Latest news with #Connors
Boston Globe
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Statue being planned to memorialize Jack Connors at the base of former Hancock Tower
'Joe's not waiting five years, that's clear,' said Sharon McNally, chief executive of Camp Harbor View, the charity Connors started and championed. 'It's a great solution.' Advertisement On Saturday, at the annual Beach Ball to raise money for Camp Harbor View, Mayor Michelle Wu announced her support for the memorial. (Also that night, event planner Bryan Rafanelli, former mayor Marty Walsh, and Rev. John Unni of St. Cecilia 'squeezed every penny out of the room' to raise $1 million in camp donations from attendees, McNally said.) Nolan said he'll still apply to the Boston Art Commission for approval, even though the memorial will go on private land owned by tower landlord BXP. It helps, he said, that the mayor is throwing her support behind the project. Advertisement 'Boston thrives because of people like Jack, who build careers and lives dedicated to solving problems and doing good,' Wu said in a statement. 'I am delighted to partner with the Connors family and Joe Nolan to dedicate a permanent memorial to Jack in his beloved Back Bay, a lasting tribute to his life and legacy of service.' Nolan first became friends with Connors while working at Hill Holliday in the 1980s, before Nolan left to join what was then Boston Edison (now Eversource). They were a constant presence in each other's lives ever since; for one long stretch, they regularly attended mass together at Boston College. Nolan got to work almost immediately on the statue idea after Connors died on July 23 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 82. He consulted with members of Connors' family. Eventually, they agreed on a concept: The bronze statue of Connors would sit on a bench, with one arm outstretched, as if in a friendly conversation. 'No matter who you were, when he was talking to you, you were the most important person in the world to him,' Nolan said. Sculptor Pablo Eduardo has been tapped to make the statue; among other projects, Eduardo designed the Kendall Square Advertisement While BXP (also known as Boston Properties) will donate the space, Nolan says he plans to raise $2 million to cover the project costs. Any surplus funds will go to Camp Harbor View. 'It won't be hard to raise,' Nolan said. 'Everyone wants to do something for Jack.' This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston's business scene. Jon Chesto can be reached at
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Trinity Health Grand Rapids Breast Center recognized for excellence
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Trinity Health Grand Rapids says its has been designated as a Certified Quality Breast Center of Excellence. The hospital says only 36 breast cancer programs in the country have earned the designation, which is the highest offered by the National Quality Measures for Breast Centers. Only one other location in in Michigan has earned it: Trinity Health Breast Center – Lakes Village in Norton Shores. 'What this means is patients don't have to choose between having really world-class care and care close to home: We can provide both of those for our patients,' Dr Bess Connors, a breast cancer surgeon who oversees the Grand Rapids center, said. Going flat: Breast cancer survivors advocate 'normal, beautiful' option She explained the center had demonstrate excellence under 49 standards covering everything from mammography and radiology to pathology to oncology and surgery. 'Unfortunately, breast cancer is extremely common: 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime. That just means that everybody has a family member, someone they know at church, who has breast cancer and is affected by this. We have a great need in the community,' Connors said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Maine judiciary clash: Lawmakers seek probe into judge ethics process
But the legislators' options appeared limited. Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill had previously testified that any legislative branch efforts to change the judicial branch's internal processes would violate the Maine Constitution's separation of powers clause. Advertisement 'The judicial power vested in the Supreme Judicial Court includes the exclusive authority to regulate the conduct of judges of all the courts, including imposing discipline or misconduct,' Stanfill wrote in her testimony opposing the bill. The legislative committee ultimately endorsed an amended version of the bill that would convene a group to study the court's process, despite being told by a judicial representative the legislature had no power to enact any changes the committee might recommend. The conflict between the two branches of government stems from Advertisement A January 2024 ethics complaint from attorney Thomas Cox had argued that the justice's decision not to recuse herself from two cases involving Maine foreclosure law was unethical because of her previous work representing banks in foreclosure cases. In one of those cases, , she argued for the bank, but the Court disagreed and decided against her, establishing a new precedent favorable to Maine homeowners. A few years later, a new court with Connors on the bench heard arguments in a similar case, Pushard . Connors the justice had helped overturn a precedent created in a case that Connors the attorney had lost, sparking outrage from some lawmakers and members of the bar who thought she should have recused herself from the case. Connors has defended her conduct, and pointed out that she sought advice from a judicial advisory panel, which advised her that recusal was not necessary. The Committee for Judicial Conduct evaluated the complaint and made an initial recommendation that Connors should be disciplined in October, clarifying in a December filing that the discipline should consist of a public reprimand. The power to mete out judicial discipline lies with the high court. Connors' case raised questions about what happens if a justice is the subject of a complaint, as well as about the potential conflict in tasking Supreme Court justices with deciding whether or not to discipline a colleague. In January, the Maine Supreme Court drafted new rules for how to handle the unprecedented complaint against Connors. The draft rules put the authority for evaluating complaints against Supreme Court justices in the hands of a panel of lower court judges. Advertisement But the rules have not been implemented, the Connors matter has not been closed and no timeline has been given for when it could be resolved. 'It looks like this matter is being swept under the rug,' Cox testified to the judiciary committee. Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn), who introduced the legislation, looked to neighboring Massachusetts for its system of evaluating allegations against Supreme Court Justices. Their process involves a similar process of creating a panel of lower court judges to evaluate misconduct by a member of the high court. Last week, Lee and the legislative committee seemed poised to amend the bill to avoid the constitutional issues raised by Stanfill. Instead of implementing a new system, they discussed creating a legislative study group to examine Maine's process for disciplining judges and justices. Judicial spokesperson Barbara Cardone reiterated her boss's position to the committee. 'What you're about to undertake is an unconstitutional exercise of legislative power,' Cardone said. 'I don't know how many of you understand how rare it is for the chief justice to speak out at a public hearing regarding the constitutionality of a bill. It's somewhat upsetting that that declaration, that advice, seems to go unheeded by members of this committee.' Some lawmakers pushed back, asking how it could be unconstitutional to form a legislative study committee. Cardone argued it was pointless to form a committee to study an issue the legislature had no say in. Advertisement 'If the legislature does not have that power, why would the legislature convene a study commission?' Cardone said. 'I guess that's the question that you all need to answer.' Cardone noted that the Court had received public comment on the proposed rules, and would soon be issuing another draft of the rules based on the feedback it had received. But she could not say when those rules would be made public, or what changes they contained. She said the rules would be different enough from the first draft that there would be another public comment period, and encouraged lawmakers to submit comments. Rep. Lee was defiant as he made a motion to advance the amended bill calling for a study group. 'The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is indeed the ultimate arbiter of the constitutionality of things, but they do so through cases and controversies, not through testimony to the judiciary committee,' he said. The committee voted to advance the bill by a margin of ten to three.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Six PWHL Players Who Would Benefit From A Change Of Scenery This Offseason
There will be an abundance of players changing teams in the PWHL this offseason. Most will come through the expansion draft which will see 24 players plucked from current rosters heading to Vancouver and Seattle. With so much change to rosters involuntarily, there will also be a group of players looking to jump to new locations for fresh opportunities as free agents, and still others who could perhaps see their rights traded. Here's a look at six PWHL players from 2024-25 who could benefit from a change of scenery this offseason. After a strong rookie campaign with PWHL Toronto, Maggie Connors saw her minutes decline in year two with the Toronto Sceptres after they added more depth via the draft and by signing free agent forwards Daryl Watts and Emma Woods. Connors was still noticeable when she got on the ice, and Toronto may have benefitted in the postseason from giving more opportunity to their depth players. Connors will have multiple opportunities across the league to find a good fit. Two that make a lot of sense are Vancouver and New York. PWHL Vancouver general manager Cara Gardner Morey was Connors' long time Princeton coach, and the familiarity and trust already established there will likely earn Connors consideration there. On a similar note, Connors and Sarah Fillier had established chemistry as linemates at Princeton. For New York, who will be looking for new combinations up front to benefit their depth scoring, giving Connors a long look alongside Fillier seems like an obvious place to start. Laskova missed more than a year due to injury. She didn't look out of place upon her return, but also found that she was pushed out of a key role in Montreal and landed well down the Victoire's depth chart. Montreal will likely make a pitch to return Laskova knowing she can do more considering there's a legitimate chance they'll lose both Cayla Barnes and Erin Ambrose in expansion, and could also lose another defender like Anna Wilgren. But Montreal won't be alone in wanting to give Laskova a fresh start. It would be shocking if Ottawa doesn't make a pitch for her given Carla MacLeod and multiple Czech's calling Ottawa home. One of two former Patty Kazmaier winners on this list, Giguere is big, sees the ice well, and has all the puck skills necessary to score. She struggled in the high speed PWHL during year one, and never found chemistry in New York. Finding the right combo for Giguere could unleash her offensive potential. She'll need speed and physicality on her line to help entice it out. She was a star in college, and a star in the PHF. It's all about finding the right spot for Giguere in this league. She could be a bargain this year. The other former Patty Kazmaier winner, Gabel struggled early adjusting to the physicality, and the reduced time and space of the PWHL. There just aren't many players in this league who can score like she does. She has a unique shot/release and can be creative with the puck. Even as a power play specialist, it was shocking to see Boston, a team that consistently struggled to score, relegate Gabel to the fringe of their roster. This is one of the most prolific college scorers in this league who was the top player in the PHF prior to the launch of this league. Finding a coach and system who can help Gabel locate soft spots in the offensive zone and break coverage, as well as guide her into better absorbing the pounding she'll take as a goal scoring threat, should help her find the net more consistently. There's an abundance of offensive potential waiting for the right situation in Gabel. Neubauerova was the type of player the Toronto Sceptres needed in their playoff loss. She's full of energy, plays a simplified game, gets to the hard areas, and loves to battle. Don't expect her to light up the scoresheet all year, but she'll have her moments where a big goal comes from going into the dirty areas and competing at net front. Ottawa might be interested, but Toronto may also try to retain her as they own her rights. She'd fit a depth role on pretty much any team in this league, and sooner or later, the teams with the biggest names are going to learn it's depth that wins championships in this league. The superstars can do heavy lifting too, but overuse has proven the downfall of teams in year one and year two. Noora Tulus can be a contributing middle six player in this league. New York has been a production killer for many players who went their and looked like they entered the Bermuda triangle of hockey, never to be seen again. Tulus came with big expectations, and rightfully so. Her skill set and intrinsic talent did not disappear by coming to North America. There was likely a bigger adjustment than she expected, something many of the European players who have not spent time in the NCAA have experienced, but this is more about a player who can be a second or third liner, that when it didn't come immediately, got buried. New York desperately needed Tulus, and should have given her more than they did. Some of the players New York elevated in their roster just don't have the upside to play scoring line minutes, but Tulus does. She can also be an effective third line checker who chips in offensively. It's likely there were trade talks involving her name this season, but the market for players on the Sirens' roster had to be thin given their struggles beyond the Sarah Fillier, Alex Carpenter, Jessie Eldridge trio, which the Sirens will be hard pressed to keep together following expansion. Tulus is rumoured to be exploring a return to Europe if she can get out of the second year of her contract. Otherwise, a change of scenery could have the desired impact as well.
Irish Independent
10-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Man who hit shop worker in face with wine bottle in Christmas Eve assault has jail sentence suspended on appeal
Jim Connors (30), with an address at Glenmuck Road, Carrickmines, Dublin 18, pleaded guilty in the District Court to assault contrary to section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. The District Court Appeals Court heard on Wednesday that on December 24, 2021, a panic alarm was set off at a Circle K service station on the Enniskerry Road, Kilternan, Dublin 18. A staff member told gardaí that Connors was attempting to steal three bottles of wine. When the staff member approached Connors, he was hit in the face with a wine bottle. Connors fled the scene and was later arrested for assault. The case was dealt with in the District Court along with other charges against Connors from 2021 and 2022, including theft, a public order offence and failure to produce a driving licence, for which he received a four-year disqualification. The court heard that Connors has 55 previous convictions, including those for road traffic offences, burglary, public order violations and theft. Defence counsel for Connors, Lydia Daly BL, told Judge Catherine White that her client is very apologetic for the incident and that he has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. She said he was appealing the case on the grounds of severity of sentence only. Judge White described the attack as a 'very terrifying thing to have happened' to the staff member. She said the court would increase the original custody sentence from three months to six months but suspend the jail term fully for 12 months, on the condition that Connors would stay away from the Circle K in Kilternan. She told Connors: 'Your behaviour is really unacceptable. I hope this will be a learning curve.'
