Police in Swampscott, Massachusetts, are warning the public to be on the lookout after a series of check-washing incidents.
Criminals are stealing checks from people’s mail, changing the names and dollar amounts. The Swampscott Police Departm…
Massachusetts
Driver killed in Foxborough crash, police say
A driver was killed in a crash Monday in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The crash happened just before 5:30 p.m. on Route 1 northbound, Foxborough police said.
Authorities say a tractor-trailer was stopped waiting to turn onto Lincoln Road when a pa…
6th-grade musician ‘over-the-moon excited’ to meet Olivia Rodrigo’s bassist before Boston show
Olivia Rodrigo is performing in Boston, and one young fan from Needham, Massachusetts, got to meet the superstar’s bass player.
Sixth-grader Ruby Golden Tiger learned to play bass when she was 7, and she loves to play Rodrigo’s music.
…
AAA warns of rise in road rage cases in Mass. and nationwide
Cases of road rage are on the rise in Massachusetts and across the country, according to AAA.
The agency said it’s an issue that’s grown over the last decade, and exacerbated after the COVID-19 pandemic.
More often than not, AAA says…
Karen Read supporters protest proposed restrictions for trial
We’re just two weeks away from the high-profile murder trial against Karen Read and a group of her supporters gathered outside the Norfolk District Attorney’s Offfice in Canton, Massachusetts, on Monday to protest a motion filed by the sta…
Salem mulls ‘camping’ ban as tents pop up amid growing homelessness
Officials in Salem, Massachusetts, are considering a ban on camping in an effort to clear homeless people’s tents from public walkways.
For Shannon Donovan, each night is spent along a small stretch of sidewalk.
“Failure is part of my story,” said Donovan. “To have people come down and misjudge us — a lot of us are good people.”
Over the last year, she and dozens of others have been living inside tents along Peabody Street in Salem, spurring city leaders to step in.
“We’re a smaller city, but we’re struggling with a lot of the same challenges with homelessness and housing,” said Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo.
“We try to look at it with as much compassion as we can,” said Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller.
The mayor and police chief are calling for an ordinance to ban camping, arguing it should be illegal to have tents pitched in public spaces if the city provides shelter options within 15 miles.
“We’re going to take care of your belongings, we’re going to want to make sure that you can succeed and thrive,” said Pangallo.
More on homelessness
“The encampment will tend to grow,” Miller said. “Without assistance, people won’t find shelter by themselves.”
But at a committee meeting last week, some speakers balked at the proposal.
City Councilor Jeff Cohen says those differing views are part of the challenge when it comes to this policy.
“I want to get this right,” said Cohen. “It’s hard to account for how many people are on this side or that side. Hopefully, people are listening.”
Pangallo says another month of deliberations and discussion are likely ahead.
Donovan is pleading with city leadership to take a different approach.
“I’m 44 years old. I’m not going to go into a shelter and have a curfew at 7, I’m not going to have the door locked on me at 11,” she said.
Passage of the ordinance requires it to be referred out of committee to the larger City Council, with the full board voting on it twice before it can be put into action.
