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UMass Amherst campus police seek more students allegedly involved in rowdy post-Super Bowl demonstration

02/14/2012 2:37 PM

Campus police at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are looking to identify a handful of people allegedly involved in the disturbance after the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl loss on Feb. 5, in addition to those already arrested. Rowdy demonstrations after the game ended with the arrests of 13 students and one non-student. The students will face school sanctions as well as criminal charges, officials said. Six pictures posted on the campus police website show a group of people milling about outside, including one woman wearing a bathrobe, but no shoes. One picture shows a young man wearing a Patriots jersey after coming through a door. Authorities are asking that anyone who knows the individuals’ identities call police.

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Excitement builds at Newport, R.I., supermarket where $336 million ticket was sold

02/14/2012 1:37 PM

There’s a buzz of excitement at the Stop & Shop in Newport, R.I., today, and it’s not because there’s a great deal on a gallon of milk. On Saturday, a Powerball lottery ticket was drawn, entitling someone to a $336.4 million jackpot. The ticket, bearing the numbers 1-10-37-52-57 plus Powerball number 11, was sold at the Stop & Shop on Bellevue Avenue in Newport but no one has stepped forward to claim the prize. “There has been a pretty steady stream of customers asking about it,” said Suzi Robinson, spokeswoman for New England Stop & Shops. “People are really curious to know who the winner is.”

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Police converge on Burlington Mall after armed man report; weapon turns out to be BB gun

02/14/2012 1:20 PM

Burlington and State Police converged on the Burlington Mall area this afternoon after someone reported a man possibly armed with a shotgun. But it turned out there was no “active shooter” and the weapon involved was a BB gun, State Police said. Burlington police have identified a “person of interest” and are investigating, State Police said. Last April, the mall was evacuated and heavily armed police scoured the buildings following reports that an armed man was making his way through the shopping center. Police later learned the object was an umbrella.

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At least 11 more dolphins stranded on Cape; unexplained phenomenon total rises to 177

02/14/2012 12:33 PM

At least 11 more dolphins have stranded themselves on the shores of Cape Cod this morning as the mass strandings enter the second month. The International Fund for Animal Welfare said at least one of the 11 had died. The animal welfare group said the dolphins were found in an area commonly known as “the gut,” a muddy area near the Herring River in Wellfleet. “The team is out there now with 10 live dolphins,” spokesman Michael Booth said. “It could take quite awhile; it’s a treacherous location with lots of mud. The team is trying to pull them out of the mud and bring them to our rescue trailers.”

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Suspect with gun turns himself in after lockdown at Keene, N.H., schools

02/14/2012 12:30 PM

A lockdown has been lifted at four schools in Keene, N.H. after the suspect, who was walking around the area with a gun, turned himself in to police. A Keene police dispatcher said the man walked into the police department lobby just before 10 a.m. and was arrested. The suspect was seen near Park and Maple avenues this morning, police said. The high school, middle school, and two elementary schools in the area were locked down, but classes continued during the incident, according to Keene School Superintendent William Gerney’s office.

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State Police helicopter photos provide new view of Brighton fire

02/14/2012 12:10 PM

It is a scene straight out of science fiction. The Massachusetts State Police today released infrared camera photos taken by the State Police helicopter during the fire that destroyed a block of stores in Brighton on Sunday. The four-alarm blaze reported shortly before 6 a.m. caused $4 million in damage, destroying four businesses at the corner of Chestnut Hill Avenue and Embassy Road.

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Belmont police search for two men who robbed Trapelo Road variety store at gunpoint Sunday night

02/14/2012 10:04 AM

Belmont police are searching for two men who held up a Trapelo Road convenience store at gunpoint Sunday night. The two men entered LC Variety Store around 9 p.m. Sunday wearing clothing that masked not just their faces, but also their race, said Belmont Police Lieutenant Richard Santangelo. He said both men wore dark hoodies pulled over their faces, scarves and gloves.

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Hundreds protest fare hikes, service cuts proposed by MBTA

02/13/2012 11:08 PM

More than 400 public transit riders blasted the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s proposed rate hikes and service cuts last night in Boston, insisting that the measures would harm the poor, the elderly and disabled, and students. “How much do you expect the poor to pay?” said Jane D’Angelo, 47, during a public hearing hosted by the MBTA on the proposed changes at the Boston Public Library’s main branch in Copley Square.

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Boston city officials see reasons for optimism, concern in President Obama’s budget

02/13/2012 7:24 PM

Boston officials found cause for both optimism and concern as they combed through President Obama’s proposed $3.8 trillion federal budget. City officials said they were encouraged by the commitment shown to paying for schools and roads. They also praised an estimated 20 percent increase in grants to combat homelessness. They expressed concern about a proposed cut to heating assistance for low-income families and the effect a reduction to a public health program would have on obesity prevention and smoking cessation.

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MWRA proposes 3.9 percent increase in wholesale water and sewer service price

02/13/2012 6:39 PM

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is proposing to raise the wholesale price of water and sewer service to communities it serves by 3.9 percent. In a proposed budget, the agency said the increase would equate to about $17 for households that use the average 61,000 gallons per year. The agency said the rate increase is part of a three-year strategy that began in fiscal year 2011 with a 1.49 percent increase and called for 3.9 percent increases in fiscal years 2012 and 2013. “Back when we developed the FY11 budget, we wanted to try and minimize increases because of the uncertainty of the financial picture,” MWRA spokeswoman Ria Convery said. “That [FY11] was our lowest rate increase in 15 years. We wanted to make the following years something predictable and affordable.”

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Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer robbed by man with machete in West Indies home

02/13/2012 6:17 PM

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a long-time professor at Harvard and judge in federal appeals court in Boston, was robbed last week by a machete-wielding intruder at his vacation home in the West Indies, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said today. The 73-year-old Breyer, wife Joanna and guests were confronted by the robber around 9 p.m. Thursday in the home Breyer owns on the Caribbean island of Nevis, spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said. The intruder took about $1,000 in cash and no one was hurt, Arberg said.

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New Tom Hanks movie auditions actors at Massachusetts Maritime Academy

02/13/2012 4:48 PM

Francis McDonald is not an actor. He knows the seven seas better than the silver screen. Still, he was hoping today that he might get a role in an upcoming Tom Hanks film. “It would be an honor to be cast in the film,” he said. “The chance, like anything in this business, is a long shot. It was very enjoyable nonetheless.” McDonald, vice president for operations at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne, was one of more than 40 people to audition for four parts in Columbia Pictures’ planned film about the 2009 hijacking of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama, starring Tom Hanks as captured Captain Richard Phillips. Phillips was a 1979 graduate of the Maritime Academy.

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Harvard to offer voluntary buyouts to 275 as part of push to modernize library

02/13/2012 4:36 PM

Some 275 Harvard University employees will be offered voluntary buyouts in the school’s first concrete move toward modernizing its decentralized library system, university officials said today. Workers there have worried about layoffs, which they were told to expect during a contentious set of internal meetings in January that led to protests – most recently, the “occupation” of a library café on Sunday by students and activists. But the packages offered today are “totally voluntary,” said a letter from Marilyn Hausammann, Harvard’s vice president for human resources.

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Wellesley man sentenced to five years in Calif. for conspiracy to distribute child pornography

02/13/2012 4:27 PM

A 24-year-old Wellesley man was sentenced today in Los Angeles to five years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute child pornography, federal authorities announced. Joseph Tierney pleaded guilty in August. He was sentenced by US District Judge Virginia A. Phillips.

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Library opens first section of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis papers

02/13/2012 4:11 PM

The first section of the personal papers of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the young wife of the charismatic president, has been unsealed, opening another window into history, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum announced today. The papers touch on both the public and private life of the first lady, showing her interest in such topics as the restoration of the White House, travel, state visits, arts and culture, press coverage, and her involvement in a variety of cultural projects, organizations, and assocations, the library said in a statement.

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Authorities say domestic violence played a role in death of Douglas woman

02/13/2012 3:27 PM

Authorities today called the Friday death of a Douglas woman a “tragic case of domestic violence.” Lisa Stilkey, 44, died from injuries received after falling from a second-floor window. Her husband, Allen Stilkey, 40, a former arm wrestling champion, was arraigned today on charges of manslaughter, assault and battery, and threatening to commit a crime. During a search of the home the couple shared on Gilboa Street, State Police reported seeing “obvious signs of a struggle.”

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Federal magistrate sets Nov. 5 trial date for James ‘Whitey’ Bulger

02/13/2012 3:08 PM

A federal magistrate judge has set Nov. 5 as the date for the trial of 82-year-old gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, rejecting claims by Bulger’s lawyers that they needed another year to prepare for the trial. US Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler set the date in a hearing today in US District Court in Boston. She said she wanted to keep a close eye on the progress both sides were making in getting ready for trial and set a status hearing for March 19. Federal prosecutor Brian Kelly argued that Bulger was trying to avoid a trial. “Frankly, it appears to us that Mr. Bulger is trying to run out the clock and delay it so he doesn’t have a trial,” he said.

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Mass. high court rules marijuana dealing charge is valid even when alleged dealer only possesses a small amount

02/13/2012 2:30 PM

The state’s highest court has ruled that people can be charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana even if they were caught with less than an ounce of the substance, despite the decriminalization of simple possession of such small amounts. The Supreme Judicial Court said a 2008 referendum that changed possessing less than an ounce from a criminal offense to a civil offense had no effect on the separate law that makes it a crime to possess marijuana with the intent to distribute it. “We conclude that the passage of [the referendum] did not repeal the offense of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute [...] where the amount of marijuana possessed is one ounce or less,” Chief Justice Roderick Ireland wrote in today’s opinion.

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Trial in Mattapan massacre to go on as scheduled; judge refuses to dismiss case

02/13/2012 12:56 PM

The trial of two men accused of killing four people, including a 2-year-old boy, in Mattapan in 2010 will begin as scheduled after a judge ruled against a defense motion to dismiss the case. As a result, jury selection in the first-degree murder trial of Dwayne Moore, 33, and Edward Washington, 32, will begin this afternoon with the questioning of 50 potential jurors.

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Newport, R.I., winner of $336 million Powerball jackpot has not come forward

02/13/2012 12:50 PM

The winning PowerBall jackpot ticket drawn Saturday, worth $336.4 million, was sold at a Stop & Shop supermarket in Newport, R.I., according to Rhode Island Lottery officials. The winner, whose ticket has the numbers 1-10-37-52-57 plus PowerBall number 11, has not yet stepped forward to claim their prize. The winner has the option of accepting a lump sum of $210 million in cash or taking home the full amount in installments over 30 years.

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On the beat

Columnist Adrian Walker writes about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's evolving views on birth control and abortion. Read more
David Abel
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