Pipe breaks; office building evacuated

BOSTON

An office building at 320 Congress St. in South Boston was evacuated at about 7 p.m. yesterday after a nearby water main broke, and the basement and part of the first floor were flooded. Fire Department District Chief Dennis Keeley said the underground water pipe probably broke while construction crews were working on Congress Street sidewalks earlier in the day yesterday. Witnesses said they called police after seeing water seeping out of the sides of the brick building, located at the corner of Congress and Sleeper streets. Power was shut down to the building, and the Fire Department ordered that it remain closed until power is restored and the fire alarm and sprinkler system are working again.

A Boston University graduate student who said his neuroscience background helped him win hundreds of thousands of dollars on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" last year has advanced again. Ogi Ogas, 36, defeated "Jeopardy" champion Brad Rutter in the second round of the Game Show Network's "Grand Slam," a competition among winners of other game shows, which was taped early in June and aired last night. The pair competed in a single elimination matchup on pop culture, general knowledge, and math and logic questions. Ogas watched the show with family at his home in the Leather District, where he bought a condo in January after taking home $500,000 on "Millionaire." His latest competition is "the ultimate arena for the kind of techniques that I research," Ogas said in an interview last night. His next match, the semifinals, will air Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.

A federal appeals court has declined to review a $300,000 jury award for a member of the Narragansett Indian tribe whose ankle was broken during a 2003 State Police raid on a tribal smoke shop. But the decision by the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, while upholding the jury verdict on Friday, also opened the door to a new trial. "At this time, a new trial, in which all the issues can be assessed afresh, appears to us the best solution," wrote Chief Judge Michael Boudin and Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch in their ruling. A jury in March 2005 found that Trooper Ken Jones used excessive force against Adam Jennings, a worker at the shop, and awarded Jennings $301,100. But that summer, US District Judge Ernest Torres reversed the award and ruled state troopers used reasonable force. A three-judge panel of the appeals court found in March that Jones did violate Jennings' constitutional right to be free of excessive force, and reinstated the award. On Friday, the full appeals court ruled that it won't review that decision. A spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch said his office would review the ruling. (AP)

HANOVER, N.H.

Nine Hanover High School students face misdemeanor charges stemming from the theft of several final exams in June. The charges resulted from a school investigation into widespread cheating by members of the 2008 graduating class. Eight students face a hearing in Lebanon District Court on Aug. 28. Police have an arrest warrant for a ninth student. The students are being treated as adults. All are 17. A juvenile also was implicated. Usually school administrators deal with cheating allegations internally. But Hanover High Principal Deborah Gillespie decided to involve police. Four students are accused of taking the exams while others served as lookouts. (AP)

ALFRED, Maine

A major search was launched yesterday for a 30-year-old nursing student whose disappearance 10 days ago has been characterized by police as suspicious. Dozens of trained searchers and dogs began the search for Kelly Gorham at her Alfred apartment and planned to fan outward up to 20 miles in all directions, said Lieutenant Pat Dorian of the Maine Warden Service. Gorham, a student at Southern Maine Community College, was last seen on the night of Aug. 7 at her apartment and was reported missing when she failed to show up for work at Maine Medical Center in Portland the next afternoon. Her car was found at her apartment and her four dogs were inside, police said. (AP)

PINKHAM NOTCH, N.H.

Sleet, frost, 72-mile-per-hour gusts, and temperatures hovering around freezing yesterday morning forced organizers to cancel a bike race up New Hampshire's tallest mountain. Organizers said they considered postponing the 35th annual Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hill until tomorrow, but weather conditions weren't expected to be much better. Cyclists came had come from all over New England and as far away as the West Coast for a chance to climb the 7.6 miles to the summit. A road race in July was also canceled due to the weather. (AP)