Well, it’s been a lively night, but I have to report that I’ll be off work from now until next week. Keep checking www.lowellsun.com for breaking news while I’m gone, and please don’t let the city burn down.
I like it here and will be home soon.
I’ll be back to work on Wednesday, May 30, with a large cup of coffee in hand.
Emergency crews were called to the VFW Highway, near Beaver Brook, at 6:30 p.m., for what was initially thought to be an accident involving a pedestrian.
Instead, officers say they found an unidentified woman who was intoxicated and suffering from second-degree burns to her back. Continue reading
Theresa James, of Lowell, tells me that the owner of her 7-year-old daughter’s daycare, Luz Clarita’s Daycare, at 69 Fifth St., in Lowell, notified both parents and the agency her daycare is affiliated with that she would be on vacation this week.
James’ daughter, Ashley Reynolds, goes to the St. Louis Elementary School in Lowell, and then takes a bus operated by Acre Family Child Care to her daycare after school.
On Monday, the Acre Family Child Care bus was supposed to drop Ashley off at another daycare a block away on Fifth Street. Instead, the bus dropped her off at 69 Fifth St., and then drove away before any adults came outside to greet the little girl.
The daycare was closed. Ashley Reynolds, pictured at left, was left alone in Lower Centralville.
“They abandoned my child,” James told me today.
Ashley initially refused to speak with me. She’s not allowed to talk to strangers. Her mother assured her it was okay to talk to me on the phone, though.
“I was scared,” she said. “I think it was about 45 minutes I was there alone. I cried.”
After about 45 minutes, Ashley said she had to go to the bathroom so she went to the home of a boy she’s friends with next door to the daycare, and asked if that boy’s mother would let her use the bathroom.
The neighbor quickly realized the daycare was closed, and let Ashley use her telephone.
Ashley, who had memorized her mother’s number with help from the folks at Luz Clarita’s Daycare, called her mother.
James was at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, though, since her 3-year-old son had a stomach bug. She had to call Ashley’s grandmother to go pick up the girl right away.
James said that in the meantime, another Acre Family Child Care bus dropped off another boy at the daycare. The same bus later returned and picked that boy up, James said, apparently after realizing the mistake. Continue reading
The Acre is a neighborhood well known for its diversity, and it turns out there are even a few four-legged residents.
Police got called to the National Grid property on School Street today about 7:30 p.m., for a report that someone spotted a possibly injured deer.
Lowell Police and Animal Control Officer Robert Pickard located the young doe, but quickly determined she was not injured.
Pickard said deer are often spotted in the area, and that they have not caused problems in the past.
Police confirmed for me that the young doe is not a suspect in any recent crimes in the area, and for those two reasons the doe was allowed to go on her way without intervention from law enforcement. Continue reading
The Billerica Police Department posed one heck of a question via their website today.
Can you spot the real firearm?
To find out the answer and to find out why Billerica Police are asking, just follow this link.
I think the folks at BPD didn’t want to be overly alarmist here, but hey, I’m a journalist. I have no such qualms!
So…
Now imagine that you’re a police officer, that you have two kids and a wife who are at home waiting for you to get out of work; that you have to answer this question on a poorly lit street in a matter of seconds; and that your ability to answer correctly will decide whether you or someone else might die.
I’m glad I’m just a journalist. My choices are easy.
