Massachusetts
Close-knit Massachusetts figure skating community supporting each other after deadly plane crash
LEXINGTON – The figure skating community in Massachusetts is lending support to each other after a plane crash near Washington, D.C. left six members of their community dead.
Figure skaters knew each other
Earlier this month WBZ-TV introduced viewers to Simon Mintz and Annie Huang. The pair of figure skating teens were bound for the U.S. Nationals in Wichita. Those who don’t qualify can go to an elite camp that follows the competition. It’s the same event that skaters were flying back from when their plane crashed into a military helicopter near Washington, D.C. No one survived.
WBZ-TV spoke with Mintz’s parents. They said had their son not qualified for the U.S. Nationals, he mostly likely would have been at the camp and possibly returning home on that flight. The notion has been on their minds.
“It’s eerie,” said Simon’s mother Linda Wertheimer Mintz.
“We flew through Dallas, not D.C., but we just as easily could have gone through D.C.,” added Pavlik Mintz, Simon’s father.
They returned to Massachusetts last week, yet all day Thursday, the Mintzes have fielded texts and messages from people concerned they too were on the flight.
“It could have been us if they went to the camp this year instead of the championships,” said Linda Wertheimer Mintz, adding that Simon has been at the camp before, “We definitely knew both of the young skaters who were killed, not as great friends, but we knew them. And totally knew about Maxim Naumov’s parents. Over the years, we’ve certainly seen them around said, ‘Hi,’ to them.”
A second family
The parents of skater Maxim Naumov were Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, two coaches killed on the flight. Also in the crash were skaters Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, along with their mothers.
“I remember going to the Edge in Bedford with my son for a skating lesson, and Maxim was practicing with his dad,” said Linda Wertheimer Mintz.
Simon and Annie recently were at a U.S. Nationals send off party at the Skating Club of Boston. They said Lane and Han were in attendance.
“The kids in particular would have been there sitting right near Simon and his partner,” said Linda Wertheimer Mintz, “When your kid becomes a skater, it’s like you all of a sudden have a second family.”
She has been messaging with other skate parents who have been trying to lend support to those who knew the families.
“I talked to one mom whose kid knew the kids, and they were heading out to be with their coaches,” said Linda Wertheimer Mintz, “It’s not just about being a tight community, this was the past, the present, and the future of U.S. figure skating that was on that plane too.”
We’re still on the good side of the forecast today. We’ll see a good supply of sun to start, then the clouds will increase and a few showers will sink down from the north in the afternoon. We still manage to make it near 70. (Yay.)
Tomorrow’s high temperatures, however, comes after midnight tonight — before falling toward Saturday morning. If you think that’s confusing, try explaining the snow that’ll be flying in the higher elevations across New England (with solid accumulation above 4k feet).
Yes, the weather is upside down for late May.
We can blame an intense, compact upper-level pool of cold air that broke loose from a larger pool near the Arctic Circle days ago.
The pattern across North America has dropped it in our laps for a day, with cold, rainy, windy consequences.
Rain, wind and… snow?
This will be a sneaky storm. Early on, there might even be a calm, bright sky (very) early Saturday morning. Then the clouds move in and the wind intensifies from the northeast. Gust will briefly peak at 50+ along the coast (40+ inland).
Rain will mix with snow in northern New England, and perhaps in the highest elevations of southern New Hampshire and central Massachusetts.
This also depends on the intensity of the precipitation. Heavier bursts of rain can drag down colder air aloft, helping the snowflakes make it from cloud base to your home place (if you live above 1k feet).
Ironically, we’re not expecting a deluge from this storm. Most spots keep near a half inch, with higher amounts near an inch in northeast Mass./southern NH.
And then just like that, it’s over. The storm pulls away Saturday evening, the skies clear and we’re back to sun Sunday. Highs recover to near 70 with the slightest chance for a shower late day.
Better chances – and cooler temps – come both Monday and Tuesday.
Will summer ever take hold? We know from past years that June can really struggle. It appears that the start of the month may not live up to expectations. Although we are at least climbing back to the 80s late next week.
Have a good weekend.
The head of the Massachusetts State Police can’t be sued for an alleged program that secretly recorded officers’ phone conversations with civilians and used them to bring criminal charges, the First Circuit said Thursday.
A group of Massachusetts residents filed a putative class against against Superintendent Geoffrey Noble, as well as Motorola and other companies, over the secret recordings, which were used to propose criminal charges in at least 181 cases without prosecutors’ knowledge, the three judge panel said.
The opinion by Circuit Judge Seth Aframe said the residents, led by Jason Courtemanche, failed to show how they’d be directly …
Massachusetts families are spending 8% of their monthly income on health care, according to a new study. That puts the Bay State toward the higher end of the scale, coming in at No. 12 in the country.
The analysis from personal finance website WalletHub examined where people are spending the most and the least on health care.
Alaska was No. 1 in the U.S., spending over 10% of their income on health care. On the other end of the scale, Utah residents spend 5% of their income on health care.
“Sharp increases in health care costs in recent years have made it difficult for some people to seek essential care,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said. “Even in states with lower-than-average health care prices, residents’ incomes may not be enough to keep up with the cost, especially since virtually every part of Americans’ budgets have been impacted by inflation over the past few years.”
To determine how much families are spending, WalletHub analyzed the prices of five key health care components across all 50 states, then combined those costs and compared them with each state’s median household income.
Read more: 1 MA Town Among 250 Best Places To Live In US News Ranking
Massachusetts spends the most on health care compared to other states in the region, according to the study. Vermont is the next-highest state in the Northeast, ranking at No. 14 with residents spending 7.98% of their income on health care.
Here are the top 10 states where people are spending the most on health care:
- Alaska
- Oregon
- Maine
- Mississippi
- West Virginia
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Montana
- South Dakota
- Louisiana
Check out the full study at WalletHub.
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