A 24-year-old Maine man says he was in a fight for his life when he shot two Bangor men who forced their way into his apartment, mortally wounding one of them.

The recession and rock-bottom prices for natural gas have weakened the short-term financial case for switching to alternative energy, and an unusual Nashua program is finding that the two factors have had another effect: Making businesses reluctant to invest in energy efficiency, even when a large portion of the cost is covered. “It has been hard getting commercial products going, so we have ...