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Florida leaders aim to ban drag shows as Miami Beach prepares for Pride festival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

An organization is sending a strong message by issuing a travel warning to the LGBTQ community before they make plans to come to the Sunshine State amid legislators approving a bill aimed at drag shows, and as Miami Beach hosts its Pride festival.Drag performers in Florida could be hit with major fines if a Florida bill becomes laws.“An overreach of government, and the bill is way too vague,” said Tiffany Fantasia, a drag performer. “A legitimate concern for parents and our constituents is about children exposed to nudity, sexual activities and lewd conduct,” said Republican State Sen. Clay Yarborough. Tuesday night, the Republican-led Florida Senate passed a bill that would ban anyone under 18, even accompanied by a parent, from attending adult live performances, which includes drag shows and parades, which elected officials have deemed performances lewd. “Classified as adult entertainment is prejudice, bottom line,” Fantasia said. “We are ...

Severe weather leads to flooding across South Florida, ground stop at FLL, tornado warnings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

Incessant downpours caused extensive flooding across South Florida following days of inclement weather, causing street closures and a temporary ground stop at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.The severe conditions on Wednesday also led to a new tornado warning in Broward County near FLL, following two earlier warnings. They have all since been allowed to expire.The same area that was under the most recent tornado warning, extending from Fort Lauderdale to just south of Dania Beach, remained under a severe thunderstorm warning. Gusty winds from around 45 to 60 mph have been reported in this area.Flash flood warnings remain in place in parts of Central Broward until 5:15 p.m. and near Sunny Isles Beach to downtown Fort Lauderdale until 6:45 p.m.As of 4:30 p.m., the heaviest rain activity was moving southwest across Broward County.In Dania Beach, the street flooding led to the closure of Stirling Road between Federal Highway and Southwest Fourth Avenue. The flooding has ...

Crews battle fire at Lawrence triple-decker where front of building collapsed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

All residents were accounted for after a massive fire tore through a triple-decker home in Lawrence on Wednesday, according to officials.Cleanup efforts on Juniper Street were underway by the late afternoon, but not before the front porches of the building collapsed while a 7NEWS camera was rolling.https://twitter.com/scooperon7/status/1646224943066013696Firefighters were initially called to the building around 1 p.m. where the flames spread quickly, damaging both neighboring buildings.No one was seriously hurt, though Lawrence fire officials say one woman suffered from minor injuries and was treated at the scene.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Boston school officials apologize for error impacting exam school notifications

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

Officials with the Boston Public Schools are apologizing over an error that wrongly calculated student GPA’s and impacted which students were told they were eligible to go to some of the city’s exam schools. Speaking with 7NEWS, parents voiced frustration on Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate,” one parent said. “That’s misleading. It’s unfair.”“They’re a mess,” another parent said. “That really is not okay. Our kids deserve an equal opportunity for the best education possible and the exam schools provide that. If they don’t notify us in time, or they tell us we’ve passed and haven’t passed, that’s a problem.”Boston Latin, Boston Latin Academy and the O’Bryant School of Math and Science are elite exam schools many parents hope their children can make the grade to attend. Boston school officials this week, though, sent out an email telling parents that mistakes had been made in recent notifications about calculations for some students’ grade point averages. “Although we wo...

Local police remind pet owners not to leave animals in hot cars as warmer weather arrives

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

As the weather warms up, police in Dedham recently reminded pet owners not to leave their animals in cars. Police said animal control came upon five dogs left inside cars on Tuesday alone. While outside temperatures reached the mid 70s, police said temperatures inside vehicles can be 10 to 15 degrees higher, even in shaded areas with windows down. Dedham police noted state law preventing pets from being left in vehicles when temperatures “could reasonably be expected to threaten the health of the animal.” “We take this law very seriously here in Dedham, as our resident pets and visiting pets are part of the public that we aim to keep safe,” police said. Police shared photos of dogs found in cars, saying all their owners have been educated. 

Associate HC Johnnie Bryant’s past history with Donovan Mitchell could give Knicks needed edge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

There’s intimate knowledge attached to New York’s scouting reports on Donovan Mitchell.Johnnie Bryant, the Knicks associate head coach, has a deep and documented history with Mitchell, who has credited the development guru with lifting him into stardom with the Utah Jazz.The connection is such that Bryant’s hire with the Knicks in 2020 intensified rumors that Mitchell would wind up in orange and blue, which nearly became reality before Jazz president Danny Ainge opted for Cleveland’s trade package.Now they’re on opposite sides in a playoff series, and Immanuel Quickley smiled wryly when asked if Bryant’s history with Mitchell gives the Knicks an edge in preparation.“I ain’t going to speak on that,” Quickley said.But does it help?“Yeah, definitely.”Bryant worked as a Jazz assistant under Quin Snyder from 2014 to 2020, serving as Mitchell’s personal growth coach. It’s safe to assume he knows Mitchell’s...

Madonna, Daddy Yankeee, Mariah among 25 new additions to National Recording Registry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

Muri Assunção | New York Daily NewsMusic from Madonna, Mariah Carey, Daddy Yankee and Queen Latifah are among 25 of the “defining sounds of the nation’s history and culture” selected to join the National Recording Registry, the Library of Congress said Wednesday.This year’s selections, chosen “based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage,” include singles, albums, and other audio artifacts from 1908 to 2012.The class of 2023 highlights the work of women whose recordings have helped redefine genres.Madonna’s second studio album “Like A Virgin” — which catapulted her into global stardom — fueled her ascent in the music business as she took control of her image and sound. The 64-year-old multi-Grammy winner is celebrating 40 years in the industry with a highly anticipated world tour starting this summer.Queen Latifah’s debut album “All Hail the Queen,” released in 1989, also made the list, making the Newark-born Grammy winner the f...

Stocks dip after inflation data, Fed economists’ warning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks dipped to close an up-and-down Wednesday on Wall Street following the latest update on inflation and the latest warning of a possible recession.The S&P 500 fell 16.99, or 0.4%, to 4,091.95 after drifting between small gains and losses through the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 38.29, or 0.1%, to 33,646.50, and the Nasdaq composite lost 102.54, or 0.9%, to 11,929.34.The main focus for more than a year on Wall Street has been high inflation and how much painful medicine the Federal Reserve will have to dole out to contain it. Wednesday’s update on inflation was a mixed one, showing prices at the consumer level were 5% higher last month than a year earlier. That’s still well above the Federal Reserve’s comfort level, and some underlying trends within the data were also concerning. That weighed on financial markets. But on the upside for investors, the overall inflation number was still b...

Brittney Griner to release memoir about ‘unfathomable’ Russian detainment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

Peter Sblendorio | New York Daily NewsBrittney Griner hopes to enlighten people about her detainment in Russia and spread awareness about others being held there through a memoir that’s now in the works.The WNBA star plans to release a book in the spring of 2024 to detail her nearly 10-month imprisonment following a drug possession arrest, publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced Tuesday.“Readers will hear my story and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world,” Griner said in a statement Tuesday. “By writing this book, I also hope to raise awareness surrounding other Americans wrongfully detained abroad.”Griner was arrested in February 2022 after Russian officials said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.The Phoenix Mercury center said packing the substance was an “honest mistake” and pleaded guilty to drug charges last July. She was sentenced to nine years in prison but returned to t...

Aaron Boone ejected early over rules debate; Yankees rally secure series win over Guardians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:22 GMT

CLEVELAND — Back on April 2, when baseball’s new rules were still a daily topic of conversation, Aaron Boone was asked about the indirect impact the new 15-second time limit could have on teams’ abilities to challenge replays, an area of strength for the Yankees in recent years.“That time is definitely going to have a little bit of an effect,” Boone said. He added that managers like himself need to be more “reactionary” now when it comes to replays.But Terry Francona and the Guardians appeared to take their time challenging a first-inning play involving Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks on Monday.Initially, umpires ruled that Hicks caught a ball before throwing to second base for an inning-ending double play. While replay showed that he clearly dropped it, a sizeable chunk of time went by before the Guardians initiated a review after the umpires convened to discuss the call.The amount of elapsed time angered Boone, and he was ejected during...