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Boston, MA

Man accused of trying to open door on United flight to Boston, attacking crew

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Man accused of trying to open door on United flight to Boston, attacking crew


BOSTON — A Massachusetts man tried to open an airliner’s emergency door on a cross-country flight from Los Angeles to Boston after which tried to stab a flight attendant within the neck with a damaged metallic spoon, federal prosecutors alleged Monday.

Francisco Severo Torres, 33, of Leominster, was tackled and restrained with assistance from passengers and arrested Sunday at Boston Logan Worldwide Airport when United Airways Flight 2609 landed, the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Boston mentioned in a press release.

He was charged with interference and tried interference with flight crew members and attendants utilizing a harmful weapon, the assertion added.

The person was detained at an preliminary look in federal courtroom on Monday and awaits a listening to scheduled for Thursday. An electronic mail in search of remark was left together with his federal public defender.

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The aircraft was about 45 minutes from arrival in Boston when the crew obtained an alarm {that a} aspect door on the plane was disarmed, prosecutors mentioned.

A flight attendant seen the door’s locking deal with had been moved out of the totally locked place a few quarter of the best way towards the unlocked place and that the emergency slide arming lever had been moved to the disarmed place, authorities mentioned. The crew secured the door and slide.

A door in a airplane can’t be opened as soon as in flight on account of cabin strain.

One other flight attendant had seen that Torres was seen close to the door and believed he had tampered with it, authorities mentioned. The crew advised the captain that he was a risk and the aircraft ought to be landed as quickly as doable.

At that time, prosecutors allege, Torres acquired out of his seat, approached two flight attendants standing within the aisle, and used the spoon to make stabbing motions, hitting a flight attendant 3 times within the neck space.

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Passengers tackled Torres, who was restrained with the help of the crew.

In response to a charging doc, Torres advised investigators that he went into the airplane’s toilet and broke a spoon in half to make a weapon.

When he got here out of the toilet, Torres mentioned he went into the galley, disarmed the door, and tried to open it unsuccessfully with the concept of leaping out of the aircraft, based on the doc.

Investigators mentioned Torres admitted realizing that if he opened the door many individuals would die.

Torres additionally mentioned that he was then confronted by flight attendants and, in an try and defend himself, stabbed one of many attendants within the neck three or 4 instances, based on investigators. They added Torres mentioned he believed the flight attendant was attempting to kill him, so he was attempting to kill the attendant first.

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Authorities didn’t say the place Torres acquired the spoon, however TSA guidelines permit airline passengers to deliver metallic utensils besides knives onto planes.

United Airways
UAL,
-1.17%
mentioned nobody was injured.

“Due to the short motion of our crew and clients, one buyer was restrained after turning into a safety concern on United flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston,” the corporate assertion mentioned. “The flight landed safely and was met by legislation enforcement.”

The airline mentioned it has a zero tolerance coverage for violence and Torres might be banned from flying on United pending an investigation.

One passenger advised investigators that Torres had requested the place on the security card it confirmed the place the door deal with was positioned through the flight attendants’ pre-takeoff security briefing, prosecutors mentioned.

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If convicted, he may face life in jail.

The Affiliation of Flight Attendants launched a press release saying it was happy with the United flight crew and relieved that no on was critically injured. It mentioned there was an pressing want for a nationwide record of banned passengers.

“Violence has no place wherever and positively not in a closed cabin flying a number of miles within the air,” Sara Nelson, the group’s president, mentioned within the assertion. She added: “When incidents like this occur, it not solely dangers the security of the crew concerned, it takes away from Flight Attendants’ capacity to answer medical, security, or safety emergencies. Backside line: it places everybody in danger and there’s zero tolerance for that.”



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Boston, MA

Why I opposed Mayor Wu’s tax proposal – The Boston Globe

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Why I opposed Mayor Wu’s tax proposal – The Boston Globe


Earlier this year, when a study produced by Tufts University’s Center for State Policy Analysis suggested Boston reevaluate how it finances government services, city officials pushed back, initially dismissing concerns and defending exponential spending increases. That defensiveness, though, quickly shifted to panicked claims of a dire economic scenario and prompted Mayor Michelle Wu to seek legislative approval to raise taxes on businesses more than state law allows. Such an abrupt and dramatic about-face was notable, to say the least.

The Wu administration then went on to suggest that residents would see a 33 percent increase in their taxes and risk losing their homes if this new tax increase did not pass the City Council and the Legislature. For months, city officials escalated their rhetoric, while refusing to share official data that would, in fact, show that Boston’s fiscal issues were not unmanageable. Even if the business tax hike passed, the city still planned to raise residential taxes by 9 percent in 2025, just as it did in 2024. Residential relief was never on the table.

The City Council and the House of Representatives passed the legislation without the city’s official valuation data, so I called for a pause in the Senate until the city disclosed the data. Upon their release, the data showed that the economic sky was not falling. They also showed that lawmakers did not have to accept the false choice of having to risk cratering the Boston economy to mitigate a spike in residential property taxes.

Ample due diligence is required to make informed public policy decisions. Matters that impact residents and businesses must be debated based on objective data and facts — not guesswork, conjecture, or political agendas.

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When this matter came before the Senate at the end of its formal session this summer, I made my concerns known. It was clear that downtown businesses were not the only entities that would have suffered disproportionately under the city’s proposed tax increase. Small businesses would have suffered just as much, if not more.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, raising commercial tax rates beyond the current state limit is “not good public policy.” Doing so raises “constitutional issues” and poses “an impediment to attracting and retaining business.”

There are other tax relief options, such as increasing exemptions for homeowners, low-income residents, and seniors. Working together with Governor Maura Healey, the Legislature did exactly that this session by passing the largest tax relief package in a generation along with sweeping housing and economic development legislation. The tax relief package includes significant increases to the Child and Family Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and Senior Circuit Breaker Tax Credit.

We did this collaboratively while also increasing wages for state employees, improving the Commonwealth’s bond rating, and managing a 2.7 percent growth in our budget while providing record levels of local aid to Boston. Boston, on the other hand, grew its budget 8 percent year over year — a total of $350 million — and 21 percent over the past three years.

What this 10-month process has shown is that City Hall must be more transparent and demonstrate fiscal restraint — not pile more costs onto residents and businesses. To provide residential tax relief, the mayor and City Council should increase the maximum residential exemption from 35 percent to 40 percent.

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The city could pay for this by:

▪ Drawing from the surplus rainy day fund without impacting the city’s bond rating, per the recent Moody’s report;

▪ Redirecting funds generated via the Article 80 process from the Bluebikes program to residential relief;

▪ Cutting redundant external programs;

▪ Executing other prudent but targeted cuts like the governor did in mid-fiscal 2024 to balance the state budget.

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Whether taxes go up on Boston residents or by how much is strictly up to the mayor and the City Council. Like the state, the city can provide relief for taxpayers, stimulate economic growth, and balance a budget. But it requires being data driven and fiscally responsible.

There’s still time to do so. For the sake of Boston’s taxpayers and the city’s fiscal health, I hope they take the time to get it right. Because it’s clear: the numbers don’t lie.

Nick Collins is state senator for the First Suffolk District in Boston.





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Boston, MA

Snowy weather causes gridlock traffic at Logan Airport in Boston

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Snowy weather causes gridlock traffic at Logan Airport in Boston


BOSTON – Holiday travel is in full swing with Christmas just days away and travelers at Logan Airport in Boston spent the day dealing with delays from snowy weather.

Delays nationwide

There was gridlock traffic at Logan as travelers embark on their holiday excursions. Donna Ragucci just flew into New England from Florida.

“I am so excited, I get to see my sister and we are going on the trolley today and North End,” Ragucci said.

AAA said snowy weather conditions on Friday led to delays, spinouts and disruptions with flights.

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“Overall, we’ve seen a pretty strong volume, which is what we forecasted, a record number of people traveling this year,” said AAA Northeast spokesperson Mark Schieldrop. “There was a storm system that affected a good swath of the country, so Chicago and Boston are two major hub airports, so anytime you have delays or cancellations in one part of the country, we often see a little bit of a domino effect.” 

Kevin Walker said this is his first and last time traveling for the holidays.

“Well, we got here yesterday morning and our flight was canceled right when we got here,” said Walker.

AAA said more than 119 million people will travel during from now and Jan. 2. While most flights are on time at Logan there are several delays and cancellations leading to holiday angst.

“Hasn’t been great, my first flight was cancelled and now I guess I didn’t make the cut off for this flight, so now they can’t check the bag but yeah, it’s alright. I got a JetBlue flight tomorrow,” traveler Abbey Reynolds said.

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“It’s different because I’m driving this year, so we got the dog coming with us, so I just hope the flight goes OK for the two kiddos and we meet them on the other end,” said a Brookline man heading to North Carolina with his family.

Coping with travel stress

Paul Pierre is heading back to Columbus, Ohio and has his own philosophy when it comes to traveling.

“Don’t let the small stuff upset you. You just go through the airport and you do your best and be kind and you’ll get through it,” Pierre said.

“I’m a therapist, so I practice meditation, go to the gym,” said Ragucci.

“It is what it is, like, I’m not going to get that bent out of shape over it,” said Reynolds.

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Boston, MA

Next Weather: WBZ Mid-Morning Update For December 22

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Next Weather: WBZ Mid-Morning Update For December 22


Next Weather: WBZ Mid-Morning Update For December 22 – CBS Boston

Watch CBS News


Jacob Wycoff has your latest weather forecast.

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