Guardian Angels dismiss sex offender

A registered sex offender has been removed from the Boston chapter of the Guardian Angels, according to Curtis Sliwa, founder of the New York-based citizen security force. Sliwa said Erich Kennedy, 34, who pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery on a child in 2002, was dismissed over the weekend because the group prohibits sex offenders from joining its ranks. Sliwa said Kennedy admitted to him that he was a sex offender and agreed to turn over his Guardian Angel wardrobe on Saturday. The group has begun conducting background checks on all new members, Sliwa said. Kennedy could not be reached for comment.

MILTON

Milton police are searching for whoever painted two swastikas on a synagogue just before Saturday services. The graffiti were discovered by members of Temple Shalom as they arrived for Sabbath services, according to a statement from the synagogue. One of the swastikas was painted on a sign in front of the building, and the other was on a side door. In response, Rabbi Alfred Benjamin and the Rev. Parisa Parsa of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist in Milton plan to hold a public observance of solidarity Sunday at 7 p.m. at Temple Shalom.

WESTFIELD

Two men were killed yesterday when a fire swept through a mobile home. Authorities haven't released the names of the victims and are unsure how the early-morning blaze started in the unit at the Arbor Mobile Home Park. State Trooper Michael Mazza said the mobile home had no working smoke detectors or running water. It was heated with portable heaters, officials said.

NEW HAMPTON, N.H.

A student at New Hampton School died last night after collapsing on a school basketball court, a school spokesman said. Guy Alang-Ntang, a senior, was playing in a pick up game at the Smith Gymnasium on the prep school campus. He was on the court, away from the action, when he apparently lost consciousness and fell backward about 7 p.m., spokesman Peter Miller said. The youth was taken by ambulance to Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth, where he was later pronounced dead. Alang-Ntang leaves his parents, who live in Cameroon, Africa. (AP)

AUGUSTA, Maine

A legislative committee is taking up Maine's latest proposal to mandate cellular phone recycling, hoping to make at least a dent in the 65,000 tons of cellphones Americans dispose of per year. The Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing today on a bill that would require cellphone retailers to accept old phones for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal. Supporters of cellphone recycling say that keeping them out of the environment is important because the phones contain toxic chemicals such as arsenic, lead, zinc, and other substances that have been linked to health problems. But the substances found in cellphones are not considered a danger to people using them. (AP)

PROVIDENCE

A military couple has purchased a lighthouse in the middle of Narragansett Bay, the first time the federal government has auctioned off a lighthouse in New England. Juli and John Chytka purchased the Hog Island Shoal Light off Portsmouth for $165,000 in an online auction, winning a property that comes without electricity, running water, or dry land. Simply sandblasting and painting the exterior could cost up to $400,000. The couple, who have traveled along Rhode Island's coast, live in Germany, where John Chytka is based as a lieutenant colonel with an Army Corps of Engineers battalion. His wife entered the winning bid from an Internet café in Paris while her husband was serving in Iraq. (AP)

DURHAM, N.H.

The only finalist for the presidency of the University of New Hampshire will be the school's next president pending approval tomorrow by the Board of Trustees, the UNH chancellor Steven Reno said yesterday. Mark W. Huddleston, 56, president of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, said during a visit last week that he would be enthusiastic about fund-raising and that much can be done to work with businesses to offer internships and match graduates with job opportunities. (AP)