CONCORD, N.H.

Attorney wins Democratic primary for governor’s race

Attorney Maggie Hassan has won the Democratic primary for governor in New Hampshire and will face attorney Ovide Lamontagne in November.

Unofficial results showed her with about 55 percent of the vote to 37 percent for business professor Jackie Cilley. Cilley has conceded.

Democratic Gov. John Lynch is retiring, leaving the governor’s seat open for the first time in 10 years. New Hampshire is considered a swing state, though it veered conservative in the 2010 election, and both parties feel they have a good shot at the office.

One key difference between Cilley and Hassan was Cilley’s refusal to take New Hampshire’s traditional pledge to veto personal income and general sales tax. The state has neither.

Hassan took the pledge and said government can be adequately funded without either tax.

Inn owner Bill Kennedy was also a candidate.

MONTPELIER, Vt.

Vermont Yankee plant challenges state on taxes

The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant has filed a lawsuit against the state over taxes on the plant the Legislature passed this year.

Vermont Yankee already won a round in federal court over the state’s efforts to close it. That case is on appeal.

Now New Orleans-based plant owner Entergy Corp. is suing over a law increasing the plant’s annual tax bill from about $5 million to about $12.8 million. Backers of the increase say it was designed to make up for revenues lost to the state under agreements that ended on the plant’s originally scheduled shutdown date in March.

Gov. Peter Shumlin calls Entergy’s decision to challenge the tax “disappointing.” Entergy says the tax is unconstitutional.

The plant is in Vernon, in the southeast corner of the state. It’s near Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which receive power from it.

DARTMOUTH, Mass.

Teenager, youth arrested in alleged theft of 49 cows

Two people have been arrested in connection with the disappearance of 49 cows from a southeastern Massachusetts farm.

Dartmouth police on Monday say they arrested 19-year-old Jordan Rebello of New Bedford and a juvenile boy in connection with the Sept. 1 theft of the cows, 39 of which were located at a livestock auction in New Holland, Pa., the next day.

Both suspects charged with breaking and entering, larceny, and destruction of property.

The cows’ owner, Ahmed Mahmoud, said his landlord was involved.

Police said the theft was sparked by a financial dispute. Mahmoud tells The Herald News he does not owe anyone any money.

He says none of the cows has been returned and five had to be sent to slaughter because they were in such bad shape.

MILTON, Mass.

‘Mansion Pool Party’ draws 1,500 guests, and police

Police say the owner of a Milton mansion that was the site of a massive pool party attended by as many as 1,500 guests is facing charges for selling alcohol without a license.

Police say it took them almost two hours to break up the Sept. 1 party at the home of Steve Mathieu that was advertised on Twitter as the “Make It Nasty Mansion Pool Party,” and charged guests a $15 to $20 cover charge.

He also allegedly sold alcoholic drinks without a permit.

Police say the party was a public safety threat because an estimated 350 to 400 cars that clogged neighborhood streets and could have made it difficult for emergency vehicles to get through.

The party was billed as a “fundraiser.”

Mathieu could not be reached for comment.

GRISWOLD, Conn.

Snake-breeder finally gets permit to sell from house

A Griswold snake breeder has won a permit for his home-based business.

Randy LaPorte won a three-year permit Monday from the Planning and Zoning Commission to breed and sell nonpoisonous snakes in the basement of his house.

The Bulletin reports that snake hobbyists and professionals from New England packed the meeting to support LaPorte and provide information about LaPorte’s ball pythons and red-tail boas.

Following a complaint about odors, the building inspector ordered LaPorte in May to stop selling snakes.

Questions on Monday focused on what would happen if the snakes escaped.

Officials were told that snakes require temperatures and humidity similar to a muggy summer day and would not survive outside LaPorte’s climate-controlled basement.