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October 12, 2007
NATICK
A Connecticut man has been indicted on charges stemming from his alleged role as a getaway driver for a series of jewelry store robberies, including one in Natick two years ago.
Anthony Curral, 30, pleaded not guilty to an array of charges and was ordered held without bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in a federal court in Connecticut, the Connecticut Post reported on its web site.
The FBI alleges Curral served as a getaway driver for Charles Kertesz, 36, formerly of Shelton and Milford, Conn. in the armed robberies of Hannoush Jewelry, in Natick, in July 2005 and a Lux Bond and Green Jewelry store in South Windsor, Conn. in February 2006.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 11:05 AM
October 12, 2007
PLAINVILLE
The Board of Health will sponsor a flu clinic on Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Senior Center.
Any Plainville resident 18 years or older can stop by for a free flu vaccination. No appointment is necessary. In previous years, vaccines were given first to those in high-risk groups because
of limited supplies, but health administrator Deborah Revelle said no shortage is projected for this year.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 11:01 AM
October 12, 2007
FRANKLIN
The Franklin Senior Center will celebrate its move into a new, $6.2 million facility with a grand opening ceremony and open house Nov. 11 from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Karen Alves, the director of the center, said the new space will allow the center to offer more programs. The center currently operates out of two rooms in the old town hall.
"We've been trying to build a new building for about six years, so it's certainly the fulfillment of
a long dream," Alves said. "It's a beautiful, beautiful facility."
The new center is located at 10 Daniel McCahill St.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:51 AM
October 11, 2007
Once a mechanic, Brian Smith of Framingham now works as an auto appraiser.
(Globe staff photo by Bill Polo)
REGION
After surgeons installed two mechanical valves to repair his congenital heart defect, Brian Smith knew he had seen the end of his grease-monkey days. Heavy lifting was out of the question, and he had to avoid sharp objects because his new blood-thinning medication made cuts potentially disastrous.
Unable to work at his former job as a mechanic at a Framingham car dealership, Smith went on Social Security for a few years. By 2002, he had recovered and, no longer qualifying for public assistance, was told to get a job, Globe West correspondent John Dyer reports today.
"They were telling me I could go back to work, but they all agreed I couldn't do what I used to do," said the 49-year-old Bellingham resident. "They were thinking about me selling movie tickets. But I have two kids. I wasn't going to go back to a job for minimum wage."
After a four-year job search, his first in decades, Smith received training in a state program and landed a position as an automobile appraiser for a Mendon company. Now he's a proud earner.
Smith's happy ending is the exception, not the rule. Across the state, disabled people and their advocates say that while progress is being made in putting the disabled onto payrolls, most are still unemployed.
The gap between disabled people and the help they need leaves a hole in the region's economy, in the form of an untapped workforce, they say. Although the Massachusetts unemployment rate is hovering between 4 and 5 percent overall, around 70 percent of the state's approximately 550,000 disabled residents older than 18 don't work, said Charles Carr, commissioner of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, the agency that helped retrain Smith.
Read more about how the disabled are being retrained to work in the online edition of today's Globe West.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:37 AM
October 11, 2007
REGION
Globe West's reporters have roamed the region and have reported back with a full menu of interesting stories this week, including:
Correspondent Alex Oster's report on how the recent dry spell could affect the fall leaf-peeping season and the annual tourism dollars it brings in;
Bureau chief Erica Noonan's stony on how regional planners and politicians think they can finally get Route 9 -- one of the state's busiest and and most congested regional economic corridors -- onto the state's transportation priority list;
Staff writer Stephanie Siek's report on how next month's city government ballot in Waltham is a mix of familiar faces from past races and first-time candidates hoping that voters are ready to see a transfusion of new blood, and;
Correspondent Alexandra Perloe's story about how administrators at Franklin High School have pooled together freshmen into smaller -- and hopefully tight-knit -- teams to help keep students from dropping out.
You can see a complete listing of all of today's Globe West stories by visiting the section online.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:30 AM
October 11, 2007
WASHINGTON/REGION
A key congressional committee approved a resolution yesterday that brands the World War I-era Ottoman Empire massacres of Armenians as genocide, despite warnings from President Bush that the measure would anger Turkey, a crucial US ally assisting the effort in Iraq.
The move was welcomed as good new by local Armenian-Americans, who have spearhead the move to have the resolution passed and who have been pressuring groups like the Anti-Defamation League to recognize the genocide. There are an estimated 50,000 Armenian-Americans in Massachusetts, Globe staff writer Farah Stockman reports today.
"It's absurd to think that we can have a foreign policy that does not acknowledge the past," said Sharistan Melkonian, a Waltham resident who chairs the Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts. She said US foreign policy has up until this point been "held hostage to lies."
In a rare show of urgency, Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates each declared that the resolution the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved could lead Turkey's leaders to curb vital US military supply routes through their country, leaving American troops without enough equipment to conduct operations in neighboring Iraq.
"We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian people," Bush told reporters on the White House lawn hours before the vote. "This resolution is not the right response to these mass killings."
Read more about the showdown over the genocide vote in the online edition of today's Globe.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:19 AM
October 11, 2007
FRAMINGHAM
A graffiti artist accused of spray-painting on several buildings has appeared in court after being scooped up - blue-handed - by police.
Witnesses called police Monday after seeing a man spray-painting an anti-Ku Klux Klan message on the side of the Standard Electric building, the Associated Press is reporting.
"When the officers confronted him, his hands were blue," said Lt. Paul Shastany, a police spokesman. "He claimed he was an artist and it was just like an addiction, spray painting."
Josh Kirby, 31, of Framingham, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to five counts of malicious mischief causing more than $250 worth of damage. Police said they found similar graffiti on a restaurant, pizza shop and food market in the town.
-- AP
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:04 AM
October 10, 2007
NEWTON/FRAMINGHAM
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority will hold a public hearing tonight in Newton on its recent vote to increase the tolls at both the Weston and Allston-Brighton toll plazas by 25 cents each for 2008.
The authority board took its preliminary vote on the hike last week, passing on proposals to raise the tolls even higher. Globe West reported Sunday that western commuters who use the pike will still end up paying more than nine times as much in gas taxes and tolls -- the state's two user fees for drivers -- as commuters on the South Shore or in the northwest suburbs.
Under the law, the board must hold public hearings before taking a final vote on the 25 cent toll increase. The meeting will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Veterans War Memorial Auditorium at Newton City Hall.
A similar meeting will be held tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Framingham at the Memorial Building at 150 Concord St.
-- Ralph Ranalli
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 01:25 PM
October 10, 2007
ASHLAND
MetroWest police are trying to figure out if an attempted robbery during which a victim was stabbed was part of a gang initiation, WCVB/NewsCenter 5 is reporting.
Ashland police said a man was stabbed and robbed at the Presidents Row apartment complex on Saturday.
Ronald Dias, 18, of 20 Presidents Row, and Shingirai Murungu, 17, of 346 Mechanic St., Marlborough, face charges of attempted murder in connection with the attack. They also face assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, attempted armed robbery, mayhem and assault with intent to rob charges.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 12:22 PM
October 10, 2007
HOLLISTON
The Holliston Public Library will kick off its environment-themed fall Scholar Series tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. with a discussion of Richard Louv's "Last Child In the Woods."
On Nov. 8, the topic will be Alan Weisman's "The World Without Us." On Jan. 10, the discussion will center on Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."
In the spring, the library will host a series of discussions on World War II.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 11:40 AM
October 10, 2007
WRENTHAM
Wrentham's selectmen are set to tackle the issue of finding a replacement for Police Chief Joseph Collamati, who is retiring on Nov. 17.
One option being considered is naming a provisional replacement. Town Administrator Jack McFeeley said Civil Service regulations require that a provisional position be offered to the next highest-ranking officer in the department, Lieutenant Richard Gillespie. Several selectmen have said they have confidence in Gillespie as a fill-in for Collamati.
The board halted its search for a permanent chief while they waited to hear from state officials about whether they would be able to consider external candidates for the position. The state told town officials that Wrentham would first have to consider internal candidates.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 07:33 AM
October 9, 2007
Hizzoner and hiz hybrid, fer shizzle
NEWTON
Newton Mayor David Cohen traded in his gas-guzzling Crown Victoria this week, in favor of a new Toyota Prius hybrid. The city bought two of the cars, at $20,800 a piece, unveiling the purchase today.
Cohen receives use of a city car as mayor, not to mention a parking spot close to the entrance to City Hall. The other Prius will be used by the city's inspectional services department.
Jeremy Solomon, the mayor's spokesman, said the Crown Vic got about 18 miles to the gallon. The new car gets 46.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by mwoolhouse at 04:52 PM
October 9, 2007
WALTHAM
Some 30 students at Bentley College have been given precautionary antibiotics after a first-year student died over the weekend from bacterial meningitis in New York.
Officials at the Waltham college said today at a press conference that they have found as many as 50 students who may have had contact with Erin Ortiz, 18, who died while visiting her family in New Hampton, N.Y., staff writers Tania deLuzuriaga and Andrew Ryan report on the Globe's Local News Updates blog.
"We are working day and night to identify students who may have had contact with her," said Gerri Taylor, director of Bentley Student Health Services. "It's a health service's worst nightmare. It's a college's worst nightmare."
No additional cases have been reported. Bacterial meningitis is passed through close contact, including kissing and sharing food. Bentley officials are encouraging anyone with symptoms to seek medical attention. Symptoms include high fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, discomfort looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness.
Read more about the tragedy at Bentley on Local News Updates.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 02:08 PM
October 9, 2007
NEEDHAM
Needham residents and officials will honor astronaut Sunita Williams Oct. 27 with a parade.
The celebration will include the Needham High School Marching Band, the Pollard Treble Choir, the Highland Glee Club, Needham Girl and Boy Scout troops, as well as the Fire and Police Departments' honor guards.
Williams will lead the parade, which will start at the Fire Station on Chestnut Street and end at Town Hall. State Senator Scott Brown and State Representative Lida Harkins are both expected to attend.
-- Laura Colarusso
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:03 AM
October 9, 2007
MILLIS
The Millis Board of Health is seeking volunteers to join the town's Medical Reserve Corps, which would be called into action in case of a public health emergency.
The group was started earlier this year and has about 30 members, town Health Director Alyssa Rusiecki said. Rusiecki said the town needs a total of about 60 to 75 volunteers
in an emergency. Volunteers don't necessarily need prior medical training, she said.
"We'll need people to help with organizing people, help move people along, help people with their forms, etc.," Rusiecki said.
The group will meet at the Veterans Memorial Building on Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:39 AM
October 9, 2007
WESTON
The Weston Public Schools' special education program will undergo a review this year by a committee of parents, teachers, and outside professionals as part of a long-term series of curriculum reviews.
The goal of the reviews is to gauge the effectiveness of the district's two types of special education services, inclusionary programs and learning centers, as well as evaluating how more special education students at the high school level and changes in staffing have affected services, according to the school committee office.
Members of the new committee will also asked to determine whether intervention programs and regular educational offerings are doing enough to help students before they are referred to special education services. The committee will put its findings into a report due next March.
-- Stephanie V. Siek
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 06:57 AM
October 8, 2007
REGION
The state Division of Conservation and Recreation and the MBTA are negotiating terms of a 99-year lease by the parks agency of an old rail corridor the T controls between Waltham and the Central Massachusetts town of Berlin.
Nonprofit local land groups, including Wachusett Greenways and the East Quabbin Land Trust, have begun working on upgrading the rail line for cyclists and strollers west of Berlin to connect to the existing Norwottuck Trail from Belchertown to Northampton, Globe staff writer Peter Howe reports in today's City & Region section.
Read more of Howe's story about a plan top state parks planners have for a latticework of 100 miles of bike trails statewide.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:47 AM
October 8, 2007
WESTON
Everyone loves to complain about their cable service, but most of the time it doesn't count.
Citizens of Weston, however, have a brief window to officially state any complaints, suggestions or questions about Weston's cable provider, Comcast at an Oct. 22 hearing to review the company's performance, discuss possible improvements, and decide whether Comcast's ten-year license to provide services in Weston should be renewed.
Comcast's license expires Jan. 6, 2008. The hearing is the second of two are mandated by federal law; the first hearing was held last year. The Oct. 22 meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.
-- Stephanie V. Siek
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:06 AM
October 7, 2007
(Globe staff photo by David L. Ryan)
REGION/TRAFFIC
A typical commute from Framingham to Boston costs as much as $900 annually in tolls. In January, that amount will increase to $1,150, thanks to toll increases approved Thursday by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board.
Under the new toll structure, typical commuters living outside of Route 128 would pay $1.25 each time they use the Weston (Exit 15) and Allston-Brighton (Exit 18) toll booths. Between the gas tax and the tolls, drivers from the western suburbs would pay more than nine times as much for their commutes than those from Boston's northwest suburbs and on the South Shore, which do not have tolls on their major highways into the city.
The board rejected a second proposed increase that would have raised the Allston-Brighton and Weston tolls to $1.75, adding another $500 to a yearly commute from Framingham.
Even though the increase as voted is smaller than it could have been, it has many commuters, local officials, and politicians questioning whether the cost of the increasingly expensive roadway is still worthwhile, staff writer Ralph Ranalli reports in today's Globe West.
The issue of the toll increases is not necessarily dead, however. The hikes still face a public hearing process and a final board vote, and board member Mary Connaughton - who represents the interests of the western suburbs - has said she will urge her colleagues to reconsider Thursday's vote, instead increasing tolls only in the Boston Harbor tunnels.
Read more about the issue of toll equity in the online edition of today's Globe West.
Also, check out Globe transportation reporter Noah Bierman's report in today's City & Region section on how technology could someday drastically change who pays highway tolls in Massachusetts and how they are collected.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 12:31 PM
October 7, 2007
REGION
Globe West's reporters and correspondents have spread out across the region to bring you a buffet of interesting stories today, including:
Correspondent Lisa Keen's report about how the use of modular classrooms to expand capacity at old school buildings, usually a simple solution to a common problem, has turned into a tricky, expensive, and contentious dilemma for Wellesley High School;
Correspondent Alexandra Perloe's story about how, frustrated with the remedy proposed by Medway water and sewer commissioners for the brown water coursing through pipes in the northeast section of town, officials and residents made their feelings clear during a selectmen's meeting last week, and;
Staff writer Stephanie Siek's report about how a luxury housing development going up near a corner of Weston's Highland Street and Boston Post Road boasts top-of-the-line technology for those less-savory elements of modern life, waste-water and storm-water treatment.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 11:25 AM
October 7, 2007
NORFOLK
Representatives from a developer who has pledged to bring a Stop & Shop supermarket to the town center will meet with selectmen Oct. 15 about repeated delays that have hit the project.
Town officials have questioned whether Stop & Shop actually intends to build on the land, known in town as the "moonscape" for its unsightly appearance. Selectman Jim Lehan said he would like to see the company take a step that shows it will build a store, such as creating an access road on the property.
"That's the kind of thing that, to me, would show that they're serious," Lehan said.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:41 AM
October 7, 2007
NEWTON
Ward 5 Alderman at-Large Brian Yates may not have any opponents in this fall's elections, but he has re-launched his website anyway.
On it, he notes that the city's Design Review Committee, which he served on, helped keep the main library construction project "on time and under budget." He also said the committee's current influence over the Newton South High School project was "limited."
Yates, who lives on Chestnut Street, also offers links to his other pet issues, like the effort to restore chestnut trees to Chestnut Hill.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:03 AM
October 7, 2007
MILFORD
Milford's Geriatric Authority has been promised support by the city's selectmen in its bid to renovate the town's senior center with a low-interest loan, officials said.
"We're doing a major renovation and we're $500,000 short," said Barry Chiler of the Geriatric Authority. "So we're trying to get the town to borrow the money for us because they can get it at a cheaper rate."
The money would help with some upgrades like reconfiguring bedrooms, enlarging living room and dining room areas and adding a rehabilitation gym.
The board unanimously voted to accept the Geriatric Authority's request to borrow $500,000 to complete the renovation project and for a 20-year suspension of its payments to the town in lieu of taxes, said William Buckley, chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
-- Nadia Salomon
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:25 AM
October 7, 2007
FRANKLIN
The process to bring banner advertisements to the town's school athletic fields -- which would raise money to help offset rising athletic fees -- has hit some "speed bumps," Superintendent of Schools Wayne Ogden said recently.
First, the district learned it would need to go through the same building and zoning application process as do businesses in town. The ads may also need to be chosen through a competitive bidding process, he said.
"Neither one stops us in our tracks. The bidding one would only make it a little more cumbersome," Ogden said. "The zoning one could make it a little more tricky. If the town decides they don't want advertising in public buildings, they could have that right."
Even so, the district is hoping to launch a pilot advertising program this upcoming spring, Ogden said.
-- Alexandra Perloe
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 07:23 AM
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