This Hour: Latest Massachusetts news, sports, business and entertainment - ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

This Hour: Latest Massachusetts news, sports, business and entertainment

Posted: Updated:

BOSTON MARATHON EXPLOSIONS

Boston bombing suspect's hearing rescheduled

BOSTON (AP) - A federal judge has rescheduled a probable cause hearing for surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv).

U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler on Thursday scheduled the hearing for July 10.

Bowler earlier this week granted a joint request from prosecutors and defense attorneys to postpone the hearing originally scheduled for May 30 until July 2. The lawyers say they need more time to obtain and review evidence.

The bombings near the finish line of the marathon killed three people and injured more than 260. Tsarnaev is charged with carrying out the April 15 attack with his brother, Tamerlan, who died four days later following a shootout with police.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is recovering from gunshot wounds at a federal prison hospital in central Massachusetts.

BOSTON MARATHON-MIT OFFICER

Mass. bill would honor dream of slain MIT officer

BOSTON (AP) - A bill that would posthumously honor the dream of slain MIT officer Sean Collier to be appointed to the Somerville Police Department is moving quickly through the legislature.

The Massachusetts Senate unanimously approved the bill Thursday a day after the House also backed the bill.

The legislation would allow Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone to make the appointment.

Collier was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology officer authorities say was killed by the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

The 27-year-old Collier was shot multiple times April 18 as he sat in his vehicle at the university's campus near Kendall Square in Cambridge.

Collier had worked for the MIT police for a little over a year and had been offered a job with the Somerville Police Department.

Curtatone said Collier was excited about the opportunity to join the Somerville police force.

FACEBOOK THREAT

Methuen teen asks to be freed from jail

(Information in the following story is from: Eagle Tribune (North Andover, Mass.), http://www.eagletribune.com )

SALEM, Mass. (AP) - A Methuen High School student charged with making online threats has asked a judge to grant him bail so he can go home.

A lawyer for 18-year-old Cameron D'Ambrosio told a judge on Thursday that his client is not a danger to society and should be freed under certain conditions, including GPS monitoring.

The judge did not immediately rule.

D'Ambrosio has been held without bail for three weeks. Authorities say he made a profanity-laced post on his Facebook page on May 1 in which he said he would outdo the carnage at the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people.

The Eagle-Tribune reports that the defense lawyer pointed out that a search of D'Ambrosio's home found no weapons or specific plans to commit violence.

BOSTON MARATHON-INJURED GIRL

Girl injured in Marathon bombing leaves hospital

BOSTON (AP) - The younger sister of the 8-year-old boy killed in the Boston Marathon bombings has been released from the hospital.

Her family said Thursday that 7-year-old Jane Richard, whose left leg was amputated below the knee, is in good spirits and looking forward to the next phase of recovery at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Jane had 12 surgeries during the 39 days she was in the intensive care unit at Boston Children's Hospital.

Her 8-year-old brother, Martin, was 1 of 3 people killed in the April 15 explosions at the marathon finish line. The entire family was within feet of the second blast.

The family said a Mass will be held in Martin's memory on June 9, his birthday, at St. Ann Church in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.

HOSPITAL COLLABORATION

Maine hospital, Boston hospital collaborate

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) - A Maine hospital group and 1 of Boston's most prestigious hospitals have announced a collaboration aimed at streamlining services for local cancer patients who need care in Boston.

Officials at Lewiston-based Central Maine Healthcare said Thursday that the partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital will provide "fast, seamless care."

The hospitals' doctors are talking more, sharing more information and meeting face to face. For patients, the goal is smoother care if they leave central Maine for Boston's expertise and facilities to get treatment, such as bone-marrow transplants, which are not offered anywhere in Maine.

The Sun Journal reports the relationship has been building for more than a year. It includes Central Maine Medical Center, Bridgton Hospital, Rumford Hospital and Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick.

CAPE WIND

Business groups take on Cape Wind in ads

BOSTON (AP) - Two business groups are saying Massachusetts can't afford the Cape Wind offshore wind project.

In full-page newspaper ads Thursday, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership say the state already has expensive energy, and the project's above-market power costs will make it tougher to attract business.

The partnership has a well-known leadership, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Fidelity Financial Services president Abigail Johnson.

Cape Wind has Gov. Deval Patrick's backing, and regulators say its benefits as a large source of clean energy off a busy coast outweigh its costs.

Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers said the ads advance losing arguments. He said Massachusetts can't remain competitive by importing all its energy, and Cape Wind offers a better way forward.

The Department of Energy is currently considering a loan guarantee for the project.

BRUTALITY LAWSUIT

Worcester officer cleared in brutality lawsuit

(Information in the following story is from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), http://www.telegram.com )

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - A jury has found in favor of a Worcester police officer in a brutality lawsuit brought by a man who alleged the officer severely beat him with his service baton during a fight outside a nightclub.

The Worcester Superior Court jury found Thursday that Officer Jarrett Watkins did not assault Randy Martineau while trying to break up the fracas in April 2005.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that Martineau alleged Watkins struck him seven times with the baton, breaking bones in his head and neck area and inflicting other injuries. Martineau said he was an innocent bystander.

Watkins, who was off-duty but working a paid detail in uniform at the club, said he used the baton twice after verbal commands and lesser physical measures did not work in breaking up the fight.

SOLDIER KILLED-FUNERAL

Mass. soldier killed in Afghanistan remembered

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Family and friends are paying final respects to a soldier from Massachusetts killed in Afghanistan.

A funeral Mass with full military honors for U.S. Army Spc. Mitchell Daehling is scheduled for Friday at St. Agnes Church in Dalton. He will receive the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously.

Daehling was killed by an improvised explosive device May 14.

The Dalton resident grew up in Wyoming and Idaho before moving to Massachusetts. He was a graduate of Wahconah Regional High School.

Per his wishes, he will be buried next to his grandfather in Idaho. Kenneth Sander served in the Army during the Korean War.

Daehling leaves behind a wife whom he married less than a year ago, his parents and two siblings.

FUGITIVE SEARCH

US Marshals search for man in NH, Mass. assaults

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The U.S. Marshals are looking for a man wanted on arrest warrants concerning assaults in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The marshals said Friday 28-year-old Shaun Springer of Portsmouth is wanted on suspicion of second-degree assault by strangulation in Portsmouth and assault with intent to murder/discharge a firearm in Lynn, Mass. He is considered armed and dangerous.

The Portsmouth warrant was issued April 7 and the Massachusetts warrant was issued May 1.

FATAL ATV CRASH

Mass. man dies in ATV crash in Vt.

CONCORD, Vt. (AP) - Vermont State Police say a Massachusetts man has died in an ATV crash in the town of Concord.

Police said 42-year-old Frank Baker Jr. of Acushnet, Mass., lost control of the ATV about 10 p.m. Thursday. The ATV went off the trail and Baker was thrown from the vehicle.

Police said Baker was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. He was given CPR at the scene but was not able to be resuscitated.

Police are investigating the crash. They say alcohol appears to have been a factor.

MASSACHUSETTS SENATE-MARKEY

Markey, Menino to make campaign announcement

BOSTON (AP) - U.S. Rep. Ed Markey's campaign says Markey and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino are making a major announcement in the special U.S. Senate election.

Markey and Menino are to be joined Friday morning by a local union official, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers business manager Mike Monahan.

Markey, of Malden, defeated Boston U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in the Democratic Primary in the race. Menino, a Democrat, has not endorsed anyone.

Markey is facing Republican businessman Gabriel Gomez in the June 25 election to fill the seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

MASSACHUSETTS CONGRESS

Middlesex Sheriff eyeing Markey's US House seat

BOSTON (AP) - Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian has opened a congressional campaign committee account as he eyes a run for the U.S. House if Congressman Edward Markey wins the state's special U.S. Senate election.

A victory by Markey over his Republican challenger Gabriel Gomez on June 25 would spark another special election for Markey's House seat.

Koutoujian, a Democrat, began his career as a prosecutor before being elected to the Massachusetts House representing Waltham, Watertown and Newton. He was appointed sheriff in January 2011 by Gov. Deval Patrick.

During his tenure on Beacon Hill, Koutoujian served as chairman of the committees on Healthcare, Public Health and Financial Services.

Others eyeing Markey's seat including Ashland state Sen. Karen Spilka and Reps. Katherine Clark of Melrose, Carl Sciortino of Medford and William Brownsberger of Belmont.

All four are Democrats.

CELLUCCI-ALS REGISTRY

Senate votes to establish Cellucci ALS Registry

BOSTON (AP) - The Massachusetts Senate has voted to establish a Department of Public Health ALS registry named after former Gov. Paul Cellucci.

The amendment to the Senate's version of the state budget would create the Argeo Paul Cellucci Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

More than 5,600 people are diagnosed with ALS every year. The average life expectancy of a person with ALS is two to five years from the time of diagnosis.

Cellucci was diagnosed with ALS in 2011.

Cellucci served as a state lawmaker before being elected lieutenant governor in 1991 on a ticket with fellow Republican William Weld.

Cellucci was elected governor in 1999 and served until 2001 when he was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Canada.

MASSACHUSETTS SENATE-COWAN

Sen. Cowan to address BC Law School commencement

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts U.S. Sen. William "Mo" Cowan will be delivering the commencement address at Boston College Law School.

Cowan will be addressing the graduating class Friday morning at the school's Chestnut Hill campus. He was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to fill John Kerry's former U.S. Senate seat on an interim basis,

Cowan is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and began his legal career as a litigation associate with the Boston firm Peabody and Arnold. He went on to practice civil litigation as an associate and partner in the Boston office of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo.

In 2009, Cowan became Patrick's chief legal counsel, advising the Democratic governor on legal and policy issues including judicial selections and legislation.

Cowan later became Patrick's chief of staff.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Powered by WorldNow

10 Orms Street Providence, R.I. 02904
401-453-8000

All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WLNE.
All Rights Reserved.

For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.