Massachusetts

High School On SI 2024 All-State Massachusetts’ Football Award Winners

Published

2 hours ago

January 16, 2025

High School On SI 2024 All-State Massachusetts’ Football Award Winners

There were first-time state champions, repeat winners – and some of the craziest games you will ever seen played anywhere on a football field this fall.

And now it is time for High School On SI Massachusetts to release its individual award winners, including the player and coach of the year honorees.

The Boston College commitment played for Division 2’s top team, which Catholic Memorial defeated King Philip Regional 39-21 for the Super Bowl. Dodd was the workhorse for the team, rushing for 1,362 yards on 115 attempts and scoring 20 touchdowns. The senior also added seven catches for 139 yards through the air.

Whether it was through the air or on the ground, Attaway compiled over 1,000 yards either way. The senior led the way to the Hawks winning the Division 6 Super Bowl state title. Attaway finished completing 76-of-113 passes for 1,329 yards and 20 touchdowns. On the ground, Attaway rushed for 1,008 yards on 65 carries and 12 scores.

Frisch stood out on both sides of the ball, but especially on the defensive side at middle linebacker. The 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker racked up 59 tackles, eight going for a loss, 12 sacks, an interception and forced a fumble. On offense at tight end, Frisch caught 14 passes for 301 yards and five touchdowns.

Playing for the Division 7 Super Bowl state champions, the junior running back was phenomenal out of the backfield. The Spartans’ tailback carried the rock 201 times for 1,772 yards and scored 26 touchdowns. LaChapelle caught five passes for 100 yards and two scores.

Despite losing multiple games during the regular season and many throughout the state wondering if Xaverian Brothers could repeat as Division I state champions. The Hawks pulled it off under the guidance of Fornaro as he guided the team to the Division I Super Bowl, defeating Needham, 14-7.

Follow High School On SI throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!

Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.

High School On SI will serve as the premier destination for high school sports fans, delivering unparalleled coverage of high school athletics nationwide through in-depth stories, recruiting coverage, rankings, highlights and much more. The launch of a dedicated high school experience expands Sports Illustrated’s reach to even more local communities as fans can now truly follow athletes from “preps to the pros” on a single platform, bringing them closer to the action than ever before. For more information, visit si.com/high-school.

To get live updates on your phone – as well as follow your favorite teams and top games – you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App| Download Android App

— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi

Source link

Massachusetts

Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark

Published

10 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Press Room

Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark

Hardly had Kelly Ayotte, the new governor of New Hampshire unloaded on Massachusetts over its immigration policy, than another illegal immigrant was charged with rape in the Bay State.

Subscribe to continue reading this article.

Already subscribed? To login in, click here.

Originally Published: January 16, 2025 at 12:22 AM EST

Source link

Massachusetts

Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day

Published

18 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day

Suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor’s Trial Board disciplinary proceedings will go on to a second day.

Proctor’s trouble publicly began when he testified during the murder trial of Karen Read last summer. During a tense examination by the prosecution and even more intense cross examination, Proctor admitted to inappropriate private texts that he made as the case officer investigating Read.

“She’s a whack job (expletive),” Proctor read from compilations of text messages he sent to friends as he looked at Read’s phone. The last word was a derogatory term for women that he at first tried to spell out before Judge Beverly Cannone told him to read it the way he wrote it.

“Yes she’s a babe. Weird Fall River accent, though. No (butt),” he continued under oath on June 10, 2024.

He also texted them “no nudes so far” as an update on the search through her phone. He also testified that he told his sister that he hoped that Read would kill herself.

On Wednesday, Proctor sat through a full day of trial board proceedings at MSP general headquarters in Framingham. When that concluded in the late afternoon, the board decided to continue for a second day on Feb. 10. Neither Wednesday’s proceeding nor the second day is open to the public.

Proctor was relieved of duty on July 1 of last year, which was the day the Read trial concluded in mistrial. He was suspended without pay a week later. The State Police finished its internal affairs investigation last week and convened the trial board to determine the next step in the disciplinary process.

The trial board makes disciplinary recommendations to the superintendent, who determines the final outcome.

“A State Police Trial Board shall hear cases regarding violations of Rules, Regulations, Policies, Procedures, Orders, or Directives,” states the Department’s Rules and Regulations.

“In the event that the Trial Board finds guilt by a preponderance of the evidence on one or more of the charges, the Trial Board shall consider the evidence presented by the Department prosecutor pertaining to the accused member’s prior offenses/disciplinary history, and shall make recommendations for administrative action,” the rules and regulations state.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision causing the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston Police officer when he died at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022. Read’s second trial is scheduled to begin April 16.

Originally Published: January 15, 2025 at 6:56 PM EST

Source link

Massachusetts

Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

Published

1 day ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

Tech startups based in Massachusetts finished 2024 with a buzz of activity in venture capital fundraising.

In the fourth quarter, 191 startups raised a total of $4.1 billion, 20 percent more than startups raised in the same period a year earlier, according to a report from research firm Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. For the full year, local startups raised $15.7 billion, about the same as in 2023.

The stability ended two years of sharp declines from the peak of startup fundraising in 2021. Slowing e-commerce sales, volatility in tech stock prices, and higher interest rates combined to slam the brakes on startup VC activity over the past three years. The 2024 total is less half the $34.7 billion Massachusetts startups raised in 2021.

But local startup investors have expressed optimism that VC backing will continue to pick up in 2025.

The fourth quarter’s activity was led by battery maker Form Energy’s $455 million deal and biotech obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics’ $400 million deal, both in October, and MIT spinoff Liquid AI’s $250 million deal last month. Two more biotech VC deals in October rounded out the top five. Seaport Therapeutics, working on new antidepressants, raised $226 million and Alpha-9 Oncology, developing new treatments for cancer patients, raised $175 million.

Massachusetts ranked third in the country in VC activity in the quarter. Startups based in California raised $49.9 billion and New York-based companies raised $5.3 billion.

Venture capital firms, however, had an even harder time raising money in 2024 compared to earlier years. Massachusetts firms raised $5.9 billion, down 7 percent from 2023 and the lowest total since 2018. That mirrored the national trend, as VC firms across the country raised $76.1 billion, down 22 percent from 2023 and the lowest since 2019.

Only one Massachusetts-based VC firm raised more than $1 billion in 2024, a more common occurrence in prior years, according to the report: Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge raised $2.6 billion in July for its eighth investment fund plus another $1 billion for smaller funds. The firm, founded by biotech entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, helps develop scientific research for startups in addition to providing funding.

The next largest deals were Cambridge-based Atlas Ventures’ $450 million biotech-focused fund announced last month and Engine Ventures $400 million fund investing in climate tech startups announced in June.

The decline comes as VC firms have had trouble getting a return on their investments, because so few startups have been able to go public. Just six biotech companies based in Massachusetts and no tech companies went public last year.

Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.

Source link