WAYLAND, Mass.

Runaway wheel hits car, hurts driver on turnpike

State police say a man is recovering in the hospital after his car was struck by a runaway tire that had come loose from another vehicle on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Police said 36-year-old Paul Robillard of Dudley was driving west on the highway in Wayland about 6:30 p.m. Thursday when his vehicle’s windshield was struck by a rim and tire that had come loose from an eastbound car. The windshield was struck on the driver’s side and the car’s roof suffered a deep dent.

Robillard was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston with serious injuries.

The wheel came from the left rear of a car driven by 23-year-old Joel Tangjerd of London, Ontario.

The crash remains under investigation and no charges have been filed.

BOSTON

Titanic survivor’s letter from 1912 sells for $11,875

A letter from a wealthy survivor of the Titanic grumbling about “disgraceful” treatment in the media has sold at auction for $11,875.

The Boston-based RR Auction house said the 1912 letter written by aristocratic fashion designer Lady Lucile Duff-Gordon sold Thursday.

The buyer’s identity was not disclosed.

Duff-Gordon and her husband were among a dozen people who survived in a lifeboat built for 40.

Tabloids dubbed it the “Money Boat” because her husband was said to have bribed the crew to row away faster from the sinking ship. The Duff-Gordons were cleared by the British Wreck Commissioner’s inquiry.

Lady Duff-Gordon was upset at media coverage and wrote to a friend: “We didn’t seem to have done the right thing in being saved at all! Isn’t it disgraceful.”

Commuter rail operator fined $1.6 million by MBTA

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has issued $1.6 million in fines to the operator of the state’s commuter rail service for poor performance in November and December, including late and dirty trains.

The fines were issued under the contract with French firm Keolis, which began operating the commuter rail service in July. The eight-year, $2.7 billion contract includes strict provisions and penalties for failing to meet standards for on-time rates, cleanliness and other conditions.

The Boston Globe reported that Keolis received the maximum monthly fine under the contract of $868,850 in November, when about 84 percent of commuter trains were on time. It was fined another $760,175 in December, when about 90 percent of the trains were on time.

Mac Daniel, a Keolis spokesman, said that the company is focused on improving.

Man injured, his dog killed when struck by school bus

Boston police say a man was seriously injured and his dog died after they were struck by a school bus in the city’s South End.

Authorities said that the man and his dog were struck by the bus about 7:30 a.m. Friday at Columbus Avenue and Dartmouth Street.

Officials said about 21 students were on the bus, but none of them was injured.

The man’s name and condition haven’t been released. Police said he is in his 50s and is being treated at Tufts Medical Center.

The bus was carrying students headed to Concord-Carlisle Regional High School. School leaders and guidance counselors met with students when they arrived at school after the accident.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

HANOVER, N.H.

Dartmouth College names dean of business school

Dartmouth College has selected Matthew Slaughter, an economics professor and associate dean for faculty, to be the new dean of its Tuck School of Business.

The 45-year-old Slaughter has been at the college since 1994, and he is the founder and faculty director of Tuck’s Center for Global Business and Government.

He takes on the role of dean July 1, succeeding Paul Danos, ho said he would not seek reappointment.

Slaughter served on the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007. He also was a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Economic Advisers.

CONCORD, N.H.

Deadline looms to apply for pot dispensary license

Groups hoping to open medical marijuana dispensaries in New Hampshire have until next week to submit their applications to the state.

Under a 2013 law, up to four dispensaries will be licensed to provide marijuana for the treatment of serious illnesses. The law had set a deadline of Jan. 23, 2015, for the state to choose at least two locations, but the Department of Health and Human Services says the decision won’t likely be made until late February.

The department issued its request for applications Dec. 19, and groups have until Jan. 28 to apply.

Dispensaries have been proposed in Littleton, Epping, Franklin and Newton.

— From news service reports