Post-prison party postponed for Cianci

A party that had been planned for former Providence mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci after his release from federal prison has been postponed. Cianci is scheduled to be released from the prison at Fort Dix, N.J., to a halfway house in Boston on May 30 and start doing sales and marketing work early next month at Fifteen Beacon, a luxury hotel in Boston. The hotel had planned a celebration for Cianci on his first day of work. But George Regan, a spokesman for hotel owner Paul Roiff, said the hotel decided to postpone the party until later in the summer after learning that the federal Bureau of Prisons "doesn't particularly like having a party." Cianci was sent to prison in 2002 following his conviction on a single count of racketeering conspiracy. (AP)

The brawl at Symphony Hall will get its day in court. A probable cause hearing has been scheduled for June 5 in Boston Municipal Court before a clerk magistrate. On the Boston Pops opening night May 9, a shoving match erupted in the second balcony between Michael Hallam, 44, and Matthew Ellinger, 27, that halted the performance. Boston police threw both men out of Symphony Hall, but did not arrest them. The episode made national news, and a few days later the Police Department reversed its decision not to pursue charges and assigned a detective to investigate. According to a police report obtained by the Globe, Ellinger told police that the scuffle started when he told Hallam to be quiet during the performance. Ellinger told police that he repeatedly asked Hallam to stop talking and tapped him with his program in the minutes before Hallam punched him. Police have said that detectives plan to interview witnesses and summon both men to the hearing. The clerk magistrate will determine who bears responsibility for the fight.

State Police say they have been in contact with the driver of a sport utility vehicle who drove away early yesterday after allegedly striking and killing a man walking across the westbound lanes of Storrow Drive. The driver, Perla Garcia, 23, of Brighton, contacted police after she drove away from the crash, officials said. Garcia has not been charged with a crime. The accident remains under investigation. Police said Garcia was driving a 2004 Toyota Rav4 at 1:55 a.m. when she struck the man on Storrow Drive between Massachusetts Avenue and Kenmore Square. Police did not release the identity of the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities say they believe the victim was a homeless man.

NATICK

A 40-year-old woman and three girls are facing assault and battery charges in connection with what police called a "group beat down" of a 16-year-old girl at a mall in front of dozens of onlookers. Marilyn Camacho, 40, of Framingham and the girls, ages 16, 13, and 12, were arrested following a fight at the Natick Collection on Monday that left the victim unconscious and requiring hospitalization, Lieutenant Brian Grassey said. Police did not disclose the girls' relationship to Camacho. The victim, whose name was not made public, was taken to MetroWest Medical Center's Leonard Morse campus for treatment. One of the alleged attackers and the victim had fought in the past, Grassey said. (AP)

NEW BEDFORD

A factory owner accused of hiring hundreds of illegal workers has been given permission by a federal judge to go to Panama next month on a humanitarian mission. Judge Leo T. Sorokin granted Francesco Insolia's request May 8, a day after his lawyer filed it and an assistant US attorney raised no objections, The Standard-Times of New Bedford reported. Insolia, the owner of Michael Bianco Inc., is charged along with three factory managers with conspiring to hire illegal immigrants. Federal authorities arrested 361 of his workers -- most from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras -- in a raid in March. (AP)

BANGOR

Maine fishery officials are commending new regulations designed to give large lobsters along most of the East Coast protections similar to those in Maine. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved new rules this month that include a maximum size limit for lobsters caught from Canada to North Carolina. The regulations aim to rebuild lobster stocks in southern New England, where the harvest fell by half between 1999 and 2003. Until now, Maine has been the only state with a maximum size limit for lobsters. (AP)