Romney awards $5m in training grants
Governor Mitt Romney awarded $5 million in workforce training grants yesterday to increase job growth in the state. More than 5,700 employees at 73 businesses statewide will receive job-related training. Romney made the announcement at Infinity Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, which plans to use its $197,000 grant to train the company's 97 employees in leadership and project management skills and to provide customized scientific and English-as-a-second language training.
Wakefield man gets 5 years in porn case
A former Wakefield man was sentenced to federal prison yesterday after being convicted on charges of unlawfully receiving and possessing child pornography, US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said. Andrew Hood, 27, was sentenced to five years in prison. US postal inspectors, posing as an undercover child pornography company, sent Hood a letter offering child pornography. Hood ordered four videotapes containing child pornography. He was arrested when he went to the Wakefield Post Office to pick up the tapes. Later, Hood admitted to downloading child porn from the Internet and burning pictures on CDs. The CDs were recovered from Hood's apartment.
San Francisco man indicted in 3 robberies
A San Francisco man was charged in federal court yesterday with robbing three Boston-area banks over the summer. Rodney Valentino Brooks, 43, was charged in a three-count federal indictment. Prosecutors allege that on Aug. 29, Brooks robbed a Citizens Bank and a Sovereign Bank in Boston and that on Sept. 9 he robbed a third, Brookline Bank in Brookline. Prosecutors estimate he stole just over a total of $1,500. If convicted, Brooks could face up to 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
Uncle of DUI law's namesake arrested
The uncle of a 13-year-old Marshfield girl whose death in a drunken driving accident inspired a law in her name has been arrested on charges of driving under the influence. Kevin Satterthwaite, 49, is the uncle of Melanie Powell, who was struck and killed by a repeat drunk driver in 2003. Quincy police said Satterthwaite was intoxicated behind the wheel of his Ford Expedition on Saturday evening, just a week after the new drunken driving law took effect. The Boston Herald reported yesterday that Satterthwaite headbutted and kicked a police officer during his arrest. ''I'm very remorseful," Satterthwaite said. ''This is very emotional. It's a difficult time for me. I carried Melanie's coffin down the church aisle." Police said it was his second offense, meaning he could face tough new penalties under Melanie's Law. (AP)
Hyannis man sentenced on fraud charges
A Hyannis man was sentenced yesterday to a year and a day in prison for conning a Virginia woman out of her retirement savings and her credit card during an Internet romance. Robert Mailloux, 50, was also ordered by US District Judge Nancy Gertner to pay $176,766 in restitution to the woman. Mailloux, who pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges, admitted that after meeting the woman on MatchMaker.com, he claimed to be a successful businessman who needed money because his assets were frozen as part of a civil lawsuit. Mailloux, who is unemployed, charged $82,000 on the woman's credit card during frequent gambling trips to Mohegan Sun. When the woman became suspicious, he sent her an e-mail posing as his mother and said he had been killed while working for the Pentagon in Iraq. She contacted authorities after she visited his parents in South Yarmouth, who explained that Mailloux was discharged from the Marines in 1991 and was living on monthly government disability checks.
House could debate death penalty soon
The Massachusetts House could debate Governor Mitt Romney's death penalty bill as soon as next week, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said yesterday. Romney filed his legislation in April, seeking capital punishment for ''very, very rare circumstances" such as terrorism, serial killing and torturing, or murdering police or other public servants. Romney said his plan would have the nation's highest level of proof for ensuring that only the guilty were executed, using scientific evidence such as DNA and multiple checks and balances, including review by the Supreme Judicial Court. He estimated that one or two people a year would face the penalty in the state every year under the bill. Critics say there's no way to ensure that innocent people would not be put to death. (AP)
