Education

Haverhill Mayor Ready to Compromise on How to Pay For New Whittier Tech

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Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett told the Haverhill City Council Tuesday she is now prepared to compromise on the formula for paying for a new Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School so long as it is sited at Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill campus. “To move forward, we may have to give up our advantage,” the mayor said. For a year, officials from the 11 communities that make up the Whittier Tech district have been studying how to fairly divide the cost of a proposed new building to replace the 50-year-old school and its aging sewage treatment plant on Amesbury Line Road. Barrett said she favors the college campus plan because of lower projected costs. To build on the current campus, the school would have to pay for a new fire access road, a new sewer plant and new parking area in addition to the building itself—additional costs Ward 1 Councilor Ralph T. Basiliere estimated to be in the neighborhood of $25 million.

Crime

Haverhill Police Allege Man Hit Another with Iron Pipe, Causing Serious Harm

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A 33-year-old Haverhill man is being held after he allegedly assaulted another man with a pipe Sunday night in front of a café geared to low-income and homeless residents. Diego Javier Gomez, of 67 Washington St., Haverhill, was arrested by Haverhill Police on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily harm. He was ordered held at the Essex House of Correction in Middleton following his arraignment before Judge Susan H. McNeil Monday in Haverhill District Court. According to a police report, Gomez allegedly attacked Pepe Simpson with an iron pipe during an argument Sunday, July 12, around 6:30 p.m., outside Common Ground Café, 194 Winter St., Haverhill. Police were called to the café where they said they found Simpson bleeding profusely from a head wound.

Haverhill

MeVa Transit, Vargas Outline Workplace Innovation Committee to Avert Disputes

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(Additional photograph below.)

State Rep. Andy X. Vargas Monday outlined his idea for a joint management-worker committee to help sort out differences which led to the 10-day MeVa strike. At a press conference at the transit authority’s Haverhill headquarters, Vargas was credited by management with helping the two sides break the logjam which ended the strike shortly after 6 p.m. Friday, July 10. He suggested creating an “innovation” committee to look at working conditions and then offered to serve on it. “The idea of the innovation committee was to make sure that we had some space to have dialogue without commitments and at least start to explore different ideas and have some flexibility to put things on the table and try to deal with the different priorities that sometimes can compete. We want to expand routes, we want to help riders and we also want to make sure drivers have a living wage,” Vargas explained.

Haverhill

DAR Honors Namesake Hero, Haverhill’s Brig. Gen. James Brickett

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(Additional photographs below.)

Members of the Brig. Gen. James Brickett-Old Newbury Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution gathered last Saturday at Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill to honor the American patriot for whom their chapter is named. Under clear, sunny skies Mayor Melinda E. Barrett welcomed the group and said it was important to remember the contributions of city forebears like Brickett. “It’s just a wonderful tribute to be able to recognize him, recognize his history, his story and how his story and Haverhill’s story contributed to the founding of the nation,” Barrett said. After the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the American Creed by William Tyler Page and the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, chapter Regent Sheri Larsen outlined Brickett’s contributions and noted the date chosen to honor him bore special meaning.

Haverhill

Public Meetings This Week: Former Orthodontist Office Could Return to Residential Use

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The public has opportunities to shape policy this week as various Haverhill boards meet. In the interest of transparency in government, WHAV provides this list of upcoming meetings every week on air and online. A former orthodontist office could return to housing in a mostly residential area of the city. Yocairy Santana is asking for zoning relief to convert the former first floor office at 145 Kenoza Ave., Haverhill, into a residential unit. The dental office was used for decades by the late Peter L. Manis, an orthodontist in Haverhill for 46 years.

Haverhill

Haverhill Board Revokes Liquor License of New Lantern Café

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The Haverhill License Commission earlier this month revoked the liquor license of New Lantern Café on Essex Street and ordered bar manager Jonus Rustani to prove all liquor was removed from the premises by last Friday. Commissioners took the severe step after reviewing three recent incidents involving bar patrons at its meeting Friday, July 2. Two incidents involved the alleged overserving of a patron and one involved a patron who suffered an apparent medical emergency. Rustani has the right to appeal the revocation, but he told the board his establishment is for sale and he will also voluntarily relinquish his beverage and entertainment licenses. In explaining her vote, Commission Chairman Elizabeth LaLiberty noted Rustani is already on probation until November 2026, stemming from an incident last fall.

Education

Haverhill Councilors to Hear Weighted Voting, Other Changes to Whittier Tech Pact

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Haverhill city councilors have a chance Tuesday night to weigh in on suggested changes to the compact by and between the 11 communities sending students to Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School. Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett and Salisbury Town Manager Neil J. Harrington plan to discuss a draft agreement forged by Whittier Tech’s Regional Agreement Amendment Committee. Barrett serves as vice chair of the committee made up of chief executives of member communities or designees. The committee was appointed last fall to address how the cost of a new school would be divided. As WHAV previously reported, the committee is proposing to change rules to require communities to give a minimum of two years notice before they may withdraw from the school.

Haverhill

Merrimack Valley Public Bus Strike Ends, Service Resumes Sunday

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This story has been updated to include an additional comment from MeVa Administrator Noah S. Berger. MeVa public buses will be back on the road Sunday. The transit authority and the union representing the 140 striking MeVa Transit drivers and mechanics announced shortly after 6 p.m., Friday, they came to terms on a one-year agreement and the 10-day walkout is over. While the new contract gives workers a 11.8% raise, it pushes off the requirement that some drivers will be required to work Saturdays—the issue that prompted drivers and mechanics to walk out at midnight July 1. Jim Mark, lead negotiator for International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 170, told WHAV he is relieved an end had come after near around-the-clock negotiating and he looks forward to working out remaining issues in a more relaxed climate.