By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Quincy police are investigating the apparent theft of a large amount of cash from the Quincy Patriot Ledger.

According to Quincy Police, an employee initially noticed that transactions in the circulation department were amiss. An audit found that a substantial amount of money was missing, police said.

Police declined to say the exact amount, though noted that it was substantial.

Quincy Police Captain John Dougan said the police were actively investigating the incident, and were making good progress.

“We do have a person of interest,” he said. “We expect a resolution in the near future.”

The missing money was reported to police by Gatehouse Media, the Patriot Ledger’s parent company, on March 29.

Several editors and the publisher of the Ledger could not be reached for comment.

Spokesmen for Gatehouse Media, Inc. also did not return repeated calls for comment.

No arrests have been made, Quincy Police said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Quincy police arrested two people on Thursday after finding a large-scale marijuana growing operation at one of the couple’s Quincy homes.

According to police, detectives from the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office, who were helping a utility company turn off the service to a home at 228 Norfolk Street, called Quincy Drug detectives to report a large marijuana growing operation in the basement of the Quincy home.

The detective allegedly smelled raw marijuana upon entering the house in order to turn off the utilities, and upon further investigation, saw at least 30 potted marijuana plants growing amongst heat lamps.

Members of Quincy’s Drug Control unit arrived at the house while other detectives applied for a search warrant.

Detectives who were initially at the house told responding police that a man was putting down mulch outside the property when police initially arrived. When police entered the house, the man abruptly left.

The officer had taken note of the license plate for the car, a navy Honda Ridgeline, and police were asked to be on the lookout for the vehicle.

Quincy officers, along with members of the Drug Enforcement Agency, soon received a search warrant for the house at 2:56 p.m. and entered the building.

According to police, officers located 65 marijuana plants in the basement, 18 smaller plants of dried marijuana, along with space heaters, lamps, and other components of a drug growing operation.

While police were searching the home, a Quincy officer found the suspect’s car parked at a home on Adams Street.

Officers went to the address and knocked on the door. Two young boys, ages 13 and 8, answered, saying they didn’t know where their father was.

Police said one of the boys kept looking towards the back door, where the officers soon saw a man peak his head out from around the corner. The man refused to come out initially, but eventually came to the door.

As soon as police started to talk to him, the man ran off. Detectives chased after him, and located him hiding behind Quizno’s.

The man was identified by officers as the man who was shoveling mulch in the front yard. A key in the suspect’s pocket also opened up the truck sitting in the driveway.

Officers went back to the house to check on the children, but no one would come to the door. Police said officers forced their way in, and found a woman hiding in the bedroom along with four children.

Police said the Norfolk Street house was in both the male and female suspects’ names, and so they were both placed under arrest.

Hao Vu, 37, from Quincy was charged with trafficking in a class D substance, conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and child endangerment.

Annie Vu, 37, also from Quincy was charged with trafficking in a class D substance, conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act, resisting arrest, child endangerment, and misleading a police officer after she lied about her relationship with the male suspect.

A 51A was filed with the Department of Children and Families on behalf of the children.

Police said the house was inhabitable because of the large amount of wiring used to heat the plants.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

A South Boston man was arrested on April 26 for allegedly trying to “train surf” at a North Quincy MBTA station.

According to police, a man was outside of the train car at approximately 5:33 p.m. and had attempted to hang onto the top roof rail of the train as it was pulling out of the station.

Drivers of the train stopped the car and MBTA personnel were forced to hold service for several minutes in order to get the suspect back on the platform.

“This caused inconvenience for many passengers as well as having a residual effect on other trains waiting to pull into the station,” MBTA transit police said in their blog.

Another witness told police that the suspect had attempted to do the same “train surfing” move at a train in Wollaston station moments earlier.

When officers approached the suspect about the behavior, the suspect defended it, saying that he had a “God given right to do anything he wants” and would have only harmed himself.

Police soon discovered that there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest issued out of Quincy District Court for Failure to Attend Jury Service.

Justin Green, 29, of South Boston was placed into custody for the warrant. He will additionally be charged with disorderly conduct.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Quincy police are looking for two suspects who allegedly robbed a woman at knifepoint.

According to police, the woman had gotten off at the Quincy Center T stop and started walking home. After walking down Coddington Street, she turned onto Spear Street and was approached by two men.

When the men got near her, one pulled a knife and asked if she had any money. When she said no, the men asked if she had a cell phone. The woman said she did not.

The men asked what was in the woman’s bag, and she said a laptop. They grabbed the bag and then ran off down the street.

The victim said the suspects two black men, approximately 25 years old, and about six feet tall. One was wearing a dark hoodie, the other was wearing a dark jacket.

Police are following up on the robbery, but anyone with information should contact the Quincy Police.

Births per 1,000 residents in 2010

By Matt Carroll, Boston Globe | May 2, 2013

Click here to see a larger, interactive version of this chart.
Additional town-by-town snapshots.

(Matt Rocheleau for Boston.com)

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

The temporary extra patrols of well-armed police officers and soldiers in MBTA stations are gone. But the quest to bolster the long-term safety of the public transit system is far from over.

The T still has $80 million in unspent federal homeland security grants, which have been doled to public transportation systems across the country since 2002.

The $60 million in federal grants spent by the T over the past decade has helped make the agency a national leader in the industry of public transit safety.

“The efforts toward security and policing that the MBTA has had in place for a number of years have really been looked at as a benchmark for the industry,” said Greg Hull, director of operations, safety and security for the American Public Transportation Association.

And, when the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon two weeks ago, officials at the MBTA said that, while shocked and devastated like the rest of the city, they were prepared, largely due to the new equipment and training acquired in recent years.

“It was controlled chaos,” said Randy Clarke, senior director of security and emergency management for the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

He described the atmosphere of the T’s central hub for dispatch and communications, or Operations Control Center, as officials scrambled to secure stations and stop some service after the explosions at Copley Square, and then again several day later when the system was shut down during a lengthy manhunt.

“I hate to say we’re used to crises and trained for them, but we are,” Clarke said.

On Monday, two weeks after the Marathon bombings, MBTA officials gave a tour of the control center, which includes some of the transit industry’s most sophisticated technology for daily operations and security.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

The Quincy Lions Club has given John Yazwinski, CEO of Father Bill’s & Mainspring, the 2013 Frank McCauley Community Service Award.

Yazwinski joins the ranks of the few who have received the award, which was started in 2010 and named after former Quincy Mayor Francis X. McCauley.

“Frank McCauley is one of the longest serving lions in the 72 year history of the club. He’s been there 50 years now, and when they gave him his 50th, we set up a committee from the board of directors and every year they vote and choose someone for the award,” said Charles Phelan, Quincy Lions Club president. “…It has to be someone from the community, an activist or someone involved in the community. The only thing is it cannot be a Lion. We choose someone that we feel meets the ideals that we serve.”

Yazwinski was an easy choice, not only because of what he does, but because of how he does it, Phelan said. The choice was unanimous.

“He works in an area where it’s kind of forgotten, the forgotten people in Quincy, and he services a population that have some of the most desperate needs in the city,” Phelan said. “He’s always upbeat, has spoken at our club before, and we just all felt that he’s the guy out there every day in the trenches doing the work.”

Previous winners include former Quincy Community Action Program Executive Director Rosemary Wahlberg, Quincy Sun Editor Robert Bosworth, and Interfaith Social Services Manager of Material Assistance Bettyanne Lang.

Yazwinski was the perfect person to follow in those footsteps, organizers said.

In 2012 alone, Father Bills & Mainspring helped nearly 600 families find permanent housing.

“Under John’s tenure, Father Bill’s has made a commitment not to just manage homelessness, but to work toward ending homelessness,” Phelan said.

According to Phelan, Father Bill’s commitments are all encompassing; including the emergency shelter and emergency meals to those facing homelessness; developing permanent, affordable housing; providing job training and work programs; and offering special services targeted to veterans in need.

Yazwinski was surprised about the recognition, and was modest about receiving an award named after McCauley.

“The Quincy Lion’s Club has been supporting our mission for over 20 years, and so I was very humbled and honored, especially because its named after Frank McCauley and how he’s been such a community leader for the past several decades and worked with Father Bills, helped us secure the emergency shelter in Quincy, and knowing Frank is such a person of principle,” Yazwinski said.

Even more humbling was to stand amongst the other award recipients, who Yazwinski called “pillars of the community”.

Though Yazwinski’s name is on the award, the validation is for all of the people involved in Father Bill’s, Yazwinski said.

“I view it as an award to our mission, to all volunteers, staff, board members who make sure every day that veterans or children or moms who struggle with homelessness have a safe place, and that the Quincy Lions Club recognizes that is very appreciated,” Yazwinski said. “We have some tough days here…and in our mission and facing budget cuts … [it is nice to] know there is a group like the Lions stepping up recognizing it…it gives us the confidence to move forward and end homelessness one life at a time.”

Yazwinski also hoped the award would provide an awareness for the level of services the organization provides, which extends far beyond just the homeless shelter.

“I hope what this award will do will let people know we’re not just an emergency shelter, we’re here to help people get back on their feet,” he said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Quincy officials are hoping to receive more money from the state for projects done under the city’s Community Preservation Act program, and have started the process to get the change onto the November ballot.

“The sooner we get it on [the ballot], the more we can get the word out about how this could benefit Quincy taxpayers,” said City Councilor Doug Gutro, who is spearheading the initiative.

As it works now, money for Community Preservation projects comes from a 1 percent surcharge on residents' property tax bills. That pool of money is then matched in part by the state.

The law, passed by ballot vote in Quincy in 2006, can be used for a limited scope of projects, including historic preservation, purchase of open space, or creation of affordable housing.

Yet the change, known as “Blended CPA”, would enable the city to not only use that surcharge revenue toward CPA projects, but would allow the city to use other revenues as well.

For example, money from the city’s hotel/motel tax could be allocated to a project, as could revenue from the meals tax. Coupled with the surcharge funds, the result would be a bigger pool of money, resulting in a larger state match.

“If we had $1 million in CPA and got $250,000 match, if we had another $1 million in hotel/motel, it could be another $250,000,” Gutro said, using approximate numbers. “We’re talking a substantial potential match augmentation to the match we get.”

The city is already doing this in some extent – using hotel/motel money for park and recreation space improvement – both of which now qualify for Community Preservation Act funding.

Without the change to “Blended CPA”, however, Gutro said the city is leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table.

Gutro has asked the city’s solicitor to draft language for the change, which would have to be approved by the voters in November. Once drafted, the City Council will have to vote to put the initiative on the ballot.

“It’s a real opportunity to be eligible for additional revenues in the city of Quincy that don’t burden local taxpayers,” Gutro said.

According to Stuart Saginor, Executive Director of the Community Preservation Coalition, Quincy is the first community that has already passed the Community Preservation Act to request a change to Blended CPA.

The language, initially suggested in part by former Quincy Mayor William Phelan in 2005, was meant to entice new communities to join CPC.

Passed last summer, the Blended CPA has been adopted only by Salem and Sommerville.

“You’re seeing Quincy’s influence first, because they were part of the group…that designed this provision,” Saginor said.

Saginor didn’t expect many other communities to be able to adopt a similar provision, as municipal budgets don’t commonly have a lot of wiggle room. Bit for those that do have the additional revenue streams that aren’t already dedicated for a project or use, the Blended CPA makes a lot of sense, Saginor said.

He noted, however, that for those communities with “Blended CPA,” communities could only allocate additional money up to three percent of their property tax bill.

Community Preservation Act only allows for city to request up to three percent surcharge on resident’s property tax bill. Because Quincy already has a one percent surcharge, they could only add revenues to bring that up to three percent.

“They have a traditional surcharge of 1 percent right now, so each year, they could decide whether they wanted to put in up to an additional 2 percent, and if they do they qualified for a higher match from statewide CPA trust fund. They get to decide that each year,” Saginor said.

When the city would have to make that allocation was not certain, as the state Department of Revenue has yet to formulate all the rules surrounding the new Blended CPA law.

The change is a lot to explain to taxpayers, who Gutro said might not even realize there is a ballot vote until the day of.

With such a big head start, Gutro is hoping to educate the public on why they should pass the law before the vote even comes to fruition.

“I don’t want to run the risk of hurrying something through in September or not getting the vote done in time,” Gutro said. “ … It benefits every neighborhood in the city and [we] can promote that through the city in different meetings and events.”

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Quincy Police are looking for a man accused of robbing a bank Thursday afternoon.

According to police, the suspect went into the Braintree Coooerative Bank on Quincy Avenue at 5:11 p.m. Thursday, approached a female teller, and said, “Give me all you got.”

The teller gave the suspect a sum of money before the suspect demanded money from “the second drawer.” Police said the teller responded that she didn’t understand what he meant, and didn’t have anything in her second drawer.

The suspect then left the bank and ran along the railroad tracks toward West Howard Street into Braintree.

Police received the report of a robbery and arrived shortly thereafter. A police dog attempted to track the suspect, but lost the scent.

Video evidence from the scene shows the suspect as a white male in his 20s wearing a grey hoodless sweatshirt with white sleeves. He also was wearing grey sweatpants, a black Nike hat, and aqua blue sneakers.

Police said the suspect gave no indication that he had a weapon.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Quincy Police.

Photo courtesy of Atlantic Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Jin Kim shakes the hand of Ethan Wood, concertmaster.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

With nearly 400 seats already sold, the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra is preparing to wrap up a successful season with a finale concert on Saturday.

“It’s been probably one of the better seasons we’ve had,” said Nina Wellford, acting executive director for the orchestra. “… The overall program was a great mix of favorite classical music but [there were] some stimulating and challenging new pieces. The programming was great, we had outstanding soloists, attendance was up - for many reasons, it was a very successful year.”

Members of the regional orchestra started their season in August in Hingham with a smaller show, moving into their full season in October, with performances at Thayer Academy.

Though the orchestra typically splits its concert performances between the 500-seat Thayer and the 1,100-seat Duxbury Performing Arts Center, Thayer became the home base this season while the Duxbury site was under construction.

“People knew where to find us and it was in the middle of the North/South Shore. And it’s a great place to play. You can have receptions and preconcert parties, which you can’t do easily at Duxbury,” Wellford said.

Yet the venue hasn’t been the prime reason for the orchestra’s most recent successes. According to Wellford, the reputation of the orchestra has steadily grown, making the concerts a destination.

“I think each year, more and more people hear about us and make us part of their plans,” Wellford said. “At a certain point you reach a tipping point. Enough people know about us and know it will be a good night out. At this point, attendance is much more steadily up.”

Previous seasons ended with a pops concert, but this season, that was moved to the winter.

“Everyone could use a party in the middle of the year, and this way we could end the season with a similar feel to opening night,” Wellford said. “It’s a festival classical music night rather than a pops, and represents who we are as an orchestra.”

This weekend's program will exemplify Music Director Jin Kim's combination of familiar classics -- "Appalachian Spring" by Aaron Copland and Brahms's Symphony No. 1 -- with a lesser-known work, John Knowles Paine's Overture to Shakespeare’s "As You Like It."

Though the final piece may seem out of place, the composer was an American, like Copland, with German training, like Brahms.

According to program notes, Paine was the first professor of music at Harvard, and composed this piece in 1876, the same year that Brahms finished his first symphony.

“It’s a nice example of [Kim’s] programming,” Wellford said.

For more information on the pieces, visit the Atlantic Symphony’s website.

For tickets or concert information, click here, or call 781-331-3600.