Education

Today is Northern Essex Community College’s Giving Day; Third Annual Event Ends at Midnight

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Today’s the day to join alumni, friends, staff, faculty and students supporting Northern Essex Community College’s third annual Giving Day. The college kicked off the 24-hoiur drive yesterday at G’s Southern Texas Flair in downtown Haverhill. Like all Giving Day donations, portion of food and drink sales went to the NECC Fund. Gifts to the fund are unrestricted and may be immediately put to use to pay for resources and programs crucial to the success of students, faculty and staff. Historically, the NECC Fund has offered support to such areas as student scholarships, innovation, academic programming, career programming and classroom resources.

Community Spotlight

Greater Lawrence Family Health Center to Honor WBZ-TV’s Mallika Marshall May 1

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Josh Kraft, president of the New England Patriots Foundation, will be the keynote speaker next month when Greater Lawrence Family Health Center honors Dr. Mallika Marshall, WBZ-TV’s medical director. It’s all part of the Health Center’s 19th Annual Making a Difference Gala, the agency’s largest fundraiser benefitting 68,000 patients across the Merrimack Valley. Marshall is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Anchor for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for more than 20 years. A practicing physician board certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics, she serves on staff at Harvard Medical School. She practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and formerly at the MGH Revere Health Center, where she worked on the front lines caring for patients with COVID-19.

Haverhill

Haverhill Wastewater, Greater Lawrence Sanitary District Receive State Grants for CSO Notices

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The Haverhill Wastewater Department and the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District were each awarded state grants Tuesday to help local communities meet new requirements to notify the public of sewage discharges and overflows

Haverhill received $20,414 to reimburse the city for an impact analysis to better identify the distance downstream where communities and public recreational facilities are likely to encounter pathogen concentrations above the standards following a combined sewer overflow. Greater Lawrence Sanitary District will use $58,548 for work completed to install three new pressure and level sensors within the main sewer interceptor lines that provide a more accurate reading related to combined sewer overflows. The projects were selected by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. “The implementation of this important notification rule has helped to raise awareness of sewage discharges into local waterways, helping to protect public health and focusing a light on the critical need for upgraded sewer infrastructure,” said MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple. Regulations that took effect July 6, 2022 require wastewater treatment plants and communities to notify the public of sewage discharge and overflow events, post signs at public access points and make relevant information available online.

Crime

Judge Sentences Former Whittier Tech Network Manager for 2023 Cyberattack Against School

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A former desktop and network manager at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School’s computer network was sentenced Tuesday to one month in prison and three years’ supervised release for committing a cyberattack last year against the school’s computer network. Thirty-year-old Conor LaHiff of Ayer man was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV and will serve the first 12 months of his supervised release in home confinement. He was also ordered to pay $34,110 in restitution. As WHAV reported previously, LaHiff pleaded guilty last December to unauthorized damage to protected computers. “Individuals who exploit their specialized knowledge to retaliate against a former employer through costly and dangerous cyberattacks will be held accountable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy.

Region

Lawyers Who Pushed Haverhill into Ward Elections Win Ruling on Behalf of Martha’s Vineyard Immigrants

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The Boston law firm that pressured Haverhill into adopting mostly ward-based elections received federal court blessing to press legal claims against Vertol Systems Company for flying migrants from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard during the fall of 2022. Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights said Monday it will “immediately proceed with legal claims against the plane company” following a ruling dated Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs. She ruled Vertol “aided and abetted” an act harming the migrants who were victims of state-sponsored kidnapping when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent about 50 people to Massachusetts on behalf of his “relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.”

Following the plane’s landing, state Rep. Dylan Fernandes said on social media, “Currently immigrants are being dropped off on Martha’s Vineyard by chartered flights from Texas. Many don’t know where they are. They say they were told they would be given housing and jobs.”

The lawsuit was filed by the Martha’s Vineyard migrants and Alianza Americas.

Region

Plaistow Firefighters Association Hosts Annual Dog Rabies Clinic and Other Pet Services Saturday

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This Saturday is Plaistow, N.H.’s annual dog rabies clinic which will also feature dog licensing and an array of pet services. Besides rabies vaccination at $20 per dog with Dr. Sarah Grossman of All Creatures Mobile Vet, paid services include micro-chipping, $35, and nail clipping, $10. The town clerk’s office will be on hand for dog licensing Animal Control Officer Maura Wentworth will have information on pet laws and safety. The Plaistow Firefighters Association hosts the event Saturday, April 6, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Plaistow Public Safety Complex, 27 Elm St., Plaistow.

Business Bulletin

Whittier, Lawrence Tech Superintendents to Address Workforce Development at Forum

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The superintendents of Whittier Regional Vocational Technical and Greater Lawrence Technical Schools are scheduled to address education and workforce development at a forum this month by the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce. Whittier Tech Superintendent Maureen Lynch and Greater Lawrence Tech Superintendent John Lavoie discuss what business leaders need to know about vocational jobs and trades during the breakfast forum Friday, April 26, from 7:30-9 a.m., at Edwards Vacuum, 20 Creek Brook Drive, off Route 97, in Haverhill. Admission for members is $10 and non-members, $20, and may be reserved online at MerrimackValleyChamber.com or by calling 978-686-0900.

Region

Lawrence General Hospital to Receive $3 Million and Methuen $200K in Federal Help

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Lawrence General Hospital is receiving a nearly $3 million boost to buy new beds, while Methuen benefits from more than $200,000 for a new searchable database for the public. Sens. Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren said last week they succeeded in getting the amounts into the federal budget as part of securing more than $5.4 million for community-based health and human services, water and environmental infrastructure and government archives. Lawrence General Hospital will use the money to replace long-serving hospital beds in maternity, telemetry, intensive care and medical surgical care at the hospital. Methuen will make local history resources accessible to researchers, students, genealogists and the general public by setting up a new digital, searchable database of archival materials.