He expressed deep regret for his actions, but James Florence, a Plymouth man described by prosecutors as a serial cyberstalker, could not persuade a judge to show him leniency. Florence, 37, an information technology professional who once held US Department of Defense “secret clearance” status, was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in prison followed by […]
Author Archives: Andrea Estes - Independent Staff
Posted inBusiness
Town, Atlantic Country Club owner at impasse over sale
The town and the owner of the Atlantic Country Club have reached an apparent stalemate over the fate of the South Plymouth golf course and the dispute is getting ugly. Lawyers for owner Mark McSharry last week sent a third letter to the town, this time dropping the veneer of goodwill and accusing officials of […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Man faces charges after brandishing knife in bar
In recent years, Main Street Sports Bar & Grill has been the frequent scene of assaults, brawls, and drunken encounters. Last week was no different. Plymouth police swarmed the bar after a customer who was kicked out returned brandishing a knife and threatening to stab the bouncer who banished him, police say. The bar this […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Faced with more jail time, alleged serial thief withdraws guilty plea
She was supposed to plead guilty last Wednesday for pilfering packages from the Redbrook mailhouse in South Plymouth last summer. But Sunny McDonough, the former hair designer and a self-described “dreamer,” changed her mind when she realized the judge wasn’t going along with her lawyer’s sentence recommendation — one month in jail in exchange for […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Judge rules Makepeace violated law by partially filling bog
An administrative law judge has ruled that A.D. Makepeace violated the law when it filled in part of a cranberry bog in South Plymouth to build a road for a future residential neighborhood in the Redbrook development. The judge, Patrick Groulx, of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs Office of Appeals and […]
Posted inGovernment
No end in sight for 15-year fight over a modest town pension
They’ve been fighting over a $10,000-plus annual pension for 15 years. No kidding. Michael Daley served as Plymouth’s finance director in the 1980s and early 1990s. When he retired in 2006, Daley began collecting a pension of roughly $9,696 a year. (With cost-of-living increases the amount would be close to $17,000 now). In 2010 […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Judge denies injunction to halt work on Cedarville business park
A judge this week denied a request by a group of residents led by environmental lawyer Meg Sheehan to stop construction of a 34-acre business park on Hedges Pond Road in Cedarville. Work has been underway since spring. In a six-page ruling, Plymouth Superior Court judge Brian Glenny rejected a request for a preliminary injunction […]
Posted inGovernment
Town tries to stop construction of 163 condos in North Plymouth
Plymouth officials are asking a state housing agency to block the construction of 163 condominiums on land a developer wants to buy from the family of environmental lawyer Meg Sheehan. The Select Board Tuesday night voted unanimously to urge MassHousing to reject applications for two 40b condo complexes Pulte Homes of New England is seeking […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
‘Someone is going to get killed on one of those’
It was a cool evening in late May as two women were driving along the Plymouth waterfront, minding their own business. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, an electric bike with two teenagers riding tandem plowed headlong into their Jeep. The teens — one 14, the other 15 — were traveling north on Water Street when […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Plymouth man gravely wounded after vaping dispute leads to stabbing
It started as an argument over a vaping device. It turned into a bloody knife fight, with one victim stabbed multiple times and a second man threatened with death, Plymouth police said. Now, a 20-year-old Plymouth man and a 19-year-old Wilbraham woman are being held without bail, facing multiple felony charges related to the attack. […]