B2 Metro The Boston Globe FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019
By Alyssa Lukpat
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
A 91-year-old Chestnut Hill woman smashed the world record for her
age in the 400-meter dash Saturday, USA Track & Field New England said.
Diane Hoffman, who turned 92 this week, broke one world record and
two national records at the 2019 USATF New England Open and Masters
Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Worcester last weekend.
“I eat candy, cookies, and ice cream almost every
day, so moving, period, whether it’s gardening or shov-
eling snow, or whatever you’re doing, you should be
active, because I’m certainly not a runner,” Hoffman
said.
Hoffman’s son and grandson signed her up to com-
pete because she moved faster than them when they
took a walk one day, she said.
Hoffman set three records for female runners be-
tween 90 and 94 years old, according to USATF. She
ran the 400-meter dash in two minutes and 44.25 sec-
onds, besting the previous world record by over two
seconds. Hoffman set the national record for the 200-
meter dash, running it in 56.33 seconds. She took
24.19 seconds to sprint 100 meters, which beat her
previous national record of 24.22 seconds.
“I just knew that getting a world record was a terrif-ic achievement for me, because, as I say, I’m not a runner,” Hoffman said. “I
competed against records and not anybody there because anybody over 90
isn’t around to compete with me. I was elated and thought, ‘My goodness
gracious.’ ”
Hoffman said the crowd went wild for her. She stood out as the oldest
woman on the track by 30 years.
Hoffman, a former dancer, is an accomplished tennis player. She was in-
ducted into the US Tennis Association’s New England
Hall of Fame in 2011. Hoffman plays tennis four or
five times a week and tried to squeeze in some running
training while she played.
“I ran a few times on the grass once or twice a week,
just a little bit to run up a few courts,” Hoffman said. “I
had some good advice. People said stretch and do this
and that.”
Hoffman said she will run the race next year if her
son wants her to and she is “still on this side of the
grass.”
“I’m very blessed. The good Lord gave me legs and
good health. What can I say?” she said.Alyssa Lukpat can be reached at
[email protected]. Follow her on Twitter
@AlyssaLukpat.At 91, the track records fall
AROUND THE REGION
BOSTON
Paneltostudylicensesof
non-UStraineddoctors
With an eye on improving and expanding health
care services offered in rural and otherwise un-
derserved areas, a commission established in
this year’s state budget will dive into issues sur-
rounding the licensing process for medical pro-
fessionals trained in other countries. One of the
more than 100 outside sections in the $43.3 bil-
lion budget Governor Charlie Baker signed into
law on Wednesday creates a 23-member com-
mission of government and health care officials,
giving them just under two years to report on
“strategies to integrate foreign-trained medical
professionals into rural and underserved areas in
need of medical services.” The commission’s rec-
ommendations and any proposed legislation to
carry them out are due to be filed with the Legis-
lature by July 1, 2021. The panel will be specifi-
cally tasked with making recommendations
around licensing regulations that may pose “un-
necessary barriers to practice” for foreign profes-
sionals; changes to the state’s licensing require-
ments; and opportunities to advocate for corre-
sponding changes at the national level. (SHNS)CONCORD, N.H.
Ex-aidetoTrumpeyes
challengetoShaheen
Corey Lewandowski, the New Hampshire resi-
dent who served as the campaign manager for
most of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential cam-
paign, said Thursday he is considering a run for
the US Senate next year against the incumbent,
Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. “Jeannie Shaheen has
failed the people of New Hampshire by voting in
lock step with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi,”
Lewandowski said in a statement to the Globe.
“The people of New Hampshire deserve better. If I
run, I would be a voice for all the people of New
Hampshire.” Shaheen is the first woman in US
history to serve as governor and senator. Her ap-
proval rating in most surveys is above 50 percent.
“Corey Lewandowski is a craven lobbyist who has
been credibly accused of assault many times and
is chomping at the bit to strip away Granite
Staters’ health care,” said a statement from the
New Hampshire Democratic Party. If he enters
the race, Lewandowski would join a Republican
primary that includes retired Brigadier General
Donald Bolduc and former state House speaker
Bill O’Brien, a conservative firebrand.NEWPORT, R.I.
Firstfemalepresidentof
warcollegetakesoffice
The first female leader of the Naval War College
has officially assumed command of the school.
Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield became the
57th president Thursday. Chatfield, a helicopter
pilot, previously led a military command in
Guam. She has said she’s humbled by her selec-
tion as college president and looks forward to
serving. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer has
called her a ‘‘historic choice.’’ (AP)WILMINGTON, VT.
Residentwithcrossbow
killsbearathouse
A game warden says a homeowner used a cross-
bow to shoot and kill a 2-year-old black bear as it
was trying to enter his house. Warden Lieuten-
ant Dennis Amsden said the female bear had al-
ready been inside the home the same day, July
20, while the homeowners were away. (AP)POLICE BLOTTER
RLEFTINHOTCARA 30-year-old Quincy
woman was arrested Tuesday for allegedly leav-
ing her dog in a car as the city experienced ex-
treme heat, Quincy police said. Corinna Co-
chrane was arrested around 2 p.m. at a parking
lot at a shopping plaza in Quincy Center, after a
passerby noticed her dog locked in the car, Quin-
cy Detective Sergeant Karyn Barkas said. “Ani-
mal Control observed a black and tan German
shepherd inside the vehicle panting heavily. They
were able to remove the dog from the vehicle and
provided the dog water. Animal Control took
possession of the animal and brought it to an an-
imal shelter,” Barkas said. The caller said the dog
was locked in the car for about 15 minutes before
she called. The windows were rolled down, Bar-
kas said. An officer waited by the vehicle for 20
minutes before Cochrane got back to her car.
“She said she had only been gone for five min-
utes and the officer explained to her that he had
been there for a minimum of 10 minutes, and
she said she must have lost track of time,” Barkas
said. The temperature in Quincy around 2 p.m.Tuesday was 94 degrees, according to the Na-
tional Weather Service. It is against Massachu-
setts law to lock a dog in a car in hot weather. Co-
chrane was arraigned in Quincy District Court
on Wednesday on one count of animal cruelty,
police said. The dog was returned to Cochrane.RBUSCRASHTwenty-one people, including
17 children, were injured Thursday after a crash
involving a school bus, dump truck, and pickup
truck in Salem, N.H., Salem police and firefight-
ers said. The crash happened at 10:13 a.m. on
North Broadway after a dump truck started a
“chain-reaction accident,” said Salem Deputy
Chief Joel Dolan. The Little Sprouts summer
camp program said the bus was on a field trip to
a bowling alley. The camp serves children ages 7
to 12, said Amanda Goodwin, a Little Sprouts
spokesperson. Photos from the scene show a
dump truck smashed into the back of a pickup
truck. The front of the pickup truck was also
crushed. All of the injured were taken to Law-
rence General Hospital with non-life-threateninginjuries, police said.
RPOLICEPURSUITFour people wanted in the
theft of power tools from a Home Depot store in
Connecticut were arrested in Longmeadow on
Wednesday after a short police pursuit, Massa-
chusetts State Police said. Matthew Marauszwki,
28 and Brian Signor, 30, both of Pittsfield and
Luisa Alvarez, 37, and Jorge Carrasquillo, 36,
both of Springfield were caught around 10:
a.m. off an exit ramp along Interstate 91, State
Police said in a statement. Officers were looking
for their Acura sedan after it was reported the
four were wanted in the theft of power tools
from a Home Depot in Enfield, Conn., police
said. “[T]he Acura led [Trooper Jonathan
Blanchard] on a short pursuit where it finally
stopped without incident off Exit 6,’’ the state-
ment said. “A subsequent search of the vehicle
yielded multiple power tools sealed in their origi-
nal packaging. Trooper Blanchard also located
drug paraphernalia suspected to be used for
smoking crack cocaine,” the statement said.‘It’sreallyhardtotalk
aboutthis.It’sveryhardto
sleepatnight.’
— DARTANYAN GASANOV,who owned
Westfield Transport, the former employer of
the truck driver involved in the New
Hampshire crash last month that killed a
group of motorcyclists. The driver, Volodymyr
Zhukovskyy, was high on drugs at the time,
according to a federal inspection report.
CALEDONIAN-RECORD VIA AP
QUOTE OF THE DAY
GET SMART
GLOBE STAFF
A new study has found that methane
leaks in several Northeast cities, including
Boston, are responsible for as much as twice
the emissions of the powerful greenhouse
gas as previously thought, as the Globe re-
ported on Thursday. Environmental advo-
cates said the study, which included re-
searchers from Harvard University, was a re-
minder that states and utilities must
redouble their efforts to repair leaks.
Here is a refresher on methane and its
impact.
Whatismethane?
Methane is the principal component of
natural gas. A significant source of human-
made methane emissions is fossil fuel pro-
duction. For example, methane is a key by-
product of the rapidly increasing global ex-
traction and processing of natural gas. But
biological sources, including wetlands and
livestock, have also been implicated, as have
decomposing waste in landfills.
Whyshouldwebeworriedaboutit?
Methane is a short-lived but potent
greenhouse gas that, along with carbon di-
oxide, is considered a main driver of global
warming, scientists have concluded. If
methane leaks into the air before being used
— from a leaky pipe, for example — it ab-
sorbs the sun’s heat, warming the atmo-
sphere. For the first 20 years after its release
into the atmosphere, it is about 86 times as
powerful as carbon dioxide at trapping heat.
Howcanmethaneemissionsbecurbed?
In 2016, the Environmental Protection
Agency finalized the first national rule to di-
rectly limit methane emissions from oil and
gas operations. But such standards have
been under attack from the Trump adminis-
tration, which in 2017 ended a requirement
that oil and gas producers report methane
emissions. In Massachusetts, lawmakers last
year required utilities to accelerate their ef-
forts to repair more than 16,000 leaks in the
state’s aging pipelines. The law also required
utilities to expedite the patching of so-called
“superemitting”leaks,whichareresponsible
for a disproportionate amount of the emis-
sions.
OK,nowlet’sgettothecowburps(and
flatulence).
Cow flatulence contributes to global
warming. But cow burps are worse for the
climate, scientists say. Methane emissions
from cattle are belch-focused because the
gas is produced near the start of their diges-
tive system and comes up when they regur-
gitate their food to chew the cud. Research
is underway on methods to genetically mod-
ify cattle to produce less methane. Cargill,
the world’s largest supplier of ground beef,
recently announce a plan to cut methane in
its herds by focusing on cattle grazing, feed
production, reducing food waste, and inno-
vation.
Sources: News reports, Environmental
Defense Fund
When methane
is menacing
GETTY IMAGES/
The MetroMinute
Diane Hoffman set one world
record and two national records.CRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF
SHORE LEAVE —Dave Ackerknecht kept his sunglasses sort of dry as he ended his morning run by cooling off in the water at
M Street Beach in South Boston on Wednesday.