Luck finds couple who lost their rings

April 22, 2008

Walt Disney World seems to have worked its magic on a Massachusetts couple who accidentally threw away three platinum and diamond rings. Paul and Karen Campanale of Worcester were preparing to leave their Wilderness Lodge villa at the park Friday when Paul dumped a bowl holding Karen's engagement, wedding, and five-year-anniversary rings. Lodge employees warned that it would be all but impossible to find the rings, and the couple left to take a bus home. But housekeepers discovered the trash hadn't gone to the compactor yet. Several of them volunteered to dig through the bags, and found Karen's rings. Executive housekeeper Drew Weaver took them to the Campanales at their next bus stop. (AP)

A group of 15 soldiers serving in the Massachusetts National Guard returned to Boston yesterday, after a year's deployment in Afghanistan. The members of the 26th Infantry Brigade arrived at Logan Airport about 10:40 p.m., said Major Lisa Ahaesy, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts National Guard. They had been in Afghanistan providing advisory support to help the Afghan National Army operate independently, according to a Guard statement. A formal homecoming ceremony is planned.

Residents opposed to a plan by the Maine Turnpike Authority to relocate the 39-year-old York Toll Plaza took their message to the streets. About 75 protesters rallied along US Route 1 on Sunday to urge turnpike officials to reconsider the plan to replace the existing toll plaza with a $35 million facility designed to be more motorist-friendly. Because the project would require the loss of at least one home, members of Think Again, the grass-roots opposition group, suggested that the existing plaza be renovated instead. Think Again members persuaded the town to schedule a nonbinding referendum on the toll plaza on May 17.

Drugs are the likely motive in the fatal stabbing of a 35-year-old Westborough man whose body was found early yesterday in a parked car, city homicide detectives said yesterday. Jack A. McGuire apparently died from a stab wound in his upper left leg, according to a Worcester Police Department press release. McGuire's body was found slumped in the driver's seat of a 2003 BMW sedan after officers responded to a call.

Authorities say a 22-month-old boy was killed when a truck accidentally backed over him in a driveway in Jefferson. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department said Jeremy Norton, 24, was backing his truck out of the driveway Sunday morning when his nephew ran behind the vehicle and was struck. The sheriff's office did not give the boy's name, but WMTW-TV and WGME-TV identified him as Caleb Waldren.(AP)

The Rhode Island Supreme Court plans to broadcast via the Web arguments next month over whether a landmark verdict should stand that makes three former lead paint manufacturers liable for billions in cleanup costs. Craig Berke, court spokesman, said Chief Justice Frank J. Williams agreed to put the May 15 arguments online because of the broad national interest in the case. A jury in February 2006 found Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries, Inc. and Millennium Holdings LLC liable for manufacturing and selling a toxic product. The companies appealed the verdict, which made them responsible for lead paint contamination in roughly 240,000 older homes.

A congressional field hearing on health issues involving female and rural veterans drew dozens of former service members to Sanford. US Representative Michael Michaud, Democrat of Maine, presided over yesterday's session before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, which he chairs. Representatives Tom Allen of Maine, a Democrat, and Jeff Miller of Florida, a Republican, attended the hearing, which also covered issues of concern for veterans with mental health needs. Michaud held a similar meeting last year in northern Maine. (AP)