Flu cases reach seasonal high in Mass.

Cases of influenza in Boston reached a seasonal high last week, with 2.4 percent of all hospital emergency room visits attributed to the viral illness, public health authorities reported yesterday. Still, this year's flu season is milder than a year ago; during the same period in 2008, nearly 4 percent of ER patients complained of flu symptoms, according to the Boston Public Health Commission. Every New England state, except for Vermont, has widespread flu activity, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health authorities continued to urge adults and children to be vaccinated. The vaccine provides some protection almost immediately and, within two weeks, reaches maximum potency.

A Lowell Superior Court judge has denied a motion by former state senator J. James Marzilli to dismiss the indictments against him stemming from allegations that he sexually harassed four women in one day in Lowell last June. Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said yesterday that the decision clears the way for Marzilli to stand trial April 6. Police said Marzilli made sexually explicit remarks to four women and attempted to sexually touch one of them in Lowell last June. The Arlington Democrat pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on $1,500 bail. (AP)

Facilities on public land could generate clean energy, from solar panels on the rooftops to wind farms. That's the conclusion of a report released yesterday by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The report found small-scale wind projects identified for the grounds of state facilities could produce 57 megawatts of power, while planned and potential solar installations could generate 32 megawatts. Hydro and biomass energy could add to the total. That may just be the start. Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said there is a potential of up to 946 megawatts of wind power on state lands, but not all the potential sites should be developed. (AP)

Faculty members at the Boston and Amherst campuses of the University of Massachusetts have agreed to a three-year contract that freezes their wages for the current academic year. After more than a year of negotiations, unions of faculty members and librarians at the two campuses reached a tentative deal Friday with university officials. The new contract raises salaries by 1.5 percent in the coming academic year and 3.5 percent the following year. The full unions are expected to ratify the agreement in the next two weeks. At UMass-Amherst, full professors earn an average of $117,000 a year. Faculty members earn an average of $90,000, according to university data. Professors at the Dartmouth and Lowell campuses are still in negotiations.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino's campaign has rented a 3,000-square-foot office across the street from City Hall, the surest sign yet that he will seek an unprecedented fifth term in November. The mayor so far has refused to say whether he will seek reelection. David Passafaro, Menino's campaign treasurer, said the campaign last week leased the office at 2 Center Plaza on Cambridge Street through December. But Passafaro said that doesn't necessarily mean the mayor will seek another term. "We rented additional space this year in order to provide the mayor with the wherewithal to keep his options open," Passafaro said.

The lawyer for Ernesto Gonzalez, a Lynn man charged in the Aug. 17 disappearance of his 5-year old son, Giovanni, was in Essex Superior Court in Salem yesterday seeking to suppress the results of search warrants on Gonzalez's apartment. Lawrence McGuire also filed motions requesting scientific evidence, lists of potential witnesses, and any reports about Gonzalez's Nov. 26 jailhouse interview with a Boston Globe reporter in which he confessed to killing his son in his apartment. No evidence has emerged to support his confession, and family members believe that Giovanni is still alive. Gonzalez has pleaded not guilty to parental kidnapping and misleading police and is being held without bail. The next hearing is scheduled for April 1.