North Shore

Tim Mouradian photographed a lost sailboat in Swampscott today.

Copyright Tim Mouradian. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

The reporters standing on the water side of the sea walls, that is:

Charles Palleschi took this photo by Lynn Beach near the Swampscott line today.

Lynn Beach video.

Backhoe falls off trailer, kills woman on 495.

Wood and debris hit Haverhill man on I-95 South:

Tom O'Brien, of Haverhill, was on his way to work in Wakefield, when a giant piece of wood came crashing through his windshield.

Boston Police say they've stanched the flow of underage South Shore residents who'd been flocking to the pub as an easy place to get a drink.

At a Boston Licensing Board hearing this morning, Det. Michael Talbot said he paid a visit to Biddy Early's on Pearl Street on June 13 after somebody dropped a dime to A-1 about South Shore kids making regular runs to the place.

The Salem News reports the city licensing board put a local witch on watch for a spell for making alleged online threats against other witches and psychics. The board voted to suspend his witchcraft license for six months - but to belay the punishment if he stays out of double, double toil and trouble for a year.

Common Cause Massachusetts is hosting a Redistricting Olympics this summer. We will be taking citizen drawn Congressional, State House, and State Senate maps all summer, evaluating them, declaring a winner, giving out prizes and submitting the winning maps to the MA Legislative Redistricting Committee for consideration.

The purpose of the redistricting Olympics is threefold: to educate the public about the steps in the redistricting process, to initiate public participation in the political arena, and to pressure the legislature to draw the districts so that the citizens are appropriately represented.

Help show the legislature that redistricting is about our interests, not theirs. By participating in our redistricting Olympics and learning how to draw your own fair districts, you can acquire the tools you need to expose attempts by public officials to politicize the state’s new legislative maps.

For more information check out and/or email us at .

Participate in our democracy!

Yoni Appelbaum reports on days of yore when Salem would light massive bonfires to herald July Fourth:

For weeks, volunteers assembled materials, stacking them into a towering pyramid reaching high into the air. Fat hogsheads on the bottom supported row upon row of oily casks, topped with layers of smaller kegs. The pyramid claimed eight thousand barrels; some years, it had forty tiers. At midnight, a bundle of burning rags was run up to the top on wire pulleys, igniting the pile and announcing "that the night has turned into the morning of a new year of liberty."

The Coast Guard reports finding this boat two miles southeast of Tinkers Island, near Marblehead, today. Efforts to contact the owner have been unsuccessful, so the Coast Guard has launched an in-water search.

The boat has "Mueller" and "6/10" hand written on the side of the engine cover.

The Salem News reports on a woman who simply written "11" on a piece of yellow tape then stuck it on her license plate because she couldn't get insurance for her car, what with a history that included multiple license suspensions for things such as being held responsible for five accidents. A Salem District Court judge, however, dismissed a charge of using a falsified motor vehicle document because state law doesn't mention plate decals specifically.

Today, I have the honor of working with my friends Steve and Brad on a 48 hour film project. There are several teams all across the greater Boston area doing this today. I'm liveblogging our progress today, and if you would like to read what we've been doing, feel free.

http://amusingsbnl.blogspot.com/2011/05/liveblogging-48-hour-film-project.html

The film assignment was given last night, and is due to be returned by Sunday afternoon. This is a lot of fun, and effort, and I can't wait to see the finished product. For more info on the 48 hour film project, visit their website: http://www.48hourfilm.com/boston/

An Essex County resident yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony over the theft of some 100 million PlayStation Network user records - and the loss of access to the gaming network.

In her lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, Dawn Thompson says she is seeking in excess of $5 million - plus lawyers' fees - for herself and fellow gamers. Thompson charges the company negligently disregarded basic security measures, lied to subscribers and is depriving customers of access to the network that they paid for.

Sony shut PSN last month after discovering it had been hacked. Thompson, who says she bought a PlayStation 3 and PSN access in 2009, charges:

Charlene McBride posted this today.

FBI: LePage with gun at man's head.

A Stoughton man was charged today with the armed hold-up of an Eastern Bank branch at 102 Lynn St. in Peabody on Monday, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports.

Mark LePage, 47, faces up to 25 years in prison for the robbery. The FBI charges LePage put a gun to the head of the man in front of him and demanded all his money. Then, the FBI says, he used the gun to get additional money from a teller.

AlertNewEngland reports he got away with $20,000 and "bait money" and that LePage, who already has a lengthy record, was living in Revere.

Innocent, etc.

Steve Nadis reports on his unusual path for a scheduled meeting on the North Shore earlier this week.

UPDATE, 10:30 p.m.: Peabody Police report no threats to nearby residents.

An explosion ripped the Bostik adhesives plant on Boston Road, near the Peabody and Lynnfield lines tonight, sparking a four-alarm fire that led to the shutdown of Rte. 62.

State Police report four injuries, but that no evacuation of surrounding residents has been ordered. Ted Pendergast tweets the fire engulfed all three floors of the building. He reports the fire was knocked down around 8:20 but that the area remains closed as hazmat crews evaluate the scene.

Karen Watson tweets:

Live almost 7 miles from Bostik Chemical Plant and explosion sounded like a sonic boom and house shook tonight.

Hello U-Hubbers,

I know some of us still have snow on the ground and summer time seems like a far away midsummer night's dream. But I thought I'd throw this out there in case some of you are looking for a summer program for your kid(s) that is a little different/interesting/unique than the average summer camp program.

Rebel Shakespeare Company is located in Salem MA and this year we find our enrollment for July and August is a lot lower than it usually is (ie: by now we're usually full with a waiting list).

So this could be your opportunity if you're looking for something different for the summer activities. Our regular program is for kids aged 9-15, and no acting experience is needed. Everyone is taught, learns, explores, grows. In July we're doing "Romeo and Juliet" with this age group, and in August we're either doing "Hamlet" or "A Comedy of Errors," depending on the enrollment. Our Teen program is doing "The Scottish Play"... ahem, in July. And in August, "The Tempest." The Teen program is usually for kids who have had acting experience, and we take a tour around the north shore and Boston doing 10 shows in a week's time. It's a great adventure.

Seems yesterday's major delays on that commuter line were caused by what the Salem News called a stripped lug nut that kept the Beverly drawbridge in an open position for nearly four hours. The News also reports that repairs to the bridge begun in 2008 are still not finished.

So what about today's delays on the line? The T blames switch problems.

Check out the note posted on the door of a Dunkin' Donuts in Salem at the height of the storm.

H/t Aaron Donovan.

Mike the Mad Biologist considers GE's effort to blackmail the state - give us $25 million or else. At first, it sounds kind of similar to Liberty Mutual's successful effort to wring tax breaks out of Boston and the state for its new headquarters building on the edge of the Back Bay. But Liberty Mutual at least is giving the city a new tower that will, ultimately, supposedly mean more tax revenue, while GE's argument seems to be: Give it to us because we want it. Plus, Liberty Mutual never threatened to fire people or shut its Boston operations if it didn't get the breaks.

In their all-black wetsuits in the dreary gray water of Nahant Bay this afternoon, some surfers looked like nothing so much as mimes on boards. Crazy mimes on the verge of hypothermia, to be exact, but maybe those suits are warmer than they look.

The Animal Rescue League of Boston reports a technician was summoned to Lynn this afternoon on a report of a kitten with its head stuck in a tire rim. Workers at a local animal hospital disengaged cat from wheel without any apparent damage to either, the ARL reports.

North Shore Bloggers Consortium will highlight weekend picks from members every Thursday.

Downtown Lynn reports on progress now that MBTA and local police are on the case.

To preview your primary ballot for tomorrow, click on the link from the Secretary of State's website:

then enter your address and select a political party. It will show you what choices you'll have on tomorrow's primary ballot.

Channel 7 reports.