Leominster News

Katrina Peppler, 13, of Leominster, has been chosen as a state finalist in the National American Miss Massachusetts Pageant to be held July 20-22 at Sturbridge Host Hotel.

What started as a simple traffic stop on Interstate 190 in Sterling Tuesday afternoon led to a pursuit that ended in downtown Leominster with the arrest of one man -- and the escape of a second suspect.

The Planning Board gave permission Tuesday to Home Depot to raise a portion of its parking lot to reduce flooding.

A Leominster man charged in the recent vandalism spree at Laurel Hill Cemetery was ordered by a judge Monday to write a 500-word essay before his next court date and to stay out of all graveyards.

A falling utility pole on Lancaster Street led to a triple transformer fire, a large mineral oil spill into a nearby stream and an hours-long power outage Monday.

The nurses' strike is on. Union officials representing 1,100 nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center - University Campus and hospital management spent four hours negotiating Monday afternoon but failed to reach a deal.

Rollstone Bank & Trust has announced the promotion of Christine Mercauto to branch manager and Marcio J. Cirino Jr., to branch manager of its branch at 24 Monument Square in Leominster.

Air horns, confetti and bouncing beach balls marked the jubilant conclusion of Fitchburg State University's 117th commencement ceremony after 425 of about 600 graduates walked across the dais in the school quad Saturday.

Sue Avallone of Gardner, who has worked as the school nurse at Samoset Middle School in Leominster for more than a decade, was among 84 women honored recently as the state's 2013 Unsung Heroines by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women.

A Holden police officer, Leominster firefighter, two area state troopers and a good Samaritan from Pawtucket, R.I., were among those honored by the Massachusetts State Police at the Statehouse Friday for heroic lifesaving actions.

The chicks are a big hit, and the kids all want to hold them. They have names - Herman, Henry, Chickie, Chiquita, Butterscotch.

The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg & Leominster is hosting a regional art exhibit for club members from throughout the Northeast on Saturday and Sunday, and at least one local artist's work is scheduled to compete in a national exhibit in Atlanta.

Mayor Dean Mazzarella raised the ante in a friendly community rivalry with Fitchburg and Gardner during a Light the Town Purple celebration that bathed City Hall in purple lights Thursday to recognize the upcoming Relay for Life of Greater Gardner.

Local real estate sources have confirmed that two struggling Massachusetts malls - the Mall at Whitney Field in Leominster and the Silver City Mall in Taunton - are on the cusp of resolving their deep financial issues, albeit with completely different outcomes.

Riverfront Theatre will present "Gingerbread Stories," directed by Janet Cragin and written and produced by her daughter, Sally Cragin, at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Fitchburg Public Library.

Students from St. Leo School in Fitchburg pitched in to clean up the banks of Baker Brook in Fitchburg at a clean-up event April 27 organized by the Nashua River Watershed Association.

Senate leaders proposed a $33.92 billion budget for fiscal 2014 on Wednesday that would level-fund municipal aid while boosting local school assistance along with state funding for day care services, state colleges and universities, senior home care, mental health and veterans programs.

A search is underway in Concord for an inmate who walked away from his minimum security work release this morning in the town center, according to Concord Police.

Train Wu has found time and again that Asian Americans are often the least likely group to tap into the community health resources that are available to them.

The City Council on Monday night agreed to pay $10,000 toward chemical treatment of Rockwell Pond to kill invasive vegetation, including purple loosestrife.