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BOSTON — Boston will have four vending machines and eight indoor kiosks distributing life-saving Narcan and other harm reduction supplies in another step toward preventing overdose deaths, Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Public Health Commission announced. “Unfortunately, many people living with substance use disorder don’t use harm reduction tools, like naloxone and clean syringes, due to stigma, lack of access or unawareness,” said Public Health Commissioner Bisola Ojikutu. “These vending machines and kiosks are a low-cost, compassionate way to destigmatize harm reduction and expand access throughout our city.” Naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, is a medication used to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses. Other harm reductions supplies intended to keep people safe and alive include safe clean injection kits and fentanyl test strips. The kiosks and public health vending machines are part of an “evidence-based strategy” of expanding access to naloxone to combat the city’s opioid crisis, the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) said. The commission cited a 33% decrease in overdose deaths to 68 deaths in Boston in the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, noting “promising results” of the strategy. BPHC was using about $7.5 million to expand access to naloxone and other resources as of October 2024. Within the framework of Boston’s federally-funded $2.7 million Overdose Data to Action program, BPHC said they will set up the four public health vending machines at existing harm reduction, homeless services, and medical program facilities. The state purchased a total of 14 of the vending machines. In addition to the naloxone and harm reduction supplies, the organizations at each site may choose to stock the machines with public health necessities like pregnancy tests, socks and PPE, city officials said. The machines will be at BPHC Recovery Services in the Finland Building, Southampton shelter, EnVision Hotel, and North End Waterfront Community Health Center’s Charlestown public housing location. “This work reflects our continued commitment to community health care by increasing access to life saving supplies, inviting individuals into care, and reducing stigmatizing experiences for the Charlestown community,” said David Perry, Director of Substance Use Disorders at North End Waterfront Health, stating they are “proud to partner with BPHC on this initiative.” The naloxone kiosks, funded by Carelon and the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership, will likewise go up at eight locations strategically aimed to reach of populations with higher overdose rates, the commission said. The indoor kiosk locations include Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, Recovery on the Harbor, SPOKE Gallery, Suffolk County Jail and House of Correction, The Phoenix, and Woods Mullen Women’s Shelter. The kiosks, repurposed from old newspaper stands, will also offer connections to support resources like the phone number for the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line, BPHC said, which offers “free clinical assessments, crisis support, and referrals to treatment for substance use and mental health disorders.” Similar to Boston, Massachusetts saw a significant 23% drop in overdose deaths in the past year, totaling 2,032 drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period that ended June 30, 2024. In the U.S., overdose deaths decrease about 14% in the same period. --------- ©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Adam Clark scores 18 to help Merrimack knock off Niagara 80-62
A proposal to end an “invaluable” timber machining apprenticeship programme in Rotorua has left its tutor of 17 years worried for his students. The proposal at the Bay of Plenty tertiary institution Toi Ohomai – if confirmed – would have up to 20 jobs lost and the end of “highly valued courses”, its union said. A Te Hautū Kahurangi Tertiary Education Union statement on November 13 said courses at risk were across campuses in Taupō , Tokoroa , Rotorua, Tauranga and Whakatāne . They included forestry, timber machining, hairdressing, makeup and skincare, and social work. The union slammed the proposed cuts and said it might result in the closure of the Waipā campus in Rotorua – a dedicated training facility that operates a working wood manufacturing plant. Toi Ohomai said institutes of technology and polytechnics needed to become “financially viable” as the Government worked towards disestablishing Te Pūkenga and forming a new vocational education structure.
By BEN FINLEY The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online in nine languages , from English to Japanese. On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens for potential threats , such as last year’s Chinese spy balloon . But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?” “There are screams and giggles and laughter,” said Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer. Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, “Do you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early.” NORAD’s annual tracking of Santa has endured since the Cold War , predating ugly sweater parties and Mariah Carey classics . The tradition continues regardless of government shutdowns, such as the one in 2018 , and this year . Here’s how it began and why the phones keep ringing. It started with a child’s accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number. A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list. “He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999. Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” Shoup said he learned from the boy’s mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said. In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80 foot (18-by-24 meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole. The tradition was born. “Note to the kiddies,” began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. “Santa Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.” In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from “those who do not believe in Christmas.” Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup’s story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy’s call. In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo cited an International News Service story from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child’s call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number. “When a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should — considering the season: ‘There may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he’s not the one I worry about coming from that direction,’” Shoup said in the brief piece. In 2015, The Atlantic magazine doubted the flood of calls to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations. Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955. A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, “You leave it right there,” and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike. “Why, it made the military look good — like we’re not all a bunch of snobs who don’t care about Santa Claus,” he said. Shoup died in 2009. His children told the StoryCorps podcast in 2014 that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls. “And later in life he got letters from all over the world,” said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. “People saying ‘Thank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.’” NORAD’s tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010. Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa’s story and views it through a technological lens. In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada —- known as the northern warning system — are the first to detect Santa. He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night. “That’s when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,” Cunningham said. “A probably little-known fact is that Rudolph’s nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.” NORAD has an app and website, www.noradsanta.org , that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, mountain standard time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.
If this is TikTok’s last Christmas in America, it’s not going out quietly. The social media platform’s shopping arm, TikTok Shop, has seen heavy levels of consumer spending so far this holiday shopping season, Reuters reported Saturday (Dec. 7), citing its own analysis of spending patterns measured by data firm Facteus. That data showed U.S. spending on TikTok Shop surpassing spending on Shein and Temu in the seven days leading up to Cyber Monday. According to Reuters, Facteus said its data comes from 140 million consumer debit and credit cards accounting for 7% to 10% of all U.S. spending. In late November, TikTok Shop announced that its sales had reached $100 million on Black Friday, after previously revealing that the number of people purchasing goods on TikTok Shop each month had nearly tripled. However, the company’s future in the U.S. is uncertain, as a ban on TikTok is set to kick in next month unless its China-based owner ByteDance divests itself of the company. ByteDance has been fighting the ban in court, and lost a battle in that war last week when a U.S. appeals court ruled that the law requiring it to sell TikTok does not violate the First Amendment . The ruling means the ban will go into effect unless the app is sold or the Supreme Court steps in. “The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote for the panel, per a Bloomberg News report. “Here the government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.” TikTok said in a statement on the decision that it expects the Supreme Court to protect “Americans’ right to free speech” on this issue as the court has done historically. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people,” the statement said. If the ban does go into effect, merchants in the U.S. will be among those who suffer, Erik Huberman , CEO of marketing agency Hawke Media , which has clients selling goods through the platform, told Reuters. “TikTok Shop is a new distribution channel and brands are doing really well on it,” Huberman said. “Honestly, there isn’t an alternative. It will be a lost revenue stream.”
Basketball NBA Market Overview and Leading Players: Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Zion Williamson, Khris Middleton, Joel Embiid, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Jayson TatumBOSTON — Boston will have four vending machines and eight indoor kiosks distributing life-saving Narcan and other harm reduction supplies in another step toward preventing overdose deaths, Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Public Health Commission announced. “Unfortunately, many people living with substance use disorder don’t use harm reduction tools, like naloxone and clean syringes, due to stigma, lack of access or unawareness,” said Public Health Commissioner Bisola Ojikutu. “These vending machines and kiosks are a low-cost, compassionate way to destigmatize harm reduction and expand access throughout our city.” Naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, is a medication used to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses. Other harm reductions supplies intended to keep people safe and alive include safe clean injection kits and fentanyl test strips. The kiosks and public health vending machines are part of an “evidence-based strategy” of expanding access to naloxone to combat the city’s opioid crisis, the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) said. The commission cited a 33% decrease in overdose deaths to 68 deaths in Boston in the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, noting “promising results” of the strategy. BPHC was using about $7.5 million to expand access to naloxone and other resources as of October 2024. Within the framework of Boston’s federally-funded $2.7 million Overdose Data to Action program, BPHC said they will set up the four public health vending machines at existing harm reduction, homeless services, and medical program facilities. The state purchased a total of 14 of the vending machines. In addition to the naloxone and harm reduction supplies, the organizations at each site may choose to stock the machines with public health necessities like pregnancy tests, socks and PPE, city officials said. The machines will be at BPHC Recovery Services in the Finland Building, Southampton shelter, EnVision Hotel, and North End Waterfront Community Health Center’s Charlestown public housing location. “This work reflects our continued commitment to community health care by increasing access to life saving supplies, inviting individuals into care, and reducing stigmatizing experiences for the Charlestown community,” said David Perry, Director of Substance Use Disorders at North End Waterfront Health, stating they are “proud to partner with BPHC on this initiative.” The naloxone kiosks, funded by Carelon and the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership, will likewise go up at eight locations strategically aimed to reach of populations with higher overdose rates, the commission said. The indoor kiosk locations include Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, Recovery on the Harbor, SPOKE Gallery, Suffolk County Jail and House of Correction, The Phoenix, and Woods Mullen Women’s Shelter. The kiosks, repurposed from old newspaper stands, will also offer connections to support resources like the phone number for the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line, BPHC said, which offers “free clinical assessments, crisis support, and referrals to treatment for substance use and mental health disorders.” Similar to Boston, Massachusetts saw a significant 23% drop in overdose deaths in the past year, totaling 2,032 drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period that ended June 30, 2024. In the U.S., overdose deaths decrease about 14% in the same period. --------- ©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Mashburn scores 18 as Temple beats Buffalo 91-71CION Investment Corporation: Deep Discount And Tempting Yield But Riskier
Pete Wicks has finally spoken out after his departure from Strictly Come Dancing , marking the end of his journey on the hit BBC One show. The TOWIE favourite was competing with pro dancer Jowita Przystal but fell short of reaching the grand finale. The duo were eliminated in the semi-final round, narrowly missing a spot in the much-anticipated final next weekend. Their exit came during Sunday night's results show (December 8), where they faced the dance-off against Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec. Reflecting on his Strictly experience with host Tess Daly, Pete remarked: "It's been wild. I've been quite honest about the fact that I didn't necessarily want to do this [Strictly] in the first place, but everyone else wanted me to do it, and I am so, so glad that I did it!" He continued, emphasizing the joy of participation over perfection: "You don't always have to be the best, but if you enjoy something then why shouldn't you have a go at it? I've tried my best from day one, I said I was in for a penny, in for a pound and I've done it, it's been beautiful." In the tense dance-off, judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke chose to save Tasha and Aljaz, with head judge Shirley Ballas also conceding she would have made the same decision, reports the Manchester Evening News . In the wake of the recent results show, Pete dashed to Instagram to share snapshots of his semi-final exploits with Jowita, sharing: "The past 3-4 months have been nothing short of incredible. I spent 12 weeks saying my time in the show was gonna be over and each week I was wrong...until now." Expressing utmost satisfaction with his journey concluding, he stated: "I couldn't be happier with the way it ended, there is no one I would have rather been in a dance off with than Tasha. She is the most beautiful dancer, the most beautiful person inside and out and I'm so proud of her for making the final because she deserves it so much." Attributing his success on the show to public support, he expressed gratitude, saying: "The only reason I stayed in the show for so long is because of you, the people. You supported me throughout and that is something I'll never be able to forget and something I never expected. We went on this journey together, the ups and downs and with the right attitude, it's about learning and it's about entertaining." Pete reflected on his determination and acknowledgment of the fans' role, concluding with: "I tried my best from day 1 and I took the show seriously, I did what I could and I appreciate every single one of you that gave me the opportunity to keep doing that week on week. You don't always have to be the best or have the most talent, but you should never stop trying! Thank you." The 36-year-old podcast host elaborated: "The show isn't just what you see on a Saturday night, it's not all jazz hands...there are an unbelievable amount of wonderful people that make it all happen. From top to bottom, the people that make the show are f**king magical. Every department is full of people who care, who create and work so hard to make Strictly what it is. Thank you all for putting up with me for so long!" Pete went on to say: "Lastly but most importantly, this experience wouldn't have been anything without Jowita. She believed in me since the first day and never stopped. She supported me, listened to me, made me laugh and cry but most of all she made me believe in myself when I didn't think I could do it. We did everything our way, and for me that was the right way. I'm so sorry that I couldn't get you to a final, I tried my best and you deserve to be there." He warmly concluded: "The show may have ended for us but one thing won't, you will always have a friend in me. You have become such a special person in my life and just because that won't continue on a ballroom floor doesn't mean it won't continue. Unfortunately for you, you've gained a friend for life. You will always be my dancing gnome. Px." (sic) Overwhelmed by his sentiments, Jowita quickly replied: "I'm so proud of you and you don't need to be sorry for anything. For me we won and I gain way more then being in the final ... I gain a beautiful friendship." (sic) Strictly Come Dancing returns next weekend for the live final on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has fired back at the former Governor of Rivers State, Dr Peter Odili, saying that “an elder statesman should not be a trader and a sycophant all the time.” Wike, who was speaking at the Special Thanksgiving Service organised by Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule, at the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Oro-Igwe/Eliogbolo Archdeaconry Church of the Holy Spirit, Eliozu Parish, Port Harcourt on Sunday, said it was unfortunate that somebody who is supposed to be seen as an elder statesman and called a father can reduce himself to a sycophant and a trader. He asked; “Must you be a trader all the time? As governor for eight years, what else are you looking for?” The Minister said; “You know, I didn’t want to say anything. But somebody called me last night and told me what someone said on social media. I said until I read it myself. This morning, I read in the newspapers, what our former Governor, Sir Dr Peter Odili said. “What did he say? He said that the present governor has been able to stop one man who wanted to convert Rivers State to his estate. “Between him and myself, who has turned Rivers State into his personal estate? His wife is a Chairman of Governing Council, his daughter is a commissioner, his other daughter is a judge and he is the general overseer. Who has now turned Rivers State to his private estate? I am sure if care is not taken if there is a chance, he can even arrange a marriage for the governor. “It was his nephew, his late senior brother’s son that was recommended for commissioner. He took the slot and gave it to his own daughter. Someone who didn’t remember to stand for the son of his late elder brother, is that an elder statesman?” Speaking further, the FCT Minister said it was painful that Dr Odili, out of political sycophancy, has forgotten all that he said in the past, adding; “All of you here remember when I was governor, this same Odili praised me to high heaven. In fact, he said then that all past governors in Rivers State combined did not do better than me. “In 2007 after he left office, he couldn’t come near power in the State because Amaechi was the governor then. He was gone! “Like somebody said that God will use someone to lift someone. When I came in as governor in 2015, I won’t use the word resurrected, but I brought him back to life. “All of us know about PAMO University. But for us, there wouldn’t have been anything called PAMO University. Rivers State was sponsoring 100 students per session and for every semester, each of the students was paying nothing less than N5m. Then, Rivers people were attacking me up and down. “I called Julius Berger to build a mansion for him to live. He was calling everyone to the house then, telling them, come and see what Wike has done for me. Wike has shown me love. He was taking them round the house. “Now, because you have organized a Christmas Carol for the governor, I didn’t say you should not do your Christmas Carol. But why reduce yourself to such a laughing stock? People will still see it on television how he was telling the whole world then how God used me to bring him back to life politically. “Why not do your Christmas Carol, collect what you can collect, and leave me alone? “The governor that all of us made has not spent one year in office and the same Odili was already saying that the governor has beaten the records of all the past governors of Rivers State. “When I was there, he said I had surpassed the records of all the past governors, including himself. What can he even show that he did in his eight years as governor? But a governor has not spent one year, you are saying he has done more than all the past governors. “You spent eight years as governor and someone who hasn’t spent one year has surpassed your records, what manner of elder talk like that? Is that what an elder statesman should be known for? “When I was governor, my pictures were everywhere in his house. Sitting room, bedroom, kitchen, even in the toilet, my picture was everywhere. But today, all the pictures have been removed.” Asking what can be learned from such an elder statesman, Wike said; “What can I learn from this kind of elder? What kind of advice can one get from him? This moment you are saying something, the next moment you are saying something else. “You see, if your children begin to ask you, is this not the same man you were praising before? What would you tell them?” On the State governorship issue, the Minister asked; “When I was plotting who will be governor after me, was he (Odili) there? Then, he was complaining about this governor, saying that he couldn’t stand before the public to talk. But today, he is organizing Christmas Carol for the same governor he was against then. “He has forgotten all that he said in the past. I named this after you, I named that after your wife. What have I not done? “You said we should not be part of the government, we have left. We are managing, you have taken assembly money, they are not dying of hunger and they will not die of hunger. We are okay. I’m focusing on my job in Abuja and all these sycophancy won’t take him to the level I have attained. “This is a man who wanted to run for president then, he didn’t have the balls, he chickened out. Simply because Obasanjo said no, he will not contest, he ran away. Because of him, I never invited Obasanjo to Rivers State to commission projects. I felt it will humiliate him.” READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
I am writing to share with you a cherished memory of mine from the 1990 Habitat for Humanity Milagro en la Frontera project in Mexico where I had the honor of meeting President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. President Jimmy Carter speaking to a gathering at a Habitat for Humanity worksite in Mexico in 1990. At the time, I was a graduate student in Toronto, Canada, and I flew down to San Diego to meet a college friend, Heidi Ernst Jones, who had flown from Washington D.C. Together, we had the privilege of providing our time and skills building homes. One of the highlights was helping to set up Millard and Linda Fuller’s tent, and it was during this time that we had the opportunity to chat with President and Mrs. Carter. Jeremy Fisher, right, at a Habitat for Humanity worksite in Mexico in 1990. I must say, they were truly approachable and engaging. I was struck by their warmth, intelligence, and genuine concern for others. They both took the time to ask about our backgrounds and interests, and I was impressed by their ability to connect with people on a personal level. It was clear that they cared deeply about the work Habitat for Humanity was doing and were genuinely interested in hearing about the experiences of volunteers. Looking back, I realize that meeting the Carters was a unique and unforgettable experience. They were such kind and generous individuals, and I left the encounter feeling inspired and energized. Heidi and I still reminisce about that experience 30 years ago. On a Habitat for Humanity worksite in Mexico in 1990, from left, were Jeremy Fisher, Linda Fuller, Millard Fuller, Heidi Ernst (Jones). In closing, I just wanted to express my gratitude for the example that the Carters have set for all of us. In an era where politics can be divisive and polarizing, it is refreshing to see leaders who embody compassion, empathy, and humility. I believe that if more politicians modeled themselves after the Carters, we would see a more compassionate and equitable society. Thank you for allowing me to share this memory with you. I hope that it brings a smile to your face and inspires you as it has me. Fisher is with JPMorgan Chase & Co. as their Senior Government and Not-For-Profit Banker in the Carolinas and Tennessee, based out of Charlotte. He said his work with Habitat For Humanity started in 1986 when he was a student at Lenoir-Rhyne College (now University). He worked projects in Peru and Guatemala (1988) then worked with Habitat when he was a graduate student at University of Toronto from 1988-1990. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!