• Winter Storm Warning - Click for Details
    ...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM WEDNESDAY TO 3 AM CST THURSDAY...
    Effective: February 12, 2025 @ 6:00am
    Expires: February 13, 2025 @ 3:00am
    WHAT
    Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations between 4 and 6 inches. There may be narrow bands of 6 to 8 inches.
    WHERE
    Portions of north central, northwest, and west central Illinois, east central, northeast, and southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri.
    WHEN
    From 6 AM Wednesday to 3 AM CST Thursday.
    IMPACTS
    Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the Wednesday morning and evening commutes.
    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS
    If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. In Iowa, the latest road conditions are available at 511ia.org or by calling 511. In Illinois, the latest road conditions are available at gettingaroundillinois.com. In Missouri, the latest road conditions are available at modot.org or by calling 511.

Ex-employee of Boston’s Northeastern University gets prison for hoax bombing

SHARE NOW

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) – A former employee of Northeastern University was sentenced to one year in prison on Monday following his convicted for staging a hoax explosion in 2022 and fabricating a story about being injured after opening a package delivered to the school’s campus in Boston.

Jason Duhaime, 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston after a federal jury in June found him guilty of charges that he conveyed false information related to an explosive device and lied to investigators after an incident that prompted an evacuation of buildings on campus.

Police and bomb squads swarmed the area in one of the most significant responses to a bomb threat locally since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded 260 others.

Duhaime’s lawyer, Scott Lauer, did not respond to a request for comment. He had argued for no prison time, citing declines in Duhaime’s physical health, and at trial had argued that the hoax was someone else’s doing.

The Sept. 13, 2022, emergency response began when Duhaime, at the time the new technology manager and director of Northeastern’s Immersive Media Lab, called 911 to report he was injured after opening a package containing a “violent note.”

Duhaime said “very sharp” objects flew out of the package, a hard plastic case. But prosecutors said Duhaime’s arms had only superficial marks, while his shirt, the case and the note had no signs of damage.

The note ranted about virtual reality; the lab, a hub for immersive technologies; and Meta Platforms founder Mark Zuckerberg, and referenced matters known to a handful of people including Duhaime, prosecutors said.

When police and federal agents later interviewed Duhaime, he doubled down on his false story, claiming to be the victim of an attack, prosecutors said. He was arrested several days later in Texas, where he was living with his girlfriend.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Submit a Comment