Also in today's Globe West...

REGION

Globe West's reporters and photographers have fanned out across our region to bring you a wide variety of compelling stories today, including:

* Staff writer Meg Woolhouse's report that two Mount Ida College students on a late-night food run were driving in excess of 80 miles per hour in a residential area when their silver 2002 Acura RSX crashed on July 1, according to a report from the Newton Police Department;

* Staff writer Lisa Kocian's story about how artists who want to live in a loft-style condo development in Marlborough are having a tough time getting mortgage loans;

* Correspondent Calvin Hennick's report about how many town in the region are considering abandoning the position of elected town clerk for an appointed one, and;

* Correspondent John Dyer's report about how Framingham officials, worried that sex offender residency restrictions in other towns may push pedophiles there, are mulling new regulations of their own.

For a complete listing of all the stories in today's Globe West, visit the section online.

-- Ralph Ranalli