Westwood licensing dispute continues

A squabble over a Westwood liquor license brought business to a halt at the House of Representatives again yesterday. To protest the failure of his home-rule petition, Representative Paul McMurtry, a Democrat who represents Westwood, doubted the presence of a quorum, which automatically ended the session. The bill would allow the town to grant a liquor license to the Wegmans grocery store, which is expected to be an anchor tenant in a new mixed-use development in the town. Yesterday was the fourth consecutive session in which McMurtry, a first-term lawmaker, had employed the tactic. Representative Angelo Scaccia, a Hyde Park Democrat, has put a hold on McMurtry's bill, saying it would be unfair to Roche Bros., a competing grocery chain.

A judge has dismissed charges against a Holden couple accused of nearly starving their toddler to death, but the case is not over. A lawyer for Joshua and Kellie Theriault asked a judge to dismiss the charge of reckless child endangerment, a motion that was granted Wednesday in Leominster District Court. The Theriaults' lawyer, Thomas Guiney, now wants a clerk magistrate to hear from both sides and determine whether the couple committed a crime. Authorities are expected to refile charges, and a show-cause hearing has been scheduled for October. The 2-year-old boy weighed 17 pounds when state authorities intervened in February. The Theriaults' pediatrician says the boy was undersized but healthy. A state doctor says the boy was malnourished. (AP)

An author who admitted she fabricated a best-selling memoir about surviving the Holocaust by living with wolves has asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit against her. Misha Defonseca and her coauthor said in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday that it was too late for the book's publisher to try to overturn a $32.4 million verdict they won against the publisher in a fight over profits. Publisher Jane Daniel contends that a jury in 2001 awarded the authors the money believing that Defonseca's harrowing tale of a tortured childhood was true. The judge took the case under advisement. (AP)

A Cape Cod man has won a two-year legal battle to get back a DNA sample he voluntarily gave to authorities investigating a killing. Keith Amato of Provincetown submitted the DNA sample during the investigation into the 2002 stabbing death of fashion writer Christa Worthington, whom he knew through his former father-in-law. When Christopher McCowen was convicted in November 2006 of Worthington's rape and murder, Amato asked for the cheek swab back. He said yesterday that after repeated requests, the sample was returned to his lawyer Wednesday. The law firm Proskauer Rose LLP in Boston is still seeking the return of more than 100 other DNA samples collected in the case. The Cape and Islands district attorney says they have been destroyed. (AP)

A Maine woman says she would rather go to jail than turn over a library book she deems dangerous, and she may get her chance later this week. A judge has ordered JoAn Karkos of Lewiston to turn over by week's end the borrowed book titled, "It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health." After appearing in court Wednesday, Karkos repeated her contention that the book violates the city's obscenity ordinance, and she said she has no intention of giving up the book. The book features frank illustrations on topics that include abstinence, masturbation, and sexually transmitted diseases. Karkos has until 4 p.m. today to return the book. (AP)

Telephone calls to a 211 assistance line run by Vermont's United Way chapters are outpacing last year's numbers, as more people reach out for help to cope with the high cost of food, fuel, and housing. MaryEllen Mendl, director of the referral center, says calls to the line reached 1,916 by the end of July, up from 2,089 in all of 2007. (AP)