Turnpike Katrina benefit garners more than $80,000

PORTLAND – Maine Turnpike drivers have donated $80,529.05 to the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund. Contributions were collected in orange buckets hung at all of the Maine Turnpike’s 10 toll plazas between Friday and Wednesday. According to Turnpike officials, $73,794.05 was collected in bills and coins. The checks totaled $6,735.

“It is amazing when you consider that the vast majority of the contributions collected were in the range of 50 cents or less,” said Turnpike Authority Executive Director Paul Violette. “The hands of many can carry great weight,” he said.

Violette said that most of the contributions came from the change Turnpike customers got back after paying tolls, usually less than a dollar. But some motorists dropped as much as $100 in the bucket, he said.

“We’re very proud and appreciative of the generosity of our customers,” Violette said.

Triple E spreading

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The state says signs of two mosquito-borne illnesses continue spreading in the state.

Health officials said they have found more birds and mosquito pools that tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis. The birds were in Alexandria and Meredith, in the Lakes Region. The pools were in Newton, Plaistow and Salem.

Meanwhile, eight more dead birds tested positive for West Nile virus, in Nashua, Plaistow, Londonderry, Hollis, Exeter and Pittsfield.

Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen said until that until there is a frost, people should protect themselves by wearing long sleeves and pants and using mosquito repellant.

Two charged in Hooksett robberies

HOOKSETT, N.H. (AP) – A man and woman from Massachusetts were in custody Thursday, charged with two armed robberies within minutes of each earlier in the day.

Police were responding to the first robbery at a gas station around 2:30 a.m. when they got the call on the second. In both cases, they say the victim was assaulted.

Two Hooksett officers tried to stop a car that matched the description of the getaway vehicle, and chased it south on Interstate 93 until it ran out of gas in Londonderry.

Charles Galatis, 34, of Boston, and Alicia Limoli, 27, whose hometown was not certain, face a variety of charges.

State parks system to be studied

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Gov. John Lynch is set to appoint members of a commission that will spend a year studying the state parks system.

The study is expected to begin this fall and will look into ways to pay for capital improvements to the system, its reliance on user fees and admission for its budget, and when it might be permissible to lease park property to private interests.

Lynch is expected to nominate eight people to the commission next week.

At least 70 families from Gulf Coast staying in N.H.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The Greater Manchester chapter of the Red Cross estimates about 70 families evacuated from the Gulf Coast region because of Hurricane Katrina are staying in New Hampshire.

Diane Becker, the group’s executive director, said Thursday that at least half of those families are staying in Manchester. Most arrived shortly after the storm, but others were still arriving, including four families that day.

Becker’s numbers are lower than the 128 families estimated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She said FEMA’s count is based on the number of people calling its hot line.

The Red Cross counts the number of families who have come in seeking assistance.