Lawmakers consider tougher driving bills

A thief broke into St. Ambrose Church in Dorchester overnight Saturday and stole an undetermined amount of money from a donation box, Boston police said. Parishioners found a back window smashed and the donation box broken open upon arriving at the parish yesterday morning, said Boston police spokesman Eddy Chrispin. An unknown amount of money was stolen from the box, which is emptied weekly. The building was empty between 9 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday, and there were no other signs of vandalism or theft, Chrispin said. In January 1984, the old St. Ambrose church burned to the ground in a nine-alarm fire. The current building, located at 240 Adams St. in Fields Corner, was dedicated in 1987.

A New Hampshire man who fell from a kayak near Nantasket Beach in Hull was rescued early yesterday by the Coast Guard. Eric Saviano, of Derry, was found by Coast Guard searchers around 6:15 a.m. on a moored boat to which he had swum after falling from the kayak. Saviano, who had taken the kayak out just before midnight Saturday, had spent much of the night in winds estimated at 20 knots and water of 59 degrees. He was not wearing a life jacket when rescued. He was treated for hypothermia on the Coast Guard boat and refused further medical treatment. The Guard was notified around 3:30 a.m. by a friend who had expected Saviano’s return. The Hull Fire Department and the Cohasset harbormaster helped in the search.

Closed pretrial court hearings are scheduled Thursday at Essex District Juvenile Court in Lynn for the group of boys accused of severely beating a Guatemalan immigrant while he slept near railroad tracks in Lynn in July. The boys, ages 11 to 14, are charged with civil rights violations, attempted murder, and assault with intent to maim, in the beating of Damian Merida, 30. (AP)

Two Citizens banks were robbed yesterday about 90 minutes apart in Dedham and Danvers, and late yesterday afternoon police arrested two men in the robbery of the Dedham branch. Police would not indicate if the two robberies were connected. In the Dedham case, James Wilcox, 42, was arrested by Dedham police after he and an accomplice were allegedly videotaped inside his car by a surveillance camera outside the Stop & Shop supermarket where the Citizens Bank is located. Wilcox’s companion was identified as Nicholas Cunha, 30, of Charlestown. In Danvers, police said, the robber - a white male in his early 50s, wearing a gray Red Sox sweatshirt - used a note to indicate that he had a weapon. An undetermined amount of cash was stolen. The suspect then drove away in a dark-colored Nissan toward Route 1 North, according to police.

Police in New Hampshire are looking for a man who allegedly tried to pull a 10-year-old girl into his car while she was jogging. Police say three 10-year-old girls were running along Route 202 in Peterborough Friday afternoon when a man pulled up in a light blue car and asked if they wanted a ride. When they refused, the man allegedly tried to grab one girl by the arm and pull her into the car. Police are looking for a slim man in with tan skin and braided dark hair. (AP)