Fire displaces Mission Hill residents

A three-alarm fire in a Mission Hill apartment building displaced a number of residents last night, fire officials said. The blaze started at 11:35 p.m. inside a third-story residence 54 Annunciation Rd., near Wentworth Institute of Technology, according to fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald. The seven-story Boston Housing Authority building, which has 20 apartments, suffered smoke and water damage. There were no injuries. MacDonald said he was unsure how many people would be displaced but said he thought it would be "a lot" judging by the damage. The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

A body was found in the Charles River yesterday morning, about 30 feet offshore near the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, authorities said. The body was reported at about 11:35 a.m. Jake Wark, Suffolk district attorney's office spokesman, said the body was of a white male believed to be in his 40s. No obvious signs of trauma were found. An autopsy is expected this weekend, he said.

The man accused of severely beating Channel 7 sports reporter Julie Donaldson will face charges of assault and battery in a trial to start Sept. 8, a Boston Municipal Court judge ruled yesterday. Prosecutors decided to drop two fugitive charges against Ivan Lattimore, 32, who is being held without bail.

Governor Deval Patrick is distributing the first of the Commonwealth Corps grants he hopes will encourage volunteerism and community service across Massachusetts. Some $2.4 million is being given to 36 public and nonprofit groups so they can fund activities for 300 volunteers this fall. In Hampden County, Mercy Hospital will receive $131,000 for its prenatal care center, volunteer department, and campus school. Codman Academy Public Charter School in Boston will receive $64,000 for its tutoring program. (AP)

Opponents of same-sex marriages have filed paperwork for a ballot question that would repeal a new law that nullified a 1913 statute that prevented gay and lesbian couples from getting married here if their union wouldn't be legal in their home state. Brian Camenker of the group Mass Resistance said lawmakers and Governor Deval Patrick bowed to the will of the "gay lobby" by approving the repeal of the law last month. Gay Massachusetts residents have been allowed to legally marry since 2004. Opponents such as former governor Mitt Romney said the 1913 law prevented Massachusetts from becoming the "Las Vegas of same-sex marriage." (AP)

A Massachusetts teenager is in a coma in a Canadian hospital after suffering critical injuries of an unknown nature in the Niagara Falls area. David Shell, a 19-year-old from the Springfield area, was found behind the a mall. Shell had a broken back, cracked skull, and collapsed lungs, said Sergeant Dave Sawyer of the Niagara Regional Police Service. Shell was rushed to Hamilton General Hospital, where he was in serious but stable condition. Police know little about Shell's injuries, but they do not suspect foul play, Sawyer said. Sawyer said Shell arrived alone in the Niagara Falls area last Sunday. Police believe he was walking in the rural area between Niagara Falls and Welland and at some point received a ride in a silver pickup. He was then dropped off at a local restaurant. Shell was last seen walking away from the restaurant with an unidentified woman. He was found injured the next morning.

State Police said three men were dead following a traffic accident yesterday in this Western Massachusetts town. The accident involving four vehicles occurred about 1:10 p.m. near the entrance to Colebrook Reservoir. State Police said a Chevrolet Blazer traveling south crossed the center line, sideswiped a Jaguar, then crashed head-on into a Chevrolet pickup. Police said Derek Martinez, 33, of Waterbury, Conn., the driver of the Blazer, was killed. Also killed were the pickup driver - Robert Bailey, 64, and his passenger, Gerald Williams, 67. Both men were from Thomaston, Conn. Police said the driver of the Jaguar, Michael Goldstein, 45, of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., was uninjured. (AP)