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Woman caught smuggling 29 protected turtles from US to Canada

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Woman caught smuggling 29 protected turtles from US to Canada

A woman from Hong Kong was caught for trying to smuggle 29 protected turtles from the United States into Canada.

Wan Yee Ng, 41, entered the guilty plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont to a single count of attempting to smuggle eastern box turtles from Vermont to Canada.

Eastern box turtles are a protected species in Vermont as well as in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan and New Hampshire.

According to an affidavit, Ng was arrested on June 28 at an Airbnb in Canaan, Vermont. 

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An endangered male Eastern Box Turtle named “Tank” who resides at the Franklin Park Zoo. (John Wilcox/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Police said that the 41-year-old was caught red-handed as she was loading up her inflatable kayak to make the trek over to the Canadian side of Lake Wallace.

Police said they were notified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two other people, including Ng’s suspected husband, had begun to paddle an inflatable watercraft from the Canadian side of the lake towards the U.S.

Authorities said that she had 29 eastern box turtles inside a duffle bag that were wrapped in socks, the affidavit said.

Box Turtle, Fairfax, Virginia. (Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Eastern box turtles are known to be sold on the Chinese black market for $1,000 each, the affidavit stated.

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During the investigation, police seized her cellphone and showed that she had tried to smuggle the turtles into Canada so that they could eventually be sold for profit in Hong Kong.

Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images (Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Ng pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of unlawfully attempting to export and send 29 eastern box turtles out of the United States, contrary to law.

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She has been held in custody since her arrest in June and will remain in custody pending her sentencing. She is scheduled to be sentenced on December 13 and faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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Vermont

Vt. communities work to clean up after EF-1 tornadoes strike

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Vt. communities work to clean up after EF-1 tornadoes strike


QUECHEE, Vt. (WCAX) – Crews worked across the White River Valley on Friday to restore power and clean up debris after two EF-1 tornadoes touched down in Vermont, including one that swept through Quechee.

Joe Haynes stared over his yard in Woodstock, with chunks of his roof scattered across it, wondering about the next steps.

Reporter Connor Ullathorne: How long will this all take to clean up?

Joe Haynes: Oh, I have no idea.

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He said he’s lucky he and his nearby neighbors are safe and are not blocked in.

“Some of the trees were down. They’ll be down for awhile but they can make their way out,” Haynes said.

Crews in Woodstock continued clearing trees and downed power lines along Route 4. That’s where Tiffany Miller was working inside the Mountain Creamery when the tornado passed right over the store. Nobody was injured, but their new walk-in storage ended up in the trees.

“It’s definitely a big setback for us. We were getting ready to have it wired up tomorrow. So I mean we definitely have a lot of elbow grease and hours to put in to get back up to where we were,” Miller said.

She said she was happy to see how many customers have checked in on them.

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“It’s nice to see that no matter what, in some bad case– storms or indifferent– that we can still come together and be there for each other,” Miller said.

Farther east in Quechee, workers hacked away at trees and swept away debris along the golf course and roads.

“It’s crazy they want to see. Everybody cares about their community and all their assets and amenities, so it’s nice to see everybody come together,” Quechee Club General Manager Brian Kelley said.

Kelley said they were out early Friday, and many residents were shocked at the damage. He’s still hopeful the area can come together and support each other.

“We normally do about 200 rounds a day going into one of our peak weekends. We’ve got the balloon festival this weekend, so we have that population in town, so a little bit of disappointment but people have been great and supportive, and we’ll be back at it tomorrow,” Kelley said.

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Kelley said it should be a few days until they are back to full force in Quechee.

Many others across the region told us they’re now focused on getting back to normal.

Click here for the latest forecast from the WCAX First Alert Weather Team.

Copyright 2026 WCAX. All rights reserved.



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New York

Video: Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire

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Video: Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire

new video loaded: Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire

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Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire

New York Knicks fans showed up in droves to a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan in their best orange and blue outfits to honor the N.B.A champions.

“Patrick Ewing. He didn’t get a ring. But I wear your sneakers, bro. When I was in high school, back in the ’90s, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, they were the team that I rooted for in the ’90s. They didn’t make it. So as a tribute to him because this is where I started at being a fan, Patrick Ewing. Knicks hat in denim — I’m a denim fanatic. So I love denim — Knicks hat. And yeah, that’s it.” “This is my style. I usually dress like this every day. But I did a special Knicks edition. It’s all really fun. I start with my makeup. I did really cute flames on my eyes because the Knicks are fire. I don’t really know what I’m going to do before I put it on. I just figure it out along the way. Like, this is a piece of fabric and I just layer in stuff.” “This is from my online boutique and the hat I just bought on the way to the parade because I wanted to match the jumpsuit, and that’s how I came up with the outfit.” “She was ready to go, man.” “Can you show your fingernail?” “She’s been sleeping in her Jalen Brunson jersey for the last 10 weeks. We’ve been watching all the games. You want to tell them who’s your favorite player?” “Jalen Brunson.” “I’m pretty sure this jersey was actually made for a human baby. But they’re selling them around the block. And we threw it on Chester and everyone started clapping. So — he wears it well.” “Blue and orange.” “So I did blue and orange.” “It had to be orange and blue. “Orange and blue. Orange and blue.”

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New York Knicks fans showed up in droves to a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan in their best orange and blue outfits to honor the N.B.A champions.

By Meg Felling, Jeremy Raff, Ang Li and David Cheung

June 18, 2026

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Boston, MA

MBTA, state transportation chief apologizes for ‘insensitive’ employee hair-pulling incident

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MBTA, state transportation chief apologizes for ‘insensitive’ employee hair-pulling incident


Gov. Maura Healey’s Transportation Secretary and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said he has apologized “fully” to the subordinate T employee he’s been accused of pulling the hair of at a work dinner two years ago.

Eng has come under fire for the late 2024 incident this week and admits that it was a “mistake” that has forced him to reflect upon his actions.

“My goal is always to lead with respect and inclusivity,” Eng said in a statement. “I know that this was a mistake, and I own that. I have apologized to this employee fully and have reflected on my actions.

“I am committed to learning from this experience and upholding the highest standards of professionalism in all my interactions as secretary and general manager,” Eng added.

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The MBTA said the incident, first reported by Contrarian Boston, occurred in November 2024 at a restaurant where T employees and their spouses were having a team dinner.

WCVB-TV reported that the MBTA employee has told people the interaction with Eng was not welcome and highly inappropriate.

The station described Eng as being accused of committing the hair-pulling faux pas while saying good-bye to the T employee after a work function at a brewery.

The MBTA confirmed that an “insensitive” interaction occurred between Eng and an employee, but downplayed the incident as occurring in the context of a larger conversation about hair from earlier in the evening that included multiple people.

Eng was poking fun at his own baldness when the alleged interaction occurred, according to the MBTA.

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“The MBTA is committed to fostering a respectful, inclusive workplace environment,” MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said in a statement. “Leadership plays a critical role in that. Two years ago, General Manager Eng had an insensitive interaction with one of his direct reports. He subsequently apologized directly to this employee.

“Any claims of harassment, discrimination or retaliatory behavior are completely without merit,” Pesaturo added.

Sources have told WCVB-TV that the T employee is involved in negotiations to leave their job with the agency.

Eng is the state’s top transportation official. Healey appointed him as general manager of the MBTA in 2023, and interim transportation secretary in late 2025.

He was paid $509,114 last year, which includes a $30,000 retention payment he is eligible for each year he remains with the T, per his contract and state payroll records. He does not get additional pay for working dual roles in Massachusetts, but continues to take in a roughly $185,000 pension from New York.

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Eng, former president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road, came out of retirement to work for the MBTA, but remains retired with the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System, which is paying him a gross monthly pension of $15,357.39, according to the New York State Comptroller’s office.



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