Category: Boston, Massachusetts Local News

The U.S. military used a laser Thursday to shoot down a “seemingly threatening” drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said.

The case of mistaken identity prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to close additional airspace around Fort Hancock, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of El Paso. The military is required to formally notify the FAA when it takes any counter-drone action inside U.S. airspace.

It was the second time in two weeks that a laser was fired in the area. The last time it was CBP that used the weapon and nothing was hit. That incident occurred near Fort Bliss and prompted the FAA to shut down air traffic at El Paso airport and the surrounding area. This time, the closure was smaller and commercial flights were not affected.

Washington U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen and two other top Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure and Homeland Security committees said they were stunned when they were officially notified.

“Our heads are exploding over the news,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. They criticized the Trump administration for “sidestepping” a bipartisan bill to train drone operators and improve communication among the Pentagon, FAA and Department of Homeland Security, which includes CBP.

“Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence,” they said.

Government defends use of anti-drone laser

The FAA, CBP and the Pentagon issued a joint statement late Thursday that acknowledged the military “employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace.”

The statement said it happened far from populated areas and commercial flights as part of the administration’s efforts to strengthen protections at the border.

“At President Trump’s direction, the Department of War, FAA, and Customs and Border Patrol are working together in an unprecedented fashion to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the U.S.-Mexico Border,” the statement said.

Second time these laser systems shut down Texas airspace this month

The El Paso shutdown two weeks ago lasted only a few hours, but it raised alarm and led to a number of flight cancellations in the city of nearly 700,000 people.

In that case, an anti-drone laser was deployed by CBP without coordinating with the FAA, which then decided to close the El Paso airspace to ensure commercial air safety, according to sources familiar with what happened and weren’t authorized to discuss it.

Afterward, members of Congress said it appeared to be another example of different agencies failing to coordinate with each other.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he was planning to brief members of Congress about the incident. He said at an unrelated news conference last Friday that it wasn’t a mistake for the FAA to close the airspace in El Paso and that he doesn’t think it was a communication issue that led to the problems.

Lawmaker demands an investigation

Illinois Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member on the Senate’s Aviation Subcommittee, called for an independent investigation.

“The Trump administration’s incompetence continues to cause chaos in our skies,” Duckworth said.

The investigation into last year’s midair collision near Washington, D.C., between an airliner and Army helicopter that killed 67 people highlighted how the FAA and Pentagon were not always working well together.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data with each other about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks.

Concern about drone threats growing

Two months ago, Congress agreed to give more law enforcement agencies — including some state and local departments — the authority to take down rogue drones as long as they are properly trained. Previously, only a select few federal agencies had that power.

Armed drones regularly carry out devastating attacks in Ukraine and have also allowed Ukraine to strike deep within Russia. The U.S. government has handed out more than $250 million to help the states prepare to respond to drones before hosting World Cup matches and celebrations planned this summer for America’s 250th birthday.

Another $250 million in grants will be awarded later this year to strengthen the nation’s drone defenses.

Drones already causing problems

Drones already cause problems along the border. Cartels routinely use drones to deliver drugs across the Mexican border and surveil Border Patrol officers. Officials told Congress last summer that more than 27,000 drones were detected within 1,600 feet (500 meters) of the southern border in the last six months of 2024.

The threat to planes from drones continues to increase along with the number of near misses around airports. Homeland Security estimates there are more than 1.7 million registered drones flying in the United States.

Anti-drone systems can use radio signals to jam drones, or high-powered microwaves or laser beams like the ones that have been used in Texas that are capable of disabling the machines. Some others station small drones to take flight quickly and ram into threatening drones. And there are systems that use bullets, but those are more common on battlefields than in domestic use.

(Copyright (c) 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Michael DiPietro was quick with a retort on Thursday when asked if he thought Bruins starting goalie Joonas Korpisalo was going to return to Boston’s home game against Columbus. 

“He better,” the 26-year-old goalie said with a laugh after Boston’s eventual 4-2 win.

After all, Korpisalo’s brief injury scare against the Blue Jackets seemingly threw Boston’s entire goalie grouping out of sorts in the club’s first regular-season game in over three weeks.

Marco Sturm had both of his usual starting goalies available on Thursday in Jeremy Swayman and Korpisalo. But Boston’s head coach opted to give Swayman — fresh off of celebrating an Olympic gold medal with Team USA — a few more days to practice before getting a start. 

As such, Korpisalo got the nod against Columbus. DiPietro — an emergency recall from the Providence Bruins who had skated several times with Boston during the Olympic break — was on hand as the backup. 

“Just give him another good practice,” Strum said of keeping Swayman off the ice Thursday. “[Wednesday] was not really a practice. He just went out and was happy to be at the rink. Today will be a good practice and [Friday] will be a good practice. And it’s an afternoon game [Saturday vs. Philadelphia], so there’s a lot more to it and we just want to make sure we do the right thing.”

Sturm’s augmented goalie duo was eventually tested a little over six minutes into the second period, with Blue Jackets winger Miles Wood barreling over Korpisalo in the crease. The 31-year-old goalie appeared shaken on the play, with Wood whistled for goaltender interference.

Shortly before play resumed, Korpisalo was pulled from the game by the concussion spotter.

“It’s league protocol. It’s a pretty big bump,” Korpisalo said of getting taken from the game. “So I can understand that.”

For the first time since 2022, DiPietro was back in an NHL net — pressed into service as Boston went on the man advantage.

DiPietro had little time to warm up, with Bruins forward Mikey Eyssimont doing his part by firing a few pucks in against him before play resumed. 

“Just breathing,” DiPietro said of his approach after going into the game. “Dialing it back in and just taking it one puck at a time and just always being ready.” 

Ultimately, DiPietro was only needed for 6:03 of ice time — stopping two shots before Korpisalo returned to the ice. During that stretch, DiPietro negated one shorthanded chance by Columbus, while Morgan Geekie eventually gave Boston a 2-1 lead with a power-play tally. 

“I’m just glad I didn’t screw it up,” DiPietro said. “Made a couple saves and held it down until Korpi was ready to go back in.”

While DiPietro stood tall in his limited reps, Korpisalo locked things down the rest of the way — stopping 36 of the 38 shots that came his way in the win.

Sturm had plenty of praise for Korpisalo, who has posted a .923 save percentage over his last eight games.

But he also offered up a stick tap for DiPietro — who was named AHL Goalie of the Year in 2024-25 with Providence.

While the promising goalie awaits his next opportunity for NHL reps, he has continued to dominate with the P-Bruins, going 22-6-0 so far this season against AHL competition with a .938 save percentage. 

“Korpi was unbelievable today,” Sturm said. “Glad he came back right away, from the Olympics. Didn’t waste any time. Wanted to be in practice. I thought that the last two days were very important for him, just to be back on the ice and having a real practice again. And, yeah he was great. And Mikey, what a story. … Good for Mikey. 

“I mean, this guy has been rock-solid all along. And believe it or not, that little stretch, he made some key saves. We felt very good about it. Both goalies were outstanding.”

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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A New Hampshire woman has been arrested and charged with murder for causing the death of her baby, who was found in a Manchester pond last year.

Hepay Juma, 26, of Manchester, N.H., is charged with reckless second-degree murder in connection with the death of her child, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and Manchester Police Chief Peter Marr said in a press release. The charge levied against Juma stems from “an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” they wrote.

Throughout the investigation, the female infant has been referred to as “Baby Jane ‘Grace’ Doe.” She was found dead in Pine Island Pond in Manchester on the afternoon of March 27, 2025.

By April 2, Manchester police said they had received about 50 leads but were still seeking the public’s help in finding information about the suspicious death. Two weeks later, they doubled the $2,500 information reward to $5,000.

The circumstances of the incident remain under active investigation, according to prosecutors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday rejected a preservationist group’s request to block the Trump administration from continuing construction of a $400 million ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White House.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the National Trust for Historic Preservation was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its bid to temporarily halt President Donald Trump’s project. He said the privately funded group based its challenge on a “ragtag group of theories” under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution, and would have a better chance of success if it amended the lawsuit.

“Unfortunately, because both sides initially focused on the President’s constitutional authority to destruct and construct the East Wing of the White House, Plaintiff didn’t bring the necessary cause of action to test the statutory authority the President claims is the basis to do this construction project without the blessing of Congress and with private funds,” the judge wrote.

The preservationists sought an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress.

Trump used his social media account to hail the ruling as “Great news for America.” The Republican president said the project was ahead of schedule and under budget and “will stand long into the future as a symbol to the Greatness of America.”

The preservationists did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The White House announced the ballroom project over the summer. By late October, the Republican president had demolished the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that he said will fit 999 people. The White House said private donations, including from Trump himself, would pay for the planned construction of a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom.

Trump proceeded with the project before seeking input from a pair of federal review panels, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts. Trump has stocked both commission with allies.

The arts panel approved the project at a meeting last week. The planning commission is set to discuss it further at a March 5 meeting.

During a preliminary hearing in December, Leon warned the administration to refrain from making decisions on underground work, such as the routing of plumbing and gas lines, that would dictate the scope of future ballroom construction above ground.

The group challenging the project argued that Trump could be emboldened to go further — and possibly demolish the White House’s West Wing or Executive Mansion — if the court did not intervene.

“The losers will be (the) American public, who will be left with a massive ballroom that not only overwhelms what is perhaps the nation’s most historically important building, but will have been built in violation of an astonishingly wide range of laws,” plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote.

The administration said in a court filing that above-ground construction on the ballroom would not begin until April. In the meantime, government lawyers argued, the preservationist group’s challenge was premature because the building plans were not final.

The administration also argued that other presidents did not need congressional approval for previous White House renovation projects, large and small.

“Many of those projects were highly controversial in their time yet have since become accepted—even beloved—parts of the White House,” government lawyers wrote.

Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, said the White House office behind the project is not an agency covered under the jurisdiction of the Administrative Procedure Act. The judge also said the preservationists, who argued that the ballroom usurped the authority of Congress, did not have the basis to invoke the power of the courts.

As a result, “I cannot reach the merits of the National Trust’s novel and weighty statutory arguments” at this time, Leon said.

(Copyright (c) 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Driving conditions remain somewhat treacherous as New Bedford continues to dig itself out from Monday’s blizzard, with many side streets still blanketed in snow. 

But New Englanders rarely shy away from a challenge, blizzard or no. 

New Bedford resident Allie Crane said she was impressed when she saw a pickup truck trudging through the heavy snow near Madeira Avenue and Earle Street, which still wasn’t fully plowed as of Tuesday afternoon. Crane pulled out her phone and shot a quick video of the truck valiantly forging ahead anyway, albeit with heavy use of the accelerator and some occasional slipping.  

“Wow, I think he’s actually gonna make it,” Crane remembered thinking. “Either that or swerve into the other cars.”

Earlier in the day, she and her neighbors worked together to clear the bottom half of their street after only one snowplow made a pass that morning. 

“Everyone was out shoveling their cars. But we all continued to the street because we all damn knew we weren’t seeing another plow,” she said via text. “I was tired of watching all the cars get stuck in front of my house, so that’s why I went and shoveled their intersection. Everyone was helping one another and interacting like a community during one of the greatest snowstorms ever!!” 

Still, Crane said she watched about 10 cars get stuck going up the top half of the street, which remained caked with snow. 

Enter: Scott Vicente, the pickup driver seen in Crane’s video. He said he was out and about Tuesday checking on some loved ones and doing rounds on multiple properties where he’s responsible for ensuring the walkways and paths are clear.

“Driving conditions were horrible, only main streets are completely cleared,” he said over text. “At least 50% of side streets are really rough or not even touched yet.”

And when it came to getting through snowy roads like Earle Street, Vicente had a simple strategy: “It was all or nothing and get stuck.”

Crane has seen other vehicles struggling to make it up her street, most of them eventually needing to stop and turn around. She said trucks and Jeeps have generally had an easier go of it, though not without some difficulty. 

Despite his own successful jaunt up Earle Street, Vicente urged other New Bedford drivers to be patient and stay home if they can while the city works to clear the rest of the roads.

“Don’t try to go down a side street that has not been plowed. Even passed over streets like what I was doing have giant ruts, and cars are just getting hung up on them,” he explained. “If you don’t have a good size truck and know how to drive, then don’t even try!”

An investigation is underway in Middleborough after a 68-year-old man was pronounced dead Wednesday following a reported neighbor dispute, authorities said.

Officers responded shortly before 4:30 p.m. to 21 School St., a multi-family residence, for a 911 call reporting the neighbor dispute, according to a statement from the Middleborough Police Department.

When police arrived, they found the 68-year-old man unresponsive. He was transported to Morton Hospital in Taunton, where he was pronounced dead, police said. 

In what police described as “a related incident” at the same address, another man was arrested and charged with assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, according to police.

The death remains under investigation. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of death, police said. 

The investigation is being led by the Massachusetts State Police and Middleborough Police Department, according to the department’s statement. 

Authorities said the incident appears to be isolated and there is no ongoing threat to the public.

BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) – A group of neighbors in Brockton spent hours shoveling, helping an elderly woman who was stuck in the snow clear the way so she could make it to an important medical appointment.

On Monday night, Angela Montrond said she got a call saying she might need to take her grandmother to the appointment on Tuesday morning.

“I get a call from my aunt maybe around 9, close to 10 o’clock, and she tells me that she might need me to come take my grandmother to dialysis. She asked me if the roads were clear, because I only live five minutes away,” Montrond explained.

The family was concerned because the city’s plows had not yet cleared Essex Street, leaving Montrond’s grandmother snowed in.

“Completely blocked — no plow went through there at all,” said Montrond.

As she made her way to her grandmother’s house the next morning, she found half a dozen neighbors on Essex Street had already pitched in. They had spent hours shoveling to help her grandmother make her appointment.

“From what I saw, no snowblowers, just shovels,” said Montrond. “Everyone was still shoveling when I got there. And they shoveled enough, they cleared it all out so my grandmother was able to walk to Calmar Street where I picked her up.”

Montrond said their difficulty did not end there, however.

“I actually got stuck a little bit further down on Calmar Street, so my mom intercepted and brought grandmother to her dialysis appointment,” she said. “My mom actually, after she dropped her off, she got stuck somewhere by the renal center, where she said multiple cars got stuck, ambulances, everything got stuck. So she was there for a few hours and another aunt stepped in and picked up my grandmother.”

When all was said and done, Montrond’s grandmother made it to her appointment and back home on the snowy roads thanks to her family and some caring neighbors.

“My grandmother has been there the most on that block — she’s been there for over 40 years. So everyone knows her, and anytime somebody needs something they’re willing to help out,” she said. “She was just very happy she made it to her appointment, and to see that everyone was willing to lend a hand and help her out.”

Montrond said plows have since cleared the road.

(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Several school districts across Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts have canceled classes through the end of the week as blizzard cleanup continues and power outages persist in some parts of the state.

“Most of our buildings continue to not have power and we are unsure of the timing of restoration,” Barnstable Public Schools Superintendent Sara Ahern explained. “Additionally, once power is restored, our team will need time to run a series of tests to make sure that our systems are functioning properly — including and especially our phone lines.”

Ahern said school officials are also cognizant of tricky road conditions throughout the region and “are concerned about students being transported safely to and from school.”

Falmouth, Mashpee, Plymouth, Fall River, and Taunton schools will also remain closed through Friday. Massachusetts public schools are coming off February break last week.

Falmouth Public Schools noted four of its seven buildings were still without power as of Wednesday afternoon, with roughly half of its bus routes impacted by impassable roads and downed trees. Mashpee Public Schools cited similar mobility concerns and said many of its families and staff members don’t have power, either. 

“Trying to rush a return to school simply to resume our routine is not in the best interest of our students, staff, or families. Safety and well-being must come first,” Mashpee schools said. “We know this storm has taken a toll on everyone — physically, emotionally, and logistically. Please use this time to focus on recovery, warmth, and supporting one another.”

Plymouth Public Schools Superintendent Chris Campbell called Monday’s blizzard “one of the most significant winter storms in decades.” In addition to snow removal, street accessibility, and infrastructure concerns, Campbell pointed out that Plymouth North High School is currently serving as a Red Cross emergency shelter for dozens of displaced families and individuals. 

“While some members of our community may not be experiencing these challenges directly, there are still many families and staff facing very difficult (and in some cases dire) conditions,” Campbell wrote. “Our responsibility is to make decisions that reflect the broader reality across our entire town.”

Several more school districts have said they will remain closed Thursday, with Friday’s plans still up in the air. They include Bourne Public Schools, Old Rochester School District, Monomoy Regional School District, Provincetown IB Schools, Wareham Public Schools, New Bedford Public Schools, Acushnet Public Schools, Pembroke Public Schools, and Silver Lake Regional School District. 

Carver Public Schools said it intends to bring students back to school Friday using modified bus routes, while Nauset Regional Public Schools said the current plan is to hold school Friday if power is restored and local towns are fully operational. 

According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, more than 136,500 were still without power statewide Wednesday afternoon, most of them clustered around Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts.

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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