Court rules against billboard regulation

The state's highest court has ruled that Medford and Somerville cannot regulate billboards on MBTA property. The Supreme Judicial Court upheld yesterday a ruling by a lower court judge who found that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's billboard advertisements were not subject to the cities' zoning regulations. The court found that the Legislature has authorized the MBTA to raise revenue through commercial advertising to help offset its operating costs and minimize fare increases. The court said local zoning ordinances would interfere with the MBTA's ability to raise much-needed revenue. Medford and Somerville filed a lawsuit in 2006, saying they wanted to regulate the size of billboards erected on MBTA property adjacent to Interstate 93. (AP)

A man arrested yesterday in a 2007 slaying was the fourth person to be charged with murder this week in Boston, the Suffolk district attorney's office and the Boston Police Department announced yesterday. Larry Nelson, 50, of Roxbury pleaded not guilty in Roxbury District Court to the slaying of Richard Stroman, 64, in his Elm Hill Avenue apartment. Prosecutors said that around Oct. 7, Nelson stabbed Stroman 22 times in the face, neck, chest, and back. A DNA sample Nelson voluntarily provided matched blood found in the apartment, prosecutors said. Stroman's body was found several days later. Earlier this week, authorities announced three arrests in two other slayings.

A man who failed to register as a Level 3 sex offender in Massachusetts was apprehended in Las Vegas Thursday, State Police said yesterday. Daniel J. Moody, 46, was located by State Police and arrested in a parking lot by US marshals and Las Vegas officers. Moody was wanted by the Framingham police on four counts of failing to register as a sex offender there. After authorities determined he might have left the state, Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone approved a nationwide warrant for Moody, who had been convicted of rape in 1991 and escape in 1994, both in Massachusetts, as well as several other crimes elsewhere, police said.

The leader of the Narragansett Indian tribe and two other members were convicted yesterday of misdemeanor charges for scuffling with state troopers during a 2003 raid on a tribal smoke shop where cigarettes were sold without collecting state taxes, while four other members were cleared of all counts. Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas was convicted of simple assault, Randy Noka was convicted of disorderly conduct, and Hiawatha Brown was convicted of both disorderly conduct and simple assault. The assault charges carry a maximum one-year prison sentence, while the disorderly conduct counts have lesser maximum penalties. Lawyers say it is highly unlikely that any of the men will face jail time. A violent fracas, videotaped by TV news crews, erupted as police ran into the shop's parking lot. (AP)

A hotel has been shut down by the state after tests confirmed it was the source of a case of Legionnaires' disease. The Vermont Department of Health ordered the 96-room Cortina Inn closed Thursday because tests of water showed evidence of the bacteria Legionella pneumophila. It was not clear how long it will be closed. "We asked that the guests be vacated and that employees not continue to work there until we could clean and retest the water system," said the state epidemiologist, Dr. Cort Lohff. The state began examining the Route 4 hotel after three Legionnaires' cases showed links to it, Lohff said. Legionnaires' disease takes it name from a 1976 outbreak at a Philadelphia hotel that killed 34 people. (AP)

The Merrimack Restaurant, famous for hosting presidential candidates, is in danger of being foreclosed. According to a public notice, the restaurant and the building that houses it will be auctioned off April 17, but Maria Saitas, who owns the restaurant with her sister, said there is hope of avoiding foreclosure. "We're still working on a deal," she said. The property includes about 10,800 square feet of space, with offices upstairs, the restaurant below, and retail space next door. Saitas said the downturn in the economy and the lack of parking significantly hobbled efforts to rent the building's office and retail space, which is now vacant. In total, the property is valued at $952,500. (AP)