Bill would broaden child-abuse laws

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and the state's top law enforcement officials announced a bill yesterday they say would strengthen child-abuse laws. The bill would provide three new criminal charges that carry mandatory minimum sentences. It would also increase penalties for using a weapon in a crime and for using a position of authority to assault a child. Attorney General Martha Coakley and the state's 11 district attorneys support the bill, which is modeled after Jessica's Law in Florida. That law was passed after a repeat sex offender raped and killed Jessica Lunsford in February 2005. (AP)

Public safety officials have ordered operators of the Yo-Yo amusement ride to stop using the equipment in Massachusetts until a state inspector can examine it. The move by the state Department of Public Safety followed an accident on a Yo-Yo ride last week in California that injured 23 people. The ride is manufactured by Chance Rides Manufacturing of Kansas. Metal arms extend from a rotating hub, and chairs are attached to the end of each arm by chains and swing outward as the hub rotates and picks up speed. In the California accident, the ride's normal rotation was disrupted, causing chairs to collide and the chains and passengers to become tangled and drag on the ground. A company official says it stands by the ride's safety. (AP)

Hebrew College has named Daniel Lehmann, a well-known Jewish educator, as its next president. Lehmann, the founding headmaster of Gann Academy-The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston, will begin at Hebrew College in July, succeeding David M. Gordis, who has served as president of the 87-year-old college since 1993, college officials announced yesterday. "Rabbi Lehmann has a distinguished track record, in Boston and nationally, as a visionary Jewish leader and educator, seasoned administrator, and successful fund-raiser," said Ted Cutler, chairman of the board of trustees. Now a consultant to Jewish day schools in Connecticut and Montreal, Lehmann served as headmaster of Gann Academy, a Waltham high school, from 1996 to 2007.

Police are looking for a thief who smashed the window of a pet store and made off with about 50 parakeets. Witnesses told police that a man smashed through the front window of Dave's Soda & Pet City Sunday night, grabbed two cages of birds, loaded them into a small blue car, and drove off. Store owner David Ratner said the birds could die if they are not properly cared for and kept in a warm enough place. (AP)

A firearms instructor for the Bristol County Sheriff's Department has been given other duties after his gun accidentally discharged while he was teaching a class on weapons safety. Officials say the Glock handgun went off while Major Donald Lamar was showing deputy sheriffs how to safely holster the weapon. The bullet ripped a hole in Lamar's pants but missed his leg and foot. Sheriff Thomas Hodgson told the Standard Times of New Bedford that the officer made a "gross error in judgment" by not emptying the weapon before entering the class last week. Hodgson added that Lamar, a certified firearms instructor since 2005, feels very embarrassed by the incident. (AP)

State Police are investigating the death of a 7-month-old baby who was in foster care. State Police got a call Monday night about an unresponsive child being taken from a home on Stearns Road. The baby was taken to Windham Memorial Hospital and died while undergoing treatment. A spokesman for the Department of Children and Families says the baby was being cared for by a licensed foster parent. (AP)

The state fire marshal's office said yesterday that smoking was the cause of an early-morning fire in Gorham that killed an elderly woman. Investigators said Elinor Downes, 78, was using oxygen to assist her breathing and died after her cigarette ignited her clothing and the fire was accelerated by the oxygen supply. Downes lived alone, and the mobile home was gutted in the fire, authorities said. (AP)