Massachusetts
Rapid River Robotics team heads to Massachusetts
RAPID RIVER, Mich. (WLUC) – A group of Rapid River fourth and fifth graders took their Lego robot and headed to Massachusetts Wednesday night for a weekend competition.
A police escort led the Rapid River Robotics team out of town as the group hit the road. They had more than an 18-hour drive ahead of them, and fifth grader Terrell Harris had plans.
“What do I have planned for the bus ride? Just kind of like talk to my friends,” Harris said. “I’m going to read a lot. Party, probably.”
The team is heading to Worcester, Massachusetts, where they’ll compete against more than 100 teams from across the world at the WPI First Lego League International Championship.
“I’m not really nervous about that,” Harris said.
The students qualified for the event by doing well in earlier meets.
“This was the first year that we qualified out of our regional event at NMU,” Co-Coach Jake Denkins said. “So, it was a good year for us because we qualified for our state meet and now, we qualified to go out to Boston.”
At the state meet in December, the team placed 7th out of 726 teams in Michigan. Fourth grader Tristen Leadman said he couldn’t believe it.
“I was super excited,” he said. “I teared up a little.”
Denkins said the students build the robot and program different missions. They then have the robot complete the missions during competition. Engineering, problem-solving and teamwork are all skills the students develop while being on the team.
“Everybody gets to work with everybody, and everybody gets to work on a different section every week,” Denkins said.
Leadman said the team had a system for dealing with any conflicts.
“Whenever we would get into disagreement, we would vote democratically,” he said.
Leadman added that the team got along with each other most of the time.
Both Leadman and Harris said they joined the team because they wanted to hang out with their friends.
“And I really like playing with Legos,” Leadman said.
Denkins said the trip isn’t all about work and competition. They planned to stop at Niagara Falls on their way to Massachusetts and spend an afternoon in Boston, exploring history, after the competition is over.
Copyright 2024 WLUC. All rights reserved.
Massachusetts
Is it really going to snow in New England tomorrow? Here’s what to expect from storm
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.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Top Cop Off the Hook for Secret Recording Program
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
How Hard Health Care Hits MA Family Budgets
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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