A woman in Massachusetts is worried for her family in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa could bring catastrophic flooding to the island. 

Hurricane Melissa is currently a Category 4 hurricane, but could strengthen to a Category 5 before it hits Jamaica and Haiti in the coming days. The storm could bring up to 30 inches of rain to the island and cause damage to infrastructure.

“I am really concerned about mud slides,” Framingham resident and real-estate agent JoAnn Frye said.  

Frye owns an Airbnb in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, at Pyramid Point. She said that she has already lost power to her outdoor video cameras and that her home manager moved everything inside in anticipation of the storm. 

“I’m very nervous. I’ve been watching this WhatsApp group because that’s how we communicate in the community,” Frye said.  

Residents in Jamaica prepare for Hurricane Melissa

Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, urged residents to take the storm very seriously.

“We’ve been prepared for a couple of days now. We have gas generators. We have extra water in the rooms, and then we have some larger tanks of water prepared for that, just in case power goes out. We have some solar lights,” said Frye’s cousin, Mark Walker, who lives on the island.

He plans on hunkering down with his family for the next few days. 

“It’s one of those scenarios where it’s not just us, it’s everyone else, but we have a pretty good group of neighbors and friends that are close by, kind of looking out for each other,” Walker said.

Joanne says she’s glad she’s not there, but is praying for her people in Jamaica.  

“I’m still scared for the people I know and love there. I’m scared for the community,” Frye said.

She said that she plans to fly down once the storm passes to check on her loved ones and her home. 

For more information on Hurricane Melissa and to see its potential path, click here. 

Michael J. Curll, 48, is facing criminal charges after allegedly attacking a man in an inflatable costume of Donald Trump in Swampscott, Massachusetts.

A man is facing criminal charges after allegedly attacking an individual in an inflatable costume of President Donald Trump in Swampscott, Massachusetts. The suspect, 48-year-old Michael J. Curll, has been accused of attacking Jonathan Silveira, a Trump supporter from Peabody, who was heading to a ‘No Kings’ protest. He was attacked near King’s Beach, and said he did not make it to the rally.

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The protest, which started on Humphrey Street and was organized by North Shore Indivisible, saw a crowd of about 1,200 people.

Read More | Who is Robert Flores? Man, 66, arrested after threatening to ‘run over’ No Kings protesters in downtown San Antonio

“He came up behind me and kicked me,” Silveira told WHDH. “I lost my balance and I felt the pressure, but it was more like a push. That’s when I hit the pole. Then he kind of grabbed the railing, so I couldn’t get away or get off him. He was trying to get me to go to the ground, and I wasn’t going to the ground.”

Read More | Why are ‘No Kings’ protesters turning up in frog, chicken, rooster, T. rex costumes? Explaining the trend

Five facts to know about Michael J. Curll

• Curll violently attacked Silveira, “yelling” and “screaming,” the victim alleged. “He just didn’t want me there. He kept yelling and screaming,” Silveira said, according to NBC10 Boston. “I kept telling him to get away from me, and he kept telling people around him that he wanted to punch me in the face.”
• Silveira’s girlfriend captured the incident on video. Curll’s arrest was also captured on camera. “I don’t understand why he got that crazy. I was just trying to get a few laughs,” Silveira said. “I thought it would be a couple of back-and-forths, you know, nothing like that.”
• Curll has pleaded not guilty to the crime. He pleaded not guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
• Curll’s attorney said that it was Silveira who started the altercation, and that his client was hit in the face with a metal pole. Silveira has denied the accounts, telling NBC10 Boston, “Absolutely not. Not even close.”
• Curll is set to be back in court in December. He is now facing various unrelated charges in Massachusetts and Connecticut, including assault and battery, drug possession and criminal trespassing.

Stay updated with US News covering politics, crime, weather, local events, and sports highlights. Get the latest on Donald Trump and American politics also realtime updates on Indonesia ferry fire.

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The MBTA is dumping nearly a billion dollars in revenue from the Massachusetts millionaire’s tax on projects officials say are aimed at enhancing safety and reliability, while the agency transitions to an in-house bus maintenance program.

The network’s Board of Directors has approved using $850 million from the millionaire’s tax to fund four “major infrastructure projects,” including a battery-electric bus maintenance facility that will support up to 200 vehicles.

This is the second allocation that the T has used to bolster its infrastructure from what officials refer to as the Fair Share Amendment. The board approved a $200.8-million initial pool in January 2024 that addressed safety and hiring and retaining employees.

Bay State voters in November 2022 approved a 4% surtax on incomes above $1 million annually, with the revenue dedicated to improving education and transportation.

With the second batch generated from the tax in hand, the MBTA is set to complete power upgrades, track reconfigurations and signal system updates on the Green Line; procure new Commuter Rail locomotives; and work on the first phase of a Widett Regional Rail Layover Facility project

“The MBTA has been making significant progress to improve safety and reliability across the system, and this funding will help them continue this essential work,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “Together with the Legislature, we are making sure that the T has a balanced budget and the resources it needs to deliver the world-class service that the people of Massachusetts deserve.”

The MBTA is expecting to bring in massive savings, in the tens of millions, as the transit network moves to “in-house” bus repair services instead of contracting with a third-party to overhaul the vehicles.

A fleet of 175 buses that the agency purchased in 2016 and 2017 is due for what officials describe as a “mid-life overhaul,” and they’ve determined that the repair work can be completed within the agency rather than paying an outside vendor to do the job.

The move is expected to generate some $73 million in savings – the difference between the $116 million that it costs to outsource the work and the $43 million it would take for the MBTA workforce to get the job done.

MBTA General Manager Phil Eng is looking at the transition as a short- and long-term investment that he believes will improve bus maintenance and service, making the vehicles durable for longer stretches.

“The investment in transportation, the investment in our workforce,” Eng told the Board of Directors on Thursday, “we have an obligation to show that that investment is delivering for the public, not only with improved service, safe service, better service, but we can actually save taxpayer dollars, and that we can do quality work.”

Thursday’s meeting marked the first time Eng has addressed the board as the state’s transportation secretary. He is maintaining his GM role, but he has replaced Monica Tibbits-Nutt as the leader of MassDOT in the interim.

Tibbits-Nutt will stay on until the end of the year in an advisory capacity, on the taxpayer’s dime, as she is also keeping her $200,000 pay.

To support the in-house bus repairs, officials say the agency will be looking to a crew of machinists, sheet metal workers, painters and an engineer. The work will be implemented in three phases over four years at four buses per month.

“It’s a massive, massive savings,” Chief Operating Officer Ryan Coholan said. “And it goes beyond dollars, because when you talk about the quality of a program like this, the pride that a program like this can build in-house with our workforce. … I’m going to put the value even higher than the cost savings.”