New England in brief
BOSTON
Police are investigating the shooting of a woman outside a home in Dorchester yesterday afternoon. The 30-year-old woman was shot twice in the arm as she stood outside 20 Wilcock St. with a neighborhood friend, just after 2 p.m., talking to several people in a parked car. When emergency crews arrived, the woman was conscious and alert and was taken to a hospital to be treated for what police said were not life-threatening injuries. Witnesses said they heard four to five shots but saw nothing because they sought cover.Two men admit role in prostitution ring
Two men pleaded guilty yesterday to participating in a ring that forced teenage girls to work as prostitutes in Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Shaun Leoney, 28, of Boston and Aaron Brooks, 25, of Quincy were among six men indicted in 2007 on charges of participating in a Boston-based prostitution ring that operated from 2001 to 2005. Both men pleaded guilty yesterday to a single count of conspiracy. Brooks reached a plea deal with prosecutors, who will recommend a sentence of four years. Leoney faces a maximum of five years in prison. (AP)CAMBRIDGE
Projected Harvard deficit cut to $110m
A top Harvard University dean told more than 250 professors, staff, and students yesterday that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has managed to halve its projected deficit for the 2011 fiscal year through budget cuts and strong fund-raising results. That means the $220 million deficit Michael D. Smith, dean of FAS, had forecast during an April meeting has shrunk to $110 million, according to Jeff Neal, a university spokesman. Despite those figures, Smith said the FAS still needs to fundamentally rethink how it undertakes its work, its structure, and its activities to determine what is critical.SALEM
Power outage darkens Salem and Lynn
A large power outage left thousands of homes without electricity in Salem and in Lynn late last night, authorities said. National Grid spokesman Chris Mostyn said approximately 16,500 customers had been left without power in the area. The outage started at about 8:30 p.m. and was due to a technical problem at a sub-station in West Salem, Mostyn said. National Grid dispatched several repair crews, and Mostyn said power was restored to about 3,000 customers by 11 p.m. He said it was hoped all power would be back by this morning.WRENTHAM
Several hurt as school bus, truck collide
A school bus carrying students from the King Phillip Regional School District high school and junior high school collided head-on with a 1-ton dump truck at a Wrentham intersection yesterday afternoon, Wrentham police said. Students were treated on the scene for minor injuries, while the truck driver was transported to Norwood Hospital with unknown injuries, Police Chief James Anderson said.SHEFFIELD
Plane burns after emergency landing
A small plane caught fire yesterday after making an emergency landing in a field in this Western Massachusetts town, officials said. “The two people on board escaped with minor injuries,’’ said Jim Peters, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The single-engine Cessna 208 was headed from Farmington, N.Y., to Saratoga Springs, N.Y.GENEVA
Late senator receives refugee aid award
The late Senator Edward M. Kennedy has won theUnited Nations 2009 Nansen Refugee Prize award for his decades of work on behalf of the world’s refugees. The UN Office of High Commissioner for Refugees announced yesterday Kennedy, who died last month, was honored posthumously. The prize comes with $100,000 to be donated to any cause the winner chooses. Kennedy’s communication chief, Anthony Coley, said no decision has been made on the money’s distribution.
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