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Burke can’t keep pace with Springfield International in semifinal loss

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

WORCESTER — Burke’s quest for its second state championship in four years came to a conclusion Wednesday night.Trailing 36-33 with three minutes to play in the third, No. 3 Springfield International went on a 13-2 run that spread into the fourth quarter en route to a 59-53 win over No. 2 Burke in the Division 4 state semifinals on Wednesday night at Worcester State.The Bulldogs will play for their first state title since 2010 versus top-seeded Wareham.“Burke is a tremendous offensive team, and if you’re going to beat them you need to limit their second-chance opportunities,” Springfield International coach Patrick Ochoa said. “Once we kept them off the glass we gave ourselves a chance to compete.”Two Jaeden Roberts (23 points) triples put Burke (19-5) on top 36-32 late in the third and put it seemingly on the verge of going on a breakaway run. Springfield, however, answered by going on a 6-0 spurt before the end of the frame highlighted by a Londo...

New York fugitive accused of slashing throat of West End 75-year-old man

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

A man wanted in Brooklyn, New York, for a knife assault earlier this year is now charged with slashing a 75-year-old Boston man’s throat before making himself at home in his West End apartment.Dion Pelzer, 30, was charged in Boston Municipal Court Tuesday with murder and with being a fugitive from justice. Judge Tracy-Lee Lyons ordered him held without bail and scheduled a pre-trial hearing for April 12.“Everything about this case is terrifying,” said Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden in a statement detailing Pelzer’s alleged actions on Feb. 15.Prosecutor Ursula Knight said at the arraignment that surveillance footage shows that Pelzer followed a resident into the secured apartment building on Martha Road at around 9:30 that night, took the elevator to the 11th floor and tried opening the door to many apartments until coming to the unlocked door of David MacDonald, the 75-year-old man he’s accused of murdering.MacDonald, Knight said, often left his door unlocked so neighbors and services like...

Keenan’s late-game heroics sends Bishop Fenwick girls to Div. 3 state hoop final

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

NEWTON – Coming down to the final possession, Bishop Fenwick’s defense came up with one final stop against Norwell at Newton North on Wednesday night.The three-seeded Crusaders mustered up just enough offense to upend No. 2 Norwell, 40-38, in the Div. 3 semifinals. It is the first state final appearance since winning it all in 2016 for Bishop Fenwick“I think it was exactly what we thought it was going to be,” said Crusaders coach Adam DeBaggis about the defensive battle that ensued.It was junior Tess Keenan’s lone made shot of the contest that gave Bishop Fenwick (17-7) its final lead with 19.9 ticks left after the teams exchanged 14 leads and five ties over the final 16 minutes of action.“It’s a pressure situation for her and I am so proud of her hitting that shot,” said junior captain Cecelia Kay about Keenan’s ability to stay composed. “We all just know that is the shot that got us to a state championship. I bet she is feeling pretty good right now.”Junior captain Cecilia Kay was...

St. Mary’s girls back in familiar territory, the state title game

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

QUINCY – With the exception of the lost COVID year, Yirsy Queliz has never played a season without making the state final since joining St. Mary’s of Lynn as an eighth-grader.Her senior campaign will be no different.The top-seeded Spartans (22-2) ended the first half of a Div. 3 state semifinal at Quincy High School on Wednesday night on a monstrous run, taking control early before toppling No. 4 Rockland, 70-43, in a rematch of last year’s state final – and a semifinal matchup the tournament prior.Queliz (15 points, eight rebounds, five assists) combined with fellow 1,000-point seniors Niya Morgen (20 points, nine rebounds) and Kellyn Preira (six points) to lead the charge, moving the ball extremely well for well-balanced scoring. That shined brightest in the second quarter while holding the Bulldogs to just two points in the frame, taking complete control within a 21-0 run for a 40-9 lead at the break.Reese Matela (15 points, nine rebounds) and Bella Owumi (eight points) made big ...

MIAA Board of Directors meeting: Slight rise of officials hailed as good news

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

MIAA associative executive director Richard Pearson has been at the forefront of extolling the virtues of game officials.At Wednesday’s MIAA Board of Directors meeting, Pearson spoke about the importance of officials and went on to add there has been a slight rise in officials, which is a promising development. Pearson added that his recent tournament experiences have been very promising with crowds acting in a generally positive manner, which should be considered a plus.He went on to mention that there are two initiatives he has been looking into, one of them being RefReps, a program which consists of comprehensive officiating education courses and interactive training video packs.These can be distributed to schools to teach them the pillars of officiating with the standardized online course curriculum complete with instructor guides, support materials, assessments, example videos, and more. Paired with video training packs, people can see the game through the eyes of the off...

Pursuit suspect disappears into parking structure in Long Beach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

Authorities were in pursuit of a driver suspected of burglary at a Dick's Sporting Goods Store Wednesday afternoon. Officers with West Covina Police Department initiated the pursuit just after 5 p.m. when the suspect was in the southbound lanes of the 605 Freeway. Sky5 was overhead as the suspect, driving a blue Mercedes, was clocked at speeds of 100 miles per hour and faster. After exiting the freeway onto surface streets, the suspect was seen driving dangerously fast, weaving in and out of traffic and driving on the wrong side of the road in the area of Long Beach. As authorities tracked the driver from the air, the suspect entered a parking structure. Officers with the Long Beach Police Department arrived to the scene and began searching for the suspect and Sky5 was redirected to a swift-water rescue in the Los Angeles River. It is so far unclear if the driver got away.

Flooding blocks road to North County homes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Despite floodwaters across Calle Ricardo at North Broadway in unincorporated Escondido and post signs, drivers plowed right through.“It gets worse sometimes when you can't even pass at all.  Small cars definitely you'll have a hard time,” resident Moe Kahooz said.Escondido saw nearly three inches of rain overnight, according to the National Weather Service San Diego. Rocky Rudolph, whose organic farm is up this hill on Calle Ricardo, heeded the warning and turned around.He owns Sage Hill Garden Organic Farm along with his son. There’s an alternate route about a mile-and-half away through a gated private country club, but often the gates are locked. He says all the recent storms are making it difficult to operate his farm. New atmospheric river heading for California next week, likely impact zone of Bay Area to San Diego “The rain this season we actually postponed our opening from March 1 to April 1 because of the rain, and now we are worried about April 1 being the op...

Ex-Wells Fargo exec to plead guilty for role in bank scandal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Wells Fargo Bank executive accused of overseeing a ruse that created millions of bogus customer accounts has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges likely to send her prison for her role in the scandal.The agreement filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles federal court calls for the former Wells Fargo executive, Carrie Tolstedt, to serve a 16-month prison sentence for obstructing regulators’ investigation into abusive sales practices that culminated in the bank paying billions of dollars in fines. Tolstedt, 63, also agreed to pay a $17 million fine in a separate civil settlement with the government that also bans her from working again in the banking industry.Prosecutors are requesting an April 7 court hearing to review the plea agreement.Tolstedt was the longtime head of the Wells Fargo’s division responsible for its sprawling network of retail branches, before leaving in 2016 just before evidence of the bank’s abusive sales tactics surfac...

North Korea launches ICBM before South Korea-Japan summit

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a display of military might Thursday just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit expected to be overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats. The launch, the North’s first ICBM test in a month and third weapons testing this week, also comes as South Korean and U.S. troops continue joint military exercises that Pyongyang considers a rehearsal to invade.South Korea’s military said the North Korean ICBM flew toward the Korean Peninsula’s eastern waters after being launched from North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, around 7:10 a.m. The statement said South Korea’s military is maintaining readiness in close coordination with the United States. The Sunan neighborhood is the site of Pyongyang’s international airport and has emerged as a major testing site where the North launched most of its ICBMs in recent years, all flown ...

Arizona governor blasted for plans to defy execution order

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:22 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing heavy pushback from a victim’s sister and a powerful county prosecutor for her plans to defy a court order to execute a prisoner next month for his conviction in a 2002 killing. The newly elected Democratic governor vowed nearly two weeks ago that she wouldn’t carry out the Arizona Supreme Court’s order to execute Aaron Gunches on April 6, citing a review that she has ordered of death penalty protocols due to Arizona’s history of mismanaging executions.Hobbs has said executions will not be carried out until Arizonans can be confident the state isn’t violating the law. She maintains that while the court authorized Gunches’ execution, its order doesn’t require the state to carry it out.Over the last several days, lawyers for Karen Price, whose brother Ted Price was the victim in Gunches’ case, and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell have told the state’s highest court that Hobbs doesn’t have the legal authority to disregard ...