Massachusetts
Protesters gather in Florence to support woman accused of murder in Massachusetts

FLORENCE, S.C. (WPDE) — Over a dozen people protested Monday in a grassy median on Highway 327 right at I-95 in Florence.
The group captured much attention as they held signs and chanted, “Free Karen Read.”
Read is accused of hitting her boyfriend with her SUV outside a Massachusetts home in January of 2022, leaving him to die in a snowstorm following a night of drinking, according to media outlets.
Her boyfriend, John O’Keef, was a Boston police officer.
TRENDING:Woman dies after being thrown from car in Marion Co. crash
Read’s defense said O’Keefe was dragged outside after he was beaten up in the basement and bitten by a dog at a fellow Boston police officer’s home.
Read’s first trial ended earlier this summer with a hung jury. She’s expected to retry early next year.
Those demonstrating are from parts of the Pee Dee and Horry County.
A few of them said they lived in Massachusetts, but have no connection to Read.
The group said they’ve followed her case and believe in her innocence.
We’re backing Karen. We also have cards that we are going to hand out. As people ask questions, we want to give them the cards. The information themselves. There’s also a QR code on there if they want to donate to Karen and help her out. They can do that as well. So, free Karen Read,” said Annette Stephenson.
Lauren Wilson and her fiancé traveled from Georgia to Florence to join the protest.
“You can see this is a mess. And she deserves justice. And so does the officer who died,” said Wilson.
The group said they’ll protest again if necessary to show their support for Read.

Massachusetts
Senior prank leaves large mess at Massachusetts high school, school officials call it immature

Both residents and school officials at a Massachusetts high school were left stunned after a senior prank took an unexpected turn from harmless fun to chaos.
Senior prank gone wrong
Around 90 students descended on Hanover High School on Thursday night to complete the prank, according to school officials.
“I know it involved pineapples in classrooms. Somewhere in between, something happened,” said Tracy Loughlin, a Hanover resident and former student at the school.
Hanover High School
The aftermath of the prank included scattered toilet paper, confetti, plastic wrap, and paper towels littering the ground. Loughlin noted that they were “no big deal” in the grand scheme of things. But rumors began to circulate throughout the town about broken glass in a science lab.
Hanover Public Schools superintendent Matthew Ferron and Hanover High School principal Matthew Mattos clarified that there was no permanent damage to the building and that the most time-consuming part was cleaning up the smashed fruit.
“Windows were not broken, floors were not damaged, and there was no graffiti,” the joint statement read. “The damage was largely superficial.”
Mattos and Feeron did call the prank “immature, disrespectful, and falling short of the typical creativity or humor typically associated with senior pranks.”
The class of 2025 has apologized for the mess and has agreed to pay for any damages, staff overtime, and cleaning services required. The incident is being investigated by the school and Hanover Police, but any disciplinary actions will stay confidential.
“While the actions of those involved were clearly inappropriate, we also recognize that young people make mistakes, and this moment presents an important opportunity for learning, growth, and accountability,” Mattos and Ferron said in a statement.
Residents say that diplomas should be withheld
Despite the lack of lasting damage, some residents were less forgiving.
“The kids that were involved should not have been able to walk,” resident Mark Fanning said, suggesting the students’ diplomas be withheld as punishment.
But some residents were more sympathetic to the students.
“I think people need to relax and give kids a little bit of slack. It’s clean fun; they could be doing worse things,” Michaela Fin said.
“It’s a little town. All the kids are good kids, I don’t know how this happened or why it happened,” Laughlin said.
Massachusetts
At the WBUR Festival, exploring the good and bad scenarios for Massachusetts’ future

On Friday morning, I had the opportunity to help kick off the inaugural WBUR Festival in Boston with a panel on “The Future of Innovation in Massachusetts.”
My panelists: Katie Rae from Engine Ventures, an MIT-affiliated venture capital firm; Julie Kim, president of the U.S. Business Unit at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, now the largest biopharma employer in Massachusetts; and Avak Kahvejian, a general partner at Flagship Pioneering, an incubator of new companies in Cambridge.
The group laid out some reasons for optimism about the future of innovation in our state, and also some reasons for concern. All three of them are parents, so I also asked what advice they would give to other parents who have children in school today about the job market.
Reasons for optimism
Rae made the case that federal research funding cuts may paradoxically stimulate innovation by pushing academic researchers to create startups and commercialize their work on a faster time frame. In the short term, “we might get more companies because of this moment than fewer,” she said. She cited Commonwealth Fusion Systems as a prime example — it emerged from an MIT lab that had lost its funding several years ago.
“They invented the company,” she said, instead of letting the science die on the vine.
- Read more: MassLive’s 12 innovation leaders to watch in 2025
“It’s not that I’m not upset about what’s happening,” Rae said, “but I do think really good things are going to come out of it.”
But over the long term, she acknowledged, “we’re going to get fewer [companies] because there’s less [federal research] funding.”
Kahvejian made the case that, while national and global pressures exist, Massachusetts remains extraordinarily well-equipped to generate breakthrough innovations. Flagship Pioneering, where he is a general partner, raised a $3.6 billion fund last year — its largest ever — to invent and launch new biotech companies.
Kahvejian noted the state has shown resilience in the past: Many big names of the 20th century, such as Polaroid and Lotus Development Corp., have vanished, but new companies have emerged and grown.
Rae offered hope that even in a divided Washington, supporting technology development in areas like advanced chips and energy production has bipartisan support.
“No matter what party you’re in, you’re going to want to fund the things that are fundamental to long-term economic prosperity and security,” she said.
Rae said she was encouraged to see Harvard University standing up to pressure from the Trump administration, despite efforts to block the school’s enrollment of international students and to eliminate essentially all federal funding of research there. Of Harvard President Alan Garber, she said: “He’s doing all those things and actually gaining a lot of support, right? He got a standing ovation at Harvard [graduation] yesterday.”
Is there a way for Harvard to emerge victorious in the tangle with Trump and various federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security? “I think Harvard is winning in a lot of ways,” Rae said. “They’re winning in different court battles. And I think long-term, they will prevail. There’s great research there. It’s an institution that the U.S. should be proud of, and is proud of, and produces so many of our great leaders …”
Reasons for concern
Kim sounded the alarm about China’s scientific momentum.
“There are now 30% of the original publications [in the journal Science] coming from Chinese labs. The U.S. is now at 30%. The number is declining for the U.S., and it’s increasing for China, so … it’s no longer a copycat [economy.] There’s innovation coming from that country,” she said.
Kahvejian pointed to investor hesitation caused by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s inconsistency, and volatile stock markets. With regards to the FDA drug approval process, he said that some biotech companies are reporting delays and “strange responses” — but that’s not universal.
Kim and Kahvejian both expressed concern about a broader societal drift away from believing in science and supporting scientific research.
Kahvejian said that echo chambers, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and misinformation are amplifying anti-science sentiment. “We need to talk about how this stuff works. We need to make it accessible to people,” he said, calling for better science education and public engagement.
Rae echoed that point, warning that resentment of elites and academia is feeding distrust and division.
And Kahvejian warned that the federal government’s wavering stance on vaccines is damaging long-term public health preparedness and also investment in that industry sector.
“We’ve gone back the other way, almost worse than we were before [COVID], where vaccines are seen as a bad thing,” he said.
Advice about the future job market
Kim emphasized that the rapid pace of change makes it impossible to prescribe a single career path. Instead, she advises her own children to lead with intrinsic motivation: “Pursue your passions,” she said. In her view, the key is not locking into one trajectory, but embracing a mindset of continuous learning and flexibility.
In a world where entire industries can emerge or transform within 18 months, passion can be a compass — guiding students to stay engaged and resilient as the landscape around them changes.
Kahvejian took that one step further, recommending that students follow not just their passion, but their curiosity, especially across disciplinary boundaries.
“Pursue your curiosity almost more than necessarily your passion,” he advised, warning against rigid academic silos. A student who majors in chemistry but ignores developments in AI or statistics risks becoming obsolete, he said. “You will be pigeonholed, and you will end up marginalized.”
Rae argued that foundational technical skills are as vital as ever.
“Don’t be afraid of hard sciences. It is so fundamental to the future,” she said, referring to subjects like physics, biology and chemistry. All three of her children, she said, studied chemical engineering.
At the same time, she encouraged students to embrace AI as a partner, not a threat: “AI is your friend.” She also highlighted the importance of forming relationships with other curious, driven people.
“Cultivate friendships. Cultivate other curious people,” she said.
Kim underscored that opportunity doesn’t always require a four-year degree. She highlighted work with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to create “alternate pathways” into biotech and related fields for students pursuing vocational routes.
“There are a lot of things you can do in manufacturing, as well as on the administrative side — marketing, sales, etc.,” she said.
Massachusetts
54 pounds of marijuana found in Massachusetts woman’s luggage at Pittsburgh International Airport

A Massachusetts woman was caught with more than 50 pounds of marijuana in her luggage at Pittsburgh International Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on Friday.
While inspecting passenger baggage being loaded onto a London-bound flight on Saturday, officers said they found several vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana inside two suitcases. Officers learned the luggage belonged to 30-year-old Jetta Monet Corbett of Brockton, Massachusetts, who was detained at the departure gate.
$240,000 worth of UK-bound marijuana
During a secondary examination, Customs and Border Protection said officers found a total of 49 vacuum-sealed packages of a substance that field tested positive for marijuana.
Authorities said the marijuana weighed over 54 pounds and had a street value of about $240,000. Depending on how strong the drug was, Customs and Border Protection said the shipment could have fetched two to three times more if Corbett had made it to Europe.
(Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
Customs and Border Protection turned the marijuana and Corbett over to the Allegheny County police, who arrested her. She’s charged with one felony count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance.
Criminals are using flights to move weed, CBP says
Bulk marijuana seizures at Pittsburgh International Airport are rare, but Customs and Border Protection said officers have been seeing a trend of “transnational criminal organizations” trying to move marijuana through passenger baggage and express air delivery to Europe and Africa, where it can generate huge profits.
“Anyone considering making a quick buck by carrying bulk marijuana loads for drug trafficking organizations should realize that the consequences you face can be severe when Customs and Border Protection officers catch you,” said James Hindes, Customs and Border Protection’s acting port director for the Port of Pittsburgh.
“One way that law enforcement agencies can combat transnational criminal organizations is to hit them hard in the wallet, so CBP will continue to seize these marijuana loads when we encounter them and deprive criminals of this illicit revenue.”
-
News1 week ago
Read the Full ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Movie Review: 'Pee-wee as Himself' unmasks Paul Reubens
-
Technology1 week ago
Now you can watch the Internet Archive preserve documents in real time
-
World1 week ago
Neo-Nazi cult leader extradited to US for plot to kill Jewish children
-
Technology1 week ago
Discord might use AI to help you catch up on conversations
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Movie review: 'Dogma' re-release highlights thoughtful script – UPI.com
-
Business1 week ago
Plastic Spoons, Umbrellas, Violins: A Guide to What Americans Buy From China
-
Science1 week ago
Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades