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Man sentenced to 42 years in prison for 2019 death of New Hampshire pastor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A man was sentenced to 42 years in prison Friday for fatally shooting a New Hampshire pastor whose church he attended.Brandon Castiglione, 28, who was convicted of second degree murder, did not testify at his trial in May. Prosecutors said there was no clear motive for the shooting.Luis Garcia, 60, was found dead Oct. 1, 2019, inside Castiglione’s home in Londonderry. Garcia was a pastor at New England Pentecostal Ministries in Pelham.Castiglione attended the church and prayer services hosted by Garcia, prosecutors said. Castiglione and Garcia also got together outside of church, going to firing ranges, and Garcia was at the house that day for a painting job, according to trial testimony.Garcia’s stepson, Dale Holloway, is charged with opening fire during a wedding at the church later that month, wounding a bishop and the bride-to-be. The groom was Brandon Castiglione’s father. Holloway pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.

Kicked to the curb, Kiké Hernandez and Ryan Brasier enjoying renewed success with Dodgers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

Ever since the 2023 MLB schedules came out last summer, this weekend has been circled on the calendar.Mookie Betts’ return to Fenway Park was always going to be an emotional experience for everyone involved. Yet even if Mookie is the star of the show, this weekend will provide two other former Red Sox players the opportunity for closure as well.Kiké Hernández and Ryan Brasier are back in Boston for the first time as visiting players since their tenures with the Red Sox ended abruptly earlier this season. Both were effectively kicked to the curb due to their extended struggles, but since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers they’ve found a new lease on life and have re-emerged as valuable contributors.Prior to being traded on July 25, Hernández was batting .222 with a .599 OPS, six home runs and 31 RBI in 86 games. He’d also lost his job as the starting shortstop after committing a then-league-high 14 errors and following the trade was expected to primarily come off the ...

Boston’s St. Anthony’s Feast ups security after underage drinking at other festivals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

Organizers of the St. Anthony’s Feast in the North End are warning attendees this weekend that there will be a zero tolerance for public drinking and increased security throughout the festival.A week after the Boston Police Department responded to a separate festival in the neighborhood, the Fisherman’s Feast, for 20 reports of underage drinking, the St. Anthony’s Feast kicks off Friday evening with additional precautions in place.Feast organizers said they are working with the Boston Police Department and hired a private security firm to have personnel at the entrances to the feast to check bags. Attendees are also barred from bringing backpacks, which community members have previously said out-of-town teenagers use to carry alcohol.“To ensure a safe and fun atmosphere for everyone there will be zero tolerance of public drinking and in particular under age consumption of alcohol,” organizers said.There will be an “increased presence” of police and security starting Frid...

Same and different, Mookie Betts returns to Fenway for the first time

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

1,426 days.That’s how long it’s been since Mookie Betts played his last game in a Red Sox uniform — though no one knew that for certain at the time — and gave Boston one last magical moment, just in case it was goodbye. Racing around the bases from first to home on a Rafael Devers grounder gone haywire, Betts dove headfirst into home plate for the winning run, then bounced back up, roaring joyfully to the adoring crowd as his teammates rushed out of the dugout to envelope him.How had it already been 1,426 days?The Red Sox-Dodgers series at Fenway Park this weekend is a reunion or homecoming for several players and staff on each side. Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner played 12 and nine years in Los Angeles, respectively. Their manager, Dave Roberts, was Dodgers teammates with Red Sox manager Alex Cora in 2004, of all seasons. Roberts’ current squad includes Kiké Hernández, who’s back in Los Angeles after a midseason trade from Boston, and four members of the Re...

Boston Mayor Wu unveils Mass and Cass plan, highlighted by tent ban and 30-bed shelter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu unveiled plans that would give police the authority to clear out homeless encampments and crack down on the increased crime occurring at the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue.To cushion the blow of removing their tents and tarps, Wu said the city would seek to house the displaced individuals at a temporary 30-bed shelter, which would open at a nearby campus operated by the Boston Public Health Commission.“Today, I believe we’re moving towards a very important phase change that will make a significant difference for the many, many communities made up of workers and residents at Mass and Cass,” Wu said at a Friday press conference. “But this is also not the solution to the opioid crisis or homelessness.”Wu said she plans to file an ordinance Monday that would give the Boston Police Department the authority to remove tents and tarps at Mass and Cass, giving more teeth to an executive order she first tried to enforce in January 2022....

Chaim Bloom reflects on Mookie Betts trade as former Red Sox star returns to Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

Chaim Bloom knew what he was getting into in 2019.Shortly after the Red Sox fired Dave Dombrowski, Bloom was brought in as the team’s new chief baseball officer to build a sustainable winning product. Tough decisions loomed in that effort. And none bigger than Mookie Betts, the homegrown superstar who Bloom, of course, ultimately traded in February 2020. Rather than risk losing Betts in free agency – where he was set to command more than $300 million – Bloom dealt him to the Dodgers.More than three and a half years passed from the trade to Friday night, when Betts finally returned to Fenway Park as a visitor for the first time. He received a loud ovation as he saluted the fans in his first at-bat in the first inning. Some Red Sox fans will never forgive or get over the decision to trade Betts, but on the night of his return, Bloom reiterated that he believed it was in the best interest of the franchise at the time.“Mookie was one of the best players in baseball then and he still is....

Brush fire prompts road closures in East County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

RAMONA, Calif. -- Firefighters battled a brush fire early Friday evening that prompted road closures in the Ramona Oaks area.The blaze, dubbed as the "Oaks Fire," was held to around three acres, according to Cal Fire San Diego.SkyFOX was over the location where a large plume of white smoke could be seen spewing from the brush and into the air. County officials update residents on water boil advisory As of 4:39 p.m., the fire prompted a stretch of SR-78 east of Rancho Santa Fe Court to be closed, according to the California Department of Transportation. Eastbound lanes on SR-78 are closed at Ramona Trails Dr. while westbound lanes are closed at Rancho Santa Teresa Dr. The road closures will remain for the next few hours while crews mop up and extinguish hot spots, Cal Fire San Diego said.No damage to structures or injuries were reported.

Bronny James has a congenital heart defect that caused his cardiac arrest, a spokesperson says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bronny James went into cardiac arrest during a basketball workout at the University of Southern California last month because of a congenital heart defect, according to a family spokeswoman.The 18-year-old son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was stricken on July 24. He was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and later was seen by doctors at the Mayo Clinic and Atlantic Health-Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey.A statement issued Friday by Stephanie Rosa of the LeBron James Family Foundation said the probable cause of James' sudden cardiac arrest has been identified.“It is an anatomically and functionally significant Congenital Heart Defect which can and will be treated,” the statement said. “We are very confident in Bronny’s full recovery and return to basketball in the very near future.”The younger James was released from Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles three days after the incident at USC's Galen Center. The following night he dined out in ...

Ali murder trial: lawyer suggests to dead girl’s mother they had a poor relationship

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

VANCOUVER — A lawyer for a man accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park six years ago has suggested to the girl’s mother that they had a poor relationship, to the point where the teen didn’t want to be around her.Ibrahim Ali’s lawyer Kevin McCullough also suggested to the woman that she didn’t think her daughter was “stable” or “rational.”But the Chinese mother pushed back at the trial in the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, saying her daughter “mostly” listened to her, and she didn’t understand what the lawyer meant by stable and rational.She acknowledged that in a statement to police before her daughter was found dead she told officers the girl “doesn’t really communicate with me” but told the jury that’s not the same as having no communication.The woman, who can’t be identified because of a publication ban protecting the identity of her daughter, was ...

Candidate who lost Guatemala’s presidential election files complaint alleging voter fraud

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The party of former first lady Sandra Torres, who lost Guatemala’s presidential election this week, filed a complaint Friday alleging fraud in the way the votes were counted.The complaint is the latest attempt to eradicate competition to Guatemala’s political elite in one of the most tumultuous elections in the Central American nation’s recent history. Torres, a candidate who came to exemplify the political establishment in a country where many people have grown tired of endemic corruption, has remained silent since her loss in Sunday’s runoff election and has refused to accept Sunday’s results.While the Supreme Electoral Tribunal recognized progressive Bernardo Arévalo of the Seed Movement party as the virtual winner with a significant lead over Torres, final results have yet to be made official.Arévalo emerged as the electoral surprise in the first round of the presidential contest, finishing second in a field of 22 and advancing to the Aug....