Jury duty excuses now can be filed online

Students whining about a heavy course load, doctors who are just too busy, and people feigning prejudice can now go online to file their best excuses to try to get out of jury duty. Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to allow prospective jurors to respond to a summons on the Internet via the court system's new interactive website, www.MassJury.com. With a few clicks of a mouse, people can confirm or postpone their jury service, request a hardship transfer, or give their best argument for being excused from this civic responsibility. "They now have a new avenue for trying to persuade us that they don't have to show up for jury duty," said jury commissioner Pamela J. Wood. By entering an access code on the website, jurors can also get directions to the courthouse, complete the mandatory demographic survey, and fill in their confidential questionnaire.

A 6-year-old Falmouth boy has been reunited with his mother after he was abducted by his father and taken out of the country, State Police said yesterday. Richard T. Warren, 44, of Maryland, was to be arraigned yesterday in Houston on a charge of being a fugitive from Massachusetts, after he took his son, Christopher T. Seychew from the boy's home Dec. 8, police said. Warren, who did not have custody rights, allegedly fled to Washington, D.C., then to Cancun and to Belize, where he was captured with the boy and transported to Texas. The US State Department held the boy until he was reunited with his mother Sunday, police said.

A Newbury man shot and killed his wife after she fired a shotgun blast at him during an argument, police said. Karen Dion, 38, was killed Sunday in her driveway. In a statement, authorities said her husband, Gary, 37, called police around 2:30 p.m. to report shots fired at their home. Police say the couple had a dispute, and then "Mrs. Dion retrieved a shotgun and fired it at Mr. Dion, who was outside clearing the driveway" with a snowblower. "Mr. Dion then retrieved his own firearm and after being confronted by Mrs. Dion, who still had her shotgun, he shot and killed her in the driveway of their home," a police statement said. Dion, who was not injured, has not been charged, but the investigation continues. He was released Sunday after questioning. (AP)

A group of Dexter Regional High School students and a teacher-adviser are planning to investigate and prove the presence of mountain lions in Maine. The teacher, Regan McPhetres, says the group has set up a hot line for sightings and a survey will be mailed to people who call. Students will then follow up with interviews. The group also plans to collect evidence such as photos, scat samples, tracks, and hair, and will create a map of the sightings. There is debate about whether Maine is still home to any mountain lions, which disappeared from the state in the 1800s. Numerous possible sightings have been reported in recent years. (AP)

T.F. Green Airport reopened one of its runways yesterday after workers removed a plane that had slid off during a flight the previous night. A US Airways Express Flight from Philadelphia carrying 31 passengers and three crew members slid off the airport's primary runway as it tried to land during Sunday's winter storm. No one was hurt. The Rebecca Pazienza, an airport spokeswoman, said the runway reopened about 1:30 p.m. yesterday once workers with cranes were able to remove the plane, which was towed to a hangar. (AP)

Nancy Kleniewski, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, is among four finalists for president of the University of Southern Maine, said Richard Pattenaude, chancellor of the University of Maine system. Other finalists are David Belcher, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Selma Botman, executive vice chancellor and provost at the City University of New York System; and Bob Smith, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas. The candidates will visit the campus in the last week of January. Pattenaude hopes to have the new president in place July 1. (AP)