Some displaced by fire returning home

Some of the approximately 700 people displaced by a massive blaze at a Peabody apartment complex this week are returning to their homes. Sean Fitzgerald, a mayor's aide, says residents of nine of the 18 buildings at the Highlands at Dearborn complex were allowed home yesterday after city inspectors deemed the units fit for occupancy. The city hopes to open seven more buildings soon. The building where the fire started was destroyed. The state Fire Marshal's office says Thursday's fire was started by someone who carelessly tossed away smoking materials that ignited a mulch bed. There were no injuries, but several pets were killed in the blaze. (AP)

The murder trial of a Waltham man accused of hiring a hit man to kill his estranged wife's boyfriend is scheduled to start next week. James Brescia is accused of hiring ex-convict Scott Foxworth to murder his wife's boyfriend, Edward Schiller of Framingham. Prosecutors say Brescia paid Foxworth $10,000 to kill Schiller. The insurance agent was found shot at point-blank range in his car in a parking garage near his work in Newton in January 2006. Brescia's trial in Middlesex Superior Court on conspiracy and murder charges will begin the same week jury selection starts in the double-murder trial of Neil Entwistle, who is charged with killing his wife and 9-month-old daughter in their Hopkinton home in January 2006. Foxworth is scheduled to go to trial in October. (AP)

Three people injured in a commuter train crash have filed a personal injury lawsuit against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and three companies connected to the incident. The lawyer for the plaintiffs, Robert Norton, tells The Patriot Ledger of Quincy that he thinks his is the first personal injury lawsuit resulting from the March 25 crash. A runaway freight car from a lumber yard struck the MBTA commuter train in Canton during rush hour, injuring 150 passengers. The plaintiffs are Vickie Beaulieu of Easton, Jennifer Kimbrel of Stoughton, and Mary Ellen Gleason of Canton. Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., which operates the commuter rail service; CSX Transportation; and Cohenno Inc., a lumber company, are also named as defendants in the lawsuit. (AP)

In a rare occurrence since the US embargo of Cuba, a Little League team from Vermont and New Hampshire will play baseball on the Caribbean island this summer. The 14 members of the Connecticut Valley South Little League plan to play at least a dozen games in the Havana area in August, said coach Ted Levin of Thetford. After 20 months and several failed attempts, Levin said, he has been granted a travel license for the team from the US Treasury Department. The trip is not sanctioned by Little League International headquarters, based in Williamsport, Pa., said Levin. Major League baseball teams often played exhibition games in Cuba, but that ended in 1959 when Fidel Castro took power. The only similar trip by youth players since the United States imposed restrictions on travel to Cuba nearly 50 years ago was by a California team in 2000, said John Carey, a coach and a Dartmouth College professor who is an expert on Latin America. (AP)

A 21-year-old Marine from Waterbury has died during his first tour in Iraq, his family's pastor said. The military notified Christian Cotner's family on Friday about his death. Details about how and when he died had not been released yesterday, and the military had not publicly announced his death. He is the 40th military member with ties to Connecticut who has died in Iraq and Afghanistan since US operations began in those countries in 2003 and 2002, respectively. Two civilians from the state have also died. (AP)

Seven developers have submitted proposals to build an energy-generating wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. The project proposed by Governor Donald Carcieri is expected to cost up to $1.9 billion. But if completed, it is expected to supply up to 15 percent of the state's electricity needs. Friday was the deadline for bids. Jerome Moynihan, the state's administrator of purchasing systems, said the contents of the bids will not be released to the public until the state has awarded a contract. Three of the companies making proposals are based in Rhode Island. The governor will now choose a team of state officials to examine the proposals. The panel will narrow down the proposals and invite the top contenders for interviews. A final decision is expected by the end of the summer. (AP)