Fanfare for an 'urban mechanic'

October 31, 2014 - Daily News Briefing

Thomas Menino's legacy won't be found in grand speeches but in the city he worked to improve.

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Sweden's new left-leaning government on Thursday recognized a Palestinian state – a move that comes during increased tensions between Arabs and Jews over Israel's plans to build about 1,000 housing units in east Jerusalem. The EU member became the third Western European nation, after Malta and Cyprus, to do so, reflecting growing international impatience with Israel's nearly half-century control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said Sweden made the move because Palestine had fulfilled the international law criteria required for such recognition.

The US economy grew at a solid annual rate of 3.5 percent in the July-September quarter, propelled by solid gains in business investment, export sales and the biggest jump in military spending in five years. The third quarter result, which was slightly better than economists expected, followed a 4.6 percent rebound in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The economy shrank at a 2.1 percent rate in the first three months of the year due to a harsh winter. The report was the first of three estimates of the gross domestic product, the economy's total output of goods and services.

A small plane lost power after takeoff and crashed into a building while trying to return to a Kansas airport Thursday, killing at least four people, injuring at least five others and igniting a fire that sent up towering plumes of black smoke that could be seen for miles around Wichita, officials and witnesses said. Only the pilot was on the plane, but it wasn't immediately clear how many people were inside the building at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport where at least four people found dead, authorities said.

The National Guard is deploying troops to a rural Hawaii town as lava makes a slow crawl toward a major road and threatens to further isolate the community that got its start during the lumber- and sugar-plantation heydey. Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said Thursday the National Guard is deploying 83 troops to Pahoa to help provide security. The troops will help with a roadblock and with other safety issues. Lava from a vent at Kilauea volcano has been sliding northeast toward the ocean since June.

Thomas Menino, whose folksy manner and verbal gaffes belied his shrewd political tactics to govern as Boston's longest-serving mayor and one of its most beloved, died Thursday. Spokeswoman Dot Joyce said in a statement that Menino died in the company of his family and friends. He was diagnosed with advanced cancer in February 2014, shortly after leaving office, and announced Oct. 23 he was suspending treatment and a book tour so he could spend more time with family and friends.

Madison Bumgarner punctuated his World Series performance for the ages by pitching the San Francisco Giants to their third championship in five years with a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. The big left-hander came out of the bullpen to throw five scoreless innings on two days' rest, saving a Series pushed to the limit. And by winning Game 7 on the road, Bumgarner and the Giants succeeded where no team had in 3 1/2 decades.

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

“The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” – Mary Baker Eddy

The Daily News Briefing is published Monday through Friday by The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

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