BOSTON

Contents of 1795 time capsule to be revealed in January

Officials in Massachusetts say they’ll reveal the contents of a time capsule dating to 1795 and believed placed by Samuel Adams and other Revolutionary War luminaries early next month.

The state and the Museum of Fine Arts say the contents of the capsule unearthed at the Statehouse in Boston will be unveiled on Jan. 6.

The small capsule is believed to contain items such as old coins, documents, newspapers and a metal plate owned by Paul Revere.

Officials believe some of the items likely deteriorated over time.

Originally made of cowhide, the capsule was believed to have been embedded in a cornerstone when construction on the state Capitol began in 1795. Adams was governor of Massachusetts at the time. The contents were shifted to a copper box in 1855.

NORTH HAMPTON, N.H.

Beer tour operator fights for vanity license plates

A New Hampshire man who arranges tours of craft breweries is fighting the state to get vanity license plates that read “BREWBUS”, “GROWLER” or “NHBEER.”

David Adams, owner of Granite State Growler Tours, already has a plate that reads “BEERBUS” on the vehicle he uses to drive his customers around. But when he went to get a vanity plate for a second van, he was denied because state rules ban all references to intoxicants on license plates.

According to the Portsmouth Herald state Sen. Nancy Stiles looked into the issue and says the rules will be reconsidered next month at a meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative rules.

“We are not endorsing illegal drugs or illegal activities,” Adams wrote to state officials in October. “I would simply like to promote my business on my company vehicle, which is also the main focus of my business. My license plates are advertising, something people on the street remember and comment on. It’s been part of our identity for the past year and a half.”

HOPKINTON, Mass.

Toll collectors credited with helping save a man’s life

Two Massachusetts Turnpike toll collectors are being credited with helping save the life of a man who was unresponsive in a car at a toll plaza.

Peter Kusi tells The MetroWest Daily News he had just finished his shift at the Exit 11A plaza last Thursday when he heard someone yell, “Help! Help! Help!’ My friend is not breathing!”

While a colleague called 911, the 41-year-old Kusi pulled the unresponsive 21-year-old man from the car and began CPR. When Kusi tired, fellow toll collector Ricardo Arriago took over.

Kusi says the man opened his eyes and had a pulse when he left in an ambulance. Hopkinton Fire Chief Ken Clark says paramedics treated the unidentified man for a possible drug overdose.

James Massenburg, a senior toll collector, says Kusi and Arriago helped saved a life.

WOBURN, Mass.

Lowell man gets 18 years in prison for fatal stabbings

A Lowell man has been sentenced to up to 18 years in prison for fatally stabbing two women during a dispute over $80 worth of cocaine.

Edwin Nunez was sentenced in Middlesex Superior Court after he was found guilty of two counts of manslaughter in the July 2010 killings of 47-year-old Deborah Souza and 30-year-old Keyla Betancourt, both of Lowell.

Prosecutors say Nunez went to the women’s apartment during the dispute and repeatedly stabbed them.

Nunez was also stabbed and sought treatment at the hospital while leaving the victims to die.

The Sun reports that Nunez’s sentence exceeded guidelines as the judge cited the “brutality” of the deaths.

Nunez’s lawyer asked for a lighter sentence, saying his client has changed in the four years he’s spent jailed awaiting trial.

NEWPORT, R.I.

Church will commemorate 1953 Kennedy wedding

The Rhode Island church where John Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier married in 1953 will be commemorating the wedding.

The Newport Daily News reports that a presentation highlighting the wedding, titled “A Return to Camelot: A Remembrance of Jackie and JFK’s Wedding Day” is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at St. Mary’s Church.

Film of the wedding and the reception at Hammersmith Farm will be featured. Photographs with the initial viewing of a first-person film collection of the wedding by Bouvier’s stepbrother, Yusha Auchincloss also will be displayed.

CONCORD, N.H.

Ski resorts hope long break will make up for rainy days

New Hampshire ski areas hope long school vacations will help counteract the rain and unseasonably warm weather they’re dealing with this week.

Jessyca Keller, executive director of Ski New Hampshire, says the recent rain isn’t ideal, but next week should be big for ski areas that rely on Christmas vacation as major revenue drivers. She told the Concord Monitor that the Thanksgiving snowstorm and a series of shorter cold snaps have helped keep snowmaking operations steady.

“There were some good stretches of cold weather perfect for snowmaking,” she said. “We were able to get a good base, and if we do get rain, I think the snow will hold up.”

With Christmas and New Year’s Day falling on Thursdays, many school districts stretched vacation from before Christmas to Jan. 5. Ski areas hope that means an extra few days for skiing.

More than 2.5 million people visited New Hampshire resorts last winter. And this winter has barely begun, noted Bill Quigley, spokesman for Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford.

“Everything we get up until the beginning of winter is nice. We’ve got a lot of ski season left,” he said.

BOSTON

Police officer forgives man who fired a bullet at him

A Boston police officer who says he felt the heat and heard the whistle of a bullet fired by a fleeing suspect as it narrowly missed his head offered forgiveness to his assailant in court.

The officer, whose name was not made public, said in a statement read in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday, that “I’m willing to personally forgive,” the man who tried to kill him in July 2013.

The shooter, 23-year-old Paul Eric Louis-Jeune, of Braintree, was sentenced to up to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including armed assault with intent to murder.

Police were chasing the suspected drug dealer when Louis-Jeune shot at a pursuing officer from 10 feet away. Louis-Jeune was then struck by a bullet fired by another officer.

MANCHESTER, N.H.

Wal-Mart shopper tackles suspected wallet thief

A New Hampshire woman will have a merrier Christmas after police say a fellow Wal-Mart shopper tackled a man who stole a wallet from her purse.

Manchester police say 51-year-old Rhonda Healey was perusing holiday cards Tuesday when a man took a wallet from the purse she had placed in the child seat of her shopping cart.

The woman noticed the theft and yelled for someone to stop the man.

Forty-five-year-old Richard White answered her distress call, grabbing the suspect’s arm and pinning him to the ground.

Police charged 24-year-old Alan White – who they say is homeless – with theft by unauthorized taking. They also charged him with lying about his identity. It was unclear whether he has a lawyer.

BETHLEHEM, N.H.

Post office’s old machine gets its annual workout

An old piece of postal equipment in northern New Hampshire is getting a workout from people who want their Christmas cards marked as coming from the little town of Bethlehem.

Postmaster Brian Thompson tells New Hampshire Public Radio that the office’s stamp-canceling machine has been around since the 1950s. The U.S. Postal Service discontinued the use of such hand-fed machines years ago but allows Bethlehem to use its machine each December.

The town has about 2,500 residents. It handles 50,000 pieces of mail in the month of December.

— From news service reports

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