Heard in Beverly

‘Bizarre’ exchange between Scanlon, Grimes

Paul Leighton — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:42:49 +0000

Mayor Scanlon came in for some high praise from city councilors last night for his work in securing as much as $47.8 million from the state to help pay for the $81.5 million high school project:
Bill Coughlin: “I don’t know anyone else who could have done it better.”
Maureen Troubetaris: “I commend you for your hard work.”
Kevin Hobin: “You’ve done great work on this.”
But it wasn’t all compliments. Scanlon had a particularly testy exchange with Councilor-at-Large Pat Grimes, who questioned Scanlon on the lack of official confirmation from the Massachusetts School Building Authority about its share of the cost. The authority’s board of directors still has to vote on the $81.5 million figure and isn’t scheduled to meet until November. Scanlon wants the City Council to approve borrowing the money by Oct. 27, the deadline by which the city must award the construction contract or be forced to re-bid the project and risk getting a higher cost.
“You’re asking us to do this without the vote of the (MSBA) board,” Grimes said.
“It’s not our business and I don’t think it’s your business to ask how that board works,” Scanlon said.
When Grimes said she would like to see written confirmation of the MSBA’s commitment before she votes to borrow the money, Scanlon said it was “absolutely bizarre” that Grimes would think that he wouldn’t do just that.
Grimes fought back, saying, “I take offense at you saying it’s bizarre.”
John Burke agreed with Grimes, saying her questioning was legitimate and should not be considered a “personal comment” on Scanlon.
Burke also praised Scanlon for his nearly three-year quest for money from the MSBA. “It was a yeoman’s effort,” Burke said. “You’ve made every single deadline you’ve been asked to meet.”
Scanlon deflected the praise, saying he had plenty of help from his staff as well as the project’s architect and manager.

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Scanlon to meet with MSBA tomorrow

Paul Leighton — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:11:24 +0000

Mayor Scanlon said he’s scheduled to meet with Katherine Craven, the head of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, Friday afternoon to work out the financing of the high school project. The agency’s board of directors said this week the state will pay 56.42 percent of the cost, but only on a total project price of $75 million. Scanlon wants them to raise that cap to $82.8 million, which he says is the true cost of the project. Scanlon said the city can’t afford it unless the MSBA raises the cap, but he expects them to be able to come to an agreement.

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‘The toughest two minutes in sports’

Paul Leighton — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:44:57 +0000

That’s Beverly firefighter Lt. Russ Halloran banging away at something called the “Kaeser Forcible Entry Simulator” during the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge in Elkton, Md., on Sept. 20. Halloran completed the challenge course in 2 minutes and 34 seconds, a nearly 30-second improvement from his time in his last competition in Haverhill back in August. That Haverhill competition marked the first time Beverly firefighters had taken part in the Scott Challenge, which has events around the country.
“It’s really an addicting experience,” said Halloran in a press release from the Fire Department. “It’s definitely the toughest two minutes in sports.”
Halloran made the trip to Maryland with Danvers firefighters Craig Vesey and David Mondi. There’s another race coming up in St. Louis, but Halloran and other Beverly firefighters are planning to take part in future events closer to home.

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A new CVS on Rantoul Street?

Paul Leighton — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:21:52 +0000

One of our friendly anonymous commenters scolded me the other day for not knowing, “when everyone in Beverly knows,” that a new CVS will be taking over the current CVS mall on Rantoul Street. Actually, I reported that possibility back in May on this very blog. I should have repeated that in the story on the closing of Brothers Restaurant.
Anyway, neither the owner of the property, Richard Meguerditchian, nor CVS, through spokesman Mike DeAngelis, will comment.

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Fried chicken coming to your town

Paul Leighton — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:33:48 +0000

New York Fried Chicken is coming soon to the Cabot Place Plaza, according to a sign in the window of the empty storefront. The store is the former home of Todd’s Sporting Goods, which moved down the street, as well as the short-lived Beverly Produce store. The plaza includes Dunkin’ Donuts and Hallmark Cleaners.

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Farms bakers backed Pesky from the start

Paul Leighton — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:41:47 +0000

When they put Johnny Pesky’s No. 6 up on the wall at Fenway Park Friday night, Mr. Red Sox should give at least a little bit of thanks to Joe and Barbara McDonald. That’s Joe and Barbara in the photo above from four years ago, standing inside their Farms Bakery in Beverly Farms with one of their bumper stickers urging the Sox to retire Pesky’s number.
The McDonalds printed 500 of the bumper stickers at their own expense and gave them out to customers. They also gave customers letters to send to the Red Sox asking them to retire No. 6.
The McDonalds closed the bakery two years ago and are now up in Caribou, Maine, still running a bakery. It’s even still called Farms Bakery. I tracked down Joe at his bakery this morning and asked him how he felt about the news that Pesky, after all these years, is going in the Red Sox Hall of Fame.
“Finally,” Joe said. “It’s great.”
McDonald said he got the idea for the Pesky campaign from Steve Leveille, a WBZ Radio talk show host who was pushing for Pesky’s induction.
Asked how much credit he deserves, McDonald said, “I’m sure we nudged them along.”

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Police, firefighters check child safety seats

Paul Leighton — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:04:40 +0000

Fire Chief Rick Pierce (back row, third from left) and Police Chief Mark Ray (fourth from left) were among the firefighters and police officers who teamed up last Saturday on a Child Passenger Safety checkpoint at the Memorial Building. Technicians from both departments installed 24 car seats and educated drivers on the the proper use of the seats and the laws that regulate child passengers in cars.
A police officer may stop a motor vehicle if a child is riding improperly restrained, and a driver can be fined $25 for each improperly restrained child, according to police. A child must be restrained in either a child safety seat or a booster seat that is properly fastened inside of the vehicle. Generally, this is until 8 years old or 57 inches tall.
The event was funded through a grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety.
A 2007 Executive Office of Public Safety and Security survey found only a 69 percent safety belt use rate among front seat occupants of all ages in Massachusetts, far lower than the national use rate of 82 percent.
The Beverly departments will hold other safety events throughout the year. If anyone has a question or would like to schedule an appointment, call the Fire Department at (978) 922-2424 or the Police Department at (978) 922-1212. For more information on child passenger safety, visit www.mass.gov and search child passenger safety or www.nhtsa.gov.

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The return of Omelette Headquarters

Paul Leighton — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:02:35 +0000

Say hello to George Nikolouzos, who opened Omelette Headquarters on Rantoul Street (across from The Pickled Onion) on Monday. And yes, it’s the same Omelette Headquarters that was on Cabot Street from 1994 to 2002.
“Same food, same everything,” George said this morning.
The original Omelette Headquarters was run by George’s in-laws, who are still involved in this one. They also ran an Omelette Headquarters in Wakefield until a few years ago.
George, a 38-year-old Peabody resident, said he’s been in the restaurant business all his life.
The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., and for breakfast only on Sunday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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Look, up in the sky

Paul Leighton — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:59:32 +0000

The skies over Beverly will look something like this over the next three days as three World War II-era airplanes come back to Beverly Airport today, tomorrow and Sunday as part of the Wings of Freedom tour. Thirty-minute rides go for $425 in the B-17 and B-24 and $400 in the B-25.

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Mayor asks for more recycling

Paul Leighton — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:35:52 +0000

Mayor Scanlon says we’re doing OK with our recycling this year, but not as well as last year when the city saved $250,000. The city saves $77 in trash disposal costs for every ton it recycles, he said at Monday night’s City Council meeting.
In response, Ward 3 City Councilor John Burke said people have been discouraged from recycling because the cost savings have not been passed along in the form of a lower trash fee, which remains at $100 for residents.
“People feel it’s not worth it to recycle,” Burke said.
Scanlon responded by saying the city was able to keep the Cove School open in part due to the money saved through increased recycling.
Scanlon said there are about 200 of the large recycling toters still available for residents to buy for $55. The toters have wheels and hold more material than three recycling bins.They can only be used for paper. The toters are available by appointment with the Engineering Department on Thursday evenings. Call (978) 921-6000, ext. 2355.

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