US to monitor Lowell, Springfield voting

The body of a woman in her 30s was found yesterday morning outside an apartment building on Union Street, authorities said. A passerby spotted the body at 6:40 a.m. in the driveway of 68 Union St., according to Captain John Dougan of the Quincy police. The Norfolk district attorney’s office said yesterday that the medical examiner reported no sign of trauma to the woman’s body and that the cause of death was undetermined. The woman’s name was not released because her family had not been notified.

A Peabody woman was sentenced yesterday to 15 to 17 years in state prison after being found guilty last week of shaking her baby to death. Jennifer Ward, 39, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the November 2007 death of her 9-month-old daughter. In last week’s trial in Salem Superior Court, the prosecution said Ward shook and beat Jocelyn Mae Ward-Anderson to death in an angry rage. The baby had been fussing for more than two hours prior to being shaken to death and suffered a fractured skull, brain damage, and fractures to her shoulders and left arm. Judge David Lowy sentenced Ward to 15 to 17 years after hearing the prosecution’s request for 18 to 20 years in state prison. Ward has served almost two years in jail.

State health officials have fined Rhode Island Hospital $150,000 and ordered it to install video cameras in its operating rooms after it reported its fifth wrong-site surgery since 2007. In a letter sent yesterday to the hospital, Health Director David Gifford said he is also ordering the hospital to assign an employee to observe all surgeries at the hospital for at least one year. The observer will monitor whether doctors are marking the site to be operated on and taking a time out before operating to ensure they are operating on the proper body part. The most recent incident involved a surgeon who operated on the wrong finger. Three other cases involved brain surgeons. (AP)

Governor Don Carcieri will sign legislation closing a loophole that has made Rhode Island the only state besides parts of Nevada to allow indoor prostitution. Carcieri, a Republican, scheduled a signing ceremony for today at the State House. The General Assembly approved the ban during a special session last week. Indoor prostitution was legalized because of a legislative mishap in 1980. Trying to crack down on public prostitution, the General Assembly passed a law nearly 30 years ago that was silent on paid sex in private. As a result, more than two dozen suspected brothels operate in the state. The ban will take effect once Carcieri signs it. (AP)

The cause of death of a 19-year-old sophomore at Yale University who was found dead Sunday remains undetermined. A spokeswoman for the chief medical examiner said an autopsy was done yesterday and the results are pending. Yale spokesman Tom Conroy says that Andre Narcisse of Roosevelt, N.Y., was discovered unresponsive about 11 a.m. Sunday in his suite at Branford College, one of the school’s residential colleges. Emergency personnel were not able to resuscitate him. Conroy said police have not found evidence of foul play. (AP)