Pelosi to speak at Meehan inauguration

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California will deliver the keynote address next week at Martin T. Meehan's inauguration as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, the school announced yesterday. Governor Deval Patrick will also speak at the ceremony at the Campus Recreation Center on April 4. Meehan, a former congressman representing Massachusetts' Fifth District, took over the top job at the school from interim chancellor David MacKenzie on July 1.

The chief operating officer for the Boston public schools, James P. McIntyre, has accepted a position as superintendent of Knox County schools in Knoxville, Tenn., both school systems said yesterday. McIntyre, of West Roxbury, has worked for the Boston schools since 1998, serving as budget director, deputy chief financial officer, and in his current position overseeing human resources, school safety, athletics, food and nutrition services, facilities management, transportation, and strategic and capital planning. He will begin as superintendent of Knox County, which serves 55,000 students in more than 80 schools, in July.

Authorities are searching for a 38-year-old man described as "potentially dangerous" who escaped the hospital he was taken to after injuring himself at his arraignment in New Bedford Superior Court yesterday afternoon, the Bristol district attorney's office said. Anthony Flye, a resident of Nantucket and Swansea, was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford for treatment of injuries sustained from jumping from the top of a stairwell, the statement said. Flye was being arraigned on charges of child rape, indecent exposure, and indecent assault and battery on a disabled person. As of last night, he had not been apprehended, said Gregg Miliote, a district attorney's spokesman.

A suspect is being held on $1,000 cash bail in connection with the spraying of anti-Christian graffiti on seven churches on Good Friday. Gardner police say the 19-year-old Phillipston man, whom they did not identify, had turned himself in at the police station yesterday afternoon. Investigators believe that a second person was involved. Police said six Gardner churches, a Phillipston church, and Narragansett Regional High School in Templeton were vandalized with black spray paint. (AP)

Residents debated a proposed casino in their town yesterday, as federal officials sought input while they consider the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's request to put land in trust for the facility. The purpose for the first of two public hearings this week was to assess the possible environmental impact of building the 600,000-square-foot casino on the 539-acre site, but much of the debate centered on broader positions for and against a casino. A relatively spare crowd of about 200 took up roughly half the gymnasium floor at Middleborough High School. A second hearing was scheduled for today in Mashpee, where the tribe wants to build administrative, housing, and educational facilities. (AP)

Two fishermen made a narrow escape yesterday morning when the Coast Guard rescued them from a sinking boat. The two men were 3 miles south of Gloucester on a 42-foot trawler when they radioed at 7:30 a.m. because the boat was taking on water, said Petty Officer Luke Pinneo. The Coast Guard plucked the two men off the boat at 7:50 a.m. One minute later, the trawler tipped on its side. The two fishermen refused medical treatment. The Coast Guard did not release their names.

A bodybuilder accused of leading a drug ring that included two former Worcester police officers has been sentenced to 51 months in prison. Thomas Vigliatura, 40, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute illegal steroids and possession of cocaine and Ecstasy. He has been in prison since his August 2005 arrest and has refused to testify against former police officer Heriberto Arroyo. Arroyo and another former officer, Brian Benedict, have been sentenced to nine and seven months in prison, respectively, in the case. (AP)