MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) -- Authorities looking for the cause of an explosion that killed five people at a power plant under construction launched a criminal investigation Monday, saying they could not rule out criminal negligence as the cause. "If everything went right, we wouldn't all be here right now," Middletown Mayor Sebastian Guiliano said.   Full Story

RUTLAND (AP) -- A man accused in the 2008 slaying of a Castleton State College professor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Monday, admitting he bludgeoned her with a frying pan in a fight overheard by neighbors. David C. Denny, 42, of Poultney, withdrew his previous plea of not guilty under an agreement with prosecutors that calls for a prison term of 22 years to life.   Full Story

BURLINGTON (AP) -- A Vermont man has been sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for transporting child pornography over the Internet in what the judge called one of the most egregious cases of child pornography he’s ever seen. Sixty-two-year-old John Perry Ryan pleaded guilty to six counts in June in a plea deal that included 2006 charges of transporting a photo of an adult male   Full Story

MONTPELIER (AP) -- The Vermont Attorney General’s office says Dollar Tree Stores is going to pay $100,000 in civil penalties and costs to settle a complaint it sold in the state jewelry containing high amounts of lead and cadmium. The issue followed reports in late 2007 that certain items of jewelry at Vermont Dollar Tree contained high levels of the two metals.   Full Story

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Both Democrats running for governor and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, an independent candidate, will publicly pledge to sign a gay marriage bill if elected, gay rights activists said Monday. Attorney General Patrick Lynch and General Treasurer Frank Caprio, the Democrats, and Chafee have been invited to make their promise public at a Statehouse rally scheduled for March   Full Story

MONTPELIER, (AP) -- Legislative budget writers are hearing from providers and recipients of human services programs in Vermont that Gov. Jim Douglas’ proposed budget cuts would be penny-wise and pound-foolish. The House and Senate Appropriations Committee took testimony Monday evening in a hearing conducted via Vermont Interactive Television, with people testifying from VIT studios   Full Story

MONTPELIER (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes of New Hampshire plans to introduce legislation in Congress to give states that could be affected by neighboring nuclear power plants more authority over them. Hodes, a Democrat who is running for the U.S. Senate, made the comment after crossing the Connecticut River on Monday to tour Vermont Yankee, which has been found to be leaking radioactive   Full Story

BOSTON -- The amended Wind Siting Reform Act has been passed by the state Senate and is now headed to the House. According to state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, the bill that passed by a voice vote Thursday gives more power to local communities to shoot down a proposed project than Gov.   Full Story

UVM trustees mull tuition hike BURLINGTON (AP) -- A student leader at the University of Vermont says students have reached a tipping point and can’t abide more tuition and fee increases. Katherine Ash, vice president of the Student Government Association, spoke at a trustees meeting Friday.   Full Story

BOSTON (AP) -- The state’s highest court Friday overturned the conviction of a man accused of sending sexually graphic instant messages to a 13-year-old girl, ruling that such messages aren’t banned by Massachusetts law. Matt Zubiel of Beverly was arrested in 2006 after driving to Marshfield to meet up with the girl, who really was a Plymouth County Deputy Sheriff, authorities   Full Story

Tritium levels skyrocket again at Vermont Yankee MONTPELIER (AP) -- The Vermont Department of Health says levels of radioactive tritium in groundwater samples taken at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant are up again -- and that it has turned up in a sump pit at the plant at 2.7 million picocuries per liter.   Full Story

Thursday February 4, 2010 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Departing Sen. Paul Kirk is urging lawmakers to put partisan politics aside and press ahead with efforts to overhaul the nation’s health care system. The Massachusetts Democrat on Thursday made his final speech on the Senate floor shortly before Republican Scott Brown was to be sworn in to the late Sen.   Full Story

Thursday February 4, 2010 MONTPELIER (AP) -- A college student sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday and told lawmakers Vermont needs to do its part to "help end one of the worst atrocities in the world today." Courtney Gabaree was speaking of human trafficking -- the trade in enslaved people both for sex and labor -- a world problem she argues does not bypass Vermont.   Full Story

Thursday February 4, 2010 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican Scott Brown took over the seat of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy on Thursday, vowing to be an independent voice in a bitterly divided Senate. "I can’t promise I will be right in every vote I make. ... I will do the very best job I can," Brown told reporters.   Full Story

Thursday February 4, 2010 NEW YORK (AP) -- A top Federal Reserve official said Thursday he’s worried about the weakness of the economic recovery but doesn’t think the economy will slip into another recession. William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said in an interview with The Associated Press: "I think we do have a sustainable economic recovery.   Full Story