BOSTON

Marathon bombing suspect will be allowed jury records

A federal judge has granted a request from Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for jury records for Massachusetts federal courts over the past three years.

Tsarnaev’s lawyers asked for the records to determine whether a plan adopted in 2009 has corrected racial imbalances on juries. The changes followed a court challenge from two black defendants who said black citizens were underrepresented because they lived in neighborhoods where courts often didn’t have current addresses for residents.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Dole gets honorary degree from UNH law school

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Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has been presented with an honorary degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

Dean John Broderick and New Hampshire’s two senators, Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen, presented the degree to Dole on Thursday in Washington to recognize his work as an advocate for veterans and disability rights.

Dole has worked with UNH Law to establish the Robert J. Dole Veteran Fellowship at the school’s Law’s Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy to fund the legal education of veterans committed to public service.

Dole and Rudman were colleagues in the U.S. Senate for more than a decade.

RUTLAND, Vt.

Bed bug infestation leads to $450,000 settlement

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A Rutland couple who claimed their home was made uninhabitable after it was sprayed for bed bugs with a banned pesticide has reached a $450,000 settlement with the Vermont agency that hired the exterminator.

Neil and Patricia Whitney agreed last week to end their federal lawsuit against the state Department for Children and Families, the state Agency of Human Services and a number of others.

“When it’s all said and done, this will allow them to start their life over with a little cushion,” said Karl Anderson, the Whitneys’ attorney, told the Rutland Herald. “It’s been a difficult last few years for them.”

The Whitneys maintain their home became unlivable after it was sprayed in April 2013 with a banned pesticide to kill bed bugs that were brought into their home by a ward of the state.

The exterminator, who was not named in the lawsuit, was hired and paid by DCF after earlier attempts to rid the home of bed bugs failed.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.

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College selling a $1 house, but owner has to move it

Smith College is selling an on-campus house for $1 – but there is a catch.

The buyer must pay to have the house moved off the Northampton, Massachusetts, campus, and that is expected to cost about $70,000. That doesn’t even include the cost of a plot of land to move the house to, or the cost of hooking up the water, electricity and other utilities.

A school official said the 2,332-square-foot structure built in 1860 was used as rental housing for faculty until the college decided to build new apartment-style student housing in its place.

Reportedly, the four-bedroom house is in pristine condition.

—From news service reports


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