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November 10, 2007
WRENTHAM
Selectmen thisweek approved paying approximately $35,000 to retiring Police Chief Joseph Collamati for owed sick days, vacation time, and Quinn Bill incentive money.
Town Administrator Jack McFeeley said the Quinn Bill money - about $15,000 - would be reimbursed by the state. Collamati officially retires on Saturday.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:48 AM
November 10, 2007
SHREWSBURY
The Board of Selectmen has called a Special Town Meeting for Monday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m., according to an email announcement.
Voters will be asked to consider extending the current contract for both solid waste disposal and landfill operation. Also on the warrant will be a request for authorization to sell the former Edgemere Fire Station.
The draft warrant will be available online this week at the town's web site, officials said.
-- Lisa Kocian
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:38 AM
November 10, 2007
MILLIS
Town Meeting voters this week authorized selectmen to allow T-Mobile to use a parcel of land for a cellular tower as part of a lease that would bring in $288,000 to the town over 10 years, said Town Administrator Charles Aspinwall.
The company would also be required to pay to the town half of any revenues generated from renting space on the tower to other cellular companies.
Voters also approved spending $29,000 on a police cruiser and other equipment and $6,500 to study damage to cemetery monuments.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 07:40 AM
November 9, 2007
MILFORD
A Hopedale man questioned by Milford Police detectives for writing a threatening letter to Milford's Board of Selectmen now says he plans to apologize.
Investigators say the two-page letter was received on Friday, Oct. 26, from 41-year-old Craig S. Glatky, who owns rental property in Milford. Milford police Lt. James Falvey said Glatky's letter was written in response to the town's new bylaw requiring landlords to have their units inspected and measured and to pay a $50 inspection fee.
The following is a expert from Glatky's letter:
As an American, I will declare war on the town of Milford. No threats. I will start a civil war against the communist party here in [the] town of Milford. As an American - I will lead the good old US of A back to freedom.
William Buckley, the chairman of the Milford board, said he doesn't know Glatky personally, but that he took the letter seriously enough to turn it over to police. Buckley said he wouldn't comment further because he didn't want to encourage Glatky's behavior.
Glatky said he didn't think the letter was threatening, but admitted that he was upset when he wrote it. He said he planned on writing an apology letter to the board and would like to put the incident behind him.
Police said Glatky was not charged because he has no criminal record or known history of violence.
-- Nadia Salomon
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:29 AM
November 9, 2007
UPTON
The Friends of Upton State Forest will hold a recreational bike ride at the forest on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 10 a.m.
Registration forms are available online. The group requests a donation of $10 for the ride before November 21, and $12 after that.
Proceeds will help fund the activities of the group, including maintenance of the forest and education programs.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:38 AM
November 9, 2007
NORFOLK
Norfolk Town Meeting voters last week approved a bylaw change that will reduce the number of parking spots downtown businesses are required to provide for customers.
Selectman Jim Lehan said the move is intended to encourage more business development downtown. Voters also endorsed an update of the town's master plan.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:05 AM
November 9, 2007
NEEDHAM
Faced with a decision this week whether to fund a $500,000 project to design a new senior center at Ridge Hill, the Needham Board of Selectmen punted.
The board voted earlier this week to refer the issue for further study. The money would have been used to develop a construction plan and to develop a project cost estimated to be presented to the 2008 Annual Town Meeting.
-- Laura Colarusso
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 06:51 AM
November 8, 2007
WRENTHAM
A Wrentham man faces drunken driving and motor vehicle homicide charges following a fatal early-morning accident on Interstate 93 in Canton.
State police say 23-year-old Ryan Shaugnessy was driving a Hyundai Tiburon that collided with a pickup truck at the off-ramp to Route 138. The driver of the pickup was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released.
Shaugnessy was treated for minor injuries at Norwood Hospital and later transferred to the state police barracks in Framingham. The highway was closed for several hours after the 1 a.m. crash.
-- AP
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 03:46 PM
November 8, 2007
Demolition began on the Newton North campus in June
(Globe staff photo by Bill Polo)
NEWTON
The city announced today that contractors have halted work at the new Newton North High School construction site after workers uncovered a pipe covered in asbestos insulation earlier this week.
The insulation contains a kind of asbestos that can become airborne and pose a health risk said Jeremy Solomon, a spokesman for Mayor David B. Cohen. He said workers at the site had already been taking precautions against airborne asbestos by controlling dust and monitoring the air quality at the site and inside the existing high school building. Newton North High School has been in session during the construction project.
Solomon said "the entire operation shut down" when a worker found the pipe Monday.
Solomon said he did not know the size of the pipe or the amount of asbestos on it. It was then sent for testing and state officials at the Department of Environmental Protection were notified when it was found to contain asbestos, he said.
"Public safety is our primary focus here," Solomon said.
Last May, city officials discovered old floor tiles containing asbestos were buried on the construction site and hired a remediation firm to deal with it. At the time, they minimized health concerns, saying the asbestos was of a "nonfriable" [non-airborne] type.
McPhail Associates, the licensed site professional overseeing the asbestos removal, has submitted an amended work plan to state DEP officials, but work at the site cannot continue until state officials review the amended plan. The overall cost of the new school project is currently estimated at $155 million.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 02:46 PM
November 8, 2007
Hillel Neuer, a visiting civil rights official from Geneva, walks out of Stone Hearth Pizza at gunpoint after jittery employees called police and reported his behavior as suspicious.
(Globe staff photo by Yoon S. Byun)
NEEDHAM
A murder is always a traumatic event for a quiet suburban town like Needham, but technology transformed Friday's tragic killing of a 78-year-old homeowner into a townwide convulsion, during which both the advantages and pitfalls of instant communication were on display.
With a suspected murderer on the loose, an entire town full of children and innocent civilians was alerted, locked down, and finally reassured, all with remarkable speed, staff writers Ralph Ranalli and Lisa Kocian report in today's Globe West
At the same time, holes in the system were exposed, mistakes were made, and the heightened state of alert resulted in a televised armed standoff in the middle of Needham Center that turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
Read more about 3 1/2 hours that turned a peaceful suburb inside out.
-- Ralph Ranalli
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 02:11 PM
November 8, 2007
REGION
Globe West's reporters have blanketed the region this week, uncovering a wide variety of interesting stories, including:
Bureau Chief Erica Noonan's story about how relatives of late neighborhood icon Anthony "Fat" Pelligrini are vowing that Nonantum's traditional Christmas events will go on, despite an intra-family fight over the foundation that sponsors them;
Correspondent Nadia Solomon's report about how, after five years of negotiations, police officers in the neighboring towns of Wellesley and Dover will be able to make arrests and exercise authority in both communities;
Another story by Noonan about how a lone protester is raising questions about a controversial traveling exhibition of posed cadavers that has set up shop in a former CompUSA store in Framingham, saying that the exhibit "is an affront to the dead and to the living," and;
Correspondent Alexandra Perloe's story about a group of construction workers from Wayland who have been building houses in Waveland, Miss, where 95 percent of the homes were destroyed two years ago by Hurricane Katrina.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 01:22 PM
November 8, 2007
Governor's Councilor Marilyn P. Devaney, right, leaves the courthouse with Rev. Emmanuel Metaxas following her arraignment on assault charges in May at Waltham District Court.
(Globe staff photo by Lisa Poole)
WATERTOWN/NEWTON
Watertown residents bid adieu to a long-serving and embattled town councilor and Newton voters ousted a pair of incumbent aldermen in this weeks election, staff writer John C. Drake reports in the online edition of today's City & Region section.
Watertown Town Councilor Marilyn Petitto Devaney, who faces felony charges in a recent confrontation at a Waltham beauty supply store and has been an aggressive critic of town administration, came five votes short of maintaining the at-large council seat she has held for 26 years.
Barring a recount, her 1,816-vote tally placed her fifth in a race for four at-large seats, a stunning reversal of fortunes for the 69-year-old, who outpaced challengers by a wide margin in previous elections. Her closest competitor, incumbent John Donohue, finished with 1,821 votes. Devaney could not be reached for comment.
Read more about local election results in today's City & Region section online.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:46 AM
November 8, 2007
PLAINVILLE
Plainville's selectmen have awarded a contract for a new fire truck to North Smithfield, Rhode Island-based C & S Specialty, Inc.
The company will supply the town with a 2008 rescue pumper for $424,951. Town Meeting voters approved the expense in June.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:54 AM
November 8, 2007
WESTON
Voters at Weston's Nov. 28 Special Town Meeting will be asked to appropriate approximately $210,000 for removal of arsenic-contaminated soil on town land.
The 40-acre field at the intersection of School, Wellesley, and Newton streets was probably polluted as a result of pesticides used while the property was an orchard, officials have said. Arsenic had earlier been found on parts of the Case Estates, land that the town voted to buy from Harvard University last year. Harvard will be paying for cleanup of that property.
The town warrant also asks voters to appropriate an estimated $40,000 for an engineering analysis of Field School. The School Committee is considering whether to undertake a major renovation of the school or replacing entirely with a new building.
For a complete listing of warrant items, check out the document online).
The Special Town Meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Weston High School's auditorium.
-- Stephanie V. Siek
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 07:50 AM
November 7, 2007
BOLTON
Voters at special Town Meeting this week handily approved a new $5.7 million public safety center for town-owned property on Wattaquadock Hill Road.
According to the town's website, the measure now has to go before voters again at a special town election on Nov. 13. Voters also approved a $240,000 training room for the facility, which will need separate approval at at the upcoming town election. Officials had spliced out the articles to give voters an option on the training room.
A total of 184 voters signed in at the Town Meeting on Monday.
-- Matt Gunderson
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 12:34 PM
November 7, 2007
HOLLISTON
Holliston has been awarded a $500,000 state grant that will allow the town to purchase approximately 86 acres of open space land currently owned by NSTAR.
Town Meeting voters last month approved spending $622,000 to acquire the parcel, which is located off of Adams Street.
Because the total cost of the land is $1,022,000, the amount of the state grand will leave the town with a $100,000 surplus to be spent on other projects, Town Administrator Paul LeBeau said.
-- Calvin Hennick
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:47 AM
November 7, 2007
The ultimate donation
WELLESLEY
Every School Committee meeting, the members approve a list of the usual contributions from local parents and residents - trumpets, audio-visual equipment, money for playground improvements, etc. One recent list, however, included a highly unusual item: a 1996 BMS 325.
The car was donated by Susan and Carl Bell, Wellesley residents with children in each level of the public schools. Susan Bell said she read the high school auto shop needed a used car for students to practice on, and she was looking to get rid of the old BMW.
School Committee chairman Michael Young said the car will be refurbished by the high school auto shop and sold to benefit the school.
-- Lisa Keen
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:53 AM
November 6, 2007
Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman
(AP photo)
NEWTON
With the recent decison by the Anti-Defamation League's national board to take no further action on a Congressional resolution acknowledging an Armenian genocide, Newton Mayor David Cohen must decide whether to sever ties with the ADL's No Place for Hate Program permanently.
Earlier this fall, Cohen dropped the program, as a matter of "conscience" and asked ADL National Director Abraham Foxman to unequivocally acknowledge the Ottoman Empire's World War I massacre of Armenians by supporting a Congressional resolution calling it a genocide.
The ADL did not publicly acknowledge the deaths as a genocide until last summer when Foxman, under pressure from ADL members, issued a statement calling the massacre "tantamount to genocide."
Many criticized his statement as unclear and seven communities including Newton discontinued the ADL No Place for Hate program, awaiting a more concise explanation by Foxman. Foxman has said he feared international repercussions by Turkey, a key ally in US efforts against terrorism and Islamic extremism.
Jeremy Solomon, Cohen's spokesman, said the mayor will discuss the national ADL's decison at the city's next Human Rights Commission meeting. A date has not yet been scheduled, he
said.
"We're going to evaluate the actions taken in their entirety," Solomon said. "Perhaps it is not as black and white as it was when we issued the demand."
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:06 AM
November 5, 2007
Hillel Neuer leaves the Stone Hearth Pizza restaurant in Needham Center and is taken into custody by heavily-armed police.
(Globe staff photo by Yoon S. Byun)
NEEDHAM
The executive director of a Geneva-based human rights group was "victimized" and "traumatized" by his arrest after a tense standoff with armed police, his lawyer said this morning.
Employees of Stone Hearth Pizza in Needham Square reported that a jittery man who might have been armed entered the restaurant. Manager Maria Paranagua said the man kept checking the front of the building and changed his clothes in the bathroom. After receiving cellular telephone calls from off-duty employees that a murderer was on the loose, employees called 911, Paranagua said.
That report led town and State Police to essentially shut down the town center and deploy SWAT teams to rooftops.
About 20 minutes later, Hillel Neuer, the executive director of Geneva-based UN Watch, walked out of the restaurant. Police arrested him at gunpoint and charged him with disorderly conduct. UN Watch is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations. Neuer was in Boston to deliver a speech, according to his attorney, David G. Eisenstadt.
Norfolk District Court Clerk Magistrate Salvatore Paterna dismissed the charges against Neuer, saying he reviewed police reports and found no probable cause to go forward. Officials confirmed that Neuer was not armed when he was in the restaurant.
After charges were dropped, Eisenstadt read a statement to reporters that said Neuer had been traumatized by the incident and that his reputation had been tarnished.
-- Ralph Ranalli and John Ellement
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:07 PM
November 5, 2007
Murder suspect William G. Dunn of Norwood
(Photo by Robert E. Klein for the Boston Globe)
NEEDHAM
Prosecutors alleged that today in court that a baseball bat was the weapon used in an attack Friday in a Needham basement that killed a 78-year-old man and sent his daughter-in-law to the hospital with severe head trauma.
Dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit, William B. Dunn, 41, kept his head bowed during his brief arraignment in Dedham District Court, staff writer John Ellement reports on the Globe's Local News Updates blog. Norfolk assistant district attorney Michele Armour told the court that Dunn had been installing a lawn sprinkler system at the home of Robert J. Moore Sr. when there was a confrontation.
Dunn grabbed a baseball bat, Armour said, and beat Moore and his daughter-in-law, Nancy Moore. Armour did not say what sparked the alleged attack.
Dunn pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was ordered held without bail, and is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 13.
Dunn's attorney, Robert Griffin, spoke briefly with reporters outside court and rebuffed questions about an insanity defense, saying only, "I'm not ruling anything out."
The Globe reported Sunday that Dunn was voluntarily committed to the psychiatric ward of Norwood Caritas Carney Hospital in August after making paranoid statements to his wife, according to a missing person report his wife filed with Norwood police.
Griffin said today that to his knowledge Dunn did not have a prior history of violence. He added that his client's family was devastated.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 12:48 PM
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