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6-foot gator that built nest in Cocoa Beach man’s backyard seen trying to get through fence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

COCOA BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — A Cocoa Beach homeowner is speaking out about his run-in with a 6-foot gator that was determined to get through his fence to protect her young. Bill Geiger Jr. on Friday said that the reptile had built her nest in his backyard and she was desperate to defend it. The animal’s front half was seen through the fence.“Literally missiled through it; it was incredible,”said. “It caught me by surprise. I was shocked!”Geiger said he does not shy away from danger, even if it’s alligators.“Let me just go out there real quick to see what’s going on,” Geiger was heard saying in the video. “Looks like she may have gone down that way for some reason.”Brandon Fisher, a gator expert at Gatorland, said alligator mothers can be very protective of their young.“Please do not mess with mama alligator. Don’t feed any alligators, don’t try to do anything with alligators in the state of Florida,...

Many Boston public pools closed for repairs, renovations as summer heat continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

Despite high heat in Boston, doors were locked and swimming pools were sitting empty at a handful of spots across the city Friday as 10 such city facilities remained closed for repairs and renovations.Closures include sites across Boston from Charlestown, to the South End, to Dorchester, Mattapan, Chinatown and West Roxbury. As some were forced to find alternative ways to cool down, community activist Domingos DaRos said the closures are unacceptable. “This is something that should have been dealt with in April so we can have it in the dog days of summer,” DaRosa said. With some sites closed, parents at one wading pool in Roxbury said the pool was busier than usual on Friday.“We never have that many people,” one man said. “Because the pool is closed, that’s what happened.” Many are now hoping that, at some point this summer, they see all of Boston’s 19 public pools open to give everyone the chance to enjoy the facilities.“I hope that we can advocate to get full s...

Four people hurt after falling from scaffolding in Milford

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

Four people were taken to area hospitals Friday after they fell from scaffolding at a site in Milford, officials saidSKY7-HD was over the scene of what appeared to be a construction site Friday afternoon. Officials later told 7NEWS the incident happened near the back of the lot. At least two of the people who were hurt had severe injuries.OSHA investigators had been called to the scene as of Friday afternoon.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Thousands of beachgoers, sculptors expected to attend 2023 Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

This year’s Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival got underway Friday, kicking off a weekend where thousands of beachgoers and sculptors are expected to flock to the area. The festival is scheduled to continue through Sunday at Revere Beach, with this year’s theme celebrating 90 years of Kong. 7NEWS on Friday spotted sculptures of a mermaid, a moon, a horse and a massive sculpture of King Kong. This year’s centerpiece sculpture, indeed, depicts an epic battle involving the giant gorilla.“This is amazing,” said event organizer Melineige Beauregard. “You’ve never seen something like this.”Beauregard said the centerpiece will be the biggest the festival has had in its 19-year history, standing 22-feet-tall. “King Kong and T-Rex — I think everyone is very impressed with it,” Beauregard said.Organizers said there are sculptors participating from around the world, including some from Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Latvia, the US and Canada.S...

Chicago rapper G Herbo pleads guilty to fraud conspiracy in Massachusetts federal court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

Chicago-based drill rapper G Herbo pleaded guilty to participating in a fraud conspiracy that milked $140,000 grand in services from businesses across the country.Herbert “G Herbo” Wright, 25 — who the feds say also goes by the monikers “Herb,” “Lil Herb” and “Herbert Light” — delivers rapid-fire raps about the hard streets of the Chicago South Shore area known as “Terror Town,” but had expensive tastes in is own life, according to the federal indictment leveled against him and five co-defendants.“Mr. Wright used stolen account information as his very own unlimited funding source, using victims’ payment cards to finance an extravagant lifestyle and advance his career,” acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy said in a statement. “Mr. Wright flaunted his lavish spending on social media, in music videos and in industry news.”Wright signed a plea deal on June 5 and pleaded guilty today in federal court in Springfield to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making a...

Fatal crash prompts road closures along I-805, SR-52 connector

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The ramp from westbound state Route 52 to northbound Interstate 805 is closed due to a fatal traffic collision, according to Caltrans.The incident was reported near Kearny Mesa around 12 p.m. According to law enforcement on scene, the incident involved two separate crashes.First, a sedan and a semi-truck got in a minor fender bender, authorities said. When the driver of the sedan got out to talk to the semi-truck driver, a third vehicle not involved in the initial crash struck them on the roadway.The driver of the sedan was declared dead on scene by medical personnel. No other injuries have been reported in the incident.The right lane along the northbound I-805 south of Governor Drive is also closed as a result of the crash. Currently, at least two lanes are open to traffic on the freeway.A SigAlert has been issued for the area, with traffic reportedly backed up to Exit 21 at Balboa Avenue.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Toronto Mayor Chow apologizes for treatment of asylum seekers, calls for more federal funding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow apologized to the hundreds of refugees who have been forced to sleep on the sidewalk after arriving in Canada for how they’ve been treated.For the last two weeks, hundreds of asylum seekers have been sheltered at Revivaltime Tabernacle Church and Dominion Church International Toronto, two local churches.The group of more than 200 refugees spent days living on the sidewalk outside a downtown Toronto shelter intake office.The makeshift camp outside 129 Peter Street had some calling it home for four weeks because of a lack of space at city shelters. The asylum seekers sleeping on the sidewalk are all from African nations.Chow toured the Revivaltime Tabernacle Church to see the conditions these asylum seekers have been living in.“The way they’ve been treated on the streets and the lack of dignity that they experience. There are absolutely no excuses whatsoever to be in a new country, lost both physically, spiritually, and materially,” sa...

Brazil’s Indigenous chief fighting to save Amazon urges President Lula to defend people’s rights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The Amazon’s most famous Indigenous leader called upon Brazil’s president on Friday to defend the rights of Indigenous people. Chief Raoni Metuktire demanded that “invaders” be removed from their territories and that the government stop negotiations on carbon credits that had excluded Indigenous people from the discussions.In a letter to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Raoni demanded a government response to 11 specific requests by Aug. 9, the second and final day of the Amazon summit that Lula and other South American heads of state will attend in the city of Belem.The manifest was handed over to the minister of the Indigenous peoples, Sonia Guajajara, at an event attended by 1,000 members of different ethnic groups in the town of Sao Jose do Xingu in the state of Mato Grosso. Lula in May signed legislation paving the way for a market to trade carbon credits — generated by reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, and whic...

Attorneys preserve the right to invoke insanity plea for man accused of killing 4 people in Maine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

WEST BATH, Maine (AP) — A man who told police he killed his parents and their friends and shot at motorists on a busy interstate highway might try to show he was insane, based on pleas he entered Friday.The 34-year-old ex-convict Joseph Eaton entered pleas of both not guilty and not criminally responsible, leaving him the option of an insanity defense against charges including four counts of murder.“At this point we are preserving the ability to move forward with the so-called insanity defense. Once we have more forensic information, full discovery, and are able to view the case as a whole, we will then decide how to proceed,” Andrew Wright, one of his attorneys, told The Associated Press before the hearing in West Bath.Law enforcement officials say Eaton confessed to the killings at a property in rural Bowdoin, and to wounding three people while shooting at vehicles on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth. Eaton has been jailed since his arrest on April 18 near the chaotic scene along the hi...

Charges dropped against 7 Oklahoma police officers in 3 separate fatal shootings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:55:20 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The new prosecutor in Oklahoma’s biggest county announced Friday she’s dropping criminal charges against seven police officers in three separate fatal police shootings from 2020.District Attorney Vicki Behenna’s predecessor, David Prater, had filed criminal charges against police officers in all three cases before he left office, and Behenna hired a use-of-force expert to examine the evidence in each case.“I know how highly charged the topic of law-enforcement use of force is in the current environment,” Behenna said in a statement. “It is critical to evaluate each case independently and make a decision based on facts, not emotion.”Behenna, a Democrat from the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, defeated conservative Republican Kevin Calvey last year to win a four-year term as the top prosecutor in the state’s most populous county. A former federal prosecutor and defense attorney, Behenna is the first woman to hold the post in Oklahoma County.The most hi...