Amtrak to boost Hub-to-D.C. service for Obama inauguration

Amtrak is planning to increase service from Boston to Washington on Inauguration Day to help those making the trip to see Barack Obama take the oath of office as president.

Amtrak isn’t alone. Airlines that fly into the city are planning to add additional flights or use larger aircraft during the days leading up to and immediately after the Jan. 20 swearing-in.

Airport officials say they will add staff to help guide travelers.

The interest in the inauguration could double or even triple the number of people commuting into the nation’s capital, snarling roads and packing subway trains and buses.

Officials urge anyone planning to attend the historic event to expect some delays and “pack their patience.”

Cost of tying knot in Mass. inches up with new law

Tying the knot in Massachusetts just got a little bit more expensive.

A bill signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick increases the amount that justices of the peace can charge couples to perform weddings.

Under the old rules, a justice of the peace could charge up to $75 to marry couples in the justice’s hometown, and up to $125 if the justice had to travel out of his or her hometown.

The new law increases those fees to $100 and $150.

The existing law already bars justices of the peace from making additional charges for providing flowers, music, a photographer, a location for the marriage ceremony to take place, or for providing an unofficial certificate of marriage.

They were at odds during the presidential campaign, but Gov. Mitt Romney said when his wife Ann fell ill, one of the well-wishers who phoned the family was President-elect Barack Obama.

Romney said Obama told him that he and Michelle had his wife in their prayers. Ann Romney had surgery recently to remove a precancerous lump in one of her breasts.

Romney made the comments during an interview on CNN on Sunday.

The former Massachusetts governor praised some of Obama’s cabinet picks and said Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas rockets.

Romney also said he has no interest in becoming the next head of the Republican National Committee — but plans to continue raising funds for conservative Republican candidates.

The Boston Globe talked to police chiefs in Auburn and Clinton who said the law was unworkable. A Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association official said the law is going to become “a joke.”

The law, which went into effect last Friday, provides for a $100 fine to people caught with less than an ounce of marijuana, rather than criminal penalties.

Some police say a flaw in the law that makes it almost unenforceable is that people stopped for smoking marijuana don’t have to identify themselves.

Despite the complaints, large departments, including in Boston and Worcester, say they plan to ticket marijuana smokers.

(Associated Press)