Crash that killed pedestrian is probed

Authorities are investigating the death of a 20-year-old Fitchburg woman who was killed when she was hit by a car while walking in a Leominster road Saturday night. Rachael Spinner was walking on the right side of North Street around 8 p.m. when she was hit by a Jeep driven by Hassan Ramadan, 20, of Leominster, according to the Worcester district attorney's office. No charges have been filed. State Police assigned to the district attorney's office are investigating.

Hospitals in the Bay State are disclosing today the rates of bedsores their patients have acquired during hospital stays, another in a series of statistics made public by the Massachusetts Hospital Association on its Patients First website. Falls by patients in the hospital and nurse staffing plans were previously posted. The data on bedsores, also called pressure ulcers, were gathered during two days in March and September 2007 when nurses did full-body examinations of their patients. The sores are particularly dangerous to diabetics with circulation problems, paraplegics, or trauma patients immobilized on ICU ventilators. Pressure ulcers are a good measure of nursing and hospital quality, said Carol Haraden of the Cambridge-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

A 24-year-old Massachusetts man suspected in a Lowell slaying has been arrested in New Hampshire. Nashua police arrested Melein Meas of Lowell late Sunday and charged him with being a fugitive from justice. Lowell police say Meas fatally shot Jose Villanueva, 36, after the two men got in a brief argument about 2 a.m. Sunday outside a 7-Eleven store on Chelmsford Street. Massachusetts authorities asked for help in locating Meas. Meas was taken into custody at a Red Roof Inn on Spit Brook Road in Nashua without incident. He is to be arraigned today in Nashua District Court.

The Catholic Diocese of Springfield collected just over $2.9 million during its annual charitable fund drive last year, topping the previous year by $10,000. Springfield Bishop Timothy McDonnell says they were pleased to have exceeded their expectations for the second year in a row. The diocese says 32 parishes exceeded individual goals. There were more than 26,000 donors, who gave an average gift of $107. Money from the annual appeal will help fund two new grants, including $18,000 to Bethlehem House, an Easthampton-based Catholic pregnancy resource center. (AP)

The Coast Guard rescued three Massachusetts duck hunters whose boat went down in frigid waters off Newport's Fort Adams State Park. The trio got in trouble when their 14-foot boat stalled Sunday morning and was swamped in winds and waves. Roy Goodwin, 60, of Upton, his son Roy Jr., 36, and 18-year-old grandson Corey, both of Douglas, notified the Coast Guard with a handheld radio. The three were using seat cushions and a bag of duck decoys to stay afloat when the Coast Guard pulled them from the 41-degree water. The men were treated at Newport Hospital for mild hypothermia. (AP)

A 32-year-old man was shot to death in his car outside a Providence strip club, the city's first homicide of the year. Police said Michael Holston of Providence was killed outside Club Desire at Franklin Square after 2 a.m. on Sunday, about the time the club closed. Holston, a former all-state basketball player, had survived a shooting in 1995 at the Boys and Girls Club in South Providence. At that time, police said, the shooter was seeking revenge after Holston had argued with the man's cousin. (AP)

A mobile-home fire claimed the life of a man in his 50s. The victim's body was found in the rubble early yesterday. His name is being withheld until relatives can be notified. The State fire marshal's office said the fire apparently took place Thursday night but was not discovered until a plow operator arrived at the man's driveway and found that the trailer had been destroyed. (AP)