Gay groups march in Boston parade
BOSTON – Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade made history Sunday as two gay and lesbian groups marched after decades of opposition that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The gay military veterans service group OutVets and gay-rights group Boston Pride joined the annual celebration of military veterans and Irish heritage at the invitation of the sponsoring South Boston Allied War Veterans Council.
“We march today for the memories of those thousands and thousands of people who went before us, some who went to their graves in the closet,” OutVets founder and leader and Air Force veteran Bryan Bishop told his group before the parade. He called it “the beginning of the mission of this organization to honor the service and sacrifice of every single LGBT veteran, their family, their allies and every veteran in this country who fought so selflessly to defend the rights that we hold dear.”
Snowfall record broken in Bostom
BOSTON – Boston’s miserable winter is now also its snowiest season going back to 1872.
The official measurement of 108.6 inches at Logan International Airport Sunday night topped a season record of 107.9 inches set in 1995-96, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass.
The final 2.9 inches came in a snowstorm that was relatively tame after a record-setting monthly snowfall of 64.9 inches in February.
The worst previous single month was January 2005, when 43.3 inches fell.
This official winter snowfall, measured from December through February this year, was 99.4 inches. That was the snowiest for the winter period, beating 91.5 inches in 1993-94.
Vanuatu struggles in wake of cyclone
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – The official death toll from a massive cyclone that tore through Vanuatu has risen to four, with fears it could jump significantly, officials from the tiny South Pacific archipelago said Monday.
Paolo Malatu, coordinator for the National Disaster Management Office, said two people had been confirmed dead in the capital, Port Vila, and two more on the southern island of Tanna. He said another 20 people had been injured.
With power lines and phone circuits down, officials have no way of knowing the scope of the damage and injuries on the hard-hit outer islands. Malatu said officials had dispatched every plane and helicopter they could Monday to fly over the islands and identify those hardest hit.
Associated Press
