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Taylor Swift announces July release of ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

(CNN) — Taylor Swift is releasing another new recording of an earlier album: “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” will be out July 7, the megastar announced on Instagram.“With six extra songs I’ve sprung loose from the vault, I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) with you on July 7th,” Swift wrote.First released in 2010, “Speak Now” was written by Swift when she was 18-20 years old, she said.“The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing … and living to speak about it,” Swift wrote.Swift’s former label, Big Machine, sold the master recordings of her music catalog in 2019, prompting the singer to record new versions of her previous albums. In 2021, Swift released “Fearless (Taylor&#...

Historic Cape Cod ‘dune shacks’ up for long-term leases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

Anyone looking to live in remote, rustic style on the Cape now has their chance, with the eight of the region’s historic “dune shacks” now up for ten year leases.“The opportunity to submit a proposal to lease any of these eight properties is competitive and is open to all interested persons and businesses,” the National Parks Service said in an announcement.The eight properties, located in the Peaked Hill Bars National Register of Historic District in Provincetown and Truro, are described as “small, weathered” structures — set up for people who don’t mind hiking into their beach house and pumping water out of a well.The shacks are available for between $2,000 and $16,000 a year and range from a 120 square foot, one-room structure to a 2.3 acre lot with a 590 square foot shack and separate guest cottage.The historic properties are “often built on pilings to adjust for the ever-moving sand dunes surrounding these properties,&...

Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger returns to Boston Common

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger fundraiser returned to the Boston Common on Sunday for the first time since before the pandemic, as walkers raised money to help get food assistance to kids and families across Massachusetts.More than 3,000 people participated in the 3-mile walk on Sunday, and more than 400 people registered virtually before the weekend.As of Sunday morning, Project Bread had raised $915,000. The nonprofit will continue to push for its $1 million goal as fundraising through the Walk for Hunger will continue through the summer.“Money raised through The Walk is funding Project Bread’s urgent mission to ensure kids have reliable access to food, to directly help individuals and families, and to advocate at the state and federal levels for expedited and efficient relief for those in need,” the organization said. “Walk funds are also supporting community organizations that are helping people access food locally and ensuring communities have the...

Massachusetts weather forecast: Temps could near 80 degrees during pleasant week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

After an absolutely gorgeous spring weekend, a very pleasant week of weather is expected for the region — with a chance for temperatures to approach 80 degrees by the end of the workweek.A cold front should cool temps a bit midweek, but a warming trend later in the week could bring temps close to 80 degrees by Thursday and Friday across Massachusetts.Following some rain showers overnight, things should clear out Monday morning.“We’ll be starting the week off pretty nice,” Kyle Pederson, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald on Sunday. “It should be mostly sunny with a high of 73 degrees.”Then a backdoor cold front arrives on Tuesday, dropping temps into the lower 60s. Wednesday’s temps should be in the upper 60s.“The backdoor front coming through will keep us a bit cooler, but no rain is associated with that,” Pederson said.Then the temps are expected to warm back up into the 70s on ...

Source: Investigators examine ideology of Texas gunman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

By JAKE BLEIBERG and JAMIE STENGLE (Associated Press)ALLEN, Texas (AP) — Federal officials are looking into whether the gunman who killed eight people at a Dallas-area mall expressed an interest in white supremacist ideology as they work to try to discern a motive for the attack, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official cautioned the investigation is in its early stages.Federal agents have been reviewing social media accounts they believe Mauricio Garcia, 33, used and posts that expressed interest in white supremacist and neo-Nazi views, said the official, who could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.Garcia also had a patch on his chest when he was killed by police that read “RWDS,” an acronym for the phrase “Right Wing Death Squad,” which is popular among right-wing extremists and white supremacy groups, the official said.In addition to reviewing social media posts, ...

Methuen Police, Mass State Police respond to recover body from Merrimack River

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

Police recovered a body from the Merrimack River in Methuen on Sunday, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office.The Methuen Fire Department responded to a boat ramp at 1110 Riverside Dr., at about 12:45 p.m. on Sunday after they were alerted to the discovery of a body in the river.Methuen Police also responded, as did the Massachusetts State Police Dive Team.The body was recovered, and is pending identification by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.The case remains under investigation by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective Unit, detectives from the Methuen Police Department and other authorities.

White House national security adviser meets Saudi prince

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden’s top national security aide met Sunday night with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince amid long-standing tensions between the White House and the kingdom. The state-run Saudi Press Agency acknowledged the meeting between Jake Sullivan and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, the Red Sea port city now at the heart of seaborne evacuations from the fighting in Sudan. The state news report said only that the men reviewed “strategic relations” in a meeting that included other American officials. Later, Sullivan took part in a meeting with the crown prince and Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security adviser of the neighboring United Arab Emirates. The White House did not immediately acknowledge the meeting or provide a readout about them. Saudi state media did not immediately publish either video or photographs of the meeting as well. Biden campaigned o...

3 critically injured after driver crashes into CTA bus shelter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

CHICAGO — Seven people were injured, three critically, Sunday after a driver crashed into a bus shelter during a crash with another car, according to the Chicago Fire Department.The crash happened around 4:15 p.m. near West 16th Street and South Kedzie Avenue. 7 people shot in overnight shootings on city’s South Side Two cars got into a crash and one car went through the bus shelter, according to the fire department.Three people, including a CTA employee, were critically injured and taken to hospitals, according to the fire department.Four other people were injured and refused treatment at the scene. Additional details haven't been released at this time.

Haitian cuisine highlighted in South Shore as a part of Haitian Heritage Month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

CHICAGO — The sounds of a good time floated through the streets of South Shore Sunday, as the community came out to enjoy the sunshine at South Merrill Community Garden (SMCG)."It’s really important for us to feel, taste, eat other people’s culture to generate understanding," said Iyonna Rivers, cultural coordinator for the SMCG.Rivers is one of many operating behind the scenes at the SMCG, helping coordinate events like the one seen today, centered around Haitian cuisine as a part of Haitian Heritage Month. ‘We simply have no more shelters:’ Lightfoot implores Abbott to stop sending migrants "There’s about thirty-to-forty thousand Haitian Americans in the city," said Carlos Bossard, director of programs at the Haitian American Museum of Chicago. "And the huge connection is Jean Baptiste [Point] DuSable, the founder [of Chicago] and a Haitian man."The Haitian American Museum of Chicago's goal is to promote Haitian culture throughout the City, which leads then to organize events wi...

South Side sports program brings back beep ball for visually impaired

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:24 GMT

CHICAGO — An adaptive sports program on the Southwest side features athletes who are blind or visually impaired and are preparing for their upcoming season.Beep baseball is in full swing for the Chicago Comets and team captain Bill Landram has been playing for 12 years after a Google search promoted him to call head coach JT Herzog. Working on Womanhood: How a non-profit is giving young women tools to boost their mental health and academic success "I always wanted to be a pitcher for the Cubs and dedicated myself to it. When I went blind and that was taken from me, finding this. This is my major league baseball," Landram said.Herzog can't get enough of it either."I have a blast. I love the sport the athletes and the team we have in Chicago," Herzog said.Herzog started with the Comets more than 20 years ago after his son joined the team. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines"It’s the camaraderie, it’s the learning from each other, it’s the self-discipline, it’s the self-confiden...