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SLS_0512_P Pages 3, 05/12/11 01:01:42<br />

LS SUBURBAN<br />

CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN 3COLOR<br />

▼<br />

Dunstable selectman<br />

candidate profiles /5<br />

LocalNews<br />

THE SUN, LOWELL, MASSACHUSET TS<br />

SEE A PHOTO YOU LIKE?<br />

Order reprints online at<br />

lowellsunphotos.com<br />

SUBURBAN EDITION<br />

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011<br />

PAGE 3<br />

<strong>Ex</strong>-<strong>teacher</strong> <strong>gets</strong> <strong>five</strong> <strong>years</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>child</strong> <strong>porn</strong><br />

By Lisa Redmond<br />

lredmond@lowellsun.com<br />

BOSTON — In 2006, Douglas<br />

L. Wright was the shining example<br />

of a good <strong>teacher</strong>, his colleagues<br />

said.<br />

Former Tyngsboro Middle<br />

School Principal Steve Coughlin<br />

once said that if you looked up<br />

Opening night <strong>for</strong> CTI<br />

‘middle-school <strong>teacher</strong>’ in the dictionary,<br />

you would see Wright’s<br />

photograph.<br />

But in 2009, federal investigators<br />

seized from Wright’s North<br />

Chelms<strong>for</strong>d home an eMachine<br />

computer, three thumb drives, a<br />

PNY thumb drive and a Data<br />

Traveler thumb drive, all containing<br />

<strong>child</strong> <strong>porn</strong>ography, according<br />

to court documents.<br />

In U.S. District Court yesterday,<br />

the <strong>for</strong>mer Tyngsboro Middle<br />

School geography <strong>teacher</strong> was sentenced<br />

by Judge Joseph L. Tauro<br />

to <strong>five</strong> <strong>years</strong> in prison followed by<br />

10 <strong>years</strong> of supervised release.<br />

Wright, 41, pleaded guilty in<br />

February to transportation and<br />

possession of <strong>child</strong> <strong>porn</strong>ography.<br />

Wright used online peer-to-peer filesharing<br />

programs to offer and transmit<br />

images of <strong>child</strong> <strong>porn</strong>ography on the<br />

Internet, according to prosecutors.<br />

When Wright was questioned<br />

by investigators in the fall of<br />

2009, he admitted to investigators<br />

to being interested in <strong>child</strong><br />

<strong>porn</strong>ography <strong>for</strong> several <strong>years</strong> and<br />

possessing hundreds of <strong>child</strong><strong>porn</strong>ography<br />

images, according to<br />

prosecutors.<br />

Wright was known as a<br />

<strong>teacher</strong> who took an active role in<br />

school activities.<br />

In a November 2006 interview,<br />

Wright told The Sun he liked<br />

getting to know students outside<br />

the classroom, because it helped<br />

him be a better <strong>teacher</strong>.<br />

New Littleton<br />

housing plan<br />

draws anger<br />

Karen Frederick, director of Community Teamwork, Inc., shows off CTI’s new location in the Bon Marche<br />

Building in Lowell at an open house last night. Enterprise Bank regional vice president Sandy Wilson, at left,<br />

congratulates Frederick as CTI board member Marie Sweeney looks on.<br />

SUN / TORY GERMANN<br />

Piggery<br />

debate goes<br />

‘stale’ at<br />

non-hearing<br />

By Joyce Tsai<br />

jtsai@lowellsun.com<br />

TEWKSBURY — Factions<br />

of the seemingly never-ending<br />

piggery debate were set to<br />

argue their sides be<strong>for</strong>e state<br />

legislators yesterday afternoon,<br />

in a hearing on whether<br />

the town should be granted a<br />

home-rule petition to regulate<br />

piggeries.<br />

But the public hearing was<br />

withdrawn at the Statehouse,<br />

leaving both sides to return<br />

home without having spoken<br />

their piece.<br />

The hearing would have<br />

been on House Bill 571, which<br />

was a reincarnation of a<br />

home-rule petition bid, <strong>for</strong>mer<br />

House Bill 3818, which<br />

never made it out of committee<br />

in late 2009.<br />

The bill was resubmitted<br />

this session months ago by<br />

state Rep. James Miceli, in<br />

anticipation of a petition<br />

being filed again, Miceli said.<br />

But no Town Meeting action<br />

has been taken on the issue<br />

since October 2008, when voters<br />

first approved the petition.<br />

So the bill is now “stale” and<br />

should have been taken off the<br />

agenda, Miceli said.<br />

“We did everything by the<br />

numbers,” Miceli said. “It was<br />

a mistake by the committee<br />

that it showed up on the<br />

agenda. It should have been<br />

pulled.”<br />

When asked about the possible<br />

hearing, Miceli told The<br />

Sun on Tuesday afternoon,<br />

that “there was no hearing,<br />

and no action will be taken.”<br />

Yet confusion on both sides<br />

of the piggery debate persisted<br />

as to whether the committee<br />

might meet in<strong>for</strong>mally.<br />

Both sides showed up, just<br />

in case.<br />

Please see PIGGERY/4<br />

Lowell school chief<br />

also finalist in Malden<br />

By Jennifer Myers<br />

jmyers@lowellsun.com<br />

LOWELL — Departing<br />

Superintendent of Schools<br />

Chris Scott confirmed yesterday<br />

that she is a finalist<br />

<strong>for</strong> the school superintendency<br />

of the Malden Public<br />

Schools.<br />

“I was attracted to the<br />

job because Malden is an<br />

urban district,” said Scott,<br />

who will leave Lowell when<br />

her contract expires June<br />

30. “I am keeping all of my<br />

options open.”<br />

Sidney Smith, superintendent<br />

of the 6,565-student<br />

Malden district, is retiring<br />

July 1.<br />

In addition to the Malden<br />

post, Scott is one of three<br />

candidates <strong>for</strong> chief executive<br />

officer of the Cleveland<br />

Metropolitan School District.<br />

Scott traveled to Cleveland<br />

earlier this week <strong>for</strong> an<br />

in-person interview with the<br />

screening committee. She<br />

will be interviewed by the<br />

city’s mayor and School<br />

Committee later this month.<br />

Scott is also in negotiations<br />

with the Billerica School<br />

Committee to take its interim<br />

superintendent job on July 1.<br />

Members of that town’s<br />

School Committee are searching<br />

<strong>for</strong> a replacement <strong>for</strong><br />

retiring Superintendent<br />

Anthony Serio.<br />

Malden officials did not<br />

return calls seeking comment.<br />

After a decade, COOL<br />

still cooks with new ideas<br />

By Nancye Tuttle<br />

Sun Correspondent<br />

LOWELL — The Cultural<br />

Organization of Lowell<br />

marked its 10th anniversary<br />

yesterday, and there was a<br />

celebratory feel at the<br />

annual breakfast, held at<br />

the Arts League of Lowell<br />

(ALL) Gallery on Shattuck<br />

Street in the <strong>for</strong>mer Revolving<br />

Museum building.<br />

“There are things to do in<br />

Lowell <strong>for</strong> people living,<br />

working and visiting here —<br />

and COOL has a direct hand<br />

in that,” said COOL board<br />

Chairman John Wooding, a<br />

UMass Lowell professor.<br />

City Manager Bernie<br />

Lynch praised COOL <strong>for</strong><br />

helping put the city on the<br />

map with programs and<br />

partnerships within the<br />

arts, cultural and business<br />

communities.<br />

“The city’s arts-related<br />

businesses employ 6,000<br />

people and help distinguish<br />

Lowell as offering a high<br />

quality of life here,” he said.<br />

COOL has one full-time<br />

employee, executive director<br />

LZ Nunn, and two part-time<br />

employees, Suzzanne<br />

Cromwell and Hannah<br />

Hammond-Hagman.<br />

The organization is operating<br />

on a $160,000 budget<br />

this year, Nunn said.<br />

“In the last year, the<br />

funding has dropped about<br />

15 to 18 percent,” she said.<br />

“Most of that is due to the<br />

end of a federal Preserve<br />

America program grant that<br />

we received in fiscal year<br />

2009 and 2010 <strong>for</strong> a project<br />

that was completed in the<br />

last fiscal year.”<br />

That money funded a<br />

coordinated marketing program<br />

to promote Lowell’s<br />

cultural destinations, she<br />

said. About 95 percent of the<br />

Please see COOL/4<br />

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available only at:<br />

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buy today!<br />

LITTLETON — While<br />

selectmen prepare <strong>for</strong> their<br />

meeting Monday to discuss a<br />

proposed 200-unit af<strong>for</strong>dablehousing<br />

development on<br />

Great Road, they will sift<br />

through an avalanche of negative<br />

comments about the<br />

project.<br />

Omni Properties, LLC, of<br />

Concord, wants to build the<br />

apartment complex on a 23-<br />

acre site on Great Road, near<br />

the Acton line. The development<br />

would help Littleton<br />

meet its Chapter 40B af<strong>for</strong>dable-housing<br />

requirements.<br />

More than 30 residents,<br />

overwhelmingly in opposition<br />

to the project, submitted<br />

comments in advance of Monday<br />

night’s Board of Selectmen<br />

meeting, which will be<br />

devoted specifically to the<br />

housing proposal.<br />

In addition, town officials<br />

submitted a massive amount<br />

of written comments questioning<br />

various aspects of the<br />

apartment complex.<br />

Town Assessor Ken Mildren<br />

questioned the project’s<br />

financial feasibility in a May<br />

6 email to Town Administrator<br />

Keith Bergman, adding<br />

that even if rental fees were<br />

lowered to a more realistic<br />

value, it still may not be<br />

financially feasible.<br />

Bonnie Holston, assistant<br />

town administrator <strong>for</strong><br />

finance and budget, said<br />

Omni Properties’ estimated<br />

Please see HOUSING/4<br />

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SLS_0512_P Pages 4, 05/12/11 01:01:44<br />

LS SUBURBAN<br />

CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN 3COLOR<br />

4 THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 LOCAL NEWS<br />

THE SUN<br />

Piggery debate<br />

goes ‘stale’<br />

PIGGERY/From Page 3<br />

Krochmal Farms spokeswoman<br />

Jennifer Nagle said<br />

she attended because she<br />

“didn’t trust” Miceli to tell<br />

her if there would be a hearing.<br />

Meanwhile, David Powers<br />

of Tewksbury Odors also<br />

prepared <strong>for</strong> and attended<br />

the hearing, after he heard<br />

there might be an in<strong>for</strong>mal<br />

hearing on the matter.<br />

But in the end, “they dismissed<br />

the bill. I’m not surprised,”<br />

Powers said, adding<br />

that he hopes the bill will be<br />

heard on Beacon Hill in the<br />

future.<br />

HOUSING/From Page 3<br />

cost of $5,000 per student is<br />

low, as it assumes that all students<br />

living in the development<br />

will be absorbed within<br />

existing staffing and facilities.<br />

“There are contractual obligations<br />

within the agreement<br />

(with <strong>teacher</strong>s) regarding maximum<br />

classroom size that has<br />

not been factored in these estimates,”<br />

Holston said. “Each<br />

additional <strong>teacher</strong> added <strong>for</strong><br />

increased enrollment would<br />

add an estimated $40,000<br />

annually, plus benefits.”<br />

Holston used the average<br />

cost of $10,083 per student,<br />

meaning the break-even number<br />

of students is 36. She<br />

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wrote that the 200-unit development<br />

would likely add 65 to<br />

69 students, meaning the<br />

development would result in a<br />

negative fiscal impact of<br />

closer to $300,000 without<br />

factoring in municipal services<br />

such as public safety.<br />

School Committee member<br />

Chuck DeCoste wrote: “It is<br />

the opinion of the School<br />

Department that if the proposed<br />

project, as currently<br />

presented, is approved and<br />

proceeds as proposed, it will<br />

have a significant negative<br />

impact on the educational<br />

quality of the Littleton<br />

schools and the students of<br />

Littleton.”<br />

Fire Prevention Officer<br />

Keith Dunn said existing<br />

plans show inadequate firelane<br />

access and do not provide<br />

sufficient turning radius <strong>for</strong><br />

emergency vehicles.<br />

MassDevelopment granted<br />

the town an extension from<br />

May 12 to May 25 <strong>for</strong> submitting<br />

its comments to the<br />

state. That gave selectmen<br />

the opportunity to listen to<br />

residents speak <strong>for</strong> 90 minutes<br />

Monday night, then<br />

schedule a special meeting <strong>for</strong><br />

next Monday to discuss the<br />

town’s response.<br />

Omni Properties has said it<br />

plans <strong>for</strong> 40 units (20 percent)<br />

to be low-income restricted <strong>for</strong><br />

occupancy by families earning<br />

no more than 50 percent of the<br />

area median income. The<br />

developer said it may also opt<br />

to allocate 50 units (25 percent)<br />

<strong>for</strong> tenants earning no<br />

more than 80 percent of the<br />

area median income.<br />

Omni said the project<br />

would boost the town’s af<strong>for</strong>dable-housing<br />

stock from 8.1<br />

percent of its inventory to<br />

14.7 percent, easily surpassing<br />

the state requirement of<br />

10 percent.<br />

Bergman said this week<br />

that MassDevelopment will<br />

schedule its required site visit<br />

after receiving the town’s<br />

comments. Its determination<br />

of project eligibility would<br />

then be made after the site<br />

visit and further review.<br />

If MassDevelopment<br />

deems the project eligible,<br />

Omni Properties would then<br />

require a comprehensive permit<br />

from the town’s Zoning<br />

Board of Appeals.<br />

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COOL/From Page 3<br />

project was completed at the<br />

end of fiscal year 2010, with<br />

the final segment, new pedestrian<br />

signs, being installed by<br />

the city this week.<br />

Nunn announced Lowell<br />

Cooks!, a cookbook showcasing<br />

the city’s diverse food<br />

offerings, and the Emerging<br />

Artist Anthology, featuring<br />

40 artists under age 40 working<br />

in the city.<br />

State Sen. Eileen<br />

Donoghue, chairman of the<br />

state’s tourism, arts and cultural<br />

development committee<br />

and a COOL board member,<br />

pointed out that the<br />

state realizes $14 billion in<br />

revenue from cultural<br />

events, tourism and the creative<br />

economy.<br />

“The creative economy is<br />

alive, well and working<br />

here,” she said.<br />

Author Andre Dubus III,<br />

a UMass Lowell professor,<br />

read from his memoir<br />

Townie, about growing up in<br />

the 1970s in Haverhill,<br />

another mill town on the<br />

Merrimack River. He marveled<br />

at how Lowell has<br />

trans<strong>for</strong>med from a<br />

depressed mill community<br />

by focusing on its creative<br />

possibilities.<br />

“I’m particularly proud to<br />

be a part of this town and<br />

teaching here and to see all<br />

that is beautiful and flowering<br />

here now,” he said.<br />

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Volunteers: 423, providing 3,384 hours of<br />

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Economic impact to city FY 10: $4,638,835<br />

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SLS_0512_P Pages 5, 05/12/11 01:01:45<br />

LS SUBURBAN<br />

CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN 3COLOR<br />

THE SUN LOCAL NEWS<br />

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 5<br />

Devlin: Develop new<br />

sources of revenue<br />

By Hiroko Sato<br />

hsato@lowellsun.com<br />

DUNSTABLE — Daniel<br />

Devlin says the tax bills <strong>for</strong><br />

his Depot Street home have<br />

increased by more than $800<br />

during the past <strong>five</strong> <strong>years</strong>.<br />

With both state aid and<br />

local receipts dwindling,<br />

Devlin said he believes it’s<br />

time the town found an alternative<br />

revenue source. One<br />

idea is to try to bring businesses<br />

to the town’s industrial<br />

district located near<br />

Route 3, Devlin says.<br />

By serving as a selectman,<br />

Devlin hopes to move the<br />

community’s dialogue about<br />

the issue <strong>for</strong>ward.<br />

A political newcomer,<br />

Devlin said he believes he<br />

has the energy needed to<br />

start new initiatives.<br />

“I have the ability to work<br />

with other people,” Devlin said.<br />

“You need to be open-minded<br />

and get a whole picture <strong>for</strong> the<br />

town to move <strong>for</strong>ward.”<br />

Devlin is vying <strong>for</strong> a<br />

three-year seat on the Board<br />

of Selectmen against incumbent<br />

Ron Mikol, a Finance<br />

Committee member making<br />

a second run <strong>for</strong> the board<br />

after losing his bid last year<br />

to Kenneth Leva. Devlin, a<br />

<strong>for</strong>mer colleague of Leva,<br />

who used to work as assistant<br />

superintendent of the<br />

Middlesex Sheriff’s Office,<br />

said he wants to bring his<br />

“energy and drive” to the<br />

board to help solve problems<br />

through creative approaches.<br />

Devlin earned both his<br />

bachelor’s and master’s<br />

degree while working full<br />

time at the Sheriff's Office.<br />

He said he likes challenging<br />

himself, and said he believes<br />

the selectman position would<br />

allow him to do that while<br />

fulfilling his desire to serve<br />

his community.<br />

“I have always had a<br />

vested interest in helping<br />

people out,” said Devlin, who<br />

is a volunteer “neighborhood<br />

captain” <strong>for</strong> the town’s emergency<br />

communication network<br />

program.<br />

Devlin said he loves the<br />

rural character of Dunstable.<br />

“I’m all <strong>for</strong> community<br />

preservation, but am also <strong>for</strong><br />

financial stability,” he said,<br />

PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT<br />

Name: Daniel Devlin<br />

Age: 39<br />

Occupation: Captain in the Middlesex<br />

Sheriff’s Office<br />

Education:<br />

Bachelor’s<br />

degree in<br />

criminal justice<br />

from<br />

UMass Lowell;<br />

master’s<br />

degree in<br />

criminal justice<br />

from<br />

Western<br />

New England College<br />

Family: Married, two <strong>child</strong>ren<br />

adding that the entire Dunstable<br />

tax burden falls on<br />

homeowners in the <strong>for</strong>m of<br />

property taxes, because the<br />

town has few commercial<br />

activities.<br />

Accordingly, he wants to<br />

increase the town’s revenue by<br />

better using the town’s industrial<br />

district, as well as developing<br />

a mixed-use district in<br />

the town’s center. His vision<br />

includes creating both retail<br />

space and housing <strong>for</strong> seniors.<br />

“It has always been rhetoric,”<br />

Devlin said of the idea to<br />

create senior housing. “We<br />

don’t do anything <strong>for</strong> senior<br />

citizens.”<br />

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Dunstable selectman candidate profiles<br />

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Mikol: Put financial<br />

experience to work<br />

By Hiroko Sato<br />

hsato@lowellsun.com<br />

DUNSTABLE — One<br />

morning in early 2009, Ronald<br />

Mikol picked up the phone to<br />

hear then-Town Accountant<br />

Roberta Dean break the news:<br />

“We started to slide.”<br />

What she meant, Mikol<br />

explained, was that town revenue<br />

was declining so much<br />

that the town could have<br />

wound up with a big deficit at<br />

the end of the fiscal year.<br />

Then chairman of the<br />

Finance Committee, Mikol<br />

would spend the next two<br />

weeks working out all sorts<br />

of financial scenarios with<br />

Dean to revise the budget. In<br />

the end, working with the<br />

police, fire and highway<br />

department heads paid off.<br />

Their ef<strong>for</strong>ts to cut spending<br />

allowed the town to get<br />

through the year, Mikol said.<br />

After serving on the<br />

Finance Committee <strong>for</strong> the<br />

past four <strong>years</strong>, Mikol wants<br />

to use his experience and<br />

knowledge to help guide the<br />

town as a selectman. The<br />

national economic crisis hit<br />

the town hardest during fiscal<br />

2009 and 2010, he said,<br />

during which time he was<br />

serving as committee chair.<br />

Compounding the problem<br />

was the town’s increased<br />

share of a legal settlement<br />

owed over land taken<br />

through eminent domain<br />

<strong>years</strong> earlier to build Groton-<br />

Dunstable High School.<br />

Mikol said he worked closely<br />

with the district superintendent<br />

and Groton officials to get<br />

a financing package that<br />

saved Dunstable $300,000.<br />

Mikol, who is a volunteer<br />

Name: Ronald Mikol<br />

Age: 56<br />

Occupation: Managing director<br />

at CB Richard Ellis Company<br />

Education:<br />

Declined to<br />

comment<br />

due to work<br />

security<br />

restrictions.<br />

Family: Married,<br />

three<strong>child</strong>ren<br />

firefighter and EMT <strong>for</strong> Dunstable,<br />

has also written<br />

applications <strong>for</strong> six grants <strong>for</strong><br />

the Fire Department. The<br />

town has gotten three of<br />

them, he said, with another<br />

one pending.<br />

“Those sorts of things<br />

qualify me to put my name in<br />

consideration” <strong>for</strong> the selectmen<br />

race, Mikol said.<br />

“We live within our<br />

means,” Mikol said. He noted<br />

that small decreases in state<br />

aid and local receipts can do<br />

a lot of damage to a town<br />

with only a $3 million budget<br />

<strong>for</strong> all its departments combined,<br />

excluding schools.<br />

NOTICE TO ALL PARENTS AND STUDENTS:<br />

According to state regulation no. 630M23.06, your <strong>child</strong>’s temporary record<br />

which consists of all in<strong>for</strong>mation not contained in the transcript, shall be<br />

destroyed no later than seven <strong>years</strong> from the date of the student’s withdrawal,<br />

transfer, or graduation. The records may include, but are not limited to, standardized<br />

test results, class rank, extra-curricular activities and <strong>teacher</strong> evaluations.<br />

This spring we will be destroying student records <strong>for</strong> those students who have<br />

graduated during the <strong>years</strong> 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2004 as well as <strong>for</strong> those<br />

students who have left Lowell High School either by withdrawal or transfer during<br />

the <strong>years</strong> 2002 and 2003. It is your right to obtain these records be<strong>for</strong>e they<br />

are destroyed.<br />

If you wish to have your records, please contact the Student Support Services Office<br />

at Lowell High School be<strong>for</strong>e Friday, May 27, 2011. The office can be reached<br />

by calling (978) 937-8926 or (978) 937-8911.<br />

Should you wish to obtain your records, we will hold them <strong>for</strong> you <strong>for</strong> a period<br />

of thirty (30) days after destruction date. If you will not be picking the<br />

records up yourself, you will need to provide your designee with a<br />

signed release to obtain your records.<br />

The permanent record will be kept <strong>for</strong> sixty (60) <strong>years</strong>.<br />

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SLS_0512_P Pages 6, 05/12/11 01:01:49<br />

LS SUBURBAN<br />

CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN 3COLOR<br />

6 THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 LOCAL NEWS<br />

THE SUN<br />

Sullivan Institute graduates<br />

These students are the latest to graduate from the Middlesex Community College<br />

Paul Sullivan Institute. From left are Victor Mejia, of Lawrence; Jean Delima of<br />

Sudbury; Institute Director Mary-Jo Griffin; Kiow Sharpe, of Lowell; Jessica<br />

Girouard, of Billerica; Edwyn Shoemaker, of Lowell; Gabriela Boscaja, of Dracut;<br />

Huynging Lay, of Lowell; Joe Assenza, of Lowell; Takunda Matoga, of Burlington;<br />

Doreen Deshler, of Chelms<strong>for</strong>d; and MCC President Carole Cowan.<br />

WOBURN — An absent<br />

judge led to the postponement<br />

of a hearing that could<br />

determine if criminal<br />

charges against suspended<br />

Lowell building inspector<br />

David St. Hilaire will be dismissed.<br />

While prosecutor David<br />

Solet and defense attorney<br />

John Cox, along with St.<br />

Hilaire, appeared in Middlesex<br />

Superior Court yesterday<br />

<strong>for</strong> a hearing, Judge Wendie<br />

Gershengorn was out sick.<br />

The hearing was postponed<br />

until May 23.<br />

Cox will argue charges<br />

that St. Hilaire swindled an<br />

elderly woman, 86-year-old<br />

Erika Magill, out of her<br />

home be<strong>for</strong>e she died should<br />

be dismissed because prosecutors<br />

gave the grand jury<br />

“unfair’’ or “misleading’’<br />

in<strong>for</strong>mation.<br />

In his motion to dismiss<br />

charges of larceny and<br />

SUN / DAVID H. BROW<br />

Building inspector’s larceny hearing delayed<br />

obtaining a signature under<br />

false pretenses against the<br />

63-year-old Lowell resident,<br />

Cox claims that due to<br />

these alleged errors by the<br />

prosecutor, “the integrity of<br />

the grand jury was<br />

impaired.”<br />

The Middlesex District<br />

Attorney’s Office will argue<br />

that nothing improper was<br />

done be<strong>for</strong>e the grand jury.<br />

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LOWELL — A city man<br />

is facing drug-distribution<br />

charges after Lowell police<br />

searched a home in the<br />

Belvidere section and found<br />

a safe in the basement filled<br />

with “all the implements of<br />

heroin distribution,’’ according<br />

to court documents.<br />

Miguel A. Salaman Jr.,<br />

45, whose address in court<br />

documents is listed as 107<br />

Holyrood Ave., was released<br />

on personal recognizance<br />

after pleading innocent in<br />

Lowell District Court to<br />

charges of possession of a<br />

class A substance with<br />

intent to distribute, distribution<br />

of a class A substance<br />

in a school zone and possession<br />

of a class B substance.<br />

At a status hearing yesterday,<br />

Salaman was given a<br />

pretrial conference date of<br />

June 10. The case will likely<br />

be moved to another district<br />

court to avoid any possible<br />

conflict of interest because<br />

Salaman has a relative who<br />

works in Lowell District<br />

Court.<br />

According to court documents,<br />

on April 6, at 8:42<br />

p.m., Lowell and State<br />

Police were conducting<br />

surveillance of 107 Holyrood<br />

Ave.<br />

No one other than Salaman<br />

was arrested or is facing<br />

charges in this case,<br />

according to Lowell Police<br />

Superintendent Kenneth<br />

Lavallee.<br />

Investigators spotted<br />

Salaman in the passenger<br />

seat of a car as it backed out<br />

of the driveway, and decided<br />

to stop the car. Police<br />

reported finding on Salaman<br />

half a pill that was<br />

determined to be an illegal<br />

narcotic.<br />

When police executed a<br />

search warrant of the<br />

house, they found a safe in<br />

the basement office, under<br />

a desk. Inside the safe was<br />

a scale, baggies, a grinder<br />

and other drug paraphernalia,<br />

according to court<br />

documents. Police noted in<br />

the report that the safe<br />

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Also in the safe were<br />

business cards belonging to<br />

Salaman.<br />

On the shelf above the<br />

desk was a small gold container<br />

that had one bag of<br />

heroin in it, according to<br />

court documents.<br />

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