Fairpoint ordered to respond to Vermont complaint

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Fed-up regulators opened a probe Monday into whether to revoke FairPoint Communications' right to do business in Vermont, grilling its president about customer service problems and ordering the troubled telecommunications provider to respond to a state "show cause" petition within 30 days.

Obama to press for health care reform on N.H. visit

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — President Barack Obama is looking forward to making his case for health care reform Tuesday at Portsmouth High School in New Hampshire.

Melody Barnes, the president's domestic policy adviser, says Obama will explain to Seacoast residents what's at stake, and why it's important to move forward now.

Barnes said even those who have insurance understand the problem because health care premiums have doubled in 15 years, causing deductibles and co-payments to go up.

Blueberries stand up to damp Northeast summer

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The clouds that overstayed their welcome in New England for much of the summer parted on a recent afternoon at the Tougas Family Farm in Northborough, where visitors were plying rows of blueberry bushes for the ripest, plumpest, tastiest berries they could find.

Pam Frechette and her three children filled boxes provided by the farm — $2.99 a pound for less than 10 pounds, $1.89 if you pick 10 pounds or more — and she said the picking did seem as good or even better than in past years.

Public advocate wants FairPoint to hire expert

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - FairPoint Communications is preparing to go before regulators as it seeks to be relieved of more than $845,000 in penalties. Meanwhile, it's weighing a response to a request for the hiring of an outside consultant to review the telecom's back-office systems.

Maine's public advocate called for the hiring of an outside expert to scrutinize FairPoint's computer systems. North Carolina-based FairPoint already has a consultant to help integrate its systems.

US man charged 23 quadrillion dollars for smokes

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) - A New Hampshire man says he swiped his debit card at a gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes and was charged over 23 quadrillion dollars.

Josh Muszynski checked his account online a few hours after the purchase and saw the 17-digit number - a stunning $23,148,855,308,184,500 (twenty-three quadrillion, one hundred forty-eight trillion, eight hundred fifty-five billion, three hundred eight million, one hundred eighty-four thousand, five hundred dollars).

New England govs want stimulus funding for trains

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rail service across New England would be faster, include more stops and attract twice as many riders by 2030 under an improvement plan that regional governors have backed while seeking federal stimulus funding for the project.

Their plan integrates transportation projects across the region so the states can compete for some $8 billion in the federal stimulus funding that was set aside by President Barack Obama and Congress for high-speed and intercity rail projects.

Investigators probe Mass. boating accident

SALISBURY, Mass. (AP) — Authorities are investigating whether alcohol, speed or the weather were factors in a boating accident at the mouth of the Merrimack River that left a New Hampshire man missing.
The Essex district attorney's office has identified the missing man as 36-year-old Seth Coellner of Kensington, N.H. He was one of four men on the 37-foot recreational boat when it struck a jetty near Salisbury Beach at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
Dive teams have been searching for Coellner.

Appalachian Trail hiker carried out from N.H. peak

RANDOLPH, N.H. (AP) — An Indiana man who has been hiking the Appalachian Trail since April had to be carried off a New Hampshire mountain when knee pain prevented him from continuing.
New Hampshire Fish and Game Officer Adam Cheney said it took 16 rescuers about 5½ hours Thursday to carry 60-year-old Doug Johnson from a cabin on Mount Madison to U.S. Route 2 in Randolph.

American war vet honored with Spanish citizenship

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) - In 1937, John Hovan volunteered to travel to Spain and fight on the side of democracy against Gen. Francisco Franco's fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War.

Now, at age 93, he has been honored with Spanish citizenship for his service as a transport driver.

Spain's consul general in Boston visited Hovan's home Thursday so Hovan could sign the citizenship papers. Hovan said about 40 friends and family came to the signing. He will receive a Spanish passport in a few weeks, which he called a great honor.

NH tax evaders guilty on all weapons counts

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown were convicted Thursday of amassing weapons, explosives and booby traps and plotting to kill federal agents during a nine-month standoff in 2007 at their fort-like home in rural New Hampshire.

The couple, who do not recognize the federal government's authority to tax its citizens, held hands and looked straight ahead as the verdict was read. They refused to stand when the jury and judge left the courtroom.

Man accused fake gold chain scam in Conn., Maine

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) - Stamford police say they have traveled to Maine to arrest a 40-year-old man who sold counterfeit gold chains to jewelers in Connecticut, New York and Maine.

Forty-year-old Arthur Katanov was taken into custody this week in Wiscasset, Maine, on larceny and conspiracy charges after allegedly selling heavily gold-plated chains designed to deceive acid tests.

Police say that duped jewelers soon discovered they were sold fakes upon further testing. Among other things, police say that in February Katanov sold a chain for $1,100 in Stamford.

FairPoint reports progress in northern New England

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Troubled northern New England telephone company FairPoint Communications says it has fixed some billing and customer service problems in recent months, but has more to do in some other areas.

In a report to utility regulators in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, FairPoint says one improvement was cutting the waiting time for calls to its repair center. In March, a quarter of the callers hung up before getting through, and average waiting time was eight minutes. The company says hang-ups dropped to 6 percent in June and waiting time was under two minutes.

Over 100 arrests made at NH's Hampton Beach

HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) - Police said they made 103 arrests over the July Fourth weekend at New Hampshire's Hampton Beach.

Police Chief Jamie Sullivan described the holiday weekend as active, but not crazy, the Portsmouth Herald reported.

Sullivan said the department received more than 400 calls for service. In addition to arrests, the department responded to 11 accidents with the most significant one happening Friday night when a vehicle struck a pedestrian.

Relentless rains mean big Northeast mosquito crop

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - First came the rain. Buckets of rain. Three weeks of rain.

Now come the mosquitoes. Swarms of them. Millions of them.

The heavy June rains across the Northeast have left standing water in bird baths, clogged gutters and other places were mosquito larvae thrive. As a result, scientists are predicting a bumper crop of the bloodsucking insects in many areas.

Agent: NH tax evader was in his crosshairs

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A federal sharpshooter had tax evader Ed Brown's head in his crosshairs and was ready to pull the trigger during a failed attempt to arrest Brown at his rural New Hampshire home two years ago, the agent told a federal jury on Thursday.

3 victims of NH shooting remembered

CONWAY, N.H. (AP) - Three men who were gunned down during a botched robbery in a Conway, N.H., store two years ago are being remembered.

A granite memorial bench donated by the store owners is being dedicated to them Thursday.

On July 2, 2007, Michael Woodbury of Windham, Maine, walked into the Army Barracks store and shot manager Jimmy Walker of Fryeburg; William Jones of Walpole, Mass., and Gary Jones of Plymouth, Mass. Walker and William Jones were killed at the store. Gary Jones died that night.

N.H. man accused of assaulting boy under 2

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A Concord, N.H., man has been arrested on assault charges, accused of hurting a boy under the age of 2.

Police say 35-year-old Michael Clements lives with the child, but is not his father. He was arrested following two complaints alleging he assaulted the boy, who needed medical attention.

Testimony in FBI lawsuit begins

BOSTON (AP) - A former top associate of fugitive mobster James "Whitey" Bulger coolly detailed Bulger's role in multiple murders as testimony began Wednesday in wrongful death lawsuits brought against the FBI by families of three alleged victims.

The families of Deborah Hussey, Debra Davis and Louis Litif say the FBI is responsible for their deaths because it protected and failed to control Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, who were informants against the Mafia.

Mob underboss pleads guilty in Big Dig bribery case

BOSTON (AP) - The reputed underboss of the New England mob has pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in a plea deal that will send him to prison for six years.

Carmen "The Cheeseman" DiNunzio pleaded guilty Wednesday to bribing an undercover FBI agent posing as a state highway department official in an attempt to win a $6 million contract on the Big Dig highway project.

DiNunzio is expected to plead guilty next week to separate state gambling and extortion charges.

Elderly driver in fatal crash had been re-certified

BOSTON (AP) - An elderly driver involved in a fatal crash had previously lost his license and then been re-certified, suggesting a flurry of recent legislative proposals to require increased reviews for older operators may not be a cure-all.

FBI: Bank robbers may be linked to "U30" robberies

BOSTON (AP) - The FBI says two men captured by police after a bank robbery in Massachusetts may be connected to the so-called "U30" bank heists.

Seven banks west and south of Boston were robbed between March and June by a man dubbed the "U30 Bandit" because he was in and out of the banks in less than 30 seconds, apparently escaping in a waiting car.

FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz (Mar-sin-KA'-vich) said 32-year-old Dimitri Long, of Norwood, was caught leaving a Sovereign Bank in Needham following a robbery on Wednesday.

New FairPoint CEO seeks to avoid bankruptcy filing

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The new head of FairPoint Communications said Wednesday the company will have to make some big changes to get out of its financial pinch, but he's optimistic it won't have to file for bankruptcy reorganization.

In his first day on the job, David Hauser acknowledged that FairPoint's reputation has been damaged by operational problems it has had since it took over Verizon Communications Inc.'s landline telephone and Internet business in northern New England.

N.H. passes medical marijuana bill

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The Legislature voted Wednesday to make New Hampshire the 14th state to legalize marijuana for severely ill people, but Gov. John Lynch must decide whether to sign the measure.

Lynch, a Democrat, said he has not read the final bill, but he remains concerned about allowing marijuana cultivation and distribution to spread.

Student pleads in Craigslist killing