BOSTON

Fishermen to demonstrate for saving fishing industry

Additional Photos

A lion eats prime steak at Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Mass., Thursday. After a transformer fire knocked out power to Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, the Capital Grille steakhouse, which was affected by the outage, donated 2,500 pounds of meat worth $20,000 to the zoo. The Associated Press/The Telegram & Gazette

Fishermen from California to New England plan to rally in Washington next week with an election-year message to Congress that helping the fishing industry saves jobs.

Organizers expect at least 5,000 commercial and recreational fishermen and lawmakers to join them for Wednesday’s rally next to the U.S. Capitol.

The fishermen argue flawed and outdated science is forcing cutbacks that are killing fishing jobs. They’re pushing Congress to act on bills that would demand better science and more flexibility to meet tough federal requirements for fish recovery.

A similar rally was held in Washington two years ago. Organizers at the New Jersey-based Recreational Fishing Alliance say they’re sensing increasing support from lawmakers, and they say they urgently need the help.

Lottery player gets lucky, wins $1,000 a day for life

A lottery ticket sold in Massachusetts is going to bring the lucky winner $1,000 a day for life.

The as-yet-unidentified winner is the first person to hit it rich in the new multi-state “Lucky for Life” game. The game is the first to be played in all six New England states.

Lottery officials say the top prize-winning ticket sold at Myette’s Country Store in Hanover matched all six numbers drawn — 1-2-6-10-19, Lucky Ball 15.

Two tickets in Thursday’s drawing won $25,000 for matching the first five numbers. Those tickets were also sold in Massachusetts.

The $2 lottery tickets are on sale in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

MENDON, Mass.

Transformer fire turns into stroke of luck for zoo’s cats

The transformer fire that knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in Boston turned out to be a stroke of delicious luck for the big cats at a Massachusetts zoo.

The Capital Grille donated 2,500 pounds of steak worth $20,000 to Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon after the restaurant lost power Tuesday and the prime cuts of meat were no longer fit for human consumption even though they were kept in a refrigerated truck.

The zoo’s two Bengal tigers, an African lion and a leopard dined like kings Thursday. And there are enough leftovers to feed the cats for weeks to come.

About 21,000 customers lost power after the fire. Almost all customers were back online by Friday.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.

Man charged with punching, biting ear of youth coach

A Springfield, Mass., man was ordered held without bail on charges that he punched and bit off part of a youth basketball coach’s ear after a game.

Thirty-four-year-old Timothy Forbes pleaded not guilty to charges including felony assault and mayhem in the March 9 attack on Jose Feliciano. Prosecutors said Forbes attacked Feliciano, whose team had just defeated his child’s team, as players shook hands on the court.

The Springfield Republican reported a prosecutor said at a dangerousness hearing Friday that Forbes is “capable of unprovoked savagery,” and said Forbes has a 1995 assault conviction that involved a handgun.

His defense attorney said Forbes is a good man caught up in a trend of youth sports violence. He asked that Forbes be allowed to live with his mother under electronic monitoring.

FALL RIVER, Mass.

Suspect held on charges including manslaughter

A 41-year-old Fall River man is being held on $100,000 bail on manslaughter and other charges in connection with the death of a woman who shared the same apartment.

Alejandro Delgado was arraigned Friday in Fall River District Court in the death of Reksmey Tieng. A not-guilty plea was entered for him. Prosecutors also charged him with witness intimidation and second-offense operating with a suspended license. Delgado is to return to court with a lawyer March 23.

Authorities said Delgado called 911 shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday from the apartment, saying the 28-year-old Tieng was not breathing. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital. An autopsy is scheduled.

The case remains under investigation and authorities did not provide details on the relationship between the two.

PEMBROKE, N.H.

Road-rage incident leads to accident on busy highway

New Hampshire State Police say a road-rage incident between a boyfriend and girlfriend led to an accident that temporarily closed down a busy Pembroke road.

Police said 24-year-old Travis Vachon, who was driving a car, reportedly threw an object at Bianca Roy’s car, cracking the windshield, then drove off Thursday. The 17-year-old Roy tried to catch up with him on Interstate 393 eastbound.

Witnesses said both cars were weaving in and out of traffic. After passing Exit 3, Roy tried to pass Vachon’s car on a curve and lost control, striking a metal guardrail and rolling several times.

Roy and a male passenger were both ejected and suffered minor injuries. There were no injuries to Vashon, a female passenger, or infant in his car.

MONTPELIER, Vt.

Plant needs to keep making payments, governor says

The administration of Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is arguing that if the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant continues operating, it needs to meet other obligations.

Those include payments to the state’s Clean Energy Development Fund, to which Vermont Yankee has been contributing between $4 million and $7 million in recent years.

The Department of Public Service said in papers filed Friday that those payments and other obligations are the conditions of the plant’s state license, which plant owner Entergy Corp. has argued remains in effect.

Entergy and the state have been engaged in a pitched legal battle over Vermont’s efforts to close the plant. A federal judge ruled in January that the Legislature had overstepped its bounds in trying to get Vermont Yankee to close down.

– From news service reports

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