R.I. Audubon receives $2.6M

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The Audubon Society of Rhode Island has received a $2.6 million donation from the estate of a former art professor from Connecticut who created and collected sculptures and paintings.

The donation from the estate of Edith C. Becker, a Connecticut native who taught art at Rhode Island College, is the largest gift ever given to the society by an individual.

The gift will be used to help finance the Alfred L. and Marie I. Hawkes Legacy Circle, a new planned-giving program intended to assist those who want to leave portions of their estates to the Audubon Society.

“Certainly the amount is the largest gift we’ve gotten from an individual in our entire history,” said Lawrence J.F. Taft, the society’s executive director.

Police investigate murder-suicide

YARMOUTH (AP) – Maine State Police are investigating the apparent murder-suicide of a middle-aged couple who were found lying in their driveway Sunday morning.

The man and woman were found by a jogger shortly after 7 a.m., said Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.

Detectives believe the couple were shot to death on Saturday night, McCausland said. A handgun was found near the bodies.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday at the medical examiner’s office, McCausland said. The names were being withheld pending notification of relatives.

N.H. road rage involves pitchfork

ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – Police are investigating a road rage incident involving a hammer and a pitchfork Friday.

Police said an argument developed on Winter Street between the occupants of two vehicles over one of them blocking a lane. One man retrieved a hammer from his car and the other grabbed a pitchfork from a nearby residence. The subjects broke the rear windows of each other’s cars, and one person was hit with the pitchfork. Police say they don’t know the extent of the man’s injuries but no one was taken to the hospital. Police said they will not identify the people involved until the investigation is complete.