Port Authority officer rescues fisherman

A Massachusetts Port Authority police lieutenant patrolling the South Boston waterfront early yesterday helped to rescue a 56-year-old fisherman who had fallen some 15 feet off a pier and was clinging to a pylon in the harbor. Lieutenant Jim Flaherty was patrolling Conley Terminal at 4:30 a.m. when he heard a faint cry. "Every now and then, I could just hear something, just like a bug in my ear," Flaherty said. " The voice was that of Woon C. Ng, 56, who had been fishing a half-mile away on the other side of the channel on Black Falcon Terminal. With the help of a boat from Massport Fire Department, Flaherty was able to fish Ng from the water. He was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was in serious condition yesterday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.

An autopsy determined that a 21-year-old college student who died over the weekend in Allston suffered injuries consistent with a fall from the roof of a four-story building, not a fight, according to a statement released yesterday by Boston police. Shawn Dow's body was discovered at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday behind an apartment building on Glenville Avenue, where police had responded to a brawl. "Detectives interviewed more than 20 witnesses, none of whom placed Mr. Dow in or near the altercation," police said in a statement. "This incident . . . will be investigated as an accidental death." Dow, of Peabody, was majoring in photography at the Art Institute of Boston.

Governor Deval Patrick is asking his Cabinet secretaries and several agency chiefs to help improve services and programs for homeless people. The governor signed an executive order reconstituting the Interagency Council on Homelessness and Housing. The 11-member panel, headed by Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, will review existing policies and recommend improvements. The council will help implement recommendations of the Commission to End Homelessness. (AP)

Investigators from the state fire marshal's office were headed to the scene of a fatal fire last night on Prospect Street, a spokesman said. The spokesman for the fire marshal's office said he had few details on the fire, which was reported about 10:30 p.m. He said at least one person was killed, but he did not know if there were other injuries. Officials from the Woburn Fire Department were not available for comment.

The University of New Hampshire is looking to raise more than $200 million to pay for new buildings, financial aid, and research. UNH Foundation chief Donald Wilson said the plan is still in its early stages, but officials hope to double what they did during 2002's campaign, $100 million. UNH has the lowest rate of state support in the country. (AP)

University of Rhode Island president Robert Carothers has announced he plans to step down as a $450 million state deficit puts pressure on him to cut costs while the campus is growing. "The whole place, including me, is under a lot of stress," Carothers said. Rhode Island's only state university is in the middle of an accreditation review, which happens once a decade. At the same time, Carothers said faculty and administrators on campus are worried about how the state's financial crisis could affect the higher education system. (AP)

A 26-year-old student at the Yale School of Drama died in an accident while unloading plywood from a truck. Yale University spokesman Thomas Conway said the accident occurred Sunday outside the Yale Repertory Theater. The student, Pierre-Andre Salim, was from Indonesia and was studying technical design and production, Conroy said. The accident occurred while drama students were unloading materials from a truck, the spokesman said. Salim was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Conway said. Robert Kowalski, area director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the materials were sheets of plywood. (AP)