Ruth’s House Receives $11K Grant to Provide Winter Wear to 200 Seniors

The grant will also serve those who participate in job training programs, Ruth’s House said. (File photograph)

Lafayette Square thrift shop Ruth’s House is able to offer warm weather gear to 200 city seniors this season through a grant worth more than $11,000 from the Griffin-White Foundation. Established in 2001, the Haverhill-based charity aims to serve elders in the Merrimack Valley area, including those who utilize Ruth’s House. The 25-year-old thrift shop plans to also use their donation to bolster their job training initiative, according to Board of Directors President Barbara Donegan. The shop currently trains four seniors and hopes to welcome at least four more in coming months.

Illegal Hunting Among Haverhill Public Meeting Topics for Week of Jan. 21

Several municipal boards and agencies convene this week in public sessions. (Jay Saulnier photograph for WHAV News)

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. Tuesday, Jan. 22
MassHire’s Merrimack Valley Workforce Board convenes at 7:30 a.m. at Methuen’s Comfort Home Care, 147 Pelham St., to discuss planning, hear committee reports from Youth and Finance Committee representatives and more during the quarterly meeting.

Police Arrest Uncle in Connection with Death of Sixth-Grader Precious Wallaces

Consentino cheerleaders grabbed their pom-poms in memory of Precious Wallaces and her family at a sporting event last month. (Courtesy photograph.)

An arrest has been made in connection with the death of an 11-year-old Haverhill middle school student last month. Fifty-eight-year-old Miguel Rivera, of Lawrence, was charged Friday night with permitting substantial bodily injury to Consentino School student Precious Wallaces and misleading a police investigation, according to Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett and Lawrence Police Chief Roy P. Vasque. The sixth-grader died Dec. 18 after falling ill three days earlier while visiting her uncle at 233 Jackson St., Lawrence.

Methuen Man to Spend Six Months in Jail for $180K Heav’nly Donuts Theft

Nicholas Sidie pleaded guilty in Haverhill District Court on Friday. (WHAV News file photograph)

A Methuen man who police say embezzled more than $180,000 from a Haverhill Heav’nly Donuts shop has been ordered to spend six months in jail for the crime. Nicholas Sidie pleaded guilty in Haverhill District Court Friday and was sentenced to two years in the House of Corrections, according to Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett’s spokeswoman Carrie Kimball. Sidie will spend six months of that time behind bars, with the balance suspended for three years. Sidie was ordered to remain drug and alcohol free and submit to random testing after his release.

Today’s Obituaries: Friday, Jan. 18

James H.R. Currier, 77, of Bradford, died Thursday, Jan. 10, at the High Pointe Hospice House in Haverhill. He served as the music director at Sacred Hearts Church in Bradford for many years. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a celebration of his life at Granite United Church, 1 Sand Hill Road, Salem, N.H., on Monday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. Private burial will take place in Elmwood Cemetery, Bradford.