METHUEN — Residents cheered as the Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously last night to deny T-Mobile’s request to build a 110-foot cell phone tower on Maplewood Avenue.

Dozens of residents crammed into City Hall to speak against T-Mobile’s request for a variance to build the tower at 24 Maplewood Ave., on land owned by Lorraine and Albert Gervais of Lawrence.

“Such a tower would loom over our neighborhood,” said Ellen Paine of 20 Maplewood Ave. Paine said the tower would be 65 feet from her property line.

If the tower were to fall, “it puts us well within it’s fall zone,” she said.
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By J.J. Huggins

METHUEN — If people want to fight for money for their favorite school program, Mayor William Manzi said they should do it now.

The state gave Methuen $37.4 million in Chapter 70 education aid this fiscal year, and lawmakers are proposing to reduce that figure by 4 percent for the fiscal year that starts July 1, according to Manzi. That would be a reduction of $1.5 million.

“There are going to be Draconian cuts imposed,” Manzi said at last night’s School Committee meeting.

Students and parents packed School Committee meetings last June — weeks before officials voted on the budget — to urge them not to make cuts to the school band program. Administrators had planned to leave some music teacher positions unfilled because of financial restrictions, but they eventually nixed that idea.

“Nobody wanted anything cut,” recalled School Committee member Barbara Grondine. “There’s just so much money to go around.”
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Flood warning issued for the region
Area rivers expected to reach flood stage by late Wednesday, early Thursday
By Bill Kirk

BOSTON — Another 2-3 inches of rain on top of last week’s record-breaking deluge are predicted to push the Spicket, Shawsheen and Merrimack rivers up to and over flood stage, once again threatening low-lying areas in Lawrence, Andover and Methuen.

Forecasters say as much as three inches of rain are expected to fall in some areas of the state today and tomorrow, just a week after up to 10 inches fell in some regions, flooding entire neighborhoods, forcing road closures and raising rivers close to flood levels.

The heavy downpours started early today, causing water to pool on major roadways.

The National Weather service has issued a flood warning for Essex County and southern New Hampshire

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METHUEN, Mass. — Even though the rain is winding down, the run-off from the storm will continue to pour into already swollen rivers.

Many rivers across the region, including the Spicket River in Methuen, aren’t expected to crest until Wednesday night or Thursday morning, making for a worry-filled day for people already on edge.

The latest rain storm came as residents were beginning to rebuild their homes and their lives after the devastating rains 11 days ago.

In Quincy, crews got ahead of the weather this time, placing pumps in strategic spots to keep the rising groundwater under control.

“Cause what you had was water…and then it creeped its way up,” said a Quincy resident.

Homeowners are counting on some pumps to keep basements dry, unlike last week when many of them looked like unwanted swimming pools.
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MeTHUEN — A bank robber pulled off a brazen, midday holdup of Methuen Co-operative Bank at 243 Broadway yesterday. Despite immediate containment of the area by police, a search by a K-9 patrol, a good description and digital image, the man got away.

Lt. Michael Wnek, commander of the Methuen criminal investigation division, said a 911 call came in to police from the bank at 11:48 a.m. reporting that a man had just showed a handwritten note to a teller saying he had a gun and wanted money.

He was given an undetermined amount of cash, fled out the back of the building, and ran up Park Street, according to video camera footage taken at the bank. Police quickly surrounded the area and searched the neighborhood on foot and with a K-9 patrol, Wnek said.

Officer Christine Nicolosi led the department’s German shepherd, Reiko, around the neighborhood, but he lost the scent near First Baptist Church. Nicolosi was accompanied by Officer Walter Fleming, who was carrying a patrol rifle.

The man was described as being in his 20s, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a husky build and weighing about 200 pounds. Wnek said the man had a reddish-blond, scruffy beard and mustache and was wearing a black jacket, blue jeans, white sneakers and a white, baseball-style cap with no logo
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from the Eagle Tribune February 27, 2010
Cresting Merrimack River poses flood threat

After the wind died down, there was a new threat to watch for in the Merrimack Valley — flooding. Almost 3 inches of rain fell with Thursday’s storm in the Merrimack Valley, forcing the Spicket River in Methuen and Lawrence and the Shawsheen in Andover to top their crests, at 8.5 feet and 34 feet, respectively.

The Merrimack River was expected to hit a height of 15 feet in Haverhill between 9 a.m. and noon today, according to the National Weather Service. In Lowell, the river was expected to crest by noon at 51.6 feet. The Valley and Southern New Hampshire would have been buried in snow this week had the temperatures dipped below freezing, according to weather officials.

“Had it been cold enough for snow, you would have received between six and eight inches per every inch of rainfall,” said meteorologist Rebecca Gould at the Weather Service Bureau in Taunton. “You would have received well over a foot had it snowed,” she said, referring to Thursday’s torrential rains.

Based on her calculations, the 5 inches of rainfall could have dumped up 40 inches of snow over the week — more than 3 feet of wet, slushy snow. And the storm still has a few more punches to throw.

Rain and occasional snow flurries are forecast for today and tomorrow, but may not amount to more than an inch of snow. High temperatures should reach 38 degrees today, with a low of around 30 tonight. Tomorrow, a high of 45 degrees is expected during the day with a low of around 29 at night. On Monday, an ocean storm could mean more snow for the region. Area communities were bracing themselves for potential flooding yesterday in the aftermath of Thursday’s storm.

In Methuen, a park bench behind the Espaillat Mills was already partially submerged by the Spicket River when Mayor William Manzi called city Emergency Management Director John Santoro on his cell phone yesterday morning.

“We want to be ready and work with emergency management to make sure we get all the aid and assistance we can,” he said. Manzi toured flooding trouble spots in the city, including sections of Lowell Street on Route 110, where Jackson’s Restaurant was left without power and remained closed for breakfast and lunch.

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DOT Commissioner George Campbell is moving ahead with the plan — despite heavy opposition from businesses, politicians and commuters in I-93 corridor towns, who object to the cost and in-town congestion they say a toll would generate.

A toll would raise an estimated $46 million a year, money that would go toward the $260 million shortfall to complete the $780 million I-93 widening, as well as pay the highway’s $11 million annual operating cost, and projected bonding expensesfor the project, Campbell said.

He said the widening is critical for travelers’ safety, and a toll is a fair and sustainable way to widen and maintain the now congested 19.8-mile corridor between Salem and Manchester.

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• Mayor William Manzi’s Inaugural Address 15:00
See the complete 2010 Inaugural Address from Mayor William Manzi.

• Methuen Inaugural Ceremony 2010 2:30
A look inside Methuen’s Inaugural Ceremony.

• Federal Funding for Methuen Rotary 2:30
Congresswoman Niki Tsongas delivers federal funding to jump-start the 110/113 Rotary Plan.

• VFW Patiot Pen 3:00
Methuen middle-school students share writings about military service at the VFW.

• 2009 in Review 7:00
We take a look back at some of the biggest stories we’ve covered on Methuen Now throughout 2009!

• What’s Ahead with Linda Dean Campbell – Part 1 4:00
A look at the upcoming legislative year on Beacon Hill with State Representative Linda Dean Campbell. Part 1 of 2.

• What’s Ahead with Linda Dean Campbell – Part 2 4:00
A look at the upcoming legislative year on Beacon Hill with State Representative Linda Dean Campbell. Part 2 of 2.

METHUEN — Popular Methuen High School guidance counselor Gary Dionne died suddenly last night, school officials said today. “Nobody knows for sure at this point what the cause of death was,” said Superintendent Jeanne Whitten. “There are a lot of assumptions, but I haven’t been told definitively.” Whitten said the entire school district is devastated.

Dionne, a Derry, N.H. resident, was in his early 60s and worked at Methuen High for his entire career. He was a special education guidance counselor, working with at-risk students, Whitten said. “He has done great work with so many kids,” Whitten said.

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related links
from the Eagle Tribune, November 25, 2009
Methuen Mourns Death of Guidance Counselor

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