13 teenagers arrested at drinking party

Police in Plainville arrested 13 young people after raiding a drinking party in the woods Friday, three weeks after a Plainville girl drowned after wandering from another drinking party in Norfolk, police said. The teens were in a wooded area of Walnut Street, inside a shelter with a fire pit, when police arrived about 10:30 p.m. Police arrested eight males and five females, ranging from 15 to 19 years old, from Plainville, North Attleborough, Wrentham, Franklin, Natick, and Millis, according to police. Police found beer, alcohol, and marijuana at the party. All of the teens were charged with being minors in possession of alcohol, and three were charged with possession of marijuana, police said. All were released to their parents, and most will be arraigned today, police said.

A canoe carrying a 17-year-old boy and his father down the Blackstone River capsized at the Pratt Dam, and the teen drowned. The two were trapped yesterday in a tube that carries water underneath the pedestrian bridge at the dam in Cumberland. The father, however, was able to get out and was taken to Memorial Hospital. Strong currents and debris made it difficult for rescue workers to recover the teenager's body, which remained trapped in the tube for several hours. The name of the victim and his father were not released, but police said they are from Cumberland.

The state Board of Early Education and Care on Thursday plans to publicly interview three finalists for commissioner, who will oversee the state's effort to implement universal preschool at a time of tough finances. The three finalists are Judith Meyers, president and chief executive officer of the Children's Fund of Connecticut and the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut; Janet Rosenzweig, former executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of Prevent Child Abuse of America; and Sherri Killins, vice president for human development and operations at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The board is expected to select the winning candidate at its Dec. 9 meeting. The four-year-old department - which was the first of its kind in the country when it was created - has been working under the leadership of an acting commissioner for several months.

The cost of catching and selling fish is soaring. Commercial groundfish permits, once free, are now selling for nearly $130,000. The cost of scallop permits have jumped from nearly nothing in 2002 to about $180,000 this year. As the prices rise, larger vessels and corporations are obtaining more of the permits. To help make sure smaller fishing vessels still have access to the permits, fishermen's associations, including the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, are raising money to buy up some of the fishing permits. The goal is to create a stockpile of permits that can be leased to fishermen to allow them to continue working even after they are priced out of a permit of their own. (AP)

The only executive director of the state's Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission is leaving his job after 13 years. Fernando Betancourt's departure follows a dispute with the commission. Betancourt says he will pursue "future endeavors" but gave no details. He will continue to be a consultant to the group for a limited amount of time. (AP)

In yet another sign of the bad economic times, some New Hampshire courts are seeing an increase in eviction cases. Concord District Court handled 543 evictions this year through the end of last month, 85 more than in the same period last year. In Franklin District Court, the tally is 20 above the total for all of last year, with nearly another two months left in this year. (AP)