SalemNews.com, Salem, MA Local News

Debate: Should mayor speak?

2012-05-29T05:05:00-04:00

It is the debate that will not die.
Does the mayor have a right to speak at City Council meetings?
It first flared more than a year ago when former Salem City Councilor Steve Pinto invoked a rule that allows a single councilor to block a member of the audience from speaking. In this case, he prevented Mayor Kim Driscoll from making her case for a new lease agreement for a City Hall annex.

Bottle bill proposal has Keenan in the hot seat

2012-05-29T05:00:00-04:00

It seems like a simple question: Should water and other noncarbonated drinks be subject to the state's bottle redemption laws?
It's an issue, however, that has been debated in the state Legislature for 14 years, with no resolution. Now it's coming up again, and Salem state Rep. John Keenan is right in the middle of it.

Middleton woman could qualify for state Democratic primary

2012-05-29T05:00:00-04:00

MIDDLETON — Her U.S. Senate campaign has little cash and no paid staff, and she is virtually unknown to most would-be Massachusetts voters.
Yet Democrat Marisa DeFranco, an immigration attorney from Middleton, is on the verge of qualifying for the September primary ballot, denying the party's prohibitive favorite, Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren, the ability to focus exclusively on Republican incumbent Scott Brown.

Police

2012-05-29T05:00:00-04:00

Salem
Sunday
Nothing was discovered after a report at 12:45 a.m. of cars racing and possible gunshots near the Highland Avenue Walmart.
David James Casey, 51, of 51/2 Leach St., Salem, was arrested at 7:50 p.m. on Leach Street by officers Kathleen Rocheville and Daniel Tucker on two counts of domestic assault and battery and intimidation of a witness.

Civil War monument: Weight on the world

2012-05-29T05:00:00-04:00

PEABODY — The Civil War monument in the square downtown is soon to be moved, most likely to a "peninsula" jutting out from in front of the Peabody District Court. It deserves a closer look in more ways than one.

Town plans summer camp for motel kids

2012-05-29T05:00:00-04:00

DANVERS — This month, 127 homeless families with 207 children were living in Danvers motels, according to figures provided by the town.
That's more than last year, and it's prompting local officials and volunteers to get moving on a repeat of Project Sunshine, the award-winning summer recreation program the town provided for motel children last year.

Snow parking ban melts away

2012-05-29T05:00:00-04:00

PEABODY — If there's a blizzard tomorrow, this city doesn't have a plan in place to handle the street parking problems.
Which is probably nothing to worry about, given the temperature.
The City Council voted 10-0 on Thursday to eliminate the winter parking ban. It does not yet have anything to replace it with.

Charity golf tournament planned for Monday

2012-05-29T04:30:00-04:00

IPSWICH — The Make the Link golf tournament will tee off Monday, June 4, at Turner Hill in Ipswich to benefit the Alzheimer's Association.
More than $1.6 million has been raised for the Alzheimer's Association since the tournament's inception in 1997. Funds benefit families dealing with Alzheimer's and support research to find treatments and a cure. Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain. There is no known cure.

North Shore Community College graduates

2012-05-29T04:30:00-04:00

DANVERS — The following local students graduated from North Shore Community College at commencement exercises on Thursday, May 24:
Beverly: Tracie Abbott, Irena Ahmetaj, Liaqat Ali, Elona Allushi, Michele Anderson, Susan Anderson, Michele Anderson-Papadop, Jacqueline Ashton, Amy Bastos, Jennifer Beers, Jonathan Bernhard, Andrea Boardman, Melissa Booth, Joshua Boucher, Michelle Brozonos, Stephanie Buonaugurio, Krista Bushong, David Caron, Caroline Casey-Boreck, Eric Ciulla, Eric Ciulla, Allison Colbert, Deborah Collins, Rachel Conant, Kathleen Conant, Tracey Connaughton, Jacqueline Connors, Valerie Cook, Breanna Cornell, Alycia Corsbie, Sarah Cousins, Bryanna Croce, Brenden Cronin, Jennifer Crowley, Bryan Davison, Christina Defelice, Leanna Demarco, Tina-Marie Denis, Cherylann Dion, Debra El Shrafi, Jason Feran, Janet Fisher, Kieley Fitzgerald, Emily Fleming, Jenny Frost, Jessica Fultz, Megan Gilbert, Michelle Gilmore, Maria Graffeo, Peggy Gravlin, Rachael Gray, Terrell Greene, Robert Gunther, Jordan Haddad, Robert Hall, Robin Harrison, Megan Heitz, Shauna Hubisz, Michelle Hudon, Anne Kamau, Christine Keating, Vanessa Kelley, Grant Kellner, Margaret Knowles, Kerril Ann Laverdiere, Kristen Leblanc, James Lewis, James Lewis, Jada Macdonald, Melanie Maloney, Hayley Marks, Christine Martin, Sean Martin, Richard Mattson, Bart McCarthy, Melissa Mccullough, Sara Militello, Erica Miranda, Marc Miranda, Nathaniel Morris, Sara Mscisz, Lauren Muise, Victoria Murphy, Kristin Oliver, Meaghan O'Neil, Danielle Parent, Justin Pariseau, Ruth Perron, Albert Petronzio, Steven Pfister, Catherine Pimentel, Lauren Pudvah, Carol Read, Christopher Ricci, Ashley Rice, Julie Robertson, Kristine Robertson, Christopher Serra, Christopher Serra, Ronnie Sinclair, Sabrina Smith, Julie Stanford, Nathan Staples, Frederick Sylvester, Michael Taylor, Lisa Thibeault, Rhys Thomas, Amanda Thornton, Heather Torsey, Annette Townsend, Jessica Tries, Yarrow Unger, Vernon Walsh, Laura White, Jacqueline Whitmarsh, Melissa Wiley, Kristen Zona.

Topsfield police investigate break-in

2012-05-29T00:28:24-04:00

TOPSFIELD — State police dogs and a helicopter from the Air Wing were enlisted in an unsuccessful effort to capture the brazen robber or robbers who broke into a Hill Street home while the resident was busy upstairs.