This is WBZ, Boston's news radio, redefining local news.
It's forty six degrees but feeling like thirty four in Boston at eleven o'clock. We have a chilly breeze and another round of rain on the way. Good Thursday morning. I'm Madison Rogers, and we start this half hour on the North Shore. Students have now been out of class for nearly two weeks and frustrations mounting. A deal is said to be close. In Gloucester, Striking teachers say paraprofessional pay is the only remaining major sticking point as negotiations
drag on. School leaders in Beverly say they are going to have to hold classes during vacation or weekends even if we don't get a single snow day this winter. Marble Head leaders say February and April vacation could be canceled. Tens of thousands of dollars in fines continue to rack up every day, and we will continue to bring you all the latest updates right here on WBZ. More information is surfaced around sex assault allegations against the man picked to lead the Pentagon.
A twenty two page police investigative report offers the first detailed account of an encounter between a woman and Pete Hegseth in twenty seventeen in Monterey, California. The woman told police when she tried to leave his hotel room, he took her phone, locked the door, and refused to let her leave. She says she believes Hegseth then sexually assaulted her. Hegseth told police the sexual encounter was consensual. Police recommended the case be forwarded to the district attorney for review.
Christopher Cruz CBS News.
Hegsath just one of the President alex nominees who will need to face the Senate confirmation process, and Trump transition advisors are said to be warning Republicans in the Senate about what could happen if they don't back the president Alex choices. ABC's Jonathan carl has more.
One senior Trump advisor told ABC News the message is quote if you are on the wrong side of the vote, you're buying yourself a primary. Trump has suggested if any of his nominees are not confirmed, he would bypass the Senate by appointing cabinet members of what Congress is in recess, an idea some Republicans say is out of bounds.
Meantime, Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted yesterday not to release their report on AG nominee Matt Gates. It was the fifty to fifty split along party lines. Gates has faced sexual misconduct allegations of his own. Today's rain will not be enough to extinguish the largest and most stubborn of the state's brushfires. That is the word today from state fire officials, who say the blaze in Great
Barrington is the largest right now by far. Five Massachusetts towns now declaring states of emergency due to ongoing fires. That includes Boxford, Middleton, North Reading, North Andover, and Danvers. Fire officials say the silver lining is that the rain today should at least prevent any new blazes from sparking. The strongest weather is coming down from the Metro West up towards southern New Hampshire. We have quite a bit of rain across pretty much all areas of the Bay State.
That is even potentially mixing with some wet snow out in Berkshire County. We will continue to see wind and rain the rest of the day, watch for ponding on the streets and highways, and then tonight we still see wind and the rain should taper off to a shower from south to north. Laid on forty to forty four for the low. Tomorrow, we do have a shower or two. Otherwise, it's mostly cloudy and breezy, with a high around fifty two. Periods of rain again on Saturday, though it should taper
to a shower late on. It's also another windy one with a high around forty eight. Windy but dry for Sunday, some sun and a high around fifty three. Right now in Boston, I'm seeing some light rain. It looks dry outside my window. Really a mixed bag out there, and we are seeing those steady, chilly breezes out there. Eighteen miles an hour is what I'm seeing, eleven oh five right now. The Justice Department is calling for Google to sell off Google Chrome.
Chrome is a major revenue generator for Google at its parent company Alphabet forty nine billion dollars in the third quarter alone, but federal regulators in at least one court have said that the browser gives Google an unfair advantage over its competitors. In a statement, Google says the DOJ demand for a Chrome spinoff represents unprecedented government overreach.
That is ABC's Jim Ryan reporting. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell has now joined a multi state coalition in calling for the selloff. The International Criminal Court has issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, along with Hamas Leader. They're accused of war crimes in the war and Gaza and, in the case of the Hamas Leader, the October seventh massacre
of last year. CBS as Linda Gradstein says, Israel is now firing back.
Writing on X, Israeli Foreign Minister Guidonsar called it a dark moment for the ICC in the Hague and said it lost all legitimacy for its existence and activity. He said the ICC acted as a political tool in the service of what he called extreme terrorists. Israel says the court does not have jurisdiction to issue the arrest warrants against Nittanyahu and the recently fired Defense Minister Yoev Golland.
To be clear, Israel does not recognize the International Criminal Court, nor does the US. A big name in the Wooster restaurant scene is accused of assaulting an activists as the city Council met Tuesday night, The Telegram reports screaming could be heard outside the chamber as local progressive organizer David Webb was targeted with black spray paint across his face. Belisa identified the suspect as John Piccolow. He's the owner of Piccolo's Italian on Shrewsbury Street. There is a warrant
out for Piccolo's arrest. As of the latest we do not know if that arrest has been made. He's facing a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. Don't even think about singing a if you're planning on seeing Wicked this weekend.
Popular AMC theaters will play a reminder before every Wicked, showing that silence is golden screens. We'll call for no talking, texting, singing, wailing or flirting. A spokesperson says it's part of the chain's long standing policy prohibiting disruptive behavior, something this early TikTok viewer can go along with.
Not only were people singing like at the top of their lungs, but what was almost worse as people whisper singing and their timing was off.
Universal will offer interactive sing along screenings at Christmas Time. Deborah Rodriguez, CBS News.
You're now in the loop for news updates throughout the day. Listen to WBZ News Radio on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Madison Rogers, WBZ, Boston's news radio