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Leominster schools to reopen with 2-hour delay Thursday as flood cleanup continues

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

Leominster schools will reopen with a two-hour delay Thursday after two days of canceled classes following severe flooding earlier this week, city officials announced. Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella first announced the plan for schools at a press conference around 12 p.m. Wednesday. The Leominster Public Schools in a later statement said building principals would be sending out a message to families “with any pertinent details.” The school district said transportation may be slow as buses navigate the city. “Please be patient,” the district said.Cleanup efforts have continued in Leominster after storms dropped more than nine inches of rain Monday night. Floodwaters rose fast, ultimately washing out roads and damaging homes, businesses and city facilities. First responders from numerous state and local agencies rescued residents from flooded homes. As the sun then rose on Tuesday morning, several roads remained closed in Leominster due to sinkholes and othe...

Picasso masterpiece depicting his young mistress could sell for over $120 million at auction

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

(CNN) — A Picasso masterpiece entitled “Femme à la montre” is expected to fetch more than $120 million when it goes up for auction this fall.The 1932 oil painting will take center-stage at a two-day event at Sotheby’s in New York in November, when the collection of Emily Fisher Landau goes on sale.The piece, which measures 51¼ x 38 inches (130 x 96.5 centimeters), depicts Picasso’s lover and “golden muse” Marie-Thérèse Walter, who featured in many of his portraits.According to the auction house, the portrait is from one of the most prolific years of the Spanish artist’s career, which was the subject of an entire exhibition organized by the Musée Picasso in Paris and London’s Tate Modern in 2018.In a statement announcing the sale, Julian Dawes, Sotheby’s head of Impressionist & Modern Art for the Americas, said: “Picasso’s ‘Femme à la Montre’ is a masterpiece by every measure. Painted in 1932—Picasso’s ‘annus mirabilis’—it is full of joyful, passionate ab...

Morgues overwhelmed in Libya as floods death toll tops 6,000

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

(CNN) — Libya is racing to bury its dead as bodies pile up in the streets of Derna, the northern coastal city devastated by flooding after a torrential downpour smashed through two dams, washing homes into the sea.The death toll rose to over 6,000 people as of Wednesday morning local time, according to Saadeddin Abdul Wakil, health ministry undersecretary of the Unity Government in Tripoli, one of two rival governments operating in the country.Morgues are full in hospitals that remain out of service despite the desperate need to treat survivors of the disaster, according to staff. In Egypt, the government buried 87 Egyptian victims who died in Libya, according to the country’s emigration ministry.Around 10,000 more are missing, potentially either swept out to sea or buried beneath rubble that’s strewn throughout the city once home to over 100,000 people, authorities say.More than 30,000 people have been displaced by the flooding in Derna, the United Nations’ International ...

Chuck Palahniuk hates cozy British mysteries. So he decided to write his own.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

For Chuck Palahniuk, inspiration for his new novel, “Not Forever, But For Now,” came from his unvarnished distaste for that most genteel of genres: the cozy mystery.“I had bought a whole stack of cozy mysteries,” says Palahniuk on a call from his home in Portland. “Barnes & Noble just always has a giant wall of cozies – these mysteries typically set in England or Ireland where cats and vicars and old ladies solve these grisly mysteries and murders.“And I just hated every single one of them,” he says, perhaps unsurprisingly for the author of “Fight Club” and other tales of horror beyond the milieu of the Miss Marples or Jessica Fletchers of the world.But in them, Palahniuk says he saw something with which he could work.“There was a common quality to them that I really loved,” he says. “Where these mild-mannered people would come across this brutally murdered person and instead of having any kind of shocked reaction it was almost turned into a good thing.“It’s like, ‘Oh, great, no...

Residents can relax after fugitive Danelo Cavalcante is captured and arraigned in rural Pennsylvania

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, MARC LEVY and MICHAEL RUBINKAM (Associated Press)POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A murderer who brazenly escaped from a Pennsylvania jail was captured Wednesday in the woods by a team of tactical officers, bringing an end to an intensive search that terrified residents as the fugitive broke into homes for food, changed his appearance, and stole a van and rifle during two weeks on the run.Law enforcement’s big break came overnight as a plane fitted with a thermal imaging camera picked up Danelo Souza Cavalcante’s heat signal, allowing teams on the ground to secure the area, surround him and move in with search dogs.“They were able to move in very quietly. They had the element of surprise,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a news conference. “Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded until that had occurred.”Cavalcante — still armed with the rifle he stole from a homeowner’s garage — tried...

Can Mac Jones take next step for Patriots in Week 2 vs. Dolphins?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots quarterback Mac Jones said during training camp that he made it a goal to have more fun playing football this season.Winning and fun usually go hand in hand for a football team, so the Patriots aren’t off to a great start in that department after losing to the Eagles. But Jones, who held himself accountable for Week 1’s result, said Wednesday that he’s going to enjoy refining an aspect of his game that has been lacking through the first two-plus years of his career: success at the end of games.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots offensive line gets bad news at Wednesday practice before Dolphins game New England Patriots | Bill Belichick cagey with injury updates on three offensive starters New England Patriots | Source: Patriots signing ex-Eagles, Saints QB to practice squad New England Patriots | Patriots rookie Marte Mapu doesn’t know what position he’ll pl...

Travel agents share top strategies to avoid a bad experience

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

By Holly Johnson | TravelPulse (TNS)Travel disasters can come in nearly any form, turning your vacation into a giant headache in a hurry. For example, losing your luggage before or during a trip can cause delays and waste time. So can failing to plan your trip (or to plan it well), as can taking shortcuts to save money that actually cost you in the long run.Other travel problems may involve the timing of your trip. Arriving too late for a cruise, missing your flight or a connection or forgetting to check your passport ahead of time can create some huge problems for your vacation that can cost time and money to resolve.With that in mind, we asked travel agents from the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) for some of their best strategies to have an enjoyable trip and avoid the myriad issues and inconveniences that can occur. If you want to have the best possible vacation with limited hassle and stress, read on to hear what these travel professionals had to say.Travel early bef...

Spice up Sunday football with tasty, easy snacks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

Finally! It’s football time, and I’m stoked for this season. New team members, new quarterback, but the same loyal fans cheering “Go, Pack, Go!”I’ve been a diehard Green Bay Packers (cheesehead) fan for 30 years now. Green and gold all the way!I was fortunate to have been taught most of my knowledge about football by my great-aunt and great-uncle. I will always be a California girl, but they’re from Wisconsin so that state will always have a piece of my heart, and that’s how I became a loyal Green Bay Packers’ fan.No matter if it’s at a tailgate party, a bar screaming and cheering at the TV during football season, or having a football party at home, the food and drinks might be the best part of the season. Yes, one can go to a bar for a pint and wings, but in my opinion, making a smorgasbord for yourself and/or for friends at home with what’s in the refrigerator and cupboards — that’s what makes amazing memories.So, this week, I just wanted to share a few ideas for some easy, yummy ...

Artificial intelligence may influence whether you can get pain medication

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

Andy Miller and Sam Whitehead | (TNS) KFF Health NewsElizabeth Amirault had never heard of a Narx Score. But she said she learned last year the tool had been used to track her medication use.During an August 2022 visit to a hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Amirault told a nurse practitioner she was in severe pain, she said. She received a puzzling response.“Your Narx Score is so high, I can’t give you any narcotics,” she recalled the man saying, as she waited for an MRI before a hip replacement.Tools like Narx Scores are used to help medical providers review controlled substance prescriptions. They influence, and can limit, the prescribing of painkillers, similar to a credit score influencing the terms of a loan. Narx Scores and an algorithm-generated overdose risk rating are produced by health care technology company Bamboo Health (formerly Appriss Health) in its NarxCare platform.Such systems are designed to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has led to an alarming number o...

Wages are finally rising faster than inflation, but why don’t we feel it?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:03:58 GMT

Sarah Foster | (TNS) Bankrate.comGlenn Stellwag is making more money than ever between his two jobs and side hustles. Even then, he feels like he’s barely scraping by most months thanks to inflation.After a back injury cost him his job at a sawmill six years ago, Stellwag, 41, has worked at a local hardware store near his Michigan home, where he stocks shelves, rings up merchandise and assists customers four days a week from 9 a.m. to about 6 p.m. But last October, Stellwag found a second job with a tow truck company, work he picked up when he felt he “couldn’t afford to live anymore.” He’s on call six days a week from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The way his schedules line up, he doesn’t have a single night off from work.He’s since added other gigs repairing lawn mowers and small engines. His total monthly income rounds out to anywhere between $2,500 and $3,000 a month, all of which goes toward his groceries, mortgage, truck payment, car payment, insurance and utilities. Even his hobby — mud b...