Debby Skerry came away a believer. Linda Pinchbeck was a little more skeptical. The ladies were part of a crowd of approximately 50 people who attended the group hypnosis session for smokers trying to quit at Bristol Community College on Wednesday.

Breakneck Hill Cow Fund organizer and caretaker Laurie Bourdon says the "chips are down" for the town's beloved herd of belted Galloway cows, affably referred to by locals as the "oreo cows" or "belties." Saturday night, residents have the opportunity to go all-in for the bovine beauties when the Woodville Rod and Gun Club hosts a charity Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament on behalf of the fund.

Massachusetts foreclosures rose 30 percent in October, hitting their third-highest level for any month in 2009.

By any measure, Mohegan Sun had a poor fourth quarter and an equally poor fiscal year based on results released Friday by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. Most indices fell double digits. But company wide, the decreases were lessened by growth at the Pocono Downs casino in Plains, Pa.

Burlington Cable Access TV Inc. is offering a way for residents to stay in touch with friends and relatives serving in the military in distant lands.

Local author Frank Schaeffer will present his newest book “Patience with God, Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion (or Atheism),” a provocative challenge to atheists and fundamentalists alike, tonight at 7 at Jabberwocky Bookshop, the Tannery, 50 Water St., Newburyport.

Students held a sit-in protest at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich early Friday morning, and the event led to the arrests of at least two students.

The woman alleging that Milton Deputy Police Chief Paul Nolan hit her in the face is accused of stealing about $25,000 from the Boston lawyer she was working for at the time.

Route 3 north has reopened after being closed just before Exit 11 in Duxbury because of a propane leak from a line-painting truck that tipped over at about 2 a.m.

Some schoolchildren are riding to school in uninspected vans, cars with bald tires and unlicensed drivers behind the wheel, a surprise check by state Registry of Motor Vehicles found Thursday.