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State lawmakers unveil new tax relief plan

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts lawmakers unveiled a tax relief package Tuesday aimed at delivering $561 million in reductions to taxpayers and companies during the current fiscal year through a slew of tax credits and other steps aimed at lowering tax burdens.The proposal — which would top $1 billion in tax relief by the 2027 fiscal year when fully phased in — includes more than a dozen specific tax proposals, from eliminating the tax for estates under $2 million to increasing the child and dependent tax credit from $180 to $330 per child or dependent in the current tax year to $440 for the 2024 tax year.Lawmakers say the increased child tax credit will benefit 565,000 families and will be the most generous universal child and dependent tax credit in the country.The bill would also increase the cap on the rental deduction from $3,000 to $4,000, reduce the tax rate on short-term capital gains from 12% to 8.5% and allow cities and towns to adopt a local property tax exemption to encourag...

Baseball Hall of Famer and Baltimore Orioles legend Brooks Robinson dies at age 86

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

(CNN) — Baltimore Orioles legend Brooks Robinson, a third baseman who won 16 consecutive Gold Glove awards and is considered by many to be the greatest fielder at that position ever, has died, according to a statement from the Robinson family and the Orioles organization.He was 86. No cause of death was given.“We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of Brooks Robinson,” the statement read. “An integral part of our Orioles Family since 1955, he will continue to leave a lasting impact on our club, our community, and the sport of baseball.”Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Robinson made his debut for the Orioles in 1955 and manned the hot corner in Baltimore for the next 23 seasons.Robinson was named American League MVP in 1964 and helped the Orioles bring World Series championships to Baltimore in 1966 and in 1970, when he was also named World Series MVP.He set the standard for third basemen during his career, with 18 All-Star Game selections...

Menendez co-defendant Wael Hana pleads not guilty in alleged bribery scheme

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

(CNN) — Wael Hana, an alleged co-conspirator indicted in a bribery scheme with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, pleaded not guilty and was released on bail in federal court Tuesday.Hana was arrested Tuesday morning at John F. Kennedy International Airport upon his return from Egypt, his attorney Larry Lustberg told reporters after the hearing. His wife and children remain in Egypt where they all live much of the year. Hana returned to the US to face the charges, Lustberg said.Hana was charged in an indictment last week with Menendez and others and faces one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, which carry maximum prison sentences of five and 20 years respectively.Prosecutors allege that he facilitated an agreement to provide bribes to the senator and his now-wife in exchange for the senator’s influence in matters benefiting himself, the Egyptian government and others. The couple has denied wron...

Red Sox notebook: Legendary 2004 skipper Terry Francona to retire after managing 23 seasons

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

Terry Francona, the manager who led the 2004 Red Sox to their first World Series championship in 86 years, will retire at the end of this season, his 11th managing the Cleveland Guardians.At 64 years old, the man known as “Tito” has spent his entire life in baseball, first as the son of Major League outfielder John Patsy Francona, who went by the same moniker, then as a big-leaguer in his own right for a decade. When years of playing in Montreal, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Milwaukee came to an end in 1990, he joined the ranks of minor league coaches. By 1997, he was the Philadelphia Phillies rookie manager. The gig lasted four seasons, during which the Phillies never finished better than 77-85.The second time was the charm for Tito. After a brief hiatus during which he spent a year as special assistant to Cleveland’s GM and a season apiece as the Rangers’ and Athletics’ bench coach, he took over the Red Sox in 2004. By season’s end, he’d led a beloved “Band of Idiots” to a ...

Dog day afternoon

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

Cori Copley, of the Fairmont Copley Plaza, had a play date with Liberty Hotel’s Benny. The pooches are synonymous with what makes both spots so homey. Everyone was wagging about this reunion.Joe Fallon introduces Cori Copley of the Fairmont Copley Plaza to Liberty Hotel’s Benny, with Mark Fischer for playdate. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)Cori Copley of the Fairmont Copley Plaza with Joe Fallon, right, welcomes Liberty Hotel’s Benny, with Mark Fischer for playdate. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)Cori Copley of the Fairmont Copley Plaza with Joe Fallon, welcomes Liberty Hotel’s Benny, with Mark Fischer for playdate. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)Boston, MA – September 26: Cori Copley of the Fairmont Copley Plaza with Joe Fallon, right, welcomes Liberty Hotel’s Benny, with Mark Fischer for playdate. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Top Red Sox international signing Yoeilin Cespedes turned heads in Dominican

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

Yoeilin Cespedes was already highly regarded by the time he joined the Red Sox this past January. The teenage shortstop signed with Boston for a $1.4 million bonus, the largest of the club’s international free agents, and was considered by scouts to be among the best pure hitters in his class.But when you’re talking about a 17-year-old, you never know how their skills will translate to the professional game. Fortunately, Cespedes didn’t need long to prove he could be the real deal.Cespedes more than lived up to the hype in his first year with the Red Sox, delivering a standout season as one of the top players in the Dominican Summer League. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound native of the Dominican Republic batted .346 with six home runs, 38 RBI and a .953 OPS in 43 games this summer, a performance that earned Cespedes recognition as the Red Sox Latin Program Position Player of the Year.“He put up some offensive numbers that normally for a first-year player you don̵...

Brooks Robinson, legendary Hall of Fame third baseman for the Orioles, dies at 86

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson died Tuesday, his family said in a joint statement with the Orioles. He was 86.”An integral part of our Orioles Family since 1955, he will continue to leave a lasting impact on our club, our community, and the sport of baseball,” the statement said.Through much of baseball’s golden age, Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr. was a poster boy for the national pastime, a symbol of Americana whose visage was even captured in a 1971 Norman Rockwell painting.The face of the Orioles for nearly a quarter of a century, Robinson won the heart of the city that adopted the deft-handed kid from Arkansas in 1955 and never let go. Before Ripken, there was Robinson. Before Cal, there was Brooks. Before the Iron Man, there was the Human Vacuum Cleaner. As Oriole icons, no others come close.Robinson played 23 years in Baltimore, piling up numbers that made him one of the game’s greatest third basemen and which put him in the Hall of Fame in 198...

Massachusetts dog dies in alleged dog training scam in Connecticut: police

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

A 3-year-old French Bulldog died before returning to its owner in North Reading following training in Connecticut, according to authorities, who accuse the trainer of running a scam.The North Reading Police Department has secured a criminal summons against the trainer who authorities say made false and misleading statements during interviews, to hinder the investigation, Chief Mark Zimmerman said in a Tuesday release.The dog had been emaciated at the time it died, according to a necroscopy performed at the University of Connecticut.The trainer, who police have identified as a 27-year-old woman of Haddam, Conn., faces charges of larceny over $1,200 by false pretense, and obstruction of/misleading a police officer, both felonies.Authorities did not release the woman’s name.Initial investigation findings determined the dog died on or about Sept. 4, but authorities say the trainer sent photos that made the owner believe the training was continuing after that date.North Reading police re...

Cannabis control commission hits back at ‘endless string of scandals’ accusation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

The Cannabis Control Commission is firing back at lawmakers accusing their agency of “an endless stream of scandals.”In a letter sent to the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy and shared with the Herald, Chief Communications Officer Cedric Sinclair says he would like to “respectfully reject” the notion the commission’s work has been clouded with controversy.“Hopefully, your own experiences working with our agency, and the new authority with which you entrusted us through the passage of Chapter 180 of the Acts of 2022, suggests you do, too,” Sinclair, writing on behalf of Executive Director Shawn Collins, told the committee.Sinclair’s letter comes in response to another sent to the same committee last week by a bipartisan group of lawmakers asking committee members to hold a hearing on the cannabis commission, which the lawmakers assert has been mired in a series of media-grabbing messes from its inception.“As we all know, the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) is no...

Las Vegas hospitality workers could be the latest major labor union to go on strike

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

By RIO YAMAT (Associated Press)LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas hospitality workers may be the latest major labor union in the U.S. to go on strike after tens of thousands of members voted Tuesday on whether to authorize a walkout that could impact some of the city’s most iconic casinos and hotels.The Culinary Workers Union, a political powerhouse in Nevada, hasn’t gone on strike in more than three decades. Results of the vote are expected to be released Tuesday night. The union said it has not yet set a deadline for a strike as it continues bargaining for better pay and benefits and improved working conditions with the top employers on the Las Vegas Strip, including MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. A walkout could disrupt operations at more than three dozen resorts on the Strip and in downtown, the city’s economic backbone. “We are the glue that keeps these hotels together, and we should be paid what we deserve,” Deann...