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Morning Updates: Such as… the Deflategate? New Miss America says Brady cheated

Miss Georgia, Betty Cantrell, was crowned Miss America Mark Makela / Reuters

By Jack Pickell @pacmanjack

September 14, 2015

2 minutes to read

Good Monday morning, Boston. Here’s a look at the stories you need to read as you start your work week.

Such as… the Deflategate? “On Sunday night, television viewers across the country tuned in to watch as the new Miss America was crowned.

The winner was Betty Cantrell, Miss Georgia. Cantrell is a woman of many talents. She can walk in heels and appears to be an accomplished opera singer.

When it comes to the longstanding tradition of contestants offering cringeworthy responses during the Q&A portion of the pageant, Cantrell did not disappoint.

Cantrell was asked to opine on DeflateGate.’’ (Boston.com)

‘Whitey’ Bulger says he bought a puppy “James “Whitey’’ Bulger was always a sucker for animals. So perhaps it’s no surprise that the notorious South Boston gangster stopped to buy a puppy while driving cross-country during his first year on the run. At least, that’s what he claims.

“Ogden, Utah — when I first went on the lam around 1995 I stopped there for a couple of days — I felt the altitude when climbing up on rocky cliff,’’ Bulger reminisced in a letter to a novelist who had written to him from the mountain desert city in northern Utah. “I remember being in a mall — we were looking at puppies in pet store — there was a little boy with his mother who wanted a certain puppy — we bought it for him (with mother’s consent). Hope it all worked out for all concerned — real nice little boy.’’

Alison McLennan, a Quincy native who moved to Utah after graduating from high school, received the handwritten missive from Bulger shortly after he was captured in 2011 after more than 16 years on the run.’’ (The Boston Globe )

Probation scraps essay portion of exam “Eleven acting chief or assistant chief probation officers will keep their jobs at the Probation Department thanks to trial court officials’ decision to throw out the essay portion results of a promotional exam, according to The Boston Globe.

Twelve probation officers could have been demoted and suffered a pay cut after failing the essay exam in March, but will instead be considered for promotion. One assistant chief failed the multiple choice portion of the test as well, so he has been demoted, officials told the Globe. (Boston.com)

Russian flights escalate tensions with U.S. “Russia is using an air corridor over Iraq and Iran to fly military equipment and personnel to a new air hub in Syria, openly defying American efforts to block the shipments and significantly increasing tensions with Washington. American officials disclosed Sunday that at least seven giant Russian Condor transport planes had taken off from a base in southern Russia during the past week to ferry equipment to Syria, all passing through Iranian and Iraqi airspace.’’ (The New York Times)