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You are here: Home / Archives for Breaking News

Kayaker’s body recovered Sunday

June 9, 2016 By Abram Neal, Express Correspondent

HALIFAX– A man who drowned while boating at Silver Lake Friday, June 3, has been recovered and identified. Shi Hu, 28, of Boston, was found in the water shortly after noon, Sunday, June 5, by State Police divers, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

Local officials said that  at approximately 1:23 p.m., Friday, June 3, the Halifax Fire Department and the Halifax Police Department responded to a report that an individual had fallen into the water and was struggling offshore from the Brockton-owned water treatment facility located on Route 36, situated on Silver Lake straddling the Halifax/Pembroke line.

There were multiple witnesses to the incident, both from the water and shore, saying they believed the victim was fishing with a friend, according to officials. The friend was in a canoe, and the victim was in a kayak, which then overturned.

The friend attempted to reach the victim before he went underwater, but was unable to reach him in time. An investigation into how the drowning exactly occurred is ongoing. The victim was not believed to be wearing a life preserver, multiple sources say.

During the initial response, employees at the water treatment facility assisted firefighters by shuttling them on a facilities boat to the last known position of the victim. That initial search was not successful, at which time Halifax officials called for assistance from the State Police, Environmental Police and the Plymouth County Technical Response Team (Dive Unit).

More than a dozen Plymouth County communities responded, and scores of rescuers from local and state agencies were quickly on scene with specialized equipment, coordinated by Halifax Fire Chief Jason Vivieros.

Rescuers suspended the search on Friday evening, after a herculean effort to locate the missing boater with no success. By Saturday morning, the search and rescue mission had grimly turned into a recovery operation.

The State brought in a mobile command post and other assets to assist with the recovery efforts. Personnel from as far away as Rhode Island were seen and a staging area for divers was bustling with activity as firefighters, police, and others supported the efforts of divers in the lake from shore.

Advanced “side-scan” sonar was used to scour the lake bottom, along with cameras and other technologies, which had very low visibility, say sources. Sonar (sound navigation and ranging) uses sound waves to find and identify objects in the water. Side-scan sonar is a specialized system for detecting objects at the bottom of a body of water.

At around 11 a.m., Saturday, about a half-dozen family members of the victim arrived, and appeared to speak with various officials, who sources say updated them on the recovery efforts. They could be seen, visibly distraught, under a tent set up on a lawn near the mobile command post.

Local firefighters and police were seen comforting them and providing them with water and other amenities. The family members left after about two hours. Members of the press were politely asked to keep their distance, which they did, although distraught crying could be heard from hundreds of feet away.

On Sunday, the decedent was finally recovered, under gray skies and a light rain. Although State Police say they actually made the recovery, they did note that it was a “cooperative mission.” Within a couple of hours, almost everyone had left, leaving behind just a handful of law enforcement and fire officials.

Officials say they do not yet know how the man gained access to the lake (and if so, if it was via the treatment facility), although Halifax Police Chief Edward Broderick mentioned that Silver Lake is a popular fishing area, where fishing may be, “Tolerated…”, but, “not encouraged.”

Use of the lake is restricted because it is a component of the City of Brockton water supply. “No Trespassing” signs are widely visible around Silver Lake. Motor boats and swimming are strictly prohibited, but other restrictions Brockton puts on the lake were not specifically known.  Broderick could not say if the man was trespassing on the lake at the time of the incident.

The Plymouth County Tactical Response Unit, thanked all of the responding agencies. In a statement late Sunday evening, Chief Broderick on behalf of the Town of Halifax said, “Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of [the victim of] this tragedy.”

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

Zika virus – what you need to know

June 2, 2016 By Abram Neal, Express Correspondent

Express Correspondent

HALIFAX/PLYMPTON– State and local officials are warning Massachusetts residents about the Zika virus. The virus, making headlines nationally, is making its way north from South and Central America into US territories such as Puerto Rico and onto the US mainland in states such as New Jersey, Texas and Florida.

Zika is usually spread by certain types of mosquitoes. It is extremely unlikely that anyone could become infected with Zika from a mosquito bite in Massachusetts because the kinds of mosquitoes that are known to carry Zika are not found here, say officials. But travelers to zika-ridden parts of the world are warned.

At this time, only people traveling to places with ongoing Zika virus outbreaks or engaging in sexual activity with someone who has traveled to these places are at risk for getting the infection. If you or your partner is planning to travel, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health recommends you check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices for information about where the Zika virus is occurring.

Most people– nearly 80%– who are exposed to Zika will not get sick. Those who do get sick may experience symptoms several days after infection that may include fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). Occasional immune system issues have occurred, rarely.

Although Zika virus is usually spread by mosquito, the virus can also be spread from a man to his partner during unprotected sexual contact and from a pregnant woman to her baby during pregnancy or around the time of birth.

Until more is known, pregnant women and couples trying to become pregnant should postpone travel to areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing, according to the federal and state officials. Pregnant women should talk to their healthcare provider first and take great care to avoid mosquito bites during the trip. Further travel advice for pregnant women is available at this CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/pdfs/zika-pregnancytravel.pdf.

If you are trying to become pregnant and have potentially been exposed to Zika through travel or sexual activity, the CDC has provided suggested time periods to wait before trying to become pregnant, generally 8 or more weeks after exposure.  You should consult with your healthcare provider for more information.

Recently, there is also concern that Zika could be transmitted through blood transfusions from an infected donor, as well as breast milk, urine and saliva but transmission potential from these sources is still being investigated.

Although Zika virus has been known to cause infection in people in Africa and Asia since the 1950’s, outbreaks of Zika infection have occurred in areas of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands only more recently. During 2015, Zika virus was found in South America for the first time. Since then, it has spread to many countries in Central and South America, the Caribbean and some of the Pacific Islands, resulting in a very large outbreak of public health concern.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

Burn victim MedFlighted to Boston

May 26, 2016 By Stephanie Spyropoulos

A young man in his thirties was burned over approximately 40% of his upper body after a gas grill explosion.  Crews responded for a call late Sunday afternoon to a reported propane tank explosion at 131 Lake Street in Plympton. “He was taken to a burn center in Boston. The victim did not breathe in the propane, which would have compromised his airway. This was a good indicator for the man’s recovery,” he said. The victim’s name has not been released due to medical privacy.      Following the investigation it appears that the man had started his grill and it went out.  As he went to re-ignite the grill, propane had pooled causing the explosion.

“Propane is used all the time but if used incorrectly it can be dangerous,” said Chief Warren Borsari.

Boston Med flight was requested to airlift the victim to Boston. The landing zone was at Billingsgate Farm, said Fire Chief Warren Borsari.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

When Maura went missing

May 19, 2016 By Tracy Seelye Express Editor

In 2011, an out-of-work journalist named  James Renner began searching for Maura Murray.

While he didn’t find her, he has drawn his own conclusions about her disappearance and, in the process of writing a book, he has found himself while getting “lost” in the case.

The book, “True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray,” [Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 280 pages, $25.99 hardcover] goes on sale Tuesday, May 24.

“It’s been a long time coming, for sure,” Renner said last week. “I hope the book eventually brings some sort of closure to Maura’s case. At the very least, I think it will advance the story and bring up some new clues and information.”

The same week Facebook was launched in 2004, Murray disappeared. Renner has termed the case one of the first unsolved mysteries of the social media age.  In fact, he leaned heavily on a small army of Internet sleuths — which he dubbed My Baker Street Irregulars, after the poor street kids who fed information to Sherlock Holmes. Renner’s Irregulars lived online, reading blogs, surfing sites and even trolling him. They helped pose questions, interpret information and notice overlooked clues.

The trolls also second-guessed him, sniped at his plans to write a book and, in one case, cyber-stalked him. Maura’s father Fred did not cooperate with Renner on the book.

At the time Murray vanished on Feb. 9, 2004, Renner was a reporter for alternative weeklies in northeastern Ohio. By 2009, the fallout from his coverage of an Ohio state senator at the center of a sex scandal had cost him his job and he was looking for a new story.

True crime seemed a natural draw for him.

At age 11 he had fallen in love with the photo of missing Amy Mihaljevic. The obsession led him to his career as an investigative journalist and a struggle with PTSD. By 2011, Renner told his counselor he was ready to delve into another mystery.

The new mystery he was ready for was Maura Murray. While conducting his investigation, there were mysteries in his own life to confront: the truth about his grandfather, the violent tendencies his son was beginning to display and Renner’s own impulses.

Chapters in “True Crime Addict” jump between Murray and Renner’s own demons — “Being a true crime addict is not a good thing and  I learned this the hard way,” as he says.Renner spoke about the book with the Express by phone from his Cleveland home on Friday, May 13.

Q: Why the Maura Murray case?

A: “I was looking around for a big case, something national. I was a reporter in Cleveland for about seven or eight years and I had written about some famous cases from the northeast Ohio region. I looked around for a while — I’m always drawn to the cases that are difficult, if not impossible, to solve. What I find interesting is that it’s actually kind of a double mystery. Number one, what happened to Maura, but number two is, what was she doing in the White Mountains to begin with? I think if you can find the answer to one of those questions, you’ll get very close to the solution to the other question. I think I have an answer as to what was she doing in the White Mountains. I believe she was running away, I believe she was looking to start a new life and to put the people that treated her wrongly in her rear-view and not look back.

Q: It seems certain that people will read it expecting some kind of break in the case. What do you want readers to get out of it?

A: “I think there are quite a few new pieces of information in the book and new clues. I think the takeaway here is that Maura, like everyone else, was very complicated. She had her secrets, she had her skeletons and the question is whether or not those contributed to what happened. I think for sure they did. There were some things that hadn’t been reported — the fact that when she disappeared, she was in trouble for credit card fraud and identity theft.”

Q: What were your reasons for being so frank about your own family’s past?

A: “I wanted to explore why I was so fascinated with these true crime cases and what led me into that career as a true crime writer. That made me take a good, hard look at my own life and, of course, looking at it objectively now, I can see that the story about my grandfather and who he was — what he did and how I learned about all that when I was 11 years old — certainly had an impact. All these bad guys that I’ve been chasing after since I was 11, they’re my grandfather. I could never go after him, so I looked elsewhere. As I was uncovering Maura and her personal demons I thought it was only fair to share mine as well.”

Q: How do you think Maura’s case has been handled?

A: I think the police did their due diligence. When they found her car up there, it certainly looked like a DUI. The car had run into a snow bank, there was wine spilled on the inside … they see that kind of thing all the time, so I think they treated it correctly at the time. Now, a day later when the owner hadn’t come to collect the car and they start to put together that it was Maura who was driving, then it becomes a missing persons case. The [N.H.] State Police were actually in the air with helicopters. … The family’s always been critical of them, but I think they did all right.”

Q: How do you assess your methodology? Would you have approached it differently if you had it to do again?

A: “Looking back I think it happened organically, the way it was supposed to. These pieces are always different. The family could have been more helpful. Fred was the first person I contacted indirectly and he made it clear through family members that he did not want a book written about this case, so that was always a difficulty. But over the course of a few years I did manage to speak with every member of the Murray family except for Fred.”

Q: You describe this as the first major missing person case of the social media age — has social media really been any help or does it do more to hinder cold cases like this?

A: “It’s certainly a double-edged sword. Social media is more helpful to these cold cases than anything, the fact that you can reach practically every person on the planet. You can get the information out to anybody and they can, in turn, find you. It’s a wonderful tool for journalism. With that also comes the anonymity of the Internet and that allows these dangerous people to mask themselves and threaten you from afar. It’s the worst of the worst and the best of the best.”

Q: How can social media be better used in crime investigation?

A: “I think police should be using social media. In fact over the last year or two, the U.S. Marshals have reached out to me and asked me to help them with getting some of the cold cases they’ve worked on out into social media through Reddit and Twitter, online message boards and things like that. So I know bigger agencies are really paying attention to it and trying to use it as a tool for investigation, too. It’s remarkable what’s possible with it.”

Q: Your title: “True Crime Addict” — does it still apply? Toward the end of the book it seemed you might be turning away from all that.

A: This is the last big crime story I’ll work on, at least for the foreseeable future until my kids are grown up. It does take you to a dark place and what I’ve discovered through the course of this book is the fact that I was addicted to true crime, not just true crime, but “addict” extends to my own life, the fact that I learned through the course of this that I was an alcoholic, I was addicted to prescription medication. These true crime stories are and addiction, just like anything else. Once you realize that it’s unhealthy, then you need to start taking action and get it out of your life.”

Q: What’s next for you?

A: “I’m concentrating on novels and screenplays. I’m adapting my first novel (“The Man From Primrose Lane”) into a television series right now. It’s a murder mystery about an out-of-work reporter who tries to solve an old cold case — write what you know.”

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

New Kingston Police Station put on hold

May 12, 2016 By Abram Neal, Express Correspondent

KINGSTON/SILVER LAKE– A plan to build a new police station for Kingston on the main campus of the Silver Lake Regional School District (SLRSD) has run into last-minute legal problems, and is now up in the air.

Kingston had plans to build the station on a 5-acre parcel on Route 27, carved out of land owned by the regional school district. The district had previously received legal counsel that it could sell the parcel, if all of the towns composing the district agreed to the sale of the land at their respective town meetings.

Kingston, Halifax and Plympton had planned to split the proceeds of the agreed-upon $250,000 sales price proportionally according to the percentage of students they send to the district, and Kingston had agreed to donate their proceeds back to the SLRSD for capital expenses.

But over the last few weeks, legal questions began to emerge over the process, according to Halifax Town Administrator Charlie Seelig, culminating in a last minute decision to scuttle the town meeting articles that would have supposedly set the sale process in motion.

Halifax, the first district town to vote on the article, passed it over on Monday.

Kingston Town Administrator Robert Fennessy wrote in an email Thursday evening, May 5, that a legal opinion originally given to the district was revised. Apparently, according to Halifax Town Administrator Seelig, the district only has the statutory authority to buy land, not sell it, as this was not in the original agreement among the towns that formed the regional school district more than 50 years ago.

Fennessy went on to note that because of this lack of statutory authority to sell land, special legislation from the state must grant the district the authority to sell the land if Kingston does want to move forward with the project at that location.

The e-mail further says that Kingston will not have the article on their Annual Town Meeting warrant and suggests that Halifax and Plympton pull it as well, although due to the timing Halifax did pass-over and Plympton will have to pass-over the article.

“Clearly this was understandable, yet disappointing news to our town committees. We will now look at the available options to move forward,” he wrote. A source confirmed that Kingston officials have reached out to their state legislators for assistance.

The plans for a new station have been long in the works. A committee was formed to study the needs of the Kingston Police several years ago, and plans and renderings have been drawn up for the proposed station.  According to a previous interview with Kingston Police Chief Maurice Splaine, renovating the current station on Main Street is not an option as the early 1980’s era building is in a state of deterioration. The current building is about half of the size of police stations in similar towns with similar populations and numbers of officers.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

Fieldstone Farms agreement re-do; MWA toxin warning

May 5, 2016 By Abram Neal, Express Correspondent

HALIFAX– On Tuesday, May 3, Halifax selectmen met after a long break, and discussed two major issues in Halifax: the horse shows at Fieldstone Farms and modifications to the legal agreement that governs them, and a presentation from the Monponsett Watershed Association regarding the potential dangers of cyanobacteria in Monponsett Lake.

Fieldstone Farms

legal agreement

Scott Clawson, proprietor of Fieldstone Farms, accompanied by his son Shawn, came before the board for a public hearing regarding changes that he would like to make to the more than 20-year-old legal agreement between the farm and the town that governs the horse shows he puts on throughout the summer.

Clawson, who set off red-flags among town officials by advertising more shows than were allowed in the agreement this year, managed to turn the verbal chastising he got from the board for that transgression into a full-blown discussion about changing the contract.

This was the latest of several meetings where Clawson, his attorney and the board tried to painstakingly work out the details of changes that Clawson would like to see. Clawson was not accompanied by his attorney on Tuesday, claiming that both were not aware of the date.

Clawson was present at the meeting, as was his attorney, when the date for this public hearing was set, and several neighbors of the property were there to express concerns and ask questions.

Some of the many topics debated were the definition of a “warm-up day” for the horses, increasing the maximum number of show days, raising the maximum number of horses allowed for various shows, provisions for signage and shrubbery, allowing more RVs to house security staff on-premises, whether radios and open fires could be used, and changes to the type and number of vendors. Alcohol, and previous violations were also part of the discussion.

None of these issues

was resolved.

While Selectmen Troy Garron and Tom Millias observed most of the hearing, Selectmen Chairman Kim Roy presided over the hearing, and Town Administrator Charlie Seelig was quite vocal, frequently speaking back and forth with Clawson.

Neighbors were not shy with their suspicions of changes to the agreement because of their concerns regarding traffic, noise, and litter.

Roy wrapped things up after more than an hour of discussion, telling Clawson to come back with a new draft agreement, that addresses the concerns, and they can then pass them along to town counsel– again.

The original agreement came into being when the Halifax Building Inspector took action against Fieldstone Farms 23 years ago.  Following litigation, a settlement was reached with the town.

The agreement, signed by Clawson, the Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Building Inspector, has been in force since then, and changes, if the board agrees to them, will have to be agreed to by the courts.

  Monponsett

  Watershed Association

Paul Collis, president of the Monponsett Watershed Association (MWA), presented scientific information that his organization had discovered to the board. The research shows a correlation between cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae) toxins, which are found in the lake and may become airborne– to ALS and Alzheimer’s Disease.

The research, conducted by Dartmouth University and the University of New Hampshire, and reported in various news outlets prompted the MWA to release a statement regarding the perceived threat, which Collis read to the board:

“Previously public health authorities warned that physical contact with water containing high levels of cyanobacteria could cause skin rashes, gastric distress and/or respiratory problems.

Now research is showing that the cyanobacteria toxins can become airborne and can afflict people who have no physical contact with the water. Moreover, this research shows a correlation between these toxins and devastating afflictions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s.

The cyanobacteria toxin research has shown that people can be afflicted by the toxins even if they do not live near the water bodies. One study suggests that the toxins have a range of 18 miles. Additionally, studies have shown that crops (lettuce, blueberries) irrigated with algae laden water contain the toxins.

According to the Collis, cyanobacteria thrive in conditions where there are nutrients, warm temperatures and stagnant water.

He faults a cranberry bog on West Monponsett Pond that has the right to take and discharge water from and into the lake, as well as septic systems and storm-drain runoff for these nutrients. This all increases phosphorous in the lake, which helps cyanobacteria to thrive.

“We don’t want to be

alarmist, but this

research is alarming.”

They also, as Selectmen appear to, blame the City of Brockton for part of the water quality problems. Brockton has the right under a 1964 law, under certain conditions, to divert water from Monponsett Lake via Silver Lake into their drinking-water supply.

The MWA blames Brockton as well for artificially manipulating the water levels in the lake in order to meet the requirements for diversion laid out in the law.

Every summer since 2008 one or both of the Monponsett Pond basins has been under a public health advisory from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH). In 2015, MDPH tested West Monponsett Pond for 175 consecutive days, June-November, and a public health advisory was issued for 133 of those days,” said Collis.

The MWA has six demands, he went on:

“1) Regular, state funded testing at Monponsett Pond year ‘round;

2) No diversion of water from Monponsett Pond if testing shows an algae bloom above the MDPH guidelines;

3) No diversion of water from Monponsett Pond after May 1 and fully open all gates in the Stump Brook Dam to promote natural water flow and combat stagnant water;

4) Require the coordination of discharges from the Winebrook Bog on West Monponsett Pond and the opening of the gates of the Stump Brook Dam throughout the year. Reports on coordinated discharges must be submitted to the DEP and/or the Central Plymouth Water District Commission

5) Eliminate the use of phosphorus in fertilizer at the Winebrook Bog and upstream bogs that flow into West Monponsett Pond because phosphorus is the prime nutrient in blue green algae growth and is banned from residential fertilizer in Massachusetts; and

6) State funded aluminum sulfate treatments in Monponsett Pond to combat cyanobacteria that exists in the Pond.”

Halifax Health Agent Cathy Drinan has noted in the past that regular testing is done to determine if toxins produced by cyanobacteria are in the air around the lake, and states that they have not been found in the air.

She was also quick to highlight that the preliminary links to disease found in the research cited by the MWA did not necessarily prove causality between airborne toxins produced by cyanobacteria and the diseases mentioned, just a possible correlation.

While the research is certainly cause for concern, the issues surrounding the water quality at the Monponsett Lake are multifaceted, and the public should follow guidelines issued by state and local officials as they are issued.

At this time there is no known danger in breathing the air around the lake, according to Drinan.

Collis ended by saying, “We don’t want to be alarmist, but this research is alarming.”

• The Halifax Annual Town Meeting and Special Town Meeting will be held Monday, May 9, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of the Halifax Elementary School, 464 Plymouth St., Route 106.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

Drug OD calls Sharply rise

April 28, 2016 By Abram Neal, Express Correspondent

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros says that his department responded to ten calls for overdose-related emergencies in a recent 12-day span. The spike is part of a two-year trend showing a marked increase in the frequency of overdose calls, he says.

Of these ten recent calls, two were for accidental overdoses of prescription medications. The rest were for overdoses of illicit drugs. Four calls were on Monday, April 25 alone, in a less than a four-hour period.

The patients ranged in age from 24-65.

Viveiros also noted that emergency responders were seeing the same patients with increased frequency.

Noting a lack of resources to help people struggling with addiction, he said that some people have addiction issues and their families don’t have the financial resources to get appropriate treatment, which may be one of the causes of those who repeatedly overdose.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

Body of Halifax woman found in pond behind Nick & Angelo’s

April 21, 2016 By Kathleen Peloquin, Media Editor

Special to The Express

BRIDGEWATER – Police Chief Christopher Delmonte reports that the Bridgewater Police Department is investigating a body recovered from a local pond Tuesday  night.

On Tuesday, April 19, police received a 911 call at 6:07 p.m. The caller reported that a woman’s body was floating in the middle of a pond behind the plaza at Nick’s & Angelo Pizza Place, on the Bridgewater side of 2105 Plymouth St.

East Bridgewater Fire retrieved the body of Cheryl Siegel, age 34, of Halifax. She was discovered by her boyfriend and boyfriend’s sister after she had been reported missing.

Initial inspection of the body revealed no obvious signs of trauma, but Bridgewater Police are waiting for the autopsy results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Although the investigation is ongoing, the woman’s death is believed to be a suicide.

The incident remains under investigation by Bridgewater Police Detective Joseph DeMoura and an investigator from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. Officers from the East Bridgewater and Halifax Police Departments are also assisting in the investigation, along with the Bridgewater and East Bridgewater Fire Departments.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

Halifax car crash in front of town hall

April 14, 2016 By Abram Neal, Express Correspondent

HALIFAX– On Wednesday, April 13 Halifax emergency personnel were dispatched to a severe motor vehicle crash at 499 Plymouth Street, in front of Town Hall. According to Halifax Fire Chief Jason Vivieros, a mid-size sedan with two male occupants in their 20’s collided head-on with a pick-up truck driven by a 61-year old male.

 

The two sedan passengers were transported via two separate Boston MedFlight helicopters to Boston Medical Center with potentially life-threatening injuries. The helicopters’ landing zone was in the parking lot of the Halifax Walmart.

 

The 61-year-old male was transported by the Halifax Fire Department to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth with non-life threatening injuries.

 

Chief Vivieros stated with thanks that the Hanson Fire Department provided assistance.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

Tony the Cat is home after Grrreat Fire Dept. rescue

April 7, 2016 By Abram Neal, Express Correspondent

HALIFAX– Tony the cat normally lives on Chestnut Road. But, on Wednesday, March 30,  Tony wandered away.  Missing for 48 hours, the curious creature created a stir in the neighborhood, and kept neighbors on their toes searching, both high and low.

On Friday, though, one searcher heard a meow, from all places, beneath the street! Could that be Tony the cat, the neighbor thought, and from whence is that meow coming?

And to the neighbor’s surprise, Tony was found at the bottom of a storm drain. The neighbor called for help, and the Halifax Fire Department arrived to save the day.

Now Tony, already on an adventure, took off further into the stormdrain system when search and rescue arrived, necessitating some further back-up from the Water Department, who helped firefighters map out the underground pipes in the area.

Once the firefighters had an idea of where Tony was hiding, they strategically flushed water into various storm drains, chasing the cat into the arms of a waiting firefighter.

Happily, Tony and owner were soon reunited, and the cat is happily back at home on Chestnut Road, officials report.

When asked why the Halifax Fire Department rescued a cat from a storm drain, Halifax Fire Chief Jason Vivieros responded that there were two reasons: First of all, he said, the area of the system where Tony was found was flooded, and the cat would likely not escape without intervention. Second of all, he knows how attached people are to their pets.

“If we didn’t go down there, a neighbor was going to go down. We didn’t want someone to be in an unsafe situation.”

Tony is a very lucky cat.

Filed Under: Breaking News, News

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