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Mass. Casinos Shrinking Their Gaming Arrays

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

Between Massachusetts’ three gambling centers combined, there are now fewer traditional casino-style games available than there were before the pandemic, though the legalization of sports betting has added a new type of gambling to the mix. Compared to when the Gaming Commission required Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor to close in March 2020, there are fewer slot machines (5,879 then, 4,907 now), tables games (263 then, 251 now), poker tables (96 then, 38 now) and stadium gaming seats (78 then, 55 now) available to bettors in Massachusetts as of this month. And because of last year’s legalization of sports betting, there are now a combined 156 betting kiosks at the state’s gambling centers. Plainridge, the state’s lone slots parlor, had 1,320 slot machines on the floor in March 2020 and now has 937. MGM Springfield has reduced its slots from 1,844 machines in March 2020 to 1,506 this month, and the number of slots at Encore ha...

Slow Zones To Persist On MBTA, And Require Shutdowns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

MBTA trains are likely to continue operating slower than usual for the foreseeable future as officials turn their attention from a lack of inspection documentation to fixing numerous track defects, which will require temporary shutdowns. As of Thursday, 27 percent of the entire subway system is subject to speed restrictions, an increase of 2 percentage points over the share of track with slow zones on Monday, according to data Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville presented Thursday. Gonneville told the MBTA Board that a pair of teams continue to examine infrastructure across the MBTA following the failure to confirm past inspection and repair work. In some cases, crews can lift speed restrictions quickly, and in other cases, the T will need to perform “long-term or more permanent repairs” to safely resume higher speeds, he said. While all four subway lines are affected, Gonneville said the Blue Line and the Red Line’s Braintree and Ashmont branches in particular...

Bruins notebook: Jim Montgomery mulling goaltender usage in playoffs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

In a conversation with reporters about his goaltending rotation, coach Jim Montgomery pretty much named Linus Ullmark his starting goalie for Game 1 of the playoffs.Surprise, surprise. Ullmark is the odds-on favorite for Vezina Trophy as the league’s best netminder.But as far as continuing the goalie rotation into the playoffs? Montgomery wasn’t exactly leaning that way, but he wasn’t ruling it out, either.“We would have no issues with it. I don’t know if we’re going to do that,” said Montgomery on Thursday. “Most likely Linus is going to start the first game. Then we’ll see how it goes from game to game. I’m not going to commit to anything beyond Game 1.”It would make little sense for Montgomery to say much else. Declaring that Ullmark is going to get all the starts wouldn’t be sending a great message to Jeremy Swayman, who went into Thursday’s game against the Canadiens riding a 144:52 shutout streak and had his save percentage...

Gisele Bündchen breaks silence about Tom Brady split, addresses ‘absurd’ dating and ultimatum rumors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

Gisele Bündchen is finally opening up about her divorce from Tom Brady and the rumors that have plagued her ever since.The former supermodel, who was married to the now-retired NFL great for 13 years, referred to the highly publicized split as “the death of my dream” and put the kibosh on claims that she gave Brady an ultimatum about choosing between their marriage and his football career.“Wow, people really made it about that. What’s been said is one piece of a much bigger puzzle,” Bündchen said in a Vanity Fair interview published Wednesday. “It’s not so black and white.”The 42-year-old mother of two called the scuttlebutt “very hurtful” and “the craziest thing” she ever heard.“It’s like a death and a rebirth.” Gisele Bündchen is ready for her next act—and she’s got some big ideas. In a VF exclusive, the supermodel discusses the end of her marriage, being “blindsided” by FTX, and pursuing la pura vida on her own terms.: https://t.co/RK4JVlVoyM pic.twitter.com/VTvCY6bVg5— VAN...

How being neurodiverse affects your relationship with money

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

Money management can be tough for anyone. And one-size-fits-all financial advice can leave neurodiverse (also called neurodivergent) people who are struggling with their finances feeling stigmatized, or at a loss for how to control their finances.But financial wellness is possible, by leaning on resources that target the neurodiverse community and making strategic use of financial tools.What is neurodiversity? Simply put, “neurodivergence describes how our brains work,” said Maria Davis-Pierre, a licensed mental health counselor and CEO/founder of Autism in Black. Davis-Pierre is neurodiverse; she is autistic and has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.The brains of neurodiverse people work in unique ways that differ from the average or “neurotypical” person. According to the Cleveland Clinic, neurodiverse conditions include: autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, dyslexia, social anxiety, bipolar disorder and more.Neurodiversity isn’t uncommon. According to the National Cancer ...

Teen in rushing waters rescued from San Luis Rey River

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A teen was rescued Wednesday from rushing waters in the San Luis Rey River, said the Oceanside Fire Department.The department was called out for a swift water rescue below the Douglas Bridge shortly before 10:15 p.m. San Diego rainfall totals: These San Diego areas received the most rain Responding crews and officers from the Oceanside Police Department located a teenage victim standing waist deep in fast moving water about 30 yards from the north bank of the river.According to witnesses, the female victim allegedly jumped from the bridge, which the department said is about 35 feet in height. Swift Water Teams from the Oceanside Lifeguard Division and Cal Fire worked together to rescue the teen, bringing her safely back to shore, officials said. Rescuers were concerned about the possible effects of the victim being exposed to the cold waters. Time to get fishy with it: What to know about California grunion run The teen was the turned over to Oceanside param...

Nebraska trans health bill advances, despite filibuster vow

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature voted Thursday to advance a contentious bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, despite threats from some lawmakers that they would filibuster the rest of the session.The vote came on the third day of debate, in which lawmakers angrily accused one another of hypocrisy and a lack of collegiality early on. By Thursday, the chamber had turned somber as some lawmakers opposed to the bill broke down in tears and pleaded with their Republican colleagues to reconsider their support for the bill. Members of the LGBTQ community who had gathered in the Capitol to protest the bill showed their displeasure with the outcome, booing and cursing lawmakers who voted to advance it as they left the legislative floor.“I am a ball of rage,” said Wrenn Jacobson, 29, of Lincoln, after the vote. “I’ve had to go back to therapy when this bill was introduced. I know so many people — so many kids — who will be hurt by this.”“They come for the ...

Ohio toxic train derailment upends school baseball, track

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — On the surface, everything looks normal.There’s the East Palestine High School baseball team learning the finer points of baserunning at one edge of Reid Memorial Stadium. At the other, a handful of sprinters dart through the mild March air, the blue parachutes attached to their waists mushrooming behind them as they pick up speed.Same as it ever was at East Palestine as it transitions from winter to spring sports. Only, not really.A little over a mile east of the small school — student population 285 — tucked near the Pennsylvania state line, cleanup crews are still dealing with the aftermath of the Feb. 3 train derailment. While no one was hurt, concerns over a potential explosion led state and local officials to approve releasing and burning toxic vinyl chloride from five tanker cars that forced the evacuations of half the village and closed schools for a week.More than a month later, the cleanup is ongoing. The legal wrangling over who to blame ...

Ski-Doo maker BRP beats earnings expectations, and sees clear trails ahead

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

MONTREAL — BRP Inc. rode runaway powersport vehicle sales to a major jump in earnings last quarter, a better-than-expected performance the company says paves the way for further growth this year.The Ski-Doo maker reported that fourth-quarter profit rose 75 per cent year over year to $365.1 million, while revenue leaped 31 per cent to a record high of $3.08 billion.Sales of year-round products — all-terrain vehicles, side-by-side vehicles and three-wheeled motorcycles — fuelled the rise, increasing 47 per cent to $1.25 billion in the quarter ended Jan. 31 compared with the same period a year earlier.Seasonal products such as snowmobiles and Sea-Doos saw revenue surge 26 per cent to $1.32 billion.The results drove the Valcourt, Que.-based company to a 35 per cent market share for powersports in North America, its highest ever. It also claimed No. 1 market share among all original equipment manufacturers in the segments it operates in, up from fourth in 2020.“BRP’s Q4 resul...

New deep-sea worm named after Trinidad & Tobago scientist

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:24:14 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A new species of deep-sea worm that can live in environments on the ocean floor that are either extremely hot or very cold has been named after a marine scientist from Trinidad and Tobago.Behold the Judiworm, whose official name is Lamellibrachia judigobini.“This must surely be a crowning point of my extensive marine career,” Judith Gobin, a marine ecologist and a professor at the University of the West Indies, said in a statement Wednesday.The name is meant to honor Gobin for her discoveries and efforts to protect marine life in the region, according to Magdalena Georgieva of the Natural History Museum in London.The University of the West Indies said in a statement that the new species was collected during exploratory missions from 2012 to 2014.The worm lives near hydrothermal vents and cold seeps across the Gulf of Mexico and around Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago at depths up to more than 10,800 feet (3,300 meters). The vents can reach temperatures o...