Fund-raiser set for China quake relief

The Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association is organizing a fund-raising rally and walkathon Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Boston Common. The event is intended to raise funds for rescue efforts in Sichuan, China, which experienced a devastating earthquake May 12. Many Chinese schools and cultural associations in Greater Boston are sponsoring the event, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross and the nonprofit Tzu Chi Foundation. Registration costs $10 per person and the walk will circle Boston Common three times for a 3-mile distance. . Registrants will receive a T-shirt, and be treated to there will be folk music and chorus performances by participating Chinese schools. Register online at www.gbcca.org or call the association office at 617-332-0377.

A new fishermen's memorial has been dedicated in Port Clyde. Fund-raising for the St. George Fishermen's Memorial began a couple of years ago, after fisherman Gary Thorbjornson was lost at sea when the fishing boat Sirius sank. The granite memorial is mounted on a compass rose at Marshall Point Lighthouse. It honors 11 local men including Thorbjornson who have died at sea since 1941. Volunteers raised money to create it through raffles, suppers, and auctions. More than 100 people attended Saturday's dedication. (AP)

Inspectors are combing through Providence street by street trying to get a better idea of the scope of the foreclosure crisis. From January 2006 through the end of April, there have been more than 1,500 foreclosures in the city, inspectors told the Providence Journal. The city is trying to get a better picture of what that means in neighborhoods were former owners have been forced from their homes or simply packed up because they could no longer afford payments. Mayor David Cicilline also hopes to use the tally to push for an "abandoned property penalty" on property owners, including banks and financial institutions, that allow houses to remain empty. (AP)

Federal education officials are investigating the Greenwich Board of Education over accusations of racial discrimination for shutting the wealthy town's most predominantly minority school following the discovery of mold. In 2003, a mold infestation prompted parents to lobby for a new school. Two years later, the students moved into a modular building, where they remained until March due to construction delays. Officials then discovered a mold infestation in the modular building, which they shut. Students were sent to other schools. Mina Bibeault, the parent who filed the complaint, said disparities between Hamilton Avenue School and others in the district became more apparent to parents because of the move. (AP)

Animal rights activists are in court trying to stop United Illuminating Co. from killing monk parakeets that nest on utility poles. The long-running battle has landed in New Haven Superior Court. United Illuminating wants a judge to declare Connecticut's monk parakeet population a threat to public health and safety. It says dozens of power outages have been linked to the nests and that the most effective solution is to capture and kill the birds. The Darien-based Friends of Animals Inc., which brought the lawsuit against United Illuminating more than two years ago, wants an injunction to permanently halt the eradication. It endorses a plan to build man-made nesting platforms, which United Illuminating criticized as ineffective. (AP)

The new home of Maine's Holocaust and Human Rights Center is ready to open to the public. Governor John Baldacci was among the dignitaries attending yesterday's opening of the Michael Klahr Center at the University of Maine at Augusta. The center bears the name of a man whose father was shot by the Nazis. After coming to America, Klahr became wealthy in New York after investing in real estate and married Maine native Phyllis Jalbert, who donated funds for the project in his memory. The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine was established in 1985. The Michael Klahr Center officially opens to the public tomorrow. (AP)