ADL chooses chairman for New England

October 28, 2008

The Anti-Defamation League yesterday announced the election of a new board chair for its New England region. Esta Gordon Epstein, an ADL supporter for 25 years, succeeds James L. Rudolph as chair of the civil rights agency. Epstein, of Boston, previously served as the group's national commissioner, among other positions.

Two 21-year-old men were shot in Dorchester last evening, police said. Police responded to a call to Norton Street at 5:26 p.m. for one man shot in the face and the other in the leg, police Superintendent Rafael Ruiz said. The men were taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital and Boston Medical Center, he said. The men, whose identities have not been released, were treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Both were listed in stable condition, police spokesman David Estrada said.

A man who prosecutors say posed as a police officer to steal money from immigrants and homeless people has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Eric Mathison, 31, of Plymouth, pleaded guilty Friday in Suffolk Superior Court to 18 criminal charges, including four counts each of robbery and impersonating a police officer. In several incidents, prosecutors said, Mathison identified himself as a Chelsea police officer. In one case, four men were ordered out of a van and into a nearby building, where they were handcuffed and robbed of $700. Judge Stephen Neel also sentenced Mathison yesterday to one year probation and ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation and stay away from the people he victimized. (AP)

Co-workers at an asphalt company freed a man trapped under a piece of construction machinery yesterday. Whitman fire and emergency crews responded to a 911 call at 12:20 p.m. for a man trapped at T&K Asphalt Sealing. The man, 32, whose identity has not been released, was freed from a Bobcat machine with the help of co-workers. He was flown to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with "moderate trauma due to crushing injuries." His condition was not known. The accident is under investigation by local and state officials and federal officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Richard G. Hardy has been named the new head of the Concord Academy, according to the college preparatory high school. Hardy was approved by the Board of Trustees on Oct. 23, and will begin his tenure July 1. Hardy has worked at the academy for 25 years in various capacities, including Upper School principal, English teacher, coach, and interim head, a position he now holds. He will replace Jacob A. Dresden, who is retiring after nine years as head of the school. Concord Academy is an independent school for grades nine through 12.

A special prosecutor from the state attorney general's office is leading the investigation into alleged abuse of court overtime payments by members of the Worcester Police Department. Police Chief Gary Gemme says the prosecutor is evaluating all the information in the case, and investigators from Worcester police are cooperating. An internal audit of the department's payroll earlier this year found that seven officers allegedly abused the system for a combined $80,000 to $100,000 in overtime in the first six months of the year. The officers were placed under investigation, accused of manipulating schedules, abusing vacation time, and other "serious abuse" of court overtime procedures. Gemme has not identified the officers by name. (AP)

Police have charged accused a Hampton, N.H., man with of keeping cats in a self-storage unit in Salem. Charles Adams, 46, is charged with 17 counts of cruelty to animals. Police got a report about cats living at Uncle Bob's Self Storage, and found 15 of them in one unit on Oct. 6 and six more living nearby. Police say Adams, who is not in custody, is a suspect in a similar case two years ago in Milford, where police rescued more than 60 cats living in a storage unit illegally. (AP)

Correction: Because of a reporting error, the career of Richard G. Hardy was mischaracterized in the New England briefs in yesterday's Metro section. Hardy, who is interim head of school at Milton Academy in Milton, spent 25 years working for Milton before being named head of school last week at Concord Academy in Concord. He will begin his tenure at Concord Academy on July 1.