MASSACHUSETTS
Special elections usher in new slate
Republican Patrick O’Connor defeated Democrat Joan Meschino in a special state Senate election for the seat representing the Plymouth and Norfolk senate district. O’Connor, the Weymouth Town Council president, received 9,059 votes, and Meschino, a former Hull selectwoman, received 8,092 votes, according to unofficial returns. O’Connor will replace Republican Robert Hedlund, who resigned after being elected mayor of Weymouth last year. The district includes Weymouth, Hull, Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Marshfield, and Scituate. In separate elections Tuesday night, Democrats Joseph A. Boncore and Daniel Cahill claimed victories in unopposed state legislative races. Boncore, an attorney, won the First Suffolk and Middlesex District, filling a seat formerly held by East Boston Democrat Anthony Petruccelli, who left the senate to join a lobbying firm. Cahill, the Lynn city council president, won the state representative seat for the 10th Essex district, also without a Republican opponent. He will replace Robert Fennell, a Democrat who left to become the deputy director of the Lynn Water & Sewer Commission.
WORCESTER
Woman, son get probation in scheme
A Worcester woman and her adult son have received probation for cheating the state Medicaid system out of nearly $100,000. Beverly Cousin, 68, a recipient of personal care attendant services through MassHealth, was put on probation for five years after pleading guilty Monday to five counts each of Medicaid fraud and larceny, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported. Cousin and her son, Rashad Cousin, 33, of Springfield, used family names to falsely bill MassHealth for more than $95,000 in personal care attendant services not provided, prosecutors said. Rashad Cousin admitted to sufficient facts for guilty findings on three counts each of Medicaid fraud and larceny. (AP)
BOSTON
Dukakis wants rail link ‘in my lifetime’
Former Governor Michael Dukakis on Tuesday urged the Baker administration to advance a $2 million study updating data on an underground rail link that would connect North and South stations in Boston. “I would like to see this project built in my lifetime, with a sense of urgency,’’ Dukakis, pointing out that he’s 82 years old, told Boston Public Radio hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan. Dukakis said he lacks a “clear idea’’ of what’s happening, if anything, in the administration with regard to the study. Regarding Governor Charlie Baker and his performance over the last 16 months, Dukakis said, “I like him. I think he’s working hard. I’m not sure he’s the world’s biggest risk-taker. Maybe that’s OK.’’ (State House News Service)
FRAMINGHAM
Being polite to officer leads to arrest
Politely holding a door open for a police officer has landed a man in jail. Kayvon Mavaddat was at the Natick Mall on Friday when he held the door for the leaving officer, authorities said. That officer thought Mavaddat looked familiar, went to check his cruiser’s computer, and found there were three warrants out for his arrest — for heroin possession, shoplifting, and driving with a suspended license, according to authorities. The officer returned to the mall and arrested the 28-year-old Mavaddat. (AP)
BROOKFIELD
Reflecting sunshine starts house fire
A fire that forced three residents out of an antique farmhouse in Central Massachusetts is being blamed on a shaving mirror. Brookfield Fire Chief Peter Martell told The Worcester Telegram & Gazette that the magnifying mirror was on a bench on the home’s deck on Monday when it reflected a beam of sunlight onto the side of the wooden house, sparking the blaze. The fire was reported at about 2:30 p.m. by a passerby who noticed smoke. Only one of the three residents was home at the time. He escaped without injury. (AP)
