rail-cars-win-win-china-massachusetts-not-yet/

May 30, 2021

Baker signs bill addressing UI rate relief, paid COVID leave

BOSTON (SHNS) – Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday signed legislation that will allow businesses to avoid steep spikes in unemployment insurance taxes this spring and summer by spreading the cost over the next 20 years, but the administration and lawmakers still face pressure to use federal relief funds to remove some of that burden from employers.

“It creates a new, predictable and stable formula to address recoveries related to COVID-19 claims,” Baker said, announcing he had signed the bill.

The new law is the second attempt by the Legislature and administration to mitigate the cost to businesses of replenishing the unemployment insurance system that was emptied during the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses closed and workers lost their jobs in droves.

While the first attempt overlooked increases in what are known as solvency fund assessments, the new law allows the state to cover those costs as part of its plan to borrow up to $7 billion to pay benefit claims and give businesses two decades to slowly repay the system.

Read more: https://www.wwlp.com/news/state-politics/baker-signs-bill-addressing-ui-rate-relief-paid-covid-leave/

May 30, 2021

Massachusetts lawmakers consider ways to address student debt crisis

BOSTON (WWLP) – State senators entered day three of budget deliberations Thursday.

A bill before the state Senate right now would establish a student loan bill of rights, a bill that if passed would benefit more than a million residents in Massachusetts.

State legislators have been considering ways to cut the cost of college tuition for years now.

This session lawmakers hope to finally get some of these measures over the finish line because it could also give a major boost to the Commonwealth’s economy.

“This is money that prevents people from paying rent, from putting down payments on homes, from paying the mortgage, from getting married, from starting families, it’s a real drag for an entire generation of people,” Senator Lesser told 22News.

Read more: https://www.wwlp.com/news/state-politics/massachusetts-lawmakers-consider-ways-to-address-student-debt-crisis/

May 30, 2021

Hidalgo County reports breached levees fully repaired, additional repairs to be completed by end of

Hidalgo County reports breached levees fully repaired, additional repairs to be completed by end of June


The breached levees along the Rio Grande that caused flooding concern among local officials are now fully repaired, more than a month after county officials began sounding the alarm over situation.

Repairs to the three levee breaches were completed earlier this month while additional repairs to the levees are scheduled to be completed by the end of June, according to a news release issued by the county.

The update from the county follows a meeting on Thursday between Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez, County Commissioner Precinct 3 Everardo “Ever” Villarreal, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Brigadier Gen. Christopher G. Beck, commander and division engineer of the Southwestern Division.

The breaches in the levee system were a result of excavations done by contractors working on border wall construction directed by former President Donald Trump. Following a proclamation issued by President Joe Biden upon his inauguration in January, that border wall construction stopped but left the levee system weakened.

Read more: https://myrgv.com/local-news/2021/05/28/hidalgo-county-reports-breached-levees-fully-repaired-additional-repairs-to-be-completed-by-end-of-june/

The Biden administration has been busy cleaning up the messes left by Trump and others.

May 30, 2021

Citizens protest new abortion law outside Texas Capitol

Protestors gathered outside the Texas Capitol on Saturday in protest of Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions when a heartbeat can be detected.

On May 19, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. The bill bans abortion as early as six weeks or as soon as a heartbeat is detected, with exception of medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest. The law is effective Sept. 1.

“Abortion is still legal and available throughout Texas,” said Bhavik Kumar, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s medical director for primary and trans care. “Abortion remains extremely safe, in fact, one of the safest things that I can do as a physician. And abortion is a human right. Every single human being has a right to access safe, legal abortion because it saves lives.”

The bill is expected to be taken to court, according to the Texas Tribune. Organizers cannot sue the state over this bill because the state is not the body enforcing the law. Instead, organizers have to wait to be sued by a private citizen and then can take the case to court.

Read more: https://thedailytexan.com/2021/05/29/citizens-protest-new-abortion-law-outside-texas-capitol/

May 30, 2021

Small Plane Crashes Into Tennessee Lake; 7 Believed Dead

SMYRNA, Tenn. (AP) — A small jet carrying seven people crashed into a Tennessee lake on Saturday, and authorities indicated that no one on board survived.

The Cessna C501 crashed into Percy Priest Lake near Smyrna after taking off from a nearby airport about 11 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Rutherford County rescue crews were still at the scene of the crash late Saturday and planned to work through the night, Rutherford County Fire Rescue Capt. Joshua Sanders said at a news conference. He indicated that there were no survivors.

“Our efforts have transitioned from a rescue effort to that of a recovery effort. ... We are no longer ... looking for live victims at this point,” Sanders said.

Read more: https://hosted.ap.org/themonitor/article/d5a5550dd5fdeb122b3deb41f0329240/small-plane-crashes-tennessee-lake-7-believed-dead

May 30, 2021

India the tiger is having a ball at his spacious new habitat near Dallas

“India is a confident boy, and in his large space he is relishing in his freedom and acting like the curious, lively young tiger he is.”


MURCHISON, Texas — India the tiger is now living his best life and thriving at his new home near Dallas, according to the folks caring for him at the Black Beauty Ranch sanctuary.

We’re told the beautiful Bengal tiger is adjusting well and loves exploring the sanctuary where he was taken on May 15.

India was spotted roaming a west Houston neighborhood earlier this month and had apparently been passed around between owners since he was a cub.

After being confined or caged during the first nine months of his life, India can finally run free in the ½ acre habitat.

Read more and watch video: https://www.khou.com/article/life/animals/india-tiger-new-habitat-near-dallas/285-80fb25a3-c369-40d7-a83f-577dce3e1cbc

The tiger is rolling on the ground looking for some belly rubs.