High school to remain closed a 2d day

Classes at Lexington High School have been canceled again today after a 250,000-gallon flood in the building's boiler room. The school was closed yesterday as water was pumped from the building. Paul B. Ash, the superintendent, said all of the water had been removed by last evening and the next step is to repair or replace the building's utilities. After an emergency School Committee meeting last night, the panel's chairwoman, Helen L. Cohen, said the flooding was caused by three faulty bolts on the boiler. The decision on when students can return will be made late this afternoon. Students will have to make up the missed days in June, Ash said.

A Roslindale man accused of carrying cocaine worth $1.3 million pleaded not guilty yesterday in Lynn District Court. Yorgi Tejeda, 33, was arrested in Lynn on Sunday after police said they found 14 kilos of cocaine in a hidden compartment in his vehicle. Tejeda is charged with trafficking more than 200 grams of cocaine, according to the Essex district attorney's office. Tejeda's arrest was the culmination of a three-year investigation. He is being held on $1 million cash bail and his next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2. If convicted, Tejeda faces a mandatory sentence of 15 years in state prison.

Authorities have recovered the body of a 15-year-old Worcester youth who fell into the Chicopee River during the holiday weekend when the boat he was in capsized. The Chicopee Police Department dive team recovered the body of Michael White Jr. on Monday afternoon. He was found about 10 feet deep, about 75 feet from shore, near where the boat capsized. Detective Sergeant Christopher Lareau said White was unable to swim, and there were no life preservers in the boat. Police said the boy, who was visiting his mother in Chicopee, was with his uncle and two friends on the boat about 11 p.m. Saturday when it capsized. Lareau said the boat was designed for two people and started taking on water before it capsized. The three other people survived. (AP)

It could cost $2.5 million to repair about 1,000 feet of boardwalk damaged by a storm last month on Weirs Beach. Laconia City Manager Eileen Cabanel said heavy rain flooded the area, tearing up railroad ties and a 50-foot section of boardwalk. She said the damage isn't covered by insurance. A state rail line leased to the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad was repaired for the Labor Day weekend. Cabanel said the city hopes to get help paying for the repairs from the federal government. (AP)

There's good news and bad news about New Hampshire's loon population. The latest loon census shows a slight increase in the population but a decrease in reproduction. The Loon Preservation Committee's preliminary count of 119 lakes found that the number of territorial pairs of loons increased from last year's count of 224 pairs to approximately 240 pairs. The number of nesting loon pairs also increased slightly from 141 pairs in 2007 to approximately 160 pairs. Both are record numbers. But only 125 chicks hatched and 95 survived, down from 2007. (AP)

Maine's highest court has rejected an appeal by an independent candidate for the US Senate who was denied a spot on the November ballot because she failed to submit enough signatures before the deadline. In a brief opinion Friday, the Supreme Judicial Court found no error in a lower court ruling that upheld the secretary of state's refusal to grant Laurie Dobson an extension of the June 2 deadline. (AP)

The chairman of Vermont's Commission on Native American Affairs has resigned. Mark Mitchell of Barnet says the powers given to the commission are illusory. He says the commission can't do its job unless the state recognizes Native Americans in the state. He calls the state's refusal to recognize the Abenaki St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Missisquoi because of a "political nuance" "nothing short of shameful." The Legislature had considered a bill to grant recognition to groups of Native Americans, but many Native Americans objected to some parts of the bill. (AP)