Soldier killed in Iraq is laid to rest

A Nashua soldier killed in Iraq was laid to rest yesterday at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery. Sergeant Angelo Lozada Jr., 36, was one of three soldiers killed April 16 in Ramadi, Iraq, by a roadside bomb. A funeral was held at St. Louis de Gonzague Church in Nashua followed by a 45-mile procession to the cemetery. More than 100 family members and friends attended. Gus Rodriguez, one of Lozada's five brothers, spoke at the church, saying his brother took a road of unselfishness, sacrifice, and service. ''He gave his life for us, and he is alive in our memories," said Rodriguez, a pastor in New York City. Lozada grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., but his brother said he considered New Hampshire his home. (AP)

Lynn

Body found in river ID'd as missing man

The chief medical examiner's office in Boston has identified the body found in the Pines River in Lynn as a missing 20-year-old who apparently drowned. The Essex district attorney's office said the death of Victor Oparah did not involve foul play. Oparah, of Lynn, was reported missing on March 8. His body was discovered Saturday evening near the General Edwards Bridge and recovered by State Police divers.

CAMBRIDGE

Suspect in bus stop slashing due in court

A Dorchester man charged with slashing the face of a Chelsea woman at a Woburn bus stop last month will be arraigned today in Middlesex Superior Court, according to the Middlesex district attorney's office. A grand jury returned indictments yesterday against Victor M. Figueroa, 57. He faces three charges in the attack on Sheila Fatima Costa, 36, as she exited a bus at Main and Green streets March 17. Costa was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital and released. At Figueroa's initial arraignment the day of the attack, he pleaded not guilty. At a bail hearing on March 23, Judge Paul McGill ordered him held on $50,000 bail.

Drug firm fire causes $100,000 damage

A fire on the roof of a biopharmaceutical plant on Alewife Brook Parkway yesterday shot flames 30 to 40 feet into the sky and caused about $100,000 in damage, Fire Chief Gerald Reardon said. No injuries were reported. Fire crews have not yet determined a cause of the blaze at Transkaryotic Therapies Inc., but Reardon said investigators suspect it was an electrical problem or complication with the air ducts. Crews responded at about 1:30 p.m. and had the fire under control in about an hour, he said. Reardon said the company may have suffered more significant losses, because some of its products may have been destroyed. The company develops drugs for the treatment of rare diseases.

BOSTON

2d trial opens in slaying on T platform

For the second time in six months, two young Boston men went on trial yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, charged with murder in the 2001 slaying of 16-year-old Geoffrey Douglas on an MBTA platform. Assistant District Attorney Dennis Collins and two defense lawyers delivered opening statements in the trial of Aderito A. Barbosa, 21, and John F. Monteiro, 23, who are accused of fatally shooting Douglas, a sophomore at the Media and Technology Charter High School, at the Fields Corner station on Nov. 7, 2001, after he refused to give up his gold chain. The first trial, in October, ended in a mistrial after a jury deliberated almost four days without reaching a verdict on the murder charge. The jury did, however, convict both men of illegal possession of a gun. Rosemary Scapicchio, who is defending Monteiro, said she expects testimony to continue through Monday.

Revisions urged in police weapons policy

John Reinstein, legal director of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, appeared yesterday before a commission investigating the death last fall of Emerson College junior Victoria Snelgrove and said police must revise their policies on the use of so-called less-lethal weapons. In his appearance before the Stern Commission, Reinstein said, he emphasized that it is dangerous for police departments to rely only on information provided by the manufacturers of less-lethal weapons when making purchasing decisions and establishing training requirements. Snelgrove died after being struck in the eye by a projectile fired from such a weapon as Boston police tried to control mobs celebrating the Red Sox' American League Championship victory last October. Reinstein said he also told commission members that police departments must establish policies on the use of less-lethal force, including outlining medical treatment for victims.