Many push to slow school system overhaul
Parents, teachers, and local officials asked Boston School Committee members at a public hearing yesterday to slow efforts to overhaul the school assignment system, saying more time is needed to determine whether other options exist beyond what a task force has recommended. Several dozen residents turned out for the 6 p.m. hearing at the Madison Park Technical Vocational School in Roxbury. The hearing was part of a series in which the public gets a chance to learn about proposed changes. Richard Hall, a South End resident, said the School Assignment Task Force proposal shows ''a lack of imagination" and could pit neighborhoods against one another. The committee, he said, should take longer to consider other school assignment options. City Councilor Chuck Turner said the plan, which would include six zones from which families would choose elementary schools, ''would take us backwards." Councilor John Tobin, who has submitted a different school assignment proposal, said most agree on the need to keep sibling preference intact, and that grandfathering current students is necessary in any plan. The school committee will hold its next hearing tonight at its regular meeting.
Mt. Carmel parishioners stage sit-in
About a dozen parishioners of Mt. Carmel Roman Catholic Church in East Boston launched an impromptu sit-in yesterday to protest the church's closure by the Archdiocese of Boston. ''It was just too emotional to leave," said Gina Scalalcione. Scalalcione and another parishioner launched the protest when they decided not to leave church at noon yesterday when an Archdiocese employee came to lock the front doors for good. She and several others planned to spend the night in sleeping bags inside the church and urged other parishioners to join the cause. ''If we get plenty of help," Scalalcione said, ''we'll give the [archdiocese] a run for their money."
Man who fell overboard, died is identified
A 68-year-old man who was pronounced dead Monday night after he slipped from a ladder on his boat was identified as Donald A. Cicolini, 68, of Saugus. Quincy police found him in the water off Thompson's Island in Dorchester Bay, about 1 mile away from where he fell overboard, according to the Coast Guard. Cicolini, who reportedly had a heart condition and could not swim, was tending line off the stern of his 32-foot boat when he fell overboard, the Coast Guard said. His son, Donald Cicolini Jr., 45, of Saugus, attempted to rescue his father by jumping into 59-degree waters. A rescue crew picked up the son and transported him to New England Medical Center, according to the Coast Guard. He was treated and released Monday night. The Coast Guard said neither man was wearing a lifejacket.
TAUNTON
Probe underway in infant's death
The Bristol County District Attorney's Office is investigating the death of Jordan Whalley Jr., an 8-week-old boy found dead lying with his father Jordan Whalley on Sunday morning. The baby had been born prematurely at Morton Hospital and Medical Center in Taunton and had been treated at Women and Infants' Hospital in Providence. He had been home for two days before he died. Autopsy results received by the family showed he died of natural causes. The district attorney's office could not confirm the cause of death but said they would investigate his death as they do all sudden deaths.
NORWICH, Conn.
Remains of long-missing man are found
The skeletal remains of a Norwich man missing for 10 years were found Monday in a wooded area in Lincolnville, Maine. Police said they do not suspect foul play but are examining the remains of Roger Meiklem before making a final determination. The body was found not far from where Meiklem's locked car was found 10 years ago with the keys still inside, said his brother, David. (AP)
LONDONDERRY, N.H.
Photo with gun barred from yearbook
The Londonderry School Board voted unanimously yesterday to ban a photo of a pupil posing with a shotgun from the senior photo section from the Londonderry High School yearbook. The five-member board backed a compromise offered by the school that would allow senior Blake Douglass to have the photo published in a ''community sports" section and to have a new photo -- without the gun but featuring other elements of skeet and trap shooting -- taken for the seniors' section. Douglass's lawyer's request for a motion for reconsideration was denied. Attorney Penny Dean said she intends to file a complaint. (AP)
