New England News

Vermont State Police say a trooper shot a man in Danville after the man said he had a bomb and threatened to kill people.

Police say 36-year-old William J. Mahoney of St. Johnsbury is in stable condition at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., following the incident Tuesday night.

Police say they believe Mahoney was intoxicated when he took a friend's car without permission, got into an accident, broke into a home and later a Danville school bus, from which he allegedly radioed threatening messages to town employees.

About 800 staff workers at the University of Vermont are voting on whether to join a union.

Technicians, research and library support staff and others cast ballots on Tuesday and Wednesday on whether they want to organize and, if so, whether they want to join a union affiliated with the Vermont NEA teachers' union or a group based at UVM called United Staff. The vote are expected to be counted Wednesday night.

The elections cover non-exempt UVM workers — meaning those who can get overtime pay — who aren't already represented by unions.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick says he has accepted the resignation of the commander of the Massachusetts National Guard, who was under investigation for an alleged rape in Florida in 1984.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Carter was placed on paid leave by Patrick in March, pending a criminal investigation by the U.S. Army.

   Massachusetts education officials say the 2012 MCAS results show improvement by students in several of the state’s worst schools.  WAMC”s Paul Tuthill reports.

   In Springfield, which had ten of the state’s 35 so called “Level 4” schools in 2010, gains were made in math and English test scores  at four  of the struggling elementary schools, according to Springfield School Superintendent Daniel Warwick.