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Phillip Eng named as next MBTA general manager

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

The MBTA will welcome a fresh face to its team next month as Phillip Eng comes out of retirement to serve as the agency’s next general manager. Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca announced Monday that they would appoint Eng to the role, which has been filled by Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville since the departure of former GM Steve Poftak in January. Eng, who worked for several years for the Long Island Railroad, spoke alongside state officials on Monday afternoon, saying “people are ready to step up.” “People are ready to deliver,” Eng said. “ There’s so much pride. What they need, and [what] I’m going to give them, is the support, the direction and the tools.”Eng spent part of the day on the train Monday speaking with commuters. He said his engineering background has him primed to fix problems. He also promised, during his tenure, to always be approachable for feedback. “We’re going to work hard to make su...

Two teens arrested after allegedly stealing rifle from state police cruiser in Malden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with allegations that they stole a patrol rifle, a high-capacity magazine and ammunition from a Massachusetts State Police cruiser last week, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday. Officials said the incident happened overnight last Thursday when officials said two people allegedly entered the parking garage of an apartment complex in Malden before breaking into a marked cruiser and taking the rifle, magazine and ammunition. The DA’s office said investigators later found the stolen items in a Malden home connected to the 15-year-old. A 14-year-old and 15-year-old are facing charges including conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the DA’s office.They are expected to be arraigned on Tuesday in Cambridge Juvenile Court.  The cruiser itself was towed away on Thursday morning, with video from the scene showing the lock next to the door handle popped off. Detectives were seen busy inte...

Bostonians react to New York ad taking apparent dig at Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

An ad for the We NYC campaign in New York City has caused a stir with an apparent Boston-bashing message. â€œWe get more done by 8 a.m. than Boston does in a day,” the sign saysLocally, those in Boston reacted to the ad on Monday. â€œI think that’s BS,” one person told 7NEWS. â€œI don’t like that whatsoever,” another said. Another person called the sign “a cheap shot.” A photo of the ad posted on Twitter prompted reaction. https://twitter.com/butlikesrsly/status/1640007316203249666On the streets of Boston, Sal Giarratani shared his thoughts. â€œOh, they’re bad, that’s bad,” Giarratani said. “No, I don’t think they get anything done half the time.”“Foolish, foolish, that’s so untrue,â€&#x...

Former top Red Sox prospect optioned to minor leagues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

The Red Sox continue to trim their roster, and made a notable demotion on Monday, optioning Bobby Dalbec to Triple-A Worcester.Dalbec, the team’s everyday first baseman in 2021 and most of 2022, struggled last year and lost the job to Eric Hosmer, and then, Triston Casas. He was demoted to Triple-A to clear a roster spot for Casas’ debut last September, and the rookie quickly supplanted his struggling predecessor.Dalbec hit .304 over 18 Grapefruit League games, though he struggled towards the end of that span. The Red Sox spent the preseason using him all over the infield to see if he could handle a bench role. Ultimately, they seem to be choosing Yu Chang, instead.Chang hasn’t been an everyday player the way Dalbec was in the last two seasons of his three years in the majors, but he also didn’t strike out 274 times in 250 games between 2021-22, and offers more defensive upside than Dalbec. A versatile infielder, Chang arrived at camp late last week, after be...

Column: Jed Hoyer did things his way — and now the Chicago Cubs president awaits the results

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

It took a while for Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer to escape the long shadow of Theo Epstein.Hoyer rejoined his Boston Red Sox old mentor in Chicago in 2011, leaving his general manager position with the San Diego Padres to play second fiddle to Epstein during the Cubs rebuild.“There are some places in baseball where if you can help make it happen, the sense of accomplishment is going to be shared across a wide spectrum,” Hoyer told the San Diego Union-Tribune upon taking the job. “Boston is one of those places. The Chicago Cubs is one of those places. The Cubs are well-positioned to have a run of success.”That “run of success” began in 2015 and peaked with the 2016 World Series. But the blueprint for sustained success hit a wall, and after the Cubs’ third straight season without a postseason win, Epstein departed in 2020 and left Hoyer as the heir apparent.Hoyer was forced to do the dirty work, making decisions he knew would be unpopular,...

Nashville school shooter kills 3 kids, 3 adults: ‘Heartbreaking. A family’s worst nightmare’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

A former student at a Nashville elementary school shot and killed three kids and three adults at the private Christian school on Monday, as the nation reels from yet another “sick” and “heartbreaking” school shooting.The 28-year-old suspect, a transgender woman who was a former student at The Covenant School in Nashville, entered the Tennessee school through a side door as she carried two AR-style weapons and a handgun, police said.The shooter, identified as Audrey Hale who wrote a manifesto and had drawn a detailed map of the school, fatally shot three 9-year-olds and three staff members before she was shot and killed by police.The three 9-year-old student victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. The three adult victims were identified as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.“I was hoping this day would never, ever come here in this city,” Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Dra...

Kodai Senga wraps up final spring outing and is ready for regular season: ‘I’m excited’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

PORT ST. LUCIE — Kodai Senga still isn’t sure what to make of the Major Leagues, but he’s ready to find out.The Mets’ right-hander made one final start Monday in an intrasquad game pitching against some of the organization’s top prospects. His first start of the spring also came against Mets hitters. The club has taken a cautious approach this spring to allow him to adjust to the new ball, the new mound and a new country, but Senga is ready to leave the confines of Port St. Lucie and face some of baseball’s best hitters.“I didn’t face a lot of famous hitters today, but hopefully soon I’ll find out and we’ll see how amped up I get,” he said through a translator. “I’m excited.”Senga threw 72 pitches, 12-15 of which were splitters. He had previously been told to lay off of those to make sure the middle finger tendinitis didn’t return, but all went well and his finger feels fine. He’s cleared...

New MBTA boss Phil Eng rides out slow zones, rider frustrations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

The trip took upward of an hour, closer to 75 minutes — time for Phil Eng to hit a couple of slow zones and get an earful from the T-riding populace.“You know what? It moves at an interesting pace,” Eng, the incoming general manger of the MBTA said after his ride up the Green Line’s D branch from Riverside to Park Street on Monday afternoon — a stretch that, according to the T’s new dashboard, contains more than 15 stretches with speed restrictions. He declared, “We will fix that.”After talking to the riders, he reported to the press at Park Street, “They’re optimistic. They’ve shared some of the frustrations, but they’re really happy that the team is moving forward, that I’m going to focus on the things that are important to them. So it’s a great day.”The $470,000 man — that’s his annual salary, up from the $320,000-or-so-a-year previous GM — comes from New York City, where he has a lengthy resume r...

Food for thought: Free meals for all New Mexico students

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed legislation to provide free school meals to all students regardless of family income, as New Mexico and several other states look to fill the gap left by lapsed federal pandemic-era benefit programs and address the strain to family budgets caused by food prices.The bill cleared the Legislature during the recent 60-day session, with lawmakers setting aside more than $22 million in the state budget to help pay for the program. Additional money will be used to improve school kitchens so healthier meals can be prepared. “When we feed our children, we’re feeding our future – these investments today will yield benefits tomorrow through generations of healthier New Mexicans,” the Democratic governor said in a statement issued after she celebrated with dozens of elementary school students.California and Maine have made universal meals permanent, legislation to do so is advancing in Vermont, and Nevada pitched in $75 milli...

Walmart Canada CEO says retailer not trying to profit from inflation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Walmart Canada is not trying to profit from food inflation, president and CEOGonzalo Gebara told a parliamentary committee studying the issue Monday evening.Gebara told MPs that Walmart Canada’s gross profit rate for its food business declined last year, as did the company’s total operating profit in dollars. However, he declined to provide specific numbers for the private business, saying Walmart Canada has provided relevant financial information to the Competition Bureau.MPs pressed Gebara on the fees and penalties that grocers charge suppliers. These fees are one of the topics being discussed as part of efforts to create a grocery code of conduct. Gebara said Walmart Canada has received a draft of the code of conduct recently and is reviewing it. “We will support any initiative that would bring better conditions and the ability to have more transparency in the whole chain,” he said.  Gebara’s comments before the committee followed a highly anticipated appearance by...