Suffolk County, Boston | featured news

BOSTON — Massachusetts' highest court says the state's former prisons chief who was pressured to resign amid concerns about his handling of an investigation at a maximum-security psychiatric hospital can't return to his old job in the department.The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Tuesday in the case of Luis Spencer, who resigned as Department of Correction commissioner in 2014. After his resignation, Spencer wanted to return to his job as a correctional officer.

BOSTON — State officials, farmers and students will descend upon Beacon Hill on Tuesday to celebrate Massachusetts Agriculture Day.Held annually, the day celebrates more than 28,000 workers across 7,800 farms across the state.The event also celebrates locally-grown food and farm products. Several events, including a session on how to promote your farm, are on the state's agricultural industry calendar .Farmers will meet with legislators to discuss legislation and promote protections for small farms.

BOSTON — Payroll data for an entire state trooper division has been hidden from public view.The Boston Globe reports payroll records for the 140-member Troop F were not filed with the state comptroller's office for several years.Records show the troop, charged with policing Logan International Airport, accounted for over $32 million in spending last year and underreported salaries of over $300,000.State comptroller Thomas Shack said his office was "unaware" the data was missing until the Globe brought it to their attention.

BOSTON — An MBTA bus driver is cited for failing to stop at a red light and crashing into a school bus, injuring five people.The Boston Globe reports transit officials believe a 57-year-old male employee didn't stop the bus for a flashing red light in Egleston Square.The transit bus collided with a Boston Public Schools bus shortly before 6 a.m., and injured five passengers on the MBTA bus. No children were aboard the school bus.The MBTA driver has received a citation for failure to stop.

William Henderson, Army specialist from 1969 to 1970, is pinned by the Joint Color Guard during a Vietnam Commemoration Ceremony at the Veterans Administration Hospital yesterday. Other Vietnam-era vets were also honored for their service.

BOSTON — New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has been named the 2018 winner of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his leadership in removing four Confederate monuments in the city.The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced Tuesday that in addition to taking the monuments down, Landrieu offered "clear and compassionate reflections on the moment and its place in history."President Kennedy's grandson, Jack Schlossberg, is scheduled to present the award at a ceremony on May 20 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

LYNN — Authorities say a Massachusetts man charged with using a metal baseball to beat his wife to death called relatives to report the crime.Miguel Castillo was held without bail at his arraignment Monday after not a guilty plea to a murder charge was entered on his behalf.Police making a well-being check on the couple's Lynn apartment just before 5 a.m. Monday found 47-year-old Luz Yanina Acevedo-Gomez dead. Police went to the apartment after getting a call from a family member.

SPRINGFIELD  — Police say a 57-year-old man has died after falling from the third floor of a Massachusetts apartment building.A spokesman for Springfield police say the man fell at about 7 p.m. Monday while trying to enter his apartment through a window.He was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead later Monday night.Hi name was not immediately released by authorities.No other details have been made public.

WEST BROOKFIELD, Mass. — Police have charged a Massachusetts man with misleading investigators as they searched for answers in the killings of a mother and her three young children.Court records show 31-year-old Mathew Locke, of Ware, told investigators he had been in contact with the husband of Sara Bermudez. Bermudez and her children, Madison, James and Michael, were found dead March 1 in their West Brookfield home.Police documents show Locke told investigators Moses Bermudez made statements implying the gang MS-13 was responsible for their deaths.

SPRINGFIELD  — Police say a man on the run from officers in Massachusetts accidentally jumped into an undercover car to escape.The Republican reports police began pursuing the 25-year-old man around 10:10 p.m. Saturday in Springfield. A spokesman for the city's police department says the man was first in a pickup truck, then later seen running on foot.Authorities say the suspect opened the passenger door and tried to get away when a police sergeant with the department's narcotics unit pulled up to the scene in an undercover car.