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Extra sweet: Wild winter temperature swings lead to earlier maple production

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

After wild temperature swings in February, Hardwick Sugar Shack owners Joe and Megan Raskett aren’t sure how much longer the maple sugaring season will last.The Rasketts started boiling their maple syrup earlier than in the past as last month’s weather provided pristine conditions for production, with cold nights and warm days.“We’re noticing that some of the trees are starting to bud, especially some of the red maples,” Megan Raskett told the Herald on Friday. “That signals the end of the season. If the temperatures stay too warm or too cold, the sap doesn’t flow.”Optimal sap flow comes when nighttime temperatures are in the low 20s and daytime temperatures are in the 40s, according to the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association.The start of maple production season, which lasts four to six weeks, varies in the Bay State. In the eastern part of Massachusetts, it typically begins in mid to late February, while the central and western regions usually start boiling in the first week ...

Battenfeld: Is Diana DiZoglio an effective auditor or loose cannon?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

Auditor Diana DiZoglio is heading down a treacherous political road filled with landmines and seems more bent on getting revenge on her critics and the Legislature than producing any real results.DiZoglio’s latest gambit – a plan to audit all non-disclosure agreements throughout state government – could expose the state to massive legal damages and is unlikely to win a court challenge.DiZoglio herself was subject to an NDA when she was a legislative aide and fired from her job but now her goal to audit all NDAs in state government is overly ambitious and potentially dangerous.Do people who had to sign NDAs really want lowly government bureaucrats to look into their personal lives and potentially resurrect embarrassing information that could hurt their careers?There is no way the Legislature will cooperate with her audits, assuring that she’ll lose and look ineffectual and overly political, wasting millions of dollars and producing no results.And if she goes to court she’ll probably ...

Pakistan: Police storm Imran Khan home in Lahore, arrest 30

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

LAHORE, Islamabad (AP) — Police in Pakistan stormed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s residence in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday and arrested 30 people amid tear gas shelling after someone opened fire from the roof of the building, officials said. Senior police officer Suhail Sukhera, who is leading the operation in an upscale Lahore neighborhood, said police moved to remove encroachments and a blockade erected by Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party and his defiant supporters. He said baton-wielding Khan supporters attempted to resist police by throwing stones and petrol bombs, but the officers moved on until a man on the roof of Khan’s residence opened fire. No one was hurt. Sukhera said police broke open the main door of Khan’s residence and found masks, petrol-filled bottles, iron rods and batons used in attacks on police during the week. Sukhera said that inside the sprawling residence, illegal structures were erected to shelter those who have been involved in attacks o...

Scholtz visits Japan to firm up economic, defense ties

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday held the first round of government consultations in Tokyo as they seek to strengthen economic and defense ties in a global landscape dominated by China’s growing influence and the war in Ukraine. Scholz brought six of his ministers for talks with Japanese counterparts to deepen cooperation in the economy and national security in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as other global issues including China’s assertiveness in pressing its maritime territorial claims and its closer ties with Russia.“I believe the government consultation will be a springboard to bring cooperation between Japan and Germany even closer,” Kishida said in his opening remarks at the meeting. Kishida said the focus of the talks is on economic security, the Indo-Pacific region, Russia’s war on Ukraine and other mutual concerns.Germany has similar “government consultations” framework with several countries. Of the 1...

California military base locked down after vehicle runs gate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

CORONADO, Calif. (AP) — A California military base was put in lockdown Friday night after a vehicle went through the facility’s main gate without stopping, a military spokesperson said.Naval Base Coronado spokesperson Kevin Dixon told KNSD-TV that the driver was taken into custody by base guards after the “gate runner” drove without stopping through the entrance of Naval Air Station North Island, part of Naval Base Coronado. Several patrol cars surrounded the entrance near 3rd Street and Alameda Boulevard in Coronado around 10:30 p.m., KNSD-TV reported,Multiple gates at the air station near San Diego were closed while security personnel checked the facility, Dixon said.A post on the Facebook page of Naval Base Coronado early Saturday morning said, “The main gate at Naval Air Station North Island is currently closed due to a security incident. Please stay away from the main gate while security conducts its investigation.”The Coronado Police Department were investigating the inc...

Ask Amy: After all my work, she gave me $20. Was my reaction out of line?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

Dear Amy: I am a people pleaser, volunteering at a nonprofit that helps Afghan refugee women. We provide fabric and a space with sewing machines where they can come and work. Lately, these women are making items that they may be able to sell.Recently, “Kara” contacted us and asked us to create a copy of a dress she had. She told me that if we figured out how to make this, we could let the Afghan women make and sell them. She provided fabric for the copy.I spent six hours figuring out how to make the item and documenting it with photos and instructions. I then made a sample.I have been a professional seamstress, but I’m also a soft touch. I never charge as much as the work is worth.In this case, I intended to ask Kara to give a donation to the charity so we could purchase more fabric. One hundred dollars didn’t seem out of line.As it turns out, Kara loved what I did and wore the sample out the door.I gave her the instructions and the pattern pieces, and she gave me $20 to donate to t...

Harriette Cole: How can I stand up to my stony co-worker?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: I just started a project at work, and one of the project leaders is not friendly.She barely speaks, and when she does, she is dismissive. Other team members grumble about her behind her back. This makes for an uncomfortable work environment.It’s almost as if people are afraid of this woman. I don’t want to be like that. I want to find a way to establish a positive relationship with her.When I observe her, I see that she doesn’t like small talk. She’s all business. I’m OK with that, but it’s hard to read whether or not she thinks the business is going well.How can I make an impression on her?Distant LeaderRelated ArticlesAdvice | Harriette Cole: Is this too much to ask of my ex-addict boyfriend? Advice | Harriette Cole: My husband’s cute habits are wearing on my nerves Advice | Harriette Cole: I’m 26. When will I stop being a teenager? Advice | Harriette Cole: I ...

Saturday Sunshine to Sunday Showers this Weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

Changes arrive this weekend as another front makes its way into South Florida on Sunday. Ahead of the front, it will be warm and mostly dry but showers do become likely once the front arrives.Expect nice conditions this Saturday although much warmer temperatures. Following highs in the 70s to low 80s the past few days behind a previous cold front, temperatures will soar into the mid to upper 80s this afternoon across most of South Florida. That will be paired with a blend of sun and clouds and dry conditions for most, given there is only a 10% chance for rain. It will also remain breezy along the east coast with wind gusts up too 20-30 mph today.Clouds increase tonight along with the chance for a spotty shower, giving way to a partly sunny sky on Sunday. The front slowly arrives during the day Sunday, causing the generally cloudy conditions and milder temperatures. Highs on Sunday will be near normal in the low 80s at most locations. Sunday will not be a washout despite this front a...

TikTok thinks Europe won’t move to a full ban on its app

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

The United States is considering a full ban on the use of social media application TikTok, but Europe is unlikely to go down that route, the Chinese-owned social media app’s head of European public policy said Friday.“When it comes to freedom of speech for the public, I think those rules are clear. You’d have to have a very strong legal basis to ban any app in any country in Europe,” Theo Bertram, vice president of government relations and public policy for Europe at TikTok, said in a video call. Bertram said “there is a clear understanding” among policymakers, experts and politicians he spoke with in recent weeks that a general ban on the social media app’s use in European countries would be “a completely different level of scale.”In the U.S., the Biden administration banned the app from federal government devices in December. The administration this week ordered that TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance divest from the app or face a possible ban in the U.S. — a ...

ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over child deportations from Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:32:11 GMT

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant Friday for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the forced transfer of children to Russia after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.Ukrainians accuse Moscow of attempting genocide against them and seeking to destroy their identity — partly through deporting children to Russia. Putin is “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children)” and that of “unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” the Hague-based court said in a statement Friday.“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility” for these crimes, the statement read.The Russian president, the court argued, failed “to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts” and who were “under his effective authority and ...