Boston.com Today
Sign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morning.
Crime
A former New Hampshire firefighter has been convicted of arson after setting two fires in abandoned buildings in 2022 and 2023, the New Hampshire State Fire Marshall announced.
Nathan G. Nichols, 19, of Weare, was found guilty on Oct. 23 of felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor arson. Weare will be sentenced at a later date but was ordered to pay restitution to the property owners in both cases.
“Arson is not a victimless crime,” New Hampshire State Fire Marshal Toomey said in a statement. “I appreciate the work of the numerous investigators and prosecutors who assisted in bringing this case to a conclusion.”
The charges are related to multiple outside fire investigations in 2022 and 2023 in Warner and Bradford, New Hampshire. Two of those incidents involved the abandoned structures.
Officials arrested Weare on Dec. 27, 2023, following a joint investigation by the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Bradford Police Department, and the Bradford Fire Department.
Nichols previously worked as a firefighter in Bradford, according to Toomey’s office.
Sign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morning.
No one nabbed a perfect score in the Globe New Hampshire 2024 election prediction challenge, though several soothsayers came fairly close.
Ninety readers locked in their best guesses prior to Election Day, predicting who would win key races, which party would win a majority of seats in each New Hampshire legislative chamber, and whether voters would approve a constitutional amendment.
The two prognosticators who scored highest, Lee Hurst of Hampton and Stephen Cabral of Manchester, each earned 36 of 41 possible points. They accurately predicted that Kamala D. Harris would win New Hampshire’s four Electoral College votes by 2-4 percentage points and Kelly Ayotte would win the gubernatorial race by at least 25,000 votes.
Hurst gets first-place bragging rights for having locked in answers about 12 hours earlier than Cabral did, on Oct. 7, when we first launched the challenge.
The imperfections in Hurst’s and Cabral’s predictions pertain to the New Hampshire House and Senate. Although they both said Republicans would win the most seats in each chamber, they underestimated how many. The GOP emerged with a 222-178 majority in the House and a 16-8 majority in the Senate, pending recounts in a handful of state representative races.
Third place in the Globe New Hampshire challenge goes to Stephen DeFilippo of Manchester, who scored 33 points. DeFilippo correctly predicted the Harris and Ayotte victories but expected a narrower margin in the gubernatorial race.
In fourth and fifth, we have Sandra B. Allen of Newmarket and Tom Boucher of Bedford, who scored 32 points. Allen locked in answers on Oct. 8, two days before Boucher.
These top scorers will receive Globe New Hampshire swag as a trophy. 🏆
A few other takeaways from the predictions:
This story first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (WCAX) – Brattleboro police are looking for a 19-month-old child abducted by their biological mother Monday afternoon.
Police say the legal guardians of the child told them the mother had taken the baby and was possibly heading to New Hampshire.
Brattleboro police put out an alert and are working with New Hampshire police departments to locate them.
Copyright 2024 WCAX. All rights reserved.
Vietnam Veteran Arthur Mitts received a Quilt of Valor from St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua as a gesture of gratitude for his service on Veterans Day. This is the second year the hospital handed out a Quilt of Valor, a civilian award designed to thank service members and veterans touched by war.
“We hope that today’s Quilt of Valor presentation serves as a small token of gratitude and a symbol of warmth and comfort we wish had been extended to you by our nation when you first returned home,” said Patrick McCarty, who is also a veteran and works at the hospital.
While receiving the quilt, Mitts wore a t-shirt honoring the lives of those lost during the Vietnam War.
Mitts was drafted in 1969 at the age of 19 and served in the Army. He says he’s proud to be a Vietnam veteran, even though he was treated poorly and struggled with his health after returning to the U.S.
Donna Swenson from the New Hampshire chapter of Quilts of Valor presented the quilt, reflecting on the difficulties many veterans like Mitts face after they return from tours of duty.
“We believe that as we sew, love, caring and gratitude flow from our hearts through our hands and into those quilts,” she said.
Yankees’ Gerrit Cole opts out of contract, per source: How New York could prevent him from testing free agency
Try This Quiz on Books That Were Made Into Great Space Movies
Lose Weight Without the Gym? Try These Easy Lifestyle Hacks
The NFL is heading to Germany – and the country has fallen for American football
Ref needs glasses? Not anymore. Lasik company offers free procedures for referees
Amazon’s Echo Spot alarm clock is on sale with a free color smart bulb
All-Free-Agent Team: Closers and corner outfielders aplenty, harder to fill up the middle
Herbert Smith Freehills to merge with US-based law firm Kramer Levin