Nov 5th, 2008 by Paul Leighton
Veterans agent Jerry Guilebbe sends along word that the annual Veterans Day ceremony will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Veterans Memorial at Odell Park, across from the train depot.
Nov 4th, 2008 by Paul Leighton
These are sketches of how Chianti’s Restaurant (top) and Todd’s Sporting Goods would look like after undergoing storefront improvements sponsored by the city and Beverly Main Streets.
Nov 4th, 2008 by Paul Leighton
A reminder when you got to vote today that Beverly Bootstraps has set up food collection bins at each polling location and is asking for donations. Bootstraps says there’s been an “alarming rise” in the number of visits to its food pantry.
“We hope that people will bring non-perishable, in-date foods such as peanut butter, tuna fish, cereal, pasta, tomato sauce, baked beans or rice. We ask that people bring foods that are not in glass containers,” Bootstraps Executive Director Sue Gabriel said in a press release. “Other items we need are diapers, formula and toiletries. We thank people in advance for helping their neighbors with a donated item.”
Nov 4th, 2008 by Paul Leighton
Peter Souris of Beverly went to a hockey game and won basketball tickets. Souris (left) won two tickets to the Boston Celtics’ Dec. 1 game against the Orlando Magic in a drawing held during the Oct. 24 University of Massachusetts Lowell vs. Providence College hockey game at Tsongas Arena in Lowell. Souris is being congratulated by Robert Sheridan, President and CEO of The Savings Bank Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts (SBLI), which provided the tickets.
Nov 3rd, 2008 by Paul Leighton
Beverly Hospital CEO Stephen Laverty is scheduled to speak tonight to the City Council. Laverty’s appearance is part of a regular effort to update local officials on “the positive things” at Northeast Health System and is not related to some of the recent controversies at the hospital, said Chip Payson, a hospital vice president. Payson said Laverty has also spoken before the city council in Gloucester and selectmen in Rockport.
In case you haven’t been keeping track, the controversies at the hospital include a former hospital executive’s arrest and the nurses union’s no-confidence vote in Laverty.
Oct 27th, 2008 by Paul Leighton
North Shore Democrats rallied for Barak Obama and other Democratic candidates on Sunday outside the local Democratic headquarters on Cabot Street. More than 200 people took part in an afternoon activities, according to local Democrats. Roger Fisk, who heads the Obama campaign in Massachusetts, told volunteers that more than 46,000 new voters have registered in Massachusetts, double the number of 2004.
The day also included a meeting of “Environmentalists for Obama” at the GAR Hall, as well as volunteers making phone calls and sending postcards to voters in New Hampshire.
Oct 27th, 2008 by Paul Leighton
The City Council will still meet as scheduled tonight at 6 at City Hall, but it has again postponed voting on the high school project. City Council President Tim Flaherty said this morning that the city is still waiting for a second vote of the Massachusetts School Building Authority board of directors to confirm that the state will pay 56.42 percent of $81.5 million. The MSBA board capped the project cost at $75 million on Sept. 29, but Mayor Scanlon has said that was a mistake and the board will raise the cap to $81.5 million.
No new date has been set for the City Council’s vote, Flaherty said. He said the council will still meet tonight because Scanlon has information on the bidding process for the project. Today is the deadline for when the city is supposed to sign a contract with the low bidder, but the state Attorney General’s Office is looking into several protests by contractors about their competitors’ qualifications.
Oct 27th, 2008 by Paul Leighton
There was a great turnout of almost 100 runners for yesterday’s Heads-Up 5k Road Race at Lynch Park. The race was organized by Beverly High seniors Courtney Chalifour, Caitlin Amatucci and Meghan Chatellier to raise money for Heads-Up, the organization run by Tom Grant that pays Beverly sports team to perform community service rather than raising money by canning. Check out the race results at coolrunnings.com.
Oct 23rd, 2008 by Paul Leighton
While Army Spc. Stephen Fortunato’s body returned home to Beverly yesterday, a similar scene played out in Center, Texas. Spc. Cory Bertrand, who died along with Fortunato and Sgt. Preston Medley of Florida in the explosion in Afghanistan, was also returned home. KTRE.com has a video of the ceremony.
Oct 21st, 2008 by Paul Leighton
The City Council last night approved spending $1.5 million on improvements at the city-owned Beverly Golf and Tennis Club, as well as the waterfront parking changes designed to require fewer parking spaces for the proposed Black Cow restaurant. Here’s the background on those two issues here and here.
Paul Leighton was born in Beverly, grew up in Beverly, lives in Beverly and covers Beverly for The Salem News. He needs to get out of Beverly more, but in the meantime he promises to keep readers up-to-date on what's going on around the city. (more)