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News from Newburyport, Amesbury, Newbury, Rowley, Georgetown, Groveland, Merrimac, West Newbury, Seabrook, Salisbury
10 Mar 2010 at 3:59am
SALEM — Robin Abrahams faces up to life in prison after a jury unanimously convicted him yesterday of rape of a child with force and burglary with assault of an occupant in Salem Superior Court.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:58am
SALISBURY — Urged by beach property owners, town officials are contacting the state agency that owns Salisbury Beach to try to arrange repairs for the damage done to its seashore by the Feb. 25 nor'easter and windstorm.
4 Mar 2010 at 11:25am
Danvers: Erin McNamara (12) of Pentucket drives past a St. Mary's defender during Wednesday night's game in Danvers. Photo by Ben Laing/Staff Photo
10 Mar 2010 at 3:57am
NEWBURYPORT — The business of banking is quickly becoming an online experience, forcing local banks to either evolve or be left behind.
In the past year, local banks have redirected significant resources to their online products, realizing it will be the only way to compete with bigger, national banks. Local bank leaders say they won't survive without it.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:56am
AMESBURY — Amesbury's per capita spending is higher than what communities of similar size spend on average to deliver services to constituents, but bringing it in line with the average would mean 18 percent cuts to services.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:55am
NEWBURYPORT — The city's compost facility will be open Saturday to take brush and branches from the recent storm.
The facility will be open to the residents of Newburyport from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Proof of residency will be required. A compost sticker will not be required.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:54am
NEWBURYPORT — Newburyport Adult & Community Education's winter session is under way with openings still available in several classes:
March and the Lyceum Program: The Vision of Dante Alighieri, The memoir of Isabel Allende, The Sum of Our Days, and From the Garden of Eden to the Galapagos, a discussion of Darwin's theory of evolution. All this began the first week of March.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:53am
AMESBURY — Annual kindergarten registration and screening will be conducted on April 14, 15 and 16 at district schools.
Parents of children who will turn 5 on or before Sept. 1 are encouraged to register at their local district school, either Amesbury Elementary School or Cashman Elementary School. Children who will turn 5 between Sept. 2 and Sept. 30 may qualify for early placement in kindergarten.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:52am
NEWBURYPORT: The following jury-waived case was recorded on Wednesday, March 3, in Newburyport District Court. Judge Allen Swan presided over the case:
Eric A. Jewett, 41, 6 Mountain Ave., PO Box 342, Merrimac; leaving the scene of property damage, found guilty, sentenced to three months in the house of correction, 30 days to be served (given credit for 15 days served), balance suspended for one year, one year's probation, restitution to be determined, ordered to pay $50 to the Victim/Witness Fund (Amesbury).
10 Mar 2010 at 3:51am
CONCORD, N.H. — At today's Governor and Council meeting, Gov. John Lynch will nominate Seabrook resident Capt. Robert Quinn to serve as colonel, or chief, of the New Hampshire State Police.
Department of Safety Commissioner John Barthelmes nominated Quinn for the appointment, which must be confirmed by the Executive Council.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:50am
MERRIMAC — Selectmen met Monday with Brian George of Northside Carting, which collects the trash and recycling in town, to discuss how it collects recycling and talk with the company on its performance under contract.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:49am
Merrimac Board of Selectmen
Monday, March 8, 2010
APPROVED
A warrant for up to $5,500 to have Net Technologies and Real to move the servers to the basement of the Town Hall, install an Internet connection and connect the servers for the public access channel by Friday.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:48am
SEABROOK — The results were unofficial at the polls last night as workers awaited the tallying of write-in ballots, but it appears voters returned Selectman Brendan Kelly to the board for a second term and elected Jessica Brown as the newest member of Seabrook's five-member School Board.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:47am
Rowley Board of Selectmen
March 8, 2010
Dick Cummings was absent from this meeting.
APPROVED
The budget numbers from the police, fire and highway departments were approved for fiscal year 2011 and will go on the town warrant to be approved by residents at the Town Meeting in May. In addition, several capital expenditure items, such as new gear for the firefighters and new low-band radios for the Highway Department, were discussed and will be included as items on the Special Town Meeting warrant. The overall town budget was discussed as well, and Chairman Dave Petersen noted that because of steady and conservative spending thus far, the town is in relatively good shape with the budget.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:46am
Georgetown Board of Selectmen
Monday, March 8, 2010
DISCUSSED, NO ACTION TAKEN
The heroic efforts of the Fire and Police departments after the storm two weeks ago that knocked out power in the area for more than 24 hours.
10 Mar 2010 at 3:45am
BYFIELD — More than 40 works by about 20 local artists will be on display, starting Friday, at the Newbury Town Library on Lunt Street.
The opening reception for the exhibit called "Local Artists, Local Scenes" will take place on Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 at the library. The artists will be in attendance, and their artwork will be on display and for sale. The reception is open to the public.
10 Mar 2010 at 12:15am
BOSTON — Fresh off a 28-point effort last evening in what she described as the "biggest game of her life," Pentucket senior basketball player Erin McNamara strolled into the media conference room with a T-shirt that read, "Unfinished business."
10 Mar 2010 at 12:15am
NEWBURYPORT — In September 2007, Frank DeZenzo applied for an honor flight — a program available to World War II veterans who wish to visit the nation's capital and see the World War II memorial.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:59am
NEWBURYPORT — Local clammers will be watching the wind this summer.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a warning that the poisonous algae known as red tide could cause significant problems in New England shellfish beds, starting this spring.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:58am
SALEM — There is a one in 1.85 quintillion chance the DNA collected from the bedsheet of the victim could be a Caucasian man other than defendant Robin Abrahams, according to forensic experts who testified in his rape trial yesterday.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:57am
BEVERLY — A trucker who tried to start his stalled 131âÑ2-ton dump truck in October by throwing it into neutral and pushing it from behind — only to send it crashing head-on into a police officer sitting in a pickup truck — will spend 18 months on unsupervised probation, a judge ordered yesterday.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:56am
AMESBURY — One of the town's oldest structures will soon be lost to the wrecking ball after an area developer responsible for demolishing the Lower Mill-yard building recently decided he won't be able to move the 18th century dwelling to another location.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:55am
A state commission named Swampscott Town Administrator Andrew Maylor the new chairman of the Essex Regional Retirement Board yesterday, replacing the embattled Timothy Bassett.
But the fate of the board's chairmanship is far from clear. The Essex Regional Retirement Board is suing the state, arguing it doesn't have the authority to replace its chairman.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:54am
SALISBURY — What started as a stop to have dinner and a drink at a local restaurant cost a carpenter his livelihood this weekend after a brazen robbery in the restaurant's parking lot.
Jef Tormey, a 15-year veteran carpenter from West Newton, was in the area to help his brother do some work on his Newburyport home and dropped into La Chiquita Restaurant on Lafayette Road late Saturday afternoon.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:53am
NEWBURYPORT — An accident Sunday morning resulted in a vehicle rollover along High Street, but no one was injured in the crash.
According to Newburyport police, as traffic stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross the street, a sport utility vehicle failed to stop, swerved to the right and into a parked car in front of 326 High St.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:52am
AMESBURY — The cost of keeping the town's legal house in order is turning out to be more expensive this year than anticipated.
Having already gone through its allocated $100,500 legal budget, Mayor Thatcher Kezer will come before the Municipal Council tonight and request an additional $25,000 be transferred from the town's reserve account to help cover a number of unexpected costs for legal services.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:51am
NEWBURYPORT
The following item was recorded in the log of the Newburyport police:
Thomas V. Turner, 34, 421 Salem St., Medford, was arrested Monday at 9:55 a.m. and charged with driving with a revoked license as a habitual traffic offender. Officer Jason A. Kohan made the arrest on High Street.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:50am
ROWLEY — The Pine Grove School is taking steps to make sure its hallways, classrooms and playground are bully-free zones by having frank discussions with students about bullying and harassment. This was done last week during the school's community gathering meetings.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:49am
GEORGETOWN — The School Committee held a public hearing last week on next year's budget but delayed a scheduled vote to approve it because two committee members, Anne Blythe and Eric Zadina, were absent.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:48am
A pedestrian crossing light will be added to the roadway at Friedenfels Street and March Road in Salisbury, an attempt to make it safer for bicyclists and walkers to cross Route 1 to access the soon-to-be-built Eastern Marsh rail trail.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:47am
WEST NEWBURY — The start time for a Board of Selectmen's meeting tomorrow has changed from 6:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., because an executive session to discuss union contract negotiations that was sched
9 Mar 2010 at 3:46am
The Nock school cafeteria will be transformed to an Italian Trattoria Friday night, when the eighth-grade class hosts its second annual spaghetti dinner to support its spring trip to New York City. The pasta will be served by students, but paid for and cooked up by Not Your Average Joe's, complemented with freshly baked rolls from Bertucci's. It will be an Italian feast of the finest quality, according to Nock teacher Wendy Phillips, who is hoping for a high turnout to surpass the $1,400 raised last year. It's all for a good cause, she said.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:45am
NEWBURYPORT — The town crier competition has numerous events scheduled for the coming week.
Several candidates are vying to be named Newburyport's town crier. They are raising money to help pay for the annual Yankee Homecoming parade, and the one who raises the most will be named town crier and will have the honor of leading the parade. All money raised will go toward the parade, which is one of the most expensive events of Yankee Homecoming.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:44am
NEWBURYPORT — The Family Resource Room at the Newburyport YWCA is open Tuesdays, March 9, 16, 23 and 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and by appointment. The YWCA's Family Resource Room will also host the following workshops in March:
9 Mar 2010 at 3:43am
SEABROOK — Registered voters will choose today which candidates will sit on the Board of Selectmen and School Board.
The polls at Seabrook Community Center are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and voters will decide on three warrants: the Seabrook School District, the Winnacunnet School District and the 41-question Town Warrant.
9 Mar 2010 at 3:42am
Amesbury's Matt Thomas, who played football at Harvard, is playing professionally in Spain. Thomas was signed by the Marbella Sharks of the Agrupacion Espanola de Futbol Americano (literal translation
9 Mar 2010 at 12:15am
NEWBURYPORT — The damage at two local landmarks is being assessed following the powerful winds that slammed into the area 10 days ago, and a call for help is being made concerning one.
Two hundred trees were downed at Maudslay State Park off Curzon Mill Road in the storm, in which winds gusted at more than 90 mph. Some of those trees were more than 100 feet tall, said Catherine Williams, spokeswoman for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the state agency that manages the 480-acre park.
9 Mar 2010 at 12:15am
WEST NEWBURY — The Pentucket High School Theatre Department invites the community to "be our guest" this week at a production of "Beauty and the Beast." A delight for kids and adults alike, this version of the classic French fairy tale is based on the much-beloved, Oscar-nominated animated film by Disney, written by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Linda Wolverton.
8 Mar 2010 at 3:59am
SALISBURY — A cremation urn rests on the shelf of the hutch in a Spring Street home, evidence of the ultimate price paid for experimenting with the evils of drug addiction.
It was just over a year ago Jay and Brenda DeBoisbriand placed the urn carrying the ashes of their beloved 25-year-old son on the shelf, not long after Joseph DeBoisbriand died on Jan. 2 after using heroin with friends.
8 Mar 2010 at 3:58am
NEWBURYPORT — When the Newburyport Education Business Coalition was founded in response to a 1990s federal initiative to increase partnership between schools and the corporate sector and hence increase the competitiveness of the American worker, it was an organization in good company.