2 shot, 3 stabbed in separate violence

Police are searching for a pair of suspects who allegedly shot two people outside Slade's Bar and Grill on Tremont Street in the South End yesterday. Officers responded to a call shortly after 2 a.m. and found two victims who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. One of the victims was taken to Boston Medical Center, the other to Brigham and Woman's Hospital. Both were treated for injuries not considered life-threatening, said Officer James Kenneally, a police spokesman. The suspects are believed to be two males in their early 20s, according to police. After three men, all in their early 20s, were stabbed in Brighton yesterday, two male suspects were arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Carlos Ribeiro, 20, of Cambridge and Alex Sousa, 19, of Brighton were at a party on Dustin Street when an altercation with the three victims allegedly ensued shortly after 4:30 a.m. The quarrel then moved out to the street, where the three men were stabbed, police said. The victims, who are from Brighton, were admitting themselves to St. Elizabeth's Medical Center when police arrived. One of the victims was treated for life-threatening injuries. Ribeiro and Sousa are to be arraigned in Brighton District Court tomorrow, Kenneally said. The victims were not identified.

Elizabeth Kelly had already given Matthew House her heart. At Baystate Medical Center in Springfield on Wednesday, Kelly gave one of her kidneys to House, saving her fiance's life. House told The Republican of Springfield that having a part of Kelly inside him has created an amazing bond and that he already feels healthier. House, 31, discovered that his kidneys were failing in 2006. The Springfield resident has since been on dialysis three times a week while awaiting a transplant. House and Kelly, 28, were initially told she probably wasn't a match, before tests showed she was. Kelly said she was happy to donate her kidney because House means everything to her. The couple plan to wed next year. (AP)

New Hampshire and several other states are asking the Federal Trade Commission to toughen its rules on selling used cars that have been in floods or collisions. Under the current rule, buyers must be told whether the car, sport utility vehicle, or motorcycle has a warranty or is being sold "as is." The states want more disclosure about damage to vehicles and whether previous owners complained about it under state "lemon" laws. New Hampshire's attorney general, Kelly Ayotte, said fuller disclosure would deter fraud. She said that information is available to dealers through private data sources and through title records accompanying vehicles they buy at auction or take in trade. (AP)

It could cost more than $200 million to clean up hazardous waste from an asbestos mine in northern Vermont, state and federal officials say. The state is hoping to recover the costs of the cleanup from G-1 Holdings - a successor to GAF Corp., which is trying to reorganize in bankruptcy court - and Vermont Asbestos Group, which purchased the mine in 1975. The asbestos mine in Lowell and Eden operated for almost a century. All that's left are piles of waste rock, some containing asbestos. Last year the Environmental Protection Agency spent almost $2 million to stop the waste material from damaging streams and wetlands. (AP)

The head of the Vermont State Police says he thinks the tough economic times are leading to an increase in crime in the state. Colonel James Baker made the comments in the aftermath of the second police-involved shooting in Vermont in less than a week. Baker said Wednesday's shoot-out between a state trooper and a Proctor man, who was wounded in the exchange, is one of many desperate criminal acts that have occurred recently. There's been a spike in family tensions, Baker said, and there have been 19 homicides in Vermont this year, when the state usually has between nine and 12. There were two armed robberies in two days, including one in which a suspect kicked a baby in a car seat. The baby wasn't hurt. (AP)