The Boston Globe - 13.08.2019

B2 Metro The Boston Globe TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2019

By Alyssa Lukpat

GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

S

tate officials want to study the health of the polluted Merrimack

River and come up with a plan to clean it up.

The Merrimack, which flows from Franklin, N.H., to Newbury-

port, is polluted with millions of gallons of untreated sewage.

About 500,000 people in Massachusetts get their drinking water

from the river, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

A bill, co-sponsored by state Senator Diana DiZoglio would create a

Merrimack River District Commission to tackle the problem. DiZoglio, a

Methuen Democrat, said officials owe it to residents to act.

“We have families who are going out, especially during summer months,

to enjoy the Merrimack River,” DiZoglio said. “We need to make sure they

are protected and aware of sewage running into the river. They do not

know before they go into [the] water, and that’s really unacceptable.”

The river has been dirtied by combined sewer overflows for years, DiZo-

glio said. During heavy rainstorms, sewers overflow with rainwater and

flow into the Merrimack.

The committee would have one year, beginning in January 2020, to

make recommendations to clean the river. The 15-person panel, which

would include state officials and environmentalists, would meet about once

a month. The bill would also establish an advisory panel of local officials.

“We are going to have discussions with all local stakeholders, all the way

from New Hampshire to Newburyport,” DiZoglio said. “The goal is to high-

light the overall impact of the Merrimack River on our region and the vital-

ity and economic sustainability of our region.”

The Massachusetts Senate passed the bill recently. It will be made law if

approved by Governor Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts House. The

governor allocated $50,000 to fund the commission, said Nicholas Panga-

kis, a legislative aide and policy adviser in DiZoglio’s office.

Five cities get their drinking water from the river: Lowell, Methuen, An-

dover, Tewksbury, and Lawrence, according to the EPA. Methuen exten-

sively purifies its water because of the pollution, Mayor James P. Jajuga

said.

Jajuga said the commission could help give consumers peace of mind.

“It’s a quality of life issue that I think would have a beneficial impact on

not only Methuen, but the entire region,” he said.

Alyssa Lukpat can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on

Twitter @AlyssaLukpat.

MoveontocleanupMerrimackRiver

JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF/FILE/

State officials want to study the Merrimack River, from which the EPA says 500,00 people get their drinking water.

AROUND THE REGION

PORTLAND, MAINE

Blueberry industry

braces for low harvest

Maine’s wild blueberry industry could be looking

at another difficult summer, as the year’s total

crop is projected to remain much smaller than

just a few years ago. Maine is America’s sole com-

mercial producer of the wild berries, which are

smaller than the more ubiquitous cultivated

blueberries often seen in grocery stores. Maine’s

crop exceeded 100 million pounds every year

from 2014 to 2016 before plummeting to 50.

million pounds last year. A cold winter that led to

‘‘a substantial amount’’ of winter kill followed by

a wet and cold spring is likely to blame, said hor-

ticulturist David Yarborough, emeritus wild

blueberry specialist with University of Maine. He

said the total harvest might be about the same as

last year. ‘‘We have had good growing conditions

this summer but because of the winter injury the

crop in Maine is estimated to be similar to last

year, so it may only be about 50 million pounds,’’

Yarborough said. A ‘‘devastating frost’’ also hin-

dered last year’s crop, Yarborough said. The

provinces of Atlantic Canada also harvest wild

blueberries, and all were down substantially last

year except for Quebec. The weak Canadian dol-

lar has put Maine’s blueberries at a trade disad-

vantage with the Canadian product. (AP)

WILMINGTON, VT.

Nonprofit dissolves;

assets go to trail system

A Vermont nonprofit created in response to

Tropical Storm Irene is dissolving and donating

its funds for local trail upgrades. The Wilming-

ton Selectboard voted on Tuesday to accept more

than $176,000 of remaining assets from the

Wilmington Fund to be used for renovations of

the Valley Trail system. The Brattleboro Reform-

er reports the money is meant to be used to en-

hance, upgrade and build the trail system with

‘‘family friendly’’ biking and hiking. The desig-

nated area spans about 5.6 miles between Wilm-

ington and Dover. Town Manager Scott Tucker

says the board’s next step is to plan the design for

the trail system. (AP)

NEW HAVEN

Rally to push for status

of sanctuary city

Immigration advocacy groups are planning a ral-

ly with members of the New Haven Board of Al-

ders in hopes of passing a new ordinance to

make New Haven a sanctuary city. Unidad Lati-

na en Accion, New Haven Rising and others will

hold the event outside City Hall on Wednesday.

They hope to expand on a decade-old general or-

der related to immigration enforcement for po-

lice to ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Arrest’’ to al-

so include city employees. So far, 29 New Haven

community groups have pledged support and or-

ganizers have met with 23 aldermen to enlist

their backing for the ordinance. Mayor Toni

Harp has met with organizers and said she wants

to work with them, but has not confirmed if she

will attend the late afternoon rally. (AP)

CONCORD, N.H.

Law clarifies charitable

unit’s role in mergers

Mergers involving New Hampshire health care

providers will soon be under greater scrutiny. A

new law that takes effect in January gives the

Charitable Trusts Unit at the attorney general’s

office more time to review proposed mergers and

gives the director specific authority to look at

how they will affect access to quality and afford-

able care. It also requires more than one public

hearing on such proposals. The Valley News re-

ports that lawmakers wanted to clarify the unit

director’s role after the parent organizations of

two hospitals in southern New Hampshire ini-

tially objected to answering questions about a

merger that led to SolutionHealth last year. (AP)

POLICE BLOTTER

RMAN FACES CHILD RAPE CHARGESThe co-

founder of a Boston youth baseball organization

who was deported to the Dominican Republic in

2014 has been returned to Massachusetts to face

child rape charges, Suffolk District Attorney Ra-

chael Rollins’s office said. Rollins’s office in a

statement identified the defendant as Jose Orte-

ga, 48, formerly of Roslindale. Ortega’s lawyer

didn’t immediately return a call seeking com-

ment. On Friday, FBI agents brought Ortega back

to Boston after his extradition from his home

country was approved, Rollins’s office said. Orte-

ga was held Monday on $100,000 bail during a

hearing in Suffolk Superior Court, where he’s

charged with three counts of rape of a child un-

der 16, two counts of indecent assault and bat-

tery on a child under 14, and one count each of

open and gross lewdness and providing obscene

material to a minor, according to prosecutors.

R$1M BAIL FOR ROXBURY MANARoxburyman

was held on $1 million bail Monday for his al-

leged role in the fatal shooting of a 74-year-old

woman in Mattapan in April, prosecutors said.

The bail was set in Dorchester Municipal Court

for Dane Henry, 23, who was arraigned on charg-

es including manslaughter, unlawful possession

of a firearm, and assault and battery by means of

a dangerous weapon. A not guilty plea was en-

tered on his behalf. His lawyer didn’t immediate-

ly return a call seeking comment. Boston police

arrested Henry on Friday. The charges stem from

the killing of Eleanor Maloney, who was struck

by gunfire as she sat on the porch of her Matta-

pan Street home on April 6 when a shootout

erupted on her block. Maloney’s grandson, An-

thony Davis, 37, was charged previously in con-

nection with the case.

RDOUBLE DRUNK-DRIVING CHARGEAn Epping,

N.H. man has been charged with driving drunk

twice within a few hours. New Hampshire state

police say they got a call about a car being driven

erratically around 11:45 p.m. Sunday in Brent-

wood. Troopers stopped the car on Route 101

and charged 36-year-old Kenny Nguyen with

driving while intoxicated. Shortly after Nguyen

was released to his spouse around 3 a.m. Sunday,

police say he was spotted driving into a gas sta-

tion parking lot in Epping. He was arrested

again, accused of driving while intoxicated and

breaching bail conditions. Nguyen was being

held at the Rockingham County jail. There was

no information available Monday about whether

he is represented by an attorney. (AP)

RMAN CHARGED WITH PUNCHING BUS DRIVER

A Mattapan man is facing charges for allegedly

punching an MBTA bus driver about a dozen

times, the MBTA police said Monday. Garcia

Lewis, 43, attacked the driver on a Silver Line

bus late Friday night in the area of the Tufts

Medical Center stop, MBTA Transit Police said.

“A male passenger on board the bus became up-

set when the operator did not stop the bus after

he hit the stop button,” police said. Lewis alleg-

edly pummeled the driver, police said. “The oper-

ator attempted to explain he can not stop the bus

where ... he wanted and the male, with a closed

fist, proceeded to assault the victim in his face,

striking him 10 to 12 times.” The driver was

treated for facial injuries.

GET SMART

By Felice Belman
GLOBE STAFF
If you’ve got a free afternoon or this eve-
ning this week — or are looking for an excuse
to play hooky from work — the New Hamp-
shire presidential primary offers a nearby op-
portunity to get out of the city and see some
candidates up close. Here is a sampling of
candidate appearances over the next several
days. Some of these events require RSVPs;
check with the campaigns for details.
Tuesday: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
will host a “Breakfast with Bernie” town hall
at 10 a.m. at the White Mountain Chalet, Ber-
lin. He will hold an ice cream social at 1 p.m.
at the Littleton Opera House, Littleton.
Wednesday: Massachusetts Senator Eliza-
beth Warren will hold a town hall meeting at
1 p.m. at the Toad Hill Farm, Franconia.
Thursday: President Trump will hold a 7
p.m. rally at the SNHU Arena, 555 Elm St.,
Manchester.
Friday: Businessman Andrew Yang will
participate in an ACLU civil liberties forum at
4 p.m. at the Warren B. Rudman Center at the
UNH School of Law, 2 White St., Concord.
And he’ll attend a meet-and-greet event at
6:30 at the Plaistow Public Library, 85 Main
St., Plaistow.
Friday: Former Maryland congressman
John Delaney will hold a meet-and-greet
event at 6 p.m., Crackskull’s Coffee & Books,
86 Main St., Newmarket.
Friday: Montana Governor Steve Bullock
willappearatahousepartyat6: 30 p.m., 15
Nature Lane, Rochester.
Saturday: New Jersey Senator Cory Booker
will appear at the Hampton Democrats Picnic
at noon, 39 Mill Road, Hampton.
Saturday: Montana Governor Steve Bull-
ock will be at a house party at 11 a.m. at the
home of former state Senate president Sylvia
Larsen, 23 Kensington Road, Concord.
Saturday: Former Maryland congressman
John Delaney will be at a Weare Democrats
cookout at 1 p.m. at the Moody Pond Market-
place, 3 George Moody Road, Weare. At 3
p.m., he’ll be at a meet-and-greet event at the
West Street Ward House, 41 West St., Con-
cord. At 6 p.m., he’ll be at another meet-and-
greet event at the Upper Valley Senior Center,
10 Campbell St., Lebanon.
Saturday: Yang will hold a Nashua can-
vassing kick-off event at 10 a.m., 115 Main St
Suite 301, Nashua. He’ll hold a meet-and-
greet event at noon at the Londonderry Dem-
ocrats office, 2 Litchfield Road, Londonderry.
He’ll be at the New Durham Democrats’
Peaches & Politics event at 2 p.m., 51 Miller
Road, New Durham. And he’ll attend a house
party at 6 p.m., 4 Woodland Road, North
Hampton.
Saturday: Former Housing secretary Ju-
lian Castro will attend a housing coffee at 1
p.m., Cross Roads House, 600 Lafayette Road,
Portsmouth. He will hold a meet-and-greet
event at 5 p.m. at 520 Washington Road, Rye.

Felice Belman can be reached at
[email protected]

Candidatesline

upinN.H.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Aug. 13, 1962: Hungry midshipmen at the
Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buz-
zards Bay struck their colors and voted to end
their 72-hour hunger strike. The strikers, who
had protested what they called unfair disci-
pline, promptly sat down for a steak dinner.
The strike started after the upperclassmen
had been restricted to quarters until Labor
Day, with loss of all privileges, because of al-
leged “drastic” hazing of plebes, or first-year
cadets.

The MetroMinute

TIME MACHINE

August 13, 1972: The Globe took stock of
a decade at war in Vietnam. The paper noted
the death of Air Force Staff Sergeant Freder-
ick T. Garside of Plymouth, the first Massachu-
setts man to die in what the Department of
Defense called “the conflict in Southeast Asia.”
And it reported the death in July 1972 of Rob-
ert Townes Jr. of Middleboro by “an artillery
round fired by a friendly force,” according to
the telegram sent to his parents by the mili-
tary. “Between (Staff Sergeant) Garside and
(Specialist) Townes lie the deaths of 1,
Massachusetts men and 44,435 other Ameri-
cans,” the paper wrote. “In the 11 years be-
tween their deaths, the conflict has grown
from an irksome problem in a remote country
involving only a handful of Americans to a war
that, at its peak, saw a 543,000-man force in
Vietnam.

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