This Hour: Latest Massachusetts news, sports, business and entertainment - CBS 3 Springfield - WSHM
Member Center:
BOSTON MARATHON SHOOTING
Man shot by FBI had spoken with bombing suspect
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A Chechen immigrant shot to death in central Florida early Wednesday after an altercation with an FBI agent shares a similar background to that of 1 of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects who authorities were questioning him about at the time.
Ibragim Todashev's (IH'-bruh-heem TOH'-duh-shehvz) Chechen roots and mixed martial arts background mirror that of Tamerlan Tsarnaev (TAM'-ehr-luhn tsahr-NY'-ehv), the Boston bombing suspected killed in a shootout with police last month. The two also had lived in the Boston area.
Todashev was fatally shot Wednesday by authorities at his Orlando home during a meeting with the agent and two Massachusetts state troopers. A former roommate says the FBI was asking questions about a conversation Todashev had with the older bombing suspect a month before the Boston Marathon attack.
Two officials briefed on the investigation say Todashev had implicated himself as being involved in a 2011 triple-slaying in a Boston suburb that authorities believe may have been connected to Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
GOOD SAMARITAN BILL
Mass. Senate bill would protect first responders
BOSTON (AP) - The Massachusetts Senate has passed a bill to ensure that off-duty first responders who provide emergency care are not subject to lawsuits.
Senate President Therese Murray said the so-called "Good Samaritan Bill" will provide legal protections for off-duty firefighters and emergency medical technicians who race to help in the event of a disaster like the Boston Marathon bombings.
She said existing "Good Samaritan" laws don't currently apply to off-duty first responders whose professional responsibilities include providing emergency medical care.
The bill's lead sponsor, Walpole state Sen. James Timilty, said the bill would also apply during everyday occurrences, like a traffic accident or a child injured on a ball field.
Supporters said those who rush to help shouldn't have to worry about lawsuits.
This bill now heads to the Massachusetts House.
NURSES CONTRACT
UMass Memorial, nurses, reach contract deal
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - UMass Memorial Medical Center and the union representing 1,100 nurses have reached a tentative contract agreement that staves off a scheduled strike.
The deal reached Wednesday with nurses at the hospital's University Campus means nurses will not strike on Thursday, as had been planned.
The hospital and nurses agreed to a 3-year contract that includes limits on the number of patients assigned to one nurse during a shift. Nurses had complained that staffing levels were unsafe.
Margaret McLoughlin, chairwoman of the bargaining unit, called it "a fair agreement that is a victory for all of us."
Dr. Eric Dickson, president and chief executive of UMass Memorial Health Care, said in a statement the deal is in the best interests of the hospital, nurses and patients.
A ratification vote will be scheduled.
SPRINGFIELD VIOLENCE
Springfield police probe 2 homicides in 2 nights
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Springfield police are investigating the city's second homicide in two nights.
Detective Capt. Thomas Trites tells The Republican that a man shot at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday has died.
The victim of that shooting was killed in the same Forest Park neighborhood as another man was fatally shot on Tuesday night. Police say the death of 30-year-old Fabian Pacheco in his apartment appears to be drug related.
The name of the victim in Wednesday's shooting was not immediately made public. Police say there are looking for a black Honda sedan that may be connected.
Police say a third shooting early Thursday landed a man in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds, but his injuries are not considered life threatening.
There was no word on arrests in any of the shootings.
STUDENT KILLED
Ex-Framingham State student gets 3 years
(Information in the following story is from: MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, Mass.), http://www.metrowestdailynews.com )
WOBURN, Mass. (AP) - A former Framingham State University student has been sentenced to three years in jail for driving drunk and causing a crash that killed 1 of her friends.
Brooke Uttley of Haverhill was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to felony vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor causing serious bodily injury.
Prosecutors say the 23-year-old Uttley was drunk and driving 60 miles per hour in a 25 zone when she hit a pole December 2011, killing a passenger, Ashley Donahue of Bridgewater. Uttley and three other students in the vehicle were hurt.
The MetroWest Daily News reports that Donahue's mother read an victim impact statement in court in which she said "every day seems meaningless" since her only child's death.
Uttley's lawyer called the sentence fair.
MISSING MEN
Judge sets trial date in Pittsfield triple slaying
(Information in the following story is from: The Berkshire (Mass.) Eagle, http://www.berkshireeagle.com )
PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A judge has set a tentative trial date for early next year for three men charged in a Pittsfield triple slaying.
A Berkshire Superior Court judge on Wednesday set a Jan. 7 start for the murder trial of Adam Lee Hall, David Chalue (shuh-LOO') and Caius Veiovis (KYE'-us vee-OH'-vis).
They are charged with killing David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell in August 2011. Prosecutors say Glasser was killed so he could not testify against Hall, a member of the Hells Angels, in a court case. Prosecutors say the others were killed to eliminate witnesses.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty.
The Berkshire Eagle reports that lawyers for Chalue and Veiovis asked that charges be dismissed because of a lack of evidence. The judge did not immediately rule.
SOLDIER KILLED-FUNERAL
Mass. soldier killed in Afghanistan returns home
PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - The body of a soldier from Massachusetts killed in Afghanistan last week has been returned to Berkshire County.
The body of U.S. Army Spc. Mitchell Daehling was brought to a Pittsfield funeral home on Wednesday after landing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield.
Calling hours for the 24-year-old Daehling are scheduled for Thursday afternoon at St. Agnes Church in Dalton. A funeral service with full military honors is scheduled for Friday morning at St. Agnes.
Daehling will be buried in Idaho next to his grandfather.
Daehling was among four U.S. soldiers killed by an improvised explosive device May 14.
The Dalton resident was a graduate of Wahconah Regional High School. He leaves behind a wife whom he married less than a year ago, his parents and two siblings.
EX-LAWMAKER-DRUG CHARGES
Ex-Mass. lawmaker facing meth trafficking charges
BOSTON (AP) - A former Massachusetts lawmaker who more recently worked as a tutor at a Boston charter school has been held on $10,000 bail after pleading not guilty to drug charges.
Authorities say 57-year-old Stephen Doran (DOHR'-un) was arrested this week after allegedly receiving a package containing nearly 500 grams of methamphetamine while at work at the Match Charter Public Middle School. Police say a search of his Dorchester home yielded more meth, as well as $10,000 in cash and drug weighing and packaging materials.
Doran's lawyer said in court that his client is battling advanced cancer and asked that he be released on low bail so he can continue receiving treatment.
Doran was Democratic state representative from 1980 until 1994. School officials say he has been fired.
MEMORIAL DAY-FLAGS
Boston Common observance honors state's war dead
BOSTON (AP) - A special service on Boston Common is honoring people who died in service to the nation since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
This morning, their 170 names are being read as flags are placed in their honor at a ceremony attended by Gov. Deval Patrick and other officials and family members.
The event sponsored by the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund is part of a larger volunteer effort planting nearly 33,000 8-by-12-inch flags on the Common to honor Massachusetts' war dead from the Civil War to the present.
More than 300 volunteers began placing the flags on Wednesday and others will watch over the flags through the Memorial Day weekend.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 | 
|
