Pit bull is shot, killed by off-duty officer

An off-duty Boston police officer shot and killed a dog yesterday in Roxbury after the animal attacked three people at the corner of Dudley Street and Blue Hill Avenue, police said. About 5:25 p.m., officers responded to nearby Dennis Street, where they found the police officer and a pit bull terrier with a gunshot wound in its chest. The officer said he was chased by the dog to Dennis Street after getting off a bus, police said. The same dog had attacked an unknown male on Dudley Street before the victim entered his car and drove away, police said. A third victim was also chased by the dog, police said. Police said they had not located the dog's owner last night and had not determined whether the animal had any illnesses.

Finneran to have prostate cancer surgery
Former House speaker-turned-radio talk show host Tom Finneran has prostate cancer. Finneran, 57, announced the diagnosis on the WRKO radio website. He said that given his age and his father’s medical history, ‘‘the diagnosis did not come as a complete surprise,’’ and that given ‘‘the early diagnosis, the prospects for a robust return to full activity are excellent.’’ He will be treated by a team at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is scheduled to undergo prostate removal surgery Dec. 21. ‘‘I fully expect to celebrate Christmas at home with my family,’’ he said. He plans to resume broadcasting his morning show on Jan. 2, Finneran said.

Governor Deval Patrick has named a design firm to begin the planning phase of a commuter rail line from Boston to Fall River and New Bedford. The Boston firm of Goody Clancy is being asked to study the economic and land-use patterns in 31 cities and towns along the route of the proposed rail line. The firm is also being asked to study ways state and local government can encourage economic growth along the corridor. Patrick has said that such growth could help pay for the $1.4 billion commuter rail project. Officials plan to hold public meetings in each of the communities early in 2008. The plan will be released in summer 2009. (AP)

A Revere man has been sentenced to seven to 10 years in prison for raping a 19-year-old female customer at his Cambridge hair salon. A Middlesex Superior Court jury convicted Duncan Purdy of one count of rape yesterday, and he was immediately sentenced. The victim told police that Purdy raped her in March 2004 when she went to his About Hair Salon in Cambridge for a scheduled massage with the man. Purdy, 53, was convicted earlier this year of running a house of prostitution at the same salon. Judge Diane Kottmyer sentenced Purdy to serve the sentence on the rape charge after he completes a two-year sentence on the prostitution charge. (AP)

A former Pittsfield mayor and president of the University of Hawaii system has been named to lead Westfield State College. Westfield State's trustees selected Evan Dobelle Wednesday to become the school's 19th president. Dobelle most recently was the president and chief executive of the New England Board of Higher Education. He also previously served as president of Trinity College in Hartford, City College of San Francisco, and Middlesex Community College. (AP)

A city employee has been reprimanded after getting a crew to cut a 50-foot spruce from a city cemetery for the downtown Christmas tree. The tree that now stands on Elm Street, across from Veterans Park, used to stand over graves at Pine Grove Cemetery. The mayor's office says it did not know that a Parks, Recreation, and Cemeteries crew had cut the tree in the cemetery. The mayor's chief of staff said that the employee has been reprimanded and that a new tree will be planted at Pine Grove. The city says the employee looked to the cemetery after he failed to run an ad seeking donation of a tree. (AP)

Same-sex couples plan to celebrate New Hampshire's new civil unions law by holding a group ceremony as soon as the law takes effect Jan. 1. Organizers Gail Morrison, a Democratic state lawmaker, and Jen Major of Gilmanton announced Wednesday that they are organizing a group ceremony to take place just after midnight on the State House steps in Concord. Both are former board members of the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition and said they plan to get civil unions with their partners then. "My partner and I have been talking about wanting to do it the minute it was possible," said Morrison, of Sanbornton. ". . . It's a combination of very private dedication to one another, but within the context of a historic state event, so the State House steps seemed absolutely the perfect place to be." Morrison and Major said couples who have obtained licenses from town and city clerks can sign up for the group ceremony beginning at 11 p.m. on Dec. 31. They're hoping for a large turnout. "It's the time to get together and celebrate our small victory," Major said by phone. (AP)