Region Roundup: Officer Saves Girl from Car Fire, EEE at Critical Risk, Comcast Concerns

A Norton police officer managed to pull a teenage girl from a fiery wreckage early Thursday morning just before it was fully engulfed in flames.
and responded to the area of 2 Burt St. for a report of a motor vehicle crash. Upon arrival, Patrolman Charles Turcotte observed the vehicle to be in the woods on fire with Justine Miller, the female operator, in the vehicle. According to a press release sent by Norton Police Lt. Todd Jackson, the 18-year-old was conscious, but couldn’t exit the vehicle due to leg injuries. Turcotte was unable to open the driver’s side door, but removed the operator through the open driver’s side window. Minutes later, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames and was extinguished by the Norton Fire Department.

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Once again, EEE was found in mosquitoes in Easton, and the state is stepping into action.

More findings of positive pools in town have led the Department of Public Health to announce plans for another round of aerial spraying in Easton and five other towns. Additionally, the risk for EEE has been raised from "high" to "critical" - the highest risk.

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Mansfield selectmen had a heated discussion Wednesday night on security measures and medical issues at the Comcast Center in the wake of ,  an attempted and .

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Eddie Wu, owner of Mai Pearl at 121 Main St., Foxborough, told the Board of Health at Monday's meeting the reason for seven critical food code violations at his establishment could be explained in one word.

"Lazy," he said.

Wu said his staff had become lazy at Mai Pearl, which led to critical violations in food protection management, food being served from an approved source and food protection from contamination being found during a July 18th inspection by Sanitarian Diane Passafaro. Other violations were related to not keeping up with HACCP logs.

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A Canadian woman, convicted in 2008 on animal cruelty charges for running a puppy mill in Stoughton, pled guilty to perjury, identity fraud and furnishing false information in a court proceeding on Aug. 7 for pretending to be someone else throughout that Norfolk Superior Court prosecution.

The woman, whose real name is Gloria Marriott, had created the alternate Linda Snow identity using information from a young girl who died in childhood on the North Shore decades ago. 

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Seeing the need for expansion, the newest addition of the Tavern at Wrentham features an open space for dining and a bar. Formerly a patio like area, owner Doug Smith has given his customers the challenge of naming the new space with a nice reward in it for the winner.

“We’re going to give a $50 gift certificate to the person who comes up with a creative name that we can name this room. The Addition and Patio don’t cut it. We got to come up with something new and creative,” Smith said.

To get the room up to building code, Smith was forced to tear down the former structure that Smith described as “pretty ugly.” After that, the challenge was to take an outdoor area and turn it into something that could be used as a indoor facility.

“We didn’t want to do just an outdoor kind of a thing so we said ‘lets build a building and close it, put the sprinklers in and do all the things that you’re suppose to do,” Smith said.

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Earning a and two state teacher of the year honors put in the spotlight last year.

Not matching or topping that success this year won't disappoint Principal Jose Libano.

“While those kinds of very public accolades are going to be very hard to repeat, odds are you don’t repeat. Those are once-in-a-lifetime kinds of recognition,” Libano says.

“Those public accolades are always nice. They bring a lot of pride and energy to the community. That said, there’s plenty happening every day that we can all be proud of. It comes in the classrooms. It comes from the nice gestures in the hallways, and interactions with people. It comes out on the fields.”