Connect with us

Boston, MA

Less than a week after running Boston, Zdeno Chara finishes London Marathon – The Boston Globe

Published

on

Less than a week after running Boston, Zdeno Chara finishes London Marathon – The Boston Globe


Just six days after finishing his second Boston Marathon with a time of 3:30:53, Chara finished the 2024 London Marathon on Sunday afternoon — completing the race with a time of 3:11:04. 

Chara’s latest conquest marks the eighth marathon that he’s completed within a year’s time, as well as one of the fastest. His personal best is 3:10:24 (7:16 per mile), set during the Chevron Houston Marathon in January.

Chara’s London time was nearly 20 minutes faster than his performance during the 2024 Boston Marathon — although Boston’s hilly terrain and unpredictable weather make it one of the most challenging 26.2-mile courses in the world. 

Last week, Bruins captain Brad Marchand admitted he was not surprised to see Chara set his sights on a new athletic venture after hanging up his skates.

Advertisement

“Not really surprised. You knew he was gonna find something that was really competitive, very hard — something that takes a lot of training,” Marchand said. “Something he can continue to improve upon. He’s just a beast. He likes the challenge. With his mindset and the way that he’s prepared for so long every single day, he was going to have to find something that he could continue to do that.

“So it’s great for him. Happy to see him happy and enjoying something after hockey. He dedicated so much time and effort to the game. It’s great that he has another passion that he’s enjoying in retirement.”

It doesn’t seem like the 47-year-old Chara is showing any signs of slowing down.

Chara told the Globe he plans on taking part in the other World Marathon Majors. He’s already run Boston, London, and New York City, which leaves Tokyo, Berlin, and Chicago.

Chara’s next challenge might be getting some of his former teammates to join him on the 26.2-mile gauntlet.

Advertisement

“I’ve tried a lot of things. lately. I’ve tried tennis and played soccer,” Patrice Bergeron said of his current hobbies during an interview with NHL Network in November. “[Chara] has tried to get me to run some marathons with him. I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet because I don’t think my hips and my knees could actually keep up — my back as well.

“So I don’t know how he does it and kudos to him. Zee, I love you. … Eventually, I’d love to get a challenge going and find a way to kind of challenge myself with something to look forward to and kind of work for and get ready for.”


Conor Ryan can be reached at conor.ryan@globe.com.





Source link

Advertisement

Boston, MA

First Alert: Mix of snow and rain today, then looking ahead to warmer weather

Published

on

First Alert: Mix of snow and rain today, then looking ahead to warmer weather


Today is a First Alert weather day. A system to our south is pushing mix of snow and rain into southern New England through this evening and tonight. 

For us here in Greater Boston, expect snow to continue spreading over our area through the afternoon/evening commute. In fact, parts our area could see up to 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulation before the sleet and rain move in.

Much of Greater Boston will likely see snow amounts on the lower end. Higher snow amounts are expected toward southern New Hampshire and along and north of outer Route 2. Also, some ice accumulations are possible, up to a tenth of an inch, creating a thin glaze here and there.

Dozens of schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts have already announced early dismissals as a result of the storm.

While this system won’t cripple our area, conditions could still create a mess on the roads during the evening commute through tonight. Be careful while driving. A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for parts of our area through early Wednesday morning. High temperatures will be in the mid to upper 30s today. Overnight lows will drop into the low 30s.

We’ll wake up to patchy fog Wednesday morning before the sun returns. High temperatures will be in the upper 40s. We’ll stay in the 40s on Thursday with increasing clouds. But by late Thursday night into Friday, wet weather returns. Some snow could mix with the rain into Friday morning. Highs will be in the upper 30s Friday.

Advertisement

Warmer weather is expected this weekend. Highs will be in the 50s Saturday and possibly near 60 on Sunday.



Source link

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Boston police officials dominate the list of highest-paid city workers in 2025 – The Boston Globe

Published

on

Boston police officials dominate the list of highest-paid city workers in 2025 – The Boston Globe


That was more than what every other city department spent on overtime combined, though it was a slight drop from the $103 million the police department spent on overtime in 2024.

High overtime spending inside the police department has long been controversial and a source of frustration for police-reform advocates. Last year’s nine-figure total comes as Mayor Michelle Wu warns of a challenging budget season to come for the city, which is grappling with inflation and the possibility of more federal funding cuts.

In a December letter, Wu told the city council that she instructed city department heads to find ways to cut 2 percent of their budgets in the next fiscal year. She also imposed a delay on new hires. Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper has also proposed cutting somewhere between 300 and 400 positions next fiscal year due to budget constraints.

Overall, the city spent about $2.5 billion on employee salaries in 2025, up around 1.5 percent from $2.4 billion in 2024. The city employs roughly 21,000 workers, according to a public dashboard.

Advertisement

In a statement, Emma Pettit, a spokesperson for Wu’s office, attributed the payroll increase to raises, and in some cases, employees receiving retroactive pay, that were part of contracts the city negotiated with its various labor unions.

“We’re grateful to our city employees for their hard work to hold Boston to the highest standard for delivering city services,” Pettit said.

When Wu won her first mayoral race in November 2021, all of the city’s 44 union contracts had expired. Since then, Wu’s office has negotiated new agreements with all of them, and last year, agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union.

But as the city heads back to the bargaining table to negotiate extensions or new contracts with others, city leaders should keep cost at the forefront of those conversations, said Steve Poftak, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-backed budget watchdog group.

“As budgets tighten, I’m hopeful that it increases the scrutiny on these collective bargaining agreements,” Poftak said.

Advertisement

The top earner on the city’s payroll last year was Boston Police Captain Timothy Connolly. In addition to his $194,000 base salary, Connolly took home nearly $230,000 in overtime, about $26,000 in undefined “other pay,” and roughly $49,000 as part of a higher-education bonus, for a total of $498,145 in compensation.

Skipper, as BPS superintendent, was the 55th-highest earner among city workers, coming behind 54 members of the police department. She made a total of $378,000 in 2025.

Nearly 300 city employees made more than $300,000 last year. In contrast, Wu made $207,000, though her salary increased to $250,000 this year. More than 1,700 city employees made more than the mayor in 2025.

Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, argued that the high overtime costs in the police department are, in part, a result of understaffing.

The department is short roughly 400 rank-and-file police officers, Calderone said, meaning the department has to pay its staff to work overtime and fill vacant shifts. The average salary for an officer in the BPPA is roughly $195,000, Calderone said.

Advertisement

With several large events approaching, including a Boston-based fan fest around this summer’s World Cup matches and the return of a fleet of tall ships to Boston Harbor, Calderone said most of the members of his union are likely to be working the maximum allowable 90 hours a week.

“We just don’t have the bodies on the street,” he said.

The Boston Police Department and the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation — the union that represents the department’s sergeants, captains, and lieutenants — did not immediately return requests for comment Monday.

Jamarhl Crawford, an activist and former member of the Boston Police Reform Task Force, said while high spending on overtime is not new for the police department, it’s a pressing problem the city should tackle.

The police and fire departments are “essential components of the city and society in general … [and] folks should be getting a fair wage. But it also has to be within fiscal responsibility,” Crawford said.

Advertisement

“In another 10 years,” he continued, “with pensions and everything else, this type of thing can bankrupt the city.”


Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold. Yoohyun Jung can be reached at y.jung@globe.com.





Source link

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Red Sox rotation contender strikes out four in dominant outing

Published

on

Red Sox rotation contender strikes out four in dominant outing


FORT MYERS, Fla. — Johan Oviedo’s first outing of the spring last week didn’t go great, as the right-hander walked three over 1 2/3 innings in a performance manager Alex Cora described as “erratic.”

His second outing on Monday went much better.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending