MONTPELIER, Vt.

New England officials warn of rough morning commute

Emergency management officials in New Hampshire and Vermont are warning that snow, sleet and freezing rain could make for a rough morning commute and possible power outages.

Officials say the forecast is for an overnight storm that could drop 4 to 6 inches of snow in parts of Maine, and 2 to 5 inches in New Hampshire and eastern Vermont mixed with sleet and possible freezing rain by early today. Parts of Vermont could get up to half an inch of ice on top of the snow.

Officials say the ice could cause branches to fall onto power lines, knocking out service.

Drivers are urged to slow down and leave extra room between vehicles.

The storm is expected to move out by tonight.

Vermont State Police probe email with death threats

Vermont State Police are investigating an email containing death threats to members of the state Legislature.

Capitol Police learned about the email as lawmakers began to file into the Statehouse on Wednesday morning. Numerous members of the House and Senate reported getting the same message as the day went on.

Detective Lt. Tim Oliver sent his own email to legislators, saying the note is a common scam used by people in other countries to extort money from people who believe it is a legitimate threat.

The writer of the email says his “team” has been paid to assassinate the recipients. The writer says he has every reason to carry out the contract, but decides to give the recipients a chance to save themselves. It asks for $10,000.

HAVERHILL, Mass.

N.H. woman shot husband, herself in murder-suicide

A medical examiner has determined that a New Hampshire woman shot her husband, then herself in a murder-suicide at a Massachusetts park.

Visitors found the bodies of 36-year-old Martha McDermott of Hampton and 37-year-old Kristin Broderick of Houston, Texas, in a car parked near the Winnikeni Castle in Haverhill earlier this month.

The autopsy showed McDermott shot Broderick multiple times in the chest and torso with a .38-caliber handgun. McDermott died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

The couple had a 10-month-old son who was at home with relatives.

The Portsmouth Herald reported the two were married in 2003. A family friend said the couple were estranged and that Broderick worked as a senior petroleum geologist at ExxonMobil Technical Computing Co., spending the last three years in Angola.

ROCHESTER, N.H.

N.H. man stands accused after baby suffers injury

A 19-year-old New Hampshire man is accused of injuring his 6-week-old baby.

Thomas Mulari of Rochester was charged with second-degree assault Wednesday, after a suspicious injury to the baby was reported to police by Frisbie Memorial Hospital on Tuesday.

Foster’s Daily Democrat reported police aren’t saying what type of injury the baby suffered.

Mulari was being arraigned Thursday.

Police said the infant is in the custody of the mother.

DEDHAM, Mass.

Grand jury indicts murderer for inmate’s beating death

A Massachusetts grand jury has indicted a convicted murderer in the beating death of another inmate who was nearing the end of his sentence on a sexual abuse conviction.

Christopher Fletcher was indicted Thursday by a Norfolk County grand jury in the Dec. 12 death of Richard Silva at the state prison in Norfolk. The 64-year-old Silva was convicted in 2003 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He was scheduled to be released in March.

The 50-year-old Fletcher is currently serving a life sentence for the 1995 rape and murder of Elizabeth Salsbury of Lunenburg. Last month, Fletcher was indicted in the 1986 killing of Peggy Sue Calvillo, a mother of two from Sterling.

Fletcher’s attorney didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt.

Woman enters guilty plea for setting home on fire

A woman has pleaded guilty to setting her Vermont home on fire before leaving to attend a family member’s funeral.

Fifty-three-year-old Ronda Johnson pleaded guilty Wednesday to arson and other charges stemming from the February 2011 fire at her property in Vernon. Her boyfriend, 40-year-old Aaron Anderson of Madison Heights, Va., pleaded guilty to the same charges.

The Brattleboro Reformer reported court documents say Johnson was living with Anderson in Virginia and had not visited Vernon since the fall of 2010. While Johnson was at the service, emergency responders went to her property for reports of a fire coming from the roof. The house was vacant at the time.

A detective said Johnson was behind in the mortgage payments.

PROVIDENCE, R.I.

Lawmakers OK Pawtucket borrowing $12.6 million

Rhode Island lawmakers have voted to give the struggling city of Pawtucket permission to borrow up to $12.6 million to ease a cash-flow crunch.

The state Senate endorsed the proposal Thursday. The House had signed off on the measure Wednesday.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee is expected to sign the legislation.

Pawtucket officials say that without the money, the city may not have the money to pay workers next month. The city faces a $2 million shortfall in the current year’s budget.

Pawtucket plans to issue tax anticipation notes, a type of short-term financing paid back with future tax revenue. Mayor Donald Grebien has introduced a spending freeze and ordered a review of city operations to identify possible areas in the city budget that can be cut.

Senate leader expects action on table games referendum

A top lawmaker in Rhode Island says she thinks the state’s General Assembly will authorize a referendum on permitting casino games at Newport Grand.

Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed told the Providence Chamber of Commerce Thursday she anticipates the referendum being approved for the fall ballot. The Newport Democrat stopped short of endorsing table games at the Newport Grand.

Newport’s City Council voted Wednesday to ask the legislature to place the referendum on the ballot. Newport Grand called for the ballot question as it faces the prospect of a casino opening in southeastern Massachusetts.

The referendum would allow table games such as blackjack and poker. The state Constitution requires casino referendums to pass both locally and statewide.

The General Assembly has scheduled a November referendum on casino games at Twin River.

BURLINGTON, Vt.

Suspect pleads no contest for crash that killed woman

A Vermont man charged with second-degree murder in a drunken driving crash that killed a woman in 2010 has changed his plea and is expected to serve 10 years in prison.

Fifty-three-year-old Timothy Dowd of Hinesburg allegedly slammed into a car during a police chase through Burlington on Dec. 26, 2010. The crash killed 43-year-old Kaye Borneman.

Dowd had pleaded not guilty and then asked for statements he made to police to be thrown out, saying officers failed to read him his rights. The statements included Dowd saying he wished he could give his life for Borneman’s.

The Burlington Free Press reported that Dowd on Thursday changed his plea to no contest to second-degree murder and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence with death resulting.

— From news service reports