Police find swastika drawn on street curb

Four days after members of the Temple Shalom congregation found a swastika on their entry sign, police found another such symbol. Police noticed what appeared to be a swastika encased in a heart drawn in marker near Eliot Church of Newton. The mark was on the curbing just east of Centre Street on Church Street. According to a police report, the drawing seemed to be old and worn and was about 4 inches wide. "We are looking into this one like we have every other one," said police Lieutenant Bruce Apotheker. "We are giving it 110 percent." Last Saturday, police responded to Temple Shalom on Temple Street in West Newton for a large, black swastika.

Island Lath and Plaster Inc., a New York company that did work on a Big Dig contract, was charged yesterday with submitting false claims on a federal highway project, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. The company is charged in US District Court with conspiracy to defraud the United States. According to the charges, the company did work on behalf of Adams Management Group Inc., a subcontractor to McCourt Construction Co., from 2002 though 2006, and overbilled the Central Artery/Tunnel project an undetermined amount of money by billing on a time and materials basis as opposed to a fixed price for the work under contract. The two firms allegedly also obstructed the Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program because the work was mostly performed by Island even though Adams was the minority subcontractor.

Former Northeastern University president Richard Freeland has been proposed as commissioner of the state's Higher Education Department. At a meeting yesterday morning, a search committee for the Board of Higher Education unanimously recommended Freeland as the department's next leader. The appointment requires the approval of the full board and Paul Reville, the state's education secretary. Frederick W. Clark, chairman of the board and the 13-member search committee, scheduled a board meeting for Dec. 5 to interview Freeland and vote on his candidacy. The Higher Education Board sets policy for the state's 29 community colleges, state colleges, and universities in conjunction with the institutions' boards of trustees.

Senate minority leader Richard R. Tisei called on Governor Deval Patrick yesterday to finalize a plan for transportation changes before resorting to increased tolls or gas taxes. In a letter to the governor, Tisei said Patrick's lack of action "has only served to increase the current and future burden on the taxpayers of Massachusetts." A spokeswoman for Patrick declined further comment because she had not yet received the letter.

A large dog bit a 3-year-old boy in the face in Tewksbury yesterday afternoon, police said. The boy, whose name has not been released, was taken by a MedFlight helicopter to Children's Hospital in Boston, where he was undergoing surgery at 7 p.m., Tewksbury police Sergeant Mark Perry said. The 8-year-old Akita, weighing between 175 to 200 pounds, bit the boy at a relative's home on Chandler Street at about 12:30, Perry said. Police are investigating.

Actor Paul Newman, who died in September, is leaving his assets to his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, and to the Newman's Own Foundation he founded. The 10-time Academy Award nominee died Sept. 26 at age 83 following a long battle with cancer. His will has been filed in probate court in Connecticut. Newman leaves his personal property, including real estate, to Woodward. The Newman's Own Foundation is receiving his Oscars and other awards, as well as his interest in Newman's Own and Salad King. The will calls for the sale of Newman's airplane and race cars. Newman and the foundation funded by his food company have given more than $250 million to charity over the years. (AP)