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If the Bay State were its own country, the Republic of Massachusetts would currently be sitting 13th, tied with Spain and New Zealand.
That’s right, with the Olympics now in Week No. 2, Massachusetts has medals from nine events — four golds, a silver and four bronze. That’s more gold and more total medals than Sweden, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece and a whole lot of others.
It’s been a good games so far for Olympians with Massachusetts ties. More medals are likely on the way too with U.S. men’s basketball team which includes three Celtics, still set to compete.
For this list, someone had to live in Massachusetts now or in the past and be competing in the 2024 Olympics for Team USA. That includes going to college here and playing professional sports here.
Here’s who they are and how they’re doing:
Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez — The Brockton native finished ninth in the team event and 33rd as an individual.
Kristen Faulkner, of the United States, celebrates winning the women’s road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)AP
* GOLD: Kristen Faulkner — In one of the most exciting finishes in the games, the former Harvard rower from Homer, Alaska put on a shocking burst of speed late in the road cycling event to win the gold medal.
Eli Dershwitz — The Sherborn native and Harvard alum, finished seventh in team sabre and 17th individually.
Colin Heathcock —The Harvard freshman was eliminated in his first match in individual sabre.
Mitchell Saron — The Harvard alum from New Jersey was 14th in the individual competition and was part of the sabre team that finished seventh.
United States’ Lauren Scruggs celebrates after defeating Italy in the women’s team foil final match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)AP
* GOLD/SILVER: Lauren Scruggs — The Harvard senior will leave France with a gold medal from team foil and a silver as an individual.
Elizabeth Tartakovsky — Another Harvard product, this one from New Jersey was fifth in the team event and 18th by herself.
Ally Hammel — Hammel, a Duxbury native, was a key member of the US field hockey team, that did not advance to the knockout stage of that sport’s event.
Stephen Nedoroscik competes on the pommel horse at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis.AP
* Bronze: Frederick Richard — The charismatic Stoughton native played a huge role in helping the USA men’s gymnastics team secure a team bronze medal. He’ll have an excellent chance of being back in the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles.
Stephen Nedoroscik, of the United States, celebrates after winning the bronze medal during the men’s artistic gymnastics individual pommel finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)AP
* Bronze (2): Stephen Nedoroscik — The pommel horse specialist emerged as one of the most popular people and stories in the Olympics as his performance to close out the team competition earned the Americans a bronze medal. He encored that with another bronze in the individual pommel horse competition.
United States’ Margaret Hedeman, Nina Castagna, Maddie Wanamaker, Olivia Coffey, Meghan Musnicki, Claire Collins, Charlotte Buck, Regina Salmons and Molly Bruggeman react after competing in the women’s eight rowing final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)AP
Margaret Hedeman, Regina Salmons and Olivia Coffey — Hedeman, a native of Concord, Methuen’s Salmons and Coffey a Harvard alum were all on the women’s eight that finished fifth.
Daisy Mazzio-Manson — The Wellesley native was on the women’s four crew that didn’t earn a medal.
Kristi Wagner — The 31-year-old native of Weston finished ninth in double sculls.
United States’ Michael Grady, Nick Mead, Liam Corrigan and Justin Best celebrate gold in the men’s four final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)AP
* Gold: Liam Corrigan — The United States has won its first rowing Olympic gold medal in the men’s four class since 1960 with Corrigan, an Old Lyme, Connecticut native and Harvard alum in the second seat.
United States’ Chris Carlson, Clark Dean, Peter Chatain, Rielly Milne, Henry Hollingsworth, Christian Tabash, Nick Rusher, Evan Olson and Pieter Quinton pose with their bronze medal in the men’s eight rowing final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)AP
* Bronze: Henry Hollingsworth, Christian Tabash, Clark Dean, Pieter Quinton — Four locals were in the men’s eight boat that earned a bronze medal. Hollingsworth, a Dover native , and Tabash, Dean and Quinton all went to Harvard.
Jacob Plihal, of United States, reacts at the finish area of the men’s single sculls rowing final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)AP
Jacob Plihal — The Northeastern alum finished 13th in single sculls.
Madison Hughes — The Lancaster native was on the Team USA squad that finished eighth.
United States’ Kristi Kirshe runs on to score a try during the women’s semifinal Rugby Sevens match between New Zealand and the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, France, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)AP
* Bronze: Kristi Kirshe — The Franklin native was part of the Americans’ dramatic come-from-behind win over Australia to win a bronze in her second Olympics.
Erika Reineke, of the United States, sails to compete in a women’s dinghy race, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)AP
Erika Reineke — The Boston College alum reached the medal race of women’s dinghy and finished ninth.
Ada Korkhin — The 19-year-old from Brookline finished 32nd in 25-meter pistol.
United States’ Miles Robinson (12) reacts during the men’s Group A soccer match between France and the United States at the Velodrome stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)AP
Miles Robinson — With Robinson playing a key role, the U.S. qualified for the quarterfinals of the Olympics for the first time since Sydney 2000.
Sam Coffey — The New York native, who started her college career at BC, has been a starter for the women’s soccer team that is still alive in the knockout round.
Jesse Grupper — The Tufts alum hasn’t competed yet. Men’s sport climbing begins on Wednesday.
Ruby Remati — The native of Andover was on the American team that finished ninth on Tuesday.
Graham Blanks — The Harvard track star hasn’t raced yet. Blanks will compete in the 5,000 meters on Saturday.
Gabby Thomas of the United States reacts to winning the gold medal in the Women’s 200m final of the Paris Olympics. Photo by Christian Liewig – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)Corbis via Getty Images
* Gold: Gabby Thomas — After finishing third in the 200 in Tokyo, Thomas delivered a dominant performance on Tuesday to win the 200. She’s expected to compete again in the 4×100 relay.
Fans cheer as Edda Hannesdottir, of Iceland, left, and Kirsten Kasper, of the United States, right, compete during the women’s individual triathlon competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/David Goldman)AP
Kirsten Kasper — The North Andover native finished 49th in the triathlon.
United States’ Jayson Tatum dribbles during a men’s basketball game against Puerto Rico at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)AP
Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derek White — The trio of Celtics have helped Team USA coast into the semifinals after Tuesday’s rout of Brazil.
Just as the summer travel season heats up, gas prices are finally dropping, with the national average falling below $4 a gallon.
It marks the first time since March 30 prices are that low, and follows nearly four straight weeks of declines, according to data from AAA.
Massachusetts and the northeast as a whole are still above that average, at $4.09 a gallon, but it’s down sharply just in the past week.
Prices are lower south of Boston, such as in Bristol and Plymouth counties, and some wholesale clubs are selling at $3.60 a gallon.
Mark Schieldrop, spokesperson for AAA Northeast, says the highest price paid at the pump in Massachusetts during the war was $4.50 a gallon.
Schieldrop said the decrease comes on the heels of the U.S. agreement with Iran to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, causing crude oil prices to fall.
“We’ve seen a nice steady decline in prices that really started more than three weeks ago,” he said, “Markets anticipated this happening, and that really led to prices beginning to fall.”
Since prices can vary, he recommends drivers shop around and avoid convenient locations.
“You are going to see those higher gas prices right off that highway exit at that first gas station that you see, because they know that they’re going to catch a lot of stray travelers,” he said.
Decreasing gas prices comes as millions of Americans prepare to travel for July 4 in record numbers starting next weekend.
“When prices are on a downward trajectory, that certainly is conducive to encouraging folks to travel,” Schieldrop said. “We do expect strong travel over the July Fourth holiday. And people are still very interested in travel.”
While gas station owners are sometimes accused of price gouging, Schieldrop said most are trying to navigate a volatile market themselves, and are looking to stay competitive when prices drop and they have a surplus.
“They have to be very careful about sort of using a price buffer to ride that volatility so that way you’re able to make money, but you’re not gouging customers, and you’re being competitive in a market because the retail gasoline market is very competitive, ”he said.
Prices a year ago were $3.05 a gallon, but he said we won’t be getting anywhere near those prices this summer.
Local News
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles announced on Monday it is now taking applications for the 2026 Annual Low Number Plate Lottery.
The annual lottery is for standard white Massachusetts passenger license plates. Winners and alternate winners will be selected using an electronic random number generator and notified by mail no later than Sept. 15.
To be eligible, an applicant must be a current Massachusetts resident with an active, state registered and insured passenger motor vehicle. They must also have a state-issued driver’s license or ID in good standing.
You can apply through Aug. 14 at the myRMV Online Service Center.
While there’s no cost to enter, “applicants selected in the lottery will be required to pay the special plate fee in addition to the applicable standard vehicle registration fee,” the RMV said.
Commercial vehicles and motorcycles will not be accepted as applicants. MassDOT workers and contract employees and their immediate family members are ineligible to participate, the RMV said.
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HINSDALE, N.H. (ABC22/FOX44) – Two men from Massachusetts have been indicted after they allegedly stole more than $200,000 in cigarettes and fled in a stolen U-Haul van before setting it on fire.
According to court documents, the men robbed the T-Bird Mini Mart on Brattleboro Road in Hinsdale, New Hampshire back on March 15. They then allegedly drove the U-Haul north into Brattleboro, Vermont before heading south on Interstate 91 down in Massachusetts.
Cartons of cigarettes reportedly fell from the back of the van as it drove through Brattleboro, which were estimated to be worth more than $50,000. The “trail of cigarettes” was reportedly used by investigators examining surveillance footage to track the path of the van leading up to the arrest of two suspects last week.
Richard Conner, 64, of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and James Ferguson, 66, of Worcester, Massachusetts, were arrested on Friday.
According to court documents, Ferguson was also seen on camera earlier in March stealing the U-Haul van in Northampton, Massachusetts.
The two men now face federal charges under the Hobbs Act and, if convicted, could spend up to 20 years in prison.
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