Bomb Squad responds to threat, finds 'bomb' to be a shot put
A bomb scare on Friday, Feb. 18 at the Somerville Police Station in Union Square left officers embarrassed after the "bomb" was discovered to be a shot put.
According to the Somerville Journal, Somerville Police Officer Scott Gamble called the State Police Bomb Squad after a woman put the shot put on a desk at the station and said she had found it under her car.
Police stopped traffic on Washington Street outside the station and evacuated the lobby. Several emergency vehicles responded, and a State Trooper X-rayed and removed the shot put while wearing a bomb protective suit, according to the Journal.
Police determined over the weekend that the object was harmless.
"This is embarrassing to say, but yes, it was [a shot put]," Jim Polito, the public information officer for the Somerville Police told the Journal.
Drive-by shooting in Assembly Square leaves two teens injured
A drive-by shooting in Assembly Square on Friday, Feb. 18 left two teenagers injured in what may have been a gang-related incident.
An unknown male fired from an open van door as it sped past the two victims. One victim, age 18, was seriously injured, and the other, age 19, was grazed by a bullet, according to the Somerville Journal.
"They knew who they wanted to get," Somerville Police Public Information Officer Jim Polito told the Journal. "I don't think that this was some random-type thing. I don't want people to think that they are going to the movies and are going to get shot or anything. That is not the case here."
Assembly Square has been the site of two murders in the past year, the Journal reported. At least one was gang-related.
No arrests have yet been made in connection with the Friday night crime.
Controversial WWII memorial sparks debate in Medford
The site of a World War II Memorial in Medford is under attack by Medford City Council members because they were not included in the decision process, according to the Medford Transcript.
The issue highlighted what Medford City Councilor Robert Penta said is a lack of communication between the city council and city administrators.
"The council has not had any involvement," Penta told the Transcript. "The council is always asking what's happening. This is just another issue we haven't been involved in."
Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn said that the memorial's intended location on Winthrop Street is ideal due to its "proximity to a school, visibility from the street and ample parking," according to the Transcript.
The Mayor added that the council could have become involved at any time in the long history of the planning of the memorial.
"I would love to have them involved," he said. "If they were so interested, why haven't they done anything about it over the past 15 years?"
The cost of the project is estimated at $500,000.
-Compiled by Bruce Hamilton from the Somerville Journal and the Medford
