12/24/04 - HAMPTON - On Christmas Eve, Suzanne Riccioli and her 6-year-old son, Billy, are hoping for a miracle. They are being forced out of their apartment at 95 Drakeside Road and they have no place to go.

12/24/04 - HAMPTON - Rising rates to large customers of Unitil Energy Systems Inc. is reflected in a $49,000 increase in Winnacunnet High School’s electricity budget .

12/24/04 - HAMPTON - Welcome to the politically correct world where Christmas trees are now called community trees and the song "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is sung "we wish you a swinging holiday."

12/24/04 - SEABROOK - Seabrook Station unveiled $14 million in security upgrades on Wednesday, in the first media tour of the nuclear power plant since the week after the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

12/24/04 - It was anything but miserable at the Fortunate Events party held Wednesday afternoon at the Hampton Falls Free Library.

12/24/04 - HAMPTON - Saint James Lodge F. & A. M. held its annual meeting Thursday, Dec. 16.The meeting consisted of a Lodge of Sorrows for 2004 to remember those members who died during the year; the presentation of year-end reports from the secretary, Brother Andrew Hirst, and the treasurer, Brother Richard Chevalier; and the election of officers for 2005.

12/24/04 - HAMPTON - Coming off a default budget year, selectmen decided it wouldn’t be fiscally prudent to give Town Manager James Barrington a bonus this year.

12/24/04 - HAMPTON - The Hampton Fire Department is heading into the 21st century after being rewarded two Homeland Security grants totaling $250,000.

12/24/04 - HAMPTON - The taxpayers in town will be paying a less in interest than officials originally anticipated on a 20-year bond for the sewer upgrade infrastructure project at Hampton Beach.

12/24/04 - HAMPTON - The School Administrative Unit 21 Withdrawal Study Committee will begin looking at the costs involved in dissolving the school system in January.

12/24/04 - SEABROOK - Christmas came early at the Seabrook fire station on Wednesday, as Santa handed out gifts to local children. An estimated 157 Seabrook children received from two to four gifts, plus hats and mittens, from the Seacoast Area Firefighters Toy Bank.

12/24/04 - SEABROOK - Seabrook police dispatcher Michael Francis is the regional emergency response team’s new on-call tactical dispatcher.

12/24/04 - SEABROOK - Seabrook state representative E. Albert Weare, R-Seabrook, is the co-signer of a bill aimed at curbing motorcycle noise.

12/24/04 - NORTH HAMPTON - Residents of Cedar Road will not take the building of a new Highway Department garage there lying down.

12/24/04 - NORTH HAMPTON – The budgeting process continues its glacial pace. Tuesday night, the Budget Committee reviewed revised budgets from several town departments and a list of warrant articles recommended by the selectmen.

12/24/04 - BRENTWOOD - Thirteen-year-old Justin Parker went out in the snow on Tuesday, but not to play. Instead, his tumble in the white stuff helped to save his life.

12/24/04 - BOSTON - "It's an emergency! You need a chopper! You need a chopper out!" With those urgent words, fishing boat captain Tony Alvernaz set off a futile Coast Guard search for five New Bedford scallopers, lost in the rolling seas off Nantucket.

12/24/04 - BOSTON - Investigators reviewing the construction of wall panels in the Big Dig's Interstate 93 tunnel planned to wrap up the first phase of their inspections early Friday morning by looking at two panels along one section of the tunnel.

12/24/04 - FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marine infantrymen fought with insurgents in Fallujah on Thursday as warplanes and tanks bombarded guerrilla positions in the heaviest fighting here in weeks. The clashes raged as nearly 1,000 residents returned to the devastated city for the first time since U.S. troops drove out most of the militants last month.

12/24/04 - PORTLAND, Maine - A Maine Army National Guard medic’s "mass casualty plan" is credited with saving lives following an explosion in a mess tent in Iraq that killed 22 people including two soldiers from the 133rd Engineer Battalion.

12/24/04 - Christmas. What comes to mind when one sees that word? Millions of things to millions of people. For Christians, the day marks the birth of Jesus Christ, and it is observed in many countries in many ways.

12/24/04 - The following people passed away recently. . .

12/24/04 - Area police made the following arrests and conducted the following business recently...

12/24/04 - "What are you doing for New Year’s Eve?" "Where’s the party?" Every year it’s a quandary trying to figure out what to do on the big night. How many folks just want to stay at home and veg in front of the television with some take-out, a glass of champagne and Dick Clark? OK, it’s Regis this year, but the idea’s the same.

12/24/04 - Sunday Brunch is a beautiful thing. The kids are happy with their sweet Belgian waffles, dieters can take samples or just beef if that’s the prevailing diet and then there’s the ubiquitous getting up late Sunday dialogue: "Gee, he wants breakfast, but I want lunch…sooo…hey how about brunch!"

12/24/04 - BRENTWOOD - Use pure maple syrup or maple sugar as a sweetener and your holiday baking will be remembered for its wonderful taste long after the last tree needle has been vacuumed from the carpet. Maple adds a delicious and unique flavor to anything you bake, whether it’s a cake, pie, cookies, glazed vegetables or meat.

HAMPTON - One night after the New England Patriots’ tough Monday night finish in Miami, the Winnacunnet High School girls basketball team closed a game the way it’s supposed to be closed.