New England in brief
HOLYOKE
Local American Red Cross officials are appealing for cash donations to help 15 families driven from their homes when flames roared through a Holyoke apartment building Wednesday. The fire sent six people to hospitals, including two who were airlifted to Boston. Rick Lee, executive director of the Pioneer Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, said money is needed to buy food, clothing, and shelter for the residents. One couple has offered a $10,000 challenge grant. (AP)HOPKINTON
Baby Jesus missing from Nativity scene
Baby Jesus is missing from the Nativity scene on the Hopkinton Town Common, and police believe the plastic figure was stolen. Chief Thomas Irvin told The MetroWest Daily News that an officer on routine patrol in the predawn hours of Dec. 16 first noticed that the plastic figure was missing. He said there are no leads. (AP)LOWELL
Woman seriously burned in blaze
A woman was seriously burned in a fire on Highland Street in Lowell yesterday afternoon, police said. The Fire Department responded at about 12:30 p.m. to the fire in a multiunit apartment building, Lowell police said. The woman, whose name was not released, was flown by helicopter from Lowell’s Cawley stadium to a Boston hospital. The cause of the fire is under investigation.CONCORD, N.H.
Attorney general puts lien on oil company
The New Hampshire attorney general’s office said an Exeter heating oil company has not met the obligations of its prebuy contracts with its customers. The state said Flynn Oil did not provide customers with a clear explanation of how the company would meet its obligations as required by law. The state also said Flynn customers have complained they were not receiving the correct amounts of oil or have run out of oil. The attorney general’s office said a court granted a request by the state to place the equivalent of a $2 million lien against the company. (AP)THOMASTON, MAINE
Building explosion under investigation
The state Fire Marshal’s office is investigating a blast in Thomaston that was felt all over Maine’s midcoastal area. No one was hurt in the explosion, which occurred Wednesday as workers were dismantling an abandoned building at the Dragon Cement plant. The Fire Marshal’s office said the building caught fire shortly before the blast. (AP)BOSTON
Senate panel to review prisoner’s escape
A state Senate oversight committee will conduct a hearing after an inmate escaped from a minimum-security prison in Bridgewater shortly after being indicted in a 1996 rape and home invasion. Manson Brown was serving a 10-year sentence for home invasion and armed robbery when he left the Old Correctional Center on Nov. 28. The 51-year-old Brown, who also escaped from jail in 1982 and 1983, remains at large. Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee chairman Marc Pacheco said his panel will hold a hearing on security at the facility, perimeter patrols, and communications between law enforcement agencies. A date for the hearing has not been set. (AP)
QUINCY
Man arraigned in Roxbury police chase
A Quincy man was arraigned in Roxbury District Court yesterday after he allegedly damaged several cars and injured two people during a police chase Wednesday, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. Jose Cosme, 37, was charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle, speeding, failure to stop for police, two counts of leaving the scene causing personal injury, and four counts of leaving the scene causing property damage, Conley said. At 8 a.m. Wednesday, Boston police officers saw two men in an altercation near Tremont and Parker streets in Roxbury. After the officers separated the men one got into his car and fled. Following a chase by police, Cosme pulled over and tried to run away, police said. He was caught and arrested.
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