2 businesses on Newbury Street robbed

Two Newbury Street businesses were robbed Saturday, Boston police spokesman James Kenneally said. Two masked thieves, one armed with a gun, accosted a J.P. Licks employee and stole money from the safe at the ice cream shop at 352 Newbury St. at 1 a.m., he said. In a separate incident, a man stole five track jackets worth at least $200 from the Puma clothing store at 333 Newbury St. at 5:30 p.m. No arrests have been made, Kenneally said.

An Uxbridge man died yesterday afternoon after his car crashed on Hopedale Street in Mendon, said Sergeant Brian Massey of the Mendon Police Department. Excessive speed and possibly alcohol consumption appear to have caused Peter Steeves, 54, to drive his 2003 Chevrolet sedan off the road and into a tree, Massey said. No one else was in the car. Steeves was pronounced dead at Milford Regional Hospital, Massey said. A person who helped pull Steeves out of his burning car suffered a cut to his hand and was taken to the hospital and released.

Vermont Christmas tree growers are participating again in a nationwide effort to provide fresh Christmas trees to troops on military bases around the world. With help from FedEx and the Vermont Department of Forests and Parks, tree farmers from around the state contribute trees to be sent to US military bases. (AP)

The Connecticut State Police say they are trying to get more women interested in joining their ranks. The department has started hosting workshops to educate women about how to become state troopers and what the job entails. They say some well-qualified women have hesitated to apply because they worry about the job's affect on their family lives. About 7 percent of Connecticut's state troopers are women. Of 64 recruits currently attending the police academy, nine are female. More than 100 women attended one of the department's recent workshops. (AP)

Maine State Police are investigating the death of a 17-month-old boy who was reported to have fallen down a flight of stairs. Officials said Brandy Sweet, 20, called police Saturday morning and said her son, Matteo Hanson, had fallen down the stairs at their apartment. State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said police investigate every death involving a child under 3. An autopsy is expected, but police are not calling the death suspicious. (AP)

As heating oil prices decline, many New Hampshire school districts find themselves locked into high prices they thought were a good deal months ago. The district that includes Allenstown and four other towns bought into a contract in September and will pay $3.45 a gallon all winter, or about 30 percent more per gallon than the current price. Concord almost had it worse. In July, it locked in at $4 a gallon, but officials were able to renegotiate a lower rate last month of $3.48 a gallon in exchange for doubling their oil purchases. (AP)

Police say an elderly woman was robbed by a man who flashed a badge at her to imply that he was an officer. Police say the woman had stopped her car at the entrance of her mobile home park Saturday to pick up her mail. The man pulled up alongside her, got out of his car, and questioned her about how fast she had been driving. Police say he also showed her some kind of badge, then grabbed her purse from her car and took off. (AP)