Fitchburg Leominster News Magazine - Local News, Articles, Sports - Fitchburg Leominster MA

We had another widespread hard freeze across all of New England with freeze warnings Friday morning in southern New England and along the coast. Temperatures dropped to the 20s in many more spots compared to Thursday morning. This afternoon will be nice and sunny again thanks to high pressure settling in. Once the afternoon, sun warms us up a bit more, temps reach the mid to upper 50s to near 60 inland. However, the classic sea breeze keeps our temps in the low 50s for Boston and the coast.  The center of high pressure slips offshore to our east, southeast and our wind direction changes to be more from the south Friday night. Overnight, lows drop to the 30s but it won’t be quite as cold, still watch for patchy frost. Temps warm to the 60s for Saturday and to near 70 for Sunday. Sea breezes are still likely at the coast both days, so expect some cooler temps there. More clouds will be around for Sunday as a system is nearby. The forecast models have actually decreased our rain chance for Sunday. Though a few showers will be around from morning to midday. As the jet stream amplifies more north, south and we build in warmth under a ridge. With that, temps reach the low to mid 70s for early next week inland. Either sea breezes or a backdoor front early next week will keep us at the coast in the 60s to even 50s. Inland we stay in the low 70s through at least midweek.   

Four people suspected of orchestrating sophisticated break-ins of the homes of Indian and South Asian families across Massachusetts and beyond in recent years were arrested in Rhode Island Friday, authorities said. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan referred to them as “a very sophisticated ring of homebreakers,” and said some of the victims “were truly traumatized and, in some cases, robbed of pieces of their heritage.” The burglaries involved at least 43 break-ins across more than two dozen communities, Ryan said. Authorities on Friday recovered some of the gems, jewelry and cash stolen from the phones. The four suspected robbers include two brothers and their father. They’re believed to be part of a gang in Rhode Island, and investigators found they used wifi jammers while they knew the victims were out of the house, and targeted the families because they believed the victims would have high-value items at home, in part because of their cultural heritage. Ryan said prosecutors are looking into whether hate crime charges are appropriate. Authorities had previously warned about break-ins targeting the South Asian community. Ryan said police were working to notify the victims. More on the robberies targeting Massachusetts' South Asian community crime Aug 10, 2023 Burglaries targeting South Asian community to be addressed by local officials Sudbury Aug 3, 2023 2 home break-ins reported in Sudbury over 2 days

What’s next for the New England Patriots? It’s the question the team has really been asking since Tom Brady left. However, now, the team has selected what they hope to be the new face of the franchise: University of North Carolina quarterback, Drake Maye. Pats fans will get to meet their new quarterback Friday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Maye was selected by the Patriots as the third overall pick in Thursday night’s draft. He could become the future of the franchise under new head coach Jerod Mayo. NBC Sports Boston Patriots insider Phil Perry gave the pick an “A,” saying Maye is aggressive and has creative playmaking abilities. So, just who is Drake Maye? He was a sophomore quarterback at the University of North Carolina He’s 21 years old Last season he had more than 4,000 total yards and 33 touchdowns He was the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year The highest Patriots draft pick since Drew Bledsoe in 1993 “Tom Brady is the goat. It’s easy to say that. He’s the best that’s ever played this game. I’m not gonna say I’m Tom Brady. I’m just going to be Drake Maye and from there, I’m just going to learn from him and hopefully get to know him a bit. And other than that, I’m gonna learn all I can from him. He’s the man in that town,” said Maye. Maye will be at Gillette Friday to be formally introduced as a New England Patriot. More on the NFL Draft NFL draft 9 hours ago 2024 NFL Draft ties record for most wide receivers drafted in first round John's Sewer & Drain Cleaning 11 hours ago Perry's Draft Grade: Pats get potential top 5 QB in Drake Maye NFL draft 14 hours ago Bears select Caleb Williams with No. 1 pick in 2024 NFL Draft

Protests over the Middle East war continue at schools in Massachusetts and across the country. In Boston, students are demonstrating at Emerson College, Harvard University, MIT and Tufts University. Northeastern University students are now also joining in on the protests. On Northeastern’s campus, the encampment remains. Dozens of people, apparently including students and faculty, formed a ring around an encampment at Northeastern’s Centennial Common. After several hours, a large group of police officers surrounded the group and asked them to leave. A third ring of people, media and spectators, formed around the edge of the park. Students are remaining steadfast in their belief that it’s worth it to continue to call for Northeastern to support a ceasefire in Gaza and divest from companies with ties to Israel, even if they could face discipline or arrests. “We would like northeastern to denounce the genocide that is happening in Palestine. We think that would be a very powerful gesture from the university, and we think it would be very in line with the university’s values,” said August Escandon, Northeastern senior. Boston police told NBC News that’d made no arrests as of about 3:15 p.m. Thursday. NBC10 Boston has reached out to Northeastern and Northeastern police on the situation. Meanwhile, over at Emerson, student protesters plan to hold a vote of no confidence Friday in the school’s president. On Thursday, the school canceled classes, hours after police broke up the encampment shortly before 2 a.m. “Emerson College recognizes and respects the civic activism and passion that sparked the protest in Boylston Place Alley in support of Palestine while also holding and communicating concerns related to the numerous ordinance violations caused by their encampment. We also understand that clearing the encampment has significantly and adversely impacted our community,” Emerson President Jay Bernhard said in a statement. Students who witnessed the dayslong encampment being broken up described it as shocking — police pushing through the Boylston Place Alley, where the encampment had been since Sunday night to protest the war in Gaza. Video obtained by NBC10 Boston shows students being removed from the alleyway by law enforcement. Witnesses said officers cleared out the alley in less than 30 minutes. Boston police said 108 people were arrested on charges of unlawful assembly, with other charges possible. They were expected to be arraigned sometime Thursday. “We were all linking arms saying like ‘Ceasefire Now’ and they moved in,” said senior Percy DavisShaw. “Many students were thrown to the ground.” DavisShaw was among the protesters arrested at Emerson. “I was pulled away from my fellow activists,” said DavisShaw. Students had been warned that they were breaking city ordinances by setting up an encampment on public property. “I do understand this was a public walkway and the ordinances in place,” said Emerson junior Leah Dawson. “However, the handling of the students is where I’m upset about it.” Boston police say four officers were injured and no students were hurt. But multiple students, including Emerson’s student government president, claim several students were injured. “We condemn the brutal arrests that occurred yesterday,” said Nandon Nair, president-elect of the Student Government Association. Student leaders say they’ll be holding a vote of no confidence on Friday against the school’s president. They say the police reaction was too violent, and the school has not supported the protesters. “I think there definitely could have been a lot more negotiations,” said Nair. “I think there could have been a lot more de-escalation tactics used, but there was absolutely no need for the brutalization and for the actions that we saw yesterday.” Boston police at Boylston Place Alley, where an encampment set up to protest the war in Gaza was cleared early Thursday, April 25, 2024. Mayor Michelle Wu discussed the arrests at the Emerson encampment, saying that the city’s responsibility is on ensuring the safety of everyone in Boston and that tents in the alley posed health, fire and access hazards. Her team had reviewed some bodycam footage showing officers communicating with organizers of the protest, but that there was more to investigate. “There’s still a lot more to review here and I know that world events, global events are incredibly painful and emotional for our community. We cannot let that destabilize the safety and wellbeing of our residents here in Boston,” Wu said. Emerson sophomore Kyle Graff said police had spoken with protestors ahead of their show of force and warned them there had been complaints and that if they didn’t leave the premises, they would be arrested. Graff said it was still shocking to watch how quickly it got violent, adding that students linked arms to try to form a wall. “They had like just barriers set up with like umbrellas facing forward and making sure that no one could get through, making sure that the cops couldn’t get through. And there over here they had – over in the front entrance, their arms were all linked up, and they were all chanting their messages,” Graff said. “The big vans, they came in, they parked right in front of this alleyway and the cops came up and they started arresting students like forcing their way into the encampment and everything, pushing students to the ground. I saw one student get like shoved into the pavement and their hands like forced to be put behind them.” Police cars lined Boylston Street early Thursday morning, with yellow police tape blocking off the alley where students had gathered. Cleanup appeared to be underway. Emerson had previously warned that the tents blocking Boylston Place Alley were in violation of city ordinances and said action could be taken outside of the school’s control. “Of additional concern, Emerson has received credible reports that some protestors are engaging in targeted harassment and intimidation of Jewish supporters of Israel and students, staff, faculty, and neighbors seeking to pass through the alley. This type of behavior is unacceptable on our campus,” school officials said in a statement. Classes at Emerson expected to resume Friday. College students in New England and nationwide have remained resilient in their protests against the war in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian encampments have popped up across campus lawns at MIT, Harvard University and other Boston area colleges. These students are standing in solidarity with their peers from Columbia University in New York. Not only are they calling for peace, but they’re demanding the university divest from Israel and do more to protect Jewish students. At Harvard, students took over the lawns at Harvard Yard Wednesday. The area had been closed off and currently security is checking IDs before letting students through — an unusual move as the area is usually open to anyone walking through the area. Video posted by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee shows a large group descending on the area at once, moving quickly to set up tents and establish their encampment. These demonstrations have been criticized by some as being antisemitic. One student who spoke with NBC10 Boston explained why she didn’t consider that the case. “Students are not for antisemitism whatsoever. I think they truly are just for human peace,” said Kaysia Harrington, a junior at Harvard. “I don’t think calling for a ceasefire is antisemitic whatsoever. I think that some of the very, very radical chants are very concerning, and I don’t think those are appropriate or have room for the movement here.” “As of right now, it’s not threatening,” said Jewish student Rebecca Hirschfeld, who says the camp should be removed if it becomes violent or disruptive. “It’s been very calm, I haven’t heard anything that makes me feel unsafe. We’ll have to see what comes.” “We are closely monitoring the situation and are prioritizing the safety and security of the campus community,” a Harvard spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday evening. Tents were also still standing on MIT’s campus Wednesday morning. These students say this encampment will remain until university officials meet their demands. Those demands are like the encampments at Columbia University. They want their schools to stop accepting funding from groups that directly or indirectly fund the war in Gaza. At Columbia, a school spokesperson said progress was being made, with student protestors committing to removing several of the tents and ensuring only students will be participating in the encampment. The dispersal deadline had been extended and conversations there between the protesters and school officials were expected to continue for the next 48 hours. Back at MIT, a coalition of student groups, including Jewish students, continue to push for progress on their goals, while some faculty are speaking out against them. "I think that we're all here because there are over 34,000 Palestinians dead, over half of them are children and we feel that we want to speak out about that, but also to talk about MIT's complicity in the genocide of through our relationship with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and funding relationships specifically," said Gabriella Martini, MIT Scientists Against Genocide. "I think that this group is vocal but it's essentially representing a very extreme and small group of Jewish people that lost their way," said MIT Professor Retsef Levi, MIT Israel Alliance. MIT police were on site and watching closely for any disturbances. Yet another encampment has popped up at Brown University in Rhode Island, reports NBC10 in Providence. Around 90 students were observed Wednesday morning setting up in the main green area of campus. The university warned that the camp is in violation of university policy. “Encampment on Brown University’s historic and residential greens is a violation of University policy, and all of the students participating have been informed they will face conduct proceedings,” the university said in a statement. "We're ready to face that. There's no business as usual during genocide," Rafi Ash, a sophomore at Brown, told the station. Others pushed back on the encampments, saying that these demonstrations disrupt campus life and raise antisemitism concerns. Brown is one of many colleges warning students that they could face consequences for these encampments. More on the Israel-Hamas war Congress Apr 23 Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote news Apr 22 Billionaire donors rethink Columbia University support amid pro-Palestinian protests Israel-Hamas War Apr 22 Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over his role in failing to prevent Oct. 7 attack This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Temperature forecasts from here into next week are riddled with pitfalls, surprises and shades of disappointment. We’re certain that the warmup is on the way but for some along the coast, it will be muted by the sea breeze. That’s typical for early spring, but forecasting it’s every whim is a study in patience and timing. We’ll climb out of the cold morning with plenty of warm late-spring sun. That should help us to 60 away from the coast but along the water, we’re not doing much better than low/mid 50s (still better than Thursday). We’ll see another cool morning Friday before we kick the threat of frosty mornings to the curb. Saturday is the pick of the weekend with highs leaping to the upper 60s away from the coast and near 60 at the coast. Sea breezes again move in during the afternoon under more sunshine. Sunday starts the tougher part of the temperature forecast. We know there may be some feeble, passing showers early in the day, but it appears afternoon clearing will allow temps to soar. 70s are likely for many, but it may be hard to get them to the coast if the sea breeze fights back. Monday seems more like a steady sea breeze day as temps slump a bit areawide. Then, it’s another nail biter on Tuesday and Wednesday with sea breezes either holding or sneaking in during the afternoon. It’s quite conceivable that towns and cities away from the coast enjoy a string of 70s both Tuesday and Wednesday (and Thursday). One thing rings true in the forecast: we’re mostly dry. Yeah, I had to read that after I typed it, too. Storms are avoiding us, and fronts passing through won’t be enough for all-day rains. Enjoy the weekend!