Sunday, May 26, 2013
As our armed forces come home from the Middle East, the local Veterans Affairs benefits office is being stretched.
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less than an hour ago
Returning veterans are now facing a new enemy at home—long wait times for their disability claims. The waiting times started increasing in 2010 when U.S. troops were withdrawn from Iraq causing a dramatic uptick in first-time filers, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting. The data found that in most regional VA offices, not only did waiting times increase, but they vary dramatically with location: about 508 days in Baltimore, Maryland and 134 days in Fargo, North Dakota. The national average now stands at about 11 months, which is dramatically higher than in 2009 when it was 116 days. Claims sent to the VA's Boston office take on average 411.6 days to process a disability claim. That's more than 13 months before the average …
Thirteen members of the Marian High School class of '63 received their golden diplomas on Friday night.
Members of the Marian High School class of 1963, the first class to spend all four years at Marian, were on hand to receive their golden diplomas on Friday night when the class of 2013 was graduating. The 13 alumni from the class of '63 who attended reminisced about their time spent at Marian as they enjoyed dinner in the library prior to this year's graduation. Some of the things remembered included the strict dress code (boys wore coats and ties, while girls wore a pleated uniform), how all the nuns back then wore habits and that tuition cost just $125 per year. Students could get $25 taken off the tuition by sweeping areas of the school as well. The class of 1963 was the fourth class to graduate from Marian High, and the first to spend …
Saturday, May 25, 2013
A tree has knocked down wires on Glen Street in Dover near the Natick town line.
Many NStar residents are currently without power in Dover and South Natick after a tree knocked down power lines. According to Dover Police the outages are "widespread" and NStar has not given them a time for when power will be restores. The lines came down on Glen Street at 7 p.m. and agencies have been working to return service since. The power has been shutdown to the line since 7:30 when NStar arrived on the scene.
Today is Missing Children's Day. Take time to look at the photos of children still missing in our state.
According to the Department of Justice, every year hundreds of thousands of kids are reported missing across the country. Some run away, some are abducted. And many have never been found. Today is Missing Children's Day. Here is a partial list of children in Massachusetts who have gone missing in recent years. Check the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for full lists by state as well as age progression photos.
In other unusual police news, a dog who was reported stolen was, in fact, home the whole time.
This is either one smart dog, or a forgetful owner. Last Saturday in Shrewsbury, a person called 911 to report that his/her dog had been stolen from the White City Shopping Center. A short time later, the person called back to say the dog was at home. Slow and steady wins the race. And blocks traffic. It's that time of the year when turtles start making an appearance on roadways near you. So perhaps it's not that unusual. But still, we find it funny, or at least cute, when we read that a turtle is blocking traffic, as this one did in Medfield recently. An offer for a ride turns into a ride to the police station. When Westborough police met this man on an afternoon last weekend (he was asleep at a local business), they offered him a ride. …
The Natick High School prom was last night. Share your pictures from the event here.
This live map shows traffic delays throughout the Boston area.
The house passed legislation to treat most 17-year-olds as juvenile defenders. Is this a compassionate or dangerous change?
Massachusetts is currently one of only 11 states that tries 17-year-olds as adults. A bill passed this week by the state's House of Representatives would make these teenagers juvenile defenders, according to a report by 7News Boston. That will put the commonwealth in line with most other states, where adult court is reserved for individuals 18 and older. The bill still allows the state to try 17-year-olds as adults in serious cases, like murders. But proponents hope the change will reduce cases of rape in the state's prison system by keeping younger inmates away from older, stronger convicts. What do you think? Are we getting too soft on younger defendants? Or is this a justified, compassionate change to protect teenagers? Tell us your …
Marian High School held their 54th commencement ceremony last night.
Family and friends filled the auditorium at Marian High School last night as the class of 2013 graduated.
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
The rush from Beacon Hill to the westbound turnpike this week had as much to do with two of Worcester's political sons beating feet from the capitol as with the impending Memorial Day weekend. As Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray attempted as graceful an exit as possible from politics, fellow Worcester Democrat Rep. John Fresolo made his hasty escape under an ethics cloud feeling "marginalized" by his peers and pressured to resign, which he did. If not for those two storylines, the focus may have been on the Senate's breakneck budget debate concluding Thursday night as senators wiped their hands clean of 725 amendments and passed a $34 billion fiscal 2014 budget without the need for Senate President Therese Murray to threaten a Friday or Saturday …
Brian Northborough
4:55 pm on Saturday, May 25, 2013
I love how the same people who advocate for "Zero Tolerance" in schools with regard to butter knives and chocolate guns want a kinder, gentler prosecution of criminals...This zero tolerance, 3 strikes, et al garbage leads to a lazy criminal justice system. Each case is an individual case that should be evaluated on it's own merits. Just as we have a process for determining the mental acuity of a … more ›