Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Press Party Segment 2: Now the government is snooping on the media

herald.staff — Thu, 18 May 2023 13:30:00 -0400

The "Press Party" panel debated whether the Justice Department went overboard in secretly obtaining phone records of Associated Press reporters in an attempt to investigate a national security leak.

Boston police, city to review bombings response

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:16:46 -0400

LOWELL, Mass. — Boston's police department and mayor's office will conduct twin reviews of the response to last month's bombing of the Boston Marathon, police commissioner Ed Davis said Saturday.

Davis said the aim of the reviews is to learn from the experience and prepare for the future.

"We are very anxious to get those reviews under way and learn lessons from anything that might pop up as an issue of concern," Davis said. "I expect that this whole year will be a time of review and reflection on what happened."

Ex-Arlington Boys & Girls Club worker arrested on child sex abuse charges

Richard Weir — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:20:00 -0400

A former program director at the Arlington Boys & Girls Club went before a New York judge this morning and waived extradition, setting up his return to Massachusetts to face charges of sexually assaulting five young children while he worked at the youth organization in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to police.

Missing Fairhaven boater found walking on beach

Jordan Graham — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:11:15 -0400

A frantic overnight search for a missing boater in Fairhaven ended when the man was found this morning walking along the beach, police said.

Gary Alves, 57, went for an afternoon sail yesterday, but did not return to work on time, according to police. He was reported missing about 5:30 p.m. His Hobie adventure kayak was found washed ashore and abandoned on West Island just after 6 p.m.

About 5:30 a.m. today, Alves, wearing his wetsuit and trudging along the beach just west of Hoppy’s Landing, waved down a Fairhaven police officer.

Mass. lawmaker: Recoup benefits from terrorists

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:08:51 -0400

BOSTON — A Republican lawmaker is pushing for a law allowing Massachusetts to recoup public benefits given to anyone later convicted of using of a weapon of mass destruction.

Gloucester state Sen. Bruce Tarr is offering the proposal as an amendment to the Senate version of the state budget.

It would allow the attorney general to recover "any and all money" from anyone convicted of the terrorist act "who has previously collected public assistance, financial assistance or received any other direct financial benefit from the state."

Feinberg to speak at Curry College commencement

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:42:01 -0400

MILTON, Mass. — The man overseeing a fund set up to help victims of the Boston Marathon bombings will deliver the commencement address at Curry College.

Kenneth Feinberg is the administrator of The One Fund Boston. He will be the main speaker at Curry's commencement Sunday at the D. Forbes Will Athletic Complex on the school's Milton campus.

Priest suspended after allegedly copying sermons

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:41:04 -0400

SANDWICH, Mass. — A Cape Cod Episcopal priest has been suspended for allegedly plagiarizing more than a dozen sermons verbatim from a book.

The Cape Cod Times reports (http://bit.ly/14ywm5S) that the Rev John McGinn of St. John's Episcopal Church in Sandwich is accused of copying as many as 15 sermons from the book "Dynamic Preaching."

Members of the church learned about the alleged breach in a May 9 letter from Bishop M. Thomas Shaw of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

Police: Roommate dispute leads to attack in NH

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:33:28 -0400

HOLLIS, N.H. — Police say two men and a woman from Massachusetts are charged with attacking a man with a hammer and knife following a roommate dispute in Hollis, N.H.

Police say three people connected to one of the roommates returned to the home, identifying themselves as police officers early Friday before attacking the victim in his RV.

The three are due to be arraigned Monday.

Amesbury woman adjusting to life after amputation

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:47:00 -0400

AMESBURY - More than seven months after losing her leg in a near-fatal accident in Haverhill, Paige Fortin is finally back on her feet.

The 18-year-old Amesbury resident has endured a hard road riddled with surgeries and setbacks, but within the past several weeks her injuries have healed to the point where she could be fitted with a prosthetic, and now she's able to walk for the first time since the accident.

Tanker rolls, spills some of its fuel

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:30:00 -0400

CHELMSFORD, Mass. — Massachusetts State Police say a fuel tanker has rolled over on Route 3 near the Lowell Connector shortly after 11 p.m., spilling some of its fuel on the highway.

State police say the tanker is leaking and that a regional Hazmat team is responding. As a precaution, authorities say that all roads within 1,000 feet of the crash site have been closed, and there are a number of other closures.

State trooper convicted in extortion, threat case

Gary J. Remal — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

A disgraced state trooper who tried to muscle his way into a bookie’s business was convicted yesterday of extortion and threats against his unwilling 300-pound would-be gambling partner, and is facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, federal prosecutors said.

The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a second extortion charge against state Trooper John M. Analetto, who has been suspended without pay, officials said.

Analetto’s boss welcomed the guilty verdict and vowed to fire him.

Bulger lawyers buck juror criminal checks

Gary J. Remal — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Jurors deciding the fate of accused serial killer James “Whitey” Bulger should not have to undergo criminal background checks since federal law doesn’t call for them and jurors might consider it harassment, his lawyers argued in a defense motion filed yesterday.

“Potential jurors … may experience this intrusion as a harassing investigation,” Bulger’s lawyers wrote.

Federal law bars most convicts from jury duty.

Bay Staters hope to hit Powerball  jackpot

Jordan Graham  , Colneth Smiley Jr. — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Powerball mania has pushed tonight’s jackpot to a job-quitting, island-buying $600 million — the third largest in Lottery history — leaving would-be millionaires racing to corner stores.

“It’s practically nonstop,” said Brandon Laporte, who works at the Howe Street Superette in Methuen. “We have lines going all around the store.”

Cop says accused murderer apologized

O’ryan Johnson — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

When cops finally cuffed a white supremacist, who prosecutors say went on a rape and murder rampage in a Brockton neighborhood, he offered a half-hearted apology, a police officer testified yesterday.

Brockton police officer Michael Bunker said as he drove Keith Luke into the department’s garage, the accused killer told him, “ ‘I’m sorry I shot at the police. I’m not sorry I shot those people at the house.’ ”

Outraged readers call for probe

Todd A. Prussman — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Bring on the investigations.

That was the cry of fed-up Herald readers unwilling to accept the resignation of a fall guy at the IRS as a widening political scandal envelops the Obama administration.

“I believe the president has broken faith with the American people who are able to look at the truth and the facts,” said a reader commenting as Enough during yesterday’s Friday Throwdown news chat. “An independent investigation needs to be done, regardless of what (President Obama) says.”

Judge: Prison will photograph Dzhokhar

Gary J. Remal  , Jordan Graham — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

A federal judge yesterday rejected a request by lawyers for accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to allow them to take periodic photos of the 19-year-old bombing suspect to show changes in his physical and mental condition and help determine if his statements to interrogators come  under duress.

Instead, federal Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler said in a court filing that federal prison officials can take the photographs of the alleged terrorist, which will be given to both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

‘Dookhan defendant’ charged with murder

Richard Weir — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

A so-called Dookhan defendant sprung from jail in the wake...

FBI target condemns bombings

John Zaremba — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

MANCHESTER, N.H. — A Chechen rebel-turned-refugee — whose meetings with marathon bombing mastermind Tamerlan Tsarnaev drew FBI agents to search his home this week — wrapped himself in the American flag yesterday, saying he loves his adopted country and the deadly attacks left him with “shame and fear.”

“I strongly condemn the horrible act at the Boston marathon that claimed the lives of innocent and wounded many more,” Musa Khadzhimuratov wrote in a statement he says he made “with a clear conscience and open heart.”

DA: Infant dies following alleged beating

Ariel Rodriguez — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:40:00 -0400

A 9-week old infant died today at Tufts Floating Hospital for Children in Boston after allegedly being assaulted by his father on Saturday, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

Christopher Berry, 22, of Lowell was arraigned in Lowell District Court and held on $500,000 cash bail earlier this week.

Berry is charged with assault and battery on a child and has been ordered to stay away from the victim’s family, according to the DA.

Emergency officials responded to Mammoth Road in Lowell on Saturday May 11 and found the infant unresponsive.

Dorchester accident sends child to hospital

Gary J. Remal — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:15:00 -0400

A collision between a car and a pedestrian in Dorchester about 6 p.m. today sent a child to a hospital with possibly serious injuries, authorities said.

Cops said they received a call for help at 6:01 p.m after the accident on Dorchester Avenue.

Boston EMS spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan said the victim was a child.

“All I know, child transported to BMC by paramedics,” Mehigan said in an email.

The injured pedestrian was taken by ambulance to Boston Medical Center, police said.