Firefighter graduation ceremony scheduled

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — The ranks of 13 Massachusetts fire departments are being bolstered next week with a graduation ceremony at the state Department of Fire Services facility in Springfield. State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey and Massachusetts Firefighting Academy Director David Evans will present...

Massachusetts Senate to debate ban on flavored tobacco

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Senate is poised to debate a bill that would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products while also imposing a new 75% excise tax on nicotine vaping products. The bill was recently approved by the House. The Senate is expected to debate their own proposed amendments to the...

The Latest: United Farm Workers backs Harris for nomination

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the Democratic presidential candidates (all times local): 6:15 p.m. The farm workers union started by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta has endorsed Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination for president. United Farm Workers announced its endorsement of Harris on...

Woman in critical condition after water rescue

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A woman is in critical condition after being rescued from waters off the coast of Massachusetts. Massachusetts State Police say troopers were called to Quincy around 12:40 p.m. Wednesday on reports of a woman who was being swept under the current off the shore of Wollaston Beach....

Driver who stopped to help motorist struck, killed

RAYNHAM, Mass. (AP) — Massachusetts State Police say a man who stopped his pickup truck on a highway and got out to help another motorist has been struck and killed by a passing vehicle. A department spokesman says that at about 1 a.m. Friday an SUV heading south on Interstate 495 in Raynham apparently...

For Obama and Patrick, a long friendship and political bond

WASHINGTON (AP) — Deval Patrick was in need of a pep talk. He was staring down reelection as Massachusetts governor in 2010, in the midst of a sluggish economic recovery that would ultimately contribute to sweeping Democratic defeats across the country. In stepped President Barack Obama, a close friend and...

Ex-Gov. Deval Patrick launches ‘Hail Mary’ bid for president

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Deval Patrick launched what he acknowledged to be a “Hail Mary” bid on Thursday for the Democratic presidential nomination, testing whether voters sifting through an already crowded field are open to hearing from new candidates less than three months before the primary...

The Latest: Deval Patrick files for New Hampshire primary

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s 2020 presidential bid (all times local): 11:55 a.m. Deval (deh-VAL') Patrick has filed for the New Hampshire presidential primary as he officially begins a last-minute 2020 campaign. The former Massachusetts governor is hoping...

Ex-Massachusetts Gov. Patrick announces Dem presidential bid

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced Thursday he is running for president, making a late entry into the Democratic race less than three months before primary voting begins. In an announcement video, Patrick highlighted his poverty-stricken childhood on Chicago’s South...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announces late bid for 2020 Democratic presidential nomination