1st wave of Starbucks closings misses state

July 13, 2008

Starbucks stores in Massachusetts are not included in the first round of closings following the coffee company's decision last week to shutter 600 underperforming stores nationwide. Starbucks Coffee Co. released a list Friday night of the first 50 stores to close, in 19 states. The first stores will close by the end of the month. The remaining closings are staggered over the next several months through the start of the 2009 fiscal year, the company said. "Poor real estate decisions that were made, coupled with a very troubled economy, convinced us that these stores would not reach acceptable levels of profitability," chief executive Howard Schultz wrote in a message to employees July 8. Starbucks said it will try to place employees from the closing stores in jobs at nearby locations.

A Brockton man was killed in a hit-and-run accident while walking south on Washington Street, or Route 138, in Easton early yesterday morning, police said. John McCarthy, 58, was struck by what police believe was a black sport utility vehicle just before 5 a.m. State Police, who were assisting Easton police, found parts from one of two models of an Infiniti QX45 or a Nissan Pathfinder at the scene, and authorities are searching for one of those SUVs with front-end damage, said Keith Nunes of the Easton Police Department. A passing motorist found McCarthy on the roadside with multiple injuries. The Easton Fire Department took him to the Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Springfield police plan to charge a city firefighter with attempted murder after an assault that left a 45-year-old man with a slashed throat. Police yesterday did not identify the firefighter in the event that allegedly stemmed from a fight over a woman. They said the firefighter and an accomplice attacked the victim with a box cutter Friday morning, and ignored his pleas to stop cutting him at Allen Park Apartments. The Republican newspaper of Springfield said the man had a slashing wound to his throat, two deep stab wounds to the back, and several defensive wounds to his arms. He was in stable condition at Baystate Medical Center after emergency surgery. The firefighter's alleged accomplice, 26-year-old Nathan Boucher, was arrested on assault charges. (AP)

Folk singer Pete Seeger is coming to the aid of New England farmers. Seeger will headline a Sept. 13 concert in Brattleboro to raise money for a new microloan program being developed by The Carrot Project and the organization that operates the town's annual Strolling of the Heifers parade. The New England Farm Relief Concert, at Latchis Theatre, will also feature his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, and bluesman Guy Davis. The Carrot Project, a nonprofit based in Somerville, Mass., makes loans and guarantees available for small farms and those that use environmentally friendly practices. (AP)

Police say a 29-year-old Maine man called a taxi to take him home while police were searching for him with a dog and a search plane following a burglary at a golf course pro shop. Andrew Gerrish of Sanford is being held on $5,000 bail on a burglary charge. Police say Gerrish and a 17-year-old fled on foot when officers responded to a silent alarm at the Links at Outlook Golf Course in South Berwick in May. The juvenile was caught a short time later, but police say Gerrish made a getaway despite a police manhunt that involved a K-9 unit and a Maine State Police airplane. (AP)

An explosion blew a lobsterman off the stern of his boat, but he managed to swim to safety after his vessel caught fire 6 miles off Cape Elizabeth. According to the Coast Guard, Kenneth Johnson was pulling traps by himself yesterday morning when he made an emergency radio call reporting an electrical fire. Coast Guard search-and-rescue specialist Kenneth Stuart said that after Johnson got his survival suit on, an explosion blew him off a rear platform of the 45-foot Kimberly Marie. A sportfishing boat retrieved Johnson from the water. He was later transported to Maine Medical Center with rib injuries. (AP)