Club America, the reigning champion and current leaders of Mexico-based power conference LIGA MX, controlled all three areas of the pitch in a 4-0 victory over the Revolution in the opening match of a home and home Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal series.

Club America’s two goals in the opening 24 minutes were one more than the Revolution (3-1-1) gave up in their four previous Champions Cup games.

The second leg of the home and home series will be played on April 9 at Estadio Azteca in the high altitude of Mexico City. Club America has won the Champions Cup seven times while the Revolution have never advanced beyond the quarterfinals.

The Revolution are in last place in the MLS Eastern Conference at 0-4-1 and they resume league play the end of a three-game homestand against Charlotte FC on Saturday night (7:30) at Gillette.

After playing an arduous stretch of eight games in 26 days, the Revolution entered their bye week after a 1-1 draw with Chicago Fire FC on March 23. Porter put a rested and potent Starting XI on the pitch for Club America with one big exception. Porter started Earl Edwards Jr. in goal in place of Henrich Ravas, who had three clean sheets in the four Concacaf games he started.

Ravas returned to the team after missing the Chicago Fire FC match to honor his FIFA international commitment to Slovakia. The other returnees from international duty were homegrown midfielders Esmir Bajraktarevic (U.S.) and Noel Buck (England), both of who were left off the starting lineup.

Porter also made an interesting adjustment on the back line by starting three center backs, Dave Romney, Henry Kessler and Jonathan Mensah, flanked by outside backs DeJuan Jones and Ryan Spaulding.

Giacomo Vrioni was the striker with Tomas Chancalay, who leads the club with four goals and 10 shots in Champions Cup play, at attacking forward on the left side and Nacho Gil on the right.

Club America made several deep probes in the early going and eventually broke down the Revolution’s beefed up back line in the 16th minute. Midfielder Alvaro Fidalgo caused a turnover in the Revolution end and got the ball to Club America captain Henry Martin on the scoring area.

Martin side kicked the ball across the box to forward Javairo Dilrosun and broke for the net on a give and go. Dilrosun got the ball back to Martin who pivoted in the middle of the box and kicked it by Edwards.

Martin was the playmaker in Club America’s second tally in the 24th minute. Martin made a precision pass between two Revolution defenders and connected with forward Alejandro Zendejas on a dead run down the right side of the box. Zendejas made a cut towards the cage and let fly a liner that beat Edwards to the far post.

Club America went up 3-0 when defender Cristian Calderon chipped home the rebound at the business end of a free kick in the 64th minute.

The spirited Club Amerca supporters located in the south end zone released a blinding smoke screen in the 87th minute that covered the pitch in a yellow haze. Club America midfielder Brian Rodriguez closed out the scoring in stoppage time.

Locked in a scoreless game late in the third period, the B’s got three late goals to beat the Predators, 3-0, on the strength of Linus Ullmark’s 32-save shutout.

The win allowed the B’s to open a four-point lead over the Florida Panthers for the Atlantic Division race.

Ullmark was excellent, but he didn’t steal the game. The B’s played a strong 200-foot game from start to finish and earned the win. There was little with which to quibble in this one.

“It was a great job,”  Ullmark told NESN. “We battled all 60 minutes. We knew it was going to be a hard game. They came in with a lot of confidence but we really went to work.”

The back-and-forth competition to be the Game 1 starter for the playoffs continued. Last week Jeremy Swayman beat the Panthers and then was huge in overtime to beat the Capitals in a shootout. But since the trade deadline, Ullmark is 4-2 with a .950 save percentage.

“Every game is a new challenge,” said Ullmark. “It doesn’t matter what you did last game or the game prior. It’s all about looking forward and keep performing and focus on the process and not get too carried away with results-based thinking. It’s been working well lately in that department. I’ve got a lot of confidence with the fellas and we feed off each other.”

On Saturday in Washington, the B’s came up with a huge four-minute penalty kill to survive overtime and get it to the shootout. On Tuesday, the PK (4-for-4) actually broke the deadlock.

Charlie Coyle broke the scoreless tie with 6:42 left in regulation with a beauty of a shorthanded goal that started with the B’s most important player in the game. With Mason Lohrei in the box for hooking, Ullmark jumped on a loose puck behind the net and wrapped it up the glass for Brad Marchand to chase down. Marchand held the puck at the left point to draw a Nashville checker to him and then fed Coyle for the clean break-in. Coyle picked his spot over the Juuse Saros’ glove and beat the netminder for his 24th of the year.

Then, after playing some dogged defense in their own zone, the B’s got an insurance goal with 2:42 left. David Pastrnak bulled the puck out of the defensive zone, took it in deep and fed Danton Heine at the side of the net. Heinen in turn hit a wide open Pavel Zacha for an open net goal.

The Preds then pulled Saros, but there was no panic in the Bruins and Pastrnak ended it with an empty netter.

“What a great play by Brad Marchand, our captain. Great goal by Charlie. After that, I thought we played with a lot of poise. I thought we were real clean coming out of our own end. I liked our second and third effort and obviously I liked the way we put the game away,” said coach Jim Montgomery.

The first period was an entertaining, up-and-down 20 minutes of scoreless hockey in which the B’s outshot the Preds, 11-6. Despite he back-and-forth nature of the action, it was also a well-checked contest.

Both teams had one power play apiece and both teams had glittering chances to take the lead in the first. The B’s best one came on an excellent penalty kill when Charlie McAvoy stood up at the blue line and created a breakaway for himself. Juuse Saros made the blocker save on him, but the breakaway would be a harbinger of things to come. Pastrnak also landed four shots on net in the first (seven in the game).

Ullmark also had to make a couple of big saves of his own. The first one was a nice skate on Luke Evangelista, who cut through the slot to get a good shooting angle. An even better stop came later in the period when Gus Nyquist connected with Ryan O’Reilly for a one-touch shot from the low slot that Ullmark kicked out.

The B’s suffered a big loss late in the period when Justin Brazeau had to leave the game when he was caught in an open ice hit by Luke Schenn, for which the Nashville defenseman was called for roughing. Brazeau, who’d been a revelation as a big puck-protecting winger with some scoring touch since being called up from Providence, left the ice holding his right arm close to his body and immediately went to the dressing room. There was no immediate word on his prognosis, but he did not return.

The game remained scoreless through two periods – miraculously so, from a Bruins perspective.

The Preds were given a power play at 14:19 when Jake DeBrusk nudged Kiefer Sherwood on a puck pursuit and was called for interference.

The B’s did a solid job of penalty killing again until late in the man advantage when it looked like Nashville had the sure 1-0 lead. As Ullmark got tangled up with Hampus Lindholm and a Predator at the right side of the net, Evangelista hit Norris Trophy candidate Roman Josi with a pass at the inside of the left circle and, with a wide open net staring at him, the Nashville captain clanged the near post.

Nashville put the B’s back on the power play at 17:22 when Cole Smith high-sticked Kevin Shattenkirk, but the B’s did nothing with the opportunity and the game went to the third deadlocked at 0-0.

The Preds (16-2-2 in their previous 20) seemingly had some semblance of momentum after outshooting the B’s, 12-6, in the second period. But, on this night, the Bruins made the plays down the stretch for the hard-earned win.

The move means all new hires, with some exceptions, will be subject to individual approval starting Wednesday by the state’s budget office based on time-sensitivity and importance of positions, according to the Healey administration.

Tax collections in Massachusetts have consistently come in below expectations more than half way through fiscal year 2024, putting a strain on Beacon Hill budget writers who are also contending with a nearly $1 billion a year tab for emergency shelters that has prompted top Democrats to warn of further challenges.

Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz said officials are not putting in place a “hiring freeze” but rather implementing “hiring controls within the executive branch for the remainder of the fiscal year as one tool at our disposal to responsibly manage spending over the next three months.”

“These hiring controls, while temporary, will help ensure that the administration can balance the budget at the end of the year and preserve critical funding for core programs and services,” Gorzkowicz said in a statement Tuesday night.

The Boston Globe first reported the move, though it described it as a freeze.

It was not immediately clear how far-reaching the administration planned to go with their more stringent hiring protocols. But the state’s budget office said certain positions like direct care and public safety personnel will be exempt.

Seasonal positions, those that have to be filed due to a court order or settlement, returns from leave, and offers of employment made before April 3 “will also proceed,” according to the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

Months of below benchmark revenues led Healey in January to lower tax expectations by $1 billion for this fiscal year and slash $375 million from the state budget. The decision to tighten up hiring in state government signals another escalation in the cost saving mindset that has taken hold on Beacon Hill this year.

Revenue figures for March are scheduled to be released Wednesday and could offer more insight into why Healey made the decision to pause hiring. Fourth quarter revenues carry “significant risk” to budgeted revenues, state budget officials said.

Healey is not considering further unilateral cuts to the fiscal year 2024 budget, according to the state’s budget office.

The former U.S. president’s lawsuit, which was filed on March 24 in Florida state court, follows a complaint filed in February by those co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss. Their lawsuit sought to prevent Trump from taking steps the two said would sharply reduce their combined 8.6% stake in Trump Media. The pair filed their lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Trump’s lawsuit claims that Litinsky and Moss, who were both contestants on Trump’s reality-TV show “The Apprentice,” mishandled an attempt to take Trump Media public several years ago, allegedly putting the whole project “on ice” for more than a year and a half.

But it also targets the pair over their Delaware suit against Trump, saying that it was one of several attempts they made to block Trump Media’s ultimately successful plan to go public. Trump Media accomplished that goal by merging with a publicly traded shell company called Digital World Acquisition in March.

Trump Media shares have fluctuated wildly since its stock market debut. On Tuesday, the stock closed at $51.60, up 6%, valuing the entire company at $5.9 billion.

“Today we mark a long-overdue new chapter in Boston’s growth — grounded in affordability, resiliency, and equity,” said Wu. “This ordinance is the biggest step Boston has taken in 70 years to finally begin untangling a system of development rooted in an outdated ideology that left scars in our communities.”

The ordinance, which was filed by the mayor in January and passed by the City Council last Wednesday, would create a Planning Department, operational as of July 1.

Under the ordinance, the department will “will house planning, zoning, development review, urban design, and real estate staff” and is included in the city budget, the city said in a release. It also includes the transfer of support staff from the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA).

The purpose of the department, the city said, is codified as planning for development, use of public land, predictable zoning codes, development processes and urban design standards.

The measure was contentious during debate in the City Council, which will have budgetary oversight of the department. Critics have noted it falls short of the Wu’s initial plans to abolish the BPDA. Department staff will support the BPDA, which will remain the city’s Planning Board, on development and public land projects and planning and zoning initiatives, according to the city.

The city release cited other ongoing proposals to transform Boston’s planning and development, including a home rule petition to end urban renewal and citywide zoning reform.

The new department will be led by Chief of Planning Arthur Jemison, who said the move is a step to “truly transform planning and development in Boston and ensure we are speaking to residents with one voice as the City of Boston.”

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century rocked the island during the morning rush Wednesday, damaging buildings and creating a tsunami that washed ashore on southern Japanese islands. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, and the tsunami threat largely passed about two hours later.

A five-story building in the lightly populated southeastern coastal city of Hualien near the epicenter appeared heavily damaged, collapsing its first floor and leaving the rest leaning at a 45-degree angle. In the capital, tiles fell from older buildings and within some newer office complexes, while debris fell from some building sites. Schools evacuated their students to sports fields, equipping them with yellow safety helmets. Some also covered themselves with textbooks to guard against falling objects as aftershocks continued.

Train service was suspended across the island of 23 million people, as was subway service in Taipei, where a newly constructed above-ground line partially separated. The national legislature, a converted school built before World War II, also had damage to walls and ceilings.

Traffic along the east coast was at a virtual standstill, with landslides and falling debris hitting tunnels and highways in the mountainous region. Those caused damage to vehicles, though it wasn’t clear if anyone was hurt.

Despite the quake striking at the height of the morning rush hour just before 8 a.m., the initial panic faded quickly on the island that is regularly rocked by temblors and prepares for them with drills at schools and notices issued via public media and mobile phone.

Still, the earthquake was strong enough to scare people who are used to such shaking.

“Earthquakes are a common occurrence, and I’ve grown accustomed to them. But today was the first time I was scared to tears by an earthquake,” Taipei resident Hsien-hsuen Keng said. ”I was awakened by the earthquake. I had never felt such intense shaking before.”

She said her fifth-floor apartment shook so hard that “apart from earthquake drills in elementary school, this was the first time I had experienced such a situation.”

There was still no word on casualties from the epicenter near the city of Hualien, where a deadly quake in 2018 collapsed a historic hotel and other buildings. Taiwan’s worst quake in recent years struck on Sept. 21, 1999, with a magnitude of 7.7, causing 2,400 deaths, injuring around 100,000 and destroying thousands of buildings.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a tsunami wave of 30 centimeters (about 1 feet) was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the quake struck. Smaller waves were measured in Ishigaki and Miyako islands. Japan sent military aircraft to gather information about the impact around the Okinawa region.

Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.4. It struck about 18 kilometers south-southwest of Hualien and was about 35 kilometers (21 miles) deep. Multiple aftershocks followed, and the USGS said one of the subsequent quakes was 6.5 magnitude and 11.8 kilometers (7 miles) deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more surface damage.

The earthquake was felt in Shanghai and several provinces along China’s southeastern coast, according to Chinese media. China and Taiwan are about 160 kilometers (100 miles) apart. China issued no tsunami warnings for the Chinese mainland.

Residents of China’s Fujian province reported violent shaking, according to Jimu News, an online outlet. One man told Jimu that the shaking awakened him and lasted about a minute.

In the Philippines, residents along the northern coast were told to evacuate to higher ground, but no major tsunami was reported about three hours after the quake.

Villagers in the provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte and Isabela were asked not to return to their homes until the tsunami alert was lifted, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Teresito Bacolcol said.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said there has been no report of injury or damage in Japan. He urged the residents in the Okinawa region to stay on high ground until all tsunami advisories are lifted. He cautioned the people against disinformation and urged to stay calm and assist others.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat to Hawaii or the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. About three hours after the earthquake, it said the threat had largely passed for all areas with waves being reported only in Taiwan and southern Japan.

Taiwan lies along the Pacific ”“Ring of Fire,” the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquake’s occur.

___

Associated Press journalists Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, Lorian Belanger in Bangkok. Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, and Simina Mistreanu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

Hanover man Graham Abraham has been arrested and charged in connection with calling up the Boston hospital and making a bomb threat.

A Tufts Medical staff member on Feb. 2 reported to Tufts public safety officers that a former patient, later identified as Abraham, called the hospital and made racist remarks along with complaints regarding his experience.

Then about 30 minutes later, another staff member took a call from Abraham and reported that Abraham said, “Everybody is going to die.”

Officers reportedly reviewed the audio from the recorded phone line, and heard Abraham make threats and racist slurs such as: “All (expletive) in your (expletive) vomit hospital must die. (Inaudible) ready to bomb and blow up your hospital. Got guns and knives kill all (expletive). All (expletive) must die. (Expletive) roaches and scum of the earth. All (expletive) must be slaughtered and killed.”

Abraham reportedly made numerous calls to Tufts between Jan. 15 and Feb. 2, all with similar threats.

Police departments, including Transit and Amtrak police, are familiar with Abraham and his frequent calls. Amtrak received 78 calls from Abraham in January, including disturbing statements and bomb threats. Amtrak police has issued a trespass order and banned Abraham from all Amtrak facilities.

Abraham has also been flagged by the ATF and cannot legally purchase a firearm.

“We must take all forms of threats seriously,” Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “The challenge to law enforcement is finding a balance between a person’s mental health needs and the public’s right to be safe and secure in all settings.

“This defendant has made numerous threats and disturbing statements to individuals and institutions that have helped or tried to help him in some way,” Hayden added. “We’re moving forward with criminal action here because it is clearly necessary to prevent potential public harm.”

Abraham has been charged with bomb/hijack threat with serious public alarm.

Judge Mark Summerville ordered Abraham held on $5,000 bail, and to stay away from Tufts Medical Center. Mental health services for Abraham were recommended after an evaluation by a court clinician.

Abraham is also facing charges of threat to commit a crime, and assault and disorderly conduct in BMC Central in relation to two separate incidents. He’s due back in court for all three cases on April 3.

The Biden-Harris campaign released their 30-second ad — titled “Hope” — early Tuesday morning, slamming the former president over his stance on abortion and his role in the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“In 2016, Donald Trump ran to overturn Roe v. Wade. Now, in 2024, he’s running to pass a national ban on a woman’s right to choose. I’m running to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again. So women have a federal guarantee to the right to choose. Donald Trump doesn’t trust women. I do,” Biden says in his short ad, following a clip of Trump saying he is “proud” to have ended the nearly 50-year-old law.

Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign, meanwhile turned its attention to immigration, taking a full minute to showcase a series of violent crime victims allegedly harmed by a so-called illegal immigrant.

“Stop Biden’s border bloodbath,” the ad reads before a series of news clips, each describing a crime allegedly committed by a migrant. “Stop Biden’s border bloodbath,” it reads again.

Michiganders have felt the tragic consequences of Biden's Border Bloodbath.

President Trump will end it on Day One. pic.twitter.com/KHilsUnrz1

— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) April 2, 2024

Both campaigns hammered home their points with later statements.

Trump’s team shared a lengthy list of crime victims along with a short statement from the former president. Biden, the campaign said, “has launched an invasion of our country — resettling dangerous illegal aliens from all over the world into American communities to prey on our people and endanger our citizens.”

“Under Biden, we now have a new category of crime, it’s called Migrant Crime,” Trump said.

Biden’s campaign held a press call Tuesday afternoon to highlight a court ruling out of Florida which will allow a six-week abortion ban to go into effect next month. Trump, the Biden campaign said, is of the same mind.

“Make no mistake, Donald Trump will do everything in his power to try and enact a national abortion ban if he’s reelected. In the last few months alone, Trump has doubled down on his support for a national abortion ban – and his allies have plans for him to do it with or without the help of Congress,” Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said.

Biden leads former President Donald Trump by just two points — 44% to 42% — according to a Morning Consult poll of more than 6,000 registered voters released Tuesday, but only if they’re the only candidates on the ballot.

“The presumptive Republican nominee has rarely led Biden since the Super Tuesday primary contests, compared with consistent advantages he enjoyed throughout January and February. However, the race remains incredibly close, with 8% of voters threatening to vote third party and 5% undecided,” pollsters wrote.

Biden, according to the poll, is more popular than Trump for the first time since the start of the year, with the 46th President’s net favorability 6 points into the negative and the 45th President 8 points under water.

“This edge comes as Biden’s advantage over Trump on net buzz — the share of voters who heard something positive about each candidate minus the share who heard something negative — ticked up to 21 points, which is the largest margin since mid-November,” pollsters wrote.

The survey also shows that Republicans, as a whole, do better among those surveyed when it comes to the economy, national security, and immigration, while Democrats outperform regarding health care, entitlement programs, climate change, reproductive rights and abortion. The economy is top of mind among surveyed voters, according to pollsters.

“The economy remains voters’ top issue for the 2024 elections. And though the share who said it’s ‘very important’ in deciding their vote dropped during much of 2023, the economy’s salience has ticked back up in recent months,” they wrote.

The slight edge shown for the incumbent president in Tuesday’s poll matches a Quinnipiac University survey of 1,407 registered voters released last week, which shows Biden up by 3 points. That’s in line with polls put out by the university in February.

However, the same Quinnipiac poll once again showed that if voters are offered the chance to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein or independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, they pull enough of the vote to potentially give Trump the edge.

“Way too close to call on the head-to-head and even closer when third party candidates are counted. The backstretch is months away and this is about as close as it can get,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said with the release of that poll.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The estate of George Carlin has agreed to a settlement with the media company it sued over a fake hourlong comedy special that purportedly used artificial intelligence to recreate the late standup comic’s style and material.

In the settlement agreement filed with a federal court Monday, and a proposed order from both sides that awaits approval from a judge, the podcast outlet Dudesy agrees to permanently take down the special and to refrain from using Carlin’s image voice or likeness in the future without the express written approval of the estate.

The settlement meets the central demands laid out by the Carlin estate in the lawsuit filed on Jan. 25.

“I am grateful that the defendants acted responsibly by swiftly removing the video they made,” Carlin’s daughter Kelly Carlin said in a statement. “While it is a shame that this happened at all, I hope this case serves as a warning about the dangers posed by AI technologies and the need for appropriate safeguards not just for artists and creatives, but every human on earth.”

George Carlin, among the most influential standup comedians of the 20th century, died in 2008.

In the audio special, titled “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,” a synthesis of the comic delivers commentary on current events. A companion Dudesy podcast episode with hosts Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen —- the company and the two men are the defendants in the lawsuit — was released with the men playing clips and commenting on them.

Messages seeking comment from Kultgen and Sasso were not immediately returned.

At the beginning of the special posted on YouTube on Jan. 9, a voiceover identifying itself as the AI engine used by Dudesy says it listened to the comic’s 50 years of material and “did my best to imitate his voice, cadence and attitude as well as the subject matter I think would have interested him today.”

The plaintiffs say if that was in fact how it was created — and some listeners have doubted its stated origins — it meant Carlin’s copyright was violated.

The lawsuit was among the first in what is likely to be an increasing number of major legal moves made to fight the regenerated use of celebrity images and likenesses.

Carlin estate lawyer Joshua Schiller of the firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP in a statement calls the settlement “a blueprint for resolving similar disputes going forward where an artist or public figure has their rights infringed by AI technology. Our goal was to resolve this case expeditiously and have the offending videos removed from the internet so that we could preserve Mr. Carlin’s legacy and shine a light on the reputational and intellectual property threat caused by this emerging technology.”

The AI issue was a major sticking point in the resolution of last year’s Hollywood writers and actors strikes.

The massive bond bill, according to testimony heard by the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets on Tuesday, would allow for the creation of 40,000 new homes and the rehabilitation of 12,000 more.

Secretary of Housing Ed Augustus told the committee that solving the state’s 200,000-residence shortfall will require a “Herculean” level of effort, but that the governor’s bond bill takes huge stride in that direction.

“The Affordable Homes Act will have a significant impact on the future of housing across the Commonwealth,” Augustus said. “Every dollar in this bill supports families, seniors and renters struggling to access affordable housing. Every dollar prioritizes our state’s climate and decarbonization goals. Every dollar will help lift us out of our housing crisis.”

First offered by Gov. Maura Healey last October, the bill was previously heard by the Joint Committee on Housing and reported out favorably.

According to the governor’s office, the bonding bill is a “big, bold comprehensive package of spending and policy actions aimed at striking at the root causes of housing unaffordability while making progress on the state’s climate goals.”

The bill offers $1.6 billion to support repairs, rehabs, and modernization at the state’s 43,000 public housing units, including $150 million to decarbonize the public housing stock.

It would send $800 million into an Affordable Housing Trust Fund, $425 million into a Housing Stabilization and Investment Fund, $200 million into a Housing Innovations Fund, $100 million into a Mixed-Income Housing Fund, $70 million toward a Facilities Consolidation Fund, and a further $50 million to a Momentum Fund.

An additional $275 million would be invested in Sustainable and Green Housing Initiatives, and $200 million in the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program.

The bill also comes with “28 substantive policy changes or initiatives, three executive orders and two targeted tax credits,” according to Healey’s office.

“This legislation is an economic winner for our state. It’s an economic necessity for our residents, our communities, and our businesses. The bottom line is: we can’t wait, we have to act with urgency and at scale. Our residents, our communities and our employers are depending on it,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll told the committee.

Speaking at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce event in February, the governor said the state is short of housing stock by about 200,000 units. Healey has said that shortfall is “the biggest challenge we face” and that solving it is “our highest priority as an administration.”

UMass Donahue Institute economic analysis of the bill estimates it will generate nearly 30,000 jobs, $25 billion in economic impact, and $800 million in tax revenue over the next 5 years.

Despite the undisputed need for more houses in the Bay State, not everyone is completely on board with the plan as written.

Gerard Frechette, vice-chair for the City of Lowell’s Planning Board, told the committee that communities like his would suffer under some of the changes proposed.

“The overall goals are admirable and worthy of consideration,” he said, but a plan to lower the square footage requirement to turn a single-family home into a multi-family dwelling would “have a detrimental effect on various areas” of Lowell.

“I ask that you reconsider the language,” of the relevant section, Frechette told the committee.

“This wording will most likely encourage the conversion of some of the most affordable single-family homes for homeownership into investor owned two-family homes in many of the neighborhoods in the city,” he said. “Already, 58% of our housing stock is rental stock.”

Virginia Crocker Timmins, vice chair of the Chelmsford Select Board, expressed similar concerns for her town if that rule stands.

“It not only obliviates single-family housing zoning throughout the state, but it completely usurps the rights of each municipality to set criteria for this type of usage that’s tailored to that municipality,” she said.

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance called the bill “counterproductive” and questioned a provision allowing cities and towns to set local option real estate tax rates between 0.5% and 2% for homes sold at or more than $1 million.

“Governor Healey is 100% off the mark on this proposal. This bill will not bring down the cost of housing in our state and will only exacerbate the decline in economic competitiveness we’ve seen in the last several years which is causing a massive flood of people and wealth out of our state,” the group’s spokesman said in a statement.

The committee took no action on the bill on Tuesday.

A plan to free up about 43 acres of land along the river to build an arena and park has prompted pushback from officials in Boston, including Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration, who say they have been left out of conversations around a stadium that could draw thousands to games or large events.

The proposal has been cast as potential boon for Everett, with Mayor Carlo DeMaria arguing the city could see millions returned to its coffers if a private development group revamps an outdated powerplant that sits on the site now.

As state lawmakers take another shot at reviewing a bill from Sen. Sal DiDomenico that would open up a pathway to developing the soccer stadium, Boston Chief of Planning Arthur Jemison said the plan does not include “significant parking” at the stadium.

Jemison said there is not enough information for the City of Boston to take a stance on the proposal but suggested Charlestown and surrounding neighborhoods “will bear the brunt” of the transportation impacts as the MBTA’s Sullivan Square stop is the nearest public transit option.

“The project would also rely on the Alford Street Bridge as a pedestrian connection to Sullivan Square, which is currently not safe as a major pedestrian thoroughfare. Last December, a pedestrian was killed at the intersection of Dexter and Alford (Streets),” Jemison said at a hearing before the Legislature’s Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee.

DeDomenico’s bill would remove the land at 173 Alford Street from a designation that restricts its use to commercial fishing, shipping, or other vessel-related activities and allow a developer to convert it into a “professional soccer stadium and a waterfront park.”

The measure has the backing of the Kraft Group and the New England Revolution, a professional soccer team owned by Kraft that could move to the future stadium from its spot at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

The location the Kraft Group is eyeing currently features a rundown power plant that DeMaria said can only be cleaned up with the financial and political power of a private development firm.

“They can get it done. They (can) get it cleaned up and build something that’s going to be beautiful,” he said. “There’s no parking spaces. I told them, if we go forward, there’ll be no parking there. We’re going to rely on public transit. We’re going to build out the transportation system.”

Everett is expected to lose out on $55 million in tax revenue between fiscal year 2021 and 2026 “due to the loss of value from this parcel,” DeMaria said. The city has already lost $28 million since fiscal year 2020, he said.

“We need this legislation to help pull Everett back from the harm this loss of revenue is causing our community,” he said.

Traffic concerns and the ability for elected officials and the public from Boston to participate in public meetings on the matter were top of mind for some.

Boston City Councilor Sharon Durkan, who represents the West End Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway, and Mission Hill, said it would “be a nightmare for traffic” if TD Garden and the proposed stadium had events at the same time.

“Because I represent Fenway Park and because I represent TD Garden. I know that people are often willing to take the ticket and take resident parking if … the ticket is less than parking cost,” Durkan said.

New England Revolution President Brian Bilello said he expects the majority of fans would use public transportation “as they do with most urban stadiums, including new options for getting to a destination via water transit.”

“We’re trying to get the stadium and our club to public transportation, and what we hear from most of our fans is they want to have public access to the stadium. They want to have public transportation. So for us, public transportation is the entire reason why we want to be up in Everett and Greater Boston,” he said.

DiDomenico, a Democrat from Everett, successfully added language to a multi-billion spending bill in the fall that would have cleared the land for development. But it was ultimately cut from the final version after House Democrats said they had many unanswered questions.

Rep. Jerry Perisella, who co-chairs the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee, said he believes the proposal has a chance to move forward this time around.

“I do think that there is some compelling arguments about what would happen to this site otherwise if we don’t allow a stadium to be built,” he said. “There are a lot of environmental issues related to that site.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA wants to come up with an out-of-this-world way to keep track of time, putting the moon on its own souped-up clock.

It’s not quite a time zone like those on Earth, but an entire frame of time reference for the moon. Because there’s less gravity on the moon, time there moves a tad quicker — 58.7 microseconds every day — compared to Earth. So the White House Tuesday instructed NASA and other U.S agencies to work with international agencies to come up with a new moon-centric time reference system.

“An atomic clock on the moon will tick at a different rate than a clock on Earth,” said Kevin Coggins, NASA’s top communications and navigation official. “It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the moon or Mars that each one gets its own heartbeat.”

So everything on the moon will operate on the speeded-up moon time, Coggins said.

The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon they wore watches, but timing wasn’t as precise and critical as it now with GPS, satellites and intricate computer and communications systems, he said. Those microseconds matter when high tech systems interact, he said.

Last year, the European Space Agency said Earth needs to come up with a unified time for the moon, where a day lasts 29.5 Earth days.

The International Space Station, being in low Earth orbit, will continue to use coordinated universal time or UTC. But just where the new space time kicks in is something that NASA has to figure out. Even Earth’s time speeds up and slows down, requiring leap seconds.

Unlike on Earth, the moon will not have daylight saving time, Coggins said.

The White House wants NASA to come up with a preliminary idea by the end of the year and have a final plan by the end of 2026.

NASA is aiming to send astronauts around the moon in September 2025 and land people there a year later.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Every obituary and remembrance will tell you about a resumé that was nearly unparalleled, especially in the baseball department. His tenures as president of the Orioles and president and CEO of the Padres were transformational, highlighted by the construction of Baltimore’s Camden Yards, and San Diego’s Petco Park.

Together with principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner, Lucchino ushered in a new golden age of Boston baseball: the Sox reversed the ‘Curse of the Bambino’ in 2004, one of seven postseason runs and the first of a trio of championships (2007, 2013). He then spearheaded the purchase of their Triple-A club, which he moved from Pawtucket, R.I., to a beautiful, award-winning new home in Worcester, breathing new life into the ‘Heart of the Commonwealth.’

As Commissioner Rob Manfred summed it up, he was “one of the most accomplished executives that our industry has ever had.”

You will read time and time again about this visionary, a champion of this game the likes of which it may never be blessed with again. Lucchino was passionate about putting MLB on the world stage, helping facilitate regular-season games in Mexico (‘96 Padres), Hawaii (‘97 Padres) and Japan (‘08 Sox). He had a keen eye for talent, including bringing Theo Epstein to Boston as the youngest general manager in MLB history.

In an era in which many teams sought to construct modern ballparks, Lucchino, a history major at Princeton, was a staunch proponent of retro designs. He took care to incorporate traditional ballpark elements into each new venue, and spearheaded the preservation of Fenway Park. When current ownership took over the Sox in 2002 and his longtime right-hand man, Dr. Charles Steinberg, asked if Boston was about to get a new ballpark, the new president replied, “You preserve the Mona Lisa!”

Between May 2003 and April 2013, the not-new, but improved Fenway set a Major League record with 820 consecutive home sellouts.

About a decade later, Lucchino proved once again how much he valued Fenway when the Red Sox moved into their new spring training complex in Fort Myers. He’d overseen the design of JetBlue Park, including its near-exact replicas of the Green Monster and manual scoreboard.

He’s the only person in history with a Super Bowl ring (Washington Redskins), a World Series ring – let alone five – and an NCAA Final Four watch (he played varsity basketball at Princeton). He was also the first person to refer to the Yankees as the “Evil Empire.”

He was a force, a titan, argumentative, exacting, stubborn, someone who strove for and demanded excellence. He was also kind, a father figure to many, and immensely generous, and philanthropic. He co-founded the Orioles Foundation, Padres Foundation and Red Sox Foundation, and served as the chairman of the Jimmy Fund from 2016 until his passing. While beating three different types of cancer between 1985 and 2019, he worked tirelessly in every way he could to make baseball better for fans, because at heart, he was one of them.

Somehow, this is all an understatement for a man who should’ve been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame long ago.

So, I’d also like to share a little bit about the Larry Lucchino I had the honor of getting to know.

We met for the first time almost a decade ago, before I began working in sports. My family was attending a Fenway concert as guests of a friend, and when we arrived, we were surprised to find out that we’d be sitting in one of the suites. As we walked, I recall telling my father that we were probably getting to do this because no one important needed the space, since the team wasn’t playing.

Of course, it was Larry who opened the door.

To someone who’d grown up just down the street before and while he transformed the Red Sox, he was a rock star in his own right.

“It’s you,” I said. Then, realizing that I sounded very lame, I managed to add, “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Lucchino. I’m such a big fan.”

“Call me Larry,” he said with a smile. “So, you like baseball?”

Just like that, I found myself talking about baseball, music, and Mexican food with the great Larry Lucchino.

Two years later, we met again, under even more unexpected circumstances. A friend who worked for the team offered to give me a ride home from a dinner in Chestnut Hill, but said they had to make a quick stop to drop off a gift the Sox had for Derek Jeter, of all people. When we pulled into the driveway of this beautiful house, they insisted I be the one to ring the doorbell.

Once again, Larry opened the door.

“Hello,” he said, looking equal parts confused and amused by what was, unbeknownst to me, an ambush by our mutual friend.

“I’m so sorry to bother you so late,” I replied, utterly mortified to be showing up unannounced on what was clearly his doorstep. “We’re just here to drop off the Jeter gift.”

“You’ll probably appreciate my baseball room,” Larry said. He proceeded to give me a quick tour of a baseball fan’s equivalent to Disneyland. Then, he told me to open one of the doors near the foyer, and suddenly, I was standing in front of his 2004, 2007, and 2013 World Series trophies.

He got such a kick out of surprising baseball fans in such ways. In recent years, those trophies sat in his suite at Polar Park, and he delighted in watching fans gaze into the case.

Next week marks seven years since I wrote my first-ever story about the Red Sox. Someone forwarded it to Larry, and he responded with encouragement.

He was someone who still got newspapers delivered. More than once after I began reporting for the Herald, he called to discuss something I’d written, or texted to inform me that it had been too long since I’d been to a WooSox game. I hope I properly conveyed how much it all meant to me.

Larry Lucchino will live on in the historic details he thoughtfully included in his ballparks and in the countless lives he touched, including mine. Baseball won’t be the same without him, but it is infinitely better because of him.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden of unleashing a “bloodbath” at the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday, escalating his inflammatory rhetoric as he campaigned in two midwestern swing states likely to be critical to the outcome of the 2024 election.

Trump, who has accused migrants of “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to launch the largest domestic deportation operation in the nation’s history if he wins a second term, accused Biden of allowing a “bloodbath” that was “destroying the country.” In Michigan, he referred to immigrants in the U.S. illegally suspected of committing crimes as “animals,” using dehumanizing language that those who study extremism have warned increases the risk of violence.

“Under Crooked Joe Biden, every state is now a border state. Every town is now a border town because Joe Biden has brought the carnage and chaos and killing from all over world and dumped it straight into our backyards,” Trump said in Grand Rapids, where he stood flanked by law enforcement officers in uniform before a line of flags.

While violent crime is down, Trump and other Republicans have seized on several high-profile crimes alleged to have been committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally to attack Biden as border crossings have hit record highs. Polls suggest Trump has an advantage over Biden on issues as many prospective voters say they’re concerned about the impact of the crossings.

Trump continued to hammer the theme at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Tuesday evening as the state was holding its presidential primaries. Trump accused rogue nations of “pumping migrants across our wide open border,” and “sending prisoners, murders, drug dealers, mental patients, terrorists” — though there is no evidence any country is engaged in that kind of coordinated effort.

He also claimed that migrants would cost the country trillions of dollars in public benefits and cause Social Security and Medicare to “buckle and collapse.”

“If you want to help Joe Biden wheel granny off the cliff to fund government benefits for illegals, then vote for Crooked Joe Biden,” he said. “But when I am president, instead of throwing granny overboard, I will send Joe Biden’s illegal aliens back home.”

On Tuesday, the White House emphasized that immigration is a positive for the U.S. economy. They argued that recent gains in immigration have helped to boost employment and sustained growth as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to bring down inflation.

“We know immigrants strengthen our country and also strengthen our economy,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Tuesday’s briefing, noting that immigrants were the ones doing the “critical work” on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore when it collapsed after being struck by a ship.

Trump on Tuesday focused on the killing of Ruby Garcia, a Michigan woman who was found dead on the side of a Grand Rapids highway on March 22. Police say she was in a romantic relationship with the suspect, Brandon Ortiz-Vite. He told police he shot her multiple times during an argument before dropping her body on the side of the road and driving off in her red Mazda.

Trump incorrectly referred to the 25-year-old Garcia as a 17-year-old.

Authorities say Ortiz-Vite is a citizen of Mexico and had previously been deported following a drunken driving arrest. He does not have an attorney listed in court records.

Trump in his remarks said that he had spoken to some of her family. Garcia’s sister, Mavi, however, disputed his account, telling FOX 17 that they had not. “No, he did not speak with us,” the outlet said she told them in a text message, declining to comment further.

She also pleaded on Facebook last week for reporters to stop politicizing her sister’s story, and on Tuesday asked for privacy, saying she only wanted “justice to be served” and to “be left alone.”

Trump also again mentioned the killing of Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia. A Venezuelan man whom officials say entered the U.S. illegally has been charged. Riley’s family attended Trump’s rally in Georgia last month and met with him backstage.

Trump referred to the suspect in Riley’s death as an “illegal alien animal.”

“The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals,’” he said.

FBI statistics show overall violent crime dropped again in the U.S. last year, continuing a downward trend after a pandemic-era spike. In Michigan, violent crime hit a three-year low in 2022, according to the most recent available data. Crime in Michigan’s largest city, Detroit, is also down, with the fewest homicides last year since 1966.

Top Republicans from across Michigan had packed into a conference room in downtown Grand Rapids to hear Trump speak in a county he won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020. Outside the event center, over 100 supporters stood in the cold rain to line the street where Trump’s motorcade was expected to pass.

At a nearby park, a small group advocating for immigration reform gathered to hold a moment of silence for Garcia while holding signs that read “No human being is illegal” and “Michigan welcomes immigrants.”

In Green Bay, some supporters braved snowfall for three hours outside to enter the venue.

“Tomorrow, Donald Trump is coming to Grand Rapids where he is expected to once again try to politicize a tragedy and sow hate and division to hide from his own record of failing Michiganders,” said Alyssa Bradley, the Biden campaign’s Michigan communications director.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said Monday that there is “a real problem on our southern border” and that it’s “really critical that Congress and the president solve the problem.”

“There was a solution on the table. It was actually the former president that encouraged Republicans to walk away from getting it done,” Whitmer said. “I don’t have a lot of tolerance for political points when it continues to endanger our economy and, to some extent, our people as we saw play out in Grand Rapids recently.”

Trump has been leaning into inflammatory rhetoric about the surge of migrants at the southern border. He has portrayed migrants as “poisoning the blood of the country,” questioned whether some should even be considered people, and claimed, without evidence, that countries have been emptying their prisons and mental asylums into the U.S.

He has also accused Biden and the Democrats of trying to “collapse the American system, nullify the will of the actual American voters and establish a new base of power that gives them control for generations.”

In Green Bay, Trump spoke beside an empty podium that read, “Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace.” Trump said it was meant for Biden, whose campaign has not committed to participating in debates.

Gomez Licon reported from Green Bay, Wis. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

The suit filed Friday in federal court in upstate New York argues that the April 8 lockdown violates inmates’ constitutional rights to practice their faiths by preventing them from taking part in a religiously significant event.

The plaintiffs are six men with varying religious backgrounds who are incarcerated at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Woodbourne. They include a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist and two practitioners of Santeria, as well as an atheist.

“A solar eclipse is a rare, natural phenomenon with great religious significance to many,” the complaint reads, noting that Bible passages describe an eclipse-like phenomenon during Jesus’ crucifixion while sacred Islamic works describes a similar event when the Prophet Muhammad’s son died.

The celestial event, which was last visible in the U.S. in 2017 and won’t be seen in the country again until 2044, “warrant gathering, celebration, worship, and prayer,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit states that one of the named plaintiffs, an atheist, received special permission last month to view the eclipse using glasses that would be provided by the state, but that was before the system-wide lockdown was issued.

Four of the other plaintiffs subsequently sought permission but were denied by officials who ruled the solar eclipse is not listed as a holy day for their religions, the lawsuit states. The sixth inmate said he never received a response.

Thomas Mailey, a corrections department spokesperson, said the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but takes all requests for religious accommodations under consideration. He said those related to viewing the eclipse are currently under review.

Daniel Martuscello III, the department’s acting commissioner, issued a memo March 11 announcing that all state correctional facilities will operate on a holiday schedule next Monday.

That means incarcerated individuals will remain in their housing units except for emergency situations from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., which are generally the normal hours for outdoor recreation in prisons, according to the lawsuit.

There will also be no visitation at nearly two dozen prisons in the path of totality next Monday, while visitation at other correctional facilities will end at 2 p.m.

Martuscello said the department will distribute solar eclipse safety glasses for staff and incarcerated individuals at prisons in the path of totality so they can view the eclipse from their assigned work location or housing units.

Communities in western and northern reaches of the state are expected to have the best viewing of the total eclipse, including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Lake Placid and Plattsburgh.

The total eclipse is expected to be seen in those parts of New York around 3:15 p.m. and last mere minutes as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, temporarily blocking the sun and turning day into night.

Wakefield and his wife Stacy both recently passed away after battling cancer, and the club plans to pay tribute to the pair as part of the pregame festivities as well. Schilling, who drew the ire of teammates and club officials after disclosing the Wakefields’ cancer diagnoses without their permission, was invited to participate but declined the offer in order to avoid taking any attention away from the Wakefields.

When news initially broke that Schilling had been invited, there was speculation that his presence might invite backlash from former teammates. But at least one member of the 2004 Red Sox says there wasn’t any kind of player pushback, with former outfielder Trot Nixon saying Tuesday that the whole situation was a shame but that Schilling’s presence wouldn’t have been a distraction, at least not to him.

“Everything that happened with that was very unfortunate and could’ve been worded differently, but hopefully there was no ill-will towards that,” said Nixon, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Polar Park for the WooSox home opener on Tuesday. “I still can’t believe when I say Timmy’s name that he’s not here and his wife Stacy, I believe Stacy really wanted the team to be together and considering everything they went through with that and Schill not being here, that’s his decision, it wasn’t anything that we asked for or anything like that.”

Nixon will be in attendance at Fenway Park next Tuesday, and for the former Red Sox outfielder the 2004 World Series championship still feels like it was just yesterday. The idea that the historic season’s 20th anniversary is coming up had never occurred to him, he said, until former teammate Derek Lowe mentioned it recently.

“It’s amazing how fast time flies,” said Nixon, who spent 10 of his 12 big league seasons in Boston. “I can’t believe it’s 20 years. It’s a reminder of how old I’m getting.”

Now 49, Nixon has settled into family life since his big league career ended after the 2008 season. These days he spends much of his time watching his sons Chase and Luke play Division 1 baseball at North Carolina State, but says he maintains a deep connection with the Red Sox and their fans, many of whom still stop him to bring up the 2004 championship to this day.

“When fans can recognize me now when I’m up here now, deep down it’s a tremendous appreciation,” Nixon said. “Even if I’m in North Carolina and I run across someone who is from Massachusetts and they stop me and quietly talk to me, I’m like wow, that’s amazing.”

In addition to throwing out the first pitch in Worcester on Tuesday and taking part in the Red Sox home opener next week, Nixon will also be inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame later this spring alongside former teammates Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon.

“It was a dream come true,” Nixon said of his time in Boston. “Not only to win a championship but to be able to play in an atmosphere like Fenway Park for the 10 years I did, it was the greatest thrill.”

NADI, Fiji Islands — “That’s Tom Hanks’ island, in ‘Cast Away’ the movie,” said the passenger sitting nearby, on the rear deck.

We’d seen him standing in line, a college kid in a red shirt, packing and repacking a knapsack while we waited to board the early morning ferry out of Viti Levu, largest of Fiji’s 330 islands. Leaning over the railing, he pointed at the horizon and a faint grey-green shape.

“Its real name is Modriki, and it’s small, just 100 acres,” he said. “But the beach is awesome. Tourists can’t wait to go.”

No surprise there. For most South Pacific travelers, nothing rivals Fiji’s sandy beaches, palm-shaded gardens, starry nights and Melanesian hospitality. We’d island-hopped over the years, tried a dozen different beach resorts, and liked most of them. Until 2019, when we joined a hiking group for a long look at the island’s mountains.

Finally last fall, with COVID in decline and Fiji open for tourists, we hopped a plane and headed back, this time for another look at what makes the country tick. Finding hotels wasn’t easy; Fiji is to Australians what Hawaii is to Americans. But we crossed our fingers, found five with rooms and struck gold at three places begging for a repeat visit.

The Fiji Orchid, a stately manor house near Viti Levu’s northwest shore and the former home of Hollywood actor Raymond Burr, star of the detective series “Perry Mason,” felt nothing like a hotel and everything like a home away from home. With an inviting living room and framed memorabilia, it beckoned at the end of a very long day.

Hotel Manager Deepika Dimlesh arranged an authentic Fijian dinner, and co-owner Gordon Leewie told tales of Fiji life in the early days. Though Nadi (NAN-dee) International Airport was 20 minutes away, our bure (BOO-ray, room, house), one of six in the lush tropical garden, was as quiet as a cemetery.

“We’ve had guests who stayed for weeks,” said Dimlesh at dinner. “One was even writing a book. But most are international travelers, businessmen flying through. We tell them, if you have a layover don’t try to sleep in the lounge. We’ll pick you up, you can use the pool, eat dinner or go to bed, and we’ll drive you back.”

Curious about Lautoka, Viti Levu’s second-largest town on the northwest shore, we hired tour guide and driver Kesho Goundar, who (like many Fijians) speaks Fijian, English and Hindi. Stopping at the town’s huge covered market, he bought a couple of kava “sticks,” the gifts we would need – for the chief – if we visited a village.

Then it was on to the Sabeto Mountains and the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. A popular park, it was founded by Burr, a worldwide orchid collector. Hundreds of orchids, planted along the trail to the summit, a huge head-like rock, are the highlight of a visit. And the adjacent forest — a tower of vines, shadowy branches and strange flowers — was a set waiting for a movie.

The next day we headed upcountry to Navala Village, the country’s last thatched village, driving past barnyards, gardens, sugar cane fields, villages, the occasional manufacturing plant and Methodist, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Catholic-oriented primary schools.

At first glance Navala looked empty, until guide Mark Navaroka came out to collect our $25 entrance fee and a kava stick for the chief.

Turning onto the Nausori Highland Road – not another car in sight – we lurched uphill over a rocky, pot-holed track for more than an hour, each hill steeper than the one before, until we rounded the top, a photographer’s delight. Finally, around the corner, we passed two hunters on horseback with rifles and dogs.

Moving to Viti Levu’s southwest corner, we checked into the Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa, a 35-acre landscaped property on Natadola Bay. And instead of salesmen in suits, the hotel was as busy as a country club on a holiday weekend. Dads and kids played volleyball; moms worked out at a fitness center. We spotted kids racing hermit crabs, and others learning Fijian words and Polynesian dances. Menus at the hotel’s several restaurants listed continental and some Fijian dishes, and our favorite, the lively Toba Bar & Grill, took our order in five minutes and served the food in 10.

Coaxed into trying the Jet Ski “experience,” we flew over the waves, riding tandem behind two watersports guides. But the skis were trumped by the hotel’s Coral Planting project, headed by marine scientists Lawaci Koroyawa and Luke Romatanababa. Joining them in the water, we learned how to plant healthy corals onto damaged reefs.

Most memorable was the river cruise with Singatoka River Safari. Wide and long, the river winds through an endless valley, weaving past rocky hills, farms and meadows. Children splashed in it and men scrubbed their horses, waving as we passed. Pastoral and peaceful, it was a nod to an older century.

The 35-mile-long trip ended at a village, with a tour, lunch at the community center and a kava ceremony — shared cups – with the chief and town fathers. Kava is calming, some say. Just more weak tea, say others.

How many villages are there, we wondered. “Hundreds, but that’s not all,” said the hotel’s desk clerk. Each indigenous Fijian family belongs to a village that owns the land its on. It’s like a clan, she explained. And only indigenous Fijians can own land. So add all the villages and their land and it’s nearly 90% of the country. “The government makes Fiji’s laws, but the villages rule themselves. That’s why they’re important.”

As our last week approached, we took the ferry to Lomani Island Resort – yes, an adults-only beach resort – on Malolo Lailai island, a single hour’s ferry ride to the mainland and Nadi International Airport. You can stay overnight and still make it to the airport on time.

But it wasn’t the beach that earned the gold star. It was the charming cottages, each with a private yard and plunge pool. The smiling waiters and creative, chef-designed meals, served at candle-lit tables. The “double-X” swimming pool and the water sports center.

“It’s peaceful here,” said Shelley White, the general manager, when we met at the cocktail hour. “And quiet. But with Nadi next door, we stay busy with weddings and anniversaries, and lately, even business retreats. We can order everything we need and get it delivered the next day,” she said.

“Still, we love to have visitors like you, people who know this place and like it,” she added, with a puckish smile. “Let me know the next time you travel. I might decide to come along.”

If you go

Fiji Airways flies from Los Angeles, with Fijian attendants and quality service, and includes dinner, breakfast and snacks. Departures leave just before midnight and arrive at 5:30 a.m. Fiji Airways also flies from San Francisco and Honolulu.

Air New Zealand flies from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu

American Airlines flies from Los Angeles and San Francisco

United Airlines flies from Houston

Delta Airlines flies from Los Angeles and Seattle

©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

This marks the fourth documented North Atlantic right whale death in U.S. waters this year, and the whale’s calf will likely not survive without its mother, officials said.

The New England Aquarium and Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute identified the whale as Catalog #1950, a female that was at least 35 years old. Her carcass was found 50 miles off the coast of Virginia on Saturday. Her calf was not seen in the vicinity of the carcass.

“NOAA Fisheries and our partners have towed the whale to shore for a necropsy,” NOAA Fisheries wrote in its North Atlantic right whale update.

“The whale carcass was scavenged by sharks; wind, weather, and distance from shore presented additional logistical challenges for the tow,” NOAA Fisheries added.

The whale was last seen healthy and with her calf on Feb. 16 off Amelia Island, Florida.

“The situation so far in 2024 for right whales highlights the fact that much more needs to be done to prevent the extinction of this species,” said Amy Knowlton, senior scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, who helped identify the whale.

“It is frustrating that solutions that could address these threats are not being implemented more immediately,” Knowlton added.

Scientists will conduct a thorough internal and external exam, and collect tissue samples to learn more about the whale’s death.

Catalog #1950 suffered three entanglements during her life, yet managed to breed and successfully raise five prior calves — which have all been seen in recent years.

“If she can avoid the double threats of vessel strikes and entanglements, a female right whale can calve throughout her long life, producing ten or more calves,” said Philip Hamilton, senior scientist in the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center.

“With the loss of Catalog #1950, her female lineage now rests with her three daughters, none of which have calved yet,” Hamilton added.

Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the two leading causes of serious injury and mortality to North Atlantic right whales, a critically endangered species with an estimated population of less than 360.

In January, a three-year-old female right whale entangled in fishing gear washed ashore dead on Martha’s Vineyard. Just a few weeks later, NOAA announced that a one-year-old female yearling found off Savannah, Georgia died of blunt force trauma, as evidenced by skull fractures consistent with a vessel strike. Then in early March, the eighth calf of 38-year-old right whale mother “Juno” washed up dead in Georgia after being seen with severe propeller wounds.

To reduce the risk of vessel strikes, NOAA has proposed changes to the existing vessel speed rule.

Meteorologists were warning that the powerful storm could spark power outages in parts of Massachusetts, as utility companies gear up for the early April nor’easter.

For the parts of Massachusetts where snow is predicted, the best chance for accumulating snowfall will be Wednesday night. The snow will be wet and dense, potentially leading to downed trees and power outages.

“The snow concerns will be for the higher elevations,” Bryce Williams, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald.

“The Worcester Hills and northern Massachusetts could see some plowable snow,” he added. “The highest elevations could get 6 to 8 inches of snow.”

The National Weather Service issued a “Winter Storm Watch” for northern Worcester and northern Middlesex counties, along with western Franklin and western Hampshire counties.

Heavy wet snow and sleet will be possible.

“Total snow and sleet accumulations of 2 to 4 inches, with up to 8 inches near the state border with New Hampshire,” NWS warned. “Winds could gust as high as 55 mph.

“Plan on slippery road conditions,” NWS added. “The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.”

Elsewhere in the Bay State, meteorologists are forecasting significant rainfall of 1.5 to 3 inches.

“Some rivers could see some minor flooding,” Williams said.

The strongest wind gusts are expected to occur from midday Wednesday to midday Thursday. Gusts in the 50 mph range are likely.

“Power outages are possible, especially where wet snow accumulates on power lines and trees,” Williams said.

National Grid and Eversource said they were preparing for the storm.

“National Grid is closely monitoring the weather forecast, and we have crews and personnel in place across Massachusetts ready to respond to any impacts this storm may bring,” said Tim Moore, VP of Electric Operations for New England. “We’ll be ready to restore service as quickly and safely as possible. If outages occur, our crews will work to restore the power systems as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Eversource also said the utility company was pre-positioning hundreds of crews and materials to respond to any storm damage.

Another threat from the nor’easter will be coastal flooding, especially around the time of the Thursday morning high tide on the eastern Massachusetts coast.

“There will be some nasty conditions, with 15 to 20 foot waves,” Williams said.

A “Coastal Flood Watch” will be in effect for the eastern Massachusetts coast, including Morrissey Boulevard in Boston.

Leading vacation rental company Airbnb is updating its Extenuating Circumstances Policy, including renaming it the Major Disruptive Events Policy “to better reflect its purpose.” This will provide greater flexibility for travelers who may need to cancel their reservations when unforeseen circumstances, such as natural disasters, extreme weather events and government-imposed travel restrictions, affect their ability to complete their stay.

Under this updated cancellation policy, guests can cancel reservations and receive refunds in cases of “foreseeable weather events,” such as hurricanes, that would result in another covered event occurring, such as large-scale utility outages. According to Travel + Leisure, the policy already applies to other “unexpected major events,” such as declared public health emergencies, including epidemics, but excluding COVID-19. This revised policy, which will go into effect on June 6, overrides individual hosts’ own cancellation policies.

This updated policy also applies to mid-trip cancellations, making it so that travelers can receive refunds for the unused portion of their stays in the event of a covered cancellation.

However, it’s important to note that Airbnb’s policy does not cover all unforeseen incidents, such as injuries, illnesses or government-imposed requirements, like jury duty or court appearances.

“The changes to this policy, including its new name, were made to create clarity for our guests and Hosts, and ensure it’s meeting the diverse needs of our global community,” Juniper Downs, Airbnb’s Head of Community Policy, said in a statement. “Our aim was to clearly explain when the policy applies to a reservation, and to deliver fair and consistent outcomes for our users. These updates also bring the policy in line with industry standards.”

The introduction of this revised policy aligns with Airbnb’s recent efforts to bolster travelers’ confidence in booking home-share stays. For example, earlier this month, it banned indoor security cameras in its rental homes worldwide due to privacy concerns, and, in 2022, instituted a permanent ban on parties, a move which was initially instituted temporarily during the COVID-19 crisis.

Last year, to crack down on fraudulent listings, the company introduced a “verified” status and badge for its rentals in an effort to reassure customers that the specified property does actually exists at the address indicated and that the host is reliable.

In 2022, Airbnb also updated its policies and platform to provide greater pricing transparency, displaying total costs, including fees, in user searches and altering its algorithm to rank listings with the best total prices higher in the results. At the same time, Airbnb provided “guidance” to hosts, encouraging them to set only “reasonable” checkout requests and requiring them to be displayed in the listing.

“Guests should not have to do unreasonable checkout tasks such as stripping the beds, doing the laundry, or vacuuming when leaving their Airbnb,” the company wrote in a statement at the time. “But we think it’s reasonable to ask guests to turn off the lights, throw food in the trash, and lock the doors — just like they would when leaving their own home.”

_______

©2024 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

And with him, so did an integral part of Red Sox history.

John Henry famously told the listeners of “Felger and Mazz” back in 2011 that “Larry Lucchino runs the Red Sox.”

During the time Lucchino “ran the Red Sox,” the team won the World Series three times. In 2004, 2007 and 2013. They also lost Game 7 of the ALCS twice  – on the road – by a combined score of 9-6.

They were “The Other Dynasty.”

Lucchino became Red Sox president and CEO on Nov. 15, 2001. In the 14 seasons that followed under his administration, the Red Sox finished over .500 11 times and made the postseason in 7 seasons.

The Red Sox were 1,247-1,021 (.549) on Lucchino’s watch. Lucchino’s Red Sox won 95 or more games six times. They also finished last three times. Swing big. Miss big. The current Red Sox have finished last in 3 of the past 4 seasons playing the smallest ball possible.

More importantly, Lucchino’s Red Sox tried to win every inning. Every game. Every series. Every season.

Lucchino saw the cash-cow potential in Fenway Park and realized how its milk and honey could be used to finance the most successful MLB franchise during the first two decades of the 21st century.

Not soccer teams. NASCAR teams. Hockey teams. Or the PGA Tour.

And fans rewarded that passion with five seasons of more than 3 million in attendance during Lucchino’s time with the Red Sox, in addition to monstrous ratings on NESN and WEEI. Lucchino was raised in Pittsburgh and attended Yale Law School. But he got it when it came to the Red Sox and the once-unbreakable emotional relationship the team shared with its fan base.

Now that passion, too, has died on both sides of the equation.

Lucchino more so than any other person in the front office changed the historic trajectory of the Red Sox. Dan Duquette came close. But he never got the chance to finish the job.

There was never any concern about salary limitations, luxury taxes, or balancing the books for the Fenway Sports Group.

Lucchino was an OG Jedi Master. He gave us the “Evil Empire” and then oversaw the Red Sox team that blew up the Death Star 20 years ago. Nothing in the Bronx has been the same since. It got so bad they tore the place down four years later.

“The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America,” Lucchino quipped after the Yankees outbid the Red Sox and others for Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras in December 2002.

That non-deal, much like the non-deal that almost brought Alex Rodriguez to the Red Sox, turned out to be a blessing.

Still, the Red Sox never quit trying to get better under Lucchino.

Lucchino was a “killer” in the most non-violent sense of the word. His impact on baseball was clear before he arrived in Boston as part of John Henry’s ownership cabal. While the aloof Henry and his squishy Hollywood pal Tom Werner had the cash, Lucchino delivered the brains and guts of the operation.

Henry said as much in a statement issued by the team above his name Tuesday.

Lucchino “engineered the ideal conditions for championships wherever his path led him, and especially in Boston,” Henry said.

“Yet, perhaps his most enduring legacy lies in the remarkable people he helped assemble at the Red Sox, all of whom are a testament to his training, wisdom, and mentorship. Many of them continue to shape the organization today, carrying forward the same vigor, vitality, and cherished sayings that were hallmarks of Larry’s personality. Larry was a formidable opponent in any arena,” Henry added. “I was lucky enough to have had him in my corner for 14 years and to have called him a close friend for even longer. He was truly irreplaceable.”

Lucchino was president of the Baltimore Orioles when that team built Camden Yards, the first of its kind inner-city ballpark that has been the template of nearly every new MLB park since. He brought Theo Epstein with him to San Diego from Baltimore, and then to Boston.

Lucchino knew that spending and winning went hand-in-hand. And Lucchino knew enough to know what he didn’t know. It was Lucchino who saw enough potential in Epstein to make him Red Sox general manager at age 28.

Theo tried to warn the masses that 2010 was going to be a “bridge year.” Soon he felt enough heat from his boss and lifetime mentor to walk it back. The 2010 Red Sox fell short of the postseason and finished 89-73.

2011 was also a “bridge year” given how many Red Sox fans wanted to leap off the Tobin into an endless metaphorical bucket of chicken and beer after it was over.

The wreckage of baseball’s “Greatest Team Ever” in 2011 wrought the Bobby Valentine Error in 2012.

And just when it seemed the Red Sox franchise had ended its “Dynasty,” the 2013 season delivered a poignant triumph that no one who experienced it will ever forget.

The Red Sox begin their celebration of 2004 before Fenway Park Opening Day on Tuesday. Given the team’s solid start on the West Coast, the game should be sold out by the time fans will be asked to find their seats ahead of the pre-game ceremonies.

Raffy Devers and the Men of Mystery had baseball’s lowest team ERA (1.26) after their first five games. They only walked one opposing batter, granted the Oakland A’s are no longer an official MLB team. The Red Sox also opened 5-0 against the baseball run line (think point spread).

The team will honor the late Tim and Stacy Wakefield before Tuesday’s opener.

And now, Lucchino, sadly, will also be remembered posthumously for his success with the Red Sox.

The end of an era, indeed. In so many ways.

Bill Speros (@RealOBF and @BillSperos) can be reached at bsperos1@gmail.com.

Legal Sea Foods opened its sixth restaurant at Logan Airport Tuesday as it attempts to corner the market on chowder lovers just landing in Boston. The spot accommodates nearly 200, has a 24-seat bar, and a flight board monitor inside the restaurant.

US job openings rise modestly to 8.8 million in February

U.S. job openings barely changed in February, staying at historically high levels in a sign that the American job market remains strong.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 8.76 million job vacancies in February, up modestly from 8.75 million in January and about what economists had forecast.

But the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed that layoffs ticked up to 1.7 million in February from 1.6 million in January, highest since March 2023.

Tesla sales tumble nearly 9%, most in 4 years

Tesla sales fell sharply last quarter as competition increased worldwide, electric vehicle sales growth slowed, and price cuts failed to lure more buyers.

The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that it delivered 386,810 vehicles worldwide from January through March, almost 9% below the 423,000 it sold in the same quarter of last year. It was the first year-over-year quarterly sales decline in nearly four years.

Despite the sales decline, Tesla was able to retake its global EV sales crown from China’s BYD.

Like many women of her generation, the unnamed Japanese American writer at the center of Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s bold, erotic “The Tree Doctor,” finds herself in midlife, squarely ensconced in the sandwich generation. She’s burdened with the double-whammy of childcare and tending to an elderly parent while holding down a job, in this case as an adjunct lecturer.

At novel’s start, Mockett’s protagonist has flown from her home in Hong Kong for what was supposed to be a brief trip to northern California to help her widowed mother, who has dementia and needs to be placed in long-term care.

Then, the pandemic hits. All nonessential travel is banned; Hong Kong has imposed a strict quarantine for travelers. The woman is stranded in her childhood home, remotely teaching a class on Japanese aesthetics and trying to console her two children and husband through video chats.

This could have been a novel solely about the unfair amount of work that disproportionately fell upon many women during the pandemic, the care-giving while also doing economic labor. But Mockett has something far more sly in mind. And it’s not about learning how to bake sourdough bread, like so many pandemic-era memes aimed at women.

As she cares for her mother’s long-neglected garden, the woman calls on a man at the local nursery — known as “The Tree Doctor” — and one thing leads to another, as the saying goes. A torrid, graphic, no-holds barred affair ensues.

The woman isn’t going to leave her husband or children. She’s not looking for a replacement mate. She’s intellectually fulfilled by discussing the intricacies of “The Tale of Genji” with her bright college students. No, she’s in it for the sex, for re-discovering what her body needs after decades of putting herself dead last on the checklist of things to do.

Mockett is the author of four books, including novel “Picking Bones from Ash” and two works of nonfiction. Her prose is as lush as the garden in the woman’s Carmel home, as Mockett weaves together discussions of flora, dissections of passages from “Genji” and the woman’s memories of childhood trips to Japan with her mother.

The title character remains an archetype, an antidote to the life of self-sacrifice that has been unhealthy for the woman. He may be a fantasy of sorts, but it’s also unrealistic to expect women, particularly mothers, to fulfill everyone else’s needs but their own. As the woman notes, “Someone once said that for every baby a woman has, that’s two books she doesn’t write.”

“Tree Doctor” is a book that says that kind of sacrifice takes its toll.

The Tree Doctor

By: Marie Mutsuki Mockett.

Publisher: Graywolf, 256 pages, $17.

©2024 StarTribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A number of private colleges — some considered elite and others middle-of-the-pack — have exceeded the $90,000 threshold for the first time this year as they set their annual costs for tuition, board, meals and other expenses. That means a wealthy family with three children could expect to shell out more than $1 million by the time their youngest child completes a four-year degree.

But the sticker price tells only part of the story. Many colleges with large endowments have become more focused in recent years on making college affordable for students who aren’t wealthy. Lower-income families may be required to pay just 10% of the advertised rate and, for some, attending a selective private college can turn out to be cheaper than a state institution.

“Ninety thousand dollars clearly is a lot of money, and it catches people’s attention, for sure,” said Phillip Levine, a professor of economics at Wellesley College. “But for most people, that is not how much they’re going to pay. The existence of a very generous financial aid system lowers that cost substantially.”

Wellesley is among the colleges where the costs for wealthy students will exceed $90,000 for the first time this fall, with an estimated price tag of $92,000. But the institution points out that nearly 60% of its students will receive financial aid, and the average amount of that aid is more than $62,000, reducing their costs by two-thirds.

But many prospective students this year are facing significant delays and anxiety in finding out how much aid they will be offered by colleges due to major problems with the rollout of a new U.S. Department of Education online form that was supposed to make applying for federal aid easier. Many colleges rely on information from the form for determining their own aid offers to students.

“The rollout has been pure chaos and an absolute disaster,” said Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert.

Kantrowitz said that if the significant drop in people applying for aid under the new system persists, it could result in lower enrollments and even force some institutions to close.

Some of the other colleges with sticker prices of more than $90,000 this year include the University of Southern California at $95,000, Harvey Mudd College in California at $93,000, the University of Pennsylvania at $92,000, Brown University in Rhode Island at $92,000, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire at $91,000, and Boston University at $90,000.

Harvard University in Cambridge, puts its cost of attendance this fall at up to $91,000.

Here’s an easy and delicious way to flavor pork tenderloin. It’s a sweet and sour sauce made with apricot jam and apple cider vinegar, that adds a tangy flavor and takes only 2 to 3 minutes to make.

I thought barley would be a nice side dish but didn’t want to spend a lot of time or another pot to cook it. So, using quick-cooking barley, I made the barley and green beans in the microwave oven. It’s easier, minimizes cleanup and turns out the same as if made on the stove.

HELPFUL HINTS:

Any type of green vegetable such as broccoli florets or snow peas can be used instead of green beans.

Look for quick-cooking barley in the supermarket.

Orange marmalade can be used instead of apricot jam.

COUNTDOWN:

Prepare all ingredients.

Microwave green beans and barley.

While they cook, make pork.

SHOPPING LIST:

To buy: 3/4 pound pork tenderloin, 1 jar apricot jam, 1 bottle apple cider vinegar, 1 can olive oil spray, 1 jar Dijon mustard, 1 container fat-free chicken broth, 1 box quick cooking barley and 1/2 pound green beans,

Staples: olive oil, salt and black peppercorns,

Sweet and Tangy Sauced Pork Tenderloin

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

• 1/4 cup apricot jam
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3/4 pound pork tenderloin
• Olive oil spay
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix apricot jam, apple cider vinegar and mustard together in a small bowl and set aside. Cut tenderloin into 1-inch slices and press with the back of a large spoon to about 1/2-inch thick. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and spray with olive oil spray. Add pork slices and saute 2 minutes turn over and saute 2 more minutes, A meat thermometer should read 145 degrees. Saute another minute or 2 if needed. Remove pork to two dinner plates and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add the sauce to skillet and stir until jam melts and sauce begins to thicken about 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon sauce over pork slices.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 290 calories (12 percent from fat), 4.0 g fat (1.2 g saturated, 1.5 g monounsaturated), 108 mg cholesterol, 36.2 g protein, 26.3 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber, 190 mg sodium.

Green Beans and Barley

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

• 1 cup fat-free, no-salt-added chicken broth
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking barley
• 1/2 pound green beans cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place chicken broth and quick cooking barley in a large microwave safe bowl. Cover the bowl with a plate or plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave and add the green beans. Cover with the plate and microwave 5 more minutes. Remove from the microwave and keep the cover on the bowl. While you make the pork. Add oil and salt and pepper to taste and serve with the pork.

Yield 2 servings,

Per serving: 256 calories (19 percent from fat), 5.3 g fat (0.8 g saturated, 2.3 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 8.0 g protein, 47.0 g carbohydrates, 10.9 g fiber, mg 29 sodium.

Stovetop method if preferred:

Bring broth to a boil in medium-size saucepan over high heat and add barley and green beans. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer 10 minutes, uncovered. Drain and add oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Yield 2 servings.

(Linda Gassenheimer is the author of over 30 cookbooks, including her newest, “The 12-Week Diabetes Cookbook.” Listen to Linda on www.WDNA.org and all major podcast sites. Email her at Linda@DinnerInMinutes.com.)

©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

Anamaria Marinca has a knack for playing characters you’d want in your corner during a crisis. The Romanian actress, who starred in Cristian Mungiu’s harrowing abortion thriller “4 Months, 3 weeks and 2 Days,” is the eye of the storm in Goran Stolevski’s “Housekeeping for Beginners,” a riveting domestic drama that finds her similarly raging against the machine.

No one smokes a cigarette with such quietly harried intensity as Marinca, and there is no forgetting her glittering stare, both of which Stolevski utilizes to great effect. In his third feature in as many years —this one selected as the North Macedonian Oscar entry for best international film — the Macedonian Australian filmmaker plunges us into the swirling eddy of merry but harrowing chaos among an unusual family. The film is a showcase for the skill and screen presence of the criminally underrated Marinca, who stars as Dita, a lesbian social worker trying to hold together her tribe by sheer force of will, coaxing and cajoling the system in order to knit together her queer found family.

There’s a deeply humanist core to Stolevski’s work, which varies in genre and tone, but always captures the bittersweet beauty of life. He made his feature debut with “You Won’t Be Alone,” a life-affirming fairy tale in which Marinca co-starred as a grotesquely disfigured witch. His sophomore feature, “Of an Age” is a queer romance about two young men who connect in a Melbourne beach town.

We enter “Housekeeping for Beginners” with a burst of joyous song, as Ali (Samson Selim), Vanesa (Mia Mustafa) and Mia (Dzada Selim) dance and sing around a living room. Their carefree fun is quickly juxtaposed with a burst of rage, in a doctor’s office, as Suada (Alina Serban), with Dita by her side, explodes at a bored, negligent doctor. She’s furious at him for ignoring her and other patients who look like her — Roma. With these two scenes, Stolevski establishes the film’s message and tone, weaving together childlike play and mischief with the crushing reality of racial and sexual inequality.

Stolevski, who wrote, directed and edited the film, delivers the relevant story details in snippets of dialogue and visual asides snatched out of the river of familial hubbub that is captured with a roaming handheld cinematography by Naum Doksevski. Dita and Suada are partners, and Suada’s kids, Vanesa and Mia, live with them in Dita’s home. Their gay roommate, Toni (Vladimir Tintor) had Ali over for a hookup, but he’s so much fun he becomes one of the stray queer kids they collect, which also includes a trio of young lesbians (Sara Klimoska, Rozafa Celaj and Ajse Useini) who seek refuge in this “safe house.”

Suada has cancer, and knowing that her prognosis is terminal, she demands that Dita become the mother of her girls, in her final, fierce act to secure their future. She also requests that Dita give them Toni’s last name so that they might escape the discrimination she faced as a Roma woman. The girls need legal guardians, and that is how a stressed lesbian and grumpy gay man find themselves married. To each other.

Within its restless, naturalistic aesthetic, Stolevski crafts complex and poignant images, contrasting the play-acting the couple is forced to do with their searing gazes. At a parent-teacher conference, condolences are delivered to Toni, but the camera rests on the bereaved Dita’s face, unable to openly grieve the loss of her longtime partner. Their courthouse wedding is also a study in ironic double-meaning, as Ali sits next to his lover Toni, but only as a witness. At their raucous, booze-soaked celebration at home later, Ali thanks Dita for the opportunity to sit in front of the marriage registrar with the man he loves.

There’s no preciousness or over-explication about the sociopolitical and economic issues that shape their reality and make up the fabric of their lives: how they move in the world, the risks they take, the dreams they have. It is a quotidian kind of oppression, rendered here as a series of irritating clerical hoops, though the consequences of not jumping through them could be deadly.

While the subject matter is sobering, there is a dry humor at play, coupled with real warmth. Dzada Selim steals the movie as the precocious Mia, and if Dita is the spine of the family, Ali is the heart, his ability to connect proving valuable when Vanesa’s teenage rebellions spiral out of control.

Stolevski’s scripts always bear a line that pierces at the heart of life itself, and “Housekeeping for Beginners” is no exception. “It doesn’t go away, the needing,” Dita promises Vanesa, “even when you get old. It’s a nasty business.” It’s a beautifully, brutally apt way to describe a family, and the human condition, perfectly, concisely expressed in the way only Stolevski can.

———

‘HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS’

(In Albanian, Macedonian and Romani with English subtitles)

4 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for sexual content, language throughout and some teen drinking)

Running time: 1:47

How to watch: In theaters Friday

———

©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Voters in four states weighed in Tuesday on their parties’ presidential nominees, a largely symbolic vote now that both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have locked up the Democratic and Republican nominations.

Biden and Trump easily won primaries in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin, adding to their delegate hauls for their party conventions this summer.

Their victories, while hardly surprising, nevertheless offer clues about enthusiasm among base voters for the upcoming 2020 rematch that has left a majority of Americans underwhelmed. Biden has faced opposition from activists encouraging Democrats to vote against him to send a message of disapproval for his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, and some Republican Trump critics are still voting for rivals who have dropped out.

“Uncommitted” in Rhode Island and Connecticut was getting a similar share of the Democratic vote as protest campaigns in Minnesota and Michigan, which got 19% and 13% respectively.

In particular, the tallies in Wisconsin, a pivotal November battleground, will give hints about the share of Republicans who still aren’t on board with Trump and how many Democrats are disillusioned with Biden. Trump campaigned Tuesday in Wisconsin and Michigan, two Midwest battlegrounds.

“Donald Trump is the first person I can remember who actually tried to keep all of the promises that he made during the campaign,” said Scott Lindemann, a 62-year-old contractor in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who voted for the former president in the GOP primary. “I was very impressed with that.”

In New York, 70-year-old Steve Wheatley, a registered Republican, said he wishes there were more candidates to choose from. He said he voted for Nikki Haley even though “she has no shot” because of the lack of options.

“We need younger candidates with fresh ideas to run for president,” said Wheatley, a resident of Athens, a small town in the Hudson Valley. “I prefer a Democrat but our choices are thin. Look at what Biden has done so far with the economy.”

Theresa Laabs, a 55-year-old cashier in Kenosha, said her family is feeling the squeeze from higher food and gasoline prices, but she voted for Biden in the Democratic primary because she feels like he’s working to alleviate inflation.

“I understand it’s the economy now, and I’m hoping that Joe will keep working even harder in the next four years to try and bring these things down and make it easier for the working family,” Laabs said.

Trump and Biden turned their attention to the general election weeks ago after Haley dropped out of the GOP contest. Biden visited all the top battlegrounds last month after his State of the Union speech.

Trump is looking to one-up his rival with a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend that he hopes will bring in $33 million.

With the presidential candidates locking up their parties’ nominations, turnout was slow in Rhode Island, where only 4% of eligible voters had cast ballots by 5 p.m., a figure that included Tuesday’s in-person votes as well as mail-in and early votes.

It was slow across the border in Connecticut as well, where early voting was held for the first time in state history. Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas said turnout was only 1% to 2% in some communities by 11 a.m., while it was 4% in Stamford, one of the state’s larger cities. “What we have been hearing on the ground from people over the last few weeks is that this isn’t a competitive primary,” she said about the low numbers.

Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, and Maysoon Khan in Athens, New York contributed.

An estimated $1.09 billion prize is now on the line for Wednesday’s drawing, which can be paid out in an annuity over 30 years or as a $527.3 million cash payment. Both are subject to state and federal taxes.

“As this jackpot climbs toward a record level, we remind people to keep the experience of playing the Lottery enjoyable by playing responsibly and within their means,” said Mark William Bracken, Executive Director of the Massachusetts State Lottery.

Wednesday will mark the 40th drawing since a Michigan ticketholder last hit the Powerball jackpot on New Year’s, winning $842.4 million.

If won, the $1.09 billion prize would be the fourth largest in the game’s history and the ninth largest in U.S. lottery history. The last record topping jackpot was a $1.765 billion prize won in California on Oct. 11, 2023.

The odds of winning the Powerball’s grand prize are 1 in 292.2 million. The odds of winning any Powerball prize, starting at $4, are about 1 in 38.

In the Powerball drawing on Monday, players won $50,000 Quick Pick prizes from a 7-Eleven in North Reading and a Stop & Shop in Saugus.

Just one week ago, a player in New Jersey won a $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot, the 8th largest in U.S. lottery history.

Powerball drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $2 at Massachusetts lotter retailers until 9:50 p.m. ahead of the drawing on Wednesday.

On Friday, April 5, the documentary “Girls State” premieres on Apple TV+, the much-anticipated sequel to the lauded 2020 documentary “Boys State,” also on Apple TV+. Directed by accomplished documentarians Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, the film takes an anthropological approach to studying the inner workings of the weeklong political camps for American high schoolers sponsored by the American Legion. During each session the teenagers are required to create a fully working government through a series of elections, a microcosm of our own system.

While structured in the same way, with fly-on-the-wall cameras following a select few students during their experience, “Girls State” is naturally a very different film. Filmed at a Missouri university just weeks before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, women’s rights and reproductive issues are a hot-button issue for the girls, among the other teenage troubles such as social anxieties, future worries and other personal issues that are thrown into stark relief in such a setting. But once again, it’s a fascinating documentary that argues that while the kids might be alright, there are certain aspects of the system that need an overhaul.

It’s yet another fascinating film from the duo of Moss and McBaine, who have collaborated on many documentaries, which intersect at the juncture of the political and personal.

Their most recent film was last year’s “The Mission,” a complicated portrait of the young American missionary John Chau, who was killed in 2018 when he attempted to make contact with the isolated Sentinelese tribe on North Sentinel Island. Using interviews with loved ones and John’s diaries and letters, the filmmakers offered a look at why Chau set out on such a dangerous trip, diving in headfirst to examine his complex motivation. Released by NatGeo, “The Mission” is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

McBaine has been a longtime producer for Moss, and before they collaborated as co-directors on “Boys State” and “The Mission,” she produced several films he directed including 2021’s “Mayor Pete,” a campaign trail doc about the presidential run of current Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Stream it on Prime Video.

Moss’ breakout documentary was the 2014 Sundance hit “The Overnighters” (also produced by McBaine), about a North Dakota pastor offering shelter in his church to nomadic workers arriving in his oil boomtown looking for work. Once again a complex portrait of a complicated person whose life reflected a specific political reality, “The Overnighters” is a moving, surprising film that captures this moment in time in such granular detail because Moss immersed himself in the culture of this town. Stream it on Kanopy or rent it elsewhere online.

Moss also directed all five episodes of the 2019 Netflix documentary miniseries “The Family,” following the work of journalist Jeff Sharlet, who has written about a secretive conservative Christian group known as “The Family” and their influence on American politics. It’s a chilling and sobering uncovering of one of the shadowy organizations that has an outsize influence on our country. He also directed an episode of the 2018 Netflix miniseries“Dirty Money,” which looks at scandal and corruption in business, with Moss’ episode (Season 1, Episode 2) examining payday lenders. Stream both on Netflix.

Moss has an upcoming film called “War Game” on the way, but check out “Girls State” and “Boys State” on Apple TV+, and the rest of he and McBaine’s political docs, covering a wide array of fascinating topics.

———

(Katie Walsh is the Tribune News Service film critic and co-host of the “Miami Nice” podcast.)

©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC