Tag: MA State Wire

Discovery of musket balls brings alive one of the first battles in the American Revolution

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CONCORD, Mass. (AP) — Nearly 250 years ago, hundreds of militiamen lined a hillside in Massachusetts and started firing a barrage of musket balls toward retreating British troops, marking the first major battle in the Revolutionary War.

The latest evidence of that firefight is five musket balls dug up last year near the North Bridge site in the Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord. Early analysis of the balls — gray with sizes ranging from a pea to a marble — indicates colonial militia members fired them at British forces on April 19, 1775.

“As soon as they pulled one of them out of the ground, there was kind of a ‘look what I have,’” said Minute Man park ranger and historic weapons specialist Jarrad Fuoss, who was there the day the musket balls were discovered.

“And of course, everybody goes flocking to them like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ We’re looking at them, and then the excitement continued to grow because it wasn’t just one,” he continued. “And the fact that we found five of them, which is incredible all these years later.”

Musket balls were previously found in the historic park of about a thousand acres outside Boston, which marks a series of opening battles of the American Revolution. About a decade ago, about 30 musket balls were found at the site known as Parker’s Revenge, where the Lexington militia company led by Capt. John Parker ambushed British troops. In the early 19th century, Henry David Thoreau was walking in the area and found a few musket balls from what is believed to be the North Bridge fight.

The latest discoveries are the most ever found from that fight when militia leaders ordered their men to fire on government troops. The event led to the conflict escalating and was later dubbed the “shot heard round the world” by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his 1837 “Concord Hymn.”

About 800 British soldiers had started the day marching from Boston to Concord to destroy military supplies they believed that colony rebels had gathered. It ended with an eight-hour battle that stretched to the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston — covering 16 miles (26 kilometers) and leaving 273 British troops and 96 militiamen dead and wounded.

It prompted the militia to create an 11-month siege of Boston, leading to the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution.

“This is where everything kind of changes in an instant because that moment is treason. There is no turning back,” Fuoss said. “To be able to pull that out of the ground and know that we’re the first ones to touch that since somebody else was ramming it down the muzzle of their gun 250 years ago is one of those things that sends shivers all over your body.”

Joel Bohy, who was also on the dig site and is researching bullet strikes and bullet-struck objects from that day for a book, said the discovery helps “validate the historical record, as well as the types of arms that the provincial minute and militia companies carried that day.”

“Based upon the caliber of the balls and studying them, the general location, as well as the context of the site, it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck,” Bohy said, adding that he had “been fascinated with April 19 and the material culture since I was a 7-year-old — 51 years ago. So for me, it was a great day.”

The war continued for seven years after those first shots were fired, even past the July 4, 1776, adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Nikki Walsh, the museum curator at the park, also said there was plenty to learn from the lead-cast musket balls that ranged in size from .40-caliber to .70-caliber. Given their various sizes, Walsh said, archeologists concluded they were from the militia. Those men brought their own weapons and ammunition to the fight, with some being imported, and others captured or purchased by the town or province from British or Dutch merchants, according to the National Park Service. On the other hand, the British had standardized all their ammunition.

And the fact that the musket balls were intact indicates fighters likely missed their mark.

“Since that lead is so malleable, you can see marks on them that indicate whether they’ve been fired, whether they were unfired and dropped,” she said. “If they had been fired and hit something, they would have likely smushed like a pancake.”

The musket balls have attracted intense interest from history buffs and tourists, with about 800 journeying to the park’s visitor center over the weekend to get a first glimpse. The interest has also prompted the National Park Service to keep the exact location of the find under wraps, hoping to dissuade treasure hunters with metal detectors from showing up in search of more artifacts.

They are willing to disclose the general area of the find, a field just over a wooden bridge of the Concord River and just beyond two monuments — a 25-foot stone obelisk marking the 50th anniversary of the North Bridge fight and the Minute Man statue built to commemorate its 100th anniversary. Nearby, a smaller marker with British flags indicates where the first two British soldiers died in that battle.

Among those recently checking out the site was Jennifer Ayvaz, who came to the park with her husband, Tim, and their two children after her father heard about the discovery of the musket balls. As they passed Walsh, she offered to show the family the musket balls. Opening a tiny box, the family snapped photos and moved closer for a better look at the balls lined up in a row.

“It’s incredible,” said Jennifer Ayvaz, who came from Castle Rock, Colorado, adding that her father would love to see the musket balls. “I wish he could be here with us. It’s very neat. He is a huge history buff, and he is kind of living vicariously through us.”

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July 27, 2024
Company says manufacturing problem was behind wind turbine blade breaking off Nantucket Island

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NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) — The maker of a massive wind turbine blade that broke apart off Nantucket Island and washed up on the beaches says a manufacturing problem was responsible.

GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said on an earnings call Wednesday that insufficient bonding at one of its factories in Canada was responsible for the blade coming apart and that there was no indication of a design flaw. As a result, the company will reinspect all 150 blades that had been made at the factory.

“To identify deviations, we are going to go and do this on every blade. Prudent, thorough process,” he told the call. “We’re not going to talk about the timeline today. We have work to do. But I have a high degree of confidence that we can do this.”

Parts of the blade, which is more than 100 meters (109 yards) long, began to fall into the ocean July 13 at the Vineyard Wind project and crews in boats and on beaches have been collecting truckloads of debris ever since. The company said that the debris consists of nontoxic fiberglass fragments and that any washing ashore are pieces of one square foot or less.

The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said last week that operations at Vineyard Wind have been suspended until it can be determined whether the “blade failure” impacts other turbine blades on the development.

“As GE Vernova continues the investigation into the root cause of the damage to its blade, Vineyard Wind 1 remains focused on coordinating with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, assisting in the recovery of debris, and prioritizing the safety of personnel, local communities, and the environment,” Craig Gilvarg, a company spokesman, said in a statement.

Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and said no personnel or third parties were near the turbine when the damage occurred. It said in a statement that blade manufacturer and installation contractor GE “will now be conducting the analysis into the root cause of the incident.”

The development’s massive wind turbines began sending electricity to the grid this past winter. It said it will deploy trained individuals to collect the debris for the next several days

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July 27, 2024
Senators call on Federal Trade Commission to investigate automakers’ sale of driving data to brokers

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DETROIT (AP) — Two U.S. senators are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate automakers selling customers’ driving data to brokers who package it and then sell it to insurance companies.

In a letter to FTC Chairwoman Linda Khan, Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Edward Markey of Massachusetts allege that General Motors, Hyundai, Honda and perhaps others are sharing drivers’ data, such as sudden braking and acceleration.

The automakers, the senators said in a statement Friday, used deceptive tactics to manipulate customers into signing up for disclosure of the data to brokers.

After reading a report in The New York Times, Wyden’s office looked into the three automakers and found that they shared data with broker Verisk Analytics. In the letter to Khan, the senators wrote that all three automakers confirmed disclosure of the data. GM also confirmed that it disclosed customer location data to two other companies that the automaker would not name, the letter said.

Verisk used the data to prepare reports on driving-behavior history and sold them to insurance companies, the letter said. Some automakers may have deceived customers by advertising data disclosures as a way to reduce insurance bills, without telling them that some insurers could charge more, the senators wrote.

“If the FTC determines that these companies violated the law, we urge you to hold the companies and their senior executives accountable,” the senators wrote to Khan.

GM wouldn’t say how many cars’ data was sent to brokers or what it was paid, according to the letter. Wyden’s office found that Hyundai shared data from 1.7 million vehicles and was paid just over $1 million, while Honda got just under $26,000 for data from 97,000 vehicles, the senators said.

A message was left Friday after business hours seeking comment from the FTC.

In an email, GM denied that it deceived customers into enrolling in the data-sharing program with Verisk. Data-sharing partnerships with Verisk and LexisNexis were canceled in March, and its data-sharing program called “Smart Driver” ended in June, GM said.

“Data was only shared with an insurer if a customer initiated a quote directly with their chosen carrier and provided a separate consent to that carrier,” the email said.

The company said it does share “de-identified” data with partners to aid city infrastructure and make roads safer.

In a statement, Hyundai said the senators’ letter mischaracterizes its data policies and that it has safeguards to make sure customers agree to sharing driving information with insurers.

Customers, it said, had the option to connect driving scores to their insurers through Verisk for possible benefits such as good-driving discounts.

“It is important to note that Verisk was not authorized by Hyundai or the customer to share the Drive Score data with insurers until the customer affirmatively consented to this on an insurer’s website or app,” Hyundai said.

Honda also said that customers had to opt into the program with Verisk. Some customers with good driving scores were given the chance to agree to discount offers from insurers. “Without that clear second opt-in by the customer, no identifiable consumer information was shared with any insurance company,” Honda said.

Verisk also disagreed with Wyden and Markey and said in a statement that it “acts to ensure data is accessed and used appropriately.” The company said using data responsibly “is the cornerstone of our business.”

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July 27, 2024
ACC to use Apple’s iPads on football sidelines and in coaching booths for video playback this fall

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference will collaborate with Apple to bring iPad technology to the sidelines and coaching booths for the upcoming season.

In an announcement Monday, the ACC said all 17 football members — a group that includes new arrivals California, SMU and Stanford — will have access to league-provided iPad Pro and iPad Air models allowing them to view video playback. That comes after the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel in April approved the use of in-game video.

In a statement, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips made an “unparalleled prioritization of technology” going back to its design of a new gameday operations center. It will assist in football replays as part of the headquarters move to Charlotte last year.

The ACC’s first game this season is Aug. 24 in Dublin, Ireland, featuring Florida State and Georgia Tech.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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July 17, 2024
Some Boston subway trains are now sporting googly eyes

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BOSTON (AP) — Subway riders in Boston are playing their own game of “Where’s Waldo?” But instead of searching for a cartoon character with a red and white striped top, they’re on the lookout for subway trains with googly eye decals attached to the front.

The head of transit service said the whimsical decals are attached to a handful of trains and meant to bring a smile to riders’ faces.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng said a small group of what he described as transit enthusiasts approached the agency with the unusual request to install the eyes on trains. The group even dropped off a package of plastic googly eyes at the MBTA’s headquarters in Boston.

“When I saw it it made me laugh,” Eng said. “I thought we could do something like that to have some fun.”

The MBTA, which oversees the nation’s oldest subway system as well as commuter rail, bus and ferry service, has come under intense scrutiny in recent years for a series of safety issues that led to a federal review and orders to fix the problem.

It has also been plagued by slow zones, the delayed delivery of new vehicles and understaffing, although T officials say the slow zones are gradually being lifted.

Instead of plastic googly eyes, which Eng feared could come loose and fly off, injuring riders, the MBTA went with decals, giving a jaunty facial expression to the trains.

The agency has affixed them to just five trains — four on the MBTA’s Green Line and one commuter rail line.

“When we chatted about it, it would be like finding Waldo,” he said. “It gave us all a chance to have a laugh and for the people who use our service to have some fun.”

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July 17, 2024
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week

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A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

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Claims misrepresent 1,850 boxes of Biden documents at Delaware university

CLAIM: President Joe Biden withheld 1,850 boxes of classified documents from his time as vice president.

THE FACTS: The National Archives and Records Administration says the boxes of files referenced in that figure are actually Biden’s Senate papers, which are housed at the University of Delaware. The federal agency told the AP that the files of Congress members are considered their personal property and are not subject to the same restrictions as presidential records, which are considered government property. While the FBI has searched the Delaware university records as part of a larger search for classified documents, there is no evidence they were withheld from authorities in any way. As former President Donald Trump faces federal charges of illegally hoarding White House documents, he has repeatedly drawn comparisons to the boxes of government records kept by Biden as proof he’s being unfairly persecuted. “By the way, Biden’s got 1,850 boxes,” Trump said at a recent campaign rally in Georgia. “He’s fighting them on the boxes. He doesn’t want to give the boxes and then they say, ‘Trump is obstructioning’.” On social media, supporters have echoed the figure. But the 1,850 boxes referred to in these claims are being falsely conflated with classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president that have been found in other locations, such as one of his former office in Washington and his Delaware home. Instead, the university documents are from the Democrat’s many years serving in Congress as a U.S. senator from Delaware, according to NARA and the University of Delaware. Biden donated the files to his alma mater more than a decade ago. Daniel Holt, an assistant historian in the U.S. Senate’s Historical Office, also cited the chamber’s website, which states that “records created and maintained within a senator’s office are the property of the senator.” David Super, a professor of law and economics at Georgetown University’s law school, added that the documents Biden provided to the university aren’t subject to the Presidential Records Act, which Trump and his allies have frequently and misleadingly invoked. “Mr. Biden was incapable of creating records of his own presidency before he was elected president,” he wrote in an email. While the records are not currently available to the public, there is no indication Biden has resisted the FBI’s efforts to review or retrieve documents from the university — nor any other location where the agency has been investigating, added Super. Indeed, the White House disclosed in January that a lawyer for Biden had located what was described as a “small number” of classified documents from his time as vice president during a search of a former office space in Washington. The documents were turned over to the Justice Department, as were an additional batch found at Biden’s house in Wilmington, Delaware. The agency, which didn’t respond to emails seeking comment, also searched the documents at the University of Delaware this past winter, the AP reported at the time. So far, it hasn’t announced any findings from this location. A White House spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which didn’t immediately respond. Peter Bothum, a spokesperson for the University of Delaware, similarly deferred questions to the Justice Department, which oversees the FBI. But he also noted the university has created a website with additional details about the Biden senate papers in its holdings. The more than 1,850 boxes of archival records arrived at the university library in June 2012 and cover Biden’s nearly four decades in the Senate from 1973 to 2009. A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. On Tuesday, the Republican pleaded not guilty in Miami federal court to 37 counts related to the mishandling of sensitive government records.

— Associated Press writer Philip Marcelo in New York contributed this report.

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Massachusetts church was not holding same-sex wedding when it was hit by lightning and burned down

CLAIM: A church in Boston was hosting a same-sex wedding ceremony when it was hit by lightning, sparking a fire that left no survivors.

THE FACTS: The First Congregational Church in the town of Spencer — which is in central Massachusetts, not the Boston area — did burn down on June 2 after it was hit by lightning. But there was no wedding being held at the time, nor any injuries reported, the local fire chief told the AP. The church caught fire on a Friday afternoon earlier this month when a storm was moving through the area, the AP reported. Social media users initially shared video of the church engulfed in flames with posts containing homophobic rhetoric and criticizing the church’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues. The church’s Facebook page has published positive messages about Pride month in the past. But in recent days, some users shared the footage with false claims that the blaze took place in Boston and that it occurred amid a same-sex wedding ceremony. A video shared on TikTok and Twitter shows the steeple of a church building ablaze as it slowly falls to the ground. “Church burnt down by a lightening, in Boston, In the USA, during a marriage ceremony of homosexual couple. No survival from the participants,” reads one post on Twitter, misspelling “lightning.” However, the historic church in Spencer — about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Worcester — was closed when the fire broke out, not hosting a wedding, according to Spencer Fire Chief Robert Parsons. No injuries were reported in the fire, which drew nearly 100 firefighters from close to 20 departments. “There was no wedding going on and actually the church was closed up and locked. No one was working in the church,” Parsons said in an email. Parsons and the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services also confirmed the cause of the fire was a lightning strike. Jake Wark, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts fire service, said state police fire investigators worked with local officials to determine that the lightning started a blaze in the building’s attic, which rapidly spread through the wood-framed structure. Parsons previously told the AP that the building was a total loss.

— Associated Press writer Karena Phan in Los Angeles contributed this report.

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Fabricated Trump Truth Social post about Walt Nauta circulates after court appearance

CLAIM: A screenshot shows a Truth Social post from former President Donald Trump saying his personal aide and alleged co-conspirator Walt Nauta was the one who packed up his “personal papers” when he left the White House.

THE FACTS: The image is fabricated and Trump never posted such a statement on Truth Social. Many social media users shared the bogus post as real after Trump pleaded not guilty to dozens of felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents, suggesting it showed the former president was pointing the finger at Nauta for possessing any classified documents. Nauta, Trump’s valet before joining him as personal aide in Mar-a-Lago, was indicted last week on charges that he moved boxes of documents at Trump’s direction and then misled the FBI about it. Nauta did not enter a plea Tuesday because he did not have a local lawyer with him. The post circulating on social media shows Trump’s Truth Social profile. “Many people are saying the theft of Nuclear and Military Secrets is a very serious crime,” it begins. The post goes on to say that Trump asked his “LOYAL aide Walt Nauta” to pack personal documents before leaving the White House and is confident Nauta didn’t “place any Nuclear Secrets” inside because he knew that would get the former president in “trouble.” “So let’s just see what Judge Cannon says. Good Luck, Walt! We are behind you all the way!” it ends. While Trump did publish a flurry of posts on his social media platform about the case before and after his court appearance, the post shown in the image was not one of them. Trump’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment, but the supposed post does not currently appear on Trump’s profile and archived versions of the profile also do not show the post. The image circulating on social media also contains signs it is not real, including a watermark from imgflip.com, a meme generator website that allows users to mimic Trump’s Truth Social posts. The text in the screenshot also goes over the platform’s 500-character limit. Trump did post about Nauta on Truth Social on June 9, but it was to protest his inclusion in the indictment. “They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about ‘Trump.’ He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!” Trump wrote.

— Karena Phan

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Posts misrepresent data on terrorism and migration in Poland

CLAIM: A map shows that Poland has not been the target of any terror attacks, the lack of which is a result of the country’s “strict no-migrants policy.”

THE FACTS: The map only shows terror attacks from 2012 through 2015 — but the University of Maryland’s Global Terrorism Database shows six such attacks in Poland since 2015 and dozens prior to 2012. Additionally, Poland is open to migrants as a member of the European Union, and experts say the data shows migrants are in fact more likely to be victims of terror than perpetrators. Yet a screenshot of the map spread online in recent days alongside the erroneous claim. “Here is a map of terror attacks in Europe,” one tweet states. “Poland has a strict no-migrants policy. Draw your own conclusions.” It is true that the map, built by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, does not show any terror attacks in Poland. However, while the map only shows attacks recorded in the Global Terrorism Database over a four-year period, the database has records of attacks from 1970 through 2020. During that time, Poland has seen 42 terror attacks. CSIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Erin Miller, program manager of the Global Terrorism Database, told the AP that using the map to make a wider point about migration and terrorism is a flawed premise given how selective the data is. While Poland does have lower levels of migration than other countries in the European Union, it doesn’t have a “no-migrants policy.” As a member of the EU, Poland must adhere to freedom of movement rights, which allow EU citizens and their families to reside freely in member countries. As of late May 2023, approximately 1.6 million Ukrainian refugees from the Russia-Ukraine war were registered for temporary protection in Poland, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Regardless, the map doesn’t show that terror attacks in the countries with higher migration rates were perpetrated by migrants, as the posts suggest, noted Miller. In fact, she added, most terror attacks are carried out by “domestic assailants,” and immigrants are more likely to be victims than perpetrators. The interactive CSIS map includes numerous examples of such attacks on migrants, and the entire Global Terrorism Database includes more than 150 attacks that targeted refugees and asylum-seekers in Western Europe over the past decade — a figure Miller said is considered to be “extremely conservative.” Countries that experience an influx of people do tend to have an increase in terrorist activities, said Daniel Meierrieks, a research fellow at the Berlin Social Science Center with expertise in international migration and terrorism. But that’s simply because more populous countries have more attacks, not because the migrants are the ones responsible, he added. To the extent that there is a relationship to migration, especially in the case of people coming to Europe from non-European countries, it’s due to the attacks on the migrants — not by them, according to Meierrieks and Richard McAlexander, a data analyst who studied terrorism and international borders as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. “You’re in a new country,” McAlexander said of migrants. “You’ve suffered some trauma. You’re in a precarious position. And the last thing you want to do is jeopardize all of that.”

— Associated Press writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed this report.

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Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck

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Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck

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June 22, 2023
American Airlines, JetBlue seek to keep some ties despite losing antitrust case

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American Airlines and JetBlue said Friday they should be allowed to keep selling tickets on each other’s flights in the Northeast and link their frequent-flyer programs despite losing an antitrust trial over their partnership.

The Justice Department said if the airlines get their wish, travelers would miss out on the benefits of restoring competition between the carriers.

In separate filings, the airlines and the government told a federal judge in Boston how he should carry out his ruling last month to break up the partnership. American’s CEO has said his airline will appeal the verdict.

The Justice Department proposed a final judgment that would order American and JetBlue to end most parts of the deal immediately. The government said the airlines should honor existing tickets to avoid hurting travelers, but then quickly wind down their sharing of airport gates and takeoff and landing slots at key airports.

The airlines want to keep selling tickets on each other’s flights — called code-sharing — and offering reciprocal frequent-flyer benefits because those practices “are common in the airline industry.” American and JetBlue also objected to the Justice Department’s request that they be barred from any deals involving revenue-sharing or coordinating routes with each other for 10 years, and with any other U.S. airline for two years.

The airlines call their partnership in New York and Boston the Northeast Alliance, or NEA.

The Justice Department said that by asking to keep elements of the deal, the airlines are trying “to craft a new ‘NEA Lite’ on the fly.”

The airlines launched their partnership after getting approval from the outgoing Trump administration in January 2021. They argued it helped them compete against Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in the Northeast.

The Biden administration sued the airlines in September 2021, arguing that their deal would reduce competition and raise prices for consumers. After a non-jury trial last fall, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the NEA violated federal antitrust laws.

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This story has been updated to correct that the Trump administration approved the partnership in January 2021, not 2020.

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June 13, 2023
Massachusetts Gov. Healey to get first chance to name a justice to state’s highest court

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BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Maura Healey will get her first chance to nominate a judge to the state’s highest court after one of the seven justices announced Monday that she will step down in January.

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Elspeth Cypher notified Healey that she will retire from the court on Jan. 12.

Cypher was elevated to the court by former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who nominated all seven members of the current court. She has served on the high court since 2017.

“I have served with wonderful, collaborative colleagues, and an outstanding staff, all committed to excellence in furtherance of the mission of ensuring fair, impartial, and timely justice for everyone who appears before the courts,” she said in a written statement.

Cypher said she looked forward to pursuing her love of teaching at Boston College Law School in the spring semester of 2024. She was first appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court as an associate justice by former Republican Gov. Paul Cellucci in 2000.

Healey, a Democrat, thanked Cypher for her service on the court and said she looks forward to naming her successor.

“Obviously she has many more months to serve so we’ll undertake the appropriate process, and we’ll make announcements at the appropriate time,” Healey told reporters. “I’ll be looking for the very best person we can find to be the next justice.”

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June 12, 2023
Celtics look to pull off the impossible, as Heat stand on brink of making NBA Finals

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MIAMI (AP) — Blown out in Game 3, facing elimination in Game 4, tasked with engineering the sort of comeback that no team in their league has ever pulled off before.

This may sound familiar to Boston fans.

Yes, what the Red Sox did to the New York Yankees in 2004 was discussed around the Boston Celtics on Monday. A day after a debacle in Miami to fall into a 3-0 deficit in these Eastern Conference finals — “embarrassing,” Boston forward Jaylen Brown said — the Celtics will try to extend the series and at least delay a Heat celebration in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

“We still believe we’re the better team,” Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said Monday. “We have not played like it in any of the three games. But, you know, there is always a first.”

No NBA team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series; it’s happened only once in Major League Baseball, when the Red Sox shook off a 19-8 drubbing in Game 3 to win four straight and top the Yankees in that 2004 AL championship series.

Of course, there had never been a No. 8 seed that won an NBA playoff game by 26 points, either — until Miami rolled its way to a 128-102 cakewalk in Game 3. It led to All-Star Game MVP Jayson Tatum saying Boston needs to show some pride, veteran big man Al Horford calling upon the Celtics to stay together and first-year coach Joe Mazzulla taking the blame as speculation about his future only gets louder and louder.

“We didn’t play well at all,” Tatum said. “Obviously, by the score, it showed.”

Meanwhile, a Heat win on Tuesday would send Miami to the NBA Finals for the seventh time since 2006 — and give the team more than a week to rest before the series opens on June 1. The Denver Nuggets won the Western Conference title on Monday night, sweeping LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

If Miami wins the East, Denver will have home-court advantage in the finals. If Boston rallies, the Celtics would have the home-court edge.

Before all that, there’s a Game 4 in Miami, and that has Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s full attention.

“We can expect just a great, competitive game,” Spoelstra said. “Boston has great pride. They’ll bring it. And you want to embrace it. You don’t want to get ahead of yourself and think about anything else other than embracing the competition. This is what you want. You want to be in the Eastern Conference finals in a really competitive game with a chance to finish and close out.”

Thing is, that was also the thinking going into Game 3. After dropping the first two games at home, conventional wisdom would suggest that Boston would have arrived Sunday night loaded up for their best effort.

It wasn’t even close.

Boston trailed by as many as 33 in Game 3 — the second-biggest deficit the Celtics faced this season. They trailed Oklahoma City by 37 on Jan. 3, a game where the Thunder scored 88 points in the middle two quarters on the way to a 150-117 romp. The Celtics responded from that defeat by winning their next nine games.

“Faith is the most important thing in the world,” Mazzulla said.

The Heat would say the same. They’re trying to join the 1999 New York Knicks as the only No. 8 seeds to reach the NBA Finals, and they’re doing so after nearly missing the playoffs altogether.

They know the chance they have Tuesday. They watched Boston celebrate in front of Heat fans last year in Game 7 of the East finals. They have an opportunity to make the Celtics watch them celebrate winning the East this time around.

“We have a great opportunity ahead of us,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said.

3-0, 0-3

The Heat are up 3-0 in a series for the 10th time, including one sweep of a best-of-five in 2000. In the eight previous best-of-seven instances where Miami has led 3-0, the Heat have gone 5-3 in Game 4 and never been extended past Game 5.

Boston is down 0-3 in a series for the eighth time, including one best-of-five sweep defeat. The Celtics forced one of those best-of-seven deficits to six games, one to five games and got swept on the other four occasions.

LOVE UPDATE

Heat forward Kevin Love has a strained muscle in his lower left leg and is probable for Game 4. He got hurt in the first quarter of Game 3. “Felt like a muscle cramp,” Love said, adding that if Miami’s lead hadn’t been so sizable that he would have lobbied to return to Sunday’s game.

WELL RESTED

Jimmy Butler was needed for only 31 minutes in Game 3, after he averaged almost 42 minutes in his last nine playoff appearances for Miami.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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May 23, 2023
Surf’s up! Florida’s St. George Island beach named nation’s best in annual ranking

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A 9-mile (14-kilometer) stretch of Florida sugar-white sand in an unspoiled natural setting alongside the Gulf of Mexico is the nation’s best beach for 2023, according to the annual ranking released Thursday by the university professor known as “Dr. Beach.”

The state park on St. George Island just off the Florida Panhandle drew the top honor from Stephen Leatherman, professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Florida International University. This year’s top 10 list marks the 33rd year Leatherman has rated the best of America’s 650 public beaches around Memorial Day, the traditional start of summer.

St. George Island is frequently on the list. But this year what set it apart from others is its natural beauty, lack of development, abundant activities including fishing, swimming, kayaking, cycling, camping and an unparalleled view of the night sky for stargazers, Leatherman said.

“There’s just so many things that capture my imagination there,” Leatherman said in an interview. “It’s an idyllic place.”

The park covers about 2,000 acres (810 hectares) on the east end of the island, which is connected by a bridge to the mainland across Apalachicola Bay, famed for its oysters. The other sections of the island contain a small village, restaurants, rental homes and motels, but not a whole lot else.

And that’s the way Leatherman likes it.

“People can have the best of both worlds there, just miles and miles of unspoiled beaches,” he said.

The island has been battered over the decades by tropical storms, most recently by Hurricane Michael in October 2018. That deadly Category 5 storm made landfall about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest in Mexico Beach, but packed enough punch to level many St. George Island sand dunes and damage park facilities such as picnic pavilions and restrooms.

“Since that time, staff and volunteers have made great strides toward getting the park back to normal,” park officials said on its website.

In 2005, a 153-year-old lighthouse on nearby, uninhabited Little St. George Island collapsed into the Gulf due to storms and erosion. It was rebuilt on the main island after volunteers salvaged 22,000 of the original bricks and found the 19th-century plans at the National Archives. The new location means people can more easily trek to the top for a panoramic view.

Leatherman uses 50 criteria to evaluate beaches including sand type, wave action, whether lifeguards are present, presence of wildlife, the level of development and crowding, and many other factors. Extra credit is given to beaches that forbid cigarette smoking, mainly because of the need to prevent discarded butts. None were seen during a recent visit to St. George Island, he said.

“I had to give them more credit for that,” Leatherman said. “I think people are coming around to the point of view that our beaches are some of our greatest recreational areas. You can go to the beach and you can do so many things.”

A second Florida Gulf coast beach, Caladesi Island State Park near Clearwater and Dunedin, ranks fourth on the list this year. It’s reachable mainly by ferry and private boat, or a person could walk a fairly good distance there from Clearwater Beach depending on the tides. Despite the name, Caladesi isn’t a true island any longer because an inlet closed off, Leatherman said.

“The white beach is composed of crystalline quartz sand, which is soft and cushy at the water’s edge, inviting one to take a dip in the sparkling clear waters,” he said.

Caladesi has boardwalk nature trails and kayaking through mangroves that are home to numerous species of fish, birds and other animals.

Hawaii placed three beaches on the list, more than any other state. Florida was next with two.

Here is Dr. Beach’s complete 2023 top 10:

1. St. George Island State Park, Florida Panhandle

2. Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

3. Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York

4. Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida

5. Lighthouse Beach, Buxton, Outer Banks of North Carolina

6. Coronado Beach, San Diego

7. Wailea Beach, Maui, Hawaii

8. Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, South Carolina

9. Poipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii

10. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

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May 23, 2023
American Airlines and JetBlue must abandon their partnership in the Northeast, federal judge rules

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American Airlines and JetBlue Airways must abandon their partnership in the northeast United States, a federal judge in Boston ruled Friday, saying that the government proved the deal reduces competition in the airline industry.

The ruling is a major victory for the Biden administration, which has used aggressive enforcement of antitrust laws to fight against mergers and other arrangements between large corporations.

The Justice Department argued during a trial last fall that the deal would eventually cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin wrote in his decision that American and JetBlue violated antitrust law as they carved up Northeast markets between them, “replacing full-throated competition with broad cooperation.”

The judge said the airlines offered only minimal evidence that the partnership, called the Northeast Alliance, helped consumers.

The airlines said they were considering whether to appeal.

“We believe the decision is wrong and are considering next steps,” said American spokesman Matt Miller. “The court’s legal analysis is plainly incorrect and unprecedented for a joint venture like the Northeast Alliance. There was no evidence in the record of any consumer harm from the partnership.”

JetBlue spokeswoman Emily Martin said her airline was disappointed, adding, “We made it clear at trial that the Northeast Alliance has been a huge win for customers.”

The Justice Department, meanwhile, hailed the ruling.

“Today’s decision is a win for Americans who rely on competition between airlines to travel affordably,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

The partnership had the blessing of the Trump administration when it took effect in early 2021. It let the airlines sell seats on each other’s flights and share revenue from them. It covered many of their flights to and from Boston’s Logan Airport and three airports in the New York City area: John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty in New Jersey.

But soon after President Joe Biden took office, the Justice Department took another look. It found an economist who predicted that consumers would spend more than $700 million a year extra because of reduced competition.

American is the largest U.S. airline and JetBlue is the sixth-biggest overall. But in Boston, they hold down two of the top three spots, alongside Delta Air Lines, and two of the top four positions in New York.

The Justice Department sued to kill the deal in 2021, and was joined by six states and the District of Columbia.

“It is a very important case to us … because of those families that need to travel and want affordable tickets and good service,” Justice Department lawyer Bill Jones said during closing arguments.

The trial featured testimony by current and former airline CEOs and economists who gave wildly different opinions on how the deal would affect competition and ticket prices.

The airlines and their expert witnesses argued that the government couldn’t show that the alliance, which had been in place for about 18 months at the time, had led to higher fares. They said it helped them start new routes from New York and Boston. And most importantly, they said, the deal benefitted consumers by creating more competition against Delta and United Airlines.

The judge was not persuaded.

“Though the defendants claim their bigger-is-better collaboration will benefit the flying public, they produced minimal objectively credible proof to support that claim,” he wrote. “Whatever the benefits to American and JetBlue of becoming more powerful — in the northeast generally or in their shared rivalry with Delta — such benefits arise from a naked agreement not to compete with one another.”

Hanging over the trial was JetBlue’s proposed $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit Airlines, the nation’s largest discount carrier. In March, while Sorokin was mulling his decision, the Justice Department sued to block that deal too, arguing that it would reduce competition and be especially harmful to consumers who depend on Spirit to save money.

JetBlue has countered that acquiring Spirit will make it a bigger, stronger low-cost competitor to Delta, United, Southwest — and American — which together control about 80% of the domestic U.S. air-travel market.

The government’s lawsuit against the JetBlue-Spirit deal is pending before a different judge in the same Boston courthouse.

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May 23, 2023
Father and son sentenced for decadelong, $20 million lottery fraud scheme

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BOSTON (AP) — A father and son from Massachusetts have both been sent to prison for running an elaborate lottery fraud scheme designed to enrich themselves and help prize winners avoid paying taxes on their windfall, prosecutors said.

Ali Jaafar, 63, and Yousef Jaafar, 29, both of Watertown, cashed in 14,000 winning lottery tickets over a roughly 10-year period, laundered more than $20 million in proceeds, and then lied on their tax returns to cheat the IRS out of about $6 million, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston announced Monday.

The Jaafars purchased winning lottery tickets at a discount from people who wanted to avoid identification by the state lottery commission, which withholds taxes and outstanding child support payments from payouts.

After purchasing the tickets, using the stores that sold them as go-betweens, the Jaafars claimed the full prize amount. Although they reported the winnings on their tax returns, they also claimed equivalent fake gambling losses as an offset to avoid federal income taxes, prosecutors said.

Ali Jaafar was sentenced to five years in prison. Yousef Jaafar received a sentence of more than four years. They were also ordered to pay $6 million in restitution and forfeit the profits from their scheme.

They were convicted in December of conspiracy to defraud the IRS, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and filing a false tax return.

Mohamed Jaafar, another of Ali Jaafar’s sons, pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in November and awaits sentencing.

The defendants paid the owners of dozens of stores that sell lottery tickets to facilitate the transactions, and the state lottery commission is in the process of revoking or suspending the licenses of more than 40 lottery agents, authorities said.

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May 23, 2023