Not sure what to do this weekend?
If you’re near Natick, Massachusetts — and you have a bit of a competitive edge — you’re in luck.
A new two-story interactive indoor mini golf course is opening in the Natick Mall on Saturday, Feb. 1…
Massachusetts
Store clerk admits to trying to cash customer’s $3M lottery ticket, is sentenced to probation
A Massachusetts store clerk embroiled in the unique case involving a $3 million lottery ticket admitted Friday that she tried to cash in on the winning, despite knowing they belonged to someone else.
The NBC10 Boston Investigators have been closely following the case, and produced a 30-minute documentary, “$3 Million Mistake.”
Carly Nunes had a choice when she discovered the ticket had been left behind. The decision she made resulted in multiple criminal charges of larceny and fraud.
In Brockton Superior Court on Friday, Nunes admitted there was enough evidence to find her guilty of one of those felony indictments – trying to file a false claim. The three other charges against her were dismissed. A judge imposed a sentence of two years probation with the requirement of continuing substance abuse treatment.
Surveillance footage from a Lakeville Convenience Store lays out the sequence of events.
Last January, a man named Paul Little bought a lottery ticket and a bag of chips.
Nunes, the store cashier, forgot to hand Little the ticket, and he left without noticing.
Days later, video captured Nunes attempting to claim the prize at the Lottery headquarters in Dorchester. But employees there became suspicious and launched an investigation into the purchases.
Nunes was eventually indicted by a grand jury and arrested on a warrant when she skipped her arraignment.
She’s been released and has been attending court-ordered substance abuse treatment.
After a lengthy investigation by Massachusetts State Police, Little learned he was actually the rightful winner and finally received the large check last June.
Reached by phone about the conclusion to the case, Little told NBC10 Boston that Nunes is young enough to learn from the mistake and pick a different direction in life.
He added that he wishes her the best and prays good things come her way.
Police dog finds 4 mummified monkeys in bag at Boston’s Logan airport
The dehydrated bodies of four dead monkeys were discovered by a police dog in luggage at customs at Boston Logan International Airport on Thursday, officials said.
The mummified bodies, considered prohibited bushmeat under federal law, were in a bag that belonged to a passenger who was returning to the U.S. from the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa, according to a release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
CBP shared images of the monkeys’ bodies, which appeared to be wrapped in a blanket, inside a basket which was inside a cardboard box.
The bodies were discovered during routine screening of baggage coming into the country at Logan airport, according to CBP. The police dog, Buddey, alerted the officer he works with to the luggage that was on a flight from Paris.
The passenger who the luggage belonged to was asked what was inside the bag, and told the agent that dried fish were all that was inside. The bag was x-rayed, which showed dried fish, but the bodies, which weighed nearly 9 lbs. in total, were discovered when an officer physically inspected the bag.
The bodies were marked to be destroyed, CBP said, at the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which regulates materials involving monkeys coming into the U.S. and said that the bag either had to be destroyed or returned to France.
Raw or minimally processed wild animal meat from certain locations around the world is referred to as bushmeat, and it’s illegal to bring into the country. It carries a $250,000 fine, according to the CDC.
“The potential dangers posed by bringing bushmeat into the United States are real,” said Julio Cararvia, CBP’s Boston area port director, in a statement. “Bushmeat can carry germs that can cause illness, including the Ebola virus. The work of CBP’s K9 unit and Agricultural Specialist were vital in preventing this potential danger from entering the U.S.”
NBC10 Boston has reached out to CBP to see if the passenger, who wasn’t identified, will face any charges over the bodies in the bag.
MISSING PERSON: 15-year-old missing from Waltham
Police in Waltham, Massachusetts, are searching for a missing teen.
Esvin Vazquez Cordova, 15, was last seen near Hagar Street on Thursday evening. He is described as 5-foot-5, 170 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
He’s known to frequent the Gardencrest area.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Waltham police at 781-314-3607.
No other details were immediately available.
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Man wanted for breaking into restaurant in Medford, police say
Police are searching for a man who allegedly broke into a restaurant in Medford, Massachusetts, last week.
The incident happened at about 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 31at Sei Bar restaurant on Main Street, Medford police wrote on its Facebook page.
The ma…
MBTA official says feds are happy with transit agency’s safety progress
The Federal Transit Administration believes “that the MBTA has started to turn the corner in terms of safety culture,” a top T official said Thursday.
Chief of Quality, Compliance and Oversight Meredith Sandberg said she met on a recent trip to Washington, D.C. with FTA officials who were happy with the T’s progress related to safety incidents. Greater Boston’s beleaguered transit system has faced a number of safety failures and subsequent attempts to address those issues over the past few years.
The FTA prescribed a 38-point corrective action plan to the T following a safety management inspection in 2022, which criticized staffing shortages, a backlog of maintenance and a lackluster commitment to safety culture.
“I’d never presume to speak for the FTA, but the high-level headline was that I think they believe that the MBTA has started to turn the corner in terms of safety culture and our approach to responding to both safety incidents in specific and also our longer-term planning capabilities, and seem very pleased with our progress to date and what we’re projected for the next calendar year,” Sandberg said Thursday during a MBTA Board of Directors Safety, Health and Environment Subcommittee meeting.
An MBTA spokesperson did not respond when asked Thursday for any documentation of the FTA’s appraisal of the T.
Sandberg said the FTA officials she met with did not express any specific concerns over the T’s performance addressing the safety issues, but said “it’s important that we then stay on track, literally and figuratively.”
The 2022 FTA investigation tied the safety risks to staffing shortages, as well as communication failures and a pattern of underinvestment in deferred maintenance.
Over the last year, the MBTA has been on a hiring spree, pushed by Gov. Maura Healey who has said it is among her priorities to get more workers at the T. The hiring blitz has been fueled in large part by labor agreements that boosted wages and rolled out retention bonuses, as well as sign-on bonuses for new hires.
As of Thursday, Chief Workforce Officer Ahmad Barnes reported the T has hired 1,493 new employees and internally promoted 543 people since Healey took office in January 2023. During that same time period, 598 employees have left the MBTA — leading to a total increased headcount of 895 employees.
Last April, T officials budgeted for an increase of 964 positions at the MBTA in fiscal year 2024, 14 percent above last year’s budget.
Seven months into the fiscal year, the agency has brought on an additional 640 people, Barnes said Thursday.
“Noting our overall goal, we’re still increasing our headcount despite these lean months in the winter time,” Barnes told the Planning, Workforce Development and Compensation subcommittee at its Thursday meeting.
Members of the T’s safety board also received an update Thursday on repairs made to the T during a multi-week shutdown of the Green Line.
Nearing a year into his job running the MBTA, General Manager Phil Eng has adopted an approach of implementing longer-term shutdowns of certain lines to expedite overdue repairs on tracks and in stations.
Green Line riders were left without T service for half of January. Shuttle buses took over routes through Boston’s downtown as the Green Line was shut down between North Station and Kenmore, and from Kenmore to Heath Street.
During that time, workers replaced 880 feet of track and repaired another 7,700 feet of track, according to Chief Safety Officer Tim Lesniak.
T employees also completed work at several stations including painting, repairing floors, stairs and benches, replacing tactics, making bathroom accessibility improvements, and conducted structural inspections across all stations and several tunnels. There were no safety incidents during the repair period, the safety chief said.
As the MBTA implements these full-service shutdowns for repairs more frequently, Lesniak said the T has “definitely been able to work better in planning ahead of time,” and is learning from each shutdown.
