Dorchester motorist charged in hit-run

November 17, 2008

A Dorchester man was arrested Saturday after an alleged hit-and-run incident in the Back Bay, police said. Officers went to 177 Massachusetts Ave. at 11:08 p.m. after a 46-year-old man was struck by a 2008 Mini Cooper, said Officer Eddy Chrispin of the Boston Police Department. The victim was taken "conscious and alert" to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Chrispin said. After the accident, officers from Longwood Security, a private company, followed the suspect's vehicle and informed police of its location. After police found the vehicle at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, officers arrested Jesse B. Uggla, 28, of Dorchester. Uggla is charged with operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in personal injury, and he will be arraigned today at Boston Municipal Court.

Volunteer divers have determined that 150,000 seed oysters dropped into the Charles River on Oct. 25 by the Massachusetts Oyster Project have survived their first two weeks. Divers Mat Brevard of Worcester and Rich Bradshaw of Watertown went into the river Nov. 8 to inspect the new oysters, which are intended to filter sewage from the water of the Charles. Each oyster can process about 30 gallons of water per day. The divers estimated that less than 1 percent of the oysters died since the drop. The next dive is scheduled for May. The October seeding was part of the Charlestown-based project's pilot program to clean Boston rivers with oyster colonies.

The body of a 28-year-old man was discovered on the tennis courts of an apartment complex on Keys Drive yesterday morning, said a spokesperson from the Essex district attorney's office. An unidentified individual called authorities about 10:17 a.m. after finding the body of a man later identified as Nicholas Coughlin. Officials said Coughlin lived down the street from where his body was found; the death does not seem suspicious. An autopsy has been scheduled.

The leader of Maine's Roman Catholic diocese issued a letter opposing gay marriage, to be read at weekend Masses. "To redefine marriage to include same-sex couples is to strip marriage of an essential component, namely the ability and obligation to procreate," Bishop Richard Malone said in his letter. The letter appeared days after the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry in Maine, a group of Maine ministers from different faiths, announced their support for gay marriage. It also follows referendums in California, Arizona, and Florida in which same-sex marriage bans were imposed. The advocacy group EqualityMaine said it gathered more than 33,000 names on Election Day in support of marriage for same-sex couples. (AP)

A proposal to expand Vermont's DNA database is being questioned by a civil liberties group. Under the Senate Judiciary Committee's plan outlined last week, the state would start collecting genetic samples from people arraigned on felony crimes, instead of just those convicted of felonies. Lawmakers say the change will help protect residents from violent criminals. But Allen Gilbert, head of the Vermont American Civil Liberties Union, says the proposal could put innocent people under surveillance. (AP)

Officials say two notorious New Hampshire inmates, Gary Dodds and Leeland Eisenberg, were involved in a jailhouse altercation Friday. Dodds is the former congressional candidate convicted of faking his own disappearance; Eisenberg is the man who held volunteers hostage in Hillary Clinton's Rochester campaign office. Eisenberg contends Dodds hit him in the face, but investigators say it's too early to say exactly what happened. (AP)