Just things that caught my eye:
"A book-loving mother whose efforts earned her both a Presidential Medal of Freedom and comparisons to Ralph Nader as a consumer rights activist, Ms. Charren died Thursday in her home in Dedham."
I wonder what kind of teddy bear she had.
"Many female technology professionals say these extreme examples do not represent the way they are treated. But despite pressure on tech companies to diversify their workforces, the industry remains lopsidedly male. A former employee of Zillow in December sued the online real estate giant for sexual harassment, comparing the company’s internal culture to that of an “adult frat house.”
Time to go play some video games.
"Gates Foundation predicts big gains for the poor in next 15 years The lives of poor people around the world will improve more over the next 15 years ‘‘than at any time in history,’’ the Gates Foundation predicts. Bill and Melinda Gates laid out their vision for the world’s largest charitable foundation as they prepared to travel to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and its annual meeting of heads of state and business leaders. The $42 billion Gates Foundation’s ambitious 15-year agenda, spelled out in its latest annual letter, foresees the elimination of polio and three other diseases and says Africa will be able to feed itself."
The rest was worth missing.
Related: Vaccine Mogul Bill Gates Laments Failure of UN, Calls For ‘New World Government’
I didn't miss that even if the Globe did.
"A man was arrested in Abington on Thursday on charges of operating under the influence for the sixth time, authorities said. Around 2:45 p.m., officers were told by a passerby on the street that they had seen a vehicle “all over the road,” Abington police said in a statement. The driver of the vehicle was allegedly under the influence of alcohol and was arrested, police said. The man, whom police did not identify, will be arraigned in Brockton District Court on Friday. Additional details were not available on Thursday night."
Why? What important connections does he have?
"A Revere man has been sentenced to 2½ years in jail after being convicted of raping a 12-year-old Leominster girl in 2012. Eduardo Varanda was ordered Wednesday in Worcester Superior Court to serve two years, with the balance suspended for five years of probation. Varanda, 21, was found guilty earlier this month of child rape but acquitted of witness intimidation. Authorities said the sexual assault occurred in May 2012 in the victim’s home. Varanda knew her family. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported that prosecutors sought a more severe sentence of 10 to 12 years in prison (AP)."
"A Vermont woman who wants to plead guilty in the 2012 killing of a St. Johnsbury teacher will undergo a second mental health evaluation so a judge would be sure she is competent to make such a decision. The Caledonian Record reported that Superior Court Judge Robert Bent granted a request by Patricia Prue’s lawyer Tuesday. Attorney Brian Marsicovetere said despite a court-ordered evaluation that found her competent, he wants another one by a doctor selected by the defense. Prue’s husband, Allen Prue, was found guilty last year of first-degree murder in the death of Melissa Jenkins and sentenced to life in prison (AP)."
Prue who?
"Prosecutors want one trial for the man accused of kidnapping, imprisoning, and raping a northern New Hampshire girl over nine months. Nathaniel Kibby was charged in December with more than 200 counts in Coos County and five counts in Carroll County. Prosecutors said Kibby, 34, kidnapped the 14-year-old on her way home from school in Conway on Oct. 9, 2013. They said he kept her in his Gorham home and in a storage unit until July 2014 when she returned home. He was arrested a week later. In a motion filed this week, the state asked that Kibby be tried on all charges in one county and by one judge (AP)."
That is one of the bigger trials around.
"The University of Massachusetts is mourning the death of the Amherst campus’s most popular webcam star. A male peregrine falcon that has nested atop the 27-story W. E. B. Du Bois Library for 12 years and sired 34 chicks with the same mate has died. The webcam that has captured the pair raising their chicks has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. In 2014 alone, there were 269,279 views. The bird was found injured last week in a snowbank near campus and died Wednesday while awaiting transport to a wildlife rehabilitation center. Tom French, a biologist with the state wildlife department, said the bird was 14, a ripe old age for a peregrine falcon (AP)."
May this post R.I.P.
Judge rejects most requests from N.H. man in kidnap case
Some charges dropped against man in teen’s abduction, rape
