A condition called “light sensitivity” drove a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent to file a bizarre traffic complaint with the Plymouth police last year using the name of town manager Derek Brindisi, his lawyer says. In seeking to have identity fraud charges thrown out, Christopher Marden’s lawyer argued that his client’s “valid medical condition” […]
Author Archives: Andrea Estes - Independent Staff
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Makepeace defends ‘distasteful’ posts about environmental activist
Environmental lawyer Meg Sheehan spent a lot of time and money trying to identify the person who created “Meg Costs Us Millions,” a Facebook page where she was ridiculed by anonymous critics. Unnamed posters called her “old crone” and “the second coming of Cruella De Vil.” They photoshopped her “attractive face to make her unattractive […]
Posted inBusiness
GATRA buses back on the road
Drivers for the Greater Attleboro-Taunton Regional Transit Authority were back on the job Wednesday after the union representing them reached a tentative agreement with GATRA. The two-day strike ended with a contract deal that the union said handed drivers and the other employees the pay they were looking for. But neither side would provide details […]
Posted inBusiness
GATRA bus drivers go on strike
Drivers for the Greater Attleboro-Taunton Regional Transit Authority walked off the job Monday, stranding thousands of riders, including many in Plymouth. Both sides in the ongoing labor dispute apologized to customers who rely on the GATRA bus service, which offers rides to residents all over town. “We want our transit team members at work as […]
Posted inBusiness
GATRA bus drivers are set to strike
Drivers for GATRA, the transit system that provides bus service to Plymouth residents, have voted to strike — saying their pay is so low that some of them are forced to live in their cars. Charles Ryan, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1548, on Tuesday said he’s sorry if a stoppage inconveniences riders, […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
U.S. customs officer charged with posing as Plymouth’s town manager
It was an incident that might have been dismissed as a silly prank had the prankster not posed as a well-known local official. A man accused of filing a phony complaint with Plymouth police inexplicably claimed to be Town Manager Derek Brindisi. The story gets stranger. The alleged impostor turned out to be a federal […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Former food services manager accused of theft wants out of home confinement
The former Plymouth schools’ food services manager accused of stealing food, equipment, and other goods to use at his beach snack bar is asking a judge to free him from home confinement and electronic monitoring. Patrick VanCott, 63, pled not guilty to larceny at his arraignment in June. A district court judge originally ordered him […]
Posted inGovernment
A traffic stop upends an immigrant family’s new life
Betty was eager to share the story of how her happy life in Massachusetts was upended when ICE agents grabbed her husband last month. But she didn’t attend last Monday’s Town Hall forum on immigration detention sponsored by the Plymouth Area League of Women Voters. Betty said she feared Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Judge orders home invasion suspect held pending trial
The man accused of attacking a well-known local chef inside his North Plymouth home last month will remain in jail until trial, a judge ruled Thursday. After a 30-minute dangerousness hearing, Plymouth District Court Judge Shelby Smith granted a prosecutor’s request to keep Jose Juarez, 38, behind bars until at least January. Plymouth County Assistant […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Armed man subdued by police at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital
A man carrying a bayonet and a pistol triggered a lockdown at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth Saturday morning, according to police and two staff members who were there. The hospital issued a “Code Silver,” a signal alerting staff that an active shooter or a person with a weapon was in the facility and they should […]