Crime in suburbia

From The Landmark (subscription required):

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Be careful during hunting season

Deer season (shotgun) opened Nov. 30 and runs through Saturday, Dec. 12. Deer season with primitive firearms is Dec. 14-31.

Hunting may start one half hour before sunrise and continue until one half hour after sunset, and is not allowed on Sundays.

via Be careful during hunting season | www.thelandmark.com | Landmark

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[Editor's note: There were 22 suspicious items this week.]

Holden

Monday, November 23

7:32 a.m. Trash in roadway on Salisbury St.; removed
1:01 p.m. Suspicious person on Princeton St.; OK, looking at home for possible purchase

Tuesday, November 24

1:45 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle at town pool
1:57 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Main St.
5:40 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle in lot on Main St.
10:36 a.m. Caller reports hearing two gunshots last night on Bullard St.
11:44 a.m. Suspicious vehicle on side of road on Manning St., one male occupant; testing phone signal
3:12 p.m. Caller found receipt for missing shotgun
3:12 p.m. Walk-in to turn in rifle; insufficient paperwork
5:07 p.m. Keys to vehicle flushed down toilet; car will be in lot for awhile
6:22 p.m. Parties throwing eggs on Union St.

Wednesday, November 25

12:22 a.m. Party sleeping in passenger’s seat on Highland St.; OK, listening to music with friend
1:57 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle in lot on Shrewsbury St.
1:35 p.m. Small female cat found on Old Broad St.
5:08 p.m. Trailer stopped in middle of Chapel St.
11:59 p.m. One male transported from restaurant home

Thursday, November 26

1:12 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle in parking lot on Main St.; OK, limo waiting to pick up
6:37 a.m. Suspicious person on River St.; looking for dog
8:40 a.m. Runner assisted during road race
10:48 a.m. Missing dog found
5:05 p.m. Dogs with Framingham tags lost in woods on Harrington Dr.
8:30 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Britney Dr.
11:37 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Bailey Rd.

Friday, November 27

1:01 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Salisbury St. at Dawson Recreation Area; advised to move along
1:46 a.m. Suspicious person on foot on Main St.; walking home
6:16 a.m. Someone left a frozen turkey on porch on Autumn Circle overnight; wondering if similar pranks reported
3:52 p.m. Dog found on Wyoming Dr.
8:13 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Wachusett St.
11:209 p.m. Parties dispersed from Eagle Lake
11:21 p.m. Vehicle hit with egg near Thayer Circle

Saturday, November 28

8:34 a.m. Firewood missing on Salisbury St.
8:45 a.m. Loud noises/banging behind business on Main St.
9:04 a.m. Photo scavenger hunt in Holden and Rutland
11:29 a.m. Tree leaning on service lines on River St.
1:40 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle parked on Wachusett St. for some time
2:07 p.m. Skateboarders on Shrewsbury St.
2:40 p.m. Truck broken down on Bullard St.
4:50 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Union St.
5:41 p.m. Lost wallet dropped off, owner will pick up
6:59 p.m. Suspicious person on Malden St.
11:41 p.m. Pumpkins smashed on Reservoir St.

Sunday, November 29

12:21 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Main St.
12:29 p.m. Jersey barriers not easily visible on River Rd.
7:52 a.m. Individual sleeping in vehicle in lot on Main St.; told to move along
10:30 a.m. Metal plate on Main St. falling into hole
2:36 a.m. Parent will be in to speak to officer about son being arrested
4:42 p.m. 911 Report of injured coyote; no contact
5:07 p.m. Lockout of motor vehicle on Britney Dr.

Paxton

Monday, November 23

6:48 p.m. Missing beagle, West St. Dog later located

Tuesday, November 24

2:20 p.m. Motor vehicle lockout, Richards Ave.
2:44 p.m. Rutland PD advises suspicious person in area of Rockland St. substation

Wednesday, November 25

3:30 p.m. Caller wants to speak with officer about ongoing issue with contractor, Nanigian Rd.
5:10 p.m. Disabled motor vehicle, box truck in bad location, Rte. 31
7:50 p.m. Report of suspicious tan vehicle, Pleasant St.

Friday, November 27

1:05 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle parked in front of home, Briarcliff Ln.
11:32 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Moore State Park, Sawmill Rd.

Saturday, November 28

1:03 p.m. Report of gunshots behind house, Crowningshield Dr.
5:12 p.m. Assist citizen with motor vehicle lockout, Burtenmar Cir.
5:33 p.m. Large tree branch in road, Pleasant St.
8:55 p.m. Tree on power lines, request for light department, Grove St.
9:52 p.m. Large bonfire, Richards Ave.

Sunday, November 29

1:15 a.m. Loud party, Richards Ave. Fire in back yard
4:40 a.m. Glass and other debris in roadway, Pleasant St.

Princeton

Monday, November 23

5:48 p.m. Request for light department, town-wide power outage

Tuesday, November 24

5:19 a.m. Medical assist, Mirick Rd.
5:50 p.m. Notification, Beaman Rd.

Wednesday, November 25

4:08 p.m. Traffic safety hazard, Main St./Gleason Rd.

Thursday, November 26

4:46 p.m. Medical assist, Ball Hill Rd.
8:04 p.m. Medical assist, Mirick Rd.

Friday, November 27

6:32 p.m. Medical assist, Ralph Rd.

Saturday, November 28

10:00 a.m. Traffic safety hazard, Westminster Rd.
10:44 a.m. Assist light dept., Ball Hill Rd.
11:11 a.m. Traffic safety hazard, Gregory Rd.
11:25 a.m. Request for highway department, Gregory Rd.
12:27 p.m. Public service, Main St.
4:01 p.m. Traffic safety hazard, Worcester Rd.

Sunday, November 29

12:22 a.m. Abandoned motor vehicle, Allen Hill Rd.
3:01 p.m. Disturbance, gun shots, Rhodes Rd.

Rutland

Monday, November 23

3:05 p.m. Report of deceased cat in road, Main St.
6:00 p.m. Person at station to talk with officer, Main St.
7:36 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.

Tuesday, November 24

2:31 a.m. Assist Paxton PD with crowd control at Anna Maria College
10:05 a.m. Caller requesting officer stop at his home, E. County Rd.
10:28 a.m. Person at station to be fingerprinted for employment purposes, Main St.
12:00 p.m. Person wants to file complaint, Main St.
2:35 p.m. Suspicious male hanging around new electrical substation, Pleasantdale Rd.
3:49 p.m. Complaint about speeding bus, Bigelow Rd.
6:05 p.m. Caller asking for assistance with possible bad business deal, Maple Ave.
6:59 p.m. House broken into, E. County Rd.

Wednesday, November 25

6:29 a.m. Caller reports neighbor making a lot of noise, Maple Ave.
7:07 a.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
10:35 a.m. Person at station with noise complaint, Main St.
1:05 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer about his sons, Main St.
5:23 p.m. Car alarm sounding, Prouty Ln.

Thursday, November 26

7:20 a.m. Report of vehicle speeding, Rte. 122
8:27 a.m. Report of gun shots, Michael Dr.
6:28 p.m. Neighbor’s door open all day long, Maple Ave.

Saturday, November 28

12:47 a.m. Loud noise, banging on floor, Main St.
8:40 a.m. Police remove debris from E. County Rd.
11:05 a.m. Caller reports front door open, no one around, dog got out of house, Central Tree Rd.
12:22 p.m. Person at station to be fingerprinted for employment purposes, Main St.
1:37 p.m. Power out on Weaver Farm and Thurston Hill roads
2:11 p.m. Officer picked up golden retriever, Campbell St.; retuned to owner
4:07 p.m. Wire down in road, Rte. 68
7:51 p.m. Man fell down next to road, Pleasantdale Rd./Main St.
7:57 p.m. Person wants to speak with officer about being harassed, Pleasantdale Rd.
8:49 p.m. Two people hanging around outside building, Maple Ave.
9:40 p.m. Four youths knocking on doors, Emerald Rd.

Sunday, November 29

12:14 a.m. Complaint about noises from apartment, Maple Ave.
9:09 a.m. Officer removes phone line from roadway, E. County Rd.
1:49 p.m. Gun shots in field near residence, Irish Ln.
9:54 p.m. Assist Oakham PD, Old Turnpike Rd.

Sterling

Monday, November 23

9:17 a.m. Caller complaining about dog that barked and growled at her dog while she was out walking, Leominster Rd.
9:29 a.m. Police escort requested, Worcester Rd.
10:40 a.m. Escort services requested, Bridge St.

Tuesday, November 24

11:06 p.m. Several people at end of driveway, Chace Hill Rd.
11:30 p.m. Officer investigation, S. Meadow Rd.

Wednesday, November 25

3:31 p.m. Report of black Labrador running in roadway, Princeton Rd., Main St.

Thursday, November 26

12:31 a.m. Traffic stop, individual transported to home on Redemption Rock Trl.
5:50p.m. Caller reporting people running in yard, Chace Hill Rd.
5:56 p.m. Road rage incident, person struck person and kicked door of vehicle, Leominster/Chocksett Rds.

Friday, November 27

6:19 p.m. Officer requested for youth on four-wheeler speeding, Laurelwood Rd.

Saturday, November 28

4:50 p.m. Holden PD requests officer check on whereabouts of person that owns vehicle parked by the DCR gate in Holden for three days, Chace Hill Rd.
5:24 p.m. Report of gunshots and erratic vehicle, Old Princeton/West Rds.

Sunday, November 29

10:46 a.m. Dead cat, Redemption Rock Trl.
12:20 p.m. Caller found stray golden/Labrador retriever, Maple St.
12:34 p.m. Officer at home where burglar alarm sounding, N. Row Rd.
12:37 p.m. Officer checks building where burglar alarms sounding, Leominster Rd.

One thing to say about Tiger Woods

As Robin Williams said: http://bit.ly/8i5hxR

No matter what, we've always got the weather

Holden, Massachusetts (01520) Conditions & Forecast : Weather Underground

History in the unmaking

This morning's Telegram piece by George Barnes, Landmark furniture factory meets the wrecking ball, about the demolition of the Nichols and Stone building in Gardner comes with, as is true with most deaths, sadness but not surprise.
I was born in Gardner and grew up nearby. My grandparents raised my father and uncle in a three-decker on Pine Street, within walking distance of his job in the Kelly Brothers factory.
After high school, I worked for a short time at Gem Crib and Cradle. I was and am no carpenter, finish/Finnish or otherwise; I worked in the shipping department. Even there, my skills were limited. I walked off the edge of a loading dock and needed a dozen stitches in the back of my leg.
I had and have pride in Gardner. For quite a while, I had the annoying habit of turning wooden chairs over to see where they were made, noting with excitement when the chair came from a Gardner company.
There's plenty to be said about Gardner in particular and industrial cities and towns of New England in general. Friend Connie has written her personal history of the city in Chair City of the World. In addition, Mount Wachusett Community College offers the Greater Gardner Furniture History Documentary Project.
When we read history, we make our way through facts such as dates, descriptions of events, maybe a photo or several. History is really, though, about tracing the many paths that got us here.

We have a Nichols and Stone chair in our study, a surprise gift from Sandra and sneakily delivered by my father. It's a college chair. My alma mater has hundreds of them on campus. Most people look at the chair and see the college insignia. I look at the chair and see where it and I came from.

By negligence or by attack ...

There's no question that 9/11 was a major assault on our nation and our psyche. It led us to two wars, major changes to security, privacy, and judicial policies, and made us feel more vulnerable than any time in memory. There were bad guys who did it and we're gonna go get them.
And while we reflect on that, let's also reflect on Bhopal, where more people died immediately and 10-fold more have died prematurely or who suffered without the mercy of death or those who were born maimed - all by the criminal negligence of Union Carbide of India.
(To their credit, Union Carbide has a portion of its web site devoted to the Bhopal disaster: Bhopal Information Center.)
On December 3, 1984, 40 tons of methyl isocyanate burst into the air, the result of water improperly added to a chemical mixture at the plant.  Depending on how you define 'immediately,' between 4,000 and 15,000 died immediately.
And it gets worse. The BBC recently tested drinking water near the now-vacant plant and found the water contained 1,000 the safe limit of carbon tetrachloride.
Last night's broadcast of BBC America news included an interview with a woman whose 22-year-old son has been severely developmentally disabled because of her exposure to the chemicals.

"The gas ruined his life," says his mother. "Sometimes I wish God had never given Jagdeesh to us. It would have been better if he had never been born."

via BBC News - Bhopal survivors fight for justice

Meanwhile, guess where the American news media are. Of Drudge, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox, only NBC had a front page story about the anniversary.

via Industrial disaster still haunts India - South and Central Asia- msnbc.com

Everyone else has Tiger Woods, Climategate, and the White House party-crashers well-covered. Imagine if a news outlet, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, filled the top half of the page with the story of a golfer who's been sinking his putts elsewhere. Or carried a story about, and I'm not making this up, a woman who is comforted by the image of Mother Mary on a pancake.

via 'Virgin Mary' Pancake Brings Arizona Woman Peace - ABC News

The people who were killed or maimed 25 years ago were poor and far away. Besides, it was an accident.

Why Holden needs three pharmacy chains

Not only do we get Literary Links that lead to CVS, we also get paper towels for cheap. (Walgreens has a slight price edge.)

via Paper towel Ratings (subscription required)

Meanwhile, it's a real test of our love of Baby Jesus that we do our shopping at a place that has a creepy reindeer presiding over it all:

via Rite-Aid circular for 11/29/2009 thru 12/05/2009

Sometimes, you've got to read a sentence all the way through

...

via My Journal - WSJ.com (subscription required)

Not So Pretty in Pink: The Uproar Over New Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

What we really need is a new women’s health movement, one that’s sharp and skeptical enough to ask all the hard questions: What are the environmental (or possibly life-style) causes of the breast cancer epidemic? Why are existing treatments like chemotherapy so toxic and heavy-handed? And, if the old narrative of cancer’s progression from “early” to “late” stages no longer holds, what is the course of this disease (or diseases)? What we don’t need, no matter how pretty and pink, is a ladies’ auxiliary to the cancer-industrial complex.

via Not So Pretty in Pink: The Uproar Over New Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

Crime in exurbia

Massachusetts State Police issued a statement today:

Today at 10:29 am, Troopers from the State Police Barracks in Springfield responded to reports of cows walking on Route 91 South, near Exit 8, in Springfield. Upon arrival, the Troopers located two heifers, estimated to weigh approximately 500 pounds each, walking in and out of the travel lanes. The investigation revealed that a latch on a trailer that was hauling the animals to Enfield, Conn., had become dislodged. The cows then escaped into slow-moving traffic.
To ensure the safety of the motoring public as well as the safety of the animals, Troopers subsequently shut down Route 91 South in order to remove the animals to a safe location.

via Imagine 128 being shut due to cows | Universal Hub

Three things in one day

via Sober in a Nightclub: Things to do today...

That sound that you hear ...

is the sound of Israeli bombers and fighter jets warming up ...

BBC News - Iran 'planning 10 new uranium enrichment sites'

The White House said the move was "yet another serious violation of Iran's clear obligations".

Meanwhile, Britain described the news as "a matter of serious concern" and potentially a "deliberate breach" of UN resolutions.