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Report: Investors Adding To Mass. Housing Market Strain

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

The housing crisis that has suffocated Massachusetts renters and would-be buyers with record high costs and few options stems from decades of sluggish production and an economy that continues to attract more workers to the greater Boston region.There’s another factor driving the strain, too: profit-seeking investors are snapping up properties at an increasing rate, making it more difficult and pricier for everyone else to compete, according to new research.A report published Tuesday by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council estimates that about one-fifth of all properties in greater Boston between 2004 and 2018 were bought by an investor or speculator, pushing prices upward for everyone else and putting once-affordable homes out of reach for many low- or moderate-income families.“That fact in itself is pretty staggering,” Jessie Partridge Guerrero, the report’s lead author, said in an interview. “I think what’s worse is that this rate is...

The Ravens’ unusual approach that’s helped them lead the NFL in sacks: ‘Being in the same room helps’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

Nineteen plays and nearly nine minutes. That’s dog years in a football game, but that’s how long the Chargers had possession on a drive that spanned 69 yards and parts of the third and fourth quarters Sunday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, where quarterback Justin Herbert was attempting to rally Los Angeles from a 10-point deficit against one of the NFL’s best defenses.Then on third-and-14 from the Ravens’ 16-yard line and with Baltimore showing blitz but only rushing four players, outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney ripped past right tackle Trey Pipkins III, hit Herbert as he was about to throw, causing a fumble, and recovered the loose ball.Afterward, Ravens coach John Harbaugh called it the turning point of the game, which Baltimore went on to win, 20-10, to enter its bye week with a 9-3 record that is best in the AFC.“I told him on the sideline [that] he saved us,” defensive tackle Michael Pierce said. “Anytime you’...

Boston Tea Party celebrations start with grave site ceremony, new beer from Sam Adams

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

The first of three ships laden with tea for the Boston Tea Party arrived in the city 250 years ago this week.And on Tuesday, the exact date that the ship had made its stop in 1773, organizers commemorating the semiquincentennial marked the milestone with their first sampling of a new brew at Samuel Adams.A limited edition Green Tea Pale Ale honoring the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party is now available at Samuel Adams Brewery in Jamaica Plain and at the brewer’s downtown taproom.“It’s a very impactful environment being in Boston,” said Megan Parisi, head brewer at the downtown taproom. “History is everywhere you’re going to look and walk. You walk on the Freedom Trail to come to our front door here at this tavern. … There’s going to be a good draw to celebrate the Tea Party as well as the beer that is brewed to commemorate it.”Organizers behind a full-scale, live reenactment of the Tea Party scheduled for Dec. 16 stopped by the taproom following a grave marker ceremony at G...

Skateboarder 'not expected to survive' after colliding with minivan: police

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A skateboarder is not expected to survive after colliding with a minivan in Linda Vista Tuesday, said the San Diego Police Department.Shortly before 7:20 p.m., an 18-year-old man was riding his skateboarder eastbound on the 6900 block of Osler Street, on the south side of the Genesee Avenue intersection, against a red light, authorities explained. RV fire leaves family displaced, 2 dogs dead At that same time, a 45-year-old man was driving a Chrysler Pacifica minivan southbound on the 2700 block of Genesee Avenue in the left lane. SDPD said the driver had a green light and struck the skateboarder as he crossed Genesee Avenue. The driver struck the skateboarder with the left front corner of the vehicle, projecting him to the left. At that point, authorities said the skateboarder collided with a Nissan Altima driven by a 25-year-old man, who was stopped at the red turn arrow in the northbound left turn lane.The skateboarder came to rest south of the Nissan Altima in the...

South Africa march demands a permanent Gaza cease-fire on day of solidarity with Palestinians

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Members of South African political parties, civil society organisations and other supporters marched through the streets of Johannesburg on Wednesday demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as they marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.Rival political parties including the ruling African National Congress and the leftist opposition Economic Freedom Fighters were among the scores of demonstrators who marched across the Nelson Mandela Bridge to protest against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza against Hamas.Several other protests were planned around South Africa, where many including President Cyril Ramaphosa have compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank with South Africa’s past apartheid regime of racial segregation.Veteran anti-apartheid activist Ronnie Kasrils called for the boycott and isolation of Israel over the current war.“All over the world, millions and millions are coming out and saying no, no, no. We...

Cutting-edge antibody therapy firm, AbCellera, to lay off 10 per cent of workforce

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver-based company that helped develop the first antibody therapy treatment for COVID-19 has announced layoffs amounting to 10 per cent of its workforce.AbCellera Biologics Inc., announced the cuts in a filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.The filing says the layoffs and reorganization will help it “focus its efforts toward the clinical development of new antibody medicines for patients.”In May, AbCellera announced a $701-million infrastructure project to boost the overall scope of its Vancouver manufacturing plant.The company said the plan, backed by more than $375 million in federal and British Columbia funding, also included clinical trials.AbCellera’s statement to the SEC says it estimates it will incur approximately US$2.5 million in cash expense related to the layoffs but, with more than US$1 billion in available liquidity, it says it has sufficient capital to “execute on its strategy” beyond the next...

Barcelona may need water shipped in during a record drought in northeast Spain, authorities say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Tighter water restrictions for drought-stricken northeast Spain went into effect Wednesday, when authorities in Catalonia said that Barcelona may need to have fresh water shipped in by boat in the coming months.Catalonia is suffering its worst drought on record with reservoirs that provide water for about 6 million people, including Spain’s second-biggest city Barcelona, filled to just 18% of their capacity. By comparison, Spain’s reservoirs as a whole are at 43% of their capacity.Spanish authorities and experts point to the impact of climate change in the increasingly hot and dry weather behind the extended drought in Catalonia.Barcelona has already been relying on Europe’s largest desalination plant for drinking water, and a sewage treatment and purification plant to make up for the drop in water from wells and rivers.Catalonia officially entered the “pre-emergency” phase for drought, which lowers the daily use per person from 230 to 210 liters (60 to 55 ga...

Court clears France’s justice minister of conflict of interest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A special court has cleared France’s justice minister of conflict of interest, ruling he was not guilty of having used his office to settle personal scores. Once a high-profile lawyer, Eric Dupond-Moretti was accused of abusing his position to order probes targeting magistrates who investigated him, his friends and his former clients. Wednesday’s ruling marked a political victory for Dupond-Moretti, who had denied wrongdoing and refused to resign before or during his two-week trial.He was tried in a court for alleged wrongdoing by the government, the Court of Justice of the Republic. Three professional magistrates joined by 12 members of parliament — six from the lower house and six from the Senate — deliberated the case and issued the ruling. The proceedings marked the first time in modern France that a government minister was put on trial while still in office, according to legal historians. The Associated Press

Five journalists were shot in one day in Mexico, officials confirm

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in Mexico confirmed Wednesday that a reporter was shot and wounded the previous day in the western state of Michoacan, the fifth journalist shot in the country in one day.Maynor Ramón Ramírez was wounded along with a companion in the attack Tuesday in the city of Apatzingan, the newspaper ABC of Michoacan said. Earlier Tuesday, f our news photographers were shot in the neighboring state of Guerrero. The four in Guerrero were shot near a military barracks after they returned from a crime scene. They had been covering one of the many homicides that occur on a near-daily basis in the violence-wracked city of Chilpancingo. The shooting of five media workers in one day represents one of the largest mass attacks on reporters in Mexico in a decade.There was no immediate information on the condition of the journalists, all of whom worked for local newspapers or news sites.The shooting come just days after three journalists were abducted and held for days in Ta...

Venezuela’s planned vote over territory dispute leaves Guyana residents on edge

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT

SURAMA, Guyana (AP) — Congregants of an Anglican church in a sparsely populated rainforest village in Guyana gathered recently to bid on a bounty of bananas, squash and other produce during a community event. They sang hymns and rang a bell after each successful bid.They offered grateful devotions typical of a harvest festival but also asked for peace for their community amid what they see as an existential threat. Their village, Surama, is part of Guyana’s Essequibo region — a territory larger than Greece and rich in oil and minerals that Venezuela claims as its own and whose future it intends to decide Sunday with a referendum.The practical and legal implications of the vote, which among other things calls for turning Essequibo into a Venezuelan state, remain unclear, but the referendum has left area residents on edge.“We are praying, we are hoping and we are having faith that nothing negative will come,” said Loreen Allicock, who led the congregation during the harvest festival. ...