Suffolk County, Boston | featured news

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The first woman to publicly accuse former sports doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse will be speaking about justice and forgiveness at Harvard University.Rachael Denhollander is slated to speak Thursday at an event titled "Can We Reconcile Justice and Forgiveness?"She's expected to discuss how religion influenced her ideas about justice and her ability to forgive people who don't seem to deserve it.

A Methuen teen was killed last night and her passenger seriously injured when the 2004 Lincoln LS she was driving northbound on Route 495 in Haverhill rolled over and crashed, state police said.Police said an off-duty Methuen firefighter, two off-duty troopers and Haverhill firefighters pitched in to free the driver and her 19-year-old passenger from the wreck and render first aid.The crash occurred about 6 p.m. yesterday.

BOSTON — Several people were injured in an early morning car crash on the Massachusetts Pike.State police officials say the two-car crash occurred shortly before 5 a.m. Sunday near the Allston tolls in Boston on the eastbound part of the highway.Five people were injured, with two being taken to Boston Medical Center, two to Massachusetts General Hospital and one to Tufts Medical Center.The extent of their injuries is unknown. Police continue to investigate the cause of the crash.

The Cana ramp connecting the Tobin Bridge and Route 1 south to Interstate 93 south was shut down this morning due to what state police are calling a serious two-car accident.Traffic was being diverted to Rutherford Avenue in Charlestown.

NORTON, Massachusetts — State police say a woman suffered injuries after a wild turkey hit her car's windshield, shattering the glass.Police say the 30-year-old Saugus woman was driving on Interstate 495 in Norton when the turkey hit her windshield. It happened around 6 p.m. Saturday.The woman was treated at the scene for injuries from the flying glass.

BOSTON — Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are gearing up to secure the Boston Marathon.Public safety officials and representatives from the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the race, are scheduled Tuesday morning to discuss safety measures being put in place for the 122nd running of the marathon on April 16.The route takes runners through eight cities and towns, complicating efforts to police the course.Agencies involved in securing the race include the FBI, Boston police, state police and others.

LONDON — The life of renowned physicist and author Stephen Hawking was celebrated yesterday in the English city of Cambridge, with hundreds of well-wishers lining the streets for a glimpse of the hearse carrying his remains to a private funeral.There was a spontaneous burst of applause outside the Church of St. Mary the Great when the hearse arrived. The bells of the church tolled 76 times, one for each year of Hawking’s remarkable life.

Characters as diverse as the green Power Ranger Tommy Oliver, Pokemon’s Pikachu and Marvel superheroes and villains roamed downtown Boston streets yesterday, turning the city into a comic fantasy.The annual three-day Anime Boston convention was in town, drawing tens of thousands of fans of all genres from across New England to the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center.

Few would be shocked to learn Pope Francis eschews a fire-and-brimstone view of the hell where pointy-eared demons eternally torture masses of broiling sinners.But the pope’s reported declaration in an Italian newspaper this week reinterpreted the Catholic understanding of hell in a way that’s raising the hackles of theologians and leaving churchgoers scratching their heads.

A man in his 30s is dead in a brazen daytime shooting off of Morton Street in Dorchester yesterday afternoon.Police said they were called to the scene of Evans Street at about 3:56 p.m. for a person shot.They located a male victim in a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound.The area was blocked off for a couple of hours as nearby residents surrounded the busy intersection.Boston police Commissioner William B. Evans arrived on scene and said the shooting was “clearly targeted to the vehicle.”