Haverhill

Resident Opinion Drives Design For Haverhill’s Basiliere Bridge Rebuild

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(Additional images below.)

A feeling of civic pride was palpable at last night’s Harbor Place hearing for the new Pfc. Ralph T. Basiliere Bridge. The mostly white-haired attendees who packed the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub seemed pleased. Crescent Yacht Club Commodore Rick LeBlanc said to state officials and their partners from the private sector, “I spent the first half of my career standing where you are,” noting how many fewer residents were present when he went to similar hearings across the country. “You showed up the first meeting and you had this atrocious bridge with three lanes and the people in Haverhill and the people in Bradford said, ‘That’s not what we want.

Education

Haverhill Boy Struck by Alleged Drunk Driver Back in School, Suffers From ‘Facial Scarring,’ Mother Says

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A 9-year-old Haverhill student struck by an allegedly drunk driver returned to school part time and is happy seeing friends again, his mother told WHAV. At the same time, she said he suffers from “facial scarring” and full recovery will take “a long time.”

Pentucket Lake School Principal James Brennan relayed the mother’s words to WHAV over email. WHAV did not receive the family’s blessing to use the student’s name in time for this story’s deadline. As WHAV reported in early January, the boy was airlifted to a Boston hospital after the accident. Forty-four-year-old Tiffany L. Zembower was charged with five driving-related offenses.

Education

Haverhill Schools Explain Disciplinary Methods and Protocols

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With a therapeutic YMCA program for students who have been suspended, spaces for students to go when they experience conflict and internal data on disciplinary measures, Haverhill Public Schools administrators explained how the district approaches discipline to School Committee members last week. The presentation comes in the wake of John Greenleaf Whittier School staff voting no confidence in their principals, which resulted in Principal Matthew Condon being reassigned to the high school. In part, they argued the head administrators had failed to rein in bad behavior. “There has been a lack of consistent and structured response to discipline and enforcement of consequences,” a letter from the Haverhill Education Association reads. Superintendent Margaret Marotta said at last week’s meeting she has been working with the union to develop a standardized approach to discipline across the whole district.

Haverhill

Haverhill Councilors Consider Zoning Changes; Mayor Told Developer to ‘Burn’ 800-Unit Plan

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Paying particular attention to the former site of Haverhill Paperboard, City Councilors are considering changing residential zoning amid concerns about overdevelopment. After Procopio Companies shared a proposal for the 100 S. Kimball St. property, Mayor Melinda E. Barrett said at last week’s meeting, “I think I told them to burn it. It was a little shocking.” She told WHAV the developer planned about 800 units. A spokesperson for Procopio declined to comment.

Haverhill

To Enforce Dog Poop Pickup, Haverhill Councilors Weigh Punitive Measures

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Dog poop downtown was top of mind for Haverhill city councilors last week. Past measures to reign in the downtown doodies—like increased trash cans and doggy bag stations—appear to have been ineffective. Councilors last week called for more punitive enforcement, including steeper fines, mobile surveillance cameras and directing an animal control officer to stake out hotspots. “I think we could find the mad pooper if we had the cameras in the right spot.” McGonagle said. Councilor Shaun P. Toohey grew passionate about someone who left their dog’s number two “all over” the street leading to his and his wife’s businesses.

Haverhill

Conservation Dept. Seeks Further Feedback on Haverhill’s Open Spaces at June 4 Presentation

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Haverhill’s conservation department invites residents to an upcoming presentation on how the city manages its public lands, which will include the opportunity to give feedback. After collecting 850 responses in an online survey, Head Clerk McKayla Arsenault told WHAV they are seeking further input as the department updates Haverhill’s state-mandated Open Space and Recreation Plan, a process that happens every seven years. After a brief presentation, the public can “peruse informational tables and leave comments,” Arsenault wrote in an email. She added she and her colleagues “want to receive real feedback from anyone and everyone.”

The plan is guided by the desires of residents and shapes the city’s approach to spaces under its stewardship, including areas of historical significance, hiking trails, bodies of water and parks, as well as buildings like the library, recreational facilities and the high school pool. Updating the plan means the city can continue receiving state money, which has paid for projects like the playground at Plug Pond and conserving parcels on Crystal Street and Parsonage Hill Road.

Haverhill

Following Indictment, Haverhill Tax Adviser, 78, Faces Sexual Trafficking, Drug Charges June 24

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A 78-year-old Haverhill financial adviser is set to appear next month in Essex County Superior Court after a grand jury handed down indictments, moving sexual trafficking and drug distribution out of the lower district court. With 10 initial allegations in March, a grand jury handed John L. Caruso two more counts of trafficking a person for sexual servitude, while removing two counts of sexual conduct for a fee. In sum, he faces four counts of human trafficking, four drug charges—including one felony—and maintaining a house of prostitution. The removal of a usury charge was the only other change. Caruso is scheduled face a pre-trial hearing scheduled Monday, June 24 at the Essex County Superior Court with Judge Thomas Drechsler presiding.

Haverhill

Nurse’s Union Leader Reports Lack of State Resolve to Keep Holy Family Hospital’s Haverhill Campus

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The state may give up on Holy Family Hospital’s Haverhill campus amid Steward Health Care’s financial turmoil, a leader in the state nurse’s union told city councilors last night. “Within the highest level of the administration, there is a resignation, that maybe it’s just not so important to worry about Haverhill surviving,” Massachusetts Nurses Association Statewide Director Dana Simon said he learned from private conversations with officials. He said he recently noticed a subtle shift in the state’s initial promise to keep all Steward hospitals open. “If you parse some of their public statements, they’re starting to soften on that. They’re saying, ‘it’s our core concern to ensure as many of the hospitals as possible survive.’”

In his view, closing some hospitals over others is a political calculation.