Four hurt in fire on submarine
A fire on a nuclear-powered submarine at a Maine shipyard has injured four people. Fire crews responded Wednesday to the USS Miami, SSN 755, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on an island in Kittery, a town near Portsmouth, N.H. The shipyard said the four injured people were treated and released. Shipyard public affairs specialist Gary Hildreth said the fire started in the forward compartment of the sub. The reactor was not operating and was unaffected. (AP)
City ranks third in US on park access
A San Francisco-based nonprofit has ranked Boston as one of the top US cities for access to parks, Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s office said Wednesday. The Trust for Public Land ranked Boston third among the 40 largest cities for meeting the need for parks, tied with New York, Menino’s office said. Only San Francisco and Sacramento ranked higher. Menino said the city benefited from “forward-thinking officials decades ago” who planned to make parks accessible.
Council passes school facilities plan
A controversial plan to change the location of several Boston schools cleared the first hurdle with approval by the City Council Wednesday. In a 12-to-1 vote, the council approved an $18.6 million loan order to renovate some of the school buildings. The plan includes moving Fenway High School to the site of the Mission Hill K-8 School, which would relocate to a disused building in Jamaica Plain against the wishes of many Mission Hill parents. Councilor Michael Ross, who represents Mission Hill, cast the dissenting vote.
6th-grader arrested in scissors attack
A sixth-grade student in Haverhill was arrested Wednesday on charges of trying to stab a teacher in the back with a pair of scissors, Superintendent James F. Scully said. The girl is a student at J.G. Whittier Middle School, Scully said. The teacher was not injured, and the scissor blades did not break through the teacher’s clothing, he said. Scully said he did not know what provoked the student, and he said he could not recall any past incidents involving the girl.
Mother angry over son’s pulled tooth
A Massachusetts woman said she was angry when she got an e-mail from her son’s fourth-grade teacher telling her that school personnel had pulled a loose baby tooth he had been playing with. Sabrina Grant of Framingham said her anger turned to rage when her 10-year-old son got home, because she discovered that the wrong tooth had been yanked. Grant told WBZ-TV that the school’s principal has apologized, but she feels that is not enough. She thinks whoever pulled the tooth should face charges of assault and child abuse. The superintendent of schools said an investigation is underway.