Monthly Archives: November 2010

Thursday Morning: Happy Turkey Day!

Published November 25, 2010

Good morning and happy Thanksgiving!

The news today, of course, focuses on just how good Mom’s pumpkin pie is this year and what you have to do to get your brother to pass the darn mashed potatoes.

Here’s what else is news on this chilly but beautiful holiday:

After rejecting double-digit health insurance premium increases earlier this year, state regulators have said they’ll allow more modest rate hikes to take effect in January. The rate increases will affect policies covering small businesses and individuals. (Globe)

On one of the busiest travel days of the year, officials at Logan International Airport said that the holiday travel rush went smoothly yesterday. While it was busy at Logan, travelers mostly ignored a call to protest increased security measures. (WBUR)

Many Thanksgiving dinners will be interrupted this afternoon, as families pause the festivities this afternoon to watch the Patriots take on the Lions in Detroit at 12:30. Though seemingly a mismatch, the Pats would be wise not to take the Lions too lightly. (Herald)

Giving Thanks For High School Fooball

Published November 24, 2010

Out in western Massachusetts, West Springfield's Ty Mann runs from Putnam's Ricardo Wright in a game on Nov. 12. (Courtesy of Peter Camyre/Flickr)

As American as pumpkin pie and turkey dinner, football has its hallowed place on Thanksgiving. But, thanks to another American staple — beer — some kids won’t be allowed to play in their annual Thanksgiving Day football game.

Administrators in Maynard have canceled tomorrow’s game between Maynard High School and Clinton High School after four Maynard players were found drunk at a school dance.

After suspending the four players, Maynard doesn’t have enough warm bodies to safely field a team, Superintendent Mark Masterson said in a statement, and the team had to cancel the game.

As a former high school football player, I know that this game means the world to all of the players. Sure, the four kids made a stupid decision, but now two schools miss the opportunity to carry on a long-standing tradition and the meat, if you will, of many families’ Thanksgivings will be cut out. One’s heart aches for the poor seniors, especially those from Clinton, whose final game was canceled.

The seniors who play for Agawam High and West Springfield High are decidedly more chipper this holiday week after learning that their game will go on as scheduled despite the suspension of four players and four coaches at Agawam.

The Agawam-West Side game had been in limbo since Agawam school officials learned that a hazing incident targeting young players had taken place in the locker room.

As the Globe reported, these Thanksgiving games are about more than just the high school players.

The prospect of Thanksgiving without the big game had upset many parents and alumni in Agawam and neighboring West Springfield, and the decision to let the teams play was a relief.

“It’s important not to punish the entire community and those kids who have not participated,’’ said Mayor Richard A. Cohen. “They deserve to play, and the game will go on.’’

Cohen and (Agawam Superintendent Mary) Czajkowski said they had received many calls from people urging them to allow the game to proceed as scheduled.

Hazing and alcohol violations cannot and should not be tolerated, and enforcing consequences for poor decision-making is crucial in giving students a real education. But now, entire towns are having to learn those lessons the hard way.

The rest of us who were blessed to play our final high school football games on glorious, chilly Thanksgiving mornings should appreciate the gifts those memories bring. And give thanks.

This Holiday Season, No Pioneer To ‘Watch’ Over Toys

Published November 24, 2010

Edward Swartz holds up a toy as he presents his 30th annual "10 Worst Toys" list in Boston in 1997. (AP)

As holiday gift lists form in advance of Black Friday, one annual list stands out.

The “10 Worst Toys” list has been presented each November since 1973 by World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH), a Boston-based group. But for the first time this holiday season, the nonprofit’s founder isn’t around for the list.

Edward Swartz, a Boston lawyer and consumer safety advocate, died in his Brookline home in September. He was 76.

A successful lawyer who won multimillion dollar cases, the Boston Globe obit refers to Swartz as “the Nader of the nursery,” after former presidential candidate and product safety advocate Ralph Nader. In the obit, Nader says toys are generally safer because of Swartz. Nader also notes that “very few trial lawyers move into prevention.”

WATCH, which includes Swartz’s son, James Swartz, last week released the organization’s 38th “Worst Toys” list.

The 2010 list ranges from the dangerous-sounding Kung Fu Panda Sword of Heroes to the seemingly innocuous Animal Alley Pony, which, says WATCH, “has long, fiber-like hair that is not adequately rooted and is easily removable, presenting the potential for ingestion or aspiration injuries.”

What’s Going On? (A Follow-Up)

Published November 24, 2010

Yesterday, after particularly violent newscasts during Morning Edition — the JP pizzeria killings, the Mattapan murders arraignment, the Lynnfield murder-suicide — I asked simply: What’s going on?

Today, we know a bit more about two of the crimes.

The Sept. 28 Mattapan quadruple homicide was armed robbery-turned-uglier. The defendants allegedly took drugs, cash and other items. The Herald’s Peter Gelzinis called it “a grisly, old-school crime … all about ripping off strutting drug merchants.”

The Lynnfield murder-suicide was reportedly — and if so, unconscionably — over an unborn child’s name. That unborn baby died when Joseph Cummings allegedly shot his girlfriend — before he killed her sister and himself.

Some details have been filled in. My question remains.

Here’s what commenter Desiree said in response to yesterday’s post:

I’m not sure what is going on, but someone please fix it!! I have lived in Boston for 7 yrs now (Kenmore, Dorchester, now JP) and have never seen the city this violent. I love Boston, but if this continues, I may have to consider moving elsewhere.

That’s an option no one would want. What’s going on, and what can be done? Continue the conversation in the comments.

Wednesday Morning: More Probation Fallout, ‘Pat-Down Slowdown’

Published November 24, 2010

Good morning! Today, on this busiest travel day of the year, we’re following conditions at Logan and on roadways. Thus far, Logan officials are reporting no delays as lines move through security.

Here’s what’s news on this blustery Wednesday:

After the Probation report, Rep. Thomas Petrolati is leaving his House leadership position. “… the Spotlight Team documented his role as the preeminent political figure in the department’s patronage machine, with more than 100 of his financial backers holding jobs.” (Globe)

Some advocates say probationers were hurt by the department’s patronage. “They were not given effective service and the result is that some of them then got pushed into the deeper end of the system,” said Lael Chester, of Citizens for Juvenile Justice. (WBUR)

Some people will bypass full-body scans at Logan today. “Logan is girding for a pat-down slowdown amid signs that Hub passengers … might clog lines.” (Herald)

The state is readying a $75 million economic development program. It’s “designed to invest in small start-up businesses, build a new high-tech computer center, and spur economic growth in struggling regions.” (State House News)

Sources say V-Mart is heading to Detroit. Catcher Victor Martinez is leaving the Sox to sign with the Tigers in what’s reported to be a four-year, $50 million deal. (ESPNBoston.com)

What’s Going On?

Published November 23, 2010

Perhaps you tuned in to WBUR’s newscasts during Morning Edition. It was not uplifting radio.

Across the hours, 11 bodies:

  • Boston Police are increasing patrols in Jamaica Plain after a gang-related fight in a popular pizza parlor Sunday evening left three young men dead.
  • The arraignment comes today for a man charged with four counts of murder and one count of assault with intent to murder in connection with the September quadruple homicide in Mattapan.
  • In Lynnfield, three people were found shot to death last night in an apparent murder-suicide.

Here’s the Boston Globe in its story on the JP killings (emphasis added):

… the latest multiple killing in a year that has seen an overall increase in bloodshed, with shootings in parks, playgrounds, homes, and now a restaurant. Boston has had 70 homicides this year, compared to 45 at this time last year.

What’s going on?

Tuesday Morning: Mattapan Arrest, Cape Wind Deal, Hedge Fund Raids

Published November 23, 2010

Good Tuesday morning. Today, we’re following Dwayne Moore’s arraignment in Dorchester District Court in connection with the late September quadruple homicide in Mattapan. We’re also making calls on what police believe is a murder-suicide in Lynnfield.

Here’s what’s news on a no-jacket-needed fall morning:

A 33-year-old Mattapan man will be arraigned in Dorchester today. Dwayne Moore has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of assault with intent to murder. In 1996, Moore, then 19, was convicted of manslaughter in the 1995 stabbing death of a Milton teen. (Herald)

The last big hurdle was passed for Cape Wind. “(T)he Patrick-appointed three-member DPU commission said the increase in ‘electricity bills is acceptable, given the significant and unique benefits of the project.’ ” (Globe)

Boston’s Loch Capital Management was one of three hedge funds raided yesterday. The raids, also conducted in Connecticut and New York City, were part of a three-year insider trading investigation. (Wall Street Journal)

A gang connection is cited in Sunday evening’s slayings in a popular JP pizzeria. Despite the neighborhood, it’s not the first such incident: “… a year ago, a convenience store clerk was shot to death … just down the road, and shootings have occurred in nearby Hyde Square.” (Globe)

The Cambridge man who invented the X-ray technology in full-body airport scanners says they’re the better choice. “The pat-down is unbelievably more obnoxious than the technology in these machines,” said 88-year-old Martin Annis. (WBUR)

First-Hand Accounts Of A Tragic Day

Published November 22, 2010

Secret Service agent Clint Hill jumps on the back of the Kennedy motorcade after President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. (AP)

Forty-seven years ago today President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

On the anniversary, Radio Boston speaks with two men who were there that day — and who tragically failed at their jobs. Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill were Secret Service agents assigned to protect the president and his motorcade. Hill was the first to jump on Kennedy’s car after he’d been shot.

For decades, Blaine, Hill and the 32 other agents who protected Kennedy around-the-clock stayed quiet about the assassination. They’ve now opened up for Blaine’s book, “The Kennedy Detail,” which outlines the behind-the-scenes account of the day’s events.

NECN also aired a CNN conversation with the two former agents. Speaking near Kennedy’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery, Hill spoke about getting to the car a few seconds earlier:

Without a question I’d be taking a bullet for the president and be dead. It would be a happier ending for the country and for everybody.

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Boston-To-Chicago Plane Forced To Make Emergency Landing

Published November 21, 2010

Sometimes WBUR reporters don’t just report the news. Hubbub’s Andrew Phelps experienced a news story on Sunday. Still in transit, Phelps isn’t able to blog about it, so I’m relaying his story.

____

The cracked windshield in the cockpit of United Flight 881 (Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

Traveling home for Thanksgiving is always a hassle, but it’s exponentially more difficult when your plane’s windshield shatters mid-flight.

WBUR’s Andrew Phelps found that out first-hand Sunday.

While en route from Boston to Chicago, United Airlines flight 881 was forced to make an emergency landing in Buffalo due to what the pilot described as a crack in the windshield of the Boeing 757.

I’m sure the many of you who follow Phelps (@andrewphelps ) on twitter were as shocked as I was to see this tweet, sent after 10 a.m.:

We just made an emergency landing in Buffalo, United flight 881 to ORD. Crack in the windshield.

An emergency landing? Surely even Phelps, an intrepid reporter who often uses Twitter to report the news, wouldn’t tweet from a plane in peril, I thought. He must, at least, be alright.

Minutes later, Phelps explained what happened in this tweet:

Pilot says a heating element in between panes of glass failed, so they disabled it. Five minutes later, a crack formed. Fire crew on board.

The plane landed safely in Buffalo, where Phelps and the other passengers disembarked the plane. Phelps was able to investigate the situation in the cockpit and snap the picture you see above.

Though the pilot described the problem as a “crack,” the plane’s windshield seemed in much more serious condition, Phelps said.

“One third of the windshield shattered,” Phelps said, reporting from Buffalo’s airport.

None of the passengers was hurt.

After posting these and other updates on Twitter, Phelps received a information from people following the story across the country.

Just after 3 p.m., still stuck in the Buffalo airport because of weather issues and overtaxed gate agents, Phelps summarized his findings in this tweet:

So a window heater caused a fire in a Boeing 757 in May and grounded 2 others in the past 3 days, one being mine.

On Friday, a Delta flight from Atlanta to Santa Ana California was forced to land in Dallas.

Finally, just after 4 p.m. — seven hours after he arrived at Boston’s Logan airport — Phelps and the other passengers got back on another 757 to Chicago. The almost 200 passengers on Phelps’ flight aren’t the only ones still searching for answers to this bizarre travel saga.

As Phelps tweeted just before (re-)take off:

Glad to be alive, safe, and on my way again. When I get back, I’ll be asking Boeing and UAL for answers.