City fined $123,500 for unsafe sidewalks

The state Architectural Access Board said yesterday that it has fined the City of Boston $123,500 for failing to fix sidewalks on Huntington Avenue deemed unsafe for people who use wheelchairs or walkers. The board said it levied the fines after repeatedly asking the city to correct a steep slope toward the street. ``This continued disregard for the regulations is unacceptable," said Thomas P. Hopkins, executive director of the Architectural Access Board, which enforces state rules governing access for people with disabilities. City officials said they had believed the sidewalks had been fixed by the MBTA, which had been doing construction in the area. Michael Galvin, the city's chief of basic services, said he has called a meeting today with MBTA officials to clear up the confusion.

A Suffolk County grand jury issued indictments yesterday against two Dorchester men accused in the December 2005 slayings of four men in a basement recording studio on Bourneside Street in Dorchester. Calvin Carnes, Jr. , 19, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and weapons charges, said the Suffolk County district attorney's office. Robert Turner , 19, was charged with four counts of accessory to murder as well as weapons charges.

State lawmakers voted yesterday to overturn Governor Mitt Romney's veto of a bill granting a $44,000-a-year pension to the widow of a former state representative who did not contribute to the state retirement system. Romney had proposed that lawmakers pay out of their own pockets to create a pension on behalf of Michael Ruane, a Salem Democrat who died last month after battling cancer. But House and Senate lawmakers rejected Romney's plan. (AP)

Governor Mitt Romney said yesterday that he is opposing a legislative proposal to raise the state minimum wage to $8 per hour because it would increase the pay for roughly 250,000 of the poorest workers in Massachusetts, but might end up costing them their jobs. ``I think it would be great if everybody could earn very high levels of compensation, but the challenge with raising the minimum wage excessively is it is a hurt to those that are entering the workforce, the very poor, those that are trying to get . . . those first jobs," the Republican told reporters. The governor favors raising the minimum wage to $7, effective Jan. 1, 2007, and then reviewing the rate every two years. (AP)

MASSACHUSETTS

The Legislature has passed a bill designed to increase quality home care for seniors and disabled citizens by creating a statewide directory of caregivers. State lawmakers approved the measure late Monday, overriding a veto by Governor Mitt Romney. Under the law, a personal care attendants council will oversee the management of a workforce directory, create a backup system of qualified caregivers, and recruit and train personal care attendants. The law also gives caregivers the option to unionize.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Deval L. Patrick and Thomas F. Reilly each will receive $403,422 from the State Election Campaign Fund this week after submitting the qualifying information by Friday's deadline to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, officials said. The fund contained about $1.6 million as of June 30, according to the state Comptroller's Office. That amount must be split in half, with $800,000 allocated for the primary campaign. (State House News Service)

WALPOLE

Two correction officers were stabbed while attempting to move an inmate at MCI-Cedar Junction to the health unit yesterday , officials said. The inmate, who claimed he had a medical emergency about 2:10 a.m., allegedly attacked the officers with a weapon apparently made out of a fence tie, said Diane Wiffin , a Department of Correction spokeswoman. Three other officers subdued the inmate, and the two injured officers were treated at area hospitals for injuries that were not life-threatening, Wiffin said. The inmate was moved to a separate unit and will face internal discipline, officials said. In a statement, the Massachusetts Corrections Officers Federated Union blamed understaffing for the stabbings.