Spurned ex-radical speaks on BC radio

Governor Deval Patrick's gambit to merge two financing agencies, which drew scrutiny when he attempted to install a political ally in a high-paying position, suffered a setback yesterday when one authority's board blocked negotiations and postponed any further consolidation talks until after the governor's July 1 deadline. Voting 6-2, the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority established an advisory panel to examine financial consequences of a union with the Massachusetts Development Finance Authority and whether the quasi-public agencies would need authorization from the Legislature, which created them. The decision pushed the new panel's reporting requirement to after July 1. (State House News Service)

Calling 911 emergency dispatchers "true first responders," Boston's Emergency Medical Services announced creation of the AED Alert program to make it easier for dispatchers to instruct people over the phone how to locate and use automated defibrillators. Boston EMS maintains a database of more than 600 defibrillators in the city, and the new program will allow dispatchers to lead callers to the nearest one in the first few minutes of a life-threatening cardiac arrest.

Fewer students dropped out of public high schools in Massachusetts last year, according to a report the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released yesterday. Some 9,959, or 3.4 percent, of the nearly 296,000 students enrolled in high school last year quit. That was down from 11,436 students, or 3.8 percent, the previous year. However, big gaps existed between students of different racial and ethnic groups. Hispanics had the highest dropout rate, at 8.3 percent, accounting for almost one-third of the students who quit. Blacks followed at 5.8 percent, whites at 2.2 percent, and Asians at 2 percent. The Boston public schools saw its rate decline for the second year in a row, with about 1,400 students, or 7.6 percent, dropping out.

A driving instructor was clearly sending the wrong message to his students: He was found guilty yesterday in Ipswich District Court of giving a driving lesson while drunk. Daniel Winsky, 53, of Salem was sentenced to 18 months of probation and a one-year loss of license for operating under the influence. Winsky was technically operating the Anthony's Auto School car because it was fitted with a brake on the passenger side for instructors to take control and stop cars during driving lessons. Winsky will also have to pay $2,000 in fines and attend state-mandated classes.

The death this week in Northborough of Mark Fidrych, the former Detroit Tigers pitcher known for his charm and on-the-mound antics, has been ruled an accident, the Worcester district attorney announced yesterday. Fidrych, 54, who was found dead Monday under a Mack dump truck at his West Street farm, died of suffocation, District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said in a statement. Fidrych appeared to have been working on the truck when his clothes became tangled in the power takeoff shaft, Early said. The state medical examiner performed an autopsy earlier this week. Fidrych, who was known as "The Bird," won 19 games as a rookie in 1976 and had worked in trucking and construction since his baseball career ended in 1983.