BOSTON

Utilities asked to voluntarily extend no-shutoff season

Gov. Deval Patrick is asking the state’s electric and natural gas companies to extend the moratorium on winter utility shutoffs for low income residents by a month.

State regulations bar utilities from shutting off service for non-payment from November 15 through March 15 for low-income customers, including recipients of fuel assistance.

Patrick asked the utilities Tuesday to voluntarily extend that shutoff moratorium until April 16, citing the fiscal hardships facing some Massachusetts families.

Patrick is also announced an increase in fuel assistance for low-income residents, bringing the total allocation for heating aid to more than $153 million for the current fiscal year.

The increase brings the maximum fuel benefit per household to $1,095.

GOFFSTOWN, N.H.

White powder at school determined not hazardous

New Hampshire police say initial tests have determined that a white, powdery substance in an envelope opened by office staff at the Goffstown Middle School is not hazardous.

The school went under lockdown at about 2:30 p.m. – soon after the envelope was opened. School had not yet been dismissed and students were detained in the building until the lockdown was lifted at about 5 p.m.

A state hazardous materials unit was dispatched to the school to conduct tests and assess the situation.

Police believe the discovery may be linked to similar events at other schools across the country, including schools in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Texas.

MERRIMACK, N.H.

Driver injured in 2-car crash possibly caused by road rage

New Hampshire State Police say road rage may have caused a crash in Merrimack that sent one driver to the hospital.

It happened shortly after 11 a.m. Monday on the F.E. Everett Turnpike.

Authorities say the drivers of a Chevrolet Aveo and an Isuzu Rodeo may have been involved in a road rage incident. They say both vehicles ultimately lost control and crashed. The driver of the Isuzu was thrown from the vehicle. State police say he was airlifted to a hospital with possible life-threatening injuries. The driver of the other vehicle, 56-year-old Gregory Clark, of Northfield, N.H., was not hurt.

The turnpike was closed for several hours as state police investigated.

CONCORD, N.H.

Man serving life in killing of girlfriend commits suicide

New Hampshire State Prison officials say a man serving a life sentence for killing his girlfriend in 2002 has committed suicide.

Thirty-one-year-old Joseph Sawtell of Plaistow was found unresponsive in his cell Monday. Corrections and Concord Fire Department staff attempted to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful. An autopsy showed he died by hanging himself.

Sawtell, in prison since November 2003, was in a single-man cell in the prison’s special housing unit.

He was convicted of first-degree murder for shooting 19-year-old Crystal Sheehan. Police documents said Sawtell was annoyed when the couple’s baby son cried and demanded that Sheehan take the 2-month-old and leave. After shooting Sheehan, Sawtell turned the gun on himself and fired shots into his chest, but survived.

 

First Lady to visit community center as part of ‘Let’s Move’

First Lady Michelle Obama is visiting New Hampshire on Friday.

As part of her “Let’s Move!” initiative emphasizing healthy eating and increasing physical activity, Mrs. Obama is scheduled to visit the Penacook Community Center, a neighborhood nonprofit group in Concord. It has a child care center that helps children exercise before and after school and teaches them about healthy eating through use of a garden.

Mrs. Obama also is recognizing the Capital Area Wellness Coalition, which was created in 2009 by organizations working together to promote good nutrition and exercise.

Mrs. Obama will be joined by New Hampshire First Lady Susan Lynch, a pediatrician who has worked to increase awareness about childhood obesity.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.

500 people wait in cold to get limited-edition beer

Never mind that it was freezing – nearly 500 people waited outside a New Hampshire brewery to get a taste of a favorite beer that’s released just once a year.

Fans celebrated the release of Kate the Great Russian imperial stout on Monday. It was first brewed in 2005 at the Portsmouth Brewery and has received high marks in beer publications since.

Brewmaster Tod Mott brewed 14 barrels. Half was bottled and half was available for draft. Fans had to buy scratch tickets for a chance to buy a bottle. Those 15,000 tickets went on sale on Feb. 17 at $2 each and sold out quickly. Beer tasters at the brewery had about 3,000 servings.

By the end of the day, Kate was gone.

MONTPELIER, Vt.

Constitutional ‘personhood’ could be on over 60 agendas

More than 60 Vermont towns could end up considering a call for Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to ensure that corporations are not treated the same as people.

More than 50 Vermont communities had placed the “corporate personhood” issue on their Town Meeting agendas, but organizers say they expect the issue to be brought up during portions of other meetings set aside for new business.

Supporters want Congress to begin the process of amending the Constitution to overrule the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which, critics say, has unleashed huge amounts of unregulated money into the presidential election process.