Neighbors Help Veteran on Main Street

Facing a deadline for a nuisance classification, neighbors pitch in to help a WWII veteran clear his property.

  More than six months after the City Council debated whether the property at 602 Main St. was a nuisance, neighbors got together to help clean up the area. Home owner Ralph Saviano responded to the City Council's nuisance question in November of last year, saying that he wanted to repair the property problems, including overgrown vegetation, front porch damage and several unregistered vehicles parked on the grounds. In November, Saviano said he planned to have many repairs completed by December, with the exception of the dilapidated and collapsed garage. The City Council gave the disabled World War II veteran until June to fix up the property. Over the weekend, VFW Post 543 Commander Charlie Culhane, Paul Murray of Murray Hills …

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Earnhardt

9:40 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012

That's a great way to help a Veteran, you should all be proud of your accomplishments. It's great to see people helping people. Congratulations to all of you.   more ›

Prescription Drug Drop-Off Available at WPD

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's office provided the MedReturn Drug Collection Unit.

  Almost everyone has them—old, unused prescription drugs in their bathroom medicine cabinet. What do you do with them? Starting next week, you can bring them to the police station. Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone unveiled the MedReturn Drug Collection Unit program Friday morning. Through the program, which extends out to 29 county communities, residents will be able to dispose of prescription drugs in a free, safe and easy manner through large green collection boxes found at the police station. “Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing problem in our communities,” said Leone Friday. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that 2.4 million Americans abused prescription drugs for the first time in 2011—one-third of…

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Massachusetts Among States Offering The Most Rights To Gays

President Obama says he supports same-sex marriages.

  In the wake of North Carolina's May 8 decision to amend its Constitution to ban same sex unions, Britain's The Guardian created a model looking at gay rights in each state. Just a day after North Carolina's vote, President Barack Obama announced support for same-sex marriage in an interview with ABC. This comes a few days after Vice President Joe Biden made similar comments on NBC's "Meet the Press."   The Guardian's piece is a snapshot of gay rights in the States. According to the graphic, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, along with Washington state, Iowa and the District of Columbia, have the most rights afforded to gays. Massachusetts allows: Massachusetts prohibits: Also, Massachusetts' hate crime laws include crimes committed…

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Mayor: Police Station Roof Not a 'Priority'

Mayor responds to City Council concerns.

  Mayor Scott Galvin told the City Council last week that fixing the Woburn Police Station roof is not a "priority" for the city at this time. According to City Council records, Mayor Galvin is in the midst of putting together a capital improvement budget, which includes several maintenance and improvement projects for the city. At this time, the police station roof is not on the list. Aldermen asked the mayor to consider replacing the roof at a meeting last month.    "There are other issues at the Police Department that are priorities," said meeting minutes based on Mayor Galvin's presentation. According to the mayor, the city must appropriate $800,000 to renovate the city's dispatch center to meet "federal government regulations." Mayor …

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Former Mayor Advises City Council

Mayor Tom McLaughlin submits letter to the editor.

Mayor Scott Galvin and Members of the Woburn City Council Woburn City Hall 10 Common Street Woburn, MA 01801   Dear Mayor Galvin and Members of the Woburn City Council: Re:  Appropriation for Residential Water Meters The reason I signed the Administrative Consent Order (ACO) with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) back in 2008 resulted from sound legal advice I received from our city’s attorneys. This advice convinced me that the city had no other option than to cooperate and resolve outstanding issues we had with the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection). The DEP was established by the state legislature and has statutory authority to enforce regulations throughout the Commonwealth pertaining to water use and a number …

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Officer Jack Maguire

City Dedicates Post Office To Officer Maguire

State and local politicians to appear at Sunday ceremony.

  Although President Barack Obama signed legislation last year to rename the Washington Street Post Office in honor of the late Officer Jack Maguire, the official dedication ceremony will be held this Sunday. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, which will be held at 2 p.m. at Woburn Memorial High School, Sunday, April 29. Officer Jack Maguire was killed in the line of duty on Dec. 26, 2010 while responding to an armed robbery at the Kohl's Department Store. Near the post office, Officer Maguire and the robber exchanged fatal gun fire. This weekend, the city will rename the post office after the fallen officer. In attendance at the official ceremony will be Officer Maguire's family, Sen. Scott Brown, Congressman Edward Markey, …

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Irish Pub Possibility Still Alive

Business looks to open in old Spuds location.

  Plans for an Irish pub to move into the old Spuds' location off of Montvale Avenue are still alive. Last week, the Woburn License Commission met on the issue of Waxy's, an Irish pub with locations in Lexington and Foxborough, moving into the empty restaurant space. "We have kept them on the agenda for next month," said Commissioner Paul Medeiros. Last month, the board issued an ultimatum—have the building permits in hand or the liquor license will be revoked. According to Medeiros, Waxy's has followed through on the building permits, although it did hit a few snags. "[Building] Inspector [Thomas] Quinn has informed us that there is nothing insurmountable and that he felt it would be ironed out pretty quickly," said Medeiros. "We felt …

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Commuter Rail Tickets? There Will Be An App For That

Paying for Commuter Rail rides will soon be easier.

Starting in the fall, commuter rail riders at Anderson Regional Transportation Center will be able to buy tickets using their smartphones, according to Boston.com. The MBTA plans to roll out a new mobile app that would allow users to purchase commuter rail tickets on the iPhone, Blackberry or Android smartphones, according to Boston.com. One-way, round trip, 10 ride tickets and monthly tickets would be available. The app would hopefully reduce the number of cash transactions conductors would have to make and make fare collection more efficient. Conductors would collect fares by scanning a QR code on the riders' app. For more details on the plan, visit the story on Boston.com.

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Aldermen Press City To Fix Police Station

City Council says police station roof needs repair.

  The Woburn Police Station is used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. And it's starting to show wear, according to Alderman Richard Gately. Ald. Gately pursued the issue of station maintenance last week, asking the City Council to vote in favor of a resolve that would order Mayor Scott Galvin to set aside money for roof repairs. According to City Council documents, aldermen requested that money be set aside for work to be completed on the WPD roof on March 1 of last year. With no appropriation set one year later, the council broached the subject last week. Ald. Gately said the roof repairs for the police station are necessary due to potential mold issues, as well as the protection of the employees inside. He told the …

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