New Hampshire at 2 a.m.
The breaking news staffer for Northern New England is Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H. to be followed by Wilson Ring in Vermont at 3 p.m.
The breaking news staffer/Concord bureau and Northern New England Correspondent Rik Stevens can be reached at 603-224-3327.
The breaking news staffer after 3 p.m. can be reached at 802-229-0577.
New England News Editor Cara Rubinsky can be reached at 617-357-8100.
For technical problems, please call (800) 882-1408.
To reach the photo department, call 617-357-8106. AP stories, along with the photos that accompany them, can also be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. Reruns also are available from customer support at 877-836-9477. The e-mail address for member contributions is [email protected]
TOP STORIES:
TUITION IMMIGRATION
CONCORD — University System of New Hampshire college students who entered the U.S. illegally would get in-state tuition if they met certain requirements under a bill passed Wednesday by the House. The House voted 188-155 to pass the bill, which treats the immigrants like residents. The Senate next takes up the bill. By Norma Love. SENT: 530 words.
CONGRESS-GARCIA
CONCORD — Two months after she started running, Republican state Rep. Marilinda Garcia has formally announced her campaign for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District. Garcia, who is in her fourth term representing Salem, joins former state Sen. Gary Lambert in seeking the GOP nomination for the chance to take on U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, a Democrat elected in 2012. By Holly Ramer. SENT: 300 words, photos.
WINTER WEATHER
BOSTON — Snow blowers whirred and shovels scraped across sidewalks Wednesday as the Northeast started cleaning up from a winter storm that swirled up the coast, creating blizzard conditions on Cape Cod, disrupting government work in Washington and leaving behind bitter cold that sapped fuel supplies. The storm stretched from Kentucky to New England but hit hardest along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston. By Bob Salsberg. SENT, 915 words, photos.
AROUND THE STATE:
GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS
CONCORD — New Hampshire’s House has killed a bill requiring genetically modified foods to be labeled. Supporters argued New Hampshire residents have a right to know whether their food is produced with genetic engineering, but critics said the federal Food and Drug Administration has not mandated the labeling because it determined the foods are safe. SENT: 290 words.
NORTHERN PASS
CONCORD — New Hampshire’s House gave preliminary approval Wednesday to putting limits on energy projects like the 187-mile transmission line Northern Pass proposes building through the northern part of the state to import hydro power from Canada. The House voted 171-139 to direct the state’s site evaluation committee to give preference in issuing permits to privately funded energy projects like Northern Pass if they bury their transmission lines. The House referred the bill to the Ways and Means Committee for review before taking a final vote. SENT: 290 words.
UNH-ANONYMOUS DONATION
DURHAM — The University of New Hampshire’s Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention Program has received an anonymous donation of $162,000 to be used to help male victims of abuse. SENT: 140 words.
MANCHESTER-POLICE
MANCHESTER — The police chief in Manchester, N.H., is asking for more money to hire more officers to fight the city’s growing drug-related arrests. Chief David Mara and Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas say heroin addicts have helped fuel a 24 percent increase in crimes, such as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. They said last year, 736 violent crimes were reported, compared to 593 in 2012. SENT: 160 words.
IN BRIEF:
— EXECUTIVE COUNCILOR-PRIMARY — The final tally in Tuesday night’s Republican primary for the first district executive councilor’s seat shows Joe Kenney with 1,000 more votes than his nearest competitor.
— NH UNEMPLOYMENT — The New Hampshire Employment Security office says the state’s unemployment rate for December was 5.1 percent, unchanged from November.
— ANIMAL CRUELTY — New Hampshire’s House has postponed action on requiring people witnessing cruelty to livestock to report the incident or face a $250 fine.
— SOLDIERS RETURN — A group of 33 New Hampshire Army National Guard soldiers has returned home after a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan. Members of the 238th Medevac Company arrived on different commercial flights from Food Hood, Texas, throughout the day Monday.
— OFFICER-ASSAULT-NH — A Salem, N.H., police officer has been fired after being charged with assaulting a man during an arrest in October. Officer Joseph Freda was charged last week with two counts of simple assault stemming from the Oct. 6 arrest of 39-year-old Thomas Templeton. Freda is accused of striking Templeton in the head with a flashlight and stepping on his hand while Templeton was sitting on the ground, handcuffed.
— EMPLOYEE-THEFT — A Claremont, N.H., woman who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $600,000 from her employer has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison. Bonnie Johnson was a longtime administrative assistant at North Country Smokehouse in Claremont. She was accused of stealing the money starting in 2005 by using the company’s credit cards and bank accounts and endorsing checks with her boss’s personal signature stamp. Prosecutors say she spent the money on cars, jewelry and vacations.
— FUGITIVE ARRESTED — U.S. marshals have arrested a man in Manchester, N.H., who was being sought in connection with two armed robberies in Massachusetts. Members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force from both states arrested 29-year-old Jeffrey Leonard on Tuesday. He was wanted by both the Yarmouth and Dennis, Mass., police departments on outstanding warrants for armed robbery with a firearm.
___
If you have stories of regional or statewide interest, please email them to [email protected]. If you have photos of regional or statewide interest, please send them to the AP state photo center in New York, 888-273-6867. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact AP Customer Support at [email protected] or 877-836-9477.
MARKETPLACE: Calling your attention to the Marketplace in AP Exchange, where you can find member-contributed content from New Hampshire and other states. The Marketplace is accessible on the left navigational pane of the AP Exchange home page, near the bottom. For both national and state, you can click “All” or search for content by topics such as education, politics and business.
