• Amount of warming triggering carbon dioxide in air hits new peak, growing at near-record fast rate

    The cause of global warming is showing no signs of slowing as heat-trapping carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has increased to record highs in its annual Spring peak. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations says carbon dioxide levels in the air are jumping at one of the fastest rates on record. Those levels are now the highest they’ve been in more than 4 million years. The last time the air had similar amounts was during a less hospitable hothouse Earth before human civilization....

  • UPS strike looms in a world grown reliant on everything delivered everywhere all the time

    The last time UPS workers walked of the job more than two decades ago, it crippled the shipping company. An emboldened union is threatening to do the same and this time the disruption would be far greater. The 24 million packages UPS ships on an average day amounts to about a quarter of all U.S. parcel volume, according to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes. UPS says they deliver the equivalent of about 6% of nation’s gross domestic product. The Teamsters, representing about...

  • Biden set for critical talks on Ukraine this week with Denmark’s Frederiksen, UK’s Sunak

    By AAMER MADHANI (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is welcoming Denmark and Britain’s prime ministers this week to Washington for talks that will focus heavily on what lays ahead in the war in Ukraine —including the recently-launched effort to train, and eventually equip, Ukraine with American-made F-16s fighter jets Britain and Denmark […]

  • Pride becomes a minefield for big companies, but many continue their support

    Dozens of big companies from Delta and Coca-Cola to Walmart are sponsoring LGBTQ+ Pride events and displaying racks of Pride-themed merchandise. But this year, the rainbow has lost some shine. Longtime Pride sponsors like Bud Light and Target have come under attack by conservatives for their LGBTQ-friendly marketing. Calls to boycott Kohl’s, Lego and Southwest Airlines for their LGBTQ-friendly marketing have also popped up in recent days. Nonetheless, many big companies are still backing Pride...

  • Commuter rail network ‘failing’ riders, group says

    Ridership levels have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, hovering around 30% short of those numbers and “speaking to a need to move beyond Commuter Rail’s peak-oriented model to boost ridership and avoid a negative feedback loop imposed by possible service cuts.”

  • Twin Cities residents become trained correctional officers

    WORCESTER — A resident of Leominster and a resident of Fitchburg are among the 12 graduates of the Sheriff’s Office’s 59th Basic Recruit Training Academy.

  • Fitchburg DPW Alerts: Week of June 5, 2023

    FITCHBURG — The Department of Public Works advises residents of the following work that will be done, weather permitting, during the week of June 5. Road construction Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Expect road closures, delays and detours. • MassDOT will be continuing their reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Circle Street Bridge. […]

  • Missing man’s body recovered at Iowa apartment collapse site; two others still missing

    The body of one of three men who had been missing after the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, has been found. A city official confirms that Branden Colvin Sr.’s body was recovered Saturday. Colvin is the first person confirmed to have died in the collapse. He was 42. Two other men — 51-year-old Ryan Hitchcock and 60-year-old Daniel Prien — are still unaccounted for. The Quad-City Times reports that Colvin’s son, Branden Colvin Jr., graduated from high school Saturday....

  • Missing man’s body recovered at Iowa apartment collapse site; two others still missing

    The body of one of three men who had been missing after the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, has been found. A city official confirms that Branden Colvin Sr.’s body was recovered Saturday. Colvin is the first person confirmed to have died in the collapse. He was 42. Two other men — 51-year-old Ryan Hitchcock and 60-year-old Daniel Prien — are still unaccounted for. The Quad-City Times reports that Colvin’s son, Branden Colvin Jr., graduated from high school Saturday....

  • LGBTQ+ Pride month kicks off with protests, parades, parties

    The start of June marks the beginning of Pride month around the United States and some parts of the world, a season intended to celebrate the lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ people and to protest against the rollback of hard-won civil rights gains. The events take place in June in time with the 1969 uprising at New York City's Stonewall Inn, a catalyst for global LGBTQ+ movements. This year’s Pride takes place in a contentious political climate where legislative action coming out of many...

  • Keystone Collaborative fundraising for robotic gait trainer

    SHIRLEY — Witnessing her five-year-old daughter walk for the first time with the aid of a robotic gait trainer was monumental for Kayla McGann, a milestone she will never forget.

  • Stephen DiNatale seeks fifth term as Fitchburg mayor

    FITCHBURG — Mayor Stephen DiNatale has served four terms in his current capacity and his re-election bid shows he isn’t ready to quit anytime soon. In a recent interview, DiNatale spoke about keeping his focus on the bigger picture and keeping a laser-focus on economic development. With traffic going two-ways on Main Street for the […]