GOP lawmakers push for lessons on flag

The Episcopal diocese of Connecticut elected its fifteenth diocesan bishop yesterday , church officials said in a press release. Church officials and laypeople elected the Rev. Dr. Ian T. Douglas, 51, of Cambridge, Mass., with a majority vote. Douglas is currently the Angus Dun Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Episcopal Divinity School and the associate priest at St. James Episcopal Church, both in Cambridge. “I’m less proud and more humbled and honored,’’ Douglas said in a phone interview. “I’m very excited to be working with the people in the Connecticut diocese.’’ Douglas will be presiding over approximately 60,000 baptized members of the Episcopal Church throughout Connecticut. He will be formally installed as bishop April 17 in Hartford, though he may informally begin his work early next year.

A 79-year-old Framingham man died in a single-vehicle crash yesterday after veering off the road and striking a telephone pole on Route 1 southbound in Walpole, according to the State Police. About 4:11 p.m., troopers responded to the crash in the vicinity of Fox Hill Drive. The man, George Marcus, was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger, Norma Marcus, also 79, was seriously injured and taken to Norwood Hospital. The crash is under investigation by State Police and the Norfolk district attorney’s office.

Police have arrested a New Hampshire resident at a Massachusetts motel in connection with the shooting death of a man found in the street in Manchester. Attorney General Michael Delaney of New Hampshire said Joshua Sprague, 23, of Manchester, was arrested yesterday at a Super 8 Motel in Weymouth, Mass. He was charged with second-degree murder, accused of shooting Lennoxx Tibbs in the chest and neck on Thursday. Sprague also is charged with burglary while armed with a firearm for allegedly entering Tibbs’s apartment. Justin Genest, 20, who lives with Sprague, also was arrested at the motel and is charged with being an accomplice to burglary. Authorities said the two are being held at the Weymouth Police Department pending a hearing in Quincy District Court tomorrow. (AP)

A federal judge, citing a Vermont woman’s poor health, sentenced her to probation for cashing her dead mother’s benefit checks for 23 years. Anne Shea, 65, was sentenced to three years of probation. US District Judge J. Garvan Murtha took the recommendation of the defense and prosecution that he not follow federal sentencing guidelines, which called for 18 to 24 months in prison. Prosecutors say Shea collected about $235,000. (AP)

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture and a group called Vermont Coverts are hosting a workshop in Tunbridge on two exotic beetles that have led to the death of millions of hardwood trees across the country. The Asian longhorned beetle threatens a variety of hardwoods, including the sugar maple. The pest has shown up in New York City, Chicago, New Jersey, and in the Worcester, Mass. region. The emerald ash borer, which targets ash trees, has been detected in 11 states and Quebec, less than 40 miles north of Vermont. Workshop participants will learn how to identify the pests and what to do if they spot one. The workshop will be held at Tunbridge Town Hall on Nov. 5 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. (AP)

A record-setting strand of beads has helped the city of East Providence set its recent financial woes aside, at least for a night. On Friday, the city smashed the Guinness world record for longest strand of beads with a 1,349.9-foot string of red and white beads. The previous record was 355 feet, set in February in the United Kingdom. (AP)