Public safety aid cut; state gets $17.2m

The Department of Homeland Security has announced $17.2 million in federal assistance for Massachusetts, a 15 percent decrease from last year. State public safety officials were aware the cut was coming. Public Safety and Security Secretary Kevin Burke said yesterday that a streamlined state strategy focuses on what first-responders and cities and towns need. Among the specific areas where the state will direct the new funds: enhancing preparedness for a chemical, biological, or radioactive explosion and improving coordination between bomb squads and other first-responders. The state also plans to enhance its preparation and response to a pandemic influenza outbreak. (AP)

The Coast Guard rescued a sailor off the southern Maine coast as he tried to go from Portland to Groton, Conn., in stormy seas. Michael Mavor, 68, made a radio distress call Thursday afternoon from his sailboat, reporting that he was alone, his sails were torn, and his vessel's engines were not functioning. There were thunderstorms in the area. The Coast Guard launched a rescue boat and a Falcon jet crew from Cape Cod, but had trouble finding the 30-foot vessel. Rescuers pinpointed Mavor's location based on his cellphone signal. The Coast Guard arrived after 5 p.m. and took the sailboat in tow. It was the third time in 36 hours Mavor needed assistance at sea. (AP)

A man was found stabbed outside a residence in Dorchester last night, police said. The man suffered multiple stab wounds on Fowler Street, near Blue Hill Avenue, according to police spokesman Eddie Crispin. The stabbing took place just down the street from a double shooting Wednesday on Seaver Street that left one man dead and one injured. The victim was taken by ambulance to Boston Medical Center. Police would not release the man's age or identity, but said he was undergoing surgery last night.

Driver charged in death of inmate

The driver accused of striking two inmates on a work detail on Cape Cod, killing one of them, has been charged with motor vehicle homicide. Police said Daniel Price, 21, of Marstons Mills, a village in Barnstable, also faces charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and failure to stay within marked lines. Killed in the July 10 crash in Mashpee was Emanuel Moniz, 29, of New Bedford, an inmate at Barnstable County Correctional Facility. A second inmate, Mark Joiner, was injured in the accident. The men were part of a work crew collecting trash on the side of Route 28. (AP)

Suspect in bat attack released on bail

A Superior Court judge overturned a lower court's decision yesterday and freed a Cape Cod man accused of using a baseball bat to assault a New York man because he thought he was a Yankees fan. Robert Correia, 20, of Falmouth was released on personal recognizance by Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson under several conditions, including random alcohol testing. Correia had been ordered held without bail earlier this month by a district court judge. Correia is charged with beating William Nestor of Northport, N.Y., with an aluminum bat as Nestor waited with his family in traffic following a July Fourth fireworks display. Nestor said he was attacked after he asked a group of men to stop taunting people with New York license plates. Correia said he acted in self-defense. Nickerson accused the news media yesterday of blowing the altercation out of proportion. "Because the words 'Boston Red Sox' and 'New York Yankees' were interjected into this case, this thing spun out of control," Nickerson said. (AP)

Plant's radiation output up, below limits

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant released more radiation in 2007 than in previous years, the expected result of its boosted power output, but the levels remained below the state's limits to protect public health, according to a Vermont Department of Health report issued yesterday. The highest level of radiation measured was 18 millirem, below the state's limit of 20 millirem per year and the federal restriction of 100 millirem a year, the report said. (AP)