Snitches

If you have a problem of some sort with them, then I’d like you to comment on this.
The person who made this telephone call should get a reward.

Fire on Middlesex Street

If you went through the Lord Overpass this afternoon you probably saw that Middlesex Street is closed at the overpass by a police cruiser. There’s a one-alarm fire at Crow Electrical, 590 Middlesex St., but no reports of injuries.
I went down to the scene and it looked to be mostly under control, they already had fans up to get smoke out of the building.

Yikes

A few years back here in Lowell, I covered an incident in which a girl was shot while standing at her bus stop.
Well, as much as I do to document the terrible things that happen here in Lowell, the world has once again proved that it can be way more depraved and terrible than it is here in Lowell.
By JEFF KAROUB
Associated Press Writer
DETROIT (AP) — Gunmen in a green minivan opened fire on a group of teenagers waiting at a bus stop near a Detroit school on Tuesday, wounding at least seven including two who were in critical condition, authorities said.
At least five of the teens had just gotten out of summer classes at Cody Ninth Grade Academy when they were shot at the nearby bus stop, said Detroit Public Schools Police Chief Roderick Grimes.
Two gunmen, possibly three, emerged from the green minivan and “asked for a person by name” before they “opened fire at the crowd,” Grimes said.
The students’ names and ages weren’t immediately released.
“We have confirmed the name of several of the students, but we have to make sure we talk with the parents,” Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb said at the scene of the shooting on Detroit’s west side.
Bria Wilson, 15, was standing at the bus stop when she heard the gunfire. Wilson said she was facing away from the shooters and ran away after the shots were fired. She said she saw a 16-year-old male friend lying on the ground, bleeding.
“They were so close — it almost hit me,” said Wilson, who was heading home from summer school classes at Cody Academy.
——
Associated Press writers Ben Leubsdorf and David N. Goodman contributed to this report.

Magazine Salesman

Well, apparently my story about police being on the lookout for them, and about the trouble they have caused in the past and in some other communities did little to slow them down.
City police tell me that tonight about 7 p.m., they got a report of two guys selling magazines door to door in the Gilmore Street area. Officers got a call from a concerned resident, and arrived to find two guys trying to sell magazines to a person in the doorway of a home on Gilmore Street.
There was no further trouble, but neither man had a permit from the city, so both were arrested for violating city ordinances.
Anthony Edwards, 24, of Illinois, and Robert Gordon, 19, of Solana Beach, Calif., were both released on bail after being booked for violation of city ordinances (solication).
Keep your eyes out for these guys, and read my story that’s linked above if you want more information and missed it earlier.

Chelmsford Crash

I spoke to Marty Barrett, of California tonight, and he tells me his brother, Andrew Barrett, of Lowell, who was severely hurt in Saturday night’s motorcycle crash in Chelmsford, is showing signs of improvement at Lahey Clinic in Burlington.
Andrew Barrett has been a mailman for almost three decades, delivering mail for the last five years along Route 110 in Chelmsford, where most folks on his route know him by first name, Marty Barrett tells me.
Yesterday, he opened his eyes, moved his fingers and recognized some people at his bedside, so the family is hopeful for a good recovery. I’m sure the family would still appreciate it if everyone still keeps Andrew Barrett in their prayers, though.