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GOVERNOR PATRICK RECOGNIZES MASS ARMY AND AIR NATIONAL GUARD UNITS FOR WARTIME SERVICE IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ

BOSTON – Tuesday, September 17, 2013 - Governor Deval Patrick and Major General L. Scott Rice, Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard, today honored the Commonwealth’s Army and Air National Guard units that have served in Afghanistan and Iraq in a ceremony held at the State House. The units were presented battle streamers for their overseas deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“Massachusetts is eternally grateful for the sacrifices each of you have made for our personal safety and for the liberties and freedoms that we hold dear,” said Governor Patrick. “We are proud to live in a nation that’s protected by the likes of you. You are what make America great. Thank you for your service to us, and let us keep the troops currently deployed, or preparing to deploy, in our thoughts and prayers.” 

Governor Patrick presided over the formal ceremony in his role as Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the Commonwealth, awarding battle streamers to dozens of Army and Air Units for their service in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom dating back to 2008.

Governor Patrick presents battle streamers to the Commonwealth’s Army and Air National Guard units that have served in Afghanistan and Iraq in a ceremony held in Memorial Hall at the State House. (Photo: Eric Haynes/Governor’s Press Office)

“Today our Soldiers and Airmen were honored by entering the State House's front doors and presented their unit flags to the Governor to receive deployment battle streamers,” said Major General Rice. “This continues our proud tradition of recognizing units for the past 150 years since the 54^th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment’s glorious return from the Civil War and the 211^th Field Artillery’s noteworthy service in Vietnam, 50 years ago. We are extremely proud of the men and women of the Massachusetts National Guard and I'm honored to be a part of their special moment in history.”  

The Massachusetts National Guard displays battle streamers documenting and honoring its service in every major military engagement throughout the history of the United States, starting with the Revolutionary War and continuing to present day deployments in support of missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Verified combat credit entitles an organization to an appropriate campaign streamer. Displaying the streamers on their organizational colors or unit guidons signifies service in a particular battle, campaign or war.

The Patrick Administration leads the nation in providing for veterans and continues to implement initiatives to support employment assistance and workforce training programs for members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their spouses. Earlier this year, the Administration announced that all state agencies that oversee professional licensing within the Administration have established guidelines to assist members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their spouses as they prepare and apply for jobs in Massachusetts. In early March, Governor Patrick signed an executive order to help small businesses owned by disabled veterans increase access to contracts for public projects in the areas of construction, design and goods and services procurement. This executive order also follows the Governor’s authorization of the VALOR Act to provide greater assistance to help veteran-owned small business participate in public projects. In 2011, the Administration launched an aggressive employment campaign aimed to increase the hiring of Massachusetts veterans. Among these initiatives, the Patrick Administration partnered with major trade associations to encourage them to hire veterans and circulate information on veterans’ benefits.

Tuesday’s ceremony also marked a historic moment as the units entered the State House through the front doors. As part of State House decorum, the front doors are only opened when the Governor leaves and assumes office, the sitting President or a Head of State arrives and when military units return from battle or war.    

Since its inception over 376 years ago, the Massachusetts National Guard has participated in each of our nation’s conflicts steadfastly serving the country and the citizens of the Commonwealth. Over 20,000 Massachusetts National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have deployed since September 11, 2001. Contributed.

The annual HPTA fall carnival will take place on October 5 from 10-4 on the town common or at the YMCA if it rains.  This year, organizers Michelle McGowan and Nancy Cavanaugh have kept many of the same games, crafts, inflatables, and bake sale that have made the carnival a popular attraction in past years and added some additions they think will excite families.

According to McGowan, "We are really excited to offer the pony rides this year for the first time.  I think the children will love it and it will help us raise a lot of money for the schools."  The carnival will also feature some new crafts, entertainment by local performers, a new food vendor and roaming characters, including Bob the Builder and princesses.  This year's sweet walk, similar to an old-fashioned cake walk, will feature some special goodies and the game prizes will have expanded offerings.

The raffle table this year will include a big ticket item-- an iPad mini-- as well as some baskets and gift cards.  IPad Mini raffle tickets are available online right now through the HPTA website and will be sold until shortly before the drawing.

HPTA President Sonia Cleven said, "My kids have always LOVED the Annual HPTA Carnival-- it has become a fall family tradition.  There's something for everyone!"

Cavanaugh added, "We are grateful to our many sponsors.  Phipps Insurance Agency stepped up again as our lead sponsor and we welcomed Westborough Tennis and Swim Club as our major prize sponsor.  The support of local businesses has been phenomenal.  The visitor bags we give out free to the first 300 families will include some goodies from them!"

The event requires the help of about 200 volunteers-- adults as well as middle and high school students and they can sign up through the HPTA website.

BoseGives
  Back  

Last Thursday we were extremely fortunate to have several BOSE employees come to the Hopkinton Center for the Arts as part of their "Bose gives back to Hopkinton" day.   The company chose several non profits in Hopkinton to be the recipient of the gift of their time and talents.  They arrived early in the morning, tools and supplies in hand to help in any way they could!   At the HCA volunteers stripped wall paper, plastered walls and ceilings and mounted acoustical tiles to help sound proof our music rooms.  If you have been to the farmhouse recently you know how badly this was needed!  We are very grateful to have a company like BOSE that cares so much about its community.  Everything sounds better now at the HCA.   THANK YOU BOSE! 

Anyone interested in joining the Little League Board come on down.

     Little League will be holding their Annual Meeting on Monday, September 30, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Faith Community Church Rm. 233, 146 East Main Street Hopkinton
     Looking for new volunteers to join the board and help the organization 

Starry Mallard

September 14, 2013 — Passing through Upton this morning, the roving HopCam caught a shot of this creature near the road on a resident's property at the end of the driveway. It stood and pondered crossing Hopkinton Road. Instead, it went behind a stone pillar next to a driveway, and few moments later, the property owner drove down the driveway, and took a look at the photo.

       "Chupacabra,"he said, laughing.

        The Chupacabra is a legendary Mexican hairless creature that has been photographed, and is said to suck the blood from goats. Some say it is just a coyote with mange. The legendary creature above, judging from the little remaining red and white fur, appears to be a red fox suffering from a sever case of mange. It appears this fox may become totally hairless before long. The man said there were several of them  in the neighborhood.

       To learn what mange is, and how to say the word, check out our link to the Free Dictionary, in the blue bar near the top, anytime.  

Tewksbury Man Guilty in 1969 Lowell Murder of John McCabe

               LOWELL – A Middlesex Superior Court jury has found Walter Shelley, 61, of Tewksbury, guilty for the murder of John McCabe, 15, who was strangled to death in 1969, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced today.

               Shelley was found guilty today of murder and witness intimidation in Lowell Superior Court.  Middlesex Superior Court Judge Janet Kenton-Walker scheduled sentencing for October 29 at 2:00pm in Lowell Superior Court.  Due to the fact that the defendant was 17 years old when he committed this crime, his sentencing is subject to the hearing requirements currently in effect for defendants who are under the age of 18 at the time of the commission of their crime.  It is expected that that hearing and other post-conviction motions regarding sentencing will occur at the next court date.

               “More than 40 years ago, this defendant was part of a group of young men who abducted, bound and left to die  5’5” 115 pound 15-year-old John McCabe as he walked home from a town dance,” District Attorney Ryan said. 

“This has been a long, difficult, and emotional process for everyone involved.  In addition to suffering an excruciating loss, the McCabe family has waited more than 4 decades for this jury’s verdict.  My wish is that it provides some peace for them as well as hope for the families of other victims in unsolved homicide cases that they, too, may see justice in the legal arena one day.

I commend the dedicated law enforcement team, including the Lowell Police Department, the Tewksbury Police Department and Massachusetts State Police, that never gave up on this case, working tirelessly to solve this crime and obtain justice for John and his family. 

In all unsolved homicides, we remain steadfast in our commitment to actively pursue every lead and employ every new technological advance, wherever appropriate, to bring charges and to hold defendants accountable.”

               According to authorities, at approximately 9:45am on September 27, 1969, Lowell Police responded to a vacant field off Maple Street in Lowell for reports of the discovery of a male victim, obviously deceased.  The victim, 15-year-old John Joseph McCabe, of Tewksbury, was bound with rope, with his eyes and mouth taped shut.  The cause of death was determined to be asphyxia due to strangulation. 

               Authorities launched an immediate investigation into the circumstances of McCabe’s death.  They learned that McCabe had disappeared after leaving a dance at the Knights of Columbus in Tewksbury and was reported missing by his parents when he did not return home.

               For more than 40 years, authorities pursued the investigation and in 2011 evidence developed that led them to charge three defendants, including Shelley, with murder. 

               Authorities determined that the three men abducted the victim, held him in a car against his will and assaulted him on September 27, 1969.  Shelley drove the car to Maple Street in Lowell where they left the victim, bound and gagged, to die in a vacant field.

               Co-defendant Michael Ferreira was found not guilty following a jury trial in January 2013.  Ferreira still faces ongoing litigation over a perjury charge in a companion case.  Co-defendant Edward Allen Brown has entered a plea agreement with the Commonwealth and will plead guilty to a charge of manslaughter at a future date.

               The prosecutors assigned to the case were Assistant District Attorneys Tom O’Reilly, Elisha Willis and James Kerr.  The Victim Witness Advocate was Dora Quiroz.  The Paralegal was Erika Willey. Contributed content.

Gastroenterologist Joins Medical Staff at Milford Regional

Maggie Ham, MD has been appointed to the active medical staff at Milford Regional Medical Center.  She has joined Drs. Amini, Batra, Crimaldi, Donahue and Moquin at Milford Gastroenterology Associates, Inc. 

Dr. Ham earned her degree in medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, CA in 2007 and she performed her residency in internal medicine at UCLA as well.  Dr. Ham continued her training with a fellowship in gastroenterology at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania and at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.

  “We welcome Dr. Maggie Ham to our medical staff.  We are very pleased to have such a highly trained physician join our gastroenterology team,” says Edward J. Kelly, president, Milford Regional Medical Center.

Women's Ice Hockey Co-op Scores With School Committee

Principal Keller lauded for vision

by Muriel Kramer

September 13, 2013 — The School Committee heard from Middle School Principal Alan Keller about a school-wide pilot program to deliver remediation and enrichment to students by adding a daily 30 minute period at the end of every day. Students will still have the traditional 6 periods for subject material; the 7^th period comes at the end of the day. According to Keller, “in the ideal scenario, students who need remediation would get it and students that have command of the material would then get an option for electives.” While most teachers have been using this time for silent reading or homework since the start of the year, the program is supposed to kick off with more detail and options on October 1^st. As explained by Keller, individual teachers are eager to exploit the opportunities this time offers.

"As a school, we have examined the traditional learning model

present in most schools (including ours), where time and instruction

are “constant,” and learning is “variable.” Schools that demonstrate

success for all learners not only recognize but respond to the fact

that individuals learn at different rates by altering their model

to one where learning and instruction are “constants” and time

is the “variable.” In other words, if we want to ensure that all

students learn, we must provide additional time and support for

students who have failed to master our essential standards  as well as

enrichment for students that have."

-Keller’s memo to MacLeod

New School Superintendent Dr. Cathy MacLeod praised Keller as a visionary for acknowledging and targeting the opportunity for enrichment not just remediation for struggling students.

SC member Jean Bertschmann asked, “For those [students] that aren’t identified for supplementation on either end of the spectrum, what will this time look like for most kids?” Keller responded that hopefully most kids will experience a menu of options.  Teachers will have some flexibility to introduce outside interests and areas of expertise.

The SC members several times during the meeting referenced the availability of the meeting packet online for all to have access to the documents referenced at the meeting; the link to the packet  is below at the end of this article.  Included in the packet materials is detail about upcoming professional development at all schools through December (pp. 13-19) prepared by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mary Ann DeMello.   According to DeMello Professional Development (PD) can happen in a variety of settings and ways; ideally individual teachers would then be able to bring back what has been learned to share with others.   “Professional development creates learning opportunities for educators that lead to direct or indirect learning experiences for students.” As examples, PD can deepen understanding of existing programs, introduce new initiatives, develop consistency across grades or disciplines, help meet state/local/federal guidelines and enrich cultural or global awareness.

SC member Ellen Scordino asked about methods for “assessing” and identifying which teachers might need more support in certain areas, much like teachers assess students to help target resources to those that need them.  

Athletic Director Eric Karjel was on hand with a few interested parents to get SC go-ahead for a pilot co-op opportunity with Dover-Sherborn for women’s ice hockey. Karjel explained that co-op opportunities are designed to be one year agreements, so that re-assessment is built in annually.  This program is meant to help existing programs continue when participation lags perhaps because athletes elect to attend private schools and to help other schools introduce new programs and evaluate student interest. Karjel explained that there will be try-outs, and there is no guarantee that interested players would make the team. He also pursued and received supplemental funding support from the Hopkinton Boosters for up to 10 players at a maximum of $500 each in advance of the SC meeting, so there will be no budget impact for Hopkinton this year. Following the SC’s unanimous vote in favor, MacLeod indicated she would call the Superintendent for Dover-Sherborn who would in turn inform the Athletic director there; Karjel was instructed by MacLeod to wait for the call from the Dover-Sherborn Athletic Director.

The next Elementary School Building Committee Meeting will be September 23^rd at 7PM at the Fire Station.  The Committee now includes Dr. MacLeod as Superintendent and Lauren Dubeau, the new Principal at Center school.  The next meeting will include discussion about exploring an additional property as well as expanding the educational opportunities to include pre-k as part of the Center School solution.

Link to Agenda and meeting informational packet:

http://hopkinton.schoolwires.net/cms/lib4/MA01001785/Centricity/domain/89/2011-12/agenda/9-12-13_SC_PACKET.pdf

Upcoming meetings:

School Committee September 17^th at 7PM working session in the Administrative Conference room to discuss SC/Superintendent Communications and the Superintendent Evaluation process including goals and timelines

School Committee September 19^th at 7:30PM regular meeting

Elementary School Building Committee September 23 at 7PM at the Fire Station

Hopkinton Files Suit Against Massachusetts Gaming Commission

September 12, 2013 — The Town of Hopkinton has filed suit in Middlesex Superior Court against the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) alleging that the Commission has withheld public records contained in the gaming license application of Crossroads Massachusetts LLC, the business entity behind the Foxwoods casino proposal in Milford. In April and July of this year, the MGC provided the Town with records pertaining to the businesses and individuals backing the proposed casino, but much of the information was redacted, with the Commission stating that “the public interest in obtaining this information does not substantially outweigh the seriousness of the invasion of privacy….”

In its suit, the Town alleges the withheld information does not fall within the ambit of the Gaming Law’s public records exemption, which permits redactions of material contained in a gaming license application only for information that would place prospective casino developers at a competitive disadvantage.

John Mosher, Chairman of Hopkinton’s Board of Selectmen (file photo), commented:

“Residents and local governments of the Metrowest region need information and have a right to acquire it. It is critical to understand how the proposed casino could impact our region and know who the region is doing business with. Hopkinton has followed the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s (MGC) direction regarding potential surrounding communities on multiple occasions and has attempted to engage Foxwoods Massachusetts LLC since March. To date, Foxwoods has declined our invitations.

"Requests to the MGC to obtain information on the applicant have been consistently rejected. The Foxwood’s application contains information that any resident, whether its our neighbors in Milford, or any other potential surrounding community, should know as they continue to weigh the merits of this proposal. The Gaming Commission should be requiring full disclosure of this information rather than assisting the applicant in keeping it concealed.”

~Press Release

FOUND!!!

UPDATED Joint Medfield Police-Mass. State Police News Release—09112013-- Missing Girl

The Medfield Police and Massachusetts State Police are asking for your help.

The Massachusetts State Police and Medfield Police are requesting to be on the lookout for an older model blue or green minivan or Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), with either Brittany Thompson or the heavy set white male occupying it.  It is believed that the suspect (Heavy set white male) is associated with this type of vehicle.  Special attention in the Medfield and South Eastern Massachusetts area.

Anyone coming in contact or observing anyone believed to be the suspect, is asked to contact the Massachusetts State Police immediately at 508-820-2121.  The Medfield Police and Massachusetts State Police are asking to be vigilant and report anything you think may be connected to either Brittany Thompson, or the white heavy set male seen with her last.