Latest news with #NewEnglanders
UPI
5 hours ago
- UPI
FBI's Boston office warns New Englanders of rising phone scams
The Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (main HQ pictured in February in Washington, D.C.) said last year over 17,300 Americans were scam victims victims that saw criminals impersonate government or other law enforcement agencies with financial losses totaling more than $405 million. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 29 (UPI) -- FBI officials in New England on Tuesday issued a public warning over an uptick in scam phone calls purporting to be law enforcement in a bid to steal money or other personal info. The Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said last year over 17,300 Americans reported as scam victims that saw criminals impersonate government or other law enforcement agencies. Such scams resulted in financial losses totaling more than $405 million. "We've seen an increase in these scams, which is why we're reminding the public to resist the urge to act immediately and verify who is actually contacting you," Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge at the FBI's Boston Division, said in a statement. Boston's FBI division says scams impersonating the FBI and other government agencies are "a persistent problem" that can also occur via email. "Be advised, law enforcement and federal agencies do not call individuals threatening arrest or demanding money," according to federal officials. They added that scammers can "spoof" caller ID information to make it appear a call is arriving from a legitimate phone number. Docks said that fraudsters currently are "capitalizing on fear and intimidation" because, he pointed out, "nobody wants to be the subject of a law enforcement investigation." His office warned possible victims that if a person thinks they are a victim of a scam or suffered a financial loss to "cease all contact with the scammers immediately, notify your financial institutions and safeguard any financial accounts." According to the bureau, scammer tactics change continually but often share similar characteristics, such as intimidation, using an urgent tone, crypto-related payments, suggesting secrecy or using a supposed emergency situation as leverage. On Tuesday, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center said 778 New Englanders from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire to Rhode Island had reported scams with nearly $13 million in reported financial loses for victims. In Massachusetts, at least 507 residents collectively lost more than $9.5 million compared to Rhode Island's 67 victims who lost about $147,880. The FBI said it will never call or email to demand payment, threaten arrest, ask anything related to money or request sensitive personal data. It further suggested to keep all relevant documentation. "Do not send money to anybody you do not personally know and trust," FBI officials stated. "Never give out your personal information, including your Social Security number, over the phone or to individuals you do not know," they added. Last year in November the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency raised the alarm over scams that saw fraudsters claim to be federal CBP employees demanding money or other items from FBI advisement came on the heels of April's revelation of a "steady" uptick in the New England region of fraud relating to quit claim deeds. But the federal government says even if there was no financial loss, "all types of fraud schemes and scams" should warrant a report to the Internet crime division for analysis or referral to aid the public fight against scammers. Meanwhile, Boston's FBI division advised the public to contact its office at 857-386-2000 if a person is seeking to confirm contact by an actual federal employee, or file an Internet crime report.
Boston Globe
21-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Boston Globe
Wildfires, EEE, rainy weekends. What happened to summer?
I pull it off, inspect it, Google it, and learn it's a 'seed tick' in its larval stage of life. I flick it outside, and we decide to spend the rest of the day inside. It's hot out there anyhow! And if it's not hot, it's weirdly cold, or humid or raining for But we need that jerk. Maybe it's that steady march of time wearing down our mortal vessels, or maybe it's environmental calamities or the scheduling of endless activities, but summer does feel like it's picking up speed. My family is still in the toddler phase, meaning we're not yet into pre-professional athletics. But even without sports camps or travel teams, we're booked until mid-August. Our calendar looks like a battle map, packed with blue arrows and red boxes and orange troop formations. Notes about in-law arrival and departure times, a number for that company I need to call about that thing. A far cry from the summers of my youth, when the same months were a carefree canvas to fill with bike riding, video gaming, and landscaping. OK maybe not that carefree, but one thing we definitely didn't worry about: Advertisement Or Advertisement At least there's the beach! After we slather on sunscreen and bug repellant and strap on the oxygen mask, we can swim! You already know: more than cyanobacteri-ers? If you're thinking, 'Enough with the doom and the gloom and the spores!' . . . I get it. But all this invites a few questions: Are the high alerts making summer speed past? Are the threats valid? Are we over scheduling our summers because we're constantly comparing our summers to other people's? No, yeah, and probably. Since 1990, Advertisement It's easy to blame social media and someone else in general for the feeling our summer is disappearing. Indoor downtime can turn into envy moments when we compare our lives and summers to our friend's trip to Greece, Miami, or Scituate. We're fed constant updates on wars and tariffs and the on-again-off-again romance between Truth Social Guy and X-Man. Every summer, we're back here, though, bemoaning the brevity. This was our summer! This was me time! I entered June like a tornado, ripping through house projects to get stuff finished before we welcomed baby number three. Then we had the baby on June 30th, and we have been forced to move at the speed of a newborn. Slowing down has made me realize we need that jerk reminding us that the end is near — the end of the summer anyway. If you're scared to miss something, it makes you appreciate it that much more. If we were all immortal or lived in Florida, who would care that Labor Day had come and gone? New Englanders know the season is fleeting. We feel November in the chill of the freezer aisle, and think of icy January when we're fixing that crack in the foundation. That's why it feels short: because we want summer to last. It helps to focus on what you can control. I can control this: When my kid believes with his entire heart that the Blue Line is the fastest of all the lines, we drive to the Wood Island stop and take the train to Wonderland station (whose name makes it the biggest let down for a child in all of Massachusetts) then walk to Revere Beach. The sun is shining, the water is frigid, a classic summer day. Advertisement And not a tick in sight. Bart Tocci is a Boston-based writer. Send comments to magazine@
Boston Globe
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Ahead of Sun's return to TD Garden, Governor Healey advocates for bringing a WNBA team to Boston
'This isn't a moment,' Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti told the room. 'This is a movement.' One of that movement's strongest supporters was Governor Maura Healey, who played college basketball at Harvard and professionally in Austria. Knowing personally the doors that sports can open for women, Healey praised the Sun for bringing so many figures from so many corners of sports and business together in the name of women's sports. 'For me as a point guard, the greatest statistic was always the assist,' Healey said. 'The thing I love about basketball is it's a team game. So what you see in this room tonight is people making those connections, networking, assisting one another, lifting one another up, empowering one another, recognizing that this is a team sport. Advertisement 'Establishing greater equality in women's sports — for women, for girls — it's a team effort. And that's what I find really inspiring, seeing powerful women come together in united support for equality and fairness in women's sports. It's great to see.' Related : Advertisement Since Rizzotti was hired in 2021, the Sun expanded their focus to becoming a team that represented all of New England, and during that time their ties to Boston have gotten stronger. Last year, the team used the winnings from their Commissioner's Cup victories to support reproductive health and justice initiatives. For their contribution, Boston-based nonprofit Reproductive Equity Now's honored them in May with the Ellen Paradise Fisher Activism in Action Award. Healey applauded the way the team used its influence beyond basketball. 'I think it shows how synched up they are with the city, the state, with New England,' Healey said. 'Their willingness to use their platform to talk about women's rights, to talk about equality, to talk about equal pay. These are things that, as Bay Staters, we have laws on the books to protect these things. So I appreciate the Sun using their platform to speak to these issues a lot of people in Massachusetts and New England care about.' The on-court product in Boston has also been well received. The Sun sold out the Garden a year ago and were close to doing the same with 24 hours to tipoff. Healey said the excitement level around the game was a sign of Boston's appetite for women's sports. 'There's a huge fan base here in Boston for the Sun, for the WNBA,' Healey said. 'People have been talking about it for months now. This is the hardest ticket to get — and I'm saying that in the context of this being a pretty big sports town. Advertisement 'It just speaks to the level of enthusiasm for the women's game, which is only growing and growing exponentially. I love to see the growth in the WNBA. We love to support the Sun as New Englanders. We'd love to see them come back here and play any time.' Related : The WNBA is in a growth stage, expanding to 13 teams this season with the addition of the Golden State Valkyries. Toronto and Portland will join the league next season while franchises in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia will bring the total number of teams to 18 by 2030. The Meanwhile, Healey continued to throw her full support of bringing women's basketball to Boston. 'I want to do everything I can to advocate for a team here in Boston,' she said. 'Boston, we are a major sports town known all over the globe as a sports hub. We certainly should have a team here. There's a ton of support, there's a ton of enthusiasm.' Julian Benbow can be reached at
Boston Globe
15-07-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Great Salt Lake is disappearing. New Englanders should be concerned.
For years, Great Salt Lake has been This is not just a Advertisement Great Salt Lake is the foundation of northern Utah's ecosystem. Its water evaporates and may fall as rain or snow, helping to sustain life nearby, including in Salt Lake City. Precipitation, and mountain snowmelt in particular, return water to the lake. Now, the cycle is faltering. Thanks to warming temperatures, snowpack is turning to water vapor, reducing the amount that flows into Utah's rivers and, eventually, the lake. Population growth means more and more water is diverted from the lake's tributaries. None of this is good news: No other Advertisement If the lake disappears, it would not only wreck ecosystems but also poison the Salt Lake Valley. Industrial waste dumped into the lake has contributed to dangerous amounts of heavy metals. As water levels drop, windstorms blow over stretches of exposed lakebed and carry 'I've got lung problems from the dust coming from the lake,' says Steve Clyde, a lawyer who has spent decades working on Utah water issues. My own family has been affected, too: When an unexpected storm blew dust into Salt Lake City while my mom was mountain biking, she inhaled it and passed out on a cliffside. A desiccated lake could harm more than just Utahns. Particulate matter from its dry lakebed, such as Dust clouds have even been known to travel between continents. Just last month, dust blown from the Ben Abbott, an ecology professor at Brigham Young University, says dust from Great Salt Lake could wreak havoc over thousands of miles. At similar lakes, such Mar Chiquita Lake in Argentina or the dried-up Owens Lake in California, he's seen dust plumes 'affect soil health and public health at a very large scale.' Great Salt Lake is larger than either of those, so its consequences could be worse. Advertisement New Englanders are familiar with air quality problems originating far away: In recent years, dangerous particulate matter from To save it, more water must reach the lake — about New Englanders concerned about potential impacts on air quality can consider asking their congressional representatives to get involved. Brian Steed, Utah's governor-appointed Great Salt Lake commissioner, says his state would 'absolutely welcome any assistance' from leaders here. In 2024, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the Advertisement Flying over what's left of the lake, childhood memories cycled through my mind. Growing up, it was always there — just as the White Mountains and Lake Winnipesaukee are fixtures of life here. The fact that it could disappear felt absurd. But there it was, vanishing in real time. 'Oftentimes, people think of Great Salt Lake as a Utah problem,' Steed says. 'In reality, it's an international one.' He's right. Because if the lake vanishes, the impact would be felt not only by Utahns, but people building lives and memories wherever they are. Adelaide Parker can be reached at Follow her on X Adelaide Parker can be reached at
Boston Globe
11-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Manchester, Vt.: The perfect getaway with aging parents
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up In other words, I had to pre-fuss — secretly — and Manchester checked all the boxes. Advertisement The author's parents in Manchester, Vt. Melanie Carden Most importantly, my parents are maple-syrup-in-the-veins New Englanders, so Manchester is as appealing as it is senior-friendly. At less than 4 square miles, it offers Burlington-level fun in a pocket-village-size package — a compact, choose-your-own-adventure paradise on the Battenkill River between the Green Mountains and the Taconics. Clocking in with 2.5- and 3.5-hour drivetimes from Hartford and Boston, respectively, the last hour gifts travelers with relaxed river views along Route 30, complete with covered bridges, general stores, and a smoked meat shop. Advertisement Homemade Bread at Zoey's. Melanie Carden We arrived late morning and dropped our bags at After lunch, the travel day's itinerary was light and loose, but I pre-mapped a variety of activities, all within 5 northern miles of the hotel, to minimize the low-key but ever-present stress of navigating and getting in and out of the car. My parents are Olympic-level shoppers, so we spent the afternoon scouring the outlet racks for deals. The Hildene Lincoln Family Home. Melanie Carden Shopping aside, this area of town boasts elder-portion sip samples at Smuggler's Notch Distillery Tasting Room, the famed Northshire Bookstore, and the bling-ding symphony of pure pinball joy at Pastime Pinball, a playable pinball museum. On the way back to the hotel? The American Museum of Fly Fishing and all things Orvis, including their celebrated Fly-Fishing School, are a mile from home base. We wrapped up our first day with locally inspired plates at the hotel's Copper Grouse, but the elevated BBQ fare at Pearl's Pantry is also an option, a topic of frequent lusty-gastro reminiscence with my husband, a holdover from our 2024 visit. Advertisement Leaning into spontaneity, day two's adventures checked off three of the seven potential spots I scouted, starting with Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, two miles south of the hotel. The property features a grand estate, a goat dairy, a working farm, formal gardens, trails, and a pristinely restored 1903 wooden Pullman palace car, the Sunbeam. As a bonus, they offer seasonal on-site trams. CurATE's mushroom flatbread. Melanie Carden Next, we called an audible and headed a few miles north for a leisurely brunch at Southern Vermont Arts Center's bistro, curATE, where we devoured local mushroom flatbread, vadouvan curry mussels, and shrimp and grits with sublime celery dressing. It's also where my mom discovered her love for the local Green State Lager, so she was delighted that Dutton Farm Stand carries it. Dutton's sprawling market offers endless Vermont goodies, including the state's iconic maple creamees or, I suppose , you could go rogue with the mixed berry version. Other day-two gems, including Mount Equinox Skyline Drive, and Rablogan Castle of Scotland (think dreamy woolen goods, proper meat pies, and Scottish charcuterie heaven), are lined up just past Hildene. If grandma and grandpa prefer a day of golf, no worries. The Equinox Golf Course is a few doors down from the hotel. Across the street from the hotel, you'll find one of my favorite Manchester restaurants, The Crooked Ram. Wizardry might be the only explanation for how the dishes often echo Michelin-star composition, yet the indoor-outdoor experience remains casually jaunty. If you're gluten-free, like me, prepare to be rendered speechless. The gluten-free focaccia, alone, is reason enough to make the wee pilgrimage to Manchester. Advertisement Early on at the hotel, we met a lovely couple from Saratoga, traveling with their dog. In fact, we met lots of dogs since the property has a generous pet policy. We bumped into our new friends again on our final morning. We sipped coffee and topped off our dog-snuggle tanks before heading back to Zoey's so my folks could grab some bread to bring home. Manchester is abuzz with the arts year-round, but summer is special with A display at Squirrel Art & Gathered Goods. Melanie Carden Round out your getaway by shopping for local art at Squirrel Art & Gathered Goods. They carry plenty of small, souvenir-worthy pieces. Otherwise, embrace nature with a flat, well-maintained half-mile woodsy stroll along Flatlanders Pass at the Equinox Preservation Trust or take foraging classes and shop the handmade tinctures at Hazel & Bee Organics. While most businesses are open daily, a few operate on a reduced schedule (typically Thursday–Sunday). So, it's best to check hours in advance. Check Kimpton Taconic's website for local collaboration packages, like the Land Rover driving experience. It's surprisingly perfect for older relatives. The pace? A snail's crawl, but the thrill is top-notch. Each reservation also comes with beverage tickets for the daily social hour, optional guestroom plants, and complimentary adult tickets to Advertisement Hildene Pullman Car interior. Melanie Carden In their 70-plus years, my folks have zigged and zagged throughout New England, on countless trips. When Dad mentioned that this hotel 'represents New England at its best,' I felt like I'd redeemed myself ( a micro-smidgen ) for having switched loyalties from the Yankees to the Red Sox. Senior resident Anthony MacLaurin captures Manchester's magic best, explaining that 'folks still hold the door for you at the post office; drivers are courteous, and people wave hello like they always have.' Mom insists that it's so bountiful we may have missed something, and I don't mind one bit. I'd happily pre-fuss, again, for an encore of our time together in Manchester. Melanie Carden can be reached at cardenondeadline@
