By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Donations are being collected online and via mail to help Transit Police Officer Richard “Dic” Donohue Jr., who was shot and critically injured during a violent exchange of gunfire with the two men suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon.

He was one of numerous officers who chased two men – who allegedly killed an MIT police officer Thursday night and orchestrated the deadly marathon bombing Monday – to the corner of Dexter and Laurel streets in Watertown where a gun battle broke out early Friday morning.

During the mayhem, Donohue was shot. A bullet ruptured an artery and vein in his right thigh causing him to lose nearly all of his blood and his heart stopped beating, doctors have said.

Donohue remains in critical but stable condition at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said Tuesday.

Transit Police patrol Officer Bob Marino, who is president of the MBTA Police Association, said the donation website for Donohue launched on Monday afternoon.

As of noon on Tuesday, about $15,000 had been raised, according to Marino.

"We just got the site up there and hadn't really done any advertising until this morning," he said by phone Tuesday afternoon. "So I feel really good about that start."

Marino said that the MBTA is helping to spread awareness about the fund, including by prominently displaying a link to the donation website and a photo of Donohue on the homepage of the T's popular MBTA.com website. The association is also reaching out to police departments nationwide and others to seek donations.

He said the money will go to help pay for Donohue's medical expenses and his family's day-to-day bills.

"It’s so early in the game and we don’t know how long it’s going to take and how the recovery process will go," Marino said. "He's showing positive signs so far -- knock on wood -- but it could take a significant amount of time before he returns to work."

He said he and Donohue work different shifts, but the two have worked together occasionally. Marino described Donohue as a "great, intelligent guy" who is a "hard worker," a good friend and colleague who is missed around the department.

The donation website said Donohue joined the Transit Police department three years ago. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, he served as US Navy officer before joining the Transit Police.

“The MBTA Police Association Benevolent Fund, Inc. extends its deepest sympathy the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombings and their families,” the site said. “Our thoughts and prayers are also with the family of our brother, Officer Sean Collier of the MIT Police,” a 26-year-old who died after the two bombing suspects allegedly shot him Thursday night.

Collier was a friend of Donohue. They attended the Transit Police Academy together.

Donations to Donohue and his family can be made at www.officerricharddonohue.com, or by mailing checks payable to the “MBTA Police Association Benevolent Fund, Inc.” and mailed to: MBTA Police Department, c/o Officer Donohue Fund, 240 South Hampton Street, Boston, MA, 02118.

To read more about Donohue, click here and here.

For the latest and complete coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings, visit Boston.com.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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This press release was submitted by the YMCA of Greater Boston

The YMCA of Greater Boston is helping the community kick start a healthy lifestyle. All branches offer free fitness courses, nutritional seminars, shoe fittings and more April 15 through the end of May.

Workshops are open to both members and the community. Anyone who signs up for membership on free workshop days pays no joiner fee for membership and receives $10 Y Bucks towards Y programs. Members who refer a friend also get Y Bucks. For specific workshop details and to register, visit www.ymcaboston.org/StartHere.

The free workshops are a part of the YMCA of Greater Boston’s Healthy Lifestyles Start Here campaign, which aims to promote and embrace the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. All workshops and fitness courses are fun and informative, and include a group workout session.

On May 18, Season 10 Biggest Loser winner, Patrick House joins the Burbank YMCA in Reading from 9:30- 10:30am as part of the Healthy Lifestyles Start Here campaign. Patrick shares his weight loss journey through the Biggest Loser and how he maintains a healthy lifestyle. He will also participate in the free All Team Bootcamp as part of the Team Training program at the Burbank Y.

To see a complete list of all workshops and locations as well as to register online, please visit www.ymcaboston.org/StartHere.

This press release was provided by the YMCA of Greater Boston.

YMCA of Greater Boston kicks off its second round of spring programs on Sunday, April 28th running through Saturday, June 22nd.

The Y offers toddlers, youth, teens, adults, and older adults healthy, fun, and educational programs such as swim lessons, dance and enrichment, sports, specialty fitness and more.

An extensive swim lesson program runs at 12 locations with a goal of helping all ages become confident and responsible swimmers. Members and non-members can choose from a variety of swim options including group, private & semi-private, parent/child and competitive classes. Caring, reliable and qualified instructors lead and monitor all groups.

“The Y swim lessons have been great for my children’s confidence, their self-esteem and their physical health. We also have a lot of fun swimming together as a family and plan to continue using the pool every week” says swim parent, Elizabeth. Classes are held during the day, evening and weekend to accommodate and fit busy schedules.

Registration is quick and easy and dates are as follows:

Full Members Registration: April 5
Preschool and Youth Member Registration: April 12
Non-Members Registration: April 16

Sign up in person at the Y Welcome Center, or visit the website for more details, program dates and registration times online at www.ymcaboston.org/programs.

By Jarret Bencks, Town Correspondent

Buses will be used in lieu of commuter rail trains on the Lowell line this weekend due to repair work on rail tracks in Somerville, according to the MBTA.

Inbound passengers from Winchester Center, Wedgemere and West Medford stations will be bussed directly to North Station on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24. Passengers from Woburn and points north will take a bus from Anderson/Woburn to North Station, or they may take the train as far as West Medford, if that is their final destination.

Outbound, buses from North Station will take passengers to Winchester Center, Wedgemere West Medford, and Anderson/Woburn. Riders heading further north will take the train from Woburn.

Buses will depart according to the regular weekend train schedule. Arrival times may vary.

Jarret Bencks can be reached at bencks.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on twitter @JarretBencks.

The following was submitted by the YMCA of Greater Boston:

The YMCA of Greater Boston is partnering with Boston Moves for Health as a community resource in Mayor Menino’s Million Pound Challenge to keep the city moving.

The Y is offering free events and classes open to the community at their 13 locations throughout the month of March to help Boston residents realize why getting and staying active is important.

No registration is required, and the full calendar of free classes can be found online at ymcaboston.org/bostonmoves.

“Healthy living is a key component of the Y’s mission and we are thrilled to partner with the Mayor and open our Y’s doors and help even more people realize the benefits of a healthy lifestyle,” said Kevin Washington, President and CEO of the YMCA.

Classes are for all fitness levels and for everyone in the community ages 16 and up and are offered at all of the Greater Boston Y’s: downtown Boston, Brighton, Charlestown, East Boston, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Needham, Reading, Roxbury, Waltham, West Roxbury and Woburn.

For more information or to download the full calendar of free classes, visit ymcaboston.org/bostonmoves.

By Jaclyn Reiss, Town Correspondent

A local nonprofit organization will celebrate the grand opening of a new pre-school daycare center in Waltham this week.

The Waltham Creative Start Children's Center, located at 169 Elm St., was launched in early January by Communities United Inc., which has pre-school programs already in Watertown, Newton, Arlington, and Woburn.

The grand opening for the building is Thursday, Feb. 28 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The event will feature a ribbon cutting, a meet-and-greet with staff, a tour of the building, and light refreshments.

The location will also host an open house on Thursday, March 7 between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., and between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

The Waltham location currently offers both half- and full-day care for children aged "2.9 years" and up, and offers four classrooms - which accommodate about 20 children each. Company employees said they hope to open a fifth classroom soon.

Toddler care is available at the Watertown, Newton and Woburn sites.

Children are accepted on a rolling admission basis, but sometimes must put applicants on a waitlist, the employee said.

For more information on the center, visit the pre-school's website.

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Follow us on Twitter: @yourtownwaltham, @jaclynreiss

Jaclyn Reiss can be reached at jaclyn.reiss@globe.com

By Lisa Kocian, Globe Staff

WOBURN - Jurors in the murder trial of Nathaniel Fujita, the man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, on Friday morning visited three locations in the Wayland area that played key roles in the death of Lauren Astley.

The jurors visited the Fujita home, where prosecutors say the defendant lured Astley on July 3, 2011 and allegedly attacked her. The jurors stayed for about a half hour.

They also went to the Wayland Town Beach, where her car was found. And they were taken to a swampy area near Water Row, where her body was found.

They completed their tour by mid-day.

In her opening statement on Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Lisa McGovern said their relationship began to fall apart when Astley broke up with Fujita on Astley’s birthday in April. They got back together briefly, but then broke up.

She said the day before the death, Astley had been texting and calling Fujita for a couple of weeks, because she was worried about him. He wasn’t answering. On June 27, he responded and they tried to set up a meeting.

Finally, on July 3, she got a text from him at work at 12:36 that he might stop by. He didn’t, but he later told her they would get together that evening.

She called him at 6:51 p.m. and he gave her unusual instructions: don’t park at the regular spot when she came to his house. Park on a nearby street, next to a garage.

At 7:05, she texted him: “here.’’

Sometime between 7:05 and 7:20 p.m., he strangled her with a bungee cord. He then slashed her throat with a knife, causing a “gaping jagged-edged wound’’ and other injuries. She was also battered during the struggle.

Jurors have also heard from a woman who discovered the body of Astley.

The woman testified that she went out on July 4, 2011, on a bike ride to look for blue heron on Water Row in Wayland.

At first, she couldn’t understand what she was looking at: a person's knees rising out of the water.

“I thought no, this can’t be, that just happens on TV. You don’t see this in real life,” she said from the witness stand.

“I almost talked myself out of it. I said, I’m gonna leave, this isn’t real,” she said, her voice wavering. “And then I thought somewhere, if this is real, there’s somebody who is waiting for someone to call or someone to walk through that door, and their loved one’s not there. I had to make sure. So I got off my bike. I stepped forward a few feet and still couldn’t tell. And then I crouched down. I looked back again, and that’s when I saw a clenched fist sticking out of the water.”

Fujita, now 20, is facing charges of first-degree murder, two charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and one count of assault and battery. If he is convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

Defense attorneys appear to be building an insanity defense. If Fujita is found not guilty because of a lack of criminal responsibility, Fujita would be committed indefinitely, said Sullivan. He would undergo periodic evaluations about his safety and condition.

The trial is expected to take about three weeks. The jury will likely begin deliberating in early March, according to the judge.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

The election hasn’t even been scheduled, and may never happen.

But in an indication of the suddenly shifting terrain of Massachusetts politics, Democratic candidates are lining up to run for Edward J. Markey’s House seat, should the veteran Malden represenative win the special election for US Senate.

The early rush could be for naught: If Markey loses his Senate race, he will return to the House seat he has held for more than 36 years, and no election will be held.

But the dash is on among those who have their eyes on a rare shot at a Congressional seat in Massachusetts.

State Representative Carl Sciortino of Somerville said last week -- in the midst of the blizzard -- that he has launched a campaign for Markey’s seat.

First elected to the state House in 2004, Sciortino has been a leading supporter of gay rights, and coauthored a transgender rights bill that was signed into law last year.

State Senator Katherine Clark of Melrose is planning to launch her own campaign for Markey’s seat on Friday, according to people who have spoken to her. First elected to the Legislature in 2008, Clark is a former school committee member and prosecutor.

State Senator William Brownsberger of Belmont is campaigning for the seat as well. A former prosecutor and defense attorney, he said he launched his federal campaign committee last week.

“I love being in the Senate, and I’m enjoying my job, but this is an opportunity that only comes around once in my political lifetime,” Brownsberger said. “I’m 100 percent in the race, on the assumption Ed Markey wins.”

Brownsberger said an election could be scheduled this fall, if Markey wins.

Other Democrats who have been mentioned as possible candidates include State Senator Karen Spilka of Ashland, Peter Koutoujian, the Middlesex sheriff, and state Representative David Linsky of Natick.

A long list of Democrats are also said to be looking at US Representative Stephen F. Lynch’s seat, though none have officially declared. Lynch, of South Boston, is challenging Markey for the Democratic Senate nomination. The primary is April 30.

The potential candidates for his seat include state Representative Martin Walsh of Dorchester, City Councilor Rob Consalvo of Hyde Park, former City Councilor Michael Flaherty of South Boston, State Senator John Keenan of Quincy, Mayors Thomas Koch of Quincy, Joseph Sullivan of Braintree, and Susan Kay of Weymouth, as well as former mayor Jack Yunits of Brockton.

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mlevenson.

By Evan Allen, Town Correspondent

WOBURN -- The prosecutor in the trial of Nathaniel Fujita told jurors this morning that the Wayland man killed his one-time girlfriend because he was humiliated when she broke up with him and he murdered her in revenge.

Fujita is accused of strangling and slashing to death Lauren Astley on July 3, 2011. Both were 18 years old at the time, and were college-bound Wayland High School graduates; Fujita was an accomplished athlete and Astley a talented singer.

In opening arguments to the jury, as families and friends of both the victim and the accused looked on, Assistant District Attorney Lisa McGovern said their relationship began to fall apart when she broke up with him on Astley’s birthday in April.

On April 25, he wrote her an email, asking her to come back. “Lauren, I know you’re scared to turn back and with good reason, but please give it another shot or we’ll both regret it,’’ the email said, according to the prosecutor.

She did get back with him but quickly realized that it was a mistake. They broke up again in May.

“Evidence will show you that the man you just heard sworn before you, Nathaniel Fujita, a man Lauren Astley had known and cared for, a man she had gone out with in high school for three years, coldly, cruelly killed her, because she wounded his ego,’’ McGovern told the jury.

“This defendant attacked Lauren to get her back to hurt her, and to nullify her in a purposeful and deliberate way, calculated not only to inflict pain but to end her life and also to cover up what he was doing,’’ McGovern added.

She said the day before the death, Astley had been texting and calling Fujita for a couple of weeks, because she was worried about him. He wasn’t answering. On June 27, he responded and they tried to set up a meeting.

Finally, on July 3, she got a text from him at work at 12:36 that he might stop by. He didn’t, but he later told her they would get together that evening.

She called him at 6:51 p.m. and he gave her unusual instructions: don’t park at the regular spot when she came to his house. Park on a nearby street, next to a garage.

At 7:05, she texted him: “here.’’

Sometime between 7:05 and 7:20 p.m., he strangled her with a bungee cord. She wasn’t dead, however. He then slashed her throat with a knife, causing a “gaping jagged-edged wound’’ and other injuries. She was also battered during the struggle.

She died a slow death. “Her death came in minutes, not in seconds,’’ McGovern said.

The defense attorney, William Sullivan, is planning an insanity defense.

In his opening argument today, Sullivan argued that when Fujita committed the murder, he was having a brief psychotic disorder and was not responsible for the crime.

“In most murder cases, the question is ‘who, who did it, who done it,’ ‘’ Sullivan said. “That’s not this case. This case, there is going to be two questions – why and how.’’

“Why did this horrific thing happen?’’ Sullivan said.

Continuing his argument, Sullivan said, Fujita was happy, outgoing, on his way to a good college and dating one of the most popular girls at Wayland High. But after the break-up, he plunged into a major depression and became extremely withdrawn.

When Astley came over that night, Sullivan said, Fujita was briefly psychotic. “What you will hear is that the defendant was not able to control himself or really understand what it was that he was doing,’’ Sullivan said.

During this morning’s opening argument, Astley’s mother and father listened quietly to the details of their daughter’s death. Fujita, at the defendant’s table, stared straight ahead, erect, and watched the proceedings carefully. His mother and father were also in the courtroom.

Later in the day, jurors heard testimony from a state trooper and from a woman who discovered the body of Astley.

The woman, Priscilla Antion, went out on July 4, 2011, on a bike ride to look for blue heron on Water Row in Wayland. It was sunny and warm; she approached a clearing in the dense foliage at the side of the road slowly, trying not to disturb the birds.

At first, she couldn’t understand what she was looking at: a person's knees rising out of the water.

“I thought no, this can’t be, that just happens on TV. You don’t see this in real life,” she said from the witness stand on the opening day of Nathaniel Fujita’s murder trial in Middlesex Superior Court in Sudbury.

“I almost talked myself out of it. I said, I’m gonna leave, this isn’t real,” she said, her voice wavering. “And then I thought somewhere, if this is real, there’s somebody who is waiting for someone to call or someone to walk through that door, and their loved one’s not there. I had to make sure. So I got off my bike. I stepped forward a few feet and still couldn’t tell. And then I crouched down. I looked back again, and that’s when I saw a clenched fist sticking out of the water.”

Fujita, now 20, is facing charges of first-degree murder, two charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and one count of assault and battery. If he is convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

If Fujita is found not guilty because of a lack of criminal responsibility, Fujita would be committed indefinitely, said Sullivan. He would undergo periodic evaluations about his safety and condition.

The trial is expected to take about three weeks. The jury will likely begin deliberating in early March, according to the judge.