The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 18

B4 THE BOSTON GLOBE SATURDAY, APRIL 11, Pay proposal for mayor, council sparks fight New England News Briefs 'We really have not seen any justification for the size of the pay SAMUEL R. TYLER Boston Municipal Rexearch Bureau creases," recommended by the advisory board, said Samuel R. Tyler, the director of the research bureau. Tyler said that his agency's recommendations are based on a number of factors including "the increase of the Consumer Price Index by HM percent and "a survey of cities comparable" to Boston' and the salaries of their city officials. The research bureau did find the advisory board's recommendation for an 8 percent raise for department heads "reasonable!" Tyler naid, but stressed that the mayor nhould use his power to raise salaries even more for some positions.

"We have some department heads making less than the people they supervise, Tyler said. councilors in the country among councilors in similar cities. But the Boston Municipal Research Bureau recommends that the mayor's salary be raised to $120,000, an increase of 9 percent, and city councilors' salaries be raised to $59,000, an increase of 8.3 percent. "We really have not seen any justification for the size of the pay in By Michael Glover GLOBE COItllKSI'ONUENT A plan to award a pay raise to some city officials, including Mayor Thomas M. Menino, has sparked a fight between a city advisory panel and a fiscal watchdog group that says the proposal is too generous.

A report issued Thursday by the Compensation Advisory Board recommended that Menino's salary be increased from $110,000 to $125,000, and city councilors' salaries be boosted from $54,000 to $02,500. The head of the advisory board, Lawrence S. DiCara, said that the proposed raises are designed to make salaries competitive with those in the private sector. 4 a I 1 1 I i f' I 4 i Leonard Moreau. Moreau claims he was fired as a medical records typist for disclosing to the antiabortion group that Elliot Hospital was performing abortions.

At the time, Optima officials publicly stated no abortions were being performed at either hospital. Optima says Moreau was fired for breaching patient confidentiality. (AP) Horse racing plan faces Vt. scrutiny RUTLAND, Vt. The group proposing to bring back horse racing to Green Mountain Park in Pow-nal needs to provide more financial information before the state Racing Commission will act.

Commission Chairman Harlan Sylvester said during a hearing that the group wants to get the track going but wants to do it properly. Commissioners laid out the financial detail they must have before voting on the proposed 75-date race season. (AP) Teen shoots self after police chase PROVIDENCE With his father clinging to the hood of his car, a despondent teenager led police on a 10-mile chase in Narragansett before shooting himself in the head. son, 19-year-old Jesse Frizzell, was in critical condition yesterday. His father, Raymond, hopped onto the hood of the Volkswagen Jetta Thursday afternoon while trying to persuade his son to return home, police said.

The younger Frizzell was reportedly upset after a breakup with his girlfriend. (AP) Stores questioned on 'local' produce AUGUSTA, Maine Legislative leaders plan to meet with representatives of Shaw's Supermarkets to discuss farmers' complaints about the chain's use of the word "local" in advertising. Senator Marge Kilkelly, a Wiscasset Democrat and co-chairwoman of the Agriculture Committee, said that "local" could mean that the products may come from any of New England's growing cooperatives or as far away as New Jersey. (AP) R.I. provides health plan data PROVIDENCE The state Health Department has released reports on managed health care companies that include standardized charts of how each plan works and what benefits it provides.

The reports, which will be expanded next year to include statistics on health plan spending and details of how companies handle complaints, will be distributed to all new health plan customers and to any current customers who ask for them. The reports, released Thursday along with a Health Department guide to managed care in general, are part of a comprehensive state law regulating health maintenance organizations and other companies that manage health care. (AP) Storms knock out power in Mass. Snow, wind, and rain swept through parts of Massachusetts yesterday, knocking out power for about 22,000 Commonwealth Electric Co. customers on Ciipe Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and the New Bedford area.

Rain turned to snow at times early in the day in central and eastern parts of the state, but all the precipitation headed elsewhere, said Bob Burton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. All power was restored later in the clay. Irish ex-president is grad speaker Maiy Robinson, former president of Ireland and United Nations high commissioner for human rights, is scheduled to be the speaker at Harvard Univerity's 347th commencement on June 4, university officials have announced. Robinson was elected in 1990 as Ireland's first female president. She earned a law-degree from Harvard Law School in 1968.

Maine husband kills wife, himself PORTLAND, Maine A man shot and killed his wife yesterday be fore taking his own life, police said. Relatives found the bodies of Karim Nosrati and his wife, Shoeyla Nos-rati, about 10 a.m., both with gun-Hhot wounds to the head. Police believe the murder-suicide grew from a domestic dispute. Neighbors reported hearing loud noises from Nosrati apartment between 3 and 4 a.m., but police were not called until the bodies were found. The couple had two daughters, ages 16 and 20.

Neither was home at the time of the killings. (AI'J Pilot lands plane after smoke alert American Airlines flight 1055 had to return to Logan Airport yesterday soon after takeoff when the pilot smelled smoke in the cockpit. Airport officials said the Chicago-bound plane landed safely in Boston, and all 95 passengers and crew exited the aircraft safely to catch another flight. Bar loses effort to regain license The Playland Cafe lost its bid to reinstate its entertainment li cense yesterday after a judge refused to grant a temporaiy restraining order against the city Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing. The bar's license was revoked Jan.

2 after a police undercover operation revealed that the Essex Street establishment was being used as a base for drug dealers. Dracut police nab 2 on drug charges A Lowell resident was arrested in Dracut on charges of possession of nine bags of heroin yesterday, but police said the case was not linked to the drug circulating among Lowell children. Lowell police are still trying to recover up to 20 bags of heroin that elementary students found at a bus stop. Police arrested Ramon Anibal Medina, 26, on charges of possession and intent to distribute heroin. Roselee Pagan, 21, also of Lowell, was arrested on charges of conspiracy and knowingly being present with heroin.

They were released on bail and will be arraigned Monday in Lowell Distinct Court. Conn, man held in Mass. murder SPRINGFIELD A Connecticut man has been ordered held without bail in the murder of a Springfield man five years ago. Dennis Richards, 41, pleaded not guilty at his airaignment Thursday in Springfield District Court on charges of gunning down Courtney Errar, 26, on a Springfield street Aug. 2, 1993.

Richards was arrested earlier this week in Hartford. Prosecutors said Richards, who used several aliases, told police that he knew there was a warrant out for his arrest, and he had spent the past five years moving around Connecticut and New York City. (AP) Air Guard flight is forced to land A military flight flying from the Azores Islands, west of Portugal, was forced to land at Pease International Trade Port in Portsmouth, N.H., when it ran into trouble en route to Savannah, Ga. Airport administrator Bill Hopper said the pilot landed the C130, operated by the Georgia Air National Guard and carrying 20 passengers, because of an engine 'problem. Activists ordered to reveal source MANCHESTER, N.H.

Two an-tiabortion activists must answer Optima Healthcare's questions about how they knew when an abortion was scheduled at Elliot Hospital, a judge has ruled. Two members of New Hampshire Right to Life must give the company's lawyers sworn statements about how they obtained a copy of the surgery schedule listing the abortion, Judge William Groff said. Groffs ruling earlier this week came in a lawsuit against Optima, the parent company of Elliot Hospital and Catholic Medical Center, by former hospital employee CROSS WALK Hingham residents (above) reenacted the Stations of the Cross yesterday at the Glastonbury Abbey with guests and staff from the St. Francis House, a homeless shelter in Boston. Students from Boston College High School (right), meanwhile, performed the same ritual in Boston.

"I think the real issue here is that people in the public make far less than people who work elsewhere," DiCara said yesterday. "We come up with what we think is fair." The proposed raises would make the mayor the second highest-paid mayor in the country among cities of comparable size. City councilors would become the third highest-paid I 1 1 'V'" pasis could not be reached for comment yesterday because schools were closed for Good Friday. Police said they did not yet know what sparked the brawl, but the source said it was gang-related. About 900 students, their families, and friends had gathered inside the Fenway school for the celebration.

At around 9 p.m, as the show ended, Contompasis was told about the fight. Police said the 14-year-old, badly beaten, was treated at New England Medical Center. The 16-year-old boy, stabbed with an unknown object in the forehead and cheek, was rushed to Floating Hospital for Infants and Children. The 20-year-old was stabbed with a machete, police said, but they did not know the extent of his injuries, or where he was treated. Police said they stopped a car occupied by teenagers along Washington Street in Boston, but made no airests.

r. GLOBE STAFF PHOTOS DAVID RYAN 'It is clearly a serious breach of the public GERARD LYDON Suffolk sheriffs xpokfirmmi without a healing, Lydon said. The suspension order started Thursday and continues through May 8, Lydon said. No one answered the telephone yesterday at the Manning residence. As head of maintenance for the South Bay House of Correction, Manning had access to an array of tools and equipment needed to immediately repair any possible security breach, Lydon said.

But Manning will not be sharpening his carpentry skills at the office any longer and he will not be sailing down the Charles in his new canoe. "The canoe was cut in half, and cut again," Lydon said. Sheriffs captain is sunk for building canoe on job Suspects sought in fight outside Boston Latin By Jordana Hail GLOBE STAFF Boston police yesterday were looking for suspects in connection with a street fight outside Boston Latin School on Thursday night that ended with two young men stabbed and a 14-year-old boy severely beaten. Police yesterday declined to identify the victims ages 20, 16, and 14 but said they were all treated and released from city hospitals. A police source said the 14-year-old attends the William Howard Taft Middle School in Brighton, while the 16-year-old is a former Boston public school student.

The source did know not where the teenager is enrolled. According to police, between 10 and 20 people, some armed with knives and machetes, started fighting around 9 p.m. as Boston Latin School's annual Asian Night celebration was coming to close. Headmaster Michael Contom- By Judy Rakowsky GLOBE STAFF Captain Lawrence Manning's plans to float a new boat this summer were sunk when the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department destroyed the 14-foot canoe and suspended him for a month for building the craft at work. Manning, 55, of Roslindale, is not only up a creek without a canoe, he has been demoted from chief of maintenance to guard after 24 years on the force, said Gerard Lydon, spokesman for Sheriff Richard Rouse.

The sheriffs internal investigation showed that Manning used government materials and tools to build his pleasure craft, but that he did not file for overtime or employ other staffers in the project, Lydon said. "It is clearly a serious breach of the public trust," Lydon said of Manning's offenses. Manning was charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and misappropriation of government property. He did not contest the allegations and accepted the 30-day suspension.