Station Wagon

In the annals of presidential campaign coverage, I am an asterisk, and a tiny one at that – the journalist who unearthed the story of how Mitt Romney once drove to Canada with his dog Seamus in a carrier strapped to the roof of the family station wagon. In the nearly five years that have passed since I dug up that golden nugget, there's been so much chatter about the anecdote that "Romney" and "dog" have become inseparable dance partners in Google searches entered around the world.

Torrington police are trying to determine what caused a head-on crash that killed a man and critically injured another person. Officers say a station wagon and pickup truck collided on Winsted Road at about 9 p.m. Monday. The station wagon driver, 29-year-old Brian Minogue of Torrington, was pronounced dead at the scene. The pickup driver, 57-year-old Franc Guerette of Winsted, was flown by helicopter to Hartford Hospital and is listed in critical condition. Police say air bags deployed in both vehicles, but it's not clear whether the drivers were wearing seat belts.

Maybe executives at Biogen Idec Inc. didn’t foresee the hassles that might arise when the biotech firm moved its corporate offices to Weston, away from its research and development labs in Cambridge. Or maybe Biogen did what relocating companies often do — confuse the convenience of its then-CEO with the broader interests of the business. While the move happened to shorten the commute of former chief executive James Mullen, a Needham resident, the Globe reported Saturday that just busing employees between the two locations for meetings has turned out to be a hassle.

Woof woof. A group of "Dogs against Romney" plan to gather outside the Westminster dog show at Madison Square Garden today. Their beef? A 1983 incident when Romney put the family dog, Seamus, on the roof of his station wagon for a 12-hour drive from Boston to Ontario. Seamus was in a dog carrier with a windshield – but the canine story would dog Romney for years. Dogs against Romney, is the brainchild of Scott Crider, an Alabama online marketing and social media specialist and lifelong dog owner, who was shocked to read about Seamus in 2007.

On a summer night in 1980, a kid riding in a station wagon across the Great Plains picked up the mike of a CB radio. "Breaker 1-9. Anyone out there got your ears on?" Silence as twilit fields flashed past, until a trucker's voice sang over the CB. "I'm hauling 25,000 pounds of pure gold. " Just like that, the man and his bounty barrelled up behind the station wagon. "I'm heading home," the trucker said, "and you're between me and my lady. " He shifted to the fast lane and blew on by. TOM HAINES

Torrington police are trying to determine what caused a head-on crash that killed a man and critically injured another person. Officers say a station wagon and pickup truck collided on Winsted Road at about 9 p.m. Monday. The station wagon driver, 29-year-old Brian Minogue of Torrington, was pronounced dead at the scene. The pickup driver, 57-year-old Franc Guerette of Winsted, was flown by helicopter to Hartford Hospital and is listed in critical condition. Police say air bags deployed in both vehicles, but it's not clear whether the drivers were wearing seat belts.

One man died, another man was seriously injured, and eight others suffered minor injuries early yesterday in a four vehicle pile-up in Gardner, police said. The collision, which involved a city bus, tractor-trailer, station wagon, and a state prison van, left a 49-year-old man driving the Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon dead and two children in the backseat with minor injuries, said Gardner Police Sergeant Roger Wrigley. Rafael Garcia of Athol was flown to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead, Wrigley said.

TOKYO — Some buyers will have to wait until next April for deliveries of the latest Toyota Prius because of shortages of a new battery that’s adding to production delays from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The launch yesterday of the more spacious Prius a, or Prius alpha had been initially set for April. But the earthquake in northeastern Japan destroyed key parts suppliers and forced a delay. The battery shortage was an issue even before the earthquake. The new Prius model, which looks like a station wagon or a tiny minivan, comes in two versions...

Woof woof. A group of "Dogs against Romney" plan to gather outside the Westminster dog show at Madison Square Garden today. Their beef? A 1983 incident when Romney put the family dog, Seamus, on the roof of his station wagon for a 12-hour drive from Boston to Ontario. Seamus was in a dog carrier with a windshield – but the canine story would dog Romney for years. Dogs against Romney, is the brainchild of Scott Crider, an Alabama online marketing and social media specialist and lifelong dog owner, who was shocked to read about Seamus in...

I live in Boston, but I teach at Bentley University in Waltham. I usually can get there via campus shuttle, but one day the shuttle wasn’t running. I took the MBTA to Waverley Square, and then I approached a nearby taxicab. A silver-haired gentleman was in the driver’s seat. “Can you take me to Bentley?” I asked him. The gentleman started the meter, picked up the mouthpiece on his two-way radio, and announced, “This is Number 27. I’m going to Bentley.” The voice of his dispatcher replied, “A little late in life for that, isn’t it?

A man and woman from New Hampshire were found shot to death Friday morning in a station wagon parked at a scenic overlook in Arizona, authorities said yesterday. Sheriff deputies found the bodies of James F. Johnson, of Jaffrey, and Carol Raynsford, of Nelson, both 62, in a red Subaru with New Hampshire plates parked in a turnaround off a highway about 10 miles southwest of Sedona, Ariz., according to a statement released by the Yavapai County Sheriff yesterday. Detectives have not established a motive for the double homicide, but the killings do not appear to have been...

In the annals of presidential campaign coverage, I am an asterisk, and a tiny one at that – the journalist who unearthed the story of how Mitt Romney once drove to Canada with his dog Seamus in a carrier strapped to the roof of the family station wagon. In the nearly five years that have passed since I dug up that golden nugget, there's been so much chatter about the anecdote that "Romney" and "dog" have become inseparable dance partners in Google searches entered around the world.

I live in Boston, but I teach at Bentley University in Waltham. I usually can get there via campus shuttle, but one day the shuttle wasn’t running. I took the MBTA to Waverley Square, and then I approached a nearby taxicab. A silver-haired gentleman was in the driver’s seat. “Can you take me to Bentley?” I asked him. The gentleman started the meter, picked up the mouthpiece on his two-way radio, and announced, “This is Number 27. I’m going to Bentley.” The voice of his dispatcher replied, “A little late in life for that, isn’t it?

Maybe executives at Biogen Idec Inc. didn’t foresee the hassles that might arise when the biotech firm moved its corporate offices to Weston, away from its research and development labs in Cambridge. Or maybe Biogen did what relocating companies often do — confuse the convenience of its then-CEO with the broader interests of the business. While the move happened to shorten the commute of former chief executive James Mullen, a Needham resident, the Globe reported Saturday that just busing employees between the two locations for meetings has turned out to be a hassle.

TOKYO — Some buyers will have to wait until next April for deliveries of the latest Toyota Prius because of shortages of a new battery that’s adding to production delays from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The launch yesterday of the more spacious Prius a, or Prius alpha had been initially set for April. But the earthquake in northeastern Japan destroyed key parts suppliers and forced a delay. The battery shortage was an issue even before the earthquake. The new Prius model, which looks like a station wagon or a tiny minivan, comes in two versions — one seating...

On a summer night in 1980, a kid riding in a station wagon across the Great Plains picked up the mike of a CB radio. "Breaker 1-9. Anyone out there got your ears on?" Silence as twilit fields flashed past, until a trucker's voice sang over the CB. "I'm hauling 25,000 pounds of pure gold. " Just like that, the man and his bounty barrelled up behind the station wagon. "I'm heading home," the trucker said, "and you're between me and my lady. " He shifted to the fast lane and blew on by. TOM HAINES

A man and woman from New Hampshire were found shot to death Friday morning in a station wagon parked at a scenic overlook in Arizona, authorities said yesterday. Sheriff deputies found the bodies of James F. Johnson, of Jaffrey, and Carol Raynsford, of Nelson, both 62, in a red Subaru with New Hampshire plates parked in a turnaround off a highway about 10 miles southwest of Sedona, Ariz., according to a statement released by the Yavapai County Sheriff yesterday. Detectives have not established a motive for the double homicide, but the killings do not appear to have been...

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Ned Lamont, the Democratic challenger for US Senate and several of his campaign staff workers were in the crowd that a station wagon plowed into yesterday afternoon during the city's annual Sailfest. Lamont was not injured, said a campaign spokeswoman, but three of the staff members were treated for injuries. In all 27, people were injured in the accident. Lamont, who is challenging three-term incumbent Senator Joseph Lieberman in the Aug. 8 primary, was campaigning at the festival, said spokeswoman Liz Dupont-Diehl.

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Ned Lamont, the Democratic challenger for US Senate and several of his campaign staff workers were in the crowd that a station wagon plowed into yesterday afternoon during the city's annual Sailfest. Lamont was not injured, said a campaign spokeswoman, but three of the staff members were treated for injuries. In all 27, people were injured in the accident. Lamont, who is challenging three-term incumbent Senator Joseph Lieberman in the Aug. 8 primary, was campaigning at the festival, said spokeswoman Liz Dupont-Diehl.

One man died, another man was seriously injured, and eight others suffered minor injuries early yesterday in a four vehicle pile-up in Gardner, police said. The collision, which involved a city bus, tractor-trailer, station wagon, and a state prison van, left a 49-year-old man driving the Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon dead and two children in the backseat with minor injuries, said Gardner Police Sergeant Roger Wrigley. Rafael Garcia of Athol was flown to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead, Wrigley said.