Biotech event to honor UMass professor

July 14, 2007

BOSTON
State lawmakers plan to convene a special joint session next week to honor Craig Mello, a University of Massachusetts professor and Nobel Prize recipient, as part of a broad push to recognize the importance of biotechnology and the state's public university system. The Thursday session, sponsored by the Legislature's Biotechnology Caucus, will feature remarks from Mello. (State House News Service)

A Hyde Park man was sentenced yesterday to 16 months in prison for online child enticement, the Suffolk district attorney's office said. Corey Renwick, 26, also received three years' probation. His sentence was deemed served while awaiting trial. Authorities said that in April 2006 Renwick had arranged a meeting, via the Internet, with someone he believed to be a 12-year-old-girl in Boston, for the purpose of having sex. Unbeknownst to Renwick, a 21-year-old Worcester woman was posing as the girl. The woman, who was not working with law enforcement, notified Boston police.

ANDOVER

A 54-year-old Methuen man was killed Thursday night in a single-car crash on Interstate 495, State Police reported yesterday. Andrew Bradley was driving a 1996 Toyota Tacoma pickup at 8:30 p.m. when he lost control, veered left off the road, and rolled over several times in the median, according to a news release. Rescuers had to cut Bradley out of his truck. He was rushed to Lawrence General Hospital, where he died, police said. A preliminary investigation indicated that speed was a factor in the crash.

HAVERHILL

State Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a vehicle involved in a fatal hit-and-run last month on Interstate 495 in Haverhill. John R. Grant, 23, of Chelmsford was killed June 29 when his car was struck by another vehicle. Grant's passenger, Aja M. Mocherman, 19, of Chelmsford, was seriously injured in the crash. Investigators are looking for a white sport utility vehicle or pickup with a white front bumper, according to a State Police press release. Blue paint may have been transferred to the vehicle in the crash. State Police are asking anyone with information to call the Newbury barracks at 987-462-7478.

MEDFORD

Two businesses were evacuated yesterday afternoon in Medford after two manholes began spewing smoke on Riverside Avenue. The Medford Fire Department responded about 12:15 p.m. and removed the manhole covers to prevent an explosion. "There was an underground cable failure in progress, which can sometimes cause smoke," said Deborah Drew, a spokeswoman for National Grid, an electric and natural gas utility.

DENNIS PORT

A mother pulled her 1-year-old son, who may have been drowning, out of a wading pool, authorities said. She resuscitated her son after finding him not breathing in the backyard wading pool, said Dennis police Captain William Monahan, who said the boy could have been underwater for three to five minutes. When police arrived, the boy was crying. He was transported by helicopter to Boston Children's Hospital.

BATON ROUGE, La.

The board overseeing the 11 institutions in the Louisiana State University system voted yesterday to hire as its new president the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Last week, an LSU search committee recommended John Lombardi for the post, with members praising his credentials and his outspoken style. (AP)

VERGENNES, Vt.

Vermont's oldest city will celebrate its French heritage today, Bastille Day. Vergennes will mark France's national holiday with a flag-raising, speeches, a performance by the Vergennes City Band, and a French Mass. Established in 1788, Vergennes was Vermont's first incorporated city. Ethan Allen suggested the city's name, to honor the Comte de Vergennes, France's foreign minister during the American Revolution. (AP)