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Police & Fire
Lowell Murder-Suicide Victims ID'd As Husband, Wife, Child Lowell Murder-Suicide Victims ID'd As Husband, Wife, Child
Lowell Murder-Suicide Victims ID'd As Husband, Wife, Child Police have identified the man who police say killed his wife and their child before turning the gun on himself last week.  Steven Johns, 52, is accused of killing his wife Kaydion Dawson, 45, and their 7-year-old daughter at their home and calling people before killing himself before officers arrived, the Middlesex District Attorney said Friday, May 3.  Officers were called to the Warren Street apartment on Sunday, April 27, just after 6:30 p.m. The caller said he had just killed his wife and child and had several guns in the home.  When police arrived they found all three …

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by Josh Lanier
Obituaries
Support Pours In For Family Of Central Mass Man Killed In Needham Wreck Support Pours In For Family Of Central Mass Man Killed In Needham Wreck
Support Pours In For Family Of Central Mass Man Killed In Needham Wreck Nearly 150 people have donated to help the family of a Worcester County man who was killed in an early morning crash earlier this week, leaving behind a wife and three young children.  Dylan Chaves, 31, of Fiskdale, was killed just after 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30, when he lost control of his pick-up truck and turned into on-coming traffic on I-95 South in Needham, State Police said. The vehicle went perpendicular on the wet roadway, and he was T-boned by a driver from Nashua, New Hampshire.  The other driver was taken to an area hospital with serious but non-life-threatening …

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Bedford Man Admits To Killing Child 58 Years Ago, Leaving Body In Western Mass River Bedford Man Admits To Killing Child 58 Years Ago, Leaving Body In Western Mass River
Bedford Man Admits To Killing Child 58 Years Ago, Leaving Body In Western Mass River A 75-year-old man has admitted to beating a 10-year-old Hampden County girl with a rock and leaving her to drown in a river in Western Massachusetts.  Donald Mars, of Bedford, pleaded guilty Thursday, May 2, to manslaughter after he was indicted in the 1966 murder of Betty Lou Zukowski, the Hampden County District Attorney said. He will serve two and a half years in prison and two years probation, and he must register as a level-3 sex offender after his release.  “Sadly, Betty Lou’s parents are deceased, and are not able to see Donald Mars answer for the brutality he inflicte…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
$2M Bail For Boston Man Accused Of Shooting That Injured 5 Last Year; Second Person Charged $2M Bail For Boston Man Accused Of Shooting That Injured 5 Last Year; Second Person Charged
$2M Bail For Boston Man Accused Of Shooting That Injured 5 Last Year; Second Person Charged A 25-year-old Boston man accused of opening fire at a family barbecue in Dorchester in September will remain behind bars before his trial unless he can come up with a $2 million bail, a judge ruled Thursday, May 2.  Micah Ennis, of Roxbury, is charged with five counts of armed (firearm) assault to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm, the Suffolk County District Attorney said.  Ennis is accused of firing multiple shots into a family gatheri…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Remains Of Woman Found In Western Mass Woods Identified After 35 Years Remains Of Woman Found In Western Mass Woods Identified After 35 Years
Remains Of Woman Found In Western Mass Woods Identified After 35 Years The remains of a 65-year-old woman whose body was found in a wooded area in Franklin County have been identified thanks to new advancements in DNA testing. How she ended up there remains a mystery, but prosecutors have a person of interest.  Constance Holminski Bassignani was found not far off the road on Route 76 in Warwick on June 24, 1989. She had been living in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, with her husband, William Bassignani.  Constance was last seen alive on Memorial Day in 1989. Soon after, her husband told friends she had moved back to her native Hawaii, but investigator…

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by Josh Lanier
News
$100K Lottery Tickets Sold In Westfield, Western Mass $100K Lottery Tickets Sold In Westfield, Western Mass
$100K Lottery Tickets Sold In Westfield, Western Mass Two Bay Staters had a very good week when they won $100,000 playing the Massachusetts State Lottery.  The winning tickets were claimed on Wednesday, May 1, and were sold at Big Apple Market & Deli at 294 Littleton Road in Westford and Big Y at 650 Memorial Dr. in Chicopee.  Related: Mass Woman Wins Two $1M Lottery Jackpots In 10 Weeks Both won their jackpots by correctly guessing all five numbers of the daily "Mass Cash" drawing. Those were 6, 11, 18, 24, and 26.  The winners' names were not released. Each store will receive a $1,000 bonus for the sale.  …

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by Josh Lanier
News
Damaged Bridge To Be Demolished After Fiery I-95 Crash, Causing Days-Long Closure Damaged Bridge To Be Demolished After Fiery I-95 Crash, Causing Days-Long Closure
Damaged Bridge To Be Demolished After Fiery I-95 Crash, Causing Days-Long Closure This story has been updated. A closure in both directions on I-95 in Connecticut caused by an early morning crash and fire involving a tanker with thousands of gallons of gas will last for several days as a damaged overpass is removed, authorities have now announced. New Update - Watch Live - Work In Progress: Crews Repair Fire-Damaged I-95 Stretch The incident happened at the outset of the morning commute on Thursday, May 2 in Norwalk near exits 14 and 15. "Extensive damage occurred to the Fairfield Avenue overpass bridge," according to the Norwalk Fire Department. The Connecticut Dep…

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by Joe Lombardi
Business
Nationwide Recall Issued For Ground Beef Products Due To Possible Contamination: View Labels Nationwide Recall Issued For Ground Beef Products Due To Possible Contamination: View Labels
Nationwide Recall Issued For Ground Beef Products Due To Possible Contamination: View Labels A nationwide recall has been issued for ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli. Cargill Meat Solutions, headquartered in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, is recalling approximately 16,240 pounds of the raw ground beef products, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Wednesday, May 1. The raw ground beef items were produced on Friday, April 26 and Saturday, 27.  The following products are subject to recall: 2.25-lbs. plastic-wrapped trays containing "93% LEAN 7% FAT ALL NATURAL LEAN GROUND BEEF" with lot code 117 and estab…

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by Joe Lombardi
Police & Fire
Ex-Western Mass Schools Superintendent Who Sent Threats To Police Chief Candidate Sentenced Ex-Western Mass Schools Superintendent Who Sent Threats To Police Chief Candidate Sentenced
Ex-Western Mass Schools Superintendent Who Sent Threats To Police Chief Candidate Sentenced The former superindentent of a Hampden County school district will avoid jail time for lying to FBI agents about sending nearly 100 threatening messages to a candidate for Chicopee police chief, authorities said.  Lynn Clark, 53, of Belchertown, was sentenced to a year of probation and a $1,000 fine on Tuesday, April 30, after pleading guilty to two counts of making false statements in January, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said.  Clark had been head of the Chicopee School District when she made the threatening texts, authorities said.  Acting US Attorney for Massachuset…

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by Josh Lanier
News
$1M Lottery Winner — Again: Attleboro Woman Wins Second $1M Jackpot In 10 Weeks $1M Lottery Winner — Again: Attleboro Woman Wins Second $1M Jackpot In 10 Weeks
Christine Wilson Wins Her Second $1M Lottery Jackpot Christine Wilson may be the luckiest person in Massachusetts.  Winning one $1 million jackpot wasn't enough for the Attleboro woman who picked up her second seven-figure win last month, just 10 weeks after her first big win.  Wilson won her first jackpot playing the $50 scratch-off game “Lifetime Millions" on February 23. She won a second $1 million prize on a $10 "100X Cash" ticket.  Related: Dorchester Woman Wins $1M In New "Jaws"-Themed Game Wilson chose to take the lump sum payment of $650,000 rather than the annuity. She plans to put her latest winnings into a saving…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Central Mass Man ID'd As Driver Killed In Needham Crash Central Mass Man ID'd As Driver Killed In Needham Crash
Dylan Chaves, of Fiskdale, ID'd As Driver In Fatal Crash A 31-year-old Worcester County man was identified as the driver killed when he lost control of his truck and was T-boned by oncoming traffic in a Needham crash this week, police said.  Dylan Chaves, of Fiskdale, was driving his pick-up truck south on I-95 just after 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30, when the vehicle lost traction and turned sideways into the left lane of oncoming traffic, State police said.  The Nashua man who crashed into the truck was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries.  Chaves died at the scene, police said.  An initial investigation note…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Man Busted After Choking Peabody Girlfriend, Kidnapping Baby, Driving To Rhode Island: Police Man Busted After Choking Peabody Girlfriend, Kidnapping Baby, Driving To Rhode Island: Police
Man Busted After Choking Peabody Girlfriend, Kidnapping Baby, Driving To Rhode Island: Police A Boston man accused of attacking his girlfriend, kidnapping their 6-month-old infant, and stealing her vehicle was arrested in Rhode Island after attacking a state trooper, police said.  Jamaine Johnson faces multiple charges following the alleged attack on Tuesday morning, April 30, the Rhode Island State Police said.  Johnson is accused of choking his girlfriend during an argument at her Peabody home before he took her car and their child around 2:30 a.m., officers said. He reportedly told her he would harm himself and the baby if she called the police.  Troopers found th…

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by Josh Lanier