A house fire was burning Tuesday night in downtown Brockton, Massachusetts, fire officials said.
The burning home was on Green Street off Main Street, according to the Brockton Fire Department. They didn’t have more details, including if any…
Massachusetts
Chief gets 1-year contract extension amid Canton PD audit, Karen Read trial
As the town of Canton awaits a verdict in the high-profile Karen Read murder trial, supporters of the defendant say its police department needs a shakeup and that Police Chief Helena Rafferty needs to go, even though she wasn’t the chief when the case that’s captivated Massachusetts began.
“We need a police chief who’s concerned about the safety of all Canton residents, not just the well-connected townies,” Canton resident Kathleen Howley said.
A vocal group of Canton residents says the Read investigation was botched and has been asking the town’s select board for months to not renew Rafferty’s contract.
“We need someone from the outside,” said Canton resident Rita Lombardi, who tried to unseat Chair Michael Loughran on the board this spring in part because of how the case was handled.
The select board’s agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting included a vote on approving a new contract for Rafferty, which they did, but for one year, rather than three.
Before the board voted, several residents urged the select board to fire the chief.
“I think we need to send a message that the status quo is no longer OK,” resident Liza Colburn said.
Loughran said the majority of the board decided to renew the chief’s contract for only one year in order to let things settle down once the Read case concludes, and so that an audit of the police force can be completed.
“We want to get through the trial,” Loughran said. “We want to get the police audit and give her a chance to respond to what the audit finds and take appropriate steps to correct whatever the audit points out.”
The board voted 3 to 1 to renew the contract for a year. Select Board Member Chris Albert abstained from the vote as he was a witness in the Karen Read case.
Patricia Boyden was the sole select board member to vote against a new contract for Rafferty, saying, “While she’s a nice person, part of the force since 1989, it’s just the past two years have been crazy and I think we need someone new and outside to bring this town back.”
Rafferty has not responded to a request for comment.
Also this year, Rafferty was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk for hitting a person with her vehicle while driving in Wrentham. Weeks later, after the crash was publicly reported, she issued a statement calling the incident “an unfortunate accident,” and noting that, “Upon further reflection and considering the amount of attention that has been focused on Canton, I should have issued a statement sooner.”
The Canton police audit was approved last year by a 903 to 800 vote, done by hand. It was spearheaded by Howley.
Has the bull on the loose in Boston moooved on?
It’s been three days since a cow wandering through Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood escaped animal control officers, and it’s still on the loose, officials said Tuesday.
The cow — actually a bull — has not been located, despite multiple searches, Boston Animal Care and Control said in an update to their original Facebook post from Saturday.
The agency even sent up a heat-sensing drone, but didn’t find the animal.
Animal Care and Control did share more information about where the bull came from: “a resident who was unaware that farm animals, with the exception of permitted chickens, are not allowed within the City of Boston.”
But they didn’t say what setting the bovine was kept in.
The bull was first spotted near the intersection of Stella and Harding roads, between Hyde Park Avenue and Calvary Cemetery.
Anyone who’s eyed the bull was asked not to seize it by its horns but to call the city at 311 or animal control at 617-635-5348.
Child hurt in apparent hit-and-run in Revere store parking lot
A car hit a child, then fled the scene, at a BJ’s Wholesale Club in Revere, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, police said.
The 6-year-old is expected to survive, police said, but they didn’t share the extent of their injuries.
More detail…
Next stop, North-South rail link? Moulton talks big Boston transit idea
A ride on the MBTA Commuter Rail brings frustration and excitement for Congressman Seth Moulton.
“Our trains are so old, decrepit and slow,” said Moulton, D-Mass.
Beyond improving train cars and slow speeds, Moulton is championing a long-discussed public transit idea: connecting Boston’s North and South stations by rail. The North Shore’s member of Congress commissioned a study from the Harvard Kennedy School that suggests the project would have a $7.9 billion price tag and bring in an estimated 86 million additional riders for the Commuter Rail.
“If you look at international comparisons and look at what similar tunnels have cost in other parts of America, like Los Angeles, it actually could come out less,” Moulton said.
The tracks connecting the stations would burrow below the city, adding another tunnel to Boston’s already complex underground and allow trains to continue through without having to stop and turn around, like they do now.
“It goes under the Big Dig, under the Blue Line, the Red Line, it just goes under everything in the city,” said Moulton. “We’ve already set aside $4 billion for South Station expansion, that covers half the project cost. The additional money comes from the rail link itself. It pays for itself.”
Not everyone shares that positive perspective.
In a Boston Globe op-ed published Sunday, Chair of the Massachusetts House Joint Committee on Transportation Rep. William Straus lamented the cost of the proposed rail link and critiqued the amount of infrastructure that would need to be built.
Straus also emphasized the need for other projects, like expanding South Station.
Despite that criticism, Moulton thinks this is the moment to make the connection: “I think our generation can be the one to get this done.”
Defense team mobbed by Karen Read supporters as they leave courtroom
The jury has begun deliberations in the Karen Read murder trial, and a large group of her supporters have convened outside the courtroom as they wait for a verdict.
Pink-shirted supporters of Read have been seen outside the courtroom throughout the trial, but Tuesday’s presence seemed even heavier than on most recent days.
As the defense team, including Read and her lawyers Alan Jackson, David Yannetti and Elizabeth Little, left the courtroom just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to await word of a verdict, they were mobbed supporters.
Jurors began their deliberations shortly before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. They must decide whether Read killed her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe by hitting him with her SUV and leaving him dying in the snow, or was framed to cover up a fight.
Read is charged with second-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, along with manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving a scene of personal injury and death. The manslaughter charge carries a penalty of five to 20 years in prison, and the other charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years.
Her lawyers contend O’Keefe was dragged outside after he was beaten up in the basement and bitten by a dog at Boston officer Brian Albert’s home in Canton, Massachusetts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
