By Anum Hussain, Globe Correspondent

More than 100 groups participated in the annual Dorchester Day Parade today, decorating the parade route along Dorchester Avenue with a myriad of colors.

Members of the Dorchester Food Coop wore fruit and vegetable costumes, while Simon Escobar, 20, wore a Scooby Doo outfit, and students from Tech Boston Lower Academy wore their JROTC uniforms.

“I came because, first of all, it’s part of my grade,” said 15-year-old Prisca Limage. “But I’m also doing it for my school, to show we’re good too.”

Members of the Boston Public Schools all-city marching band adorned themselves in matching navy blue shirts as they played Bruce Pearson’s ‘Royal Crown March’ along the 3.2 mile route for what they expected would be the last time.

Music teacher Ian Glaude said his school, housed out of Hyde Park Education Complex, is scheduled for shutdown. Still, his team marched with enthusiasm together after learning to play their instruments a mere six months ago.

Locals of all ages found themselves outside under sunny skies and in an exuberant mood.

“Everybody got out and did their thing,” said 18-year-old Isaiah Speed, who marched unofficially with his friends. “It made it fun for the whole neighborhood.”

President of the Dorchester Day Parade Committee, Gretchen Carney, said this year's parade was even bigger than years past because there are ten city council candidates vying for a seat that will be vacated by Maureen Feeney, who has said she will not run for re-election.

At around 3:30 p.m., the candidates made their way to the end of the route at the intersection of Columbia Road.

Michael Flaherty greeted those seated along the route and kissed an elderly woman on the cheek.

“It’s a great crowd from start to finish, celebrating the great community that Dorchester is, and will continue to be,” he said while waving to residents.

Candidate John O’ Toole, who says his kids are fourth-generation Dorchester residents, was happy with the fantastic weather and turnout.

“The diversity of Dorchester always shows, it’s just a wonderful spectrum of different colors,” he said. “[The parade] allows us to represent the values and best kept secrets of Dorchester, and showcase them to the city.”

This year's parade held a special surprise for Carney, the event president, as her boyfriend, Ed Geary Jr., proposed to her along the route with a banner reading 'Gretchen, will you marry me? Love, Ed.'

"Talk about a year you'll never forget," Carney said after the parade finished around 5:30 p.m. "He sets up the whole parade, and we live together, so he had to sneak around to get this accomplished. It was a big year for us."

The event, which celebrates the founding of the neighborhood 400 years ago, kicked off at 1 p.m. with the Boston Fire Department leading the way.

"Basically this is all to celebrate the founding of Dorchester in 1620 when the Puritans first landed on Savin Hill Beach," Carney said.

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

A Weymouth woman was arraigned today in Dorchester Municipal Court on charges that she was drunk and driving into oncoming oncoming traffic on Morrissey Boulevard when she struck a state trooper.

Cara Dellabarba, 28, of Weymouth was charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating under the influence, marked lanes violation, and state highway traffic violations.

Dellabarba was in court but did not speak. Her attorney, Jon Ciraulo, plead not guilty on her behalf.

The incident occurred at 12:10 a.m. Saturday. According to a police report, Dellabarba indicated that, prior to the incident, she attended a friend's 30th birthday at the Old Colony Yacht Club and was driving home to Weymouth.

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By Brian R. Ballou and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

QUINCY -- A 15-year-old girl was forced to have sex with men who paid between $100 and $150 to Norman S. Barnes, a Dorchester man accused of kidnapping the girl and forcing her to become his sex slave for 10 days, officials alleged today.

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By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff

A Burlington man was arraigned today on charges that he stole $750,000 from a Dorchester community health center, spending the money on a lavish lifestyle that included luxury cars and a penthouse riverside apartment in Cambridge, prosecutors said.

Nzeribe McKenzie, 33, stole the money from the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center when he worked in its payroll department, according to the office of Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

McKenzie's lawyer, James E. McCall of Boston, declined to comment today, except to say that his client pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court.

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By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff

Two people were shot late this afternoon in Dorchester, police said.

Boston police spokesman David Estrada said police responded to the scene at Trull and Hancock streets at about 5:55 p.m. He said one victim was shot in the leg and taken to Boston Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. He had no information on the second victim.

No further information was immediately available.

John R. Ellement / Globe Staff

Norman S. Barnes hides his face underneath his shirt in Quincy District Court. He is flanked by his attorney, Joanna Sandman.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

QUINCY -- A Dorchester man kidnapped a 15-year-old girl off a street on May 7 and held her captive while forcing her to work as a prostitute in motels in Quincy, Danvers, and Dorchester, a prosecutor said today.

The girl managed to escape Thursday afternoon when the suspect left her alone at the Best Western Quincy Adams Inn in North Quincy. She ran from the hotel room and went to the lobby where she reached out through Facebook and pleaded for help, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Erin Murphy said in court.

Murphy said relatives had reported the girl missing to authorities.

At least two relatives arrived at the motel at the same time the suspect, Norman S. Barnes, returned to the motel. A relative of the victim summoned a state trooper working a paid detail on the Neponset River Bridge reconstruction project. The trooper arrested Barnes and helped rescue the girl.

“When the relative pulled up near the motel,’’ Murphy said, “the defendant returned to the inn, asking her what was she doing out of the room. … She began to run away.”

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By Globe Staff

Twenty-two years and three days after Richard "Richie" Gleason was killedinside a Dorchester building, his alleged killer will face first-degree murder charges today in a Boston courtroom.

Gleason was attacked while he was inside the kitchen of an apartment at 49 School St. in Dorchester. Gleason was stabbed in an apartment building frequented at the time by crack cocaine users, according to a statement released by Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis.

At the time, the 38-year-old Gleason worked as a laborer and as a person delivering food for a Quincy shelter.

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By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff

Haitians who fled the earthquake-ravaged nation last year will be eligible to apply for special immigration status that allows them to live and work legally in the United States for a fixed amount of time, US immigration officials announced today.

The move extending so-called temporary protected status to those who fled the disaster marks a major shift for federal officials, who had resisted granting it to thousands of Haitians, in part to discourage a life-threatening mass migration by sea.

Until now, only Haitians who were already in the United States before the quake had been eligible to apply for the special status, leaving those who arrived afterward with few options. Many ended up overstaying their visas and becoming homeless.

The announcement comes days after Haiti inaugurated a new president.

Under their new status, the Haitians who came after the quake will enjoy the protected status until Jan. 22, 2013. The government also gave the 18-month extension to Haitians who came to the US before the quake. It had been set to expire in July.

"Providing a temporary refuge for Haitian nationals who are currently in the United States and whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to Haiti is part of this administration's continuing efforts to support Haiti's recovery,'' Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in a statement.

The estimated 10,000 people who had fled after the quake on visitor visas, which they overstayed because they had no jobs or homes to return to, ended up crowded into relatives' homes or homeless and living in motels, as the Globe reported in January.

About 48,000 Haitians, who had been living in the United States before the quake, obtained TPS afterward.

Haitian immigrants and advocates cheered the news with tears and hugs today. Most had spent the past year and four months in limbo, descending into poverty while the reconstruction stalled in their homeland, leaving them nothing to return to.

Nonprofit groups such as Catholic Charities assisted them with English classes and other aid. Yesterday, an official with the charity said the announcement would transform their lives.

"We are all ecstatic," said Marjean A. Perhot, director of refugee and immigration services of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Boston. "I ran down the hall I was so excited. We are so thrilled, so thankful. Today has made the lives of thousands of Haitians hundreds of times better."

In Brockton, where in January the Globe revealed that many Haitian families who fled the quake had ended up homeless and living in motels, Judeline Manigat hailed the news as a lifesaver for her husband and 6-year-old daughter, who arrived after the quake. With him unable to work, the couple ended up living in the Quality Inn in Brockton.

"Good! That's good," Manigat said. "I'm very happy."

Temporary protected status is a discretionary tool that the Homeland Security secretary uses in cases of emergencies to allow people from a nation torn by war or disaster to receive temporary safe haven in the United States until the US government deems that it is safe for them to return.

People must apply and pay fees in exchange for permission to live and work in the United States.

The earthquake ravaged Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, destroying most government buildings and killing an estimated 230,000. Hundreds of thousands of people are still homeless, and a cholera outbreak there has killed more than 4,800 people.

David L. Ryan / Globe Staff

Shown is the house on Devon Street in Dorchester raided by FBI special agents and Boston police today.

By Globe Staff

One man was arrested today when Boston police and FBI agents raided multiple addresses in Boston as part of a probe into the the sale of illegal guns and drugs.

Law enforcement officials provided few details about the raids, one of which took place at 106 Devon St. in Dorchester this morning. Officials would not say if anyone was arrested as a result of the search of the three-story home.

However, a second raid on Humphreys Street in Roxbury, led to the arrest of Tarus L. Stevens, according to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office.

Stevens, 32, was arraigned in Roxbury Municipal Court where he pleaded not guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and drug trafficking charges. Bail was set at $25,000 cash and Stevens was ordered to wear a GPS bracelet if he posts bail, prosecutors said.

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By Brian R. Ballou and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

A Dorchester man has been arrested in Maine on charges that he murdered Derek Matulina, 19, on the Savin Hill Red Line subway platform on May 7, officials said today.

The suspect was identified as Nhu Anh Nguyen, 19. According to MBTA Transit Police, Boston police, and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office, Nguyen is accused of fatally shooting Matulina after an argument broke out between two groups of people on the platform on a Saturday afternoon.

Nguyen surrendered to authorities Thursday night after two days of intensive pressure from fugitive task forces in Boston and in the Portland area, said John Clark, Chief Deputy US Marshal for Maine.

Clark said Massachusetts law enforcement officials contacted relatives, friends and acquaintances of Nguyen, urging him to peacefully surrender.

In Maine, similar efforts were mounted on Nguyen's associates and relatives. Clark said relatives of Nguyen once lived in Maine but then relocated to the Boston area.

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