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Tag: middlesex county

  • OPINION: Swipe fees are a concern

    By Tom Hoye 

    In a recent opinion piece for the Taunton Daily Gazette, the author made the claim that consumers in Massachusetts “don’t need to be concerned with credit card ‘swipe fees.’” However, this could not be further from the truth. Costs are still on the rise for families in Massachusetts, and with the holiday season in full swing, that is more relevant now than ever before. While tariffs are certainly taking their toll, the impact of credit card swipe fees cannot be ignored as they now make up the second largest operating expense for business owners and drive prices higher for consumers.

    While businesses in Massachusetts cannot add an upfront surcharge to account for swipe fees, there’s no doubt that when these fees rise, merchants are forced to increase prices across the board to keep their doors open. This means even those who use cash end up paying higher prices as a result of card users.  Surcharging is just a band-aid for retailers to recoup some of these costs — but it is not a solution. Retailers don’t like them either as they get blamed for the credit card’s outrageous fees. Massachusetts law might block a line item surcharge, but make no mistake that merchants and consumers are still paying swipe fees.

    The more those fees grow, the more merchants will have no choice but to raise their prices to account for the overhead, just as they would for any other expense. In fact, families here in state and across the country are paying an extra $1,800 a year on average as prices increase to account for the growing expense of swipe fees.

    Whenever you swipe a credit card at your favorite restaurant or local shop, the business owner incurs a swipe fee, which is a percentage of the transaction that’s paid to credit card companies and major banks. In other words, Massachusetts’ small business owners have to watch while a portion of their hard-earned revenue is siphoned away from their communities to line the pockets of executives on Wall Street. In 2024 alone, our state paid over $2.9 billion in swipe fees, money that could have been used to increase wages, improve employee benefits, and lower costs.

    Unfortunately, thanks to credit card companies, this issue will not fix itself. These companies dominate the payments industry, and increase swipe fees without hesitation thanks to the cartel-style price fixing scheme they’ve employed with major banks to ensure fees continue going up. Massachusetts simply can’t afford the status quo, especially as the cost of living exceeds the national average and the cost of things like raising a child in this state is 50 percent higher than the rest of the country.

    It’s clear we need a legislative fix to level the playing field and thankfully one already exists in the form of the Credit Card Competition Act.

    This bill, a bipartisan initiative supported by both Democrats and Republicans as well as the overwhelming majority of the public, would offer merchants and consumers the relief they’ve been seeking for years by allowing businesses to choose between at least two credit card networks for processing transactions. By fostering a competitive environment, the Credit Card Competition Act would incentivize credit card companies to lower their swipe fees and improve their services. The bill would save Massachusetts businesses and consumers an estimated $438 million a year, allowing merchants to not only pay their employees more but also lower prices for their customers who are still reeling from inflation and economic uncertainty.

    The deck is stacked against Main Street when it comes to swipe fees. The only beneficiaries are Wall Street executives and bank CEOs. Until the Credit Card Competition Act is passed, swipe fees will continue burdening our local businesses and putting pressure on families who are already struggling to afford necessities. The Credit Card Competition Act can truly shake the status quo and bring about the change we desperately need. I hope U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey along with our entire congressional delegation will take this message to heart and throw their support behind this bill.

    Tom Hoye is the former mayor of Taunton. He is currently the register of probate for Bristol County and the owner of several businesses.

     

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  • Super Bowl LX excitement at Tewksbury’s Building Blocks Preschool

    What a touchdown of a day! Building Blocks Preschool in Tewksbury turned into the ultimate Patriots fan zone Friday, with kiddos decked out in red, white, and blue wearing their favorite Patriots attire. From football tosses to goalpost challenges, every classroom was buzzing with team energy.

    The school even sent some serious Boston love westward with an epic balloon-o-gram — talk about spreading team spirit across the country! Building Blocks’ A-MAYE-ZING families brought in their favorite game-day snacks that made the celebration extra special.

    Submitted article

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  • Massive portion of roof burned away during two-alarm fire in Lowell

    LOWELL — The multi-family home at 12 Osgood St. sat open to the elements on Saturday afternoon, its shattered windows offering a clear view up through the space where the roof had burned away several hours earlier.

    What turned out to be a two-alarm fire at the two-story structure was first reported at about 5:15 a.m. Saturday, when arriving crews found flames overtaking the attic.

    Lowell Deputy Fire Chief Joe Roth said nine residents were displaced, though the building’s owner was able to provide another home for them to stay in.

    “There was significant damage to the top floor, with the roof half burnt off,” Roth said. “Significant water and smoke damage throughout the whole building.”

    “Uninhabitable at this time,” he added.

    He stopped short of saying the structure would be a total loss, but added “there’s a lot of reconstruction there.”

    Firefighters remained on scene for hours extinguishing hot spots, working in temperatures that dipped below zero overnight.

    Roth said the extreme cold created some problems for crews.

    “Ice, slips and falls,” he said, describing the challenges.

    A supply line going into the engine truck in front of the building froze during overhaul operations, forcing crews to replace it. Some hand lines also froze.

    Roth said the last of the crews left the scene at about 10:30 a.m.

    The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

    In the afternoon, the damage was evident at the home, with singed debris — including a pair of mattresses — lying on the ice-coated ground outside the structure. Icicles created by the water used to battle the flames hung off the home’s siding and from the branches of nearby trees.

    The top of the structure’s brick chimney lay severed in a snowbank next to the building.

    A woman who lives across the narrow street pointed out the sheet of ice completely covering her daughter’s car from the firefighting water, along with black embers still scattered across it.

    A sign posted on the boarded-up front door of 12 Osgood St. stated, “Danger,” followed by “this structure is deemed unsafe for human occupation,” and “it is unlawful for any person to enter or occupy.”

    Saturday morning’s blaze came less than two days after another two-alarm fire caused significant damage to a single-family home at 20 Otis St. That fire was also fought in sub-freezing temperatures, though the conditions were not as severe.

    No injuries were reported in that fire, which also remains under investigation.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

    Aaron Curtis

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  • Phan brothers murder retrial set to begin Monday, weather permitting

    LOWELL — The murder retrial of Billy, Billoeum, and Channa Phan is officially ready to proceed.

    Jury impanelment is scheduled to begin in Middlesex Superior Court on Monday morning — or Tuesday if the winter storm forces the Kiernan Judicial Center to close.

    The schedule was set on Friday during the final pretrial hearing, where Judge Chris Barry-Smith also denied a defense motion to dismiss the indictment against one of the three brothers, each charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of 22-year-old Tyrone Phet outside his Lowell home in 2020.

    Barry-Smith rejected the bid by attorney William Dolan, who represents defendant Channa Phan, ruling that although the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office failed to turn over information tied to a gang-motive theory in a timely fashion, the lapse did not rise to the level requiring dismissal.

    The motion stemmed from the prosecution’s recent attempt to broaden the scope of gang‑related evidence in the retrial, namely introducing details about a Sept. 13, 2020 drive‑by shooting at 478 Wilder St.

    Prosecutors have argued the residence functioned as a stash house for the Outlaws, street gang, which they claim the Phan brothers are members of. Due to the shooting, a search warrant was obtained by the Lowell Police for the Wilder Street home, where officers seized guns, ammunition, 200 grams of cocaine, and 100,000 pressed pills containing methamphetamine.

    The shooting — allegedly carried out by rival gang Crazy Mob Family — triggered a retaliatory motive for the killing of Phet less than 24 hours later.

    Phet was not alleged to be a CMF member, but prosecutors contend he lived in the same Spring Avenue building where a CMF member once resided.

    Phet was shot to death in a hail of gunfire while sitting in his car outside the multi-family residence at 55 Spring Ave. Phet — a 2016 Chelmsford High graduate and captain of the football team his senior year — was struck eight times during the shooting.

    The Lowell Police recovered 21 spent shell casings at the scene from two different caliber guns.

    Barry‑Smith said the prosecution’s decision to pursue a broader gang theory in the retrial “not surprisingly” prompted the defense to seek all information police and prosecutors possessed about the Wilder Street shooting and subsequent search warrant.

    Prior to the first trial — which ended in a mistrial after jurors became deadlocked —prosecutors turned over the police report about the incident but not the underlying investigative materials, Barry‑Smith said. That omission was not a major point of contention at the time because the initial trial’s lead prosecutor — former Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Daniel Harren — had elected not to pursue a wide‑ranging gang theory.

    Once the new prosecution team sought to expand that scope, Barry‑Smith said, they were obligated to produce the full set of Wilder Street information — something they did not do until recent weeks.

    “The Commonwealth’s principal shortcoming is that failure to produce Wilder Street information once it determined Wilder Street was relevant to the case,” Barry‑Smith said, adding that a secondary issue was that prosecutors “were not adequately familiar” with what evidence had been turned over during the first four years of the case, leading to a misunderstanding.

    The judge described the discovery violation as the product of “mistake, inadvertence, misunderstanding, and a failure to be fully familiar” with prior disclosures — not an attempt to ambush the defense.

    “It was not delivered, nor was it designed to spring evidence upon the defense,” Barry‑Smith said.

    The judge reiterated that he has already denied the Commonwealth’s request to expand the scope of gang evidence for the retrial, calling the proposed showing “too thin.”

    The Wilder Street material may be considered for rebuttal, but that will depend on how the trial unfolds.

    Because prosecutors have since turned over the missing materials, and because the expanded gang theory will not be permitted, Barry‑Smith said dismissal was not warranted.

    “I don’t find that the District Attorney’s Office’s conduct was purposeful or egregious,” he said.

    As for jury selection, the expectation is it will take two days to get the needed pool of 16 jurors.

    The trial will run daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, with an hour‑long lunch break. Barry‑Smith said the case is expected to conclude by the end of the week of Feb. 9.

    Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Thomas Brant told Barry-Smith that the prosecution intends to call more than 40 witnesses.

    Brant also raised a scheduling wrinkle: Feb. 8 is Super Bowl Sunday, and with the New England Patriots still in contention for a spot in Super Bowl 60 as of the hearing, juror availability and the scheduling of witnesses could be affected.

    “I don’t care, and my desire is to move the case as quickly as possible, but …” Brant said.

    “I hadn’t thought of that,” Barry‑Smith replied, adding that he may delay the Feb. 9 start time to as late as 10 a.m.

    “I might delay things on that Monday, but I’m not going to call it off,” he said.’

    The Sun will publish weekly wrap-ups on the trial’s progress, with summaries appearing this Sunday and again on Feb. 8. A final story detailing the verdict will follow shortly after the jury reaches a decision, with the latest possible publication date being Feb. 15.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social. 

    Aaron Curtis

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  • Lowell’s Washington School cleared for lead contamination

    LOWELL — During separate meetings, both the School Committee and the Board of Health weighed in on suspected lead contamination at a worksite at Washington Elementary School, with the BOH requesting protocols on future projects.

    At the Nov. 19 School Committee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Liam Skinner assured the body that the official report of in-depth testing, performed by Titan Lead Testing LLC on dust generated by recent repair work, showed that “there are no lead levels of concern in the school.”

    “We’re pleased that the situation was mitigated in the way that it was,” Skinner said.

    The school, which Skinner described as one of the district’s oldest buildings, was built in 1910.

    According to previous Sun reporting, a section of the ceiling collapsed in the basement in early fall. But the cleanup of the debris and repair of the area by employees with the Department of Public Works spread dust throughout the building that is home to pre-K through grade 4 students and staff.

    The school district uses the buildings, but almost all are owned by the city. The district is responsible for custodial services, like cleaning, while the city is responsible for repairs and improvements.

    “It seems as though the area was wrapped in such a way that dust should not have escaped from the area where the construction was going on, but that was clearly not sufficient or didn’t work well,” Skinner said. “So, dust from the area did travel. It was quite remarkable to witness the extent to which dust could travel from the lower areas to the upper areas.”

    An over-the-counter kit indicated that there might be lead in the dust, and the district ordered testing through Titan, as well as a thorough cleaning of the school over the weekend of Nov. 15-16.

    Skinner said School Deputy Facilities Director John Leahy oversaw the weekend cleaning. The former School Committee member, District 3 – Belvidere city councilor and mayor owned and operated Leahy Painting for 25 of the 40 years that he was a professional painter. He gave up his private contracting business to take a position in the Facilities Department of Lowell Public Schools.

    “John Leahy was quite familiar with lead paint and lead paint dust issues and knew the correct procedure for cleaning that,” Skinner told the committee. “He was able to be there and instruct people on the proper techniques and the proper equipment.”

    School reopened that Monday.

    The lead conversation was raised in the Board of Health meeting held Jan. 7 at City Hall. Unlike the School Committee meeting, the Titan report was attached to agenda packet and part of the public record.

    Health and Human Services Director Lisa Golden said that although the school does have some lead paint in it, all the testing came back negative.

    Titan referenced the issue of undisturbed lead, noting that when renovation, repair or painting activities are performed in premises identified as housing or child-occupied facilities, work must be done in accordance with the “RRP Rule” as described in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, 454 CMR 22.00.

    “Renovation and demolition activities that impact surfaces where lead may be present require specific work practices and disposal requirements,” said the report written by Master Inspector/Risk Assessor David Pesce, and addressed to DPW Commissioner Paul St. Cyr.

    “These regulations require the use of trained workers and firms, including a certified Lead-Safe Renovation Supervisor, notification to occupants, occupant protections, posting of signs, use of containment, lead-safe work practices, cleaning requirements, and post-cleaning verification or clearance,” Pesce said.

    The report recommended that an ongoing operations and maintenance plan should be developed in order to identify surfaces containing lead-based paint which may be disturbed by renovation and maintenance activities such as painting or repairs.

    “This plan would outline procedures for testing surfaces, training of workers, worker protection, occupant protection, and post-work cleanup of work areas,” Pesce said.

    Given the age of the building, state regulations and the Titan report, BOH member Kathleen Cullen-Lutter questioned what process was in place to address present or potential lead-based work.

    “Maybe [Golden] can clarify with Mr. St. Cyr that there is a process if they were to disturb the lead that they would have that process in place,” Chair Jo-Ann Keegan said.

    Environmental issues surrounding aging facilities in district buildings have dominated the city-school discourse. For years, the almost 60-year-old Pawtucketville Memorial Elementary School, located at 425 West Meadow Road, has had a proclivity for mold growth that has, at times, delayed the opening of the first day of classes.

    In 2024, a “considerable” amount of asbestos was found in parts of the 1922 building that is under renovation during the $422 million Lowell High School renovation and rebuilding project. Construction dust was monitored during the project after high levels were found in adjacent classrooms.

    More recently, the Sullivan Middle School experienced flooding when four heating coils froze in early December, flooding the school library.

    Pesce’s report cautioned that not all surfaces were tested at the Washington School, suggesting that a protocol for future work would be warranted.

    “Additional lead-containing building substrates and components may be present in other building areas or hidden by floor, wall and ceiling finishes or otherwise may be inaccessible,” his report said.

    Melanie Gilbert

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  • ‘People do feel betrayed’: Trahan talks tumultuous 2025, hopes for 2026

    LOWELL — For U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, 2025 went about as she expected with the return of the Trump administration, which she thinks has been much like the first term, but with things moving much faster than before.

    That expectation was set, she said, by documents like Project 2025, a 900-page document compiled by the Heritage Foundation outlining a blueprint for a dramatic shakeup of the U.S. government under the next conservative president, which ended up again being President Donald Trump.

    “I think we were all sort of ready for a different cadence in this term, but it certainly started before the inauguration. We had a bipartisan package of health care bills, of all this legislation on its way to passage at the end of the year,” Trahan told The Sun Tuesday.

    “Elon Musk basically in a tweet said ‘it’s way too complicated, legislation shouldn’t be this long,’ and he killed it.”

    Despite the tumultuousness that followed in the federal government for the rest of 2025, Trahan once again closed out the year with a report from her office on what she sees as her biggest accomplishments of the year, even within a Congress she said took on “irrelevance” rather quickly.

    Those highlights included the more than $200 million in federal funding for the long-awaited Rourke Bridge project in Lowell, her support for online privacy protections through the reintroduction of the DELETE Act and the fight to restore Affordable Care Act premiums that expired at the end of the year.

    On Tuesday, Trahan sat down with The Sun to talk about her hopes for 2026, the upcoming midterm elections and what ways Democrats can counter President Trump with a slim minority in Congress.

    Trahan remarked that she was shocked how quickly Congress was pushed to the side in 2025 as Trump issued a record number of executive orders, but expressed confidence Democrats can reassert that authority in the coming midterms in November.

    “I think people want a check and balance on this administration, especially after living through this year, (having) Republicans in charge has really just meant chaos, it has meant higher prices, no checks on tariff policy, no checks on changes to children’s vaccine schedules, no checks on a potential war with Venezuela,” said Trahan. “The president has bombed seven countries since he has been in office and he ran on ending forever-wars (and not) getting the United States involved in foreign wars. People are tired, they are exhausted. They are really trying to make ends meet, trying to establish a better life for their families and themselves, and they are facing higher prices everywhere.”

    Trahan noted her support for a war powers resolution which had yet to be taken up by the Senate and would prohibit the president from waging war in Venezuela. The bill has since been passed in the Senate 53-47, and has yet to be taken up in the House of Representatives. The Senate margin would not be enough to overcome a veto by Trump, which would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers.

    Given the challenges her party faces in getting legislation through without control of any branch of government, Trahan said her aims in 2026 are centered around things like the stabilization of our local health care system after the Nashoba Valley Medical Center closure in 2024.

    “No Plan B until the governor stepped in, working with UMass to come up with a path forward there, but there is anxiety in that region around not having a full community hospital operation,” said Trahan. “What the Big Beautiful Bill did … was really undermine and destabilize our entire hospital system. Without those Medicaid payments, we are absolutely going to see a loss of vital hospital services. We have already seen some of the less profitable services close … that is going to continue.”

    On top of that, Trahan said, the Affordable Care Act premiums expired on Jan. 1, and her office has heard from constituents whose health insurance premiums have since risen to as high as an extra $11,000 a year.

    “It is just incredible to see how beneficial those tax credits were for people, and how unaffordable it is without them,” said Trahan.

    “When you have young, healthy people … who say ‘this is unaffordable for me, I am going to roll the dice,’ one: something catastrophic can happen to them and they are not even going to be able to afford the ambulance bill, never mind what it will take to treat them in the hospital,” said Trahan. “But two: it increases everybody’s premiums because then the insurance pool is older and sicker, people who can’t not have insurance.”

    Trahan and the rest of the House Democrats got the support of nine Republicans to sign a discharge petition to force a vote on a clean three-year extension of the ACA tax credits. The subsequent vote passed the House 230-196 with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats to vote in favor. That bill faces a questionable future in the Senate as of Friday.

    Trahan currently does not have an opponent for this year’s midterm elections, which would be the second straight election she goes uncontested if that remains true. While Trahan could have little to worry about her own seat, Democrats are currently facing a historic popularity crisis according to a number of polls over the past year.

    “We have to reconcile a lot of polls. The institution that has the lowest approval rating is Congress, but there is a difference when you ask how people feel about their own congressperson,” said Trahan. “I have a lot of humility around the state of favorability for the Democrats.”

    Despite the polling challenge, after the off-year 2025 elections across the country showed promising signs for Democrats, the party has expressed confidence it will take back seats from what is currently a very narrow Republican majority. Trahan said that can happen by the Democrats “making the case for a check and balance on this administration.”

    “On any administration, but this administration in particular. Congress has to reassert their authority so the questions people have back home we are actually asking in the halls of Congress and committee rooms,” said Trahan.

    Points of contention for voters who subscribe to Trump’s “America First” messaging might be the military’s intervention in foreign countries, Trahan said, or things like the $40 billion bailout given to Argentina.

    “I think that is why you are seeing some disruption and questions in the Republican Party … My hope is that pressure people feel at home will start to come to Congress with them, and people will start surfacing those questions and having hearings, and forcing the president to not bypass Congress, but instead to work with us,” said Trahan.

    Despite the division, Trahan said she has still been able to find common ground with her Republican colleagues on certain issues. She pointed to two bills, the reauthorization of the Creating Hope for Kids Act  and there is the Accelerating Care for Kids Act, on which she has worked for four years with Republicans in the House and she feels confident will pass this year.

    Just a bit into 2026, and closing in on one year since a new administration and new session of Congress, Trahan said the midterms come down to how “people don’t feel like they are better off right now.”

    “People do feel betrayed … they thought [Trump] was going to make a concerted effort to bring their prices down. That is not happening. That is where Democrats know people expect the government to do something,” said Trahan.

    Trahan and all but one member of the House voted in November in favor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill to compel the Department of Justice to release all documents related to the investigation into deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his clients. The DOJ had a Dec. 19 deadline to release the trove of documents, but those that were released by that time were heavily redacted, and the DOJ said there are millions more documents that needed to be processed for release.

    Trahan said with the DOJ missing deadlines compelled by the law, the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees are “spending a lion’s share of their time just watching the DOJ and making sure they are following the letter of the law.”

    “This was incredibly bipartisan, it was the result of victims coming to Washington and demanding that these files be released, which by the way, this president promised he would make transparent. It shouldn’t have even gotten to the point where that was forced upon his Department of Justice,” said Trahan.

    One of the biggest changes of 2025, which is poised to continue to be a flashpoint in 2026, has been the federal policies surround immigration and its enforcement. Trahan’s office has been tracking 15 cases within her district where immigration enforcement agents have arrested immigrants who in some cases had legal status.

    “We work with legal services … we work with [U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services] on where they are if they are in Burlington or if they have already gone to Maine, or in horrible cases to Louisiana or somewhere else,” said Trahan.

    Another way her office helps is by advising all immigrants facing these issues to sign a privacy consent release form.

    “It is just one of those things people would never know to ask for, but we can’t be helpful until that piece of paper has been signed, and there has been a lot of obstruction of a detainee getting that piece of paper, getting it signed and getting that communication to us, but once we have all that in place we can work on someone’s behalf in a myriad of ways,” said Trahan.

    Growing up, Trahan said, her family only wanted was to know “that if we worked hard we could get ahead.”

    “Right now that is not the reality,” said Trahan, calling health care and the high cost of living the biggest challenges facing Americans right now. “Families like the one I grew up in are really struggling … they are not seeing their government acknowledge they cannot afford health care coverage.”

    Seven years into her congressional tenure, Trahan said she still sees the job similarly to what she expected going into her first term, which she credits to her decade of experience as a congressional staffer.

    “I started in the second half of Trump’s first term. I am now going to serve, hopefully if I win my reelection, through another Trump term, and I think what has changed has been the abdication by the Republican majority’s authority to the president,” said Trahan. “In 2018 we were part of this blue wave that was part of the backlash of the first two years of President Trump being in office. I got to see a Congress that exerted its authority on a rogue presidency. I have also lived through this first year where we did not have that check and balance. That is really dangerous for our country.”

    Peter Currier

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  • Tewksbury schools denied state grants due to MBTA Communities noncompliance

    TEWKSBURY — The first consequences seem to be arriving for the remaining cities and towns out of compliance with the MBTA Communities law after Tewksbury Public Schools was informed it not be receiving certain state grant funding in fiscal 2026 as a result of the town’s noncompliance.

    A little more than a dozen towns remain out of compliance with the MBTA Communities law, which compels 177 communities in eastern Massachusetts to create zoning that would allow the creation of multifamily housing by right.

    Tewksbury is among the communities who remain out of compliance after Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly to reject the proposed zoning in town in 2024. An effort to bring the measure back to Town Meeting in 2025 was blocked by the Planning Board.

    In the Dec. 17 Tewksbury School Committee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Brenda Theriault-Regan said the district was recently notified it was “currently ineligible for certain educational grant funding due to the town of Tewksbury’s noncompliance with the MBTA Communities Act.”

    That funding includes an Early College planning grant for $50,000, an Early College designation funding grant for $250,000 over five years, a time-out practices implementation grant for $50,000, which Theriault-Regan said was meant to support the district with resources to help it comply with new Department of Elementary and Secondary Education regulations on “seclusion and restorative practices.”

    “DESE also shared with us that Tewksbury Public Schools’ participation in current 2026 state-funded grants and future grants remains at risk until the town remediates this compliance issue,” said Theriault-Regan.

    The superintendent referenced how earlier this month Gov. Maura Healey’s administration said Wachusett Regional High School and South Shore Vocational Technical “were mistakenly informed that they were not eligible for Credit for Life grant awards,” as reported by the Boston Herald. A spokesperson for the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation told The Herald the mistake had been corrected, and those districts were eligible for that grant.

    “That was the only grant the article referenced, so we are very much concerned that our students could lose out on the programs and resources we depend on through grant funding, especially for factors outside the School Department’s control,” said Theriault-Regan. “But the article I referenced certainly gave us hope that maybe the state leaders and legislators will look at educational grant funding differently moving forward, aside from the MBTA Community Act compliance.”

    Theriault-Regan said the district was committed to working with town and state officials to “see if we can resolve this barrier and secure essential resources for our students.”

    In a phone call Tuesday, Tewksbury Select Board Chair Mark Kratman, a consistent critic of the MBTA Communities law, said there has been little communication from the state to the school district when it comes to grant funding eligibility.

    “When the schools try to reach out, they are not getting a clear answer … When they are applying for grants, we are getting crickets,” said Kratman.

    “Grants are nothing more than taxpayer dollars that have been given to the State House, and they are supposed to be fairly distributed to all the cities and towns,” Kratman continued. “We are sending our money there, and with that they are supposed to govern, they are not supposed to dictate.”

    In Greater Lowell, Tewksbury is joined by Dracut and Wilmington in still being out of compliance with MBTA Communities. In addition to the loss in state grant funding, towns out of compliance with the law have been threatened with the imposition of a special master that would impose a version of the zoning without input from the town.

    Peter Currier

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  • Lowell High students released on bail after alleged armed robbery

    LOWELL — Two Lowell High School students and two unidentified juveniles are facing several charges, including armed robbery, after police say they attacked a teenage boy and stole his backpack shortly after he stepped off a bus on Lincoln Street earlier this month.

    Devonathan Thanongsinh and Fidell Chan, both 18, along with two 17-year-old boys whose names were redacted from Lowell Police reports due to their age, are accused of striking the victim in the face with a handgun that officers later recovered.

    Police said they have not determined which suspect wielded the weapon.

    The group also allegedly assaulted the victim’s 58-year-old grandfather when he tried to intervene in the attack.

    According to an officer’s incident report, the assault occurred shortly after 3 p.m. on Dec. 5, when police were called to the 400 block of Lincoln Street for a report of a teen who had been attacked “by a group of kids” on the sidewalk.

    When one of the responding officers arrived in the area, he saw a blue Mazda traveling the wrong way on a one‑way section of Lincoln Street and noticed a pickup truck farther up the road that appeared to have been involved in a crash. The Mazda, meanwhile, had heavy damage to its doors and tires, the report said.

    The driver of the Mazda — later identified by police as Thanongsinh — attempted to maneuver around the cruiser but was unable to get by. The officer activated his lights and conducted a traffic stop.

    “(Thanongsin) … denied being involved,” the officer said in the report. “I then asked what had happened to the vehicle in which he did not have an answer.”

    The officer reported that three other “young male” occupants were inside the Mazda with Thanongsinh, including the two 17‑year‑old boys and Chan, who was seated in the rear driver’s‑side seat.

    As the officer was speaking with the group, he was approached by a woman who said her son — whose name was redacted from the report — had just been assaulted by the four males in the Mazda.

    According to the report, the woman told police she was inside her Lincoln Street home when she heard screaming outside. She tried calling her son, but he did not answer. Moments later, he ran into the house and told her he had been jumped.

    Another family member approached the officer and said that one of the occupants of the Mazda had “used a handgun to pistol whip” the victim, the report said.

    With that information, the officer told the four occupants to remain in the vehicle while additional units were called to the scene. At one point, one of the 17-year-olds allegedly opened his door and tried to get out despite the instructions.

    The officer said in the report that he “commanded him to remain inside and to close the door in which he complied. I then further instructed all four occupants to remain inside and do not do anything too stupid. All complied.”

    Once other officers arrived, the occupants were ordered out of the Mazda one at a time. None of them had weapons on them, according to the report, but officers spotted a handgun on the front passenger‑side floorboard in plain view.

    The weapon turned out to be a 9mm loaded with a magazine containing nine rounds.

    The victim later told police, according to the report, that he had just gotten off a bus with friends and was walking toward his home when a group approached him and struck him with a closed fist.

    He also said he was hit in the face with a “hard object.”

    He told police he could not identify his attackers because they were all dressed in black and wearing masks.

    The teen said he “blacked out” during the assault, the report said. When asked whether he saw a gun, he said “I thought, I think I did,” but added he could not be certain.

    A friend who had been walking with him told police he saw a gun as the group approached and immediately dropped his backpack and ran. Both his backpack and the victim’s were stolen and later allegedly found in the Mazda. The backpacks contained laptops and other personal belongings.

    Police also interviewed the victim’s grandfather, who said he saw four males “punching and kicking” his grandson. He tried to intervene but said the group then turned on him, striking him multiple times in the nose and head and causing him to fall and feel as though he had been “knocked out.”

    He said he was also unable to identify the attackers because they were dressed in black and wearing masks, according to the report.

    After the alleged assault, the victim’s grandfather told police he saw the four attackers get into the Mazda and drive off. He said he got into his pickup truck and followed them around the block. As he did, the Mazda drove the wrong way onto Lincoln Street and allegedly struck a parked vehicle.

    According to the report, the 58‑year‑old told officers he then positioned his truck to block the Mazda from leaving. The Mazda then is alleged to have struck his vehicle moments before the responding officer arrived on scene.

    The officer said in his report that none of the four suspects claimed responsibility for the handgun found in the Mazda or for the assaults. He added that the incident “appeared to be a planned attack on the victims,” noting that surveillance footage showed the masked assailants punching both the teen and his grandfather before stealing the backpacks.

    Both the teen and his grandfather were taken to Lowell General Hospital’s Saints Campus following the attack.

    Thanongsinh and Chan, along with the two juveniles, were charged with masked armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, assault and battery, and assault with a dangerous weapon.

    Thanongsinh also faces a charge of leaving the scene of property damage.

    Because of their ages, the outcomes of the juveniles’ cases were not available in court records.

    Lowell District Court documents show that Thanongsinh and Chan were arraigned on Dec. 8 and ordered held without bail pending 58A dangerousness hearings on Dec. 11, a proceeding used to determine whether a defendant poses a risk to the public.

    The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office requested they be held without bail. However, after those hearings, a judge set bail for both men at $2,000 cash, which they posted the same day.

    Court documents show that roughly 30 letters were submitted in support of Thanongsinh as part of his 58A dangerousness hearing, including one from a Lowell High School staff member who said the 18‑year‑old “excelled academically” in the classes he taught during Thanongsinh’s sophomore year and again now as a senior.

    “Throughout the time I have known him, Devonathan has consistently demonstrated maturity, responsibility and strong character,” the staff member said in the letter. “He approaches his coursework with diligence and focus. His academic performance as a sophomore stood out among his peers.”

    The letter described him as “polite, respectful, and genuinely well‑mannered,” adding that he “conducts himself with kindness and humility, and interacts positively with both classmates and teachers.”

    “He may have made some poor decisions, but I believe his foundation of strong character and his family will help him atone for those lapses in judgment and become the productive adult I know he can be if given the opportunity,” the staff member concluded.

    Court records show neither Thanongsinh nor Chan have criminal records.

    As a condition of their release on bail, both Thanongsinh and Chan were ordered to remain in the custody of their mothers, continue with their high school educations, avoid all contact with the victims and witnesses, possess no dangerous weapons, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and comply with a 24/7 curfew and GPS monitoring.

    According to court documents, Thanongsinh was brought back to court the day after his release for what was initially believed to be a curfew violation.

    His attorney, Thomas Torrisi, stressed on Friday that the allegation was later determined to be unfounded, explaining that Thanongsinh had not left his home and that the issue stemmed from a GPS signal problem.

    “They determined he had absolutely never left the house, so there was no violation found by the judge,” Torrisi said.

    Torrisi added about the case that “we’re very much at the infant stages at this point.”

    “There’s an awful lot that still needs to be done before we’re in a position to know the totality of the circumstances,” he said.

    Chan’s attorney, Stephen Barton, was unavailable for comment.

    The pair are scheduled to return to court for a pretrial conference on Jan. 20.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

    Aaron Curtis

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  • Arrest log

    The following arrests were made recently by local police departments. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Massachusetts’ privacy law prevents police from releasing information involving domestic and sexual violence arrests with the goal to protect the alleged victims.

    BILLERICA

    • Michael Parker, 50, 67 Salem Road, Billerica; assault with dangerous weapon, intoxicated licensee carrying firearm.

    • Katherine Marie Main, 41, unknown address; fugitive from justice on court warrant.

    LOWELL

    • Brian Cooper, 29, 17 Yarmouth Drive, Nashua, N.H.; warrant (unlicensed operation of motor vehicle), operating motor vehicle without license.

    • Luis Oliveras, 65, 144 High St., Apt. 2, Lowell; operation under influence of alcohol.

    • Emily Rogers, 33, homeless; warrant (shoplifting), trespassing.

    • Kosall Deth, 44, 73 Fort Hill Ave., Apt. 2, Lowell; warrant (failure to stop/yield).

    • Kenneth Eng, 21, 27 Hastings St., Lowell; warrant (operation of motor vehicle with suspended license), failing to submit motor vehicle for inspection.

    • Kevin Sok, 32, 21 Main St., Dunstable; operating motor vehicle after license suspension, failing to submit motor vehicle for inspection.

    • Nicholas Powell, 36, 301 Old Marshall Road, Dracut; warrant (failure to appear for unlicensed operation of motor vehicle).

    • Daniel Ramos-Vallejo, 23, 35 Temple St., Apt. 19, Lowell; operating motor vehicle after license suspension, failing to submit motor vehicle for inspection.

    • Thomas McGrath, 34, homeless; shoplifting, trespassing after notice.

    • Mason Cruz, 30, 619 Gorham St., Apt. 2, Lowell; assault and battery on police officer, resisting arrest.

    • Mary Foley, 45, 93 Berkeley St., Billerica; breaking and entering motor vehicle, disturbing peace.

    • Teddy Buckley, 36, homeless; trespassing.

    • Betsy Bettencourt, 60, homeless; two counts of trespassing.

    • Peter Gichuhi, 44, homeless; public drinking.

    • Kristen Butler, 25, 205 Farrwood Drive, Haverhill; warrants (failure to appear for two counts of trespassing, and shoplifting by asportation), trespassing.

    • Bryant Dottin, 28, 18 Morton St., Lowell; warrants (failure to appear for unregistered motor vehicle, and suspended license).

    • Divine Morse, 25, 271 E. Eighth St., No. 410, Boston; warrant (uninsured motor vehicle).

    • J’Lohn Moro, 33, 590 Market St., Apt. 325, Lowell; shoplifting.

    • Khaisone Sinlong, 30, 189 Walker St., No. 5, Lowell; operating motor vehicle without license, failure to stop/stop sign, warrant (malicious damage to motor vehicle).

    • Michael Picardi, 38, homeless; warrant (possession of Class E drug).

    • Joshua Rivera, 37, 57 Mount Vernon St., Lowell; warrant (distribution of Class A drug), trafficking in 18 grams or more of cocaine.

    • Jeffrey Breitwieser, 38, homeless; assault on emergency medical technician or health care provider, trespassing.

    NASHUA, N.H.

    • Nathaniel Ciardelli, 32, no fixed address; criminal trespassing, theft by unauthorized taking ($0-$1,000).

    • Dagoberto Vasquez Bamaca, 20, 46 Ledge St., Nashua; simple assault.

    • Jack Pearson Smith, 20, 56 Furber Lane, Wolfeboro, N.H.; driving under influence.

    • Trisha Morin, 40, no fixed address; nonappearance in court.

    • Jorge Lewis Curet, 40, 92 Ledge St., Apt. 2, Nashua; stalking.

    • Marion Smith, 49, no fixed address; theft by unauthorized taking ($0-$1,000), nonappearance in court.

    • Cara Kulingoski, 48, no fixed address; warrant.

    • Darryl Hudson, 43, 7 Van Buren St., Nashua; out of town warrants.

    • Cameron Joseph Sousa, 21, 24 Gillis St., Nashua; nonappearances in court, suspension of vehicle registration, driving motor vehicle after license revocation/suspension, unregistered motor vehicle, operation of motor vehicle without valid license.

    Staff Report

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  • Dracut zoning board’s draft decision downsizes Murphy’s Farm 40B

    DRACUT — The Zoning Board of Appeals has published a draft decision signaling it is ready to approve the contentious Murphy’s Farm Chapter 40B proposal for apartments in East Dracut. Final approval is expected at the board’s Dec. 4 meeting.

    As published, the number of apartments has been downsized from 268 units to 200. The original proposal called for 300 units.

    One of the goals of the decades-old 40B law is to increase the stock of affordable housing in the state. Murphy’s Farm will have 20 low-income units and 20 moderate-income units.

    Chapter 40B gives the ZBA power to issue comprehensive permits that supersede the normal permitting process.

    The draft document lists more than 90 conditions the developer, O’Brien Homes of Andover, must comply with to be granted a comprehensive permit.

    If approved by the ZBA and accepted by the developer, an agreement would bring to an end almost three years of public hearings, neighborhood meetings and property tours.

    But the developer can appeal to the state Housing Appeals Committee — which operates under the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities — if the proposal would make the project economically unviable.

    Asked about the prospect of an appeal, developer Kevin O’Brien said, “The town’s got to do what it’s got to do. And we have to do what we have to do.”

    Selectman Tony Archinski, who has attended most of the hearings, told The Sun, “I have spoken to the town manager and secured funding for legal issues should the builder appeal the decision.”

    Speaking for the Citizens Against Reckless Development in Dracut, Michelle Boermeester stated, “We appreciate that the ZBA recognized the project as far too dense and moved to condition the development at 200 units. This reduction helps alleviate some of the anticipated density and traffic impacts on direct abutters and on the broader Dracut community. While we would have preferred an outright denial of the permit, the Board’s conditions represent meaningful modifications and will leave it to the developer to decide whether to accept the terms or pursue an appeal.”

    She added, “Even so, we remain concerned that the project—despite the reduction—still is overly dense for this area. We also believe the ZBA did not fully address public safety considerations. The current layout includes extended roadways without cul-de-sacs, leaving no margin for error for emergency response vehicles to maneuver, compromising public safety.”

    Aside from reducing the number of units in the complex, the proposal would make the developer pay $7,500 for sewer connections for each market-rate apartment. Connection fees for affordable units would be waived. The developer would pay a total of $1.125 million for sewer connections.

    Connection to the Kenwood Water District will cost $5,500 for the first unit and $4,125 for each additional unit. The estimated total for 200 units is $826,375. The connection fee for each building must be paid in full prior to connection to the town system.

    Prudence Brighton

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  • Lowell man arrested after pursuit, accused of ramming police cruiser with truck

    MANCHESTER, N.H. —  A Lowell man is facing a pile of charges after an early-morning pursuit that topped 100 mph ended with him ramming a State Police cruiser with his pickup truck when cornered in Manchester.

    Alejandro Vargas, 27, was captured by police after the alleged vehicle pursuit turned into a foot pursuit following the crash. According to the New Hampshire State Police, it was later determined that Vargas had an outstanding U.S. Marshals warrant.

    The incident began at about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday, when the State Police said they received reports that Epping police officers had briefly pursued a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado on Route 101 westbound. Shortly afterward, members of the Candia Police spotted the pickup truck, which was allegedly clocked traveling at 105 mph.

    Police said Trooper Brian Knell observed the truck as it entered Interstate 93 South in Manchester. He caught up with the vehicle at Exit 1 on Interstate 293 North and attempted a traffic stop, which the driver — later identified as Vargas — allegedly ignored.

    The pursuit that ensued continued onto Exit 4 of I-293, where the truck turned onto Arnold Street, which is a dead end. Vargas is alleged to have turned the vehicle around and struck a State Police cruiser driven by Trooper Brian Taylor.

    Police said the truck then crashed into two additional parked vehicles before Vargas and a passenger jumped out of the truck and fled on foot in opposite directions.

    Manchester police officers arrived with a drone and spotted Vargas running south near Hill Street, less than a half-mile from the crash scene. Officers quickly tracked him down and took him into custody.

    The passenger, meanwhile, was not located.

    Vargas is charged with felony reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, along with misdemeanor counts of disobeying an officer, resisting arrest, simple assault, and conduct after an accident, in addition to several violations.

    Details of Vargas’ U.S. Marshals warrant were not immediately available, nor was the outcome of his arraignment, which was scheduled to take place in Manchester District Court on Wednesday.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

    Aaron Curtis

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  • Arrest log

    The following arrests were made recently by local police departments. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Massachusetts’ privacy law prevents police from releasing information involving domestic and sexual violence arrests with the goal to protect the alleged victims.

    BEDFORD

    • Faith James, 62, of Bedford; warrant.

    LOWELL

    • Courtney Lavalle, 27, Lowell; fugitive from justice.

    • Somrathony Soeng, 36, homeless; possession of Class B drug, warrant (failure to appear for possession of Class A drug).

    • Jason Rodriguez, 40, 137 Pine St., Lowell; possession of Class B drug, warrants (failure to appear for two counts of trespassing), assault and battery on police officer.

    • Aaron Meuse, 41, homeless; possession of Class B drug, trespassing.

    • Richard Dodge II, 49, 252 Methuen St., Rear Apartment, Lowell; warrant (assault and battery).

    • Carlos Fonseca, 24, 185 Moody St., Apt. C, Lowell; warrant (assault and battery with dangerous weapon, assault), assault with dangerous weapon (knife).

    • Victor Rivera, 42, homeless; warrant (failure to appear for possession of Class B drug).

    • Leslie Carneiro, 34, homeless; trespassing.

    • Jaryd Cote, 35, homeless; warrant (larceny under $1,200).

    • Jose Zuna Cajilema, 21, 382 Pleasant St., Second Floor, Dracut; warrant (operation of motor vehicle without license).

    • Raeli Amador, 54, 273 Summer St., Lowell; trespassing, possession of Class B drug.

    • Jessica McMahon, 49, no fixed address; trespassing.

    • Juan Nieves, 48, homeless; trespassing, resisting arrest, intimidating witness, violation of bylaws/ordinances (knife).

    • John Boualaphanh, 32, 102 Nashua Road, Pepperell; operating motor vehicle after license suspension, attaching plates violation.

    • Ashley Hartwell, 36, homeless; warrants (failure to appear for two counts of trespassing, and drug possession).

    • Keimy Ortiz, 36, homeless; warrant (failure to appear for larceny under $1,200), possession of Class B drug.

    • Michael Picardi, 38, homeless; warrant (failure to appear for possession of Class E drug).

    • Melanie Listro, 38, homeless; warrant (failure to appear for trespassing).

    NASHUA, N.H.

    • Chase Dalton, 27, 20 Highview St., Norwood; disorderly conduct, simple assault.

    • Sean Clancy, 27, 20 Highview St., Norwood; disorderly conduct, obstructing government administration.

    • Angelee Elise Munoz, 22, 873 West Boulevard, Apt. 814, Hartford, Conn.; three counts of simple assault, criminal mischief.

    • Marissa Powell, 35, no fixed address; criminal trespass.

    • Christine Ashford, 56, 13 Shoreline Drive, Hudson, N.H.; driving under influence.

    • Rachel Diggs, 42, 107 Varney St., Apt. 1, Manchester, N.H.; driving under influence, driving motor vehicle after license revocation/suspension.

    • Bridget Wangui, 46, 22 Kessler Farm Drive, Apt. 654, Nashua; disobeying an officer, negligent operation of motor vehicle.

    • Theresa Rodonis, 51, no fixed address; criminal trespass, disorderly conduct.

    • Kevin Coutu, 35, no fixed address; criminal trespass.

    • Crystal Ainslie, 32, 12 Auburn St., Apt. 8, Nashua; disorderly conduct.

    • Tyler Lorman, 35, 46 Summer St., Nashua; nonappearances in court, driving motor vehicle after license revocation/suspension.

    • Jesus Eliot Garcia Arias, 24, 62 Palm St., Apt. 2, Nashua; nonappearances in court.

    • Sabrina Deleon, 41, 29 Temple St., Nashua; theft by unauthorized taking ($0-$1,000), nonappearance in court.

    • Ricky Liu, 50, 13 Alscot Drive, East Lyme, Conn.; theft by unauthorized taking ($1,001-$1,500).

    • Denise Mara Lopes Da Cruz, 32, 77 Merrimack Road, Amherst, N.H.; simple assault.

    • Teresa Pica Maria, 57, 79 Lake St., Apt. D, Nashua; endangering welfare of child, two counts of resisting arrest, two counts of simple assault.

    Staff Report

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  • The Five Minute Read

    PrideStar Trinity EMS donates ambulances to Ukraine

    LOWELL — PrideStar Trinity EMS has donated two ambulances to US Ambulances for Ukraine, an Illinois-based organization dedicated to sending used American ambulances and fire engines to Ukraine. These vehicles are being sent to replace emergency units that have been destroyed during the ongoing Russian invasion.

    Toward the end of November, the ambulances will be trucked to US Ambulances for Ukraine’s storage facility in New Jersey. Once there, they will be stocked with additional medical supplies before being shipped directly to Ukraine and turned over to Ukrainian first responders.

    “As EMS professionals, we understand the critical role these vehicles play in saving lives every day,” said PrideStar Trinity EMS President and CEO David Daly. “When we learned about this initiative, we knew we had to step up and help. Our hope is that these ambulances will provide vital support to the brave emergency responders in Ukraine who continue to serve their communities under unimaginable conditions.”

    This donation will be part of a larger shipment of fire engines and ambulances from the East Coast scheduled to be shipped in November and arrive in late December. To date, US Ambulances for Ukraine has delivered 78 ambulances and 11 fire engines and multiple law enforcement and fire SUVs now operating in Ukraine. These vehicles have been distributed to frontline military units, fire departments, nongovernmental organizations, hospitals, and other Ukrainian entities in urgent need of lifesaving transportation.

    “It is amazing to think that we have hit over 100 vehicles in Ukraine by December, with more already lined up for the next shipment,” said Chris Manson, founder of US Ambulances for Ukraine. “It is because of donors like PrideStar Trinity EMS that we can continue this mission. Their generous contribution of two ambulances will be immediately put to use saving lives in Ukraine.”

    This will be the 20th shipment of used emergency vehicles sent to Ukraine from the United States since the effort began in March 2022.

    Alternative House opens Fresh Start Free Store

    LOWELL — Alternative House recently opened its Fresh Start Free Store, a welcoming and supportive space designed for survivors of domestic violence. The store provides access to essential clothing, personal care items, and food at no cost and is dedicated to empowering individuals as they work toward stability and independence.

    “The Fresh Start Free Store is about more than meeting basic needs,” said Maria Crooker Capone, executive director of Alternative House. “It’s about restoring a sense of control, choice, and community for those who have endured so much. Every detail, from the layout to the way we greet each shopper, was designed with care and compassion.”

    The Fresh Start Free Store operates on a referral-only basis to ensure that every shopper receives personalized support and is connected to ongoing services. Individuals must be referred by a case worker from a partner agency or program, ensuring holistic assistance tailored to their needs and goals.

    The store is open Tuesday through Friday, with shopping by appointment only. Each shopper is paired with a volunteer trained in trauma-informed and survivor-centered approaches who guides them through the store.

    Partner agencies and advocates can submit referrals to the Fresh Start Free Store at alternative-house.org/fresh-start-free-store.

    Staff Report

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  • After 8-year legal battle, Dracut doctor pleads guilty in landmark opioid case

    WOBURN — A case that stretched more than eight years reached its conclusion this week, as retired Dracut physician, Dr. Richard Miron, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges tied to the illegal prescribing of opioids that led to a Lowell patient’s death.

    Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office said Miron, 83, became the first doctor in Massachusetts to be convicted on involuntary manslaughter for prescribing opioids — a conviction that stemmed from the 2016 death of 50-year-old Michelle Craib. He also pleaded guilty to defrauding MassHealth and illegally prescribing medication to patients for no legitimate medical purpose.

    Miron was ultimately sentenced in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on Monday to what amounts to five years of probation, allowing him to avoid prison time.

    Miron’s attorney, Stephen Weymouth, said on Wednesday that he was prepared and confident to go to trial in a case that has faced a series of delays over the years, but after a conversation with his client earlier this month, the main concern became the possibility of serving time behind bars.

    “From the very beginning he said, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, and I want to go to trial,’” Weymouth said about Miron. “But then he said he did not want to go to jail.”

    Weymouth pointed out that Miron was facing 47 charges, and any one of them could have resulted in a jail sentence. He said that prosecutors had previously sought four to five years in a plea deal, and the involuntary manslaughter charge carried a maximum of 20 years.

    “Going to trial would have been a mistake because all it would have taken was one guilty hook and he would have gotten a pretty lengthy sentence, and I just couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t take any chances,” Weymouth said. “If he had gone to trial and lost, who knows what would have happened.”

    Miron was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury in December 2018 following an investigation that began in September 2017 by the AG’s Office, then headed by now-Gov. Maura Healey. Aside from involuntary manslaughter, he was charged with 23 counts of illegally prescribing controlled substances and 23 counts of filing false Medicaid claims.

    From September 2015 to February 2016, the AG’s Office said Miron, a solo practitioner of internal medicine, was the largest provider of high-dose, short-acting oxycodone prescriptions among all MassHealth care providers statewide.

    The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined Craib’s death was caused by acute intoxication from the combined effects of fentanyl, morphine, codeine, and butalbital — all prescribed by Miron. The AG’s Office said Miron was aware that Craib had previously overdosed on opioids he had prescribed, yet he continued to issue large doses to her on multiple occasions leading up to her death.

    Prosecutors also said Miron illegally prescribed opioids to several other at-risk patients for no legitimate medical purpose. The illegal prescriptions Miron issued led pharmacies to unknowingly submit false bills to MassHealth for medication.

    MassHealth terminated Miron from its program in September 2017, and he stopped practicing medicine in November 2018, following an agreement with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.

    In 2023, Miron’s daughter, Linda Miron, penned a 17-page letter to the AG’s Office urging that the case be dropped. She argued that prosecuting her father — who had already relinquished his medical license and lived under pretrial probation since 2018 — was not in the interest of justice.

    “To bring this flawed case to trial does not seem to me to be the best use of the Commonwealth’s resources, and I urge you to drop your prosecution of this case in the interest of justice,” Linda Miron said in the letter. “More broadly, I fear that prosecuting someone who was willing to take on disenfranchised, medically and psychologically complicated patients here in the Commonwealth, when some other physicians refused to take on MassHealth patients, will further discourage other physicians from treating these patients who deserve compassionate care.”

    The case marched on until Monday, when Miron appeared in Middlesex Superior Court before Judge Cathleen Campbell, where it was finally resolved.

    According to the AG’s Office, Miron was sentenced to two and a half years in a house of correction on illegal prescribing, suspended for five years — meaning he will serve the term as probation rather than prison time, unless he violates probation, in which case the sentence could be imposed. He was sentenced to five years of probation on the involuntary manslaughter charge. For Medicaid fraud, Miron was sentenced to six months in a house of correction, suspended for five years.

    As part of his probation, Miron was ordered to pay full restitution to MassHealth and barred from practicing medicine or seeking reinstatement of his license.

    According to Weymouth, Miron was glad to put the case behind him and most of all to avoid prison time. He noted that Miron had already given up his medical career and had no intention of practicing again.

    “I’m glad it’s over,” Weymouth added. “I know he’s glad it’s over.”

    In a press release announcing the case’s conclusion on Tuesday, the AG’s Office said the case reflects their “commitment to addressing the root causes of the opioid crisis and holding companies and individuals accountable for their role in contributing to the nationwide epidemic.”

    Earlier this year, the release states, Campbell helped negotiate a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, which is expected to bring up to $105 million to Massachusetts. To date, the office said they have secured more than $1 billion in opioid-related recoveries, with more than $390 million already received. Those funds are being directed to the state’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund and distributed to cities and towns to support prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery efforts.

    The AG’s Office added in the release that valuable assistance with the investigation into Miron’s case was provided by the Lowell Police Department, the State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and MassHealth.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

    Aaron Curtis

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  • Arrest log

    The following arrests were made recently by local police departments. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Massachusetts’ privacy law prevents police from releasing information involving domestic and sexual violence arrests with the goal to protect the alleged victims.

    BEDFORD

    • Paul Gioiosa, 48, Bedford; warrants.

    BILLERICA

    • Jesse Rawson, 29, 12 Belva Road, Billerica; possession of Class B drug.

    • Flith Derival, 35, 158 Concord Road, Billerica; unlicensed operation of motor vehicle.

    • Abudala Luhembo, 36, 2 Hampshire Road, Reading; assault and battery, possession of Class B drug.

    • Megan Whittier, 53, 10 Roosevelt Road, Billerica; no inspection/sticker, operation of motor vehicle with suspended/revoked license.

    LOWELL

    • Priscilla Silva De Carvalho, 34, 11 Summit Ave., Third Floor, Lawrence; warrant (failure to appear for unlicensed operation of motor vehicle).

    • Melissa Rodriguez, 33, 48 Dublin St., Lowell; operating motor vehicle after license suspension.

    • Chivonne Williams, 44, 27 Jackson St., Apt. 312, Lowell; warrant (failure to appear for possession of Class C drug), possession of Class B drug.

    • Philip Haley, 66, 481 Bridge St., Lowell; possession of Class B drug.

    • Patricia Boisvert, 27, 18 Auburn St., Lowell; warrant (failure to appear for receiving stolen motor vehicle).

    • Dennis Foster, 46, homeless; warrant (shoplifting by asportation), possession of Class B drug.

    • Mounthy Vongxay, 35, homeless; warrants (failure to appear for assault and battery, breaking and entering building at nighttime, and larceny under $1,200).

    • Danny Santos, 36, 111 Fort Hill Ave., Lowell; warrants (failure to appear for two counts trespassing, and unlicensed operation of motor vehicle).

    • Rafael Deleon, 58, 58 Oak St., Lowell; warrant (malicious damage to motor vehicle).

    • Matthew Simard, 34, 701 Methuen St., Dracut; possession of Class B drug with intent to distribute, manufacturing/dispensing Class B drug.

    NASHUA, N.H.

    • Matthew Paul Story Jr., 20, 171 Hartt Ave., Manchester, N.H.; criminal trespass.

    • Christiana Braccio, 23, 16 Country Club Drive, Apt. 1, Manchester, N.H.; two counts of theft by unauthorized taking ($0-$1,000).

    • Thomas Abreu, 33, 69B Chandler St., Nashua; simple assault.

    • Calvin Degreenia, 39, 10 Courtland St., Nashua; warrant.

    • Gidean Andrade, 23, 871 Middlesex St., Apt. 7, Lowell; operation of motor vehicle without valid license.

    • Bernard Leard, 83, 12 Tumblebrook Lane, Nashua; failure to procure dog license.

    • Nicole Long, 35, 14 Cross St., Apt. 2, Nashua; operation of motor vehicle without valid license, driving motor vehicle without giving proof, driving motor vehicle after license revocation/suspension.

    • Marques Stanford, 37, no fixed address; operation of motor vehicle without valid license, driving motor vehicle after license revocation/suspension.

    • Sarah Felch, 43, no fixed address; warrant.

    • Eliezer Rosario-Medina, 26, no fixed address; criminal trespass.

    • David Perez, 37, no fixed address; nonappearance in court.

    • Daniel Frost, 30, 3 Dolan St., Apt. 2, Nashua; criminal mischief.

    • Jennifer Elaine Bowen, 52, 199 Manchester St., Manchester, N.H.; nonappearances in court.

    • Nicholas Deveau, 28, 11 Wildwood Road, Tewksbury; disorderly conduct.

    WESTFORD

    • Ismael Paulino Mendoza, 23, Groton Road, Chelmsford; operation of motor vehicle with suspended license, marked lanes violation.

    WILMINGTON

    • Morgan Lynch, 31, 4 Lockwood Road, Wilmington; unlicensed operation of motor vehicle.

    • Magno Moreira, 38, 345 Sutton St., North Andover; operation of motor vehicle with suspended license, speeding.

    Staff Report

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  • Afghan man living in Lowell speaks about ICE detention

    LOWELL — When Ihsanullah Garay was delivering food on Sept. 14, he found himself struggling to find the Starbucks he was being sent to pick up from in Methuen.

    He asked the first people he saw for directions, a man and a woman sitting in a car. The man pointed Garay in the right direction, he told The Sun Monday morning, and Garay thanked him and started walking away. Then, the two people started asking Garay questions about his nationality, and where he was born. Garay is from Afghanistan, arriving in the U.S. in the spring of 2021 on a student visa to get a doctorate in finance.

    “I said, ‘Brother, this is not related to you. You helped me, I said thank you, that’s it,’” Garay said.

    Garay then tried to walk away, but he said the man shouted at him, and continued questioning Garay’s nationality, while Garay maintained that he was in the country legally.

    After more back and forth, Garay said the man finally identified himself as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, and ask him to produce identification, which Garay had in his car, along with an ID badge from a former job.

    Garay was soon placed in handcuffs, beginning a more than monthlong ordeal in ICE custody that brought him to three different ICE facilities in three states before he was released on bond last month. After he arrived back in Lowell, where he has been living with his cousin, Abdul Ahad Storay, Garay took some time to settle and work to get back on track with his ongoing treatment for brain cancer.

    On Monday, he sat down with The Sun in Storay’s computer store in Downtown Lowell to give his firsthand account of his experience.

    Garay said that when he was placed in handcuffs, he tried to explain his situation to the ICE agents, to no avail.

    “I said, ‘What are you doing? I have brain cancer. I have a work permit, I have Social Security, I have everything. What are you doing?’ He said nothing,” said Garay.

    Garay’s first stop was the ICE field office in Burlington, where many of those detained by the agency in Greater Lowell are being brought. Since the spring, allegations of extremely poor conditions inside the building have been made by detainees and their attorneys, as it is designed primarily as an office building, not a long-term detention facility.

    Garay could not speak much to the conditions inside, as he said he was only at the facility for roughly an hour before he was transferred to another facility in Rhode Island. In that short time, though, Garay said he was asked by ICE officials for proof that he has brain cancer, which he was able to show them through his MyChart app when they brought him his phone, which they had confiscated along with his ID and other belongings. When the ICE officials saw the medical documents, Garay said they seemed shocked he was telling the truth.

    While still in Burlington, Garay said he suffered a couple medical episodes which lasted about two minutes, though he was unsure whether these were seizures or something else stemming from his brain cancer.

    Garay spent about 28 days in the facility in Rhode Island, and at one point he said similar medical episodes would occur on a near nightly basis, bringing him to the point of needing a wheelchair to move around, but the medical care available at the facility was not sufficient, he said. After he was moved to Georgia, where he was given the Oct. 21 court hearing that resulted in his release, Garay said he experienced more of the same.

    “They have no neurosurgeon, they have no oncologist, they have no neurologist, nothing,” said Garay.

    Through all of this, Garay was missing key appointments in the course of his cancer treatment. He was supposed to start a new medication at a Sept. 24 appointment at Boston Medical Center, but he missed it while in custody and was not able to start the medication on time. Even after reaching out to his doctors, Garay said the medicine did not arrive before he was moved to Georgia. In the meantime, he said he was prescribed Keppra, an anti-seizure medication he was supposed to take in the morning and evening, but it was only ever brought to him for the night dose while he was in Rhode Island.

    In Georgia, Garay said he saw a slight improvement to that end, as they gave him both daily doses of the anti-seizure medication, though at that facility he still lacked the medical care he needed.

    After he was released on bond, the police brought Garay to the airport, where he was denied boarding because his identification had been taken by ICE in Massachusetts, despite reassurance from the police and ICE he would be allowed on the plane.

    After Storay called local police to help his cousin, Garay was brought to Jacksonville, Florida, where he got on a bus for the multi-day journey back north to Lowell.

    Now home, Garay is doing much better. He is able to walk around without the need for a wheelchair, and his cancer treatment is moving back on track after he met with his doctors at the end of October. His next appointment is an MRI at Boston Medical Center later this month, and he has multiple other appointments scheduled with his doctors before the end of the year.

    Still, his ICE ordeal continues with a court hearing on Dec. 11 in Georgia, but Garay and his attorneys are working on getting it moved up to Massachusetts. He hopes to remain in the U.S., not only because of his ongoing medical treatment, but also because both he and Storay, himself a U.S. citizen, would not be safe returning to Afghanistan, which fell back to Taliban control in 2021, months after Garay left the country.

    As his home country fell, and the U.S. completed the withdrawal of its military forces, Garay applied for asylum that August on top of his student visa, fearing what would happen to him if he were to return.

    “If the U.S. will give me nationality, I will accept it. If not, I will go somewhere else,” said Garay. “When the Taliban suddenly came, I had no choice but to apply for asylum.”

    Garay’s asylum case has been pending ever since. So when Temporary Protected Status was offered to Afghan citizens living in the U.S. the following spring after the Taliban retook control, Garay did not apply for TPS due to his open asylum case. TPS for Afghanistan was terminated in July this year.

    “They (ICE) told me my visa expired in September 2021. I asked them how this was possible when I came in April,” said Garay.

    Even without the Taliban, Garay said he could not return because Afghanistan lacks the medical infrastructure he needs to treat his cancer.

    Now that he is back in Lowell, Garay is looking for other work that is not food delivery.

    In addition to delivering food, Garay said he had been working at Lahey Hospital as a receptionist, but he left that job just a couple weeks before his arrest after they could not give him enough hours.

    Friends of Garay also left Afghanistan after he did, but some went to Canada, he said, and once there they asked him to join them.

    “I said no … I don’t want to be in some country illegally, so that is why I am here,” said Garay.

    Garay credited Storay for getting him back to Lowell.

    “He knows my situation. Nobody can even imagine my situation … He also knows what he has been spending on me. Only he knows,” said Garay.

    An ICE spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Friday. When previously asked about Garay’s case in October, ICE Boston spokesperson James Covington said in a statement Garay is “an illegal alien from Afghanistan,” and claimed he lawfully entered the U.S. in April 2021 with permission to remain until Sept. 7, 2021.

    “However, he violated the terms of his lawful admission when he refused to leave the country. Garay will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings,” Covington said in the Oct. 11 statement.

    In addition to Garay’s current work permit, Storay was also able to show The Sun Garay’s original student visa, which was issued in April 2021 and expired one year later, seven months after Covington claimed it did.

    Peter Currier

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  • Arrest log

    The following arrests were made recently by local police departments. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Massachusetts’ privacy law prevents police from releasing information involving domestic and sexual violence arrests with the goal to protect the alleged victims.

    LOWELL

    • Michael James, 52, homeless; trespassing after notice, warrant (failure to appear for trespassing), possession of Class A drug.

    • Melanie Listro, 38, homeless; warrants (operation of motor vehicle with suspended registration, failure to appear for larceny under $1,200).

    • Kristen Butler, 25, 205 Farrwood Drive, Haverhill; trespassing after notice, warrants (failure to appear for shoplifting, assault and battery on police officer, and trespassing).

    • Christopher Guthrie, 38, 108 Chapel St., Apt. 2, Lowell; trespassing.

    • Chanda Moon, 42, 61 Avenue A, Lowell; trespassing after notice.

    • Victor Mercado, 43, 17 Auburn St., Lowell; warrant (possession of Class A drug, failure to appear for shoplifting by asportation).

    • Daniel Faria, 42, homeless; disturbing peace, trespassing, resisting arrest, warrants (breaking and entering building at nighttime for felony, failure to appear for shoplifting by asportation).

    • Thomas Rocha, 21, 270 Lawrence St., Apt. 5, Lowell; operating motor vehicle after license suspension, unregistered motor vehicle.

    • Antonio Santiago, 45, 32 Willie St., Lowell; warrant (larceny over $1,200), possession of Class A drug.

    • Devante Degree, 33, 305 Nesmith St., Apt. 1, Lowell; operating motor vehicle after license suspension.

    • Brian Bristol, 30, 160 Middlesex St., Boston; operating motor vehicle after license suspension, operating uninsured motor vehicle.

    • Edwin Lavallee, 41, no fixed address; warrant (failure to appear for operation of motor vehicle with suspended license).

    • Vannak Chea, 39, homeless; warrant (failure to appear for malicious damage to motor vehicle).

    • Jacquelyn Sanchez, 40, 50 Chestnut St., Apt. 1, Lowell; warrant (assault and battery).

    • Keishla Soto, 35, 256 Market St., Apt. 120, Lowell; operating motor vehicle after license suspension, operating uninsured motor vehicle, unregistered motor vehicle.

    • Keimy Ortiz, 36, homeless; trespassing after notice, warrant (failure to appear for larceny under $1,200).

    • Christopher Michaud, 52, homeless; trespassing after notice.

    • Somrathony Soeng, 36, 49 Plante Circle, Chicopee; trespassing after notice.

    • Sterling Peltier, 49, 49 Oak St., Apt. A, Lowell; trespassing after notice.

    NASHUA, N.H.

    • Kenneth Gurski, 70, no fixed address; criminal trespass.

    • Christopher Albert Rosati, 33, no fixed address; criminal trespass.

    • Rafael Diaz III, 42, 19 Nichol Lane, Apt. 14, Nashua; simple arrest, resisting arrest/detention.

    • Jeiner Lopera Rendon, 28, 33 Whitney St., Apt. 2, Nashua; indecent exposure/sex act in presence of a child under 16, three counts of sexual assault.

    • Brianna Largy, 29, 12 Baker St., Apt. C, Hudson, N.H.; three counts of simple assault, criminal mischief.

    • Katrina Theodore, 39, no fixed address; out of town warrant.

    • Shanaya Scott, 39, no fixed address; out of town warrant, criminal mischief, resisting arrest/detention.

    • Chad Silver, 42, no fixed address; second-degree assault (domestic violence), criminal threatening against person.

    • Tiffany Campbell, 41, no fixed address; criminal trespass, theft by unauthorized taking ($0-$1,000).

    • Dawin Jeniel Fontanez Rosado, 19, 167 W. Hollis St., Nashua; operation of motor vehicle without valid license.

    • Deborah Conway, 61, 170 Concord St., Apt. 9-5, Nashua; two counts of resisting arrest/detention, misuse of 911 system.

    Staff Report

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  • Woman arrested after alleged violent outburst at Tewksbury Market Basket

    TEWKSBURY — A Tewksbury woman is facing a slew of charges after allegedly unleashing chaos at the Market Basket on Main Street by assaulting employees and police officers before vandalizing her holding cell.

    According to the Tewksbury Police, 54-year-old Kristin Hartman drove drunk to the store on Tuesday, allegedly shoving staff, ramming a shopping cart into an employee, and hitting and kicking officers during her arrest. Once in custody, police said Hartman intentionally vomited on the cell floor and attempted to clog the toilet using her prison-issued shoes and a roll of toilet paper.

    Hartman was arraigned on Wednesday in Lowell District Court before Judge John Coffey on two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, operating under the influence of alcohol, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — identified as a shod foot and a shopping cart — vandalizing property, and assault and battery.

    Hartman was released on her own recognizance with the condition she stay away from the Tewksbury Market Basket, have no contact with the victims in the case, and abstain from alcohol.

    According to court documents, Hartman has not been assigned an attorney. A call placed to the phone number listed in court records was answered by a woman who, when asked if she was Hartman, responded by asking who was calling. After The Sun identified itself, the call abruptly ended.

    Police said in an incident report that officers responded to the Market Basket at 1900 Main St. shortly before noon after receiving reports of a woman — later identified as Hartman —  yelling and swearing at staff. While approaching Hartman inside the store, police said they witnessed a 36-year-old Market Basket employee push her to the ground. Hartman got back up and was shouting, drawing the attention of nearby shoppers.

    Officers escorted Hartman outside where she said she had been assaulted by a store employee. Police said in their report that she smelled strongly of alcohol, describing “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her breath while interacting with her in the open air.” They also said they observed her eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and her speech was slurred.

    The 36-year-old Market Basket employee told police that Hartman had hurled derogatory insults at her “for no apparent reason.” Police said the employee added that Hartman “pushed her first and she defended herself and pushed Kristin back.” A witness later corroborated the employee’s account, according to the report, stating that Hartman was yelling in the employee’s face before shoving her.

    A store manager also told police that earlier in the incident, Hartman, who showed several signs of intoxication, had allegedly shoved her shopping cart into another employee in one of the aisles and was yelling at him for no apparent reason.

    Neither employee was injured during the incident.

    During the chaos, police said they learned that Hartman also yelled numerous profanities at an 86-year-old employee.

    While officers were still gathering information inside the store, Hartman’s alleged disturbance continued outside.

    According to the report, she was shouting expletives at police while on the sidewalk, telling one officer, “I hope you die.” Police said Hartman then got into the officer’s face and swung her arm, striking him on the left arm while yelling, “Don’t touch me (expletive),” despite the officer stating he had not made physical contact with her prior to that moment.

    As a result of the alleged assault, police said they instructed Hartman to place her hands behind her back, but she resisted, attempting to pull away as a crowd of onlookers gathered in the busy parking lot. While officers were placing her into a cruiser, Hartman allegedly kicked an officer in the leg with what police described as a hiking boot. During this struggle, police said she also threatened to kill an officer’s family.

    The disruption continued at the police station, where Hartman allegedly caused issues during booking. Police said she “was screaming for no legitimate purpose, was yelling obscenities and required multiple different officers to be present,” according to the police report.

    While in her holding cell, police said that Hartman told an officer, “If you keep me in here, I’m going to puke all over your floor,” followed by, “Enjoy cleaning it up.”

    Police said Hartman placed her prison-issued footwear and a roll of toilet paper into the toilet and attempted to flush the items. She also allegedly induced vomiting by placing her fingers down her throat.

    Officers took photos of the aftermath and noted in their report that the cell was littered with a roll of wet toilet paper on the floor, several empty water bottles, two vomit-soaked blankets, and vomit spread across the floor.

    As part of the investigation, surveillance footage reviewed by police showed Hartman driving to a nearby liquor store shortly before the incident at the grocery store. According to a store manager interviewed by police, she purchased a bottle of Tito’s vodka and returned to her vehicle. Police said the footage captured Hartman “slightly staggering” as she walked to and from the store, before driving to Market Basket.

    Hartman is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on Nov. 21.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

    Aaron Curtis

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  • Arrest log

    The following arrests were made recently by local police departments. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Massachusetts’ privacy law prevents police from releasing information involving domestic and sexual violence arrests with the goal to protect the alleged victims.

    LOWELL

    • Cyrinus Morris, 56, 17 Equestrian Lane, Lowell; public drinking.

    NASHUA, N.H.

    • Andrew Gordon Cannon, 28, no fixed address; disorderly conduct.

    • Jaden Peter Davies, 21, 254 Greenville Road, Mason, N.H.; two counts of traffic control device violation, disobeying an officer, reckless operation of motor vehicle, lane control violation, two counts of failure to use required turn signal, yellow/solid line violation.

    • Luis Antonio Fernandez Feliciano, 47, 31 Vine St., Nashua; violation of protective order, theft of services ($0-$1,000), two counts of stalking.

    • Jennifer Smith, 41, no fixed address; stalking.

    • Jacob Kenney, 33, no fixed address; theft by unauthorized taking ($0-$1,000).

    • Paul Nolin, 69, 12 Hunters Lane, Nashua; theft by deception ($0-$1,000).

    • Hannah Michelle Britton, 33, no fixed address; disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, resisting arrest/detention.

    • John Scott Thomas Jr., 32, 133 Ash St., Nashua; disorderly conduct.

    • Inmer Carrillo-Flores, 27, 31 Salvail Court, Apt. 203, Nashua; driving motor vehicle after license revocation/suspension.

    • Kathleen Elizabeth Carroll, 30, 14 Auburn St., Apt. E, Nashua; nonappearance in court.

    • Michael Lavoie, 56, no fixed address; disorderly conduct, criminal trespass.

    • Anthony Watson, 43, 202 Webster St., Apt. B, Hudson, N.H.; disorderly conduct, traffic control device violation, simple assault.

    • Johnny Rivera-Montalvo, 51, 273 Main St., Spencer; two counts of simple assault, three counts of criminal mischief, warrant.

    • Denis Velez, 44, no fixed address; theft by unauthorized taking ($0-$1,000).

    • Faith Stanley, 23, 6 Autumn Leaf Drive, Apt. 13, Nashua; two counts of simple assault.

    • Nathaniel Weddle, 36, no fixed address; warrant.

    • Warren Arthur Curtis III, 24, Manchester, N.H.; driving under influence.

    • Dagoberto Vasquez Bamaca, 20, 11 Lock St., Nashua; transporting alcohol or marijuana by minor, operation of motor vehicle without valid license.

    • Alexandria Iannotti, 28, no fixed address; nonappearance in court.

    • Tyler Downs, 31, 29 Cheyenne Drive, Nashua; simple assault.

    • Matthew Dozibrin, 52, 2 Quincy St., Nashua; warrant.

    • Michael William Bedard, 39, 5 Shedds Ave., Nashua; six counts of simple assault.

    • Rasmei Ung-Cora Flores, 45, 13 South St., Nashua; driving under influence.

    • Matthew Brian Young, 33, 10 Winchester St., Nashua; out of town warrant, disobeying an officer, three counts of lane control device, three counts of failure to use required turn signal, two counts of reckless operation of motor vehicle, four counts of traffic control device violation.

    • Luis Carlos Pacheco, 37, no fixed address; driving motor vehicle after license revocation/suspension, suspension of vehicle registration.

    WILMINGTON

    • Giancarlo Danao Ybanez, 38, 165 Pleasant St., Apt. 101, Cambridge; uninsured motor vehicle, unregistered motor vehicle.

    • Carlos Mendez, 33, 463 Eastern Ave., Apt. 3C, Lynn; unlicensed operation of motor vehicle, failure to stop/yield, no or expired inspection/sticker.

    • Thomas Doyle IV, 40, 59 North St., Wilmington; malicious destruction of property (less than $1,200), threatening to commit crime.

    • Liam Patrick O’Brien, 41, 1037 Main St., Apt. 1, Woburn; operation under influence of alcohol, possession of open container of alcohol in motor vehicle.

    • Eneias Silva, 50, 20 Locust St., Apt. 102, Medford; speeding in violation of special regulation, operation of motor vehicle with suspended license.

    Staff Report

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  • UMass Lowell ranked state’s top value school by U.S. News

    LOWELL — U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 national rankings of top colleges and universities again this year give high marks to UMass Lowell for the education and economic value it provides to students.

    The media outlet, best known for consumer advice and news analysis, places UMass Lowell at No. 11 in Massachusetts for its “Best Colleges” ranking of higher-educational institutions defined as national universities. Such institutions offer a full range of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs and produce groundbreaking research.

    U.S. News also lists UMass Lowell as the No. 1 “best value school” in the Bay State and No. 92 in the country, up 105 spots from last year.

    “UMass Lowell delivers a world-class education that is accessible and affordable while helping students succeed today and throughout their careers. We’re proud to be No. 1 among ‘best value schools’ in Massachusetts and No. 92 in the U.S. — rankings that reflect our strong return on investment and emphasis on career-connected experience,” said UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen.

    The rankings come just months after UMass Lowell was named a Carnegie Research 1 university, a prestigious designation used to identify the nation’s top research institutions.

    In acknowledging the university’s leadership in scholarship and economic value, the rankings also reflect UMass Lowell’s commitment to the region’s economic vitality through the Lowell Innovation Network Corridor. Now underway, the initiative envisions a 1.2-million square-foot mixed-use development on and beyond UMass Lowell’s campus that includes offices and research labs, housing, retail businesses and entertainment destinations. The ecosystem is providing UMass Lowell students with paid career experiences at LINC member organizations.

    For its 2026 assessments, U.S. News & World Report evaluated nearly 1,700 higher-education institutions. To determine UMass Lowell’s place on the Best Colleges list, the media outlet used 17 key measures of academic quality including student retention and graduation rates, financial resources provided per student, faculty to student ratio, number of full-time faculty and amount of published research.

    To determine the “best value” ranking, the outlet additionally examined the 2024-2025 net cost of attendance for an out-of-state student who received the average level of need-based scholarship or grant aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included, as U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically, according to the media outlet.

    Submitted article

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