Business Bulletin

U.S. Awards National Grid $49M for Grid Improvements, to Meet Growing Demand

By |

National Grid is receiving about $49 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for a project which will use advanced transmission technologies to help improve grid reliability, increase system efficiency and support growing electricity demand. Officials said, what is called the Dynamic Rating Enhancement Advancements and Modernization, or DREAM, project will improve visibility into transmission line performance, enabling National Grid to make smarter operating and planning decisions and obtain more value from existing infrastructure across the company’s transmission network in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. “The DREAM project will help deliver a more reliable, resilient and affordable electric system for our customers by giving us better information to make smarter operating and planning decisions,” said National Grid Vice President of Engineering and Network Strategy Andrew Schneller, adding, “By getting more value from the infrastructure we already have, we can strengthen the grid while helping keep costs as affordable as possible.”

Subject to negotiations and a final agreement, the award covers a four-year initiative, which would begin next year. The award, part of the Department of Energy’s Speed to Power, or SPARK program, seeks to accelerate use of advanced technologies that can expand grid capacity, improve reliability and reduce customer costs.

Region

Trash Hauler Agrees to Pay $525K to Settle Claims it Left Overflowing Trash

By |

The Massachusetts attorney general’s office said Tuesday it reached a $525,000 settlement agreement with a trash hauler that it said repeatedly failed to empty overflowing trash dumpsters and recycling containers across the Lawrence Public School system, delayed or disregarded residential trash pickups and left yard waste uncollected. State Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s said JRM Hauling and Recycling Services, a subsidiary of Republic Services, failed to honor its waste and recycling contract with Lawrence, leading to uncollected trash that caused unsanitary conditions across the city. Phoenix-based Republic Services purchased JRM Hauling and Recycling Services of Peabody in 2022. The following year, as WHAV reported at the time, the company paid $9 million for a warehouse on 4.8 acres of land at 5 Fondi Road, Haverhill. Campbell’s office said it began investigating Republic in 2022 following public reports of significant disruptions to waste management services in north shore communities after Republic bought JRM Hauling and Recycling Services.

Business Bulletin

PrideStar Trinity EMS’s Communications Center Wins Reaccreditation

By |

PrideStar Trinity EMS’ Communications Center has again earned designation as an Accredited Center of Excellence by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. Originally achieving ACE Accreditation in 2017, PrideStar Trinity EMS became the first emergency medical dispatch center in Massachusetts to receive the designation. Today, it remains one of only two accredited Centers of Excellence in the Commonwealth and joins a group of just 300 accredited communications centers worldwide. “This re-accreditation reflects the professionalism, dedication and unwavering commitment of every member of our Communications Center,” said PrideStar Trinity EMS President & CEO David T. Daly. “Our dispatchers are the first contact our patients encounter.

Community Spotlight

‘Wildlife Out Your Window’ Explores Backyard Visitors Oct. 10

By |

Bradd Timm, nature author and wildlife ecologist, tells the stories of everyone’s backyard visitors when he discusses “Wildlife Out Your Window” during the Haverhill Public Library’s Climate & Community Series. Timm tells the stories and uses photographs and videos from his book, “Wildlife Out Your Window,” to bring common backyard species to life with stories described as fun, memorable, and often surprising. He’ll also provide simple, practical ways people can help wildlife where they live, in the backyard, on the balcony or just through the window view. The free program takes place Saturday, Oct. 10, from 2-3:30 p.m., at Haverhill Public Library, Milhendler Room, 99 Main St., Haverhill.

Business Bulletin

Andover Firm Receives $1.9M Tax Incentive to Create 62 Jobs

By |

An Andover company will receive a $1.9 million state tax incentive in exchange for creating 62 life science jobs. TransMedics Group was one of 38 firms to share Monday in $40 million in tax incentives through the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. The program is intended to support companies that are expanding research, development and manufacturing operations in Massachusetts. Thirty one of the 38 companies receiving awards are expanding outside of Boston and Cambridge and account for 71% of new jobs expected to be created through this round of awards. Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley joined the Center’s Interim CEO Liz Graham and local officials to announce the awards at SMC in Devens.

Community Spotlight

Historic Printing Talk, Demo with Odd Mark Twain Link Comes to Haverhill Oct. 10

By |

Author, journalist and media scholar Jeff Jarvis is coming to Haverhill for a celebration of his new book, “Hot Type: The Magnificent Machine That Gave Birth to Mass Media and Drove Mark Twain Mad.”

In Hot Type, Jarvis tells the story of the Linotype, the groundbreaking typesetting machine that upended more than 400 years of setting type by hand. He also explores the people behind the technology—including Mark Twain, whose fascination with a competing typesetting machine led to one of the most disastrous investments of his life. Historic New England Center and the Museum of Printing plan a day of exploration Saturday, Oct. 10, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. It begins at Historic New England Center, 143 Essex St., Haverhill, with coffee and conversation with Jarvis, followed at 10:30 by a Hot Type lecture, question and answer time and book signing. Books will be available for purchase.

Haverhill

National Grid Plans Open House Wednesday to Detail Line Project Centered in Haverhill

By |

National Grid takes time to meet with residents and answer questions Wednesday night on its plans to refurbish a 32-mile corridor of electric lines stretching from Haverhill’s Ward Hill Substation on Cross Road (National Grid filings say Cross Street) north to the New Hampshire border and south to Tewksbury. According to the utility, the work involves installing new access roads and work pads, replacing 345 kilovolt wood poles with new light duty steel H-frame and monopole structures, replacing 345 kilovolt wood and steel structures with engineered steel monopole structures and installing new optical ground wire to improve reliability and enable troubleshooting between substations. Work is planned in Andover, Dracut, Methuen, Haverhill, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, West Newbury, Merrimack and Amesbury. What National Grid is calling an Asset Condition Refurbishment Project will be discussed during an open house Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 6-7:30 p.m., at Andover Municipal Services Building meeting room, 5 Campanelli Drive, Andover.

Crime

Two Plead Guilty in 2025 Armed Robbery at North Andover Jewelry Store

By |

Two of six people involved in an armed robbery last year at a North Andover jewelry store pleaded guilty Monday in Essex County Superior Court and were sentenced to seven to 12 years in prison. Yire Abreu, 25, of the Bronx and Wilfred Mordan, 23, of Hazelton, Penn., pleaded guilty to armed and masked robbery, five counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm while in the commission of a felony, carrying a firearm without a license, possessing a large-capacity-feeding device and possessing a loaded firearm. As WHAV reported, the robbery took place July 3, 2025, just before 10:30 a.m., at Milos Joyeria, 563 Chickering Road, North Andover. Abreu and Mordan admitted to their role in the robbery, including wearing masks and threatening employees and one customer inside, including, in Abreu’s case, with a firearm in hand. They also admitted to switching vehicles and leading police on a chase on Route 125 in North Andover, continuing on Interstate 495 into Lawrence before being arrested.