West Nile virus detected in Brookline

July 12, 2008

Mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been detected in Brookline, the second time this summer that bugs carrying the potentially lethal disease have been identified in Massachusetts, public health authorities reported yesterday. No human cases of the disease have been reported so far this summer. Last year, six people were stricken with West Nile. The infected mosquitoes were collected Tuesday in Brookline.

A man was found in Medford last night suffering from multiple stab wounds after a fight that police said began in Somerville. Somerville police said they responded to a call about a fight on Temple Street but no one was at the scene. The man was later found a short distance away, on the corner of Fulton and Salem streets in Medford. Medford and Somerville police said they believe the victim was involved in the fight. The stabbing is under investigation by both departments. The victim was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital last night. Police would not release his identity or condition.

Reputed New England Mafia underboss Carmen "The Cheeseman" DiNunzio was in state court yesterday as his lawyer tried to persuade a judge to dismiss a charge alleging DiNunzio extorted $500 a month from a bookmaker in 2001. Lawyer Anthony Cardinale said the state violated federal wiretapping laws while building its case against DiNunzio, 50, who owns a cheese shop in Boston's North End. Cardinale said a court-ordered wiretap - which included a reference to alleged payments to DiNunzio - was based on State Police assertions that they were investigating illegal gambling. Investigators, he said, were required to get additional court approval if they planned to expand the probe to include extortion. John Dawley, an Essex assistant district attorney, said the failure to notify the court was an error that caused no harm.

Governor Deval Patrick has nominated the chairwoman of the Massachusetts Parole Board to be a judge in the Eastern Hampshire District Court. Maureen Walsh, 41, lives in Deerfield and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Western New England College School of Law. In a statement yesterday, the governor praised her work on the Parole Board, and said she will bring that experience to her work at the district court. Walsh recently served as president of the Hampshire County Bar Association, as well as cochairwoman of the Governor's Commission on Criminal Justice Reform. She is being nominated to succeed the late Judge Edwin Dunphy. Her nomination must be confirmed by the Governor's Council. (AP)

The state's highest court has upheld a decision to revoke the license of a dentist accused in Rhode Island of stealing thousands of dollars from patients. Gary Anusavice was accused of billing patients for services they didn't receive at his Pawtucket, R.I., business, Premier Dental. In 2005, he struck a deal with the Rhode Island Health Department to close his business after the agency had suspended his license. The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Dentistry later revoked Anusavice's Bay State license. Yesterday, the Supreme Judicial Court said dental regulators can discipline a dentist in Massachusetts based on discipline imposed on him in Rhode Island. (AP)

Violent crime on MBTA property fell 11 percent during the first six months of 2008, but the number of thefts increased, officials reported yesterday. From January through June, there were 154 violent crimes, compared with 174 in the same period last year, said the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Larcenies jumped from 229 in the first six months of 2007 to 305 this year. Acting MBTA Police Chief Paul MacMillan said some of the increase is because of the theft of cellphones and other handheld devices. The statistics released yesterday also showed that more riders reported being touched inappropriately. Complaints climbed from 17 in the first six months of 2007 to 38 so far this year. (AP)