No tuition increases at state colleges

Tuition at state colleges and universities is holding steady. The state Board of Higher Education voted yesterday not to increase tuition at publicly funded colleges for the 10th consecutive year. Tuition for state residents attending a community college will average $734 per year during the 2008-2009 academic. Bay State residents attending a state college will pay an average of $957 per year. Residents in the University of Massachusetts system will pay an average of $1,618 per year. Tuition goes into the state's general fund. Board and other fees are set by each individual school and are kept by the schools. (AP)

A Level 3 sex offender is being held without bail on charges that he raped a man in Taunton, prosecutors say. Kenneth Stone, 37, of Taunton, was arraigned Monday, said Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter. Prosecutors sought to have Stone civilly committed after he had served his sentence for sex offenses committed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but Superior Court Judge Richard T. Moses declined last May. It is the third case in recent months in which a sex offender released by Moses has been charged with a new crime.

The town of Dartmouth warned that nearly one-quarter of its municipal workforce will have to be eliminated unless residents approve a tax override. Executive Administrator Michael Gagne said that the town faces a $1.2 million shortfall and that he questions whether the town can meet the public's demand for services if the April 1 override is defeated. Thirty-four employees would have to be laid off, though teachers and police officers would be spared, he said. Barry Walker, who heads a taxpayer watchdog group in Dartmouth, says that passing the override would only make matters worse. He says the town needs to eliminate a "structural deficit." (AP)

Fire officials in Fitchburg are investigating two blazes that broke out in the same multifamily house on Franklin Street within a 12-hour period. The initial fire Thursday left at least 10 people homeless. Firefighters returned early yesterday to again battle heavy flames that erupted in the building. The second blaze has been deemed suspicious. No injuries were reported in either fire. (AP)

A man who fell after he tried to jump onto a moving train in New Bedford has died from his injuries. Police say that 28-year-old Richard Boyden of Springfield died Thursday night at a Boston hospital of severe leg injuries suffered in the incident earlier in the day. Police say that Boyden and another man were trespassing near the railroad tracks when Boyden tried to jump onto the train's caboose, but slipped off and was run over. His friend ran for help. Boyden was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford before being flown to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. (AP)

A man and a woman were fatally stabbed in what police say was an apparent murder-suicide in New Bedford. Police say officers called to an apartment last night found two women and a man with numerous stab wounds. The second woman is expected to recover. A 4-year-old boy at the apartment was not hurt. Police Lieutenant Jeffrey Silva said the man was estranged from a relationship with one of the women. He apparently used a key to enter the apartment, waited for her to come home, then stabbed the women before taking his own life. (AP)

New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Raymond Buckley is asking the attorney general to investigate polling calls made to voters that included critical comments about Governor John Lynch, a Democrat. The New Hampshire Union Leader reported yesterday that one of two voters who complained about the calls this week said the poll was being paid for by the Republican Governors Association. Chris Schrimpf, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association, said the association's activities in New Hampshire are legal. (AP)