Hopkinton voters reject buying 710 acres

Voters last night rejected a proposal to have the town buy about 710 acres of land to stave off a massive housing and commercial development. The $30.4 million purchase, which needed Town Meeting and town election approvals, failed at Town Meeting last week. Some in town hoped voters would support the land purchase at last night's town election, possibly setting up a chance to try again at another Town Meeting. Instead, residents rejected the idea, with 3,034 votes against and 1,616 in favor. The development, proposed by Weston-based developer Boulder Capital and slated to include a shopping center and nearly 1,000 homes, will be located off Route 135 near Weston Nurseries .

WARREN

The father of Molly Bish, the Warren lifeguard who disappeared in 2000 before her remains were found in the Palmer woods three years later, was in intensive care at a hospital yesterday after suffering a stroke, his wife said in a television interview. John Bish and his wife, Magdelen "Magi," have been advocates for missing and exploited children since Molly vanished from her lifeguard post at Comins Pond on June 27, 2000. "At this time, he has now survived radical surgery" and remains at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Magi Bish said in an interview with Boston's WFTX-TV, which said Bish suffered the stroke last week. "His condition continues to be serious, though, so we are asking you all to continue to keep us in your prayers, to send your love, your light. We appreciate all the support we've been given," Magi Bish said. "We know that the road is not going to be short, so we ask you to continue those prayers as we travel to this recovery," she said. No one has been charged in Molly's disappearance or death . (AP)

BOSTON

Faculty leaders from the five University of Massachusetts campuses yesterday called for Governor Deval Patrick to appoint an independent commission to investigate President Jack M. Wilson's proposed leadership changes. The 21-member Intercampus Faculty Council , composed of representatives from Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and Worcester, said Wilson's restructuring proposals "reflect some underlying deficiencies in the governance structure at the level of the Trustees and President's Office." The council, headed by Ernest May, the secretary of the Faculty Senate at Umass-Amherst, also asked Patrick to appoint trustees who "appreciate the principles of shared governance that underlie every first-rate educational institution." Faculty representatives from UMass-Lowell opposed the resolutions.

NEW BEDFORD

Sheila Martines Pina, a former Southestern Massachusetts tourism official and local television host, was sentenced yesterday to at least five months in jail after multiple drunken-driving arrests, officials announced. Pina pleaded guilty to her third, fourth, and fifth drunken-driving charges in New Beford District Court and was sentenced to 30 months with all but six suspended, according to the Bristol district attorney's office. Pina also was ordered to pay $1,050 in fines and fees, and she was placed on probation for three years, during which she will be screened for drug and alcohol use. Pina is the wife of former Bristol district attorney Ronald Pina.

NASHUA

The American Legion Department of New Hampshire has awarded its Policeman of the Year award to the family of a Manchester officer killed in the line of duty. Officials presented the award to the family of Michael Briggs at the legion's annual convention Saturday. Sergeant Tom Gallagher, who was Briggs's supervisor , said the officer's memory has become a source of inspiration to other members of the force. Briggs was shot to death in October while responding to a domestic dispute. (AP)

DEXTER, Maine

Kaine Gilman is unlikely to forget the special Father's Day gift he received this year. While other fathers were opening gifts or enjoying breakfast in bed, Gilman found himself kneeling on his bathroom floor in a panic, shouting to longtime partner Brenda Brawn, "What do I do? What do I do?" Brawn shouted back, "I don't know." What he did came naturally, Gilman later recalled, and at 7:59 a.m. Sunday he caught their fourth daughter as she was unexpectedly born at home. The new arrival, Andrea Lee Gilman, weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces. (AP)