Falling tree kills trick-or-treater

A Boston EMS ambulance collided with a taxicab on Agganis Way at Boston University last night around 10:40 p.m., injuring one person who had to be taken to a hospital, police and fire officials said. Few details about the crash were released. The Boston Fire Department was not notified of the accident, nor was it dispatched to the scene, in violation of protocol, a fire official said. Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the fire department, said the department responds to most car accidents and all accidents involving injuries. MacDonald said there are serious reasons why fire personnel are needed at motor vehicle crashes, including possible chemical leaks and the risk of fire. The Boston Police Department confirmed the accident but would not comment on protocol issues last night. A spokeswoman for Boston EMS did not return calls.

Minority candidates in at least four Massachusetts communities are hoping to make history. Municipal elections Tuesday in Boston, Lawrence, Springfield, and Newton could produce a number of “firsts’’; changes in local government and shifting demographics have given black and Latino candidates a chance to win local seats. In Lawrence, for example, state Representative William Lantigua could become the first Latino elected mayor in Massachusetts history. He is in a tight race against a white city councilor, David Abdoo, in a city where 70 percent of residents are Latino. Springfield is poised to elect several minority candidates to City Council under a voter-approved system that gives greater voice to minority neighborhoods. (AP)

A Marine helicopter pilot from Massachusetts who died in Afghanistan is being honored at Saint Anselm College. Captain Kyle Van De Giesen of North Attleborough is a former student and a onetime starting quarterback on the college’s football team. He was remembered with a prayer and a moment of silence before yesterday’s home game against the University of New Haven. The field was painted with a red, white, and blue ribbon, as well as Van De Giesen’s uniform number, 12, and the Marine motto “Semper Fi.’’ The initials KV were added to the team’s helmets. Van De Giesen, 29, was one of 14 Americans killed Monday in a pair of helicopter crashes. He leaves a pregnant wife and a daughter. (AP)

Neighbors in the Bartlett Avenue section of Arlington yesterday complained that a man was going door to door saying he was an FBI agent, police said. Police said that when they located 55-year-old Thomas Pastor of Cambridge, they found a red-and-blue police light in his car, a gun holster in the driver’s side door, a “hammer-like’’ tool with metal spikes attached, and two flashlights, one of which was apparently disguised to look like a radar/laser speed gun. But Pastor is not a law enforcement agent, said Arlington Police Lieutenant Robert Bongiorno. No firearm was found. Pastor was not arrested, but he will be summoned to court on charges of impersonating a police officer.

State officials are slated to announce $1.3 million in grants aimed at helping immigrants learn English. The state secretaries of labor and education are scheduled Wednesday to give details on the grants for new adult English classes. The grants partly restore the state’s 10 percent cut in June in Adult Basic Education programs, and are being awarded after a coalition of business, labor, and civic leaders in New Bedford launched a campaign in August to improve immigrants’ English proficiency by supporting changes and investment in programs. Immigrant advocates say some 17,000 people are on waiting lists for state-funded English classes.(AP)