Feds report fewer workplace deaths in New England

BOSTON (AP) - A federal agency says 136 people died in New England from work-related injuries last year, 27 fewer than in the previous year and the lowest number since it began compiling the statistics in 1992.

The 2008 preliminary figures were released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The two New England states with the largest workforces - Massachusetts and Connecticut - accounted for two-thirds of the region's occupational deaths in 2008.

Warming drives off Cape Cod's namesake, other fish

PORTLAND (AP) — Fishermen have known for years that they've had to steam farther and farther from shore to find the cod, haddock and winter flounder that typically fill dinner plates in New England.

A new federal study documenting the warming waters of the North Atlantic confirms that they're right — and that the typical meal could eventually change to the Atlantic croaker, red hake and summer flounder normally found to the south.

2-year-old's dad held pending extradition to Maine

ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A 38-year-old Maine man who allegedly abducted his 2-year-old daughter and triggered the state's first Amber Alert is being held without bail in New Hampshire pending his extradition to Maine.

Gary Traynham of Kennebunk, Maine, was arrested in Milton, N.H., on Tuesday after a hunter found Traynham and his daughter in a green pickup truck.

An Amber Alert was issued Monday after police said Traynham assaulted the girl's mother — his estranged girlfriend — and fled in a stolen pickup truck.

New England shrimp season set at 180 days

PORTLAND (AP) — Fishery regulators have approved a 180-day northern shrimp season for New England fishermen.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's shrimp committee, meeting in Portland on Thursday, approved a season that will run from Dec. 1 through May 29, the same dates as last year's season.

Scientists say the resource is in good shape, but there are concerns about what sort of market there is for the small, sweet shrimp.

Hikers in N.H. must be prepared — or pay for rescue

 

 

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Stranded with a sprained ankle on a snow-covered mountain, Eagle Scout Scott Mason put his survival skills to work by sleeping in the crevice of a boulder and jump-starting evergreen fires with hand sanitizer gel.

He put plastic bags inside his boots to keep his feet dry as he sloshed through mountain runoff hidden beneath waist-deep snow. After three cold days last April, rescue crews spotted him hiking toward the summit of Mount Washington, the Northeast's highest mountain.

Bats reintroduced into Vermont caves hit by fungus

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Wildlife biologists studying a mysterious fungus killing off hundreds of thousands of bats around America want to find out if they can repopulate caves decimated by the disease.

Researchers will introduce 79 healthy little brown bats to two hibernation sites in Vermont hit hard by the fungus, which may have killed as many as 500,000 bats in the eastern United States over several winters.

FairPoint phone company files for bankruptcy

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - FairPoint Communications Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday barely 18 months after becoming northern New England's dominant telecommunications company, fulfilling critics' predictions that the company wasn't up to the task.

The company said it voluntarily filed for bankruptcy after agreeing on a deal with key lenders that will help lower its debt by about 62 percent.

Maine man arrested in NH after 2 state chase

HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) - A 27-year-old Maine man could be facing charges in two states after a high-speed chase that police say left seven damaged cars in its wake.

Kyle Ellis of Portland was stopped just south of the Hampton, N.H., toll plaza late Saturday night after a state trooper forced his vehicle to spin out.

Police reports say Maine State Police troopers tried to stop the car on Interstate 95, but the car, later determined to be driven by Ellis, refused to stop.

FairPoint seeks concessions from union workers

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Saddled by crippling debt, FairPoint Communications Inc. is asking its union employees in northern New England for pay cuts and other concessions as it seeks to avert filing for bankruptcy.

FairPoint spokeswoman Rose Cummings says company and union officials representing about 3,000 workers have met regularly in recent months to discuss ways FairPoint can reduce costs. Another closed-door meeting was scheduled Thursday in Boston.

Monster v. Vermonster

MORRISVILLE, Vt. (AP) - Forget David and Goliath. This fight's between Matt and Monster.

The maker of Monster energy drinks has taken aim at a Vermont brewery that sells a beer called "The Vermonster," ordering it to stop selling, advertising and promoting the craft brew because it could confuse consumers.

The energy drink-maker, Hansen Beverage Co., wants tiny Rock Art Brewery to stop using the name "Vermonster" on the barley brew and to compensate it for its attorneys' fees.

3 regional colleges praised for sustainability

DURHAM, N.H. (AP) - Three northern New England colleges are among 26 receiving the highest score from a nonprofit group that rated schools on their sustainability efforts.

The University of New Hampshire, Middlebury College in Vermont and the College of the Atlantic in Maine all received A- scores on the Sustainable Endowments Institute's annual report card.

Gate splits border community, unites it in disdain

 

 

DERBY LINE, Vermont (AP) — For decades, the towns of Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec, have functioned as one community.

Located on either side of the border, they share a sewer system, emergency services, snowplowing duties and the border-straddling Haskell Free Library and Opera House, where a skinny black line across the hardwood floor of the reading room marks the international border running through the property.

FairPoint says customer service improving

 

 

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Under fire for its poor performance, the FairPoint Communications telephone company told Vermont regulators Thursday it has reduced wait times for consumers who contact call centers and has sharply cut the number who give up before they ever speak to an operator.

FairPoint misses deadline in Vermont

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - A day after its executives were grilled about customer service failures, FairPoint Communications said Thursday it would miss a deadline for responding to a complaint questioning its fitness to continue operating the region's dominant telephone network.

The company, which had been given a Sept. 10 deadline to explain why it should be allowed to keep its Vermont certificate of public good, filed for and received a one-week extension for formally responding to a "show cause" petition filed July 14 by the state Department of Public Service.

Man admits crawling into outhouse pit — again

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A Maine man caught peering up at a girl from below an outhouse toilet seat four years ago stands accused of crawling into another pit toilet on White Mountain National Forest property in New Hampshire.

A federal affidavit indicates 49-year-old Gary J. Moody of Pittson confessed to repeating his previous act on Memorial Day. Federal agents sought Moody out after a 9-year-old boy saw him climbing out of a toilet at the Hastings Campground. Two witnesses saw him walk away from the outhouse.

Study: Ocean waters off Northeast undergo changes

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A new report says the makeup of the ocean waters off the Northeast has been fundamentally altered because of climate change, heavy commercial fishing pressure and a growing population along the coast.

The 2009 Ecosystem Status Report says fish populations in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean have been moving from their traditional home grounds over the past four decades because of changes in the ocean ecosystem.

Businesses in 3 NH counties can get disaster loans

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The U.S. Small Business Administration is making disaster loans available to small businesses, small agriculture cooperatives and most private non-profits in three New Hampshire counties hit by floods in June.

The loans are available in Carroll, Rockingham and Strafford counties because they are contiguous to one or more Maine counties named in a disaster declaration. The New Hampshire counties border York, Cumberland and Oxford counties in Maine.

SJC: MA can't collect taxes on tires sold in NH

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts' highest court has ruled the state has no right to collect taxes from a retail chain that sold tires to Massachusetts residents in New Hampshire.

Massachusetts authorities said their case was narrowly focused, but others saw broader implications. Massachusetts recently raised its sales tax; New Hampshire has none.

Maine teen dies in NH ATV accident

FREEDOM, N.H. (AP) - A 19-year-old Maine man has died of injuries suffered when the All-Terrain Vehicle he was riding crashed into a tree in New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said Jason Phair of Gorham died early Monday at Conway Memorial Hospital.

FairPoint probe takes turn

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Regulators in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are looking into an allegation that FairPoint Communications faked its readiness to take over the region's dominant phone network from Verizon during a review by a consultant to the states, officials said Monday.

FairPoint has been hit with unprecedented numbers of consumer complaints ranging from billing errors and service order delays to long waits on call-in complaint lines since it took over Verizon's phone networks in the three states Feb. 1.

Mass. seeking stimulus money for high speed rail

BOSTON (AP) - The Patrick administration is submitting a first round of applications for federal stimulus money for two high speed rail projects.

The first is a $69 million rehabilitation of the existing Connecticut River rail line. When finished the Amtrak Vermonter service will be rerouted to this line providing restored access to Northampton and Greenfield. The money will help pay for final design and construction.

Boston FBI reaching out to Somali communities

BOSTON (AP) — The FBI is reaching out to Somali communities in New England after young men in Minnesota were recruited to travel to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants.

Warren Bamford, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the FBI is staying in close touch with Somali leaders in Boston and Lewiston, Maine, where there are large Somali populations.

Bamford said Tuesday there is no evidence of recruitment going on in the Northeast.

Hurricane Bill gathers strength out in Atlantic

 

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - The first hurricane of the Atlantic season loomed far out in the ocean Tuesday, gaining power and moving on a track that forecasters said could take it close to Bermuda by the end of the week.

Boston FBI reaching out to Somali communities

BOSTON (AP) - The FBI is reaching out to Somali communities in New England after young men in Minnesota were recruited to travel to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants.

Warren Bamford, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, tells The Associated Press the FBI is staying in close touch with Somali leaders in Boston and Lewiston, Maine, where there are large Somali populations.

Bamford said Tuesday there is no evidence of recruitment going on in the Northeast.

New tree tap adds weeks to syrup season