By GENE JOHNSON By Gene Johnson The Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is unlikely to speak with an independent counsel hired by Alaska lawmakers to review the firing of her public safety commissioner, a spokesman for Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday.

By GENE JOHNSON By Gene Johnson The Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska Alaska Gov.

By Ashley Smith, The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H. Jan. 25--CONCORD -- The deal seemed like a long shot as recently as Christmas, but FairPoint cleared yet another major hurdle Thursday in its quest to replace Verizon as northern New England's telephone company. "It's been a long, arduous process.

By Tony Mecia, The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Feb. 20--When executives at FairPoint Communications receive good news, they have a custom of cranking the gear on a 80-year-old wooden wall phone outside the CEO's office. That makes it ring. It's been ringing a lot in the last few years.

NEW YORK, Jan. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Communications Inc. and FairPoint Communications, Inc.