Mechanical glitch causes outage for 3,800

About 3,800 houses and businesses were without power for 14 hours yesterday after a mechanical problem with a substation transformer, an electric company spokeswoman said. Jackie Barry of National Grid said the power went off at about 8:30 a.m, but was restored at 10:40 p.m. Crews were still working on the problem with the transformer, but were able to set up a bypass to get the towns' power back, Barry said.

Two men told police they were stabbed during an attempted robbery on Milk Street yesterday afternoon, police said. A police spokesman said the victims, ages 39 and 45, went to Massachusetts General Hospital after the 5:42 p.m. attack. The victims told police they were approached by a man who tried to rob them, but when they resisted, the robber stabbed the first victim in the left arm and flank six times and then stabbed the second victim in the right hand and left knee. The men were treated for non-life threatening injuries, police said.

A 37-year-old man was killed early yesterday after a group of young men chased him and attacked him near a public housing complex, police said. Police received several 911 calls shortly before 2 a.m. reporting that up to eight men between 16 to 25 years old had chased the man through a soccer field near the Kennedy Park housing complex, said Acting Chief Joe Loughlin. After the man was caught, he was repeatedly assaulted before he crawled through a hole in a fence and collapsing collapsed on a sidewalk, where police found him when they arrived a few minutes later, Loughlin said. The victim, whose name has not been released, was taken to Maine Medical Center, where he died. Detectives believe that that assailant knew the victim, Loughlin said. (AP)

These are dogfish days for Cape Cod fishermen, who say they are being overrun by the small sharks. Captain Bruce Kaminski took Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray out Friday on his 40-foot fishing boat and hauled in 300 spiny dogfish on 300 hooks in 10 minutes. Kaminski told the Cape Cod Times part of the problem is a federal limit of 600 pounds per trip. Kaminski said the $150 he makes for a day's catch isn't worth it, after fuel and bait costs are subtracted. The National Marine Fisheries Service says the fishery plan for dogfish is designed to make up for the decimation of the female population during the 1990s. (AP)

A family member says a Long Island couple's newly orphaned twin toddlers are adjusting well after being told of their parents' death in a plane crash last week. A cousin said Friday that 4-year-olds Amanda and Bobby Gregory took it "really well" when relatives and their nursery school teacher eventually let them know about Tuesday's accident. The family initially held off telling the children to consult a counselor. Parents Donna and Robert Gregory were on a charity flight to Boston, where he was scheduled for cancer treatment, and went down in a shopping plaza parking lot in Easton, Mass. The couple and pilot were killed. Todd Gregory, a cousin, says relatives are caring for the children in their Riverhead home. (AP)

A federal judge said the State of New Hampshire must reimburse the group that challenged a law that would have required doctors to notify parents before performing an abortion on a minor. The 2003 law never took effect because of a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood of New England. The state pursued the case after it reached the US Supreme Court, but the Legislature repealed the law last year. Last week a federal judge ruled Planned Parenthood had effectively won the suit and should be reimbursed for legal fees. He urged lawyers to reach an agreement but said Planned Parenthood can file a claim by October if there is none. (AP)

Despite the rainy weather, tourism officials in northern New Hampshire say they have seen an increase in visitors this summer. The number of visitors to Franconia Notch State Park is up 6 percent, and visits to Echo Lake state beach and the Cannon Mountain tram are up 13 percent. Visits to Appalachian Mountain Club huts also have risen about 5 percent. Some credit efforts by the state Division of Travel and Tourism to encourage people to vacation close to home. (AP)