Death of homeless man being probed
Police are investigating the death of a homeless man who was found on Arch Street near Downtown Crossing Saturday morning, the Suffolk district attorney's office said. The 40-year-old man, identified as Steven Neiber, was taken to a Boston hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Prosecutors said the cause and manner of death remained undetermined, pending the results of toxicology screening and other tests.
Man convicted of beating girlfriend
A Jamaica Plain man who uses a wheelchair was convicted yesterday of beating his girlfriend, who had once worked as his personal care assistant, authorities said. Michael Searcy, 35, was found guilty by a Superior Court jury of assault and battery for hitting his girlfriend in her car outside of the Jackson Square subway station on Dec. 27. Searcy was acquitted of other charges alleging that he struck the woman's daughter. Searcy's girlfriend refused to testify at the trial. Searcy, who was shot in the spine 10 years ago and had his legs amputated, already had a criminal record. Sentencing is scheduled for today.
West Nile-infected mosquitoes found
Mosquitoes with West Nile virus have been detected for the first time this summer in Boston, public health authorities reported yesterday. The disease-carrying insects were found in West Roxbury. Boston becomes the seventh city or town in the state to report finding mosquitoes with West Nile this summer. No human cases have been reported. To avoid exposure, the Boston Public Health Commission recommends wearing mosquito repellent and limiting outdoor activity at night, when mosquitoes are most active.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Romney to serve on US governors panel
Governor Mitt Romney was named yesterday as a member of the National Governors' Association's Executive Committee. Romney, along with eight other governors under the direction of the association's new chairman, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, will serve on the committee that focuses on homeland security, federal tax policy, and the relationship between federal and state governments. Romney also is a member of the group's Health and Human Services Committee. The association convened last month in Iowa, giving way to speculation that Romney is considering a run for the White House in 2008.
MEDFORD
Alarm alerts woman as fire hits home
Smoke detector alarms awoke a woman, saving her from a house fire in Medford late yesterday morning, deputy fire chief Martin Cunniff said. Firefighters estimate the fire caused $200,000 in damage to the house on Pinkham Road, which was divided into two apartments. The woman, described as being in her 20s, fled from the house, escaping injury, and no one else was home at the time of the blaze, which fire inspectors have ruled accidental, Cunniff said.
WELLESLEY
Wellesley College raises $472.3 million
Wellesley College collected $472.3 million in its latest fund-raising campaign, setting a record among liberal arts schools. The five-year fund-raiser surpassed its goal of $400 million, Wellesley said today in an e-mailed statement. Overall, donations to higher education in the United States have risen, based on data from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Wellesley said. US colleges raised $24.4 billion in fiscal 2004, 3.4 percent more than the previous year, according to a study by the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, Calif. Wellesley leads the pack among liberal-arts schools, in part because it has carefully cultivated its alumni, said Ann E. Kaplan, director of Rand's Voluntary Support for Education Survey. ''They have done well financially, and they want to be involved," Kaplan said in a phone interview. (Bloomberg)
WESTMORELAND, N.H.
Merchants warned of doctored currency
Merchants have been warned to be aware of $5 bills doctored to look like $50 notes, being passed in the southwestern part of the state. State Police said a woman passed off the bill at a Mac Convenience Store. She is described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall, in her 20s, with blond hair and weighing about 125 pounds. She drove off in an older gray sedan with New Hampshire plates, police said. (AP)
