BU students evacuated after dorm oil spill

Hundreds of Boston University students were displaced for two hours last night after a dormitory was evacuated because of a spill of 50 gallons of heating oil. The heavy-grade heating oil spilled from a broken furnace in the basement of Myles Standish Hall, said Steve McDonald, spokesman for the Fire Department. The spill was reported at 9:24 p.m. and drew BU and Boston police and a Fire Department hazardous materials team to the eight-story Beacon Street dormitory. A private cleaning company was called to the scene, and students were allowed to return to the building about 11:30 p.m., McDonald said. He said there was no threat of a fire.

One of the four remaining parish high schools in the Archdiocese of Boston will close in June. Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence C. Donilon said yesterday that Hudson Catholic High School, which was founded in 1959 and is run by St. Michael's Parish, has seen enrollment drop from 200 to 120 over the last five years; only 96 students were expected next year. The parish is committed to maintaining its elementary school, which has 160 students and is growing. It will move into the high school building, the archdiocese said.

Holbrook police and the Norfolk district attorney's office are investigating a tip from students at the Holbrook Junior/Senior High School that a sexually explicit video involving students was circulating at the school, police said. The video was allegedly disseminated to friends and classmates, Holbrook police said in a statement. Police said the video, taken by cellphone, showed a "past case of statutory rape." Authorities are investigating both "the sexual assault and the dissemination of this event," police said. The passing of pictures via cellphone depicting underage people in explicit situations is a felony, the statement said. "Parents need to inform their children of the serious nature of this matter," the statement said.

An outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea at Babson College appears to be slowing significantly, state disease trackers reported yesterday. The college in Wellesley closed its campus Saturday after more than 100 students fell ill with a gastrointestinal ailment believed to be caused by norovirus, a ferocious germ that spreads quickly. By Sunday, new cases had declined dramatically. An advisory from the college reported that only four students visited the campus infirmary Sunday; four others called for medical advice. While norovirus can provoke decidedly unpleasant symptoms, it rarely causes significant health problems. Hoping to contain the outbreak, the college decided to cancel classes, sporting events, and all other meetings until tomorrow.

Former representative Anthony Verga has decided to retire from the House clerk's office - where he went after he retired from the House in January. The Gloucester Democrat submitted retirement papers effective April 30 from his $40,000-per-year job as assistant clerk last week. Verga had been paid $62,500 annually as a House committee chairman. In his farewell address in December, he told his colleagues that "goodbye" was a deflating word, so "I'm not going to say goodbye." Weeks later, the public learned that former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi had helped Verga find the clerk's job before DiMasi himself left office. (AP)

What is in a name? There is pain, at least when the word in question is "retarded," advocates for the developmentally disabled said yesterday. The advocates are celebrating with officials at the State House over an upcoming name change for the Department of Mental Retardation. On July 1, it will become the Department of Developmental Services. "It's important because the constituents themselves feel stigmatized by the word. 'Retard' has become commonplace for a slur," said Leo V. Sarkissian, executive director of The Arc of Massachusetts.