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Jason Mraz makes a comeback with new album ‘Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

He hasn’t recorded new music in three years, but Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is back.His eighth album features a new sound and vibe, inspired by someone very close to his heart.Jason Mraz singing: “My kind of magic. It’s automatic.”Jason Mraz returns to his pop roots with his new album, “Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride.”Jason Mraz singing: “I hear mystical, magical, rhythmical, radical ride, I think of life, so, to think that life is a mystical, magical, rhythmical radical ride is, Makes me want to enjoy the ride and live gratefully and live present and aware and awake.”Jason Mraz singing: “If you need fire, I am your match.”When it came to figuring out what songs to put on his project, the two-time Grammy winner hit up his mom for some advice.Because we all know mother knows best.Jason Mraz: “I was sharing songs with my mom last year and they were, you know, acoustic-driven and she heard what...

Police make arrest in connection with Newton triple murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

Police have made an arrest in connection with the deaths of three elderly people in Newton over the weekend, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Monday.Ryan said 41-year-old Christopher Ferguson of Newton was taken into custody Monday afternoon on multiple charges including murder.There was no established connection between Ferguson and the people who were killed, Ryan said. Authorities previously responded on Sunday morning around 10 a.m. after Ryan said a friend found the victims inside a home on Broadway Street.Ryan said the victims were pronounced dead at the scene. A day later, Ryan said evidence gathered at the crime scene led them to Ferguson. An email circulated by the victims’ parish on Monday identified the three as Jill and Bruno D’Amore and Lucia Arpino, the mother of Jill D’Amore.Their pastor, Father Dan Riley, said Jill and Bruno had been scheduled to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and renew their vows on the morning their ...

Mets Notebook: Jose Quintana likely headed for more rehab starts before making team debut

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

Jose Quintana has been eager to start his season. But his timeline may not line up with the timeline the Mets have in mind.The left-hander, who underwent bone graft surgery on his left rib during spring training, made a rehab start Sunday with Single-A Brooklyn and was hoping he would only have to make one more. But the Mets would like to see him increase his pitch count to about 75, and to do so, he’ll need to work in about 15-pitch increments. This would mean two more rehab starts instead of one, and a post-All-Star break return for the veteran southpaw.This might be news to Quintana, who was hoping the Mets would let him get to 70-77 in his next rehab start.“I’ll look into it, but 70 seems a little ambitious,” manager Buck Showalter said Monday at Citi Field before the Mets opened a seven-game homestand. “But I’m not handling that rehab. He may know exactly what it is. I’d be surprised.”Quintana isn’t sure yet whether he’...

Kennedy a ‘common sense guy’ according to theoretical rival Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

The apparent scion of the Kennedy political family is a good man whose heart is in the right place, according to the person ostensibly running against him for the White House in 2024, former President Donald Trump.Kennedy, arguably the dark horse candidate for the Democratic nomination, was the closing topic of conversation for the former president when he joined Radio Hall of Famer and Herald columnist Howie Carr for a brief interview Monday.“Just hang in,” Trump advised his potential opponent, before praising the man. “He’s been very nice to me, I’ve actually had a very nice relationship with him over the years. He’s a very smart guy, and a good guy.”Trump is by far and away the leading candidate in the Republican field, consistently polling more than twice what any other conservative White House hopeful can claim.Kennedy, on the other hand, has the benefit of name recognition but is without support in the party he courts for the nomination. The mass of Democrats have lined up beh...

Major studios drop out of Comic-Con: report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Comic-Con International is reportedly dealing with more cancelations from several major Hollywood studios. Marvel Studios was the first to cancel their appearance at the premier Comic-Con event known as Hall H, and now HBO, Netflix, Sony and Universal have all bowed out, Variety reports.“I’m curious more than fearful,” Jamie Newbold, owner of Southern California Comics, said to FOX 5 on Monday. Comic bookstore sellers say this might be a different type of year -- one that could bring a little more attention to the reason the convention started in the first place. “Whatever goes into Con now, if it’s centered on more of the comic book legacy realm, it’s all fun for me,” Newbold said. 9-year-old signs six-figure NIL deal with sports agency The cosplay, toys, video games and of course comic books will be wall to wall as usual, but without a signature franchise dominating Hall H, experts say this year might spread fans more widely. “Being an exhibitor there, it ...

California’s law aimed at fast food wages is on hold. Lawmakers may have found a way around it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A new California law aimed in part at boosting salaries for fast food workers has been delayed for nearly two years following industry resistance. Now the Democrats who control the state Legislature might have figured out how to raise worker pay anyway.Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law last year. It created a 10-member council with the authority, among other things, to increase the state’s $15.50 minimum wage to a maximum of $22 per hour for some fast food workers. Some experts quickly hailed the law as one of the “most significant pieces of employment legislation passed in a generation.”But unlike in most states, California voters have the power to overturn some laws passed by the Legislature. Business groups who opposed the law gathered enough signatures to qualify a referendum in 2024. In the meantime, the law does not take effect.Business groups were confident the law would ultimately be blocked at the ballot box. But tucked inside California’s mor...

Kansas must undo gender changes for trans people in state records, attorney general says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new Kansas law requires the state to reverse any previous gender changes in its records for trans people’s birth certificates and driver’s licenses while also preventing such changes going forward, the state’s conservative Republican attorney general declared Monday.Attorney General Kris Kobach also said public schools’ records for students must list them as being the gender they were assigned at birth, whether or not teachers and staff recognize their gender identities.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s office said she disagrees with Kobach’s views, though it did not say whether state agencies under the governor’s control would follow or defy them, setting up the possibility of a court fight. In 2019, a federal judge began requiring Kansas to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates to settle a lawsuit over a no-change policy. “The attorney general must be off his rocker,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an att...

New York City drivers to pay extra tolls as part of first-in-the-nation effort to reduce congestion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York will move forward with its first-in-the-nation plan to charge drivers extra in tolls to enter the core of New York City, part of an effort to reduce congestion, improve air quality, and raise funds for the city’s public transit system. The program is expected to begin in spring of 2024, bringing New York City, one of the most congested cities in the United States, in line with places like London, Singapore, and Stockholm that have implemented similar programs. Drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street will be charged a certain fee that still needs to be decided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is overseeing the long-stalled plan. The congestion pricing plan cleared its final federal hurdle after getting approved by the Federal Highway Administration, a spokesperson for New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Monday. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which also oversees the city’s trains, buses, and commuter railro...

Olivia Chow elected as the new mayor of Toronto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

Olivia Chow will become the next mayor of Toronto. The former councillor and MP has won the Toronto mayoral byelection.She was successful in her second bid to become the 66th mayor of Canada’s largest city. Chow first ran in 2014 but finished third behind former Mayor John Tory and Doug Ford.She will become Toronto’s first female mayor since amalgamation and only the third woman in the city’s history.Early results showed a lead for Ana Bailão before Chow took the lead with over 37 per cent of the vote. So far, voter turnout has exceeded the 2022 election.From the start of this campaign – Chow was considered a frontrunner, appearing first in every opinion poll released.Building more affordable housing, with the city as the developer, along with helping better-protect renters from eviction quickly became key promises in Chow’s campaign.Chow hasn’t said how much property taxes will go up if elected – other than the increase would be “modest.” S...

Lincolnwood-native Jewell Loyd named WNBA All-Star Game starter for second time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:34:04 GMT

CHICAGO -- A Chicagoland native continues to expand her professional basketball resume after being named a starter at the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game.Niles West graduate and two-time WNBA Champion Jewell Loyd, 29, of Lincolnwood, has been named a starter for the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game. She also was named a starter in the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game.The five-time WNBA All-Star currently leads the league in scoring with 25.4 points per game this season as well as four games with 30 points and ranks first in made threes (41).Loyd is on track to challenge Diana Taurasi’s season scoring record of 25.29 points per game set in 2006.The two-time All-WNBA Team selection has scored 305 points so far in the 2023 season, as she's tied with Diana Taurasi for the second-most through a player’s first 12 games of a season in WNBA history (former Chicago Sky player Elena Delle Donne, 323). RELATED: Jewell Loyd steps into more prominent role with rebuilding Seattle Storm After a successful high school and...