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CASPER, Wyo. — A Massachusetts man who authorities say took part in a prescription drug conspiracy run by a Wyoming doctor has pleaded guilty.The Casper Star-Tribune reports Paul E. Beland pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to participating in a drug conspiracy that resulted in the death of another person and two counts of unlawful use of a communication facility.The please agreement that Beland, of Oxford, Massachusetts, reached with prosecutors was sealed by the court.

A commonwealth punch-drunk from back-to-back nor’easters in less than two weeks is back in the ring today for round three with that tiresome pugilist Old Man Winter.Strong winds reduced visibility to near zero as the storm plows north from New Jersey this morning, prompting the National Weather Service to extend its blizzard warning overnight to include Boston.“That is a change from yesterday,” said NWS meteorologist Kim Buttrick. “Basically, pretty much the entire eastern coast of Massachusetts is under a blizzard warning.”

ORLEANS  — Cape Cod officials have ended the town's lease with a popular fried clam shack that was threatening to collapse due to extreme beach erosion.The Cape Cod Times reports the Orleans Board of Selectmen voted 4-1 Monday to terminate its lease with the owner of Liam's at Nauset Beach. The restaurant will be razed for an emergency restoration of the dune at the beach hit hard by the March 2 nor'easter.

LAWRENCE  — Police say a Massachusetts man doused his girlfriend and their 1-year-old baby with lighter fluid and threatened to light them on fire.A judge ordered 37-year-old William Connatser, of Lawrence, held without bail Monday. Prosecutors say he has been charged with assault to murder, reckless endangerment of a child and mayhem among other offenses.Police say Connatser left a pre-release program home to go to a nearby supermarket Saturday. He met his girlfriend there, and police say the two began to argue inside a vehicle.

Hardy New Englanders, staring down the barrel of yet another winter storm, talked about why they choose to live in the frozen north: “Why not? It’s a great place ... The Midwest is the worst compared to being on the East Coast. They get the worst. I’ll take whatever you can get. I (would) rather have the worst snow than earthquakes and landslides.”— Yancy Brown, 24, Dorchester

The T will be running during today’s blizzard — but with slower service in the subway and “extremely reduced” trips on the commuter rail, officials said, as they urged Bay Staters to take public transportation instead of driving during a whiteout.Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollock said the T will operate on a weekend schedule, with fewer trains making trips, and that the commuter rail will operate on its “Extremely Reduced Schedule” on all lines.

The Bay State’s third winter nor’easter in less than three weeks is expected to be a howling storm that will create “brutal” commutes today with white-out conditions, dumping as much as 2 feet of snow, according to meteorologists and state officials who urged people to stay home.

A former Dartmouth selectman — who told federal authorities that he had only $28,000 in cash after he was convicted of embezzling — has admitted that he was actually hiding millions of dollars, watches and jewelry in safety deposit boxes.John George Jr., 71, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of obstruction of justice for concealing his fortune from authorities.

Two 17-year-olds savagely beat a teenager before shooting him in the head during a fatal attack in Dorchester, prosecutors charged yesterday.Malik Albert, 17, of Dorchester and Rodney Gamble, 17, of Lynn were arraigned in Dorchester District Court on charges of murder, as well as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.Prosecutors said they have evidence that Chad O’Connor, 17, was killed in a Jan. 14 attack on Kenwood Street in what they described as a “group attack.”

Longtime Kingston residents remember Michael Arthur Hand — the fugitive arrested in North Carolina in connection with the 1986 cold case murder of Tracy Gilpin — as the neighborhood oddball, a strange man who fired guns in his yard, carved tombstones in his driveway and kept dogs trapped in the basement of his dilapidated house.“He was definitely a creepy guy,” said Brian Whidden, 50, who lived down the street from Hand for several years.