BOSTON

Subway worker suspended for allegedly sleeping on job

The MBTA says it has suspended a subway trolley operator who was caught on video apparently sleeping on a moving train.

In the video taken by a rider Monday afternoon on the D branch of the Green Line, the man is seen slouched over with his head down as the trolley enters a tunnel.

A spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said the worker was in the second car of the train and was not actually in control at the time. The two-year employee has been suspended pending an investigation.

The T said such “egregious behavior will not be tolerated.” The T has an aggressive fatigue-awareness program that is required for many employees.

 

State treasurer and senator expect to challenge Patrick

The contest to succeed Gov. Deval Patrick began to take shape Wednesday on the Democratic side, with Treasurer Steven Grossman poised to become the first current statewide officeholder to enter the race and State Sen. Dan Wolf from Cape Cod announcing that he would be a candidate as well.

The head of Grossman’s political committee, DJ Napolitano, said that Grossman would formally announce his plans to seek the 2014 Democratic nomination at the state party’s platform convention Saturday in Lowell.

The 67-year-old Newton resident is a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

CONCORD, N.H.

Tax on cigarettes will rise dime to $1.78 a pack Aug. 1

Tobacco users will be paying a little more beginning Aug. 1 due to an increase in New Hampshire’s tax triggered by a drop in revenue.

The Republican Legislature dropped the tax two years ago, arguing that it would lead to higher sales of tobacco and other products, especially along the borders with states that have higher tobacco tax rates. The law required the tax to automatically go back up if tax receipts for 2012 and 2013 were lower than 2010 and 2011. A report to lawmakers Wednesday determined the state took in $56 million less over the last two years.

The tax on a pack of cigarettes will rise a dime to $1.78. The rate on other products, except premium cigars, will be 65 percent of the wholesale price.

DEDHAM, Mass.

Woman acquitted of killing son, 8, by reason of insanity

A Massachusetts woman charged with killing her 8-year-old son by lighting a hibachi-style charcoal grill inside a bedroom in their apartment and then barricading the door has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

A Norfolk Superior Court judge on Tuesday acquitted Li Rong Zhang of murder in the January 2011 death of Brandon Yang.

Authorities say the 42-year-old Quincy woman intended to kill herself and her son. They say she blocked the door and lit the grill, filling the room with poisonous fumes. The boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning.