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Eversource addresses Waltham power surges that set homes aflame, while officials call for formal investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

Hundreds of homes were damaged in Waltham after Eversource said a rodent infestation caused two power surges and damage to its electrical system.Waltham firefighters worked on both power surges, one last October and one last June. Residents said they heard popping sounds, smelled an odor and lost power.Waltham officials, including Waltham City Councilor Colleen Bradley-MacArthur, said they want the Department of Public Utilities to investigate, but the state is opting to rely on Eversource’s response.“We need a formal investigation,” Braldey-MacArthur said. “One incident is one incident too many, two incidents is a problem.”A DPU official sent a letter to the city last week saying the department will “not launch a formal investigation,” because it is satisfied Eversource found the root cause of the power surges and has a suitable plan in place to fix it.“We desperately need transparency in this process.We need the Department of Public Utilities to do the right thing and investigate,...

Police search for potential assault suspect in Boxboro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

A search was underway in Boxboro Tuesday afternoon for a man “who may be connected to a potential assault,” officials said. Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Dave Procopio in a statement said local and state police were searching a wooded area near I-495 as of around 4:15 p.m. Procopio said authorities had established a perimeter in an area roughly bordered by Eldridge Road and Harvard Road as they continued their search involving multiple local police departments, K9 teams and a state police helicopter. The man in question, Procopio said, is described as white, wearing black pants and no shirt. “Local residents who see a suspicious person or someone who seems out-of-place for his surroundings should not approach, but rather, call 911,” Procopio said.The Boxboro Police Department in a separate statement around 4 p.m. asked people to avoid the area, describing the situation as a “an ongoing police investigation.”SKY7-HD was previously over the sc...

Water main break in Tewksbury leaves frustrated families without running water for days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

Residents in Tewksbury are frustrated after a water main break leaves families without running water for days. Catamount Road, as well as the Lodge at Ames Pond apartment complex, have been without running water since Saturday. Officials said water could be restored late Tuesday evening, but the apartment complex will be facing the outage at least until Friday.Once the water is restored, there will also be a boil order in effect until further notice.“We haven’t been able to do any dishes, any laundry,” said Kate Dupuis-Dobson. “We can’t even flush our toilets at this point. There is no water whatsoever.”With temperatures nearing 90 degrees, residents said it’s not just inconvenient, it’s unsafe and unsanitary.“We’re using pool water to bring into our home, and it’s unacceptable,” said Yvette Pacheco. “We have a family of six, and it’s just really difficult.”Some have resorted to staying in hotels, but that’s a luxury that Dupuis-Dobson said not everyone ...

Dog Days of… September?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

The dog days of summer… the time we picture sweltering heat and humidity overspreading New England. Well not this year! August was a cooler than average month with the real heat taking hold as we head into September and the unofficial end to summer now behind us. We had plenty of heat and humidity today and don’t expect that to change this week. That also means warm and muggy overnights. Tonight we’ll only see temperatures fall to near 70°.Tomorrow we do it all over again with air temperatures near 90° and feels like temperatures in the 90s. The coast will again benefit from Mother Nature’s air conditioning and top out in the 80s and eventually settle back into the 70s in the later afternoon.The heat and humidity are with us for the rest of the week, so get used to it. The bottom number on each day the forecast air temperature (inland — remember cooler on the coast most days), with the feels like temperature and the humidity factored in on the top row.D...

Patriots QB Mac Jones reveals that Tom Brady has helped ‘mentor’ him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

It sounds like former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is trying to ensure that his old job is in good hands.Current Patriots QB Mac Jones said Tuesday on WEEI’s “Jones and Mego with Arcand” that Brady has been a “mentor.”“He’s definitely a legend, and I have all the respect for him,” Jones said. “He’s a great guy. He’s actually helped me a lot already, just talking to him or whatever, and he’s been a great mentor and stuff.“He’s a great player, love watching his film. He pops up on game tape obviously from last year too. He’s always on the film doing the right things. Just trying to learn from him. He’s been awesome.”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots OC Bill O’Brien sizes up QBs Matt Corral, Bailey Zappe New England Patriots | Steve Belichick gives hilarious, insightful answer on Bill Belichick’s approach with Patriots New England Patriots | The Patriots traded for a former 310-pound tight end. How will they use him...

Yankees shut down Anthony Rizzo for season due to post-concussion syndrome

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

Anthony Rizzo’s season has come to an end.Aaron Boone said Tuesday that the Yankees are shutting the first baseman down for the rest of the year.Rizzo has been out since Aug. 1 with post-concussion syndrome.Rizzo went on the injured list roughly two months after a late-May collision with the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. Rizzo hurt his neck on the play, but initial tests cleared him of a concussion. He went on to endure the worst slump of his career, and bouts of fogginess ultimately led to him seeing a neurologist in August. It was then that he was diagnosed.Boone said over the weekend that Rizzo had not suffered a setback and that he was performing baseball activities in New York. The manager has also said that the Yankees’ place in the standings nor their commitment to playing younger players would impact what the team did with Rizzo, who had been trying to come back this year.But Rizzo has not been cleared to play yet, Boone said. While the manager reiterated that...

DPU moves to smooth electric bill spikes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

State utility overseers have ordered Eversource and National Grid to split two of the coldest (and often most costly) months of the year into two procurement and billing periods, implementing an idea that Maura Healey’s office proposed when she was attorney general eight years ago.The Department of Public Utilities said that ordering two of the state’s three electric distribution companies to change their basic service periods for residential and small business customers to the six-month periods of February through July and August through January “is expected to mitigate large seasonal changes in basic service electricity supply prices and differences across electric distribution companies.”The third distribution company, Unitil, already uses that schedule. DPU said National Grid and Eversource supported the proposal.DPU launched an investigation in early January and made recommendations related to the way that basic service (the default electric service prov...

Madison Park grads keep Boston’s lights beaming

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

Fresh out of high school, Joshua Padilla, Adriel Carvajal and Jay Barbosa go to work every day maintaining the city’s over 70,000 street lights.On a typical day, 17-year-old Padilla said, they’ll come in, prep the trucks, test the light fixtures and head out to their first job site.“Since I’m a city worker, when I’m working I get more people that come up to me and talk and they always have questions about the lights,” said Barbosa. “So that’s pretty new, but also I enjoy that because they want to take care of their community, which I would probably do the same. It’s pretty nice, and I’m a friendly person too, so it doesn’t bother me.”The three are among the first cohort to get a jumpstart into city work through a new job pipeline for grads of Madison Park Vocational Technical School. Earlier during their senior year, they met with department officials, liked the job opportunity and applied.“When we were pr...

Oil jumps on more Saudi, Russian cuts 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to extend their oil production cuts through the end of this year, trimming 1.3 million barrels of crude daily out of the global market and boosting energy prices.The dual announcements from Riyadh and Moscow pushed benchmark Brent crude above $90 a barrel in trading Tuesday, a price unseen in the market since November.The countries’ moves could increase inflation and the cost for motorists at gasoline pumps. It also puts new pressure on Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States, as President Biden last year warned the kingdom there would be unspecified “consequences” for partnering with Russia on cuts as Moscow wages war on Ukraine.Saudi Arabia’s announcement, carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, said the country still would monitor the market and could take further action if necessary.“This additional voluntary cut comes to reinforce the precautionary efforts made by OP...

Tropical Depression 13 will likely become ‘powerful hurricane’ in record-warm waters, East Coast could be threatened

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:13 GMT

A new tropical depression has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, as forecasters expect that the system will become a “powerful hurricane” later this week and possibly impact the East Coast.Tropical Depression 13 has developed in the central Atlantic Ocean, and meteorologists on Tuesday said it will strengthen into a tropical storm and then Hurricane Lee.The East Coast, along with the Caribbean and Bermuda, could be threatened by the major hurricane.“Tropical Depression 13 forms in the Central Atlantic, forecast to become a powerful hurricane by the end of the week,” the National Hurricane Center posted on Tuesday.“The depression is forecast to become a major hurricane by this weekend and could bring impacts to the Leeward Islands by that time,” the forecasters added. “While it is too soon to determine the location and magnitude of these possible impacts, interests in this area should monitor the progress of the depression and updates to the forec...