GOP files new ethics case against DiMasi

The Massachusetts Republican Party yesterday filed another complaint with the state Ethics Commission against House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, the fourth complaint filed by the Republicans in the past two months. The most recent complaint asks the panel to investigate whether DiMasi helped a close friend, contractor Jay Cashman, who earned a $14.2 million profit on the sale of land targeted for a liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River after DiMasi killed legislation that would have blocked the project. Last week, the state GOP asked Attorney General Martha Coakley to launch a separate investigation into DiMasi's alleged ethical violations. DiMasi has repeatedly said his actions were driven by policy considerations alone.

Jennifer Douglas, the 28-year-old Boston woman who allegedly entered the Mugar Library at Boston University Sunday night and told an employee that she had a bomb and had already called 911, was arraigned yesterday in Brighton Municipal Court on charges that she made a false bomb threat, according to a statement from the Suffolk district attorney. After her arrest Sunday night by Boston University police, Douglas was held at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton until her arraignment, where a court clinician determined that further evaluation was necessary. Judge David T. Donnelly ordered Douglas held on $10,000 bail and that she undergo a 20-day mental health evaluation at the Eric Lindemann Mental Health Center in Boston.

Eight high school students were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries after two school buses were involved in an accident on the VFW Parkway around 2 p.m. yesterday. Both buses were carrying high school students, traveling northbound on the parkway, when one bus struck the rear of the other just past Manthorne Road, State Police said. The accident is under investigation, police said.

Boston police yesterday identified the man who died from a gunshot wound Friday in Mattapan as Daron Lee Ellison, 29, of Jamaica Plain. Police, responding to a radio call about a person shot at about 7:10 a.m., discovered Ellison face down near a house fence on Oakcrest Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are investigating the shooting.

The state Revenue Department says it collected more than $2.7 billion in April, an increase of $400 million compared with the same month a year ago. Commissioner Navjeet Bal announced the 17.1 percent increase yesterday, days after the House wrapped up its preliminary budget work and before the Senate was scheduled to begin its debate on the 2009 fiscal year spending plan. Governor Deval Patrick has said the state faces a budget deficit of more than $1 billion. Revenue figures are usually available the first day of every month, but they were released nearly a week late. The administration denied delaying the announcement to influence the House budget debate. Collections for this year total more than $7.1 billion, an increase of $1.2 billion from last year. (AP)

The US Department of Veterans Affairs said yesterday that it was dropping plans to consolidate treatment services at its medical centers in Bedford, Brockton, and Boston's West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain sections. "The potential benefits to be gained from any consolidation do not justify the disruption to veterans or to our first-class healthcare system in Boston," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake in a statement. "For the future, VA is prepared to provide healthcare for Boston veterans at its current four campuses." Massachusetts members of Congress and veterans supporters across the state have been fighting for nearly five years against VA plans to shift some services at its Boston-area hospitals, saying it would hurt veterans and their families. (AP)

A civil lawsuit being brought by a former player against Marblehead High School football coach Doug Chernovetz began in Essex District Court yesterday. Former player Timothy Moore, 17, who eventually quit the team, says that Chernovetz assaulted and intimidated him. An injunction orders Chernovetz to keep away from Moore. The issue has divided the school, with some athletes and parents showing up in court to support the coach. (AP)