10 troopers may have misused gas cards

State Police are conducting an internal affairs investigation into whether 10 troopers - including two who recently retired - misused department-issued gas cards by filling up their cruisers for trips that were not work-related, according to David Procopio, a spokesman for the department. State Police Colonel Mark F. Delaney ordered an audit last July of the 2,150 department-issued fuel cards to monitor costs as gasoline prices skyrocketed, Procopio said. When 10 troopers' fuel cards indicated a discrepancy between expected and actual costs, internal affairs began a further review. "We have not determined any of them have abused a fuel card at this point," said Procopio. Troopers are allowed to use their cruisers for department business, commuting to and from work, and for details.

The number of Massachusetts residents who died of overdoses of heroin and other opiates rose nearly 3 percent last year, state health authorities reported yesterday. Preliminary figures showed that opiates killed 645 people in 2007, compared with 628 the year before. That was the third rise in overdose deaths in three years, but the increase was smaller than in previous years. Officials at the Department of Public Health attributed the smaller increase, in part, to an expansion of substance-abuse treatment and prevention.

Worcester city councilors who want colleges in the city to help pay for the municipal services they use may have a solution. Councilor Philip Palmieri said Monday that he and some colleagues think the city should ask colleges to help support the Worcester Public Library, because it fits with the educational mission of colleges. The call for colleges to make voluntary payments in lieu of taxes is growing louder after a study showed that the city spent $1.5 million in the past two years responding to colleges and fraternities. Mark Bilotta, chief executive of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, called the proposal a "discussion worth having." (AP)

A teenager awaiting trial on charges of motor vehicle homicide and manslaughter has had his bail revoked after allegedly threatening to kill and dismember a lawyer in the case. Jeffrey Harnois, 17, of Barre was sent to jail Monday after District Court Judge Charles Abdella learned that he had allegedly threatened Albert Hayeck, a lawyer who has been a spokesman for the family of 17-year-old Patrick Provost. Police say Provost, a passenger in a vehicle driven by Harnois, died in a crash as Harnois drove away from a house the pair had thrown rocks at in July. (AP)

A retired professor has made the first gift to a fund honoring a University of New Hampshire alumnus killed in Afghanistan two years ago. Army Captain Benjamin Keating's family and friends set up the fund in April. The university is holding a celebration today to mark the first donation, $4,000 from John Rouman, professor emeritus. The fund will help undergraduate classics majors with research, travel, and other expenses. Keating graduated from UNH in 2004 with a degree in history and classics. His parents live in Shapleigh, Maine. (AP)

A judge has ruled that a former Peabody police officer charged with beating his elderly mother into a coma on Thanksgiving Day 2004 is not competent to stand trial. Salem Superior Court Judge David Lowy made his ruling Monday after considering the findings of two psychiatrists who examined George Sideris, the Salem News reported. Sideris was sent back to Bridgewater State Hospital for further evaluation. He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 5. Sideris faces multiple assault and battery charges in the attack on his mother, Melpomeni, who was 73 at the time. Sideris cannot be tried on the charges until he regains competency. Sideris has been held at the Bridgewater hospital off and on for more than a year. (AP)