--The state owes snow plow operators $69 million for their work. Now that's a way to thank them for keeping our roads clean. The state has already--ahem--plowed through its snow-plow budget due to the abundance of snow this year. Sorry. Couldn't resist. [Boston Globe] --Two fires broke out at the same building in Fitchburg on Thursday, 12 hours apart. [WCVB] --An author from Dudley, Misha Defonseca, has admitted that she made up a best-selling memoir......

--Last night, a snowplow struck a pregnant woman as she was walking in Billerica. She is now in the hospital. Her injuries are non-life-threatening. The driver of the snowplow stayed on the scene, but he was citied for driving with a suspended license. [Boston Globe] --A woman riding in a car tried to remove a police barricade that had been set up in response to the fatal South Boston fire early on New Year's Day.......

--A woman from Blackstone was hit and killed by a snowplow. 50-year-old Rita Plante had to walk on the road after parking her car and heading to her home. According to O'Ryan Johnson, "Plante carried groceries and walked with her back to traffic when authorities said a white Ford extended-cab pick-up truck with a plow struck her from behind about 5:30 p.m." The snowplow hit her and kept going. Another car hit her after the......