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UFO congressional hearing was ‘insulting’ to US employees, a top Pentagon official says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

WASHINGTON — A top Pentagon official has attacked this week’s widely watched congressional hearing on UFOs, calling the claims “insulting” to employees who are investigating sightings and accusing a key witness of not cooperating with the official U.S. government investigation.Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick’s letter, published on his personal LinkedIn page and circulated Friday across social media, criticizes much of the testimony from a retired Air Force intelligence officer that energized believers in extraterrestrial life and produced headlines around the world.Retired Air Force Maj. David Grusch testified Wednesday that the U.S. has concealed what he called a “multi-decade” program to collect and reverse-engineer “UAPs,” or unidentified aerial phenomena, the official government term for UFOs.Part of what the U.S. has recovered, Grusch testified, were non-human “biologics,” which he said he had not seen but had learned about from “people with direct knowledge of the progr...

Massachusetts Cannabis Commission ‘in crisis,’ chair says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

The chairwoman of the Cannabis Control Commission took commissioners by surprise Friday when she announced in the middle of a regulatory discussion that Executive Director Shawn Collins is planning to leave the agency he has run since its inception and described the CCC as being “in crisis.”Chairwoman Shannon O’Brien said she wants to meet next week or the week after with her fellow commissioners to discuss Collins’ departure — which has not been acknowledged by Collins, who was not made available to the News Service on Friday afternoon — and how the CCC should proceed as it gets into the meat of its latest round of marijuana industry regulation revisions.O’Brien, the former state treasurer who came under scrutiny for her ties to a cannabis company soon after Treasurer Deborah Goldberg tapped her to chair the CCC last September, announced during Friday’s virtual meeting that Collins informed her in May that he planned announce that he ...

PHOTOS: Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival roars into its 19th year with King Kong theme

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

The rain may have rescheduled the fireworks spectacular, but it didn’t dampen the spirit of those thousands who attended the Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival for its second day Saturday.The Revere Beach event, in its 19th year, boasts its status as “the largest free event in Massachusetts,” and who better to represent largeness than King Kong, this year’s theme and a figure who loses none of his stature by being cast in sand. It began Friday and will run through Sunday.People came from all over to display their work on the beach, like Poland’s Slavian Borecki, who was working on intricate details of his sculpture as a Herald photographer caught up to him.Others came to just take in the sights, sounds and amenities of the ever-expanding event, which this year accessorized with a beer garden and a local crafts market.The fireworks display set for Saturday night was postponed for 9 p.m. Sunday due to the rain.Amanda Sabga/Boston HeraldSlavian Borecki, of Poland, works...

2 supermoons in August mean double the stargazing fun

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon.Catch the first show Tuesday evening as the full moon rises in the southeast, appearing slightly brighter and bigger than normal. That’s because it will be closer than usual, just 222,159 miles away, thus the supermoon label.The moon will be even closer the night of Aug. 30 — a scant 222,043 miles distant. Because it’s the second full moon in the same month, it will be what’s called a blue moon.“Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset. And it happens twice in August,” said retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, dubbed Mr. Eclipse for his eclipse-chasing expertise.The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.Masi will provid...

Putin is downplaying skipping South Africa summit amid ICC warrant controversy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday appeared to downplay not attending an economic summit in Johannesburg next month amid a controversy over an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court, saying he doesn’t think his presence there is “more important than my presence here, in Russia.” Putin’s remarks come more than a week after South African authorities said he will not attend the Aug. 22-24 gathering, which brings together a bloc of developing economies known as BRICS, because of the warrant, even though he was initially invited. The Kremlin said the Russian president will take part in the summit via video link, but didn’t provide a reason for the decision and didn’t say whether Putin had ever intended to attend in person. Asked about his reasons for not going, Putin told Russian journalists Saturday that he’s “in contact with all colleagues,” referring to the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Afri...

CP NewsAlert: B.C. firefighter killed while battling Donnie Creek wildfire

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

Officials in British Columbia say a contracted firefighter has been killed while fighting the Donnie Creek wildfire in the northeastern part of the province. The death of the firefighter, who has not been identified, was confirmed in a statement from the office of B.C. Premier David Eby. The death marks the fourth involving a firefighter battling blazes during a historically busy season, and the second killed in the province this month.More coming.The Canadian Press

Robert Chambers, NYC’s ‘Preppy Killer,’ is released after 15 years in prison on drug charges

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Robert Chambers, better known to some as the “Preppy Killer,” was released after spending 15 years in prison for drug and assault charges, according to state records.Chambers spent a similar amount of time in prison after pleading guilty to strangling Jennifer Levin in New York City’s Central Park during the summer of 1986.Chambers entered the plea to killing 18-year-old Levin as part of a deal when a jury could not reach a decision after nine days of deliberations.He was released in 2003 for that crime but again ran afoul of the law soon after.He was again arrested in 2007 for selling drugs out of his apartment. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison but was released Tuesday — four years early — from the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in New York, according to online inmate records maintained by the New York Department of Corrections.Chambers, now 56, will remain under supervision for up to five years, records show.The Associated Press

Blinken tells Australia that WikiLeaks founder is accused of ‘very serious’ crime

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday pushed back against Australian demands for an end to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s prosecution, saying the Australian citizen was accused of “very serious criminal conduct” in publishing a trove of classified documents more than a decade ago.Australia’s center-left Labor Party government has been arguing since winning the elections last year that the United States should end its pursuit of the 52-year-old, who has spent four years in a British prison fighting extradition to the United States.Assange’s freedom is widely seen as a test of Australia’s leverage with President Joe Biden’s administration.Blinken confirmed on Saturday that Assange had been discussed in annual talks with Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Brisbane, Australia.“I understand the concerns and views of Australians. I think it’s very important that our friends here understand our concerns about this matter,” Blinken told reporters.“Mr....

Carthage College senior among two dead after driver crashes into Kenosha business

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

KENOSHA, Wisc. — A Carthage College student is among one of two dead, and two others that were injured after a driver crashed into a store in Kenosha, Wisconsin.The crash happened around 3:25 a.m. at the Play it Again Sports store in the 4000 block of 75th Street.According to Carthage College and the Wisconsin Juniors Volleyball Club, Jenna Barrette — a rising senior at Carthage — is one of the two people who died in the crash.Barrette originally spent two years at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh before transferring to her hometown college to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing.In a statement from Carthage College President John Swallow, he said Barrette competed for two years as a defensive specialist on the women's volleyball team from 2021 to 2022. Man unresponsive after being pulled from pond in Bensenville Five people were inside the truck when the driver partially crashed into the store, according to police.Two people were killed and two people were critically injured,...

Bears host 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl race during training camp

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:34:36 GMT

CHICAGO — Baby bears fans channeled their inner Lightning McQueen Saturday, as the Chicago Bears hosted their second annual Baby Bear Crawl race at Halas Hall.The contest featured fans and their babies decked out in Bears' gear, alongside Advocate Health Care and Bears staff members and their little ones at the Walter Payton Center during Chicago Bears training camp.Photos from the 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl Race during Chicago Bears training camp.Photos from the 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl Race during Chicago Bears training camp.Photos from the 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl Race during Chicago Bears training camp.Photos from the 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl Race during Chicago Bears training camp.Photos from the 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl Race during Chicago Bears training camp.Photos from the 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl Race during Chicago Bears training camp.Photos from the 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl Race during Chicago Bears training camp.Photos from the 2nd annual Baby Bear Crawl Race...