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Goldberg: National crime trends require local solutions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

We live in a moment when everyone seems compelled to talk about national trends and systemic problems. There are plenty of reasons for this.Politicians in Washington, Republicans and Democrats alike, think Washington should call the shots. Presidents and presidential aspirants feel the need to talk about our vast country in homogenous and monolithic terms — or cut in half between the “red” and “blue” parts. State and local officials — sometimes with good reason — like to blame their problems and failures on national trends beyond their control, at least partly to pass the buck but also to get more bucks passed from Washington to them. Particularly as local news dries up, the national press corps is biased toward framing stories in national terms. Social media has made the whole country seem like one endlessly bickering small town.And sometimes, national trends and systemic problems are exactly that — national and systemic.Still, the tr...

Save your skin with these great SPF multitaskers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

Now that we’re hitting 70-degree days, the sun is a pretty consistent visitor. Of course, we all want to soak up as many of its rays as possible. But, safety first.Put one of the following new and innovative SPF products on our shopping list. Then, if you’ll be in the sun directly for a while, double down and pack that sun hat and some shades before you grab a few rays. Here are some of the latest, greatest products to add to your skin protection arsenal:SPF built into moisturizer: Ever’s Daylight Radiance Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 32 ($42.75 on ever.com) is a heroic multitasker. Its formula minimizes the appearance of fine lines while hydrating and protecting the skin with a chemical-free sunscreen. Its light-reflecting pigments result in a luminous glow, while hyaluronic microspheres add moisture. Meanwhile, it protects with chemical-free broad-spectrum UVA/UVB SPF 32 protection. And lastly, it smooths with Vitamin C to lighten up lines and brighten ski...

‘Beau is Afraid’ with good reason as Joaquin Phoenix carries horror tale

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Beau Is Afraid”Rated R. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters.Grade: A-“Beau Is Afraid,” the latest effort from writer-director Ari Aster, begins as an urban horror film of great power. Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix) is a troubled single man living in a spider-infested apartment complex perhaps in New York City next door to a peep show. Outside a nearly naked young man is dancing non-stop some sort of rumba on the sidewalk. News report tells of a fully naked man who has stabbed someone to death on the street. He is also on the scene.Beau, returning from a session with his therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson), where the talk is about Beau’s mother, must race with a tattooed maniac to get to his building’s front door first. At night, street noises keep Beau awake. Also keeping him awake is a neighbor slipping notes under his door and one who turns up the music. Someone steals Beau’s keys, making it impossible for him to catch...

Wednesday’s high school roundup/scores: King Philip rules Walpole on the diamond, 4-3

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

BASEBALLJohnny Prater and Aidan Astorino led an offensive charge that featured four different players gathering two hits, each driving in a run for King Philip in a 4-3 nonleague win over Walpole. … Cam Beltramini’s 4-for-4 day at the plate helped Whitman-Hanson (5-2) get ahead and Brandon Craven’s bases-clearing triple put the game out of reach in a 12-2 win over New Bedford. … Nick Ayres came through in the clutch once again for Duxbury (6-1), belting a walkoff grand slam to best Braintree 5-2. … Andrew Schmit drove in two runs, while James Benestad posted three hits and Chris Pompei (two hits) scored twice for St. John’s of Shrewsbury to top Algonquin, 7-1. … Senior Noah Gonzalez stepped up big for Newton South (5-0), hitting a walkoff single in the seventh inning en route to a 5-4 win over crosstown rival Newton North – the program’s first over the Tigers in 11 years. … Tyler Kropis and Connor Flynn scored twice and drove in four runs apiece as Seekonk cruised to a 15-2 wi...

Editorial: End qualified immunity to weed out bad cops

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

There are good cops. There are bad cops. And there’s legislation that could help police departments separate the wheat from the chaff.Massachusetts Democrats Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Ed Markey have reintroduced legislation to end qualified immunity, a doctrine that protects government officials from individual liability for violating personal and constitutional rights, as The Hill reported.The Ending Qualified Immunity Act would restore Americans’ ability to obtain relief when state and local officials, including police officers, violate citizens’ legal and constitutional rights by explicitly stating that the police officers that violate these rights are not protected from civil liability.The act was originally introduced in June 2020 Pressley and former Rep. Justin Amash (L-Mich.) following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.A lot of things have happened between cops and civilians since June 2020, and America has been watching.There were the dozen...

‘Chevalier’ looks grand, falls flat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Chevalier”Rated PG-13. At the AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Coolidge Corner and suburban theaters.Grade C+A flawed costume drama, “Chevalier” is based on the true story of the 18th-century French-Caribbean musician Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George (Kelvin Harrison Jr., “Elvis”). The film is set in pre-revolutionary Paris. This is no French “Hamilton.” “Chevalier,” which was written by Stefani Robinson (TV’s “Atlanta”) and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Stephen Williams (TV’s “Watchmen”), begins in the former Palais-Royal across from the Louvre, where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Joseph Prowen) plays his violin literally hopping around the stage in joy before a packed house when a “dark stranger” approaches asking to perform with the maestro. A bewildered Mozart agrees only to have Bologne spin rings around the him in a Fifth Concerto No. 5 battle of the fiddles. The scene ends with a Mozart comically crying, “Who the (expletive) ...

Gallery: Bruins blow it, lose big to the Panthers 6-3

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

The Boston Bruins lost Game 2 in the first round of the Playoffs against the Florida Panthers 6-3 at the Garden.

Jeung: US-China tensions fuel more anti-Asian hate

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

The far-right website the Daily Caller recently smeared Asian American business leaders in L.A. as stooges of the People’s Republic of China. This portrayal — based on prejudice, not evidence — points to a trend we’re likely to only see expand. Amid widening U.S.-China tensions, American extremists and officials alike are stoking fears that will start another surge of racism toward Chinese people and others of Asian descent.U.S. government leaders have been clear in their messaging: China, and anyone associated with it, may be a security threat. During a university talk this month, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray again declared China the greatest “long-term” threat to the United States. “The current Chinese regime will stop at nothing to steal what they can’t create and silence the messages they don’t want to hear,” Wray claimed, “all in an effort to surpass us as a global superpower.” Others in the Biden administration, such as Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, have repeated ...

Girls gymnastics All-Scholastics and league All-Stars

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

GIRLS GYMNASTICSGabriella Bresnick (Andover)Alexa Graziano (Wilmington/Bedford)Amelie Hirst (Newton South)Sophia Isbell (Reading)Ava Kelley (Barnstable/Mashpee/Falmouth)Mackenzie Mackinaw (Silver Lake)Madeline Migliero (Danvers/Lynnfield)Isabella Misiura (Masconomet)Lily Moreira (Bridgewater-Raynham/West Bridgewater)Rebecca Morrow (Newton South)Greta Mowers (Masconomet)Maggie Murphy (Westford Academy)Amanda Ogden (Tewksbury)Camryn Rueda (Central Catholic)Katie Russo (Bridgewater-Raynham/West Bridgewater)Riley Salerno (Central Catholic)Kaylee Westcott (Danvers/Lynnfield)Janey Young (Masconomet)GABRIELLA BRESNICKANDOVERThe junior was the Merrimack Valley Conference champion in the All-Around. At the States Individuals, Bresnick was second in both the bars and floor exercise and third in the All-Around. On the season, Bresnick’s high scores were 9.8 in the floor, 9.7 on the beam and 9.6 in both the bars and vault.ALEXA GRAZIANOWILMINGTON/BEDFORDThe senior broke three school recor...

Dear Abby: Safety issues a heavy burden for pool owner

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:32 GMT

Dear Abby: I married a widower eight years ago, and we are very happy. However, his three grown daughters were angry that he moved on with his life after the death of their mother. To keep peace in the family, I have tried to “kill them with kindness,” and while we’ve made progress, I feel they take advantage of me and sometimes treat me with disrespect.Although we don’t swim often, we go to the expense of opening our pool every summer so the children and grandchildren can swim. Frequently when I check the pool after they leave, I find my pool floats have been damaged or destroyed. All three of his daughters are very large women. Not once have they mentioned that they damaged the floats or offered to replace them.I bought a new chair for my deck recently and noticed that it has a weight limit of 250 pounds. At least two of his daughters — maybe all three — exceed the weight limit. I’m considering selling the chair because I’m afraid so...