NATIONAL
During the summer, the cost for sending a regular letter might be increased to 37 cents, an increase of three cents. The question is when exactly this will happen.
According to a report in The New York Times, it might happen as early as June 30, but the Postal Services’s governing board has yet to set a date.
The reason for the new increase is the post office’s anticipated loss of $1.35 billion this year, following the terrorist attacks and the anthrax scare. Last year, the post office lost $1.68 billion due to falling business and slow economy.
The new rates were agreed upon between the post office and nearly 60 organizations and businesses.

NEW YORK
An evacuation took place at La Guardia Airport in New York forcing 900 departing passengers to leave the Delta terminal last Friday. Five hundred passengers were also forced to stay on the plane they were on.
The terminal was evacuated after paramedics crossed through a security checkpoint without being searched, possibly while running to meet an arriving flight with a medical emergency on board, according to The New York Times.
Regular screening of passengers resumed an hour and a half later that morning.

FLORIDA
Recently the 46-year-old daughter of Fidel Castro, Alina Fernandez, has been heard on the Spanish radio in Miami as a staunch opponent of her father’s government.
Since a month back, Fernandez can be heard every Monday through Friday talking about the current conditions in Cuba.
According to the New York Times, she said she has been doing whatever she can to spread the Cuban reality. Some relatives say Fernandez is trying to make money on her identity, but she responded that she sees her current position as an opportunity for Americans to learn about Cuba’s history and culture.
When Fernandez was interviewed by The New York Times in her home in Miami’s Little Havana, she told the newspaper that she had not spoken to her father in more than 20 years.

VERMONT
After pleading guilty to one count of selling heroin, Jessica Webster of Rutland, Vermont got her sentence deferred on the condition that she helps make an anti-drug video.
According to the Rutland Herald, Webster may be required to talk in the video about her experiences with heroin, its effect and its consequences as well as about her own experience with treatment, jail and courts.
Webster must also provide testimony in the case of another drug dealer who is awaiting trial. If she complies with both of these conditions, the conviction will be erased from her record after five years.
If Webster violates the conditions, she will be sentenced on heroin charge and forced to pay a fine up to $100,000.

NEW HAMPSHIRE
The snowstorm on March 20 helped bring up the months precipitation level to average in New Hampshire, but it didn’t do much to ease the drought.
The state would need to get above average precipitation for at least a couple of months to raise water levels significantly, according to The Union Leader. As of now, the drought emergency in New Hampshire continues.

MAINE
The Town Council of Gray, Maine, decided not to help the Pulsifer family who were looking for relief from their flooded fields. The Pulsifer’s said the RiteAid construction on Route 100 caused severe flooding on their farm. According to The Gray News, Town Council told the Pulsifers they had no jurisdiction over the matter, and suggested they seek redress from a third party.