Tracks fire shuts down Red Line briefly

The Red Line was shut down briefly last night at the Charles/MGH Station because of a fire on the tracks. Boston Fire Department spokesman Stephen MacDonald said some trash on power lines at the MBTA station caught fire around 7:45 p.m. Officials evacuated the station, shut the line down in both directions, and cut power to the tracks to help extinguish the fire, he said. Shuttle bus service was set up between Broadway and Harvard stations, but Red Line service resumed shortly before 9 p.m., the MBTA website said.

A 47-year-old East Boston man was convicted yesterday of beating his estranged wife to death in 2006. A Suffolk Superior Court jury found Whitney Baskin guilty of second-degree murder for killing Velveena Baskin, 38, in their Condor Street home on April 15, 2006. Prosecutors said the man killed his wife while their children played in a nearby room. The couple had been married for 10 years and had separated several months earlier. He will be sentenced Jan. 3, the Suffolk district attorney's office said.

The United States Postal Inspection Service yesterday announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who robbed a Postal Service employee Thursday night at the Roxbury Post Office. The postal inspectors said the robber hijacked a Postal Service vehicle and kidnapped the driver. The person responsible faces a possible life sentence if captured.

A key federal agency says it will not issue until next year its report on a plan to build the nation's first offshore wind farm off Cape Cod. The US Minerals Management Service, the agency that will decide the project's fate, said its draft environmental report will be delayed because of a lengthy and complex review process. The agency had expected to issue its report by year's end. (AP)

The former head of the Tewksbury Youth Baseball League has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $400,000 from the organization. Prosecutors say Wilfred Daley of Andover used money for personal expenses, including a family trip to Las Vegas and two hunting rifles. A judge in Middlesex Superior Court sentenced Daley to one year in prison followed by four years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $162,000 in restitution. (AP)

Heavy snow built up on the roof of an indoor arena in Ipswich used to train service dogs, causing it to collapse yesterday, police said. Half of the roof at 37 Boxford Road collapsed around 9 a.m. The Ipswich Fire Department and building inspectors responded to assess the damage, officials said. No people or animals were injured in the collapse.

A man was killed early yesterday morning when he lost control of his car on northbound Interstate 93 in Andover and rear-ended a truck spreading sand, according to State Police. The crash occurred at 2:50 a.m. near Exit 45, when a Chevrolet Cavalier hit the back of a Mack truck that was spreading sand. The Cavalier spun out of control and was hit by a Chevrolet van. Police did not release the name of the man driving the Cavalier. He died at the scene.

School officials say John Maeda will become the 16th president of Rhode Island School of Design in June. Maeda is currently a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston and is associate director of research at MIT Media Lab. Maeda has been a practicing designer since 1990, and some of his work has been collected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He will replace Roger Mandle, who has served as leader of the design school for 15 years. The school has about 1,900 undergraduates and 400 graduate students who study fine arts, architecture, design, and art education. (AP)