New Hampshire

SALEM, N.H.-- Standex International Corp. posted a profit for its fiscal fourth quarter, despite mixed sales results around the globe. However, increasing demand for its automotive program mold texturizing work in Europe and China offset weakness in North America during the quarter.

*Hagel says cuts would be "devastating" to Pentagon. WASHINGTON, Jan 31- Big automatic cuts in federal spending are fast approaching again, alarming the defense sector but generating little activity in Congress to avoid them.

CONCORD, N.H.-- A 70- year-old California woman who was a trustee at a private school and a retired business counselor with the U.S. Commerce Department was stabbed to death in a random attack in a New Hampshire hotel lobby by another guest, authorities said Tuesday.

The South Dakota law is based on centuries-old British law. Adelstein had hoped his cause would be helped by a recent trial in Rapid City that attracted a lot of attention in South Dakota. Former county prosecutor Glenn Brenner was sued by his wife's ex-husband, businessman Douglas Rumpca, claiming Brenner stole Kellie Rumpca from a loving marriage.

CONCORD, N.H.-- Gas prices have risen a bit in New Hampshire over the past week. The national average also has increased 4.5 cents in the last week, to $3.31 a gallon. The website Gasbuddy.com says prices in New Hampshire were a penny per gallon higher than the same day a year ago, and 5.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago.

OLYMPIA, Wash.-- As many state and local governments across the nation deal with the aftermath of severe budget cuts prompted by the Great Recession, a Washington state lawmaker has put forth a plan to increase revenue without raising taxes: Allow the sale of naming rights to publicly owned facilities.

CONCORD, N.H.-- New Hampshire home sales have gone up over the past year. The New Hampshire Association of Realtors says the nearly 13,000 sales of single-family residential properties last year was a 21 percent increase over sales in 2011..

*Dow up 0.5 pct, S&P 500 up 0.4 pct, Nasdaq up 0.3 pct. Investors, however, were cautious ahead of an increase in earnings reports and as the S&P 500 rose for a fifth straight day.

*Google, IBM and Texas Instruments to report after the bell. *Dow up 0.4 pct, S&P 500 up 0.3 pct, Nasdaq up 0.01 pct. Gains were limited, however, as investors were cautious ahead of an increase in earnings reports and the S&P 500 was rising for the fifth straight day.

"We're seeing some life-threatening temperatures in Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin," said meteorologist Mike Sowko of the National Weather Service. Winds blasting across the Great Lakes over the past few days into Tuesday also resulted in up to 18 inches of snow dumped over northeast Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania and upstate New York.

"We're seeing some life-threatening temperatures in Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin," said meteorologist Mike Sowko of the National Weather Service. Winds blasting across the Great Lakes over the past few days into Tuesday also resulted in up to 18 inches of snow dumped over northeast Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania and upstate New York.

NEW YORK, Jan 14- U.S. government debt prices inched higher on Monday with benchmark yields near their lowest levels in about 1-1/ 2 weeks on the Federal Reserve's purchase of long-dated bonds and safe-haven bids due to weaker stock prices. You had some hedge funds buying earlier, "said Carl Lantz, chief U.S. interest rate strategist with Credit Suisse in New York.

NEW YORK, Jan 13- The U.S. government is expected to bump up against its legal borrowing limit by March, and it would be hard to fault investors for feeling edgy. Some investors seem to be betting that Congress learned its lesson from the bruising debt ceiling fight of 2011 and will choose compromise over market meltdown.

WASHINGTON, Dec 27- A powerful winter storm that has dumped a foot of snow on parts of the United States forced the cancellation of 457 flights on Thursday and threatened more havoc as it hit the New England states with fierce winds. The heaviest snow was falling on Pennsylvania, New York and New England, and winter storm warnings continued over a majority of the U.S.

NEW YORK/ SAN ANTONIO, Dec 21- The coming weeks may well be a banner one for gun sales in America- and the massacre at a Connecticut elementary school will likely be a reason.

*Settlement to release $4 billion in disputed payments to states. Cigarette makers, including Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, on Tuesday announced a settlement with the states in a long-running dispute over the amount of payments they are required to make under the 1998 landmark anti-smoking agreement.

*ISO grants Entergy request to exit power auctions. Dec 10- Entergy Corp's Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is no longer needed to maintain power reliability in New England because local electric companies have bolstered the region's transmission infrastructure, the region's power grid said.

The court agreed to review a bid by Mutual Pharmaceutical Co to overturn a $21 million jury award to Karen Bartlett, a New Hampshire woman who had taken its generic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug sulindac for shoulder pain.