MANCHESTER - No. 6 Kennett of Conway edged No. 2 Portsmouth 42-41, in the Class I girls' semifinals at Southern New Hampshire University tonight. In the late game, top-seeded Lebanon needed four overtimes to tip St. Thomas Aquinas, 67-64.

LACONIA - A Belknap County jury will have to decide whether Erica Blizzard is criminally responsible for killing her friend in a drunken-boating accident, or simply part of a horrible tragedy that shook the Lakes Region. James Moir, defense attorney, indicated Blizzard will take the stand and state she was not impaired.

BRENTWOOD - A Derry bus driver being sued for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old student at The Brentwood School is now facing criminal charges for dispensing prescription drugs to the teen and at least one other minor, according to prosecutors.

KINGSTON - When Ryan Jamison heard yelping, he knew something was wrong. He ran outside and discovered that his dog, Hennessey had fallen through the ice. Without thinking about the potential dangers, Jamison jumped in without a life vest and swam out to the melting ice where Hennessey was fighting to stay alive.

MANCHESTER - After nearly 50 years of cutting locks, Frank Champagne, the owner of Stanley's Barber Shop, has finally cut himself loose. He is officially retired after working his last shift yesterday.

BARRINGTON - Confusion and miscommunication marred the early days of an investigation into local resident Sarah Rogers' disappearance, authorities said. Rogers missed Christmas with her family and her son Elias' second birthday, in January. Her family said they are scheduled to appear on NBC's "Today'' show this morning to ask for help finding her.

MANCHESTER - There was something missing from yesterday's public hearing on the school budget. The public.

BRENTWOOD - A grand jury has indicted a New Durham man on charges he tried to arrange a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl last June via the Internet. Christopher Wuelper, 23, of 150 Birch Road is facing two felony counts of certain uses of computer services prohibited.

MANCHESTER - New Hampshire State Police Trooper William Barassi yesterday said the calls Colin Guerin is accused of making, in which he identified himself as Officer Briggs of the New Hampshire State Police, were intended to locate a particular person.

In the 2009 fiscal year, only 16 percent of New Hampshire prison inmates served their maximum sentences. That is not good enough for the state Department of Corrections and some legislators.

Gov. John Lynch showed last week that he's not being fooled by the wily ways of the pro-gambling movement.

One of the benefits of this job is the chance to meet some remarkable people. If things go well, you can help some of those people and just as often as not, some of those remarkable people help you. This is about two such people.

Last week, Sen. Jim Bunning did more than any senator in many moons to raise the consciousness of the country to the magnitude of the deficit-debt crisis.

Voters will weigh in on same-sex marriage and local spending at polls or town meetings across the state tomorrow.

New Hampshire has used its $708 million in federal stimulus funding to create more than 2,000 jobs, pay for scores of road projects, upgrade health centers, fund research projects at universities and provide public schools with computers and supplies.

The Wildcats will play at Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday afternoon in a quarterfinal match in the NCAA tournament. Last year, the Bulldogs came to Durham and knocked UNH out of the tournament in the quarterfinals by a score of 3-1.

St. Anselm College's men landed the No. 5 seed as an at-large team for Saturday's first round of the NCAA Division II East Regional basketball tournament.

MANCHESTER - Senior Sean Martin responded with a clutch fourth-quarter performance and Conant defeated Mascoma of Canaan, 60-57, Saturday night, earning a ticket to Wednesday's Class M boys' basketball championship game with second-seeded Berlin and a shot at claiming an unprecedented fifth straight title.

We are faced with calamity, and the Obama administration plays games with words while Congress cannot even offset new benefits with a $10 billion savings.

I noted two major seasonal indicators along the road, snowmobilers and skunks.

The snowmobilers, lots of them, were heading north, where there is still some great riding, contrary to what people who see bare ground in the lower half of the state might think, and there should be for several more weeks.