BOSTON

Owner of small airport sues Secret Service for damages

The owner of a small Massachusetts airport has sued the Secret Service for $676,000 for damage he says was caused by President Obama’s security detail last year.

Robert Stetson, owner of the private Marlboro Airport, filed suit Tuesday in federal court in Worcester.

Stetson said in his lawsuit that Secret Service vehicles damaged the airport’s runway and grass apron when the president’s helicopter landed there in April 2010. Obama was in Massachusetts to inspect severe flooding in the area. He said the helicopter caused no damage.

A Secret Service spokesman says the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Report: Prosecutors to seek new indictment of Greig

Federal prosecutors plan to seek a new indictment against the longtime girlfriend of former Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger.

That information was disclosed in a written status report prosecutors filed Wednesday in federal court, reviewed by The Associated Press.

Catherine Greig has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to harbor and conceal a fugitive for allegedly helping Bulger elude authorities in late 1994, just before he was indicted on racketeering charges. The couple was apprehended in Santa Monica, Calif., in June.

Greig’s lawyers and prosecutors are expected to present a status report to a judge in court today.

MONTPELIER, Vt.

Opponents of wind project camp out to halt blasting

Opponents of the 21-turbine wind power project planned for northern Vermont’s Lowell Mountain have begun an occupation designed to halt blasting for the project.

They say they’ve set up four tents at the invitation of neighboring property owners Don and Shirley Nelson of Albany, who have written to project developer Green Mountain Power’s CEO asking the company to ensure the campers’ safety.

GMP spokeswoman Dottie Schnure says the company will want to clear the area were the campers are when blasting crews approach, most likely in late fall or early winter. As to what might happen if they’re still there, she said the company would address that question when the time comes.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

VERGENNES, Vt.

Woman dies after struggle during attempted robbery

A knife-wielding woman who attacked an overnight convenience store clerk Wednesday during a robbery attempt died after a struggle with the man, authorities said.

Yemalla Sprauve, 34, approached the clerk at the Champlain Farms convenience store on Main Street in Vergennes with a large knife after 4 a.m., according to Vergennes police.

“It appears that he disarmed her and she went to the ground with him,” said Police Chief George Merkel. Police said a customer came in while the woman was subdued and called 911. Sprauve was pronounced dead on the way to Porter Hospital in Middlebury.

Merkel said it was not clear how the Vergennes resident died and that an autopsy was being performed.

Champlain Farms president David Simendinger said his employee was cut up and went to the hospital.

PROVIDENCE, R.I.

‘Survivor’ winner’s appeal to avoid taxes turned down

A federal appeals court has upheld a nine-month jail sentence for the winner of the first season of the CBS reality show “Survivor.”

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston last week rejected Richard Hatch’s claim that paying his back taxes would be “futile” or “impossible” given his Tax Court case. The decision was made public in U.S. District Court in Providence on Wednesday.

Hatch, 50, of Newport has been in prison since March for violating the terms of his supervised release by failing to settle his tax bill.

He spent more than three years in prison for not paying taxes on his $1 million “Survivor” winnings. He was released in 2009 and ordered to refile his 2000 and 2001 taxes and pay what he owed.

— From news service reports