Tuesday February 7, 2012 ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Leaders in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s own Democratic Party as well as his close Republican Senate ally on Tuesday accused the governor of a making a power grab in his budget proposal, saying he was trying to claim too much control over state spending. Democratic state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned in his budget analysis Tuesday that the   Full Story

Tuesday February 7, 2012 ESSEX (AP) -- A Vermont judge says the Essex police may get fingerprint from a suspect police believe broke into the home of a couple who disappeared in June. The suspect was required to appear at the police station on Jan. 12. Acting Police Chief Brad LaRose said the man is considered a suspect in the burglary of the home of William and Lorraine Currier in June.   Full Story

Tuesday February 7, 2012 BOSTON (AP) -- A proposed ballot question that would legalize the medicinal use of marijuana in Massachusetts is being bankrolled almost entirely by an Ohio billionaire who has backed similar efforts in other states. According to state campaign finance reports, Peter Lewis, chairman of the board of the auto insurer Progressive Corp.   Full Story

Monday February 6, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal judge on Monday rejected demands to eliminate toll increases imposed last summer at bridge and tunnel crossings in New York and New Jersey, saying lawyers had failed to back up claims that a bistate agency that raised them was using increased revenues for other projects including the new World Trade Center.   Full Story

Sunday February 5, 2012 BURLINGTON (AP) -- The Roman Catholic diocese of Vermont says it could be put out of business, and constitutional protections of religious freedom could be violated by a priest-abuse lawsuit. The Burlington Free Press cites papers filed by the diocese in U.S. District Court in Burlington.   Full Story

Sunday February 5, 2012 HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) -- An international team of researchers that includes two Quinnipiac University professors has received a financial boost to build an information database about mummies around the U.S. The inventory will include medical imaging of mummified human remains.   Full Story

Friday February 3, 2012 SOUTHWICK, Mass. (AP) -- Feral cats have become such a problem in Southwick that the select board has given the animal control officer the go-ahead to round them up. Animal Control Officer Tracy Root estimates there are as many as 50 feral cats in town. She says the felines are a nuisance and a health concern, and residents are fed up.   Full Story

Friday February 3, 2012 WASHINGTON (AP) -- An outbreak of bacterial infections on the East Coast illustrates the popularity of raw, unpasteurized milk despite strong warnings from public health officials about the potential danger. Even presidential candidate Ron Paul has joined the cause of consumers looking to buy unprocessed "real foods" straight from the farm, saying government   Full Story

Thursday February 2, 2012 CONCORD (AP) -- Voters in the Vermont town of Concord are going to be voting on whether to close their tiny high school. On Wednesday, the school approved asking townspeople to vote at the district’s annual meeting on whether to close Concord High School If approved, beginning in the fall the town would pay tuition so its high school students could   Full Story

Wednesday February 1, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) -- It’s one of the more colorful street gang names around: Six Tre Outlaw Gangsta Disciples Folk Nation -- or Folk Nation, for short. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn allege that a particularly violent faction of the gang was behind at least four murders, three attempted murders and other mayhem that harmed innocent bystanders and terrorized   Full Story

Wednesday February 1, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) -- They’ve bitten their handlers, refused to budge from their beds and lost their shadow-casting jobs to potbellied pigs. And it turns out, not all groundhogs are really that good at predicting the weather. Not even Bill Murray as a movie weatherman escaped a couple of nips from the furry rodents on the set of his popular "Groundhog Day" that   Full Story

Wednesday February 1, 2012 BOSTON (AP) -- Former Mayor Kevin White was remembered Wednesday as a towering political presence who guided a stunning rebirth of Boston’s downtown while also struggling to mend the deep rifts that court-ordered busing left in the city’s neighborhoods. White’s public funeral Mass drew an overflow crowd to St.   Full Story

Monday January 30, 2012 CVPS seeks more for ‘cow power’ projects MONTPELIER (AP) -- A Vermont utility is looking for more farms that want to participate in its project that uses farm waste to help generate electricity and more customers willing to pay extra to use the power. The Central Vermont Public Service Corp.   Full Story

Monday January 30, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) -- A former clerk at the Archdiocese of New York was unknowingly hired after a theft conviction and then spent more than seven years covertly writing hundreds of checks to a relative so she could steal more than $1 million in money used to oversee schools, prosecutors and the archdiocese said Monday.   Full Story

Sunday January 29, 2012 SOUTH ROYALTON (AP) -- Officials at Vermont Law School say they’ve surpassed the $15 million goal for a current fundraising drive, but hope to raise another $1 million to $2 million. The money is to support student financial aid, a new Center for Legal Services, programs that improve national environmental and energy policies, and other programs.   Full Story