The Boston Bruins signed Mitchell Miller to an entry-level contract on Nov. 4 of last year, but there was controversy.

Miller, now 21, pleaded guilty at the age of 14 to one count of assault and violating the Ohio Safe Schools Act after he and another student abused a classmate.

The two forced Isaiah Meyer-Crothers to eat a lollipop after wiping it in a bathroom urinal, and surveillance footage also showed them kicking and punching him. It also was found that Miller called Meyer-Crothers, who is Black and has developmental disabilities, the N-word and "brownie" frequently.

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Despite the team saying they "will part ways" with Miller just two days after signing him, he remained under contract.

The New York Post was told that the team terminated their contract with Miller after their disassociation with him, but there was no record of him being placed on waivers as required by the league's collective bargaining agreement. Even as recently as Saturday evening, Miller was listed on the team's minor league roster on sites like CapFriendly and PuckPedia.

The NHLPA then reportedly filed a grievance, and the Bruins and Miller wound up reaching a settlement in February. Miller was then released, received an unknown sum, and granted free agency.

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Miller was a fourth-round draft pick by the Arizona Coyotes in 2016, but when more details of the assault became public in October 2020, the Coyotes relinquished his draft rights. He was then kicked off the University of North Dakota hockey team.

Bruins president Cam Neely said the organization "failed" in the vetting process of Miller, citing "new information" that led the team to rescind his contract offer. Neely said he learned the team did not speak with Meyer-Crothers or his family, which he felt was "very concerning." 

Meyer-Crothers noted that Miller did recently apologize to him, and the apology "didn't involve hockey." However, he said that in the "middle of October" Miller had "texted [him] constantly every day till I answered a Snapchat and [Instagram] message" from Miller asking him "why I have parents doing stuff for me and why can't I speak for myself."

Meyer-Crothers said Miller told him "he was doing stuff in the community and helping the youth and wanted to be my friend." But when Meyer-Crothers asked for proof of his service to the community, Miller was unable to provide any.

The Bruins set the all-time NHL records for most wins (65) and points (135) in a single season, but their quest to a Stanley Cup ended with an upsetting first-round loss to the Florida Panthers, immediately ending any consideration of that squad being the best NHL team ever.

Residents of Ecuador's largest city are walling themselves into their neighborhoods to protect against criminals who are running rampant in the city, according to a report.

"It’s regrettable we have to close ourselves off and the criminals are outside, but there was no other way for us to feel safe," Johana Torres, a resident and president of a neighborhood in Guayaquil, told news outlet EFE.

An average of seven people a day were killed in Guayaquil in the first quarter of 2023, which is double the rate during the same time period last year, the outlet reported. Police say violence exploded following the pandemic and as drug gang wars erupted on the streets. 

Residents in certain neighborhoods are turning to security gates to keep criminals away, including in Torres' Samanes 1 neighborhood on the north side of the city. Six gates were installed around the neighborhood in December to protect the more than 300 families who live there and prevent outsiders from entering the area between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. 

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"If they didn’t break into your house, they robbed someone, beat someone up. Cars got stolen. All kinds of stuff happened," Torres said. She said the neighborhood averaged 12 crimes a day before the gates were installed. 

An urban planner and public safety expert told EFE that Guayaquil is working to "bunkerize" with security gates to protect law-abiding citizens from criminals, similar to other nearby cities that have high crime.

"These cities are in a process of bunkerization. The idea is to close yourself off and turn yourself into a bunker so no one can enter," Fernando Carrion told the outlet.

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"How can you enter one of these places? First of all, with a passport, which is an identification; secondly, with a visa, because you have to ask for a person’s authorization to enter; and thirdly, going through customs, which is basically a body search they do before you can enter. We’re creating a series of borders within cities," he continued. 

He called the new safety measures "a natural reaction amid government inefficiency."

The outlet reported that extortion cases in the city have exploded in recent years, with prosecutors recording 1,603 such cases between January and June, compared to 1,265 cases for all of 2022 and only 425 in 2021. 

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Robberies that target both homes and retail stores have also skyrocketed this year – already surpassing all of 2022's robberies.

Last month, residents in Guayaquil's Nueva Kennedy neighborhood installed 17 gates around its outskirts to protect the more than 600 residents and families who live in the area. 

"Since the start of last year, we’ve unsuccessfully approached the police [about the crime problems]. The cases rose and rose until we were left defenseless," Nueva Kennedy leader Francisco Torres told EFE.

"We got the idea to protect ourselves with a comprehensive enclosure that didn’t affect residents and allows us to walk freely on the streets once again."