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Commute Still Slow As T Checks Track Safety

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

MBTA commuters face sluggish travel Monday morning with speed restrictions still in place as crews continue their work to verify that previously identified track defects have in fact been addressed.T officials announced Sunday evening that slow zones remain in place on the entire Green Line and Mattapan Line after a failure to document repairs prompted them to impose systemwide speed restrictions Thursday night. The Red, Blue and Orange Lines since Friday have been subject to a series of localized speed restrictions, not end-to-end slow zones, that T officials now say affects nearly a third of track miles. As of Monday morning, the MBTA has 39 newly implemented “block speed restrictions” in place on the Red Line, 19 on the Orange Line and six on the Blue Line, together covering 31.9 percent of the track for those three routes. Officials did not provide any information about where the new slow zones are located. “A block speed restriction is a length of track that m...

Jets could be quiet in free agency market as they wait on Aaron Rodgers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

As the Jets wait for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s answer on whether he is willing to accept a trade, don’t expect a ton of movement this week at the start of free agency.Monday at noon eastern marked the beginning of the NFL’s two-day negotiating window, during which teams can begin talking to pending free agents 52 hours before the new league year on March 15 at 4 p.m.Teams and a player’s agent can agree to contract terms but cannot officially sign until the new league year begins. For the Jets, it could be quiet in Florham Park for various reasons.Gang Green is working with less salary cap money than in previous years. The Jets currently have a little over $10 million as they enter the two-day negotiating period. That doesn’t include the $5 million of savings the Jets will get when they officially release wide receiver Braxton Berrios on Wednesday.The Jets have already made a couple of moves, including acquiring safety Chuck Clark from the Rave...

Bank stocks tumble; others rise on hopes for easier rates

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Bank stocks are continuing to drop Monday as Wall Street worries about what may be next to topple following the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history. But much of the rest of the market is rising on hopes the fear will force the Federal Reserve to take it easier on its economy-rattling hikes to interest rates. The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in midday trading after charging back from an early drop of 1.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 145 points, or 0.5%, at 32,055, as of 11:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.1% higher. The sharpest drops were again coming from banks and other financial companies. Investors are worried that a relentless rise in interest rates meant to get inflation under control are approaching a tipping point and may be cracking the banking system. The U.S. government announced a plan late Sunday meant to shore up the banking industry following the collapses of ...

Patriots trading TE Jonnu Smith to Falcons for late-round pick

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

The Patriots are trading veteran tight end Jonnu Smith to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2023 seventh-round pick, a source confirmed to the Herald.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots free agency tracker and grades: Every New England signing, rumor and move New England Patriots | 4 things to know about Patriots free agency New England Patriots | Patriots re-sign LB Raekwon McMillan, per report New England Patriots | Patriots release punter Jake Bailey New England Patriots | Guregian: Devin McCourty’s retirement leaves Patriots with huge void The Patriots will create $4.4 million in cap space and absorb a $12.8 million dead cap hit, per Over the Cap, in what amounts to a salary dump less than an hour away from the start of free agency. Smith has two years remaining on the 4-year deal he signed as an unrestricted free agent in March 2021, one of the least team-friendly contracts in the league. ...

Biden OKs major Willow oil drilling in Alaska over protests

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

By MATTHEW DALY and CHRIS MEGERIAN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it is approving the major Willow oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope, one of President Joe Biden’s most consequential climate choices that is drawing condemnation from environmentalists who say it flies in the face of the Democratic president’s pledges.The announcement comes a day after the administration, in a big move toward conservation, said it would bar or limit drilling in some other areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.Biden’s Willow plan would allow three drill sites initially, which project developer ConocoPhillips has said would include about 219 total wells. A fourth drill site proposed for the project would be denied. The company has said it considers the three-site option workable. Houston-based ConocoPhillips will relinquish rights to about 68,000 acres of existing leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.Climat...

President Biden to visit San Diego

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- President Joe Biden is headed to San Diego today for a meeting with the British and Australian Prime Ministers to discuss the countries' partnership and defense issues, according to the White House.The leaders are expected to announce a deal that would modernize Australia's fleet by equipping the country with a U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarine, as tensions mount with China. US, UK try to halt fallout from Silicon Valley Bank collapse Air Force One took off around 7 a.m. from Washington, D.C. and is expected to land at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado around 11:50 a.m.Biden is expected to deliver remarks from San Diego on the meeting at 2 p.m. today.This visit will be the President's first trip to San Diego since last November.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Pakistan’s ex-PM Khan leads rally, ignores arrest warrants

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Former Prime Minister Imran Khan rallied thousands of supporters in eastern Pakistan on Monday as courts in the capital, Islamabad, issued two more arrest warrants for him over his failure to appear before judges in graft and terrorism cases, officials said. Since his ouster last April in a no-confidence vote in Parliament, Khan has routinely ignored arrest warrants and court summons in a string of cases against him, claiming they are a plot by the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to discredit his campaign. The former cricket star turned Islamist politician has claimed that his ouster was illegal and a conspiracy by Sharif and Washington, which have denied the allegations. Khan’s critics say his flaunting of the courts is a maneuver to delay his trials on allegations of terrorism, contempt of court and graft.One of the warrants issued Monday was over charges that Khan sold state gifts and concealed assets while in office; the other i...

Alaska’s Willow oil project is controversial. Here’s why.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration is approving a major oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope that supporters say represents an economic lifeline for Indigenous communities in the region but environmentalists say is counter to President Joe Biden’s climate goals.The decision on ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Willow project, in a federal oil reserve roughly the size of Indiana, was revealed Monday.Q: What is the Willow project?A: The project could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day, according to the company — about 1.5% of total U.S. oil production. The project is the largest proposed oil drilling on U.S. public land and the biggest oil field in Alaska in decades. Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said the development could be “one of the biggest, most important resource development projects in our state’s history.” On average, about 499,700 barrels of oil a day flow through the trans-Alaska pipeline, well below the late-1980s peak o...

Volkswagen to build EV battery plant in Ontario

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

ST. THOMAS, Ont. — Volkswagen has announced it plans to build an electric vehicle battery plant in St. Thomas, in southwestern Ontario.The European automaker says the Volkswagen Group and its battery company PowerCo will establish its first overseas “gigafactory” for battery cell manufacturing, with the start of production planned for 2027.The company signed an agreement last year with the federal government to work to identify suitable sites for such a facility in Canada, and they had also committed to investigate ways for Canada to contribute to Volkswagen’s battery supply chains, including raw materials and assembly.Ontario set the stage last month for the announcement, introducing and quickly passing a law adjusting the municipal boundaries for a 1,500-acre “mega site” in southwestern Ontario.Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said at the time that the site straddled St. Thomas and Central Elgin, and putting the entire piece of land within St....

‘The Last of Us’ TV adaptation resonates beyond gamers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:31:10 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the HBO series “The Last of Us,” a fungal infection has taken over Earth, rendering the United States an apocalyptic landscape protagonists Joel and Ellie need to traverse. Fans unfamiliar with the video game, from which the series was adapted, might assume this is just another zombie show packed with action and gore.However, the story and the characters have subverted expectations and received praise from all corners. “The Last of Us,” whose first season concluded Sunday, has not only won over gamers with high expectations, but also people who don’t play video games. The series premiere drew 4.7 million viewers in the U.S., based on Nielsen and HBO data, making for HBO’s second-largest debut, behind “House of the Dragon.”“No one could have anticipated this, this reaction and how positive it’s been and how broad it’s been in its reach,” said Neil Druckmann, Naughty Dog co-president and the creator and writer of the video game, whose critically accla...