Worker stabbed to death outside 7-Eleven

November 30, 2008

A Lowell man was stabbed to death yesterday in a 7-Eleven parking lot on Chelmsford St. in Lowell. Police said Mazen Alwarad, 37, who was an employee at the 7-Eleven, had walked out of the store and was then repeatedly stabbed by three men who approached him. An unidentified caller reported the attack to police at 6:45 a.m. Alwarad was transported by helicopter to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police are still looking for the three assailants.

An 87-year-old Littleton woman died after the car she was driving collided with a tractor-trailer, police said yesterday. Gertrude Houghton was driving eastbound of Spectacle Pond Road on Tuesday when her Toyota Corolla was struck by the truck. Littleton police said that Houghton had turned into the path of the truck, and that the driver, Serge Maillet, 34, of Fitchburg, tried to avoid Houghton's vehicle by swerving into the center of the road. But his truck hit Houghton's car, and also collided with a Ford Explorer with five people inside, and then hit the guard rail. Houghton was pronounced dead at the scene. The passengers of the Explorer were taken to area hospitals and released. The police said the rainy weather may have been a factor in the accident.

Maine's 2008 potato harvest will go down in the books as one of the smallest in decades because of reductions in potato acreage and yield. The US Department of Agriculture says this year's potato production is estimated at about 1.44 billion pounds, down 14 percent below the 2007 harvest. Harvest estimates will be updated next month. Farmers harvested an estimated 54,500 acres of potatoes. As recently as 25 years ago, Maine farmers were harvesting more than 100,000 acres of potatoes. According to the Department of Agriculture, the average yield this year is estimated at about 26,500 pounds per acre, down from last year's yield of 29,500 pounds. (AP)

The legislator who sponsored New Hampshire's civil union bill will push next year to legalize same-sex marriage. But Portsmouth Democrat Jim Splaine will face a fight, as those opposed to civil unions vow to try to pare the law down. Splaine says civil unions give same-sex couples about 90 percent of the benefits and obligations that heterosexual couples get through marriage. He says same-sex marriage is the only way for same-sex couples to attain full equality. Splaine describes the bill as necessary to propel debate. Meanwhile, there will be debate on the current law. Hooksett Republican David Hess has filed a request to repeal a portion of the law that recognizes same-sex marriages from other states as civil unions in New Hampshire. (AP)

Weare police say a Merrimack, N.H., man was accidentally shot in the back by his brother after a morning of hunting. Justin Dean, 20, was in the front passenger seat of a car Friday morning when he was shot by his brother, Josiah, 18, who was in the back seat unloading a revolver. The pair and another brother were driving through Weare after hunting in New Boston earlier in the day. Justin Dean was taken to Elliott Hospital. Hospital officials said Dean underwent surgery at Catholic Medical Center Friday afternoon. His condition was not available. (AP)

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 the shipping company FedEx and the Vermont Department of Forests and Parks, tree farmers from around the state contribute trees to be sent to US military bases around the world. Vermont Agriculture Secretary Roger Albee says he hopes the Vermont trees will help bring some comfort and joy to troops deployed overseas. (AP)