Northeast
Wes Moore warns Noem ‘federal occupation’ of new ICE compound now under state investigation
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore warned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Friday that her agency’s recent purchase of a warehouse-like building in Williamsport will be scrutinized by the Old Line State’s legal arm.
Moore, running for re-election this year, added his voice to the chorus of state Democrats expressing outrage over DHS’ reported plans to use the space to house illegal immigrants. Maryland has been front and center in the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda with the saga of illegal immigrant Kilmar Ábrego García.
Moore described DHS’ status at the property, sandwiched between the city of Hagerstown and the Potomac River on the West Virginia border, as a “federal occupation” of a space that was originally zoned as a commercial site.
The governor said the agency’s use of the area presents a “significant loss of economic opportunity” for Washington County and the state at large.
MINNESOTA SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER SWEEPING IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN TWIN CITIES
The site stands near the confluence of Interstates 70 and 81, and Moore said it uses up precious space in an area key to the 4,000-job “manufacturing, logistics and distribution” sector across the region.
Moore said Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a fellow Democrat, will be reviewing the purchase to “ensure full compliance with all applicable state and federal laws.”
“I have grave concerns about any holding facility that denies basic human needs and dignity,” Moore said.
NOEM DEPLOYS TO BOTH BORDERS, SAYS ICE WON’T BE DETERRED BY SANCTUARY OFFICIALS WHO ‘WANT TO CREATE CONFLICT’
Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, speaks at the Mexican border, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Nogales, Ariz. (Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo)
“I am directing state agency heads to assess all available actions to protect the community’s infrastructure, public safety, health and long-term economic stability, including review of permitting requirements; water and sewer demands; hazardous waste disposal; and the availability of emergency medical services, among other considerations.”
He added that Annapolis still seeks to work with the Trump administration on areas they can find common ground such as economic opportunity, crime and infrastructure, noting Maryland has a long history of being a federal partner, housing the headquarters of NASA-Goddard, USDA, NSA, NIH and installations like Fort George Meade and Andrews Air Force Base.
“We urge the administration to move past unilateral actions and join us in a transparent and collaborative effort to enhance the safety and well-being of Marylanders.”
Moore also criticized Noem’s refusal to grant FEMA funds for Maryland Panhandle communities ravaged by 2025 flooding from Georges Creek and the Potomac River.
In recent comments to Fox News Digital, former GOP state Del. Neil Parrott, who long represented the area where the ICE site sits, countered that it was Maryland Democrats’ posture toward the Trump administration that squandered the opportunity to get FEMA funds for his area.
Additionally, Total Wine billionaire David Trone, who is running for his prior U.S. House seat in the area where the future detention center will be, filmed a video outside its property saying DHS is “literally executing people on the streets.”
“We know one thing. We don’t need another ICE prison here or anywhere else in America,” Trone said.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in Annapolis, Md., Feb. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Just across the Potomac River from the site, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey told Fox News Digital the collective outrage over the new ICE center is a “representation of the generalized idiocy of most of the Democrats in Congress who have sat on their hands for the last 25 years and done nothing about the very immigration laws that they’re very angry about being enforced.”
To the south, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., echoed some of Moore’s concerns this week, saying in a statement that he spoke directly with Noem about concerns over a proposed ICE facility near the border with Tennessee.
“I relayed to her the opposition of local elected and zoning officials as well as economic development concerns. I appreciate her for agreeing to look elsewhere,” Wicker said of the planned transformation of a Byhalia, Mississippi, warehouse, which he said he “strongly oppose[s].”
“I am all for immigration enforcement, but this site was meant for economic development and job creation. We cannot suddenly flood Byhalia with an influx of up to 10,000 detainees.”
Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.
Read the full article from Here
Boston, MA
When did Southie get richy-rich? – The Boston Globe
Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com. To subscribe, sign up here.
Born and raised in Southie, Heather Foley has seen her neighborhood morph over the past three decades of scrubbing, renovation, and new construction for higher-income new arrivals.
But even Foley was surprised to discover that her South Boston, where kids once went to the corner to buy milk and cigarettes for parents, has emerged with the city’s second-highest average income, even ahead of Charlestown and Beacon Hill.
Her first thought?: “I gotta start being nicer to my neighbors if that’s the kind of money they’re making.”
What’s a household?
Decades ago, when “Good Will Hunting” was filmed in the neighborhood and Southie was known as a working-class area, there were more kids around and maybe just a single breadwinner in some homes.
Since then, Southie saw more two-earner households, fewer kids, and spiffier rental units where three or four roommates could contribute to a “household.” The changes, along with spillover from the adjacent, pricier Seaport, or South Boston waterfront, are factors in Census data showing more than 40 percent of Southie households earn more than $200,000 a year.
Staying put
Foley, 46, a photo shoot producer, considers herself lucky. She didn’t move out to the South Shore like many neighborhood longtimers. She’s living in a family home on a block with residents — oldtimers and newer arrivals — who aren’t flipping properties for big bucks.
Another blessing, particularly valuable this winter? She has a driveway.
As a kid, she went to church and school at Gate of Heaven, St. Brigid, and St. Peter, and jokes that she’s “so sad I didn’t buy a three-decker with my First Communion money, because I probably could have.”
Waves of gentrification
She remembers the earlier waves of newcomers, when glassy sports bars like Stats Bar & Grille muscled in among longtime restaurants like Amrheins.
But now, even the popular Stats is moving out at the end of the month. The property owner is developing a five-story, mixed-use residential building at the site.
A small silver lining
Foley notes that some of the onetime “newcomers” have been here for three decades — and in some ways, have stabilized the place. Many have raised kids, who, like her son, may return to the neighborhood as young adults (albeit splitting a rented apartment with friends). Stats, the sports bar, says it will also return to the neighborhood’s thriving food scene.
“We have a lot of great restaurants now,” Foley says, “and everyone cleans up after their dog.”
Read: These maps show Boston’s wealthiest and most populous neighborhoods — plus other key trends.
🧩 6 Across: More scarce | 🌧️ 42° Another storm
Grand New Party: How do you build a statewide slate of Republicans in a Democratic state? Nearly half of the Mass. GOP candidates didn’t use to be Republicans.
Farewell advice: After nearly 15 years of health system leadership, the departing CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health offers this advice to others.
Hitting the brakes? After an ambitious state law, Lexington welcomed a wave of new housing. Now, people there are having second thoughts.
Hyde Park fatal bus crash: The driver has been indicted.
Patriots, strippers, and hookahs: A downtown restaurant’s liquor license is in jeopardy after it allegedly hosted Patriots players and guests after their AFC Championship in January. A decision is expected today.
‘Culture of secrecy’: In a scathing report, R.I. authorities accused the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence of decades of “inaction, concealment, and revictimization” in complaints of clergy sexual abuse of hundreds of children.
Centers of suffering, campaigning: Federal immigration facilities have become backdrops for Democratic politicians seeking to fight President Trump’s immigration policies.
‘The best time to remember God’: Amid crackdowns, the Somali community leans into faith during Ramadan.
When is a reno worth it? Here’s how to judge the return on a home investment.
🧸 ‘Ted’ talk: Seth MacFarlane and the “Ted” cast talk Massholes, potty-mouthed teddy bears, and why Boston may have “the worst accent”
🩰 A ‘Black Swan’ premiere: That’s among 30 sparkling arts events happening this spring around New England. Plus, why are more artists being banned from America?
🎥 Quiz: Test yourself with the Globe’s Academy Awards quiz.
⚽ Will $7.8 million stop the World Cup from coming here? Can Foxborough’s insistence on up-front security payments force the world’s soccer governing body to send matches somewhere else this summer?
♯ Teenage dreams: The future rock stars were teenagers when they wrote songs, influenced by David Bowie and Stevie Wonder, about a fictional nightclub. A half-century later, Squeeze has reworked and is releasing those songs.
💻 Death by chatbot? A new lawsuit alleges Google’s chatbot sent a man on missions to find an android body it could inhabit. When that failed, it set a suicide countdown clock for him. (WSJ)
🍕 And a red cup, please: Fans are tracking down the few Pizza Hut Classic red-roofed restaurants that remain in the 6,200-store chain. (NYT)
Thanks for reading Starting Point.
This newsletter was edited by Heather Ciras and produced by Ryan Orlecki.
❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.
✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy.
📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.
Dave Beard can be reached at dave.beard@gmail.com. Follow him on X @dabeard.
Pittsburg, PA
As his polarizing Pitt career winds down, a banged-up Cam Corhen has saved his best for last
Connecticut
Hartford community grieves men killed in police shootings
The Hartford community is grappling with two police shootings that happened within eight days of each other. Both started off as mental health calls about someone in distress.
People came together to remember one of the men killed at a vigil on Wednesday evening.
With hands joined, a prayer for peace and comfort was spoken for the family of Everard Walker. He was having a mental health crisis when a family member called 211 on Feb.19.
Two mental health professionals from the state-operated Capitol Regional Mental Health Center requested Hartford police come with them to Walker’s apartment on Capitol Avenue.
A scuffle ensued, and police said it looked like Walker was going to stab an officer. The brief fight ended with an officer shooting and killing Walker.
The family is planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
“All I will have now is a tombstone and the voicemails he left on my phone that I listen over and over again at night just so I can fall asleep,” Menan Walker, one of Walker’s daughters, said.
City councilman Josh Michtom (WF) is asking whether police could have acted differently.
“To me, the really concerning thing is why the police were there at all, why they went into that apartment in the way that they did, in the numbers that they did,” he said.
The president of Hartford’s police union, James Rutkauski, asked the community to hold their judgment and wait for a full investigation by the Inspector General’s office to be completed.
A different tone was taken in a statement released about another police shooting on Blue Hills Avenue on Feb. 27.
Rutkauski said the union fully supports the officer who fired at 55-year-old Steven Jones, who was holding a knife during a mental health crisis.
In part, the union’s statement says that Jones “deliberately advanced on the officer in a manner that created an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury. This was a 100% justified use of deadly force.”
The Inspector General’s office will determine if the officer was justified following an investigation.
The officer who shot Jones was the fourth to arrive on the scene. Three others tried to get him to drop the knife, even using a taser, before the shooting.
“It just feels like beyond the conduct of any one officer, we have this problem, which is that we send cops for every problem,” Michtom said. “I don’t know how you can de-escalate at the point of a gun.”
Jones died from his injuries on Tuesday.
The union’s statement went on to say that officers should not be society’s default for mental health professionals. The statement said in part, “We ask for renewed commitment from our legislators to remove police from being the vanguard of what should be a mental health professional response.”
The officers involved in both shootings are on administrative leave.
-
World1 week agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Wisconsin3 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Maryland4 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Florida4 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Massachusetts2 days agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Oregon6 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling