RUSSELL CONTRERAS

Associated Press Writer
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Mass. immigrant tuition bill to get new push

It seemed like a given that Mario Rodas would go to college.

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More immigrants cite sexual orientation for asylum

For weeks, Nathaniel Cunningham and his boyfriend secretly lived together in rural Jamaica. They showed no affection in public and rarely spoke to neighbors.

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Mass. man says Brazilian husband denied US asylum

A gay Brazilian man has been denied asylum by the Obama administration and won't be reunited with his Massachusetts husband in the U.S., the husband said Monday.

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Boston-area college bans sex with roommate around

Sex in a Tufts University dorm is fine. Sex in a Tufts dorm with your roommate present? That's a no-no.

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Boston's black history being unburied at cemetery

Somewhere among the grassy hills, canopy trees and 19th century angel sculptures rest Butler and Mary Wilson.

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'Old Farmer's Almanac' still spots cold in Web age

Doris Smith Mills often comes across past editions of the "Old Farmer's Almanac" lying around her family's 110-year-old Westport, Mass., farm. She believes previous Smiths read it for entertainment and its yearly weather predictions to ready for New England's fickle climate changes.

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Boy falls into Boston zoo movie set's lion pit

A teenage boy visiting a zoo on Wednesday fell into a lion pit that's part of a set for the upcoming Kevin James and Adam Sandler movie "The Zookeeper," but he wasn't badly hurt.

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For immigrants, Kennedy remained tireless advocate

Before 1965, Leticia Hermosa had little chance of crossing the Pacific to the U.S. from the Philippines. Hermosa, a nurse, and others like her just couldn't get through the strict U.S. immigration quota system, which favored Western Europeans and essentially excluded those from Asia and Latin America.

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911 caller in Gates case hurt by racist label

The woman who dialed 911 to report a possible break-in at the home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. said Wednesday she was wrongly labeled a racist based on assumptions about her and words she never said and hoped the recently released recording of the call would put the controversy to rest.

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Mass. police heard calling Gates uncooperative

A Cambridge police sergeant who responded to a 911 call about a possible break-in at the home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. told dispatchers that Gates was being uncooperative and to "keep the cars coming." Another voice can be heard in the background of the transmission, but it is unintelligible and unclear if it is Gates.

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Mass. police heard calling Gates uncooperative

A Cambridge police sergeant who responded to a 911 call about a possible break-in at the home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. told dispatchers that Gates was being uncooperative and to "keep the cars coming." Another voice can be heard in the background of the transmission, but it is unintelligible and unclear if it is Gates.

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Mass. police heard calling Gates uncooperative

A Cambridge, Mass., police sergeant who responded to a 911 call about a possible break-in at the home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. can be heard calling Gates uncooperative during a radio communication with a police dispatcher.

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Frenemy, locavore among new words in Webster's

Do you use a sock puppet to secretly keep track of your frenemies?

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Popular Tehran Bureau site covers Iran from Mass.

The updates shot quickly onto the Tehran Bureau Web site as postelection chaos gripped Iran: angry street protests, random police beatings, a defiant warning from the ayatollah of more violence to come.

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Craigslist suspect's attorney blasts media leaks

A lawyer for a former Boston medical student accused of killing a New York City masseuse he met on Craigslist has asked a judge to order prosecutors to prove media leaks didn't taint a grand jury.

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Idol auditions attract thousands in Mass.

Thousands of "American Idol" hopefuls made it through the rain — and the cold — hoping to find their singing respected by the judges as Season Nine auditions kicked off near Boston.

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New reality show teaches old dogs extreme tricks

Max the Border Collie can roll over on command, herd crowds and sit still on a table while his owners eat.

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Fiancee loves Craigslist suspect, but wedding off?

The fiancee of a medical student accused of killing a masseuse he met through Craigslist said Monday she still loves him, but the band hired to perform at their scheduled August wedding said it's been told it won't be needed.

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Jobless make TV ads pitching themselves for work

Jayna Dinsmore dressed in a sharp pink blouse and black slacks and made the pitch she hoped would end her five months of unemployment: Experienced marketing manager and analyst. Diverse background. Trade show experience.

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Used tires, beer kegs keep zoo animals healthy

A lion rips open a paper bag stuffed with hay and meat. Giraffes chew up old Christmas trees. Asian black bears claw on empty beer kegs.

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Late Cambodian monk's poems detail homeland terror

For years, Ly Van Aggadipo served as the spiritual mentor to many Cambodian refugees in this old mill city, guiding followers at the Glory Buddhist Temple through family issues, work problems and recurring nightmares from the horrors of the Khmer Rouge.

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AP countersues artist over famous Obama image

The Associated Press countersued an artist Wednesday over his famous image of Barack Obama, saying the uncredited, uncompensated use of an AP photo violated copyright laws and signaled a threat to journalism.

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Families send love to prisoners via radio shows

Every Saturday night when he was behind bars, Papo Gonzalez would sit in his dark cell, put on his headphones, turn on "Con Salsa!" and wait for his wife's words over the radio.

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Ex-leader of Mass. tribe pleads guilty to fraud

The former leader of a Massachusetts tribe pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal fraud and embezzlement charges, including violating campaign finance laws while working with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

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AP, news groups urge court webcast in music case

Fourteen news organizations, including The Associated Press and The New York Times Co., are urging a federal appeals court to allow online streaming of a hearing in a music downloading lawsuit the recording industry filed against a Boston University graduate student.

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