4-alarm fire at N.H. pizza crust business

PITTSFIELD, N.H. (AP) — Firefighters say a fire at a pizza crust company in Pittsfield, N.H., has resulted in one injury and used so much water that local schools have been closed for the day.

The fire at Rustic Crust pizza was first reported shortly about 11:30 p.m. Thursday. About 20 workers evacuated and weren’t hurt.

WMUR-TV reports officials said they think the flames started in a pizza oven. One firefighter was injured after slipping on a patch of ice.

Crews nearly depleted the town’s water supply, and all Pittsfield schools were forced to cancel classes on Friday due to a lack of water.

The New Hampshire company, which employs about 80 people, makes Rustic Crust ready-made pizza crusts and all-natural American Flatbread pizzas.

Chief Operating Officer Doug Troy said an excavator tore down the building. He’s not sure where the company will relocate.

“We’re going to do what we can for everybody,” he said. “We don’t know what that is at this time.”

Oil tanker strikes

bridge pier, bridge OK

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Transportation Department says an oil tanker struck a pier at the Memorial Bridge that connects the state to Maine, and there’s no apparent damage to the bridge itself.

Bill Boynton of the Transportation Department said the 600-foot-long oil tanker “Seapride” was outbound on the Piscataqua River when it struck a pier of the lift bridge about 5:15 a.m. Friday. The U.S. Coast Guard said the ship had offloaded ultra-low sulfur diesel and was headed back out when the accident happened.

No injuries or pollution were reported.

Boynton said the fender system designed to protect each bridge pier was damaged. The pier that was struck was on the Maine side of the channel.

Boynton said the incident has not affected lift operations at the bridge. The bridge remains open to motor vehicle traffic.

The Coast Guard said part of the fender system is missing and is believed to be under water. A spokesman said the accident is under investigation and that drug and alcohol testing are being done.

The bridge carries U.S. Route 1 traffic between Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine.

Court approves

2nd lawyer for Bulger

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge has approved a second taxpayer-funded lawyer to help with convicted Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger’s appeal.

The 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals approved a request this week from Bulger’s lawyer, Henry Brennan, to hire James Budreau. In granting permission to hire Budreau, Judge Juan R. Torruella cited the apparent difficulty of the appeal, The Boston Globe reported.

“This is an extraordinary case that was a massive undertaking at trial, and there are numerous legitimate and complex issues that we preserved at trial that we intend to ask the Appeals Court to rectify,” Brennan said.

Bulger’s assets have been seized by the federal government, and a number of people whose relatives were killed by him have won multimillion-dollar judgments against him.

Bulger, 84, was sentenced in November to two consecutive life sentences plus five years. A jury in August found him guilty in 11 of the 19 killings in the 1970s and ’80s with which he was charged, along with dozens of other crimes.

Brennan, who also was one of Bulger’s trial attorneys, described Budreau as an extraordinary and proven appellate attorney.

Brian T. Kelly, who prosecuted Bulger, said one more lawyer will speed the process.

“No one wants to spend any more tax dollars on Whitey Bulger, but this will likely expedite the appeals process and help bring closure to the case,” said Kelly, who now works in private practice.

The hourly rate for lawyers who represent indigent people is $126, according to a federal court website.

The U.S. attorney’s office had no comment on Budreau’s appointment.