Life term in fatal shooting in Roxbury

A Roxbury man was sentenced yesterday to life in prison in the shooting death of a man in the Madison Park housing development three years ago, the Suffolk district attorney's office announced. Convicted last week of second-degree murder, Kevin Sanders, 26, was sentenced to the mandatory term of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years and an additional 4-5 years for gun possession. Sanders was convicted Dec. 29 after witnesses testified that he shot Alexander Smith, 26, a father of two, after a heated argument in September 2002. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Stephen E. Neel ordered Sanders to serve his time at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction and to submit a sample for the state's DNA database.

Car and ambulance collide in East Boston

The driver of a Toyota automobile was in critical condition yesterday after a collision with a Boston Emergency Medical Services ambulance early yesterday on McClellan Highway in East Boston, police said. The two emergency workers in the ambulance suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. The driver of the Toyota was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. Boston police said the accident was still under investigation yesterday.

Jet lands safely despite smoke in cockpit

A US Air flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Boston landed safely at Logan International Airport last night after the plane's cockpit began filling with smoke, said Massport spokesman Danny Levy. The smoke in the cockpit of the Boeing 757 was neither heavy nor health-endangering, Levy said. No one on the plane was injured, Levy said.

Parking violation leads to fugitive's arrest

Police investigating a double-parked car arrested the owner, who turned out to be wanted for a parole violation following a murder conviction. Police responded about 10:05 p.m. Monday to a report of a vehicle preventing another car from moving in Jamaica Plain. Police checked the double-parked vehicle's registration and discovered it belonged to Israel Cruz, 52, of Jamaica Plain, who was arrested.

State tax collections rise 12.4 percent

Buoyed by a surge in business taxes, overall state tax collections in December were ''very strong" and beat December 2004 receipts by 12.4 percent, Revenue Commissioner Alan LeBovidge announced yesterday. Collections of $1.784 billion surpassed the December 2004 take by $197 million. Halfway through this fiscal year, state government tax collections are up 8.1 percent, or $632 million over the similar period in fiscal year 2005. LeBovidge said FleetBank, now Bank of America, paid $24 million in December after it lost an Appellate Tax Board decision regarding taxation of real estate investment trusts. (State House News Service)

CAMBRIDGE

Framingham man sentenced in bombing

A Framingham man was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday for exploding a pipe bomb at a biotech company in 2004. In a plea deal, Brad Karger, 30, pleaded guilty to bombing Amaranth Bio Inc. and trying unsuccessfully to blow up another company in the same office building 18 months earlier, according to the Middlesex district attorney's office. No one was hurt when the pipe bomb exploded Aug. 26, 2004, but several windows shattered. Karger also acknowledged that a year and a half earlier he opened three gas valves in the microbiology laboratory at Vicam Inc., where he worked. With gas flowing, Karger lit a Bunsen burner and ran, but the building did not explode. (AP)

PORTLAND, MAINE

University names new president

The University of New England has chosen a college administrator from South Carolina to be its new president. Danielle Ripich, 60, will take over this summer for Sandra Featherman, who is stepping down after leading the Biddeford-based school for 11 years. Ripich is now the dean of the College of Health Professions at Medical University of South Carolina at Charleston. She was chosen from a field of about 70 candidates. Ripich holds bachelor's and master's degrees in speech pathology from Cleveland State University, and a doctorate in speech pathology from Kent State University. The University of New England, which was founded in 1831, has campuses in Biddeford and Portland with programs in health sciences, natural sciences, human services, management, education, and the liberal arts. The university also has Maine's only medical school, the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. (AP)