Stiffer graduation rate standard sought

February 24, 2009

Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester is recommending the state toughen its graduation rate standard. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, states must set graduation standards to measure the yearly progress of high schools. Chester wants to increase the state graduation standard from 60 percent to 65 percent. Schools that show a 2 percent graduation increase would also meet the standard. While the statewide graduation rate was just over 81 percent in 2008, the rate varied widely by group, from 87 percent for white and Asian students to 58 percent for Hispanic students. The state education board is expected to discuss the plan today. (AP)

The first online streaming of oral arguments in a federal court in Massachusetts has been postponed while a challenge is heard by an appeals court. The hearing was scheduled for today in a music downloading lawsuit the recording industry filed against a Boston University graduate student. But it has been postponed so that the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit can consider a challenge by the Recording Industry Association of America. Judges have scheduled oral arguments for April 7. (AP)

The Dec. 11 ice storm that downed trees and wires statewide also overwhelmed utility companies struggling to restore power to thousands of customers, according to reports utility companies filed yesterday with the state. The reports were filed in response to a deadline the Department of Public Utilities set in an investigation into utility companies' response to the storm, which caused 375,000 power outages across Massachusetts. Unitil, the company that received much of the criticism after its 28,000 customers lost power, said the storm was one of the most devastating the company has faced.

A New Hampshire man received two mandatory life sentences without parole yesterday for killing his former lover's husband and another man at a Massachusetts business. Sean Fitzpatrick was sentenced by a Middlesex Superior Court judge for fatally shooting Michael Zammitti Jr., 39, owner of Allstate Concrete Pumping in Wakefield, after Zammitti's wife ended an affair with Fitzpatrick. Prosecutors said Fitzpatrick also killed Chester Roberts, 54, an employee who arrived at work just after Zammitti was shot. Fitzpatrick was convicted Thursday in his second trial after the jury deliberated for more than a week. A jury deadlocked at his first trial. (AP)

An underground fire in downtown Taunton yesterday caused a series of explosions and sent flames shooting out of manholes, authorities said. One manhole cover crashed through the window of a vacant store and damaged a tuxedo shop. One passerby was hospitalized with a concussion, but it was unclear what caused the injury. Mayor Charles Crowley said several businesses had suffered smoke damage. Crowley said the fire was caused by a faulty connection in underground wiring that resulted in arcing electric currents, which then ignited, triggering the blasts about 12:30 p.m.

Investigators are looking for a teacher who is suspected of running off with a 15-year-old student. Mayor Michael Sullivan of Holyoke said the boy's mother contacted the Maurice Donahue Elementary School on Feb. 13, saying she was concerned about the relationship the teenager had with Lisa Lavoie, 22. Authorities were unable to question the first-year teacher because she had left for the day as the school went on a one-week break. Sullivan said the boy's parents reported him missing Feb. 16. He said subsequent efforts to contact Lavoie, whom he described as the person of interest, have been unsuccessful. Authorities do not believe the boy is in imminent physical danger, the mayor said. FBI and Customs and Border Protection agents are also investigating. (AP)