BOSTON

Senator won’t seek charges against long-ago molester

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown has told a prosecutor he doesn’t want to seek criminal charges against a camp counselor who he says sexually assaulted him 40 years ago on Cape Cod.

Cape and Island’s District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said the Republican senator told him he didn’t want to pursue the case. O’Keefe says Brown didn’t identify his attacker. He says he will respect Brown’s wishes and won’t launch an investigation.

Brown writes in a book to be released Monday that he was molested by a summer camp counselor when he was 10.

In a statement released late Friday, Brown says he’s not writing about what happened to him “to settle any scores” but to let people know they can overcome hardships.

Planes struck by lightning land safely at Logan airport

A spokeswoman for Boston’s Logan International Airport says two planes have landed safely after being struck by lightning.

Massachusetts Port Authority spokeswoman Lisa Langone says a JetBlue flight from Tampa, Fla., landed just after 9:20 p.m. Friday. She says the pilots reported smelling smoke in the cockpit.

About a half-hour later, a JetBlue flight from Baltimore landed in Boston after being struck by lightning.

No one was injured on either flight.

JetBlue Airways Corp. is based in Forest Hills, N.Y.

NEW ENGLAND

High winds leave 35,000 in dark across three states

Tens of thousands lost electricity in parts of New England early Saturday morning due to high winds.

About 20,000 households in New Hampshire and Vermont were without power when outages were at their peak. Massachusetts reported a high of 15,000 customers in the dark.

A wind advisory was in effect for southern New England through early today with gusts up to 38 mph.

CONCORD, N.H.

Climbers, skiers told to be alert to avalanche dangers

New Hampshire authorities are warning backcountry hikers, ice climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts to stay safe in the deep snow that still covers the state’s mountains.

Rebecca Oreskes of the White Mountain National Forest says the deep snowpack creates the potential for avalanches. Hikers and skiers should carry an avalanche beacon, probes and shovels, and should evaluate conditions before setting out.

Fish and Game Lt. Todd Bogardus says those venturing into the backcountry and mountain regions need to carry extra gear and food and be keenly aware that weather conditions can change dramatically at any time.

NORTH SMITHFIELD

Zamboni fumes suspected in hockey players’ poisoning

Nearly two dozen members of a Massachusetts college hockey team were held overnight for observation at a local hospital after a suspected case of nitrous dioxide poisoning at a North Smithfield rink.

According to a spokesman at Milton Hospital in Massachusetts, the 23 players on the Curry College team were expected to be released Saturday.

Officials believe the poisoning was caused by fumes from a Zamboni machine used to prepare the ice during a hockey game Thursday against Johnson & Wales University at the Rhode Island Sports Arena.

On Friday morning, the Curry players began reporting to Milton Hospital with symptoms including dizziness, trouble breathing and coughing up blood.

Hospital spokesman Jason Bouffard said tests showed they were exposed to nitrous dioxide.

None of the Johnson & Wales players reportedly fell ill.