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Boston’s North End shooting: A history of Patrick Mendoza’s beef with alleged victim

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

North End restauranteur Patrick Mendoza stands accused of firing three shots at a man on Hanover Street last week before pedaling away from the scene. That’s his alleged crime, but the beef between the pair, simmering for years, is anything but alleged.A police report filed in the shooting case said that Mendoza, 54, and Rocco Giovanello, 60, have known each other for some 20 years.But their acquaintanceship turned ugly the afternoon of Feb. 5, 2019, when Patrick Mendoza and his brother Frankie Mendoza beat Giovanello with fists, kicks, a glass bottle and even the side mirror to the victim’s silver Ford Explorer at the side of Parmenter Street, according to the police report filed for the incident.It all started, as Giovanello told it to police about a week later, when he and Frankie Mendoza earlier that day “exchanged words” over the latter causing a traffic jam “as he entertained his girlfriend” on Salem Street.By 3:25 p.m., Giovanello said, he was driving down Parmenter toward Sa...

Northeast 7-on-7: New blood at Milton working out

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

PEABODY — When it comes to Milton this football season, a lot of the discussion concerns what the Wildcats lost.The quarterback from last year? Gone. Skill players? Also, gone. Basically everyone from one of the state’s best teams? Out, and on to new adventures.But hold on for a minute. On Saturday at Bishop Fenwick, it might be high time to start respecting the Wildcats that are coming back.In the Northeast 7v7 East regional, Milton beat a game Peabody squad in the Open final to make it to New Englands, an event which the Wildcats won last summer.In the Small title, St. Mary’s beat Salem on a last-second bomb.Quarterback Patrick Miller played well for Milton, and watched as his defense picked off three passes in the win over Peabody.“We’re all hard-working kids,” Miller said. “We’re a big family. We’re coming out here, we’re working hard. We’re going to take what the defense gives us, and just keep working hard.”Milt...

Arson suspect arrested after East County motel fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

LEMON GROVE, Calif. -- A man suspected of deliberately setting fire to a Lemon Grove motel Friday was arrested, authorities said. Carlos Antonio Landa, 39, was identified as the suspect, Sgt. Anthony Portillo with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said in a news release Saturday. He faces a charge of arson to an inhabited structure stemming from the Lemon Grove incident, as well as assault and arson-related charges in an unrelated incident in the City of San Diego, per SDSO. 2,000-gallon sewage spill forces East Mission Bay closure Around noon Friday, the fire broke out at a motel in the 8000 block of Broadway, according to authorities.When first responders arrived on scene, one of the units was fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters evacuated several units as a precaution while they put out the fire.No injuries were reported.Landa is being held in law enforcement custody. His bail has been set at $250,000.

Actors, union members hold panel on strike, AI technology at Comic-Con

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The writers and actors strike is making an impact at Comic-Con. Union members and actors participated in a panel to discuss the recent strike. “We’re in an infliction point in history right now, you can choose to fight and die on that hill or you will be summerly executed there,” said Zeke Alton, SAG/AFTRA negotiating member.  “The Performers Perspective” panel put on by the National Association of Voice Actors and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. (SAG/AFTRA) centered around the writers' and actors' strikes. The panel also discussed the strikes in relation to AI technology in entertainment. “It’s a moment where we could either make sure those protections are in place for the humans that are behind those creative works or our likeliness and work and our art will get taken,” actor Ashly Burch said.The Writers Guild of America (WGA) began striking in May against major studios over contracts, including higher pay. &...

Israel’s Netanyahu taken to hospital for heart procedure, placed under sedation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Sunday he was going to the hospital for an emergency procedure to receive a pacemaker, but vowed to press ahead with his controversial judicial overhaul plan.In a brief videotaped statement released at 2 a.m., Netanyahu said he had been fitted with a monitoring device after being briefly hospitalized last week for what his office had said was dehydration. He said an alarm on the device beeped Saturday night, meaning he needed a pacemaker immediately.“I feel excellent, but I listen to my doctors,” he said.In a short statement, Netanyahu’s office said Israel’s leader would be placed under sedation. A top deputy, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, was to stand in for him.Netanyahu’s office made the announcement as Israel faces widespread street protests over Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul plan. The plan has triggered months of protests, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets Saturday night to d...

Man attempts to set fire to himself and police during arrest in Vaughan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

A 28-year-old man from Vaughan is facing arson and assault charges after allegedly setting fire to a car in a hospital parking garage in Newmarket. Emergency crews were called to Southlake Regional Health Centre on Thursday, July 20, at around 9:45 p.m. for reports of a fire in the garage of the hospital on the south side of Davis Drive, east of Prospect Drive.Upon arrival, officers found a Porsche engulfed in flames on the fourth floor of the garage.York police say while there was extensive damage to the unoccupied vehicle, as well as to the surrounding property, hospital operations were unaffected. Surveillance video showed a man loitering in the area before approaching the vehicle and apparently placing an accelerant on it before igniting it. Investigators say with the help of tips from the public they were able to identify the man and on Saturday went to a home in Vaughan to arrest him.“As two officers arrested him, the suspect poured an accelerant on himself and the offic...

Judge orders Montana health clinic to pay nearly $6 million over false asbestos claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination must pay the government almost $6 million in penalties and damages after it submitted hundreds of false asbestos claims, a judge ruled.The 337 false claims made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received. The federally funded clinic has been at the forefront of the medical response to deadly pollution from mining near Libby, MontanaThe judgement against the Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic comes in a federal case filed by BNSF Railway in 2019 under the False Claims Act, which allows private parties to sue on the government’s behalf. BNSF — which is itself a defendant in hundreds of asbestos-related lawsuits — alleged the center submitted claims on behalf of patients without sufficient confirmation they had asbestos-related disease.After a seven-person jury agreed last month, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen said in a July 18 order ...

Person held captive by human smugglers rescued, APD says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department's trafficking unit was able to rescue a person held captive by human smugglers this week, APD Asst. Chief Jeff Greenwalt said on Twitter.According to APD, it worked for 20 hours straight after receiving a report of an adult was being held captive.More than 60 people from nine different units were able to rescue the person and arrested two suspects, according to APD.This is the 16th recovered human smuggling victim this year, police said.

State of Texas: Buoys, razor wire sparks fight on Texas border issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Department of Justice is preparing to sue Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the state’s latest border security initiative under Texas’ Operation Lone Star, according to a DOJ letter obtained by Nexstar. Department of Justice warns of lawsuit over Texas border buoys along Rio Grande First reported by the Houston Chronicle, the DOJ sent Abbott a letter on Thursday warning that the buoy barrier the state deployed along the Rio Grande is unlawful. Texas announced the initiative in early June as a way to deter migrants from crossing the Mexican side of the river into Texas, near Eagle Pass.Abbott responded on Twitter Friday writing “Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution.”We have sent the Biden Administration numerous letters detailing our authority, including the one I hand-delivered to President Biden earlier this year.The tragic humanitarian crisis on the border was created because...

Twins first baseman Alex Kirilloff exhibits power surge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:58 GMT

The good, productive at-bats have been there since Alex Kirilloff joined the Twins in early May. Now, the Twins are seeing the power, too.Kirilloff entered Saturday night’s game against the White Sox with four home runs in his last six games, playing a major role in the Twins’ offensive resurgence post All-Star break.“I think for a lot of guys — and I think this is happening with AK — you hit first and you find the barrel first and you find the good at-bats and zero in on certain parts of the zone, swing at the right pitches, and then as you get more confident on certain pitches you know that you can get the barrel out there a little bit more on those pitches,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You can turn on some of those balls a little bit more, but not at the expense of all those other good qualities, those positive things that they’re doing in the box right now.”Kirilloff himself said he can’t quite put a finger directly on why, exactly, the power barrage is happening, but he has a...