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First lady Michelle Obama will visit Vermont for a series of events after she stops in Boston on Thursday for a fund-raiser at the Chestnut Hill home of Democratic activists Elaine and Gerald Schuster. Obama will speak at the Schusters just after noon during a luncheon that will benefit the Democratic National Committee. Its principal purpose for the next 18 months is re-electing her husband, President Obama. A previous posting about the visit is available here (second item). The first lady will fly from Boston to Burlington, Vt., where she will participate in a 3:30 p.m. “Joining Forces” event to...

The Tea Party will support whoever wins the GOP presidential nomination - - even if that person is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. That's the affirmative word from Tea Party Express chair Amy Kremer.

The executive board of the state's largest teachers union has called for a boycott of the businesses owned by state Republican National Committeeman and Concord developer Steve Duprey because he has called for an end to collective bargaining for public employees and to teacher tenure. Duprey said he respects "the right of every person and organization to do business with whomever they choose," but did not back off his opinion. The February/March edition of NEA-New Hampshire Educator, the union's newsletter, cited an opinion piece Duprey wrote in the Dec. 30, 2010, New Hampshire Union Leader. As part of a suggested...

JPMorgan Chase leads '100,000 Jobs Mission' to hire military personnel leaving active duty through 2020. Cisco, AT&T, Verizon and EMC have joined seven other major corporations that have jointly pledged to hire 100,000 veterans and military personnel that end active duty by the end of 2020. JPMorgan Chase is leading so-called "100,000 Jobs Mission." The high tech firms involved note that technical skills learned and used in the military could easily benefit them.

For those of you who missed the live broadcast of the Reagan Tribute on Fox, here's Gary Sinise's excellent speech.

Actress Anne Francis, who was the love interest in the 1950s science-fiction classic "Forbidden Planet" and later was sexy private eye in "Honey West" on TV has died at age 80 in California.

Google, Microsoft and HP also investing as West Bank and Gaza eye tech-driven growth. Cisco plans to work with Palestinian authorities over the next several months to help IT companies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip bolster their ability to handle large outsourcing contracts from the U.S. and other countries. The United States Agency for International Development, along with advisory partner Carana Corp., are assisting with the project.

Two teachers at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School [MA] held up signs that said "End War" during a school assembly honoring students who enlisted in the military.

TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 263 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 145 PM EDT SAT JUN 5 2010 TORNADO WATCH 263 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS NHC001-003-005-007-009-011-013-015-017-019-060200- /O.NEW.KWNS.TO.A.0263.100605T1745Z-100606T0200Z/ NH . NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE BELKNAP CARROLL CHESHIRE COOS GRAFTON HILLSBOROUGH MERRIMACK ROCKINGHAM STRAFFORD SULLIVAN $$ . MAINE COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE ANDROSCOGGIN CUMBERLAND FRANKLIN KENNEBEC LINCOLN OXFORD SAGADAHOC YORK CONNECTICUT COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE HARTFORD TOLLAND WINDHAM . MASSACHUSETTS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE BRISTOL ESSEX FRANKLIN HAMPDEN HAMPSHIRE MIDDLESEX NORFOLK PLYMOUTH SUFFOLK WORCESTER RHODE ISLAND COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE KENT PROVIDENCE VERMONT COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE...

Portsmouth – President Barack Obama will hold his Tuesday New Hampshire town hall meeting to discuss health care inside the gymnasium at Portsmouth High School, the White House announced this afternoon. Members of the public wishing to attend the town hall should visit this website to register. The website will be available until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. For more details and a complete story, check back with UnionLeader.com later today or buy the New Hampshire Union Leader tomorrow.

A Telegraph reader's online criticism of President Obama that invoked New Hampshire's "Live Free or Die" motto had the Nashua man unexpectedly dealing with the Secret Service. The man, who posted his comments Wednesday under the username NashuaDan, wrote that Obama's events are often orchestrated and that the president's upcoming Town Hall meeting in Portsmouth could be more of the same. "I hope NH is better than letting this guy off the hook. Let Obama know what 'Live Free or Die' means (hint: it isn't reckless TAXING and SPENDING). Otherwise, Portsmouth will just be another glorified photo-op for the Socialist-in-Chief,"...

SEEKONK (MA) WBZ-Boston The Obamas purchased a bed from Seekonk-based Leonards New England, which specializes in antique and reproduction beds. A store in Seekonk delivered a king-sized bed to the White House Saturday after the Obamas made the purchase a few weeks ago. Leonards New England delivered an 1820s, tall post Tiger Maple bed to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The store, which specializes in antique and reproduction beds, sells beds that cost up to $12,000. According to the Providence Journal, store officials said they were asked to send photos of the beds in stock for the Obamas to check a few...

AP story. Headline and link only. Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NANTUCKET (WBZ) ― For the first time in 21 years, a great white shark has washed ashore in Massachusetts. Lisa Capone, a spokesperson for the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), confirmed to WBZ Tuesday that a shark that turned up dead on a beach near Sheep Pond Road in Nantucket Monday was a great white. The female shark was about 6-and-a-half feet long and a couple of years old, Capone said. DMF will dissect it Wednesday to determine how the shark died. Last week, a shark sighting was reported off South Beach on Martha's Vineyard, but could not be confirmed....

What began a few months ago as a 12-year-old's bright idea may very well become one of Windham High School's [NH] most prominent features. David Hutchings, a home-schooled town resident, has proposed incorporating wind and solar energy into the $44 million school, slated to open in fall 2009. "I started this as a science project with friends ... and now it's turned into a huge project," he said with a shrug and a grin, sitting around a table yesterday at Lavallee Brensinger Architects in Manchester's Millyard. David was with a dozen adults -- one of them his mother -- at...

Manchester – When a piece of chicken got stuck in journalist Al Hunt's windpipe Friday night, Sen. John Sununu came to the rescue. "John was terrific," said Hunt, 65, executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News. "He quickly jumped up, put his arms around me, did the (Heimlich) maneuver. Within about two seconds, it came out." Hunt and Sununu were sitting next to each other Friday night at the Hanover Street Chop House in downtown Manchester. The table was packed with powerbrokers, politicians and prominent journalists, including columnist Bob Novak, New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson and Hunt's wife,...

"Watch the interactive video from the Jan. 5 debate and analyze the transcript."

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Former Sen. Fred Thompson visited New Hampshire on Thursday as he continued to consider a possible run for the Republican nomination for president. Thompson, a lawyer, lobbyist and actor, is expected to officially join the race for president as the 11th Republican candidate. He visited the state of the first presidential primary with his wife, Jeri. "I'm testing the water," Thompson said. "And the water feels pretty warm." Thompson said that he thinks he can provide a message that's missing from the campaign. "I think it's a matter of talking about commonsense things with some credibility," he...

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry voted for the Iraq war resolution in 2002 after weighing the political ramifications and being told by his future campaign manager that he would never be elected president in 2004 unless he sided with President Bush on the issue, according to a forthcoming book by Kerry's former strategist.

11 AM news on WRKO-AM radio Boston MA. L. Patrick Gray, former head of FBI, dead. Nothing yet on CNN or FOX.