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EU cash is being increasingly misused, auditors warn

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

The race to spend EU funds before they expire means there’s been a rise in countries misspending the money, the bloc’s financial watchdog said on Thursday. Investigations into €196 billion in funds paid out from the EU budget in 2022 found there were irregularities connected to 4.2 percent, according to the European Court of Auditors. That’s up from 3 percent a year earlier. Countries can claim payments under the previous budget cycle until the end of this year while money under the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery fund must be spent by 2026.“The administrations within the member states will be under much more pressure to spend the money quickly,” ECA President Tony Murphy told POLITICO. “The issue this time is that there’s so much more money around to be spent within a short period of time.” He said this “increases the risk of either errors, or suboptimal projects, or, at the worst end of it, it means fraud as well.”Auditors a...

Casstevens: Congress mulls putting heavier trucks on roads

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

New products come to the market regularly, and consumers have come to expect significant testing and safeguards, especially for products that can affect public safety.This is why law enforcement nationwide is concerned with legislation under consideration in Congress that would allow bigger trucks on our roads. Some bills would dramatically increase the allowable weight of semi-trailer trucks that have already been approved by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. And there continues to be talk of allowing even longer double-trailer trucks.One proposal would create a 10-year “pilot project” allowing 91,000-pound trucks — five and a half tons heavier than today’s limits. The goal: to see how many of these trucks are involved in crashes and to report the number of injuries and deaths. The usual years of data analysis and testing? Not for these 91,000-pound behemoths. The goal is to skip the typical due diligence and put them on roads immediately across America. Moto...

Kramer: Tim Wakefield a champ on and off the field

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

In a famous “Seinfeld” episode, George Costanza bought someone a salad and fretted to make sure everyone knew of his act of charity.It is not unusual for those who confer a benefit or provide a charitable act to prefer and even seek recognition for their good deed.Then there are those who are the perpetual givers – and stay below the radar screen. Their satisfaction comes from within and as long as those in need receive needed help and support, these providers are satisfied.Tim Wakefield would never have made it as an character on “Seinfeld.” He would have bought the salad, dressing and even the croutons and given it to the hungry recipient then slipped out the side door. And then, more than likely, he would have checked the next day to see if the dressing was the right kind.Too many athletes receive hero worship regardless of whether they donate any spare time for those less fortunate. Then there are those that as a function of their celebrity, assist others...

Editorial: If you’re not a migrant in Mass., don’t expect a room

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

Canceling the hotel reservations of would-be Bay State visitors to make room for migrants not only upended the plans of military veterans, service academy graduates and families planning to watch the big Army-Navy game at Gillette Stadium Dec. 9, it sent a powerful message to potential tourists: you are not a priority.Given that domestic visitor spending hit $22 billion in Massachusetts last year, you’d think the state would try to avoid alienating travelers.But no, thanks to the unholy brew of Joe Biden’s border fiasco, our right to shelter status, and the state handing out drivers licenses to folks regardless of immigration status, migrants are drawn to the Bay State.And there’s no end in sight.As the Herald reported, a travel agent who handles hotel rooms for military families said at least 70 of his rooms at three hotels were “taken back” by the hotel management company because the state recently contracted to put newly arrived migrants there.If you were an out...

Lucas: O’Brien’s next act should be run for treasurer

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

Maybe Shannon O’Brien should run for treasurer, a post she once held.That way she would be in a good position to force current state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, a fellow Democrat, to tell her and the public why she is ruining Shannon O’Brien’s life.It would be a good old fashion grudge match, and the debate would make boffo television.In fact, Shannon could probably beat Goldberg who has not had a challenger in the last two Democratic primary elections. For O’Brien, campaigning well and winning may be the best revenge.Unlike Goldberg, who was a wealthy Brookline selectman when she was elected treasurer in 2014, O’Brien did her time at the State House having served in both the House and the Senate before she was elected treasurer in 2000.Before elected treasurer Goldberg was beaten in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in 2006 by Tim Murray of Worcester, Gov. Deval Patrick’s running mate.O’Brien, 64, who served as state treasurer from 2000 to 2004, was recently suspended ...

‘Exorcist Believer’ a damned disappointment

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

Why has David Gordon Green, who has made a career of sorts out of making mediocre “Halloween” sequels, now made “The Exorcist: Believer,” the first in a planned trilogy of new “Exorcist” films?” Apparently because sequels to 1970s horror classics are all that he can get funding for. “The Exorcist: Believer” is based on the landmark 1973 horror film “The Exorcist.” Directed by the recently deceased William Friedkin (“The French Connection”) based on the enormously best-selling and controversial novel by William Peter Blatty, who adapted his work to the screen, “The Exorcist” broke barriers, used religious belief as the basis for a horror film in ways that were truly innovative, boasted a cast that was uniformly brilliant and made a couple of expressions famous around the world. “The Exorcist: Believer” is a demonstration of much that is wrong with modern-day film-making. It is derivative by design, and it has absolutely nothing to new say on the subject of “The Exorcist.”Written by P...

‘Miranda’s Victim’ takes a deep dive into landmark case

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

As its title announces “Miranda’s Victim” is about more than the origin of the well-known, Supreme Court-issued Miranda Warning.Inspired by true events, the Vertical Entertainment movie streaming Friday tells – for the first time since she was kidnapped and raped by Ernesto Miranda in 1963 – the victim’s story.  In 2019 Patricia “Trish” Weir chose to reveal her identity she had always protected.  Abigail Breslin (“Stillwater”) stars as Trish and Sebastian Quinn (“Dynasty”) is Miranda, the serial rapist. The cast includes Donald Sutherland, Ryan Phillipe, Luke Wilson, Andy Garcia and Emily VanCamp.For Quinn the film’s appeal is more than a true story. “It’s based on a moment in American history that most people don’t know.” And, Quinn discovered, there’s not much known about the criminal at the heart of the case.“Most of the information you get Googling is the story of the Miranda rights and not so much about the person.“Our screenwriter George Kolber did extensive ...

Boston Ballet highlights old, new & reinvented works for new season

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

In 2019, the Boston Ballet went to Paris. At the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, where they know a thing or two about ballet, our hometown company wowed them. The reviews were raves. Yes, the Hub company is that good.At the end of the coming 2023-2024 season, the Boston Ballet will return to Paris (COVID clobbered touring plans after the 2019 triumphant French performances). Between now and then, the 60th anniversary season will include four world premieres, a couple dozen sold out nights of “The Nutcracker,” the return of “Cinderella,” and complete reinventions of lost classics.Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen took the time to walk us through what he loves about the art form’s past, present and future.Fall Experience, now through Oct. 15The season opens with pieces from four different choreographers that range from Jorma Elo and the Bach Cello Suites to a world premiere from My’Kal Stromile — three of the four being with new-millennium creations. Nissinen hopes a few of t...

Report: Black infant deaths over twice Boston average

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

In Boston, Black infants die at a rate over twice the citywide average, a Boston Public Heath Commission report released Thursday found.“The findings of our Maternal and Child Health of Boston Report are a call to action for our city,” said Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Commissioner of Public Health and Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission. “These stark racial inequities in infant mortality and other birth outcomes cannot continue to exist.”The study was conducted by the commission based on data from 2017 to 2021, reporting on rates of infant mortality, preterm births, low birthweight and birth counts by demographics like race and neighborhood.The report found stark health disparities for Black infants.Based on 2021, Black infants’ mortality rate reached 9.7 deaths per 1,000 live births — over doubling the citywide average, 4.6 deaths, and over tripling the rate for white infants, 3.2 deaths.The percent of low birthweight births —...

Dear Abby: Dad feels like failure as marriage crumbles

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:33 GMT

Dear Abby: I have failed in a 30-year relationship and as a father of five. After feeling terrible for a number of years, I was finally diagnosed with a blood disorder. I was prescribed a chemotherapy pill and, two years later, was diagnosed with extreme neuropathy. Depression set in. I let myself go and rarely got out of bed. My wife complained because she wanted me to be more involved with the children, but I failed.We are now going through a divorce. I have been cut off from my 13-year-old son, and I don’t know how to reconnect. He’s the youngest of my kids, and he’s very special to me because he is adopted, as was I. I need help. I’m not good at asserting myself. Please help me because my heart is broken. — Needs Help in PennsylvaniaDear Needs Help: The individuals who can provide the help you are looking for would be your divorce lawyer and a licensed mental health professional. The former will see to it that your legal rights as a parent are enfor...