A 24-year-old woman appeared in a Massachusetts courtroom on Thursday, hours after she allegedly shot and killed both her mom and dad in Bedford.
Jessica Cavallaro was ordered held without bail at her arraignment in connection to the shooting death…
Massachusetts
Massachusetts House approves sweeping housing bill
The Massachusetts House approved their version of a sweeping housing bill late Wednesday, seeking to build on proposed legislation unveiled by Gov. Maura Healey last year designed to rev up the creation and renovation of affordable housing.
The Hou…
Man shot in Dorchester
An investigation is underway in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood after a man was shot Thursday night.
Information is extremely limited at this point but Boston police responded to the Elwyn Road scene and are actively investigating the shooti…
A haze of uncertainty hangs over the future of marijuana on Martha’s Vineyard
Marijuana business owners and users on Martha’s Vineyard are facing a dire situation that’s only getting worse by the day.
Island Time Dispensary on Martha’s Vineyard shut its doors three weeks ago due to a lack of product, and state regulations that forbid marijuana to be shipped over Massachusetts waterways.
“We need a solution, and we need a solution now,” said Island Time Owner Geoff Rose.
A lawsuit filed over the issue and public outcry has the Cannabis Control Commission’s attention. Officials held a public hearing Thursday on the Vineyard.
Speakers voiced concern about losing access to medications and urged commissioners to remove red tape for the few dispensaries open on the island.
“It was helpful to hear from the people that are really impacted by the tension between the regulations, federal law and all the policy issues,” said Commissioner Bruce Stebbins.
But finding a fix that balances the Steamship Authority, state waters, federal waters and regulations is no easy task.
“There’s only so much we can do as the Cannabis Control Commission as an entity, I think we already took some important first steps,” Stebbins said.
While the Commission considers what action it can take, Rose says time is running out for his business.
“Another week or so at best,” said Rose.
The Cannabis Control Commission’s next meeting is June 13, with plans to discuss next steps and ways to remedy this situation.
Remembering D-Day: Local WWII veteran shares memories of Normandy invasion
Alfred Consigli was one of seven brothers from Milford, Massachusetts, who fought in World War II. On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the 100-year-old shared many of his memories of his time on the frontlines.
“I get the letter from the government to report at 17 years old for a physical to go into the service, as soon as you turn 18 you went in,” said Consigli, who now lives Upton. “I never rode in a train in my life. I was never in Boston, I was so scared. They flunked me! I come home and told Ma, ‘They don’t want me! They don’t want me!’ But then after a while they called me in again and the officer made a huge mistake. He says to me, ‘Do you like guns?’ I say ‘Yes, I like guns,’ ’cause I had a 22 when I was 15 years old.”
Consigli was drafted to General George Patton’s “Blackcat” Tank Battalion.
“You know how many rounds I fired? From different tanks, almost 8,000. Yea. That’s why I can’t hear.”
Consigli took dozens of wartime photos that give a unique glimpse into life on the frontlines.
“We had to go look for Nazis in all the buildings. I went into one store, I found a suitcase full of cameras, one 35mm film and one 20s,” said Consigli. “I gave some away and one of the GIs in my company gave me a Thompson Machine gun for one camera.”
He enlarged many of the pictures and attached them to cardboard to share his memories.
Some are slices of life, like a soldier getting a haircut next to a tank, and the various characters he met in the army.
“He used to play a guitar at basic training. He’d sing a song, ‘Bright lights on Broadway, moonlight down in Dixie. We’ll have moonshine in them North Carolina hills.’ He used to sing that song,” said Consigli as he pointed to a soldier in a photograph.
He experienced several close calls with German troops.
“One day we pulled in a tank in a small town. I says to the guy, I’m going into a barn to sleep. I didn’t want to sleep in the tank,” said Consigli. “Then in the morning I hear footsteps up there. Infantry come down with two Germans. He says ‘Look who was sleeping with you upstairs.’ He said they had guns, too. They were up there when I was there. They could have shot me.”
More on D-Day
Eighty years later, he remembers his orders in Normandy vividly.
“We landed at Utah Beach and we were in France. Officer comes on the radio: Platoon adjust, tank number six, charge five, fuse quick, base deflection…fire when ready. Two rounds I knocked it out,” recalled Consigli. “He sent another tank down there. All of a sudden I hear get out, get out. They knocked that tank out. That would have been us.”
Many of the memories that came to mind are of the lives lost and the morbid experiences soldiers had on the battlefield.
“You should have seen all the Americans and Germans all over the place. I remember that like nothing.”
He also recalled finding a German soldier’s body with a picture of his bride in his pocket.
“They just got married,” said Consigli. “I felt bad.”
Asked what he wants people to think on the anniversary of D-Day, he said, “Well they shouldn’t have another war, I know that. All the people getting killed.”
Alfred Consigli has shared many of his stories at the American Heritage Museum where his service and the sacrifices of so many men are commemorated. The D-Day exhibit there says more than ten thousand Allied soldiers were killed, wounded and disappeared during the invasion of Normandy.
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T has ‘terrible options’ if budget isn’t straightened out, watchdog says
Public transportation is on the verge of an “existential crisis,” cities and towns that help fund the MBTA warned, as the system moves ahead with a budget plan that drains its reserves in the face of a looming deficit.
A T subcommittee …
