12 taken ill at school; no classes today

CHELMSFORD

Officials canceled today's classes at McCarthy Middle School after 12 people there fell ill yesterday afternoon. Five students and three staff members were taken to area hospitals with symptoms of dizziness, upset stomachs, and feeling lethargic, officials said. Emergency officials were called after the school nurse received three separate complaints, school officials said. Some of the staff who fell ill were across the hall from the boiler room, where maintenance was being conducted, Superintendent Richard Moser said. Emergency workers installed air monitors to run a 24-hour test. Students were brought to the gymnasium and went home at the normal time of 2:40 p.m. The eight who went to hospitals were treated and released, Moser said.

Chelsea

Disbarred lawyer gets prison sentence
A disbarred Chelsea lawyer has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for stealing more than $400,000 from clients and committing tax fraud, prosecutors said. Neil R. Cola, 60, pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of larceny over $250 and five counts of failure to file income tax returns, according to the state attorney general's office. Cola was suspended from practicing law in 2002, but continued to practice in violation of orders of the Supreme Judicial Court, and was disbarred in March 2003. He pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from three elderly clients or their estates and using some of the money to make payments on his mortgage. He was also charged with failing to file state income tax returns for the years 1998 to 2002. (AP)

BOSTON

2 men indicted in cabdriver's slaying
Two men charged in the stabbing death of a Boston cabdriver were indicted yesterday by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery. The indictments move the case against Jashawn Robinson, 21, and Cleveland Martin, 19, both of Boston, to Suffolk Superior Court, where they will face trial in the robbery and fatal stabbing of Heureur Previlon, 31, on Aug. 25. Previlon, who was studying to become a Baptist minister, was found dead that morning inside his cab in a parking lot near Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton. Both suspects were arrested separately in Virginia in September. (AP)

16 maternal deaths to be reviewed
The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine is reviewing 16 maternal deaths during or soon after childbirth that occurred between October 2003 and August 2005 to determine whether hospitals need to improve their care when treating particular types of pregnant women. The board's Patient Care Assessment Division issued recommendations that hospitals be able to rapidly identify high-risk pregnancies and be ready to transfer extremely sick patients to academic medical centers that can provide a higher level of care, while the division studies the deaths for patterns that may indicate lapses in care, according to a newsletter the division published on the board's website. The newsletter said four of the patients had complications due to obesity.

$54 million paid in overdue child support
Under threat of losing their driver's or professional licenses, parents owing child support payments have paid about $54 million over the last three years, the state Department of Revenue announced yesterday. The program, which the department started in 2002 along with the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Division of Professional Licensure, informs parents who have not made court-ordered child support payments in more than eight weeks that their licenses will be suspended. The state has suspended about 30,000 driver's licenses and 730 professional licenses since the program began, the department said.

Police say robbery victim tailed suspects
A man robbed of an unspecified amount of money in East Boston early yesterday followed his assailants into Chelsea until they were arrested, Boston police said. The victim, who was not identified, was robbed at about 1 a.m. near the intersection of Meridian and Princeton streets after stopping to aid a woman who flagged down his car. According to police, the woman, Michelle Chavez, 36, of East Boston, then entered the victim's car, and Daniel DiGiovanni, 30, of Lowell, and Richard Botti, 35, of East Boston, approached waving handcuffs and saying they were police officers. Police said Chavez took money out of the victim's pocket, then fled with the men. The trio was arrested in Chelsea, after the victim followed them and called police on a cellphone, police said.