$8b needed to repair state's water pipes

The state's aging water pipes may not be as visible as potholes and crumbling bridges, but they are also in need of repair. The advocacy group Clean Water Action said yesterday that it will cost up to $8 billion over the next two decades to fix the state's drinking water infrastructure, including water mains, storage tanks, and treatment plants. The group is pushing a bill to create a special drinking water finance commission, which would be charged with recommending ways the state could come up with the money to pay for repairs. (AP)

The state commission charged with protecting the disabled from abuse does not have the staff to keep up with the growing number of reported allegations. A report by state Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci says that the lack of investigators leaves people with disabilities at risk of further abuse. According to an audit by DeNucci's office, the commission was unable to complete investigations last year on 77 percent of complaints within the 30-day time limit set by law. (AP)

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is adding automatic teller machines at nine more stations and changing the companies that operate them. The MBTA board approved new five-year leases for ATMs at 19 locations yesterday. Citizens Bank, which has the current expiring contract, has been operating ATMs at 10 stations. Under the new contract, Select A Branch Inc. will run 10 machines, TD BankNorth will run eight, and Bank of America will run one. The MBTA will earn $426,400 a year from the new contracts, an increase of $226,400, the agency said in a press release.

A 41-year-old New Hampshire man was killed early yesterday when a load of wood chips he was delivering to a storage site on Ridge Hill Road collapsed on him, Freetown police said. Co-workers told police that at about 9 a.m. the Haynes Trucking employee climbed into the trailer bed to dislodge wood chips that had become stuck on the conveyor belt used to unload the truck. He did not turn off the conveyor belt before entering the truck bed. Co-workers began searching for the victim 20 minutes after he disappeared into the wood chips by using a loader to push chips aside. Freetown police and fire units uncovered the body. The man's name was withheld. The death is under investigation, police said.

New Mayor Domenic Sarno says taxpayers deserve a full accounting of the money-losing investments Merrill Lynch and Co. made with city funds. Sarno is calling on state officials to push the company to disclose details of the investments in the troubled subprime mortgage market, which appear to have cost Springfield about $13 million. Attorney General Martha Coakley and Secretary of State William F. Galvin are probing the investments, which Galvin says were too risky for municipal funds. The investments, worth $14 million last year, have dropped to $1.2 million. A Merrill Lynch spokesman has said that Springfield officials reviewed and authorized all the investments. (AP)

The Great New England Air Show is slated to return this fall to Westover Air Reserve Base after a four-year hiatus. Base officials say the event, which features precision flying shows and aircraft displays, will be held Sept. 6 and 7. It usually draws about 300,000 visitors. The air show was held every second year until the September 2001 terrorist attacks, was canceled in 2002, and last was held in 2004. Financial and space limits at Westover, along with the heavy involvement of base equipment and personnel in the Middle East, were all cited as factors. (AP)

The Manchester community has stepped forward to help the New Hampshire Food Bank, where vandals damaged delivery trucks sometime Wednesday night. The agency's development coordinator, Susan Ware, said someone smashed windows in four trucks at their headquarters. Ware had asked for volunteers to help get the food out, and yesterday afternoon she said many volunteers have stepped forward and she expects to have no problems distributing food this week. She said she has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. (AP)