Kerry calls Rice ‘dedicated public servant’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry says U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice “an extraordinarily capable and dedicated public servant.”
The Massachusetts Democrat, now a front-runner for secretary of state after Rice bowed out on Thursday, issued a statement praising Rice and insisting that her decision doesn’t change that. He noted that she’ll continue serving in the Obama administration.
Kerry said he’s all too familiar with political attacks and said he’s felt for Rice these past few weeks.
He said he knows Rice will continue to serve with passion and distinction.
In the 2004 presidential race, Kerry was the subject of unsubstantiated claims by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group challenged his decorated Vietnam War record.
Waterville Valley Resort opening new restaurant
WATERVILLE VALLEY, N.H. (AP) — The Waterville Valley Resort is opening a new restaurant.
The Lantern is scheduled for a grand opening on Friday, Dec. 21. The restaurant is in the resort’s Town Square, in the former Diamond’s Edge North restaurant area.
The family friendly restaurant will have an emphasis on classic New England cuisine.
The name “The Lantern” is derived from New England’s most famous story of Paul Revere and his 1775 midnight ride to Lexington, Mass.
Mass. woman trapped 10 hours after wreck
YARMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Authorities say a woman may have been trapped inside her wrecked minivan nearly 10 hours after it crashed into a wooded area of Yarmouth.
The woman, 27-year-old Megan Lynn Haley, was extricated from the wrecked van about an hour after a man walking his dog reported seeing the wreckage just before 7 a.m. Thursday.
Fire Chief Michael Walker says she told rescuers that the last thing she remembers is driving at about 10 p.m. Wednesday. He said she was talking but not completely sure of where she was during the rescue.
She was flown to a Boston hospital.
After the crash she was unable to reach her phone. Temperatures dropped into the 20s overnight. Walker says once she was out of the car, firefighters covered her with blankets.
Car crashes into dry cleaners in NH
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Fire officials in Manchester, N.H., say a car has crashed into a dry cleaning business.
They said the car crashed into A&A Cleaners Thursday morning on Hanover Street. It came to rest 30 feet into the building.
Officials tell WMUR-TV the driver, a 73-year-old woman, is a regular customer who had been at the business but then left to get a check. When she returned, she turned into the parking lot and crashed into the building.
No one inside the building was hurt. The woman was taken to a hospital for observation.
NH man charged with sexually assaulting 4-year-old
ENFIELD, N.H. (AP) — Vermont police have arrested a New Hampshire man they say sexually assaulted a four-year-old after giving her drugs and alcohol.
Police said 30-year-old Benjamin LaBelle of Lyme was taken into custody last week in Enfield, where he was working.
LaBelle is being held on $75,000 bond pending extradition to Vermont, where police say the crimes occurred.
LaBelle is charged with aggravated sexual assault and giving drugs and alcohol to a minor.
It is not known whether LaBelle has an attorney. He will be prosecuted in Windsor County Superior Court in Vermont.




