Northeast
Columbia president calls last 2 weeks ‘among the most difficult’ in school's history amid anti-Israel protests
Columbia University’s embattled President Minouche Shafik on Friday called the last two weeks “among the most difficult in Columbia’s history,” as anti-Israel protests continue to rage on the New York City campus.
Shafik, speaking publicly for the first time about the long-running demonstrations that have taken over the campus since police cleared an occupied campus building in a video message posted to the university’s social media, said the “turmoil, tension, division and disruption have impacted the entire community.”
She noted that the students have “paid an especially high price” by losing out on the final days of the year in classrooms and residence halls — “For those of you who are seniors, you’re finishing college the same way you started: online.”
She continued, “No matter where you stand on any issue, Columbia should be a community that feels welcoming and safe for everyone.”
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Columbia University president Minouche Shafik spoke about the “difficult” last two weeks in a video speech on Thursday. (Fox News Digital)
Shafik’s speech came days after police raided the university’s Hamilton Hall administration building after it was illegally occupied by protesters.
“We tried very hard to resolve the issue of the encampment through dialogue,” she said. “Many of the people who gathered there were largely peaceful and cared deeply about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
The president said that the university made a “sincere and good offer, but it was not accepted,” along with academic leaders talking with the protesters for eight days and nights.
UNC FRATERNITY BROTHERS DEFEND REINSTATED AMERICAN FLAG FROM CAMPUS MOB WHO REPLACED WITH PALESTINIAN FLAG
She said that a group of protesters “crossed a new line” with the occupation of Hamilton Hall last that was a “violent act that put our students at risk as well as putting the protesters at risk.”
Seeing the damage the rioters caused as she walked through the building that holds classics, Germanic and Slavic language classes, was “distressing,” she said.
“But, despite all that has happened, I have confidence. During the listening sessions I held with many students in recent months, I’ve been heartened by your intelligence, thoughtfulness and kindness.”
She said she was most impressed by those were able to acknowledge those opposing them had “some valid points. We need more of that at Columbia,” noting that “parallel realities and parallel conversations have walled us off from other perspectives.”
An anti-Israel protester holds a Palestinian flag outside the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University, April 30, in New York City. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer/Pool)
Shafik was born in Egypt and grew up in a Muslim family, noting in her address Friday that she had “many Jewish and Christian friends” growing up. “I spent two decades working with international organizations with people from every nationality and religion in the world, where if you can’t bridge divides and see the other side’s point of view, you can’t get anything done.”
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, antisemitism and Islamophobia have all existed for a long time,” she noted, adding that Columbia “cannot solve them single-handedly.”
But she said Columbia could be an example to the world of civil discourse and having “empathy and compassion for one another.”
“We have a lot to do, but I am committed to working at it every day and with each of you to rebuild community on our campus,” she closed.
Shafik has faced calls to resign and on Thursday, a Columbia faculty group called for a vote of no confidence against Shafik.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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Boston, MA
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
Pittsburg, PA
Man’s body found underneath trailer behind former Shop ‘n Save in Carrick
Pittsburgh Police detectives are investigating after a man’s body was found underneath a trailer behind the former Shop ‘n Save store in the city’s Carrick neighborhood.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said late Monday night that detectives from the Violent Crime division responded to the area of Amanda Street and Wynoka Street in Carrick after a man’s body was found around 8:30 p.m.
Public Safety said the man’s body was found underneath a trailer and that he was pronounced dead by medics at the scene.
A photo provided by Pittsburgh Public Safety shows officers surrounding a taped off area and what appears to be a refrigerated trailer parked at the loading dock along Amanda Street behind the former Brownsville Shop n’ Save, which closed its doors last month.
No details surrounding the circumstances of the man’s death were provided by Public Safety, who said that the cause and the manner of the man’s death will be determined by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The man’s identity has not been released.
Public Safety said the investigation into the man’s death is “ongoing.”
Connecticut
The Great Westport Sandwich Contest kicks off with event at Old Mill Grocery
The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce held a kick-off event at Old Mill Grocery on Monday for The Great Westport Sandwich Contest.
The contest runs throughout March with 21 restaurants, delis and markets competing in 10 categories to be crowned the best sandwich maker.
Residents can vote in the following categories: Best chicken, best steak, best vegetarian, best combo, best club, best NY deli, best pressed sandwich, best breakfast sandwich, best wrap, and best fish/seafood sandwich.
After people sample sandwiches, they can vote for their favorites in each category on the chamber’s website. They will also be placed into a drawing to win a free sandwich from one of the 10 winners.
“Of course, the goal is to have people come to Westport and check out restaurants, our markets and our delis. This is a great promotion. I mean it is a competition, but mostly it’s to bring people to the restaurants. It also gives a great community activity because they are the ones who get to vote who makes the best one,” says Matthew Mandell, the chamber’s executive director.
Winners will be announced in April and receive a plaque.
The chamber has held similar contests to determine what establishment has the best pizza, burger, soup and salad.
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