LaGuer rape conviction to go before Supreme Judicial Court

The Supreme Judicial Court is expected to hear arguments today that Benjamin LaGuer was wrongly convicted in 1984 of the raping of an elderly woman in Leominster.

LaGuer’s case drew national attention during last year’s gubernatorial campaign. Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey tried to score political points with her conservative base by admonishing her opponent, Deval Patrick, for supporting LaGuer’s efforts to overturn his conviction.

Over the last decade, Patrick wrote the state parole board and donated $5,000 for DNA testing on LaGuer’s behalf.

LaGuer’s case before the state’s highest court focuses an 18-year-old State Police fingerprint report that surfaced five years ago and revealed that investigators recovered four fingerprints from a telephone, the cord of which was used to bind the victim, and that none of the prints matched LaGuer’s.

The jury never heard that evidence and LaGuer has argued that if they had, he might have been acquitted.

LaGuer also recently told the Boston Globe that the 2002 DNA tests — which, instead of clearing him, linked him to the rape of the 59-year-old woman — relied on contaminated evidence. He says that he has obtained analyses from forensic experts who agree that the tests may have been botched.

New School Committee announcements sworn in

Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced the reappointment of Alfreda Harris and the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Gregory Groover Sr. for four-year terms as members of the Boston School Committee, swearing them in at City Hall on Jan. 1.

“The Boston School Committee plays a vital role in the partnership between the School Department and the community,” Menino said. “I am extremely pleased today to appoint and re-appoint two extraordinary citizens who have devoted their careers to supporting children and families, both of whom are highly respected role models.”

Harris, who was first appointed in September 1993, is the Committee’s longest serving member. A resident of Roslindale, Harris is project director for both the Harvard School of Public Health “Play Across Boston” initiative and Northeastern University’s “Sport in Society.” She is the former deputy commissioner of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. As founder and director of the Shelburne Recreation Center, Harris has been credited with developing programming for thousands of young people. She has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Shattuck Award for Public Service.

Roxbury resident Groover is pastor of The Historic Charles Street AME Church and chair of the Education Committee of the Black Ministerial Alliance. He holds graduate degrees in social work, divinity and ministry, and is an active member of numerous boards, including Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the Citizens Commission on Academic Success for Boston Children. He, too, has been recognized many times for his leadership in the community.

The seven-member Boston School Committee governs and sets policy for the 145 Boston Public Schools. Any Boston resident is eligible to apply for a position.

Work begins to remove safety hazard at Franklin Park Zoo

Zoo New England (ZNE) announced last week that work has begun to remove the historic colonnade located at Franklin Park Zoo’s Peabody Circle entrance due to safety concerns. The structure has been blocked off from the public since a 2001 survey, conducted by building and monument conservation specialists, showed it was crumbling due to environmental factors and could not be restored.

“While we are saddened that the colonnade must be removed, we must first consider the safety of the public,” said John Linehan, president and CEO of ZNE. “When these marble columns were moved to Franklin Park Zoo from their indoor home at the old Custom House more than 90 years ago, no one saw into their inevitable future — that they would eventually deteriorate.”

ZNE has obtained all necessary permits for the project, and has obtained approval from the Boston Landmarks Commission and the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Crews began putting up scaffolding last week, with physical disassembly slated to begin shortly. The project is scheduled for completion on or before February 15.

The central marble colonnade and two cast stone gatehouses, found at the eastern entrance to the Zoo, were not part of the original plan for Franklin Park Zoo but were added in 1917-1918. Even before the colonnade moved to the Zoo, the marble had been exposed to various types of indoor air pollution from a variety of sources, including burning coal and smoking, for almost 70 years.

The low relief animal sculptures on the gatehouses will be recast and the historic wrought iron fence restored. ZNE hopes to preserve pieces of the colonnade, including representative pieces of the ornate capitals, to one day be incorporated into an interpretive exhibit detailing the important history of these structures. Funds are being sought for the wrought-iron fence restoration.

“We are well aware of the significance of the colonnade to Boston’s history and we are preserving this history in the only way we can,” said Linehan. “While we may not be able to save the whole colonnade, at least a part of it will still exist for future generations to learn from.”

Fenway Community Health receives $20 million for expansion

Fenway Community Health plans to use funds from a recently announced $20 million financing package created by the state’s finance and development authority and Sovereign Bank to build a new headquarters in the West Fens neighborhood. The expanded health care facility, scheduled to open in spring 2009, will be nation’s largest operated by a health care organization with a focus on the LGBT — lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender — community.

The package is provided through MassDevelopment’s New Markets Tax Credit program. The low-cost loan is funded by tax-credit equity from Sovereign Bank and debt provided by private sector investors.

“Fenway Community Health is a critical contributor to the overall health and well-being of thousands of Boston residents,” said Robert L. Culver, president and CEO of MassDevelopment. “It’s an organization that has served the Fenway community for more than 35 years, and we are extremely pleased to have a hand in arranging this important financing package.”

Fenway Community Health will use the funds, along with additional private funding and contributions from an ongoing capital campaign, to construct its new 10-story, 100,000-square-foot structure. To be located at 1330 Boylston Street, the headquarters will cost an estimated $55.5 million and will enable Fenway to serve three times as many individuals and families as they can accommodate now, while over time adding more than 150 new jobs.

It will also allow Fenway to bring most of its medical, mental health, research, outreach and advocacy programs together in one location for the first time in decades. The bulk of Fenway’s staff currently operates out of three separate facilities, including the main health center at 7 Haviland Street.