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Painting honoring Oprah Winfrey unveiled at Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

(CNN) — Shawn Michael Warren can thank a mural for connecting him with his very famous muse.Three years ago, the Chicago artist painted Oprah Winfrey’s image as part of a mural in the city’s West Loop neighborhood, curated by the B_Line Projects to honor the media mogul whose famed talk show and production company had been based in the area.In a video Warren shared on Instagram at the time, Winfrey said when she first saw the mural it took her “breath away.”“I was so impressed by Shawn Michael Warren’s artistry, the creativity, the way he was able to capture a feeling of hope and inspiration and strength,” she said of his work.Fast forward to Wednesday in Washington, DC, where the artist and Winfrey were together to unveil a new portrait Warren painted of her for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.The painting shows Winfrey looking resplendent in a purple dress, holding an olive branch.In the audience were Winfrey’s best friend Gayle King, friend and director A...

Braintree police arrest suspects involved in gift card scam ring, recover thousands of cards in the process

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Police in Braintree say officers arrested two suspects and recovered over 4,600 gift cards believed to have been stolen as part of a gift card scam, similar to others happening across the country.On their Facebook page, the Braintree Police Department said the arrests happened on Monday, Dec. 11, after officers were alerted to a pair of suspects who were allegedly removing gift cards from a CVS display rack on Grove Street.Police went on to locate a vehicle believed to be involved in the incident and came across four bags that were “full of Apple, Nike, Sephora and Visa gift cards.”“In total [the officers] recovered 4,617 cards,” Braintree PD stated.As a result of the investigation, authorities said YanYan Liu and Na Dong of Flushing, New York, were arrested and charged with both shoplifting as well as receiving stolen property.In their social media post, the department described the alleged incident as being similar to scams “currently happening across...

Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady for third consecutive time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Washington, DC (CNN) — The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it will hold interest rates steady at a 22-year high for the third consecutive meeting, as US economic growth slows and investors look toward the beginning of rate cuts sometime next year.The Fed has raised rates 11 times since March 2022 to combat high inflation, which has slowed markedly after hitting a four-decade high last summer.Still, the central bank hasn’t crossed the finish line just yet. Officials are expecting inflation to cool next year at a slightly faster pace than previously estimated, according to their latest set of economic projections released Wednesday.Some economists say the final mile of the Fed’s historic inflation fight will be the most difficult, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other officials say that additional rate hikes remain on the table.But Wall Street isn’t buying that. The first rate cut could come ...

Lawsuit: Ex-Harvard doctor accused of inseminating woman with his own sperm without permission

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

A former Harvard Medical School professor is accused of inseminating a woman with his own sperm decades ago and misleading her about the donor, according to a new lawsuit.In what plaintiff Sarah Depoian called “an extreme violation,” Dr. Merle Berger, an OBGYN professor at Harvard and founder of Boston IVF, one of the nation’s largest fertility clinics, is accused of inseminating her with his own sperm, leading to the birth of Depoian’s child, Carolyn Bester, in 1981.The lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday states that Depoian and her husband went to see Berger for help conceiving a child in 1980 and that he promised, according to the complaint, “to perform an insemination using the sperm of a medical resident who resembled her husband, who did not know her, and whom she did not know. With that understanding, Ms. Depoian consented to the insemination.”The alleged action wasn’t uncovered until Bester used a home DNA test earlier this year and found that Dr. Berger was her biologi...

For 50 years, these musicians backed stars like Stevie Nicks and James Taylor. This is their story

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Bassist Leland Sklar says there was no hesitation when drummer Russ Kunkel, guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel and himself were approached to do a documentary about their lives as four of the greatest Los Angeles session musicians of the past 50 years.He was a little surprised, though.“Never in a million years did it ever occur enter my mind that there would ever be anything like this done,” Sklar says on a recent video call with Kunkel, Wachtel, and director Denny Tedesco. “I mean, we just kind of loved playing and went to work and did what we did.“Never really thought about it moving to the level that it’s done,” he says.“Immediate Family” opens in theaters on Friday, Dec. 15. It’s a warm-hearted documentary that illustrates how these four players played a major part of many of the greatest singles, albums and tours of the last five decades. Artists such as James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards, Linda Ronstadt, and Phil Collins are among...

Callahan: Robert Kraft’s reported Bill Belichick decision should be no surprise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

FOXBORO — If you dismiss the NBC Sports Boston report stating Robert Kraft decided last month to part ways with Bill Belichick at the end of the season, I have two questions for you.Question No. 1: Do you remember the last 11 months?Last January, Kraft ended Belichick’s experiment with the coaching staff that resulted in the worst Patriots offense in decades and dragged a solid team into an 8-9 finish. Kraft then sent a letter to season-ticket holders that expressed his dissatisfaction with the team’s performance and projected an improved on-field product in 2023.In March, Kraft reiterated his belief in Belichick to reporters at the owners meetings around this pointed remark: “In the end, this is a business. You either execute and win, or you don’t. That’s where we’re at. We’re in a transition phase.” Next, when asked about newly re-signed linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, Kraft said: “There’s no ceiling on (Mayo’s) ability to be a head coach. And he’ll be a head coach...

Bruins place defenseman Jakub Zboril on waivers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

The Bruins have placed defenseman Jakub Zboril on waivers to see if there are any takers for the 2015 13th overall pick.Zboril already passed through waivers at the end of training camp, but rosters are mostly set at that juncture of the season. Now with injuries and any other roster developments, perhaps a team would be more interested this time around. We shall see by 2 p.m. on Thursday. He’s on the last year of a deal worth $1.137.5 million.Zboril was the first of three first-round picks the B’s had in 2015, with only Jake DeBrusk – taken with the next pick – making himself a regular NHLer. Zach Senyshyn, taken 15th, is playing in Germany.Zboril, 26, appeared to be ready to turn a corner in his career two seasons ago and was playing well until he blew out his knee in a game in Nashville, limiting him to just 10 games. He came back strong and had a very good training camp last year to earn a roster spot. But he couldn’t maintain his level of play and,...

‘I’ll Have What She’s Having’ celebrates the sticking power of Jewish delis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

By Hannah Edgar | Chicago TribuneSince originating at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles last year, “I’ll Have What She’s Having: The Jewish Deli” has bounced around Jewish educational institutions and history museums across the country.It was only a matter of time before this ode to a uniquely American Jewish cultural institution made its way here, the land of Kaufman’s, JB’s, Manny’s, and dozens more.Arielle Weininger, the chief curator of collections and exhibitions at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, which is hosting the exhibition through April, is local deli royalty herself. Her cousin Bette Dworkin runs nearby Kaufman’s Bagel & Delicatessen, in Skokie, after the family bought it from founder Morrie Kaufman in 1984. Her family made it into the exhibition’s photo wall, pictured at a Passover Seder with Dworkin.“I had to take a little moment of family pride here,” she says, pointing to the tableau.“I’ll Have What She’s Having” includes plenty of m...

Suffolk trial judge tapped to lead Massachusetts Superior Court system

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

A Suffolk Superior Court judge has been promoted to chief justice of the statewide superior court system.On Thursday, Massachusetts Trial Court Chief Justice Jeffrey A. Locke announced that he had appointed Suffolk Superior Court Judge Michael D. Ricciuti as chief justice of the Superior Court for a five-year term. His term will begin on Dec. 22.“He has the leadership and management skills needed to succeed in this role,” Locke said of Ricciuti, adding that his “legal acumen, judicial temperament, and interpersonal skills will successfully guide his leadership.“He is highly respected and trusted by his colleagues who appreciate that he works collaboratively and leads by example and consensus,” Locke continued.Ricciuti, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and with cum laude honors from Harvard law, began his legal career in 1987 as a law clerk for Judge A. David Mazzone in the U.S. District Court, according to a state biography. He was appointed by then-Gov. Charlie Ba...

‘Wonka’ review: A clever candy-man origin story starring Timothée Chalamet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:00 GMT

Michael Phillips | Chicago TribuneThe new “Wonka” works considerably better than its reasons for existence would suggest. It exists because, why not? It’s one more brand-familiar origin story, the easiest thing in the movie world to get made, requiring everything but a new idea.It exists because it’s one more musicalization of nonmusical source material, adding seven original songs to a project attached to Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The 1971 film version of that novel, with Gene Wilder as secretive candy magnate Willy Wonka, was likewise a musical; two of its more enduring tunes, “Pure Imagination” and the “Oompa Loompa” song, turn up in the latest screen addition to Wonkalore.So where does it go right? Well, if you enjoyed either or both of the “Paddington” movies, particularly the second one, you’ll find “Wonka” a spiritually related cousin in its wit, bounce and general lack of aggravated charm assaults. Director Paul King and his “Paddington 2″ ...