By Matt Bryne, Globe Correspondent

Police and fire personnel swarmed the Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton at about 10:30 Sunday morning, witnesses said, after unconfirmed reports of a hazardous material at the school. Personnel from the nearby towns of Lancaster, Clinton, Littleton, and Bolton quickly set up what seems to be a decontamination tent outside the high school’s main entrance. Bolton police declined to comment and said the situation is ongoing.

By Jeff Fish, Globe Correspondent

The child hit by a flying bat at Saturday’s Red Sox game was released from the hospital, according to the team. “The Red Sox organization talked to the boy’s father,” said Director of Media Relations, Pam Ganley. “He was treated and released from Children’s Hospital last night. He’s behaving normally and doctors said he’ll be fine.”

By Evan Allen, Globe Correspondent

Six people and a puppy were displaced by a two-alarm fire that gutted a Haverhill three-family home early on Saturday morning, according to Haverhill fire officials and a Red Cross spokesperson.

By Evan Allen, Globe Correspondent

A Dorchester triple-decker was evacuated and four residents taken to the hospital to be checked for carbon monoxide exposure on Saturday morning after they complained of light headedness, acording to a Fire Department spokesman.

By Dan Adams, Globe Correspondent

Irish President Michael D. Higgins visited several sites in Boston Saturday, calling the city “the capital of Irish America.” The visit, his first to Boston after being elected President last November, was planned as a remembrance of the Great Irish Famine that began in 1845. In a probing and professorial speech at Faneuil Hall’s Great Hall, Higgins acknowledged the complex legacy of the famine, which he called Ireland’s “greatest social calamity.” He also called for immigration reform.

By Martine Powers, Globe Staff

SPRINGFIELD — Marialyn, 20, knows that many people didn’t expect her at a rally for Charles Wilhite, a man convicted of murder in December 2010. The woman’s uncle, Alberto Rodriguez, was the victim — but her family does not believe Wilhite is guilty. And so on Saturday Marialyn joined about 50 people who believe that Wilhite, 29, was wrongly convicted in the October 2008 murder for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

By Jaclyn Reiss, Globe Correspondent

WATERTOWN -- A spirited crowd of about 50 protesters gathered at a vacant industrial property in this city just west of Boston to demonstrate their opposition to the possible construction of a Wal-Mart store there. Some residents who oppose a new store have expressed concerns about increased traffic, noise and sound pollution, property devaluation, and threats to small business owners.

By Gal Tziperman Lotan, Globe Correspondent

A State Police trooper was briefly hospitalized after he was hit by a car on a busy Lynn street Friday night while jumping out of the way of another vehicle, whose driver was later charged with drunk driving, police said Saturday.

By Zachary T. Sampson, Globe Correspondent

People have told MIT’s dean of admissions, Stuart Schmill, that he reminds them of Stephen Colbert. “I’ve done some inside-the-office Colbert spoofs or parodies over the last few years, but sort of non-public, just inside the office here,” Schmill said. But when the host of the popular satirical show The Colbert Report chided MIT on national television, a university staff member thought it was a good chance for Schmill to go public with a parody response video.

By Martine Powers, Globe Staff

State Police returned to Rockport this afternoon to search for Caleigh Anne Harrison, but found no sign of the toddler who disappeared from the beach last month while playing with her mother, older sister and family dog, officials said.

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

Christopher Piantedosi, the man wanted for murdering his girlfriend in Burlington, is now in State Police custody after he was found sitting in the parking lot of the State Police barracks in Weston. “We’ve got him in custody,’’ State Police spokesman David Procpio said shortly before 2:30 p.m. today. Procopio said troopers discovered Christopher Piantedosi sitting in a car in a parking lot this afternoon. “We allege the defendant brutally and fatally stabbed the victim, a loving mother of two, inside her home,” said Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone.

By Globe Staff

Boston police today appealed for the public’s help in the search for the killer of US Army veteran Stephen Perez, who was shot to death April 28 as nightclubs were closing in downtown Boston’s Theater District. Police released surveillance camera video of four men running down the ramp of the parking lot where the shooting took place, saying they wanted to identify the men, whom police believe may have some connection to the city of Lynn.

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

A young man was arrested after he was allegedly found in the back of a Bourne school bus with a pellet rifle this morning, sparking a security scare at three local schools. At about 6 a.m., police said, a bus driver boarded the vehicle and found a young man with black hair she said appeared to be in high school. Wearing baggy pants and a sweatshirt, he sat in one of the rear seats.

By Brian R. Ballou and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

LYNN -- A 23-year-old man was ordered held without bail after his arraignment Thursday in Lynn District Court on charges that he slit the throats of his mother and grandmother. Joseph Wright of Lynn is charged with first-degree murder in the killings of his mother, Donna Breau, 54, and his grandmother, Melba Trahant, 83, in their Sheridan Street triple-decker. The bodies of the two women were found dumped Tuesday morning at a Saugus school.

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

A Taunton man is facing charges after he allegedly smashed through the front door of a Foxborough convenience store on a late-night quest for packs of cigarettes and a candy bar, leaving $5 behind on the counter. At about 2 a.m. Thursday, the man, who police believe was staying at a Route 1 motel, walked down to the Country Store on North Street only to find the store was closed. “He kicked the window a couple of times and it broke,” said Officer Scott Taggart, who responded to the alarm with Officers James Cannata and Shawn Buckley.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A woman has told Boston police that she was approached by three scam artists in Chinatown last month and hypnotized without her permission before giving them all her valuables, including jewelry and $160,000 in cash. The victim, who only spoke Cantonese, told police on April 16 that she was approached by three Asian women between 30 and 40 years old, and one of the suspects talked to her in Cantonese for about five minutes, asking random questions about the victim’s family members.

By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff

Boston police homicide detectives are in East Boston this morning investigating a death in the 200 block of Chelsea Street. Police believe the victim was stabbed inside an apartment and staggered into an alley, collapsed, and died. Police said they were called at 6:56 a.m. because someone had died from cardiac arrest, which triggered the death investigation.

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

Boston Globe environmental reporter David Abel is one of 24 journalists from around the world who have won fellowships at the Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, the foundation announced today. “This is an outstanding group of journalists poised to have a growing influence on their news organizations and on journalism more broadly. They represent a wide range of interests and backgrounds but share an intense commitment to using their year at Harvard to gain new knowledge, strengthen their work and enhance the prospects for journalism overall,” Ann Marie Lipinski, curator for the foundation, said today in a statement.

By Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

Irish President Michael D. Higgins is making his first trip to Boston as the head of state this weekend and is scheduled to meet with city officials and attend a ceremony marking Boston’s selection as the international location for the Irish government’s annual commemoration of Ireland’s Great Famine.

By Globe Staff

The weather today is expected to continue cool and gloomy, but a slow improvement is expected on Saturday, with skies becoming partly sunny and afternoon highs ranging from the mid-60s to the lower 70s, the National Weather Service says. Sunday is expected to be the star of the weekend, weather-wise. Clear skies in the mid-60s are expected, and cool, dry weather is expected to continue into Monday.