'Hard sell' annoying

Police department has site to behold

Plantings will memorialize those lost on Sept. 11

Boy falls 2 stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

New sergeant earns his stripes: Newell moves up in rank on Southborough Police Department
By Michelle Muellenberg / News Staff Writer
Friday, October 22, 2004

SOUTHBOROUGH -- Officer Ryan Newell, a two-year veteran of the town's police force, added a new accoutrement to his uniform this week -- sergeant stripes.

After interviewing three Southborough officers, selectmen voted unanimously to promote Newell as the department's newest sergeant.

Newell's promotion adds a fourth sergeant to the roster. The addition will allow all shifts to have a sergeant on duty, said Police Chief William Webber.

The other sergeants are Jane Moran, Sean James and Timothy Slatkavitz.

Slatkavitz, also the town's animal control officer, will move to a swing shift, which includes two days and two nights, Webber said.

"Initially, there were five (applications)," Webber said. "Two officers pulled their applications saying that they were interested in what they were doing now."

Besides Newell, officers Scott Henderson and Heath Widdiss applied for post. Both Henderson and Widdis have been full-time officers since 1997, Webber said.

Before coming before the selectmen earlier this week, the three officers interviewed with Webber, Town Administrator Janice Conlin and another sergeant.

Prior to coming to Southborough, Newell served on the Nantucket police force.

"I really feel I am ready for this position," Newell told town officials.

He started as a part-time summer officer while a student at Stonehill College in Easton. The Nantucket department has a full-time staff but hires extra officers during the summer months, the island's busiest season.

While a senior at Stonehill, Newell worked at a Department of Youth Services halfway house in Brockton helping juvenile offenders get an education and a job. After he graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and psychology, Newell began as a full-time officer in Nantucket.

For three years, he served as a school resource officer, truant officer and DARE officer.

Newell said his extensive work with juveniles will help in dealing with the adolescents he may encounter in his midnight to 8 a.m. shift.

"It is very important to work with the kids so they don't fear (police)," he said.

Although the selectmen hire the department's sergeants, selectmen Chairwoman Bonnie Phaneuf said they do not see each candidate's job performance, and would most likely go with Webber's recommendation.

"We do not see them day to day," she said.

Webber recommended Newell, citing his articulation of his written responses during his initial interview.

Newell had his first sergeant shift on Wednesday.

( Michelle Muellenberg can be reached at 508-490-7461 or mmuellen@cnc.com. )
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'Hard sell' annoying
By Claudia Torrens/ Staff Writer
Friday, September 17, 2004

Southborough Police received numerous complaints last week from residents accusing door-to-door solicitors of being rude, aggressive and refusing to leave when asked to.

According to police reports, numerous neighbors from Fairview Drive, Presidential Drive, Sears Road and Wolfpen Lane, called police after having trouble with solicitors trying to sell them magazines.

"Residents accused them of being annoying, rude, persistent," said Chief William H. Webber. "Police officers had to go talk to them and ask them to comply strictly to what their job is."

Webber said there were a total of 12 solicitors in Southborough last week and they all worked for Legacy Sales Inc. There were no arrests made.

"Problems with soliciting come and go...but this company seems to be more pushy in their approach," said Webber.

Guy O'Brien, president of G.O.'s Innovators, an Indiana-based company which Legacy Sales is a subsidiary of, apologized for any inconvenience.

"We provide job opportunities for people who are 18-years-old or older and who may have no previous working experience. We are giving them an opportunity," said O'Brien. "We have sales seminars, and this kind of behaviour is not what we teach to our sales people. Some might need more training."

Lisa Pezzoni, a Presidential Drive resident, said she felt forced to start a subscription of children magazines after a "very aggressive" solicitor knocked her door last weekend.

"He started saying how he had managed to get off the streets and was trying to have a good life. Then he showed us five bullets holes he had on his back," Pezzoni said. "I had five kids with me at the time, I was outside, I was worried about our safety....Who knows?"

Pezzoni signed a subscription of $168 to receive children magazines she had never seen before.

"It was clearly a scam. But that guy made me feel so uncomfortable."

After the solicitor left her home, Pezzoni called her neighbor and told her to not open the door.

A day after, a neighbor told Pezzoni how a solicitor had directly asked her for money after she refused to buy anything.

Another Presidential Drive resident who preferred to not provide her name said she has felt "intimidated" by solicitors several times.

"You feel you cannot get away. And the person starts talking and talking and you can't just leave your driveway," said the neighbor. "We were talking about it with some neighbors the other day. The same happened to them last week."

Town bylaw 133 says no individual or group shall solicit door-to-door. Solicitors don't need a permit from the town to do their job, but they need to register with the police department by providing their names and make, model color and registration of their cars.
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Police department has site to behold
By Michelle Muellenberg / News Staff Writer
Monday, September 20, 2004

SOUTHBOROUGH -- Residents interested in obtaining forms for accident reports and firearms applications or requesting sex offender information do not have to leave the comforts of their home.

Last Tuesday, the Police Department launched its new and modernized Web site.

"We've been working on it for awhile," said Police Chief William Webber.

The department had a site but wanted to bring it up to date and make it more user-friendly, he said.

"We are trying to make it a little more modern and a little more accessible for residents to get the things they may need," Webber said. "The whole idea is to make it easier for people."

The department requested the assistance of Wayne Dion, the person who takes care of the Framingham Police Department's site, Webber said.

"We really liked what he did," he said.

Residents can download several forms from the site as well as keep in tune with the department's news.

"They don't have to come to the station," he said of getting department forms.

The site is also more visually appealing with a photo gallery included in the options.

The department links to other law enforcement sites such as CIA, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security and FBI.

Although the site is up, Webber said the department is working on a few more details. In a few weeks, the department will have its daily log posted on the site, Webber said.

Right now, the department is training someone who will maintain the site daily.

The Web address is the same as the previous Web site, www.southboroughpd.com

( Michelle Muellenberg can be reached at 508-490-7461 or mmuellen@cnc.com. )
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Plantings will memorialize those lost on Sept. 11
By Michelle Muellenberg/ Staff Writer
Friday, September 10, 2004

SOUTHBOROUGH -- Once covered with dying trees, the five acres of state property bordering the Sudbury Reservoir now symbolize the cooperation between state, local and private entities, as well as provide a memorial to those who died in the terrorist attacks three years ago.

An official dedication of the 9-11 Memorial Field will be held next May, however, officials are sponsoring a Community Planting Day of Remembrance at the field on Saturday, Sept. 11. The planting will start at 8 a.m. and the public is invited to bring along gardening tools and watering cans.

Weston Nurseries of Hopkinton has created a landscaping plan which includes a granite memorial with the 201 names of people who died on Sept. 11, 2001 and had ties to Massachusetts, said Joe Kacevich, chairman of the Recreation Facilities Committee. The names include Massachusetts residents, natives and families who lost someone in the terrorist attacks.

The memorial will be put in next spring.

Tomorrow the community will lay the foundation for the memorial by planting shrubs and flowers, Kacevich said. Invitations have gone out to the families who lost someone in the attacks, he said.

"(The ceremony) will be very somber and reflective, especially if family members are there," Kacevich said.

The town decided to name the artificial turf field 9-11 Memorial field immediately after the terrorist attacks.

"It was just going to be Acre Bridge Road field," Kacevich said."Given the fact it is on state property, it just became so obvious to a lot of us...it really should have a state-wide meaning.

"I personally think the 9-11 Memorial Field is a wonderful statement," Kacevich said. "The terrorists attacked our basic freedom, which includes freedom of assembly. Everytime I see a lacross game or soccer game, it reminds me that they didn't succeed."

After years of planning, construction, and numerous donations, the artificial turf sports field is now complete with only a few details, such as granite curbing for the parking lot, remaining, Kacevich said.

Realizing it needed more athletic fields, the town formed the Recreation Facilities Committee in 1993. The site on Acre Bridge Road was one of the top contenders for a new field, however, the land was owned by the Metropolitan District Committee.

Talks began with the state in 1997 and work on the field was set to begin in Aug. 2001. Everything halted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Kacevich said.

"MDC's attention turned to security issues -- securing the reservoir against any terrorist attacks," Kacevich said. "Everything was put off."

In April 2002, the town received permission to go ahead with the field. Originally scheduled to be a natural grass field, plans changed when the town learned it would be restricted in the maintenance of the field, Kacevich said.

Because the land sits next to the reservoir, the MDC had placed restrictions on the maintenance, banning fertilizers and the use of reservoir water to irrigate the field.

Those restrictions, along with the lack of a water main to that, made the town turn to something different, Kacevich said.

Despite a few setbacks, the field is ready for games to begin this fall thanks in large part to donations from local individuals and companies.

From engineering to fencing and grading, all services were donated by local businesses in Marlborough, Southborough and Northborough, Kacevich said.

"This hasn't cost the town anything," he said. "It is just an amazing story of contributions. This is a fantastic example of the cooperation between state government, local government and private corporations."

Selectman Chairwoman Bonnie Phaneuf agreed.

"Any field of this magnitude built mostly by donations and individuals giving of their free time is amazing," she said.

The town would have had to paid about $600,000 just to purchase the land for the field, Kacevich added.

The local Scouts as well as the Southborough Gardeners, have volunteered to help with the planting project, including watering the shrubs so they are well-established for next year's dedication.

The town is also looking for a three-member committee to begin planning for the Memorial Day 2005 dedication. Anyone interested can call the Town House at 508-485-0710.
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