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The following are the most-read stories of 2023, according to Itemlive readers:
In March, the Lynn Police Department investigated an officer’s use of force after a video depicting him repeatedly punching a woman in the face while she was on the floor circulated on social media.
A proposal to open a tattoo parlor in a vacant lot on Hamilton Street seemed like a no-brainer when it first came before the Board of Selectmen in February. But, when one selectman signaled he would not back the proposal, it began a debate about Saugus’ often hostile dealings with local businesses.
Super Bowl ring thief Sean Murphy, of Lynn, was arraigned in Lynn District Court in March on charges of larceny by false pretense and stolen valor, after he allegedly posed as a military veteran and collected money outside a Swampscott Whole Foods in 2021.
An independent movie based in Lynn was released on Dec. 19. Screenwriter and Co-Director Caroline Keene, of Marion, described “Merry Good Enough,” a dark-comedy holiday film, as “kind of a reverse ‘Home Alone.’”
In January, the development company Alb-Illyrians Housing LLC, in partnership with HB Construction, was building a “storm-resistant” home, made entirely of steel and concrete. Alb-Illyrians co-founder Enis Yayla said the construction would result in lower homeowner’s insurance premiums.
Out of all the issues raised by parents during a November School Committee meeting, the loudest one came directly from the audience, asking Superintendent Kristen Vogel to “look up.”
Parents and community members gathered to express their disappointment and frustration with the School Committee’s handling of multiple issues, including budgeting and hiring.
In July, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Board of Directors voted unanimously to ban all Bishop Fenwick athletic teams and athletes from postseason tournament play for the 2023-24 school year.
Max Nicolas, a 48-year-old security guard from Groveland, was held without bail following an arraignment hearing in March at Lynn District Court after he allegedly shot a man multiple times at 119 Lewis St.
Spectators gathered along Pitman Road on a Friday morning in October to watch as the former home of town founder Samuel Pitman — which had sat on its lot for at least 250 years — was reduced to rubble in less than an hour.
In March, Mino’s Roast Beef owner Dionisia Frangias was attempting to keep her customers safe in Lynn. She filed a petition to the City to have a guardrail built in front of the sandwich shop, which sits on the corner of Broadway and Euclid Avenue, to protect those inside the building from traffic.
A motorcyclist died after colliding with an SUV on Wyman Street in October. The Police Department investigated the incident, which took place at 2 p.m. on a Thursday.
In March, The Item previewed the opening of Dockside Pub at 286 Humphrey St., which was previously the location of Zestfriendz. Owners Andrew Inegemi, of Swampscott, his brother Alex Ingemi, of Danvers, and their father Arthur Ingemi, of Salem, said they decided to open the pub because they saw a need for one in Swampscott.
Throughout the last 10 years, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has identified around 600 sharks off the coast of Cape Cod. This year, the sharks were swimming north and, in July, one was detected by an AWSC shark-detection buoy near Marblehead.
In July, The Item reported on four female administrators having left the town’s public schools in the span of a few months, a wave of departures that came at a moment of flux for the district as Superintendent of Schools Erin McMahon remained on paid administrative leave.
After two sharks were spotted off the town’s coast near the beginning of August, experts were urging beachgoers to be “shark smart” over the summer.
More than five months after the 555 Essex St. lot in Vinnin Square was sold to Orion Swampscott Shop LLC for $18.55 million, four companies purchased the 11-acre lot for $22.53 million near the end of July intending to bring the commercial hub “into the 21st century.”
Months before four companies purchased the 11-acre lot for $22.53 million, the same property at 555 Essex St. was sold to Orion Swampscott Shop LLC for $18,552,571.
In November, the School Committee voted unanimously to dismiss Superintendent of Schools Erin McMahon, nearly 10 months after McMahon took paid administrative leave while an investigation into her conduct played out. Later, the committee appointed Michael Hashem, who had been serving as acting superintendent in McMahon’s stead, to lead the district full-time.
For decades, the South Harbor site has sat vacant. A key piece of waterfront real estate in the city, developers tried over the years to woo city officials with plans for the parcel, but nothing clicked. In early December, officials said the right proposal had come forward at the right time, providing Lynn a true gateway to the rest of the city, and an opportunity to reclaim the waterfront.
In June, the town ruled that Tucker — the 2-year-old golden retriever that bit Sunset Road resident Emily Spinucci on May 5 — is a dangerous dog in a written notice. This decision, however, did not align with Spinucci’s original request to have Tucker brought back from Atlanta to be euthanized.
The week before the town’s written notice, it was working to determine the fate of Tucker, the 2-year-old golden retriever that bit Emily Spinucci, of Sunset Road, when she grabbed him by the collar in May. Spinucci called forth an animal dangerousness hearing before Dog Hearing Officer Jennifer McCarthy, Town Administrator Tony Barletta, and Town Counsel Dan Skrip. There, Spinucci urged the town to rule Tucker a dangerous dog and order his euthanasia. One big problem — Tucker was in Atlanta.
In August, Belmonte STEAM Academy Principal Rebecca Long’s quiet departure from the district over the summer became public. Long’s departure came after just one year of working in the district and made her the latest in a string of administrators hired by Superintendent Erin McMahon to leave the town’s public schools.
In March, it seemed everyone in town agreed the Karla’s Shoes building needed to go — except its owners. The decrepit, run-down red building sat on the southbound of Route 1 just ahead of the Main Street Wakefield exit, overgrown with weeds and covered in graffiti. It had already been marked as a “do not enter” by the Fire Department, and local officials had repeatedly said they believed the building was a safety risk. Yet, despite its condition, the building’s owners were committed to trying to sell it, according to Director of Public Health John Fralick.
The post Itemlive’s top 23 of ‘23 appeared first on Itemlive.
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