Community briefing
ABINGTON
MAN CHARGED WITH ENTICING CHILD -- The recent arrest of a 58-year-old Randolph Street man who allegedly tried to lure a 14-year-old New Jersey girl to Massachusetts through an Internet chat room has prompted police to remind parents to be aware of their children's computer activities. Deputy Chief Christopher Cutter said Francis McKiernan attempted to lure what he thought was a young girl through a chat room controlled by a national child safety organization called Kids Defense Team. He said when police arrested McKiernan at his apartment on March 30 they found over 1,000 sexually explicit photographs of children on one of his three computers. McKiernan, a limousine driver, has pleaded not guilty in Brockton District Court to charges of enticing a child under the age of 16, attempting to commit a crime of statutory rape and possession of child pornography, said Cutter. The Police Department offers Internet safety classes for parents. For more information, call 781-982-2111 or visit www.abingtonpolice.org. -- Robert Carroll
BRAINTREE
MONITOR ELECTRICITY USAGE -- One hundred Braintree Electric Light Department customers who participate in a pilot conservation program will receive plug-in information units to monitor their home electricity usage. The 5-by-7-inch box monitors the amount of money spent per hour and also keeps track of electricity use on a monthly basis. It can be plugged into any wall outlet and customers ''load it" with pre-purchased electricity using a special ''pay as you go" credit card supplied by the light department. Prepaying for electricity and monitoring the cost of power makes people ''very aware of their usage habits," general manager William Bottiggi said. Customers interested in taking part in the program can call 781-348-2353. -- Robert Knox
COHASSET
NO PROBLEM WITH CLERK -- Town officials say they have no issue with a former payroll clerk who is charged with stealing money at her previous job. Officials ordered an audit of the town's finances last fall after former payroll clerk Nicole Bartlett, 44, of Marshfield, was charged with embezzling nearly $250,000 over a five-year period from The Children's Museum in Boston. The audit found two suspicious transactions during Barrett's first six weeks on the job in Cohasset. She was hired in May 2003 and quit last September as federal authorities closed in on her. ''The transactions were for $300 and $168," said Finance Director Michael Buckley. ''We were able to clear the $300 one; the other might never be totally cleared." Bartlett pleaded guilty in January to nine counts of embezzlement in the museum case. Each count carries up to a 10-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 10. -- Robert Carroll
DUXBURY
ANIME FESTIVAL -- The Duxbury Free Library will host an Anime festival on Saturday. Teenage and adult fans of Japanese animation are invited to watch ''Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" by Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki. The screening begins at 2 p.m. in the Merry Meeting Room. Discussion and refreshments will follow. The suggested donation is $5. -- Emily Sweeney
HANOVER
DRIVER CHARGED WITH HOMICIDE -- A University of New Hampshire sophomore has been charged with negligent homicide in connection with the hit-and-run death of Richard Hegerich, 20, of Hanover. Police say Kevin Whittaker, 19, was driving under the influence of alcohol when his car struck Hegerich as he was walking on a sidewalk near the campus at 1 a.m. Nov. 21. Campus police arrested Whittaker about a mile away from the accident scene. A grand jury on March 28 also indicted Whittaker on charges of leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence of alcohol. Whittaker, who remains free on $5,000 bail, is scheduled to appear in Stafford County Superior Court April 11 for a pretrial hearing. Hegerich graduated from Hanover High School in 2003.
-- Robert Carroll
HINGHAM
GRANT TO FUND HOUSING DRAFT -- A $15,000 grant from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership will help the Hingham Housing Authority draft a plan for an affordable housing development on 15 acres off Beal Street. Affordable housing makes up just 3 percent of Hingham's total housing stock, well below the state's 10 percent guideline, said Housing Authority director Gail Neibaur. The Housing Authority hopes to build 20 to 40 rental units with two or three bedrooms each. ''The technical assistance that the Mass Housing Partnership will provide is in getting low-income housing tax credits and technical guidance. They've done it before, so it's not that the Hingham Housing Authority will have to reinvent the wheel," Neibaur said. The grant will finance preliminary and feasibility studies for the development.
-- Carolyn Y. Johnson
HOLBROOK
CAMPAIGN FOR COMPUTER LAB -- A fund-raising campaign by parents, teachers, and students is underway at the Kennedy Elementary School to buy a portable computer lab. Kathy Bourgea, the technology liaison for the school, said the goal is to raise at least $15,000 to buy 15 wireless laptop computers and a cart to hold them. Currently, teachers use older computers that have been donated over the years, but they are slow and there are not enough to teach an entire class, she said. The first fund-raising event is an art auction scheduled for 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Art pieces, created by students, will be sold for a minimum of $2 each. The school is at 339 Plymouth St. -- Sandy Coleman
HULL
ENERGY-SAVING EVENT -- Electric and hybrid vehicles will be featured at the free South Shore Climate InfoFest scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 23 at the Mary Jeanette Murray Bathhouse on Nantasket Avenue. About 20 organizations have signed up to offer demonstrations or present information on energy-saving technologies such as fluorescent light bulbs, replacement windows, hydrogen fuel cells, and the Hull wind power turbine. Surfrider Foundation, Blue Hill Observatory volunteers, and the Hull Fire Department will also set up information tables. A hybrid Honda, a
KINGSTON
HEARING ON HOUSING PLAN -- Fountain Knoll Estates LLC plans to build a 156-unit housing development on Elm Street at the site of a sand and gravel operation. The Zoning Board of Appeals has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The $38 million project includes 10 new streets and 156 single-family homes, 39 of which would be sold at below-market rates. Fifty-one homes would be restricted to people who are at least age 55. The project is expected to be completed by 2011. The hearing will be held in Town Hall, 26 Evergreen St.
-- Emily Sweeney
MARSHFIELD
SEVERAL RACES CONTESTED -- A number of positions are contested in the April 30 annual town election. Selectman chairman James Fitzgerald is not seeking reelection. Patricia Epstein and Stephen Lynch -- who is making his third run for selectman -- are competing for the vacant seat. Town Moderator James Robinson is being challenged by Joseph Pecevich, who is also in races for the Board of Assessors and Housing Authority. Board of Health incumbent John Mahoney faces William Hayes III. And four candidates -- Michael Biviano Jr., John Hall, Dana Harvey, and Parrish Smolcha -- are running for the position left open when John Kyler resigned midway through his term earlier this year.
-- Carolyn Y. Johnson
MILTON
NATURAL LANDSCAPING WORKSHOP -- The Department of Public Works has scheduled a free workshop on natural landscaping techniques for 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday. The workshop, which is open to anyone who lives or works in Milton, will be held at Cunningham Hall on Edge Hill Road. Natural landscaping stresses the use of plants native to a region, which help prevent soil erosion, sustain wildlife, and reduce flooding and the need to use chemical pesticides and fertilizers, according to the department. -- Maria Cramer
NORWELL
VOTE FOR LAND PURCHASE -- Selectmen have voted unanimously to use $400,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to purchase 6.5 acres on the corner of River Street and Meadowbrook Lane. Representing the Community Preservation Committee, chairman James Ianiri recommended that the town buy the land, which is owned by Robert and Virginia Bartlett. Ianiri said the intent is to maintain the land as open space under the authority of the Conservation Commission. The purchase still requires approval at the May 9 Special Town Meeting. -- Susan Hagstrom
PEMBROKE
CANDIDATES FORUM -- A candidates forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Pembroke Country Club, at 94 W. Elm St. The free forum is sponsored by the Pembroke Chamber of Commerce. Candidates will explain their positions on issues and answer questions from voters during the event, which will also be broadcast on local cable television. The chamber will also announce the Pembroke Business of the Year award that night. Residents can vote via mail by sending their choice to the Pembroke Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 1126, Pembroke, 02359 or online at www.PembrokeChamber.org. For more information, contact Kathleen Keegan at 781-775-4670.
-- Paysha Stockton
PLYMOUTH
FORUMS ON PUBLIC ISSUES -- The Plymouth Area League of Women Voters has scheduled three forums on public issues. The league will sponsor a town election candidates forum at 6:30 p.m. April 27 at Plymouth Community Intermediate School on Long Pond Road at 6:30 p.m. May 4, the league will sponsor a forum on the Proposition 2½ override voters will face at the May 14 town election. It will be held at Plymouth Community Intermediate School and participants will include selectmen Kenneth Tavares and David Malaguti and Finance Committee chairman Joseph Bisaccio. -- Robert Knox
QUINCY
MEDICAL CENTER CEO RESIGNS -- Christine Schuster, CEO and president of Quincy Medical Center, has resigned to take a similar position at Emerson Hospital in Concord. Schuster, who had held the position since 2000, is widely credited with bringing financial stability to the hospital, which went private in 1999 and had $60 million in accumulated debt. ''Christine has righted the ship financially and operationally, improving patient volume, quality, and finances," said Bonnie Goldsmith, a spokeswoman for the medical center. Schuster, a registered nurse, will begin her new job in July. -- Carolyn Y. Johnson
RANDOLPH
TRAINING ON SELLING TOBACCO -- The Board of Health wants local tobacco merchants to attend free training sessions on selling tobacco products. Recent compliance checks conducted on the South Shore have indicated an increase in the sale of cigarettes to minors, board members said. Randolph has caught 15 local businesses selling tobacco to minors since January, they said. In response, the Blue Hills Tobacco-Free Community Mobilization Network and Board of Health are offering two tobacco-selling training sessions at 10 a.m. Tuesday and 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the board office, at One Turner Lane. The sessions will include a short video, and information on how to properly check identification cards, the strategies youth use to trick clerks into selling to them, and the current laws regarding tobacco sales, members said. To reserve space at a session, contact Health Agent John McVeigh at 781-961-0924. -- Paysha Stockton
ROCKLAND
PICTURES WANTED FOR WEBSITE -- The Rockland Internet Committee is seeking pictures to post on the town website, www.rockland-ma.gov. Pictures can be of favorite spots in towns such as historic town buildings. The committee also wants pictures of residents participating in seasonal activities, or attending town parades or community or sporting events. Pictures can be submitted by e-mailing webmaster@rockland-ma.gov. -- Paysha Stockton
SCITUATE
VOTERS REJECT OVERRIDE -- Voters in the April 2 town election rejected a $900,000 Proposition 2½ override question by a vote of 2,009 to 1,525. School Superintendent Mark Mason said $552,000 would have gone to the School Department. He plans to present a new budget proposal to the School Committee tomorrow night. Without the additional funds, Mason said, plans to hire new staff, including elementary and intermediate school specialists, will be abandoned. The School Committee meets at 7 p.m. in the Scituate High School library. -- Susan Hagstrom
WEYMOUTH
TOWN BUDGET TALKS -- Mayor David Madden has presented a $115 million town budget proposal to the Town Council. ''All services will remain 'as-is' for this fiscal year," said Madden, even though the town has lost about $3 million in state aid over the past five years. High fuel and utility costs have driven the budget up, but Madden said that the town has stabilized other costs, like reliance on one-time revenues, which dropped from $4.1 million to $1.8 million over the last five years. The household trash removal fee will increase by $50 a year, generating approximately $825,000. The budget management committee is set to analyze the budget and make recommendations by early June. -- Carolyn Y. Johnson 