Supporters seeking to return trolley service to the Arborway in Jamaica Plain filed suit yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court against the state and the Conservation Law Foundation. The suit argues that despite a November agreement between state officials and leaders of the environmental group that purported to kill the Arborway project, it remains alive through a 1990 contract between the two defendants. The $58 million extension would restore trolley service between Heath Street and Forest Hills on the MBTA's E branch. It was part of a package of transit projects the state promised in 1990 to offset air pollution and other environmental impacts of the Big Dig. Over time, state and city officials said, the trolley line was too expensive and would require extensive rerouting of traffic around Centre Street to accommodate both parking and the rails.
Dorchester man convicted in 2001 slaying
A Dorchester man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court for shooting a man in the head during an altercation outside a party over a poker debt on Jan. 23, 2001. Tu Trinh, 50, was convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of Sinh Tran, 47, of Dorchester and was sentenced to an additional three-to-four-year term for illegally carrying a firearm. Trinh was indicted on the charges but remained at large until Aug. 8, 2005, when he was caught in California attempting to enter the country from Vietnam.
MASSACHUSETTS
UMass considers raising fees to $9,221
Annual student fees at the University of Massachusetts might increase by 3.4 percent to $9,221 next year, despite a student referendum last fall at the Amherst campus calling for a freeze. The university's board of trustees will consider the $303 increase at a finance committee meeting today. If the committee approves it, the full board of trustees would vote on it next month. Robert Connolly, a university spokesman, said the increase is needed in part because the system is receiving about $100 million less in state aid than it did in 2000.
DARTMOUTH
Approach lights off in crash, says NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed yesterday that the approach lights at New Bedford Regional Airport were off, but said that the runway lights were working when a private plane failed on its first approach and crashed seconds later, killing all three on board. The preliminary report on the investigation sheds little new light on the crash that killed Peter Karoly, 53, and his wife, Dr. Lauren Angstadt, 54, both of Bethlehem, Pa., and pilot Michael Milot. Relatives have said that the lack of auxiliary lights might have been a factor in the crash. The NTSB report says a notice to airmen warning about the lack of lights was in effect at the time of the accident.
BREWSTER
Bingo patron charged in attack on officer
A town police officer was injured Monday night after police said a drunk bingo patron attacked him outside Our Lady of the Cape Parish. Police said Benjamin Paulin, 26, of Brewster became belligerent, took a swing at Officer Michael Mei, and then bit him on the hand after Mei confronted Paulin at the parish center's bingo game. Mei suffered minor injuries to his hand and his hip, said Detective Sergeant Heath Eldredge of the Brewster police. Paulin was arraigned yesterday morning on charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer and was ordered held on $1,000 bail.
FALMOUTH
Divers end search of sunken fishing boat
Divers searching a fishing boat that sank last month in Nantucket Sound failed to find the bodies of three missing crew members before they were turned back yesterday by an approaching northeaster. Divers from the State Police and a private salvage company reached the interior cabin of The Lady of Grace, the 75-foot New Bedford-based commercial dragger that went down on Jan. 26. (AP)
BANGOR
Bill seeks access to anticancer vaccine
Proposed legislation would promote access to a vaccine that combats the virus that causes cervical cancer, but it would not mandate that young girls be inoculated. Other states that have proposed laws requiring the vaccinations have met with opposition from parents and religious groups. The Maine bill focuses on education and funding. (AP)
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
