Home

Red Sox are trying to trademark ‘Boston’ for clothes, entertainment services: ‘These are absurd filings’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

Two trademark applications for the word “Boston” were filed this month under the Red Sox name — an aggressive proposal that trademark law experts laughed at and stressed has an “extremely low” chance of getting approved by the federal government.The filings, which can be found on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, aim to trademark the city’s name for all manner of clothing and entertainment services, including radio, podcasts, and television.New York copyright law attorney Maryann E. Licciardi — of Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman — filed the applications for Boston Red Sox Baseball Club Limited Partnership New England Sports Ventures, LLC, which has a Fenway Park address. When reached for comment on Thursday, she deferred to Major League Baseball.Sources tell the Herald that the Red Sox weren’t aware of the endeavor, which was initiated by the league. MLB reportedly applied on the team’s behalf, and were a...

Howie Carr’s Hub radio war survival guide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

It is not enough to succeed, others must fail.Which is why I am so reveling in the agony of the wretched bust-out sports talk station WEEI and the company that owns it, Audacy.I’m not wringing my hands about the national woke overreaction. I just relish watching the entire company, especially in Boston, suffer through the agony of a programming death spiral, on top of the ongoing collapse of their stock price.You see, not many people know this, but I was valedictorian of the first-ever WEEI Diversity University graduating class of 2005.I was working for another radio station in the same cluster, WRKO, and had absolutely nothing to do with the “METCO gorilla” scandal. But I was rounded up as one of the usual suspects and ordered to attend some lectures about, well, you know.Within 30 minutes, I had “graduated” – been thrown out, just as I had planned. My phone kept going off and I would keep leaving the room with great fanfare, much to the increasing anger of the race hustler in the ...

For Grayson Rodriguez to grow from bad innings, Orioles have catcher James McCann as a teacher

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

Once he thought about it, James McCann was actually glad Grayson Rodriguez struggled near the end of his fourth start this spring.McCann, the 32-year-old catcher the Orioles brought in to back up Adley Rutschman, knows what it takes for a pitcher of Rodriguez’s talent to make it in the big leagues. The experienced backstop has caught five pitchers who won the Cy Young Award in their careers, and no matter how talented any pitcher is, McCann said dealing with “adversity” is a guarantee.“I like the fact that he had to face that adversity,” McCann said a few days after Rodriguez couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. “That’s something he’ll be able to draw on early in his career, and it’ll make him better later in his career because he had to face that adversity.”That’s one of several messages McCann imparted on Rodriguez when they met the following morning in the Orioles&...

Hong Kong traffic accident leaves 87 people injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Four passenger buses and a truck collided near a Hong Kong road tunnel Friday and 87 people were injured, including children. Most of the injuries were minor.The accident occurred after midday near a tunnel entrance on Tseung Kwan O Road in Lam Tin, a residential area in Kowloon. A taxi carried out a “careless lane change” and the other vehicles could not stop in time, causing the collision, senior police inspector Lee Pok-kit said. Scores of firefighters, paramedics and police rushed to the scene. Several people lay on stretchers and at least one passenger was seen being helped out of a vehicle. A window on the side of a bus was shattered. Some of the injured, including elderly people, were treated by paramedics at the scene. A group of primary school students was seen sitting on the road and some of them sustained hand injuries.Lam Tin fire station commander Shen Chuen said his team had to help some 240 people leave the vehicles and the operation was challenging b...

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi loses Parliament seat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Key Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has lost his parliamentary seat after a court found him guilty of defamation over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname and he was disqualified from the lawmaking body, a parliamentary statement said on Friday.Gandhi, who represented a constituency in southern Kerala state as a member of the Congress party, was disqualified from his membership in the lower house of Parliament from March 23, the date of his conviction, the statement said.Indian parliamentary rules say that a member loses his or her seat if convicted of a crime and sentenced to two or more years in prison.A court in the western city of Surat sentenced Gandhi to two years in prison on Thursday in the defamation case. But he won’t go to jail immediately because the court granted him bail for 30 days to file an appeal against the verdict. If an appeals court sets aside Gandhi’s conviction, he can get his seat back.Gandhi briefly visited t...

British king’s visit to France canceled amid mass protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Friday that a state visit by Britain’s King Charles III has been postponed amid mass strikes and protests in France.The king had been scheduled to arrive in France on Sunday on his first state visit as monarch, before heading to Germany on Wednesday.The Elysee palace in France said in a statement that the French and British governments made the decision together after a call between Macron and Charles on Friday morning. The Elysee noted a new day of mass strikes and protests planned for Tuesday.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.PARIS (AP) — Protesters angry at French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms continued with scattered actions on Friday amid slowed train traffic, rows of trucks blocking access to Marseille’s commercial port and debris still littering the Paris streets following the previous day’s mass demonstrations. Over 450 protesters were arrested in Paris ...

Review: John Wick gets even more stylish in fourth episode

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

A trip to Paris should be on everyone’s bucket list, even John Wick. The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre — what better way to refresh your soul, even as you kick everyone else’s bucket?The un-retired assassin does indeed dive into the City of Lights in the inventive and thrilling “John Wick: Chapter 4” a sequel which elevates and expands the franchise. The fourth installment is more stylish, more elegant and more bonkers — kind of like Paris itself.When we last saw Wick, he was half dead in the gutter after being shot and tumbling several stories off the Hotel Continental in New York. He was on the blacklist with a $14 million price on his head. (Inflation has even hit this franchise: The bounty swells to $40 million by the end of part four.)Wick, as always played with monosyllabic and brooding intensity by Keanu Reeves, leaves his customary trail of death, but there’s a shift here. So often the prey in the previous movies, Wick is on the offense in the fourth, taking ...

Feet for a king: Westminster Abbey to offer barefoot tours

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

LONDON (AP) — People who visit London’s Westminster Abbey after the coronation of King Charles III will be allowed to stand on the exact spot where he was crowned, but they will need to make sure they don’t have holes in their socks for the shoeless tour, designed to protect the abbey’s medieval mosaic floor.Abbey officials said Friday that the section of the church’s floor known as the Cosmati pavement, where the chair in which Britain’s monarchs are crowned has been placed for some 700 years, will be on display during Charles’ May 6 coronation after being hidden away under carpets for decades because of disrepair. The pavement area, normally roped off to the public, will be open to small guided “barefoot tours” after the crowning ceremony. Visitors will be asked to remove their shoes to avoid wear and tear to the floor, which was restored to its former glory after a two-year conservation project was completed in 2010.“Standing on the pavement an...

3 people die in Arizona after being caught in floodwaters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

PAYSON, Ariz. (AP) — At least three people were found dead this week after their vehicles were swept away by floodwaters in Arizona, authorities said.Gila County Sheriff’s officials said the bodies of a couple missing after their vehicle was stuck in floodwaters in the Payson area were located Thursday. They were identified as Phon Sutton, 85, and Dara Sutton, 72, both of Payson, Arizona. Separately, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office said the body of a 64-year-old woman was recovered after the vehicle she was traveling in with her husband was swept downstream at a river crossing. Flooding caused by recent rainfall and snowmelt has created issues across parts of central and northern Arizona with residents in several low-lying communities told to evacuate.Gila County authorities said search and rescue crews were dispatched Wednesday morning after county authorities received a 911 call about a pickup truck found in Tonto Creek. The vehicle was located about 18 miles (29 kilometers) ea...

Hong Kong fire forces 3,400 people to evacuate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:12 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong firefighters were battling a blaze Friday at a warehouse that forced 3,400 people to evacuate, including students, police said. Thick smoke was seen pouring out from the building where the fire broke out around 2 p.m. at the warehouse on Fat Tseung Street in Cheung Sha Wan, a residential and industrial area in Kowloon, the government said. Two persons who worked near the site felt sick after inhaling thick smoke, and people from four schools and one residential building nearby had to be evacuated, police said. “There is a chance that the number of people involved in the evacuation will rise further,” police said. The cause of the fire was unclear. Officers at the scene had to wear breathing apparatus. The government opened a temporary shelter at a sports center for residents in need and advised members of the public to close their doors and windows if they were being affected by the smoke and odor. Kanis Leung, The Associated Press