Accidental Witness

Witness goes legitimate

2006-06-16T12:45:00.000-04:00

The Accidental Witness has gone legitimate by signing a correspondents (stringers) contract with Community Newspaper Company’s Lincoln Journal.
The intent is to complement the unusual with the factual.
Work published to date includes local news and lifestyle features. The first article, published on the Journal’s front page involved attending and reporting a meeting on controversial expansion in Lincoln’s historic district requiring interviews for information and quotes. Click here to read.
The second in the Arts and Lifestyle section is a feature on aspiring writers and the Lincoln Library 'Write Stuff' writer's group. Click here to read.

Mixed messages in Lexington.

2006-06-05T15:59:00.000-04:00

Taken by phone camera, this picture demonstrates the limited use of mobile blogging technology. The cryptic signs in yellow say 'Yes to Lexington - Keep Lexington strong in 2006'. Stong for what and how? By way of unintended explanation, the blue signs say 'NO TO TAX OVERIDE' and "NO to 13.4% increase'.

The yellow signs are professionally printed and appear to be part of a coordinated campaign, popping up like spring daffodils in gardens throughout town. The blue hand written signs have more the of the flavor of a solitary citizen's protest. As I watched a procession of cars honk their horns in support or defiance of one or other of the elevated signs, the yellow sign bearer was relieved by another citizen, as if ending her tour of sentry duty. The blue sign bearer looked on, perhaps a little envious of the strength Lexington already has in its drive to price those on fixed incomes out of town.

Think local, act local

2006-05-17T11:18:00.000-04:00

Freelance writer, Geoffrey P. Moore, signed a contract today covering his services as a correspondent (a stringer in the vernacular) for the Lincoln Journal.
No get rich quick scheme, the Lincoln Journal will provide an audience for Geoff's writing and source of attributed clips, required for progress towards a full time career and credibility in magazine journalism.
A small step perhaps, but with the purchase of Community Newspaper Company (CNC) by Gateway Media Inc. the focus on local news will in the respected Journal will increase.
Large media publication readership has declined over the past year, whilst the number of people subscribing to newspapers covering local news events has increased.
Perhaps, as readers have become weary of the deluge of media information on global events, they prefer to shut their doors to what is going on outside their immediate sphere of influence and think local. I hope so, at least for a while.

Easy targets - Predators make victims of us all

2006-04-05T07:37:00.000-04:00

I do not condone the actions of men, or women for that matter, who ‘chat’ on line about sexually explicit subjects with minors or send them pornographic material. It is evil and corrupt and our children need protecting from themselves and predators that lurk in the anonymity of the internet.

There have been several high profile cases of men, both locally – a sheriff’s deputy – and nationally - a press secretary in the Department of Homeland Security – who have been caught in sting operations by law enforcement officers posing as minors.

In the latter case, the accused is charged with transmitting harmful material to a minor, in the former of arranging to meet the minor for sex. Is an adult, posing as a minor, a minor or an adult? Is it an offence to think the person is a minor, when in fact they are not? These are matters for lawyers to argue and the courts to decide. As wrong as these actions are, they got me thinking about my own experience with the question, “How easy is it to become a target of a sting?”

I recently enrolled in MySpace.com, a website used in the main, but not exclusively, by teens and Gen Y’ers for social networking. My purpose was to read the blog of a young adult relative and to be able to leave comments, an action for which enrollment is required. I put up a profile, since these are the steps the site leads a new member through, which clearly indicates that I am a 53 year old male (incidentally about the same age as the two men charged above) and a writer interested in meeting private investigators and FBI Agents, literary agents, editors and publishers. It was a piece of humor, but as I am a mystery writer, I never know when networking if a chance introduction will lead to greater things.

The profile had been up about a month when I received an invitation sent to my home email address from ‘Denise’. She wrote that she was trying to hook up her friend ‘Kelly’, who had seen my profile and picture and had developed what ‘Denise’ described as a “her first crush”. ‘Denise’ had written because “Kelly was too shy to contact me herself”.

Now to my mind and somewhat distant memory, my first crush happened when I was 12 years old and Josephine, my amour, was about the same. Somewhere in a scrapbook I still have the birthday card, in which she describes the rumors of her liking a rival – Paul Harris – as bunk. It was not until she wrote his name that I sadly realized I had a rival, but I digress. First crushes surely happen to teenagers and minors. I was mortified by two possibilities. The first was that there was a girl out there, potentially a minor, who would want to “hook up” with a 53 year old man and the second was that this was stage one of a sting.

My instinct was to reply immediately and to determine if there was a minor at risk, to warn them of the dangers of internet chat and persuade them to desist and seek parental advice. The alternative was to delete the invitation and head for the hills or the internet equivalent, as far away as possible from a set up and the FBI agents I was purporting to want to meet. I chose the latter out of fear of creating even the faintest chance I might become an innocent victim of a sting operation and in doing so I regret that I may have left an equally innocent minor to become a victim of a less concerned and well intentioned adult.

Police Seek Agressive Drivers

2006-04-03T22:04:00.000-04:00

As if Massachusetts motorists don't have enough problems getting from A to B it appears that the local state and local police forces are recruiting drivers with an aggressive streak. They are not even doing it candidly, but blazing the words "Police Seek Aggressive Drivers" across I-95 (Route 128) on flashing overhead signs alternating with the words "Show Road Respect". Well I have never dissed a road in my life and unless an aggressive police driver causes me to, I don't intend to.

The write stuff - they have it

2006-03-30T04:05:00.000-05:00

A young man emulating his dog peeing up a tree masks the underlying message of waste management issues. A confused and homeless cancer ridden woman seeks conversation and help from a complete stranger during a chance encounter which forever destroys the peace and solitude many have sought at Walden Pond. A memoir of self discovery recalls a family’s flight from genocide in Armenia at the turn of the 20th century in which one and half million people were killed in the name of ethnic and religious cleansing. A successful publisher coming to terms with the reality of rising office rental forcing a rethink on business viability after 18 years and seeking a silver lining in the form of a new career. The breadth and depth of these deeply moving, emotionally charged essays, shared by email, read with passion at the Write Stuff writers group, provides ample evidence of the richness of human experience and the desire to record and share it.
We made suggestions to the authors and to each other on ways that the works could be improved. Change a sentence here, move a paragraph there, less emphasis on ideology, more emphasis on facts, less verbatim dialogue; keep verbatim dialogue. Less anger, more lessons learned. All comments were graciously given and received.
But the real lesson is that it’s not about the punctuation or grammar or the orderliness of ideas. It’s not about writing for other people to read and enjoy, though enjoy we did. It is about writing with a personal purpose. To record a family history lest they forget and time robs the mind and body of its custodian. To explain why a place that was once a sanctuary for silent thought and reflection is sullied by the guilt of helplessness and must now be avoided. To expose a hurt born of unfair treatment so that the anger may be swept away and a clear path for hope can be fashioned. And to be one with nature, on par with so called lesser animals, free from rules imposed by the wisdom of mankind.

Are you a believer

2006-03-26T07:54:00.000-05:00

Do you believe that any religious or educational establishment can circumvent zoning laws under the MA Dover amendment law?
Do you believe that The Korean Hope Church of Boston, an ethnic religious organization, without any local community ties, and with a catchment area variously described as "Greater Boston" and "inside I495", can purchase a residential home on a 2 acre lot, in a rural cul de sac of 5 homes, with the secret intent to build a church on the lot?
Do you believe that the plan is for a church with a footprint of 6100 square feet, three stories (36 feet high excluding the planned steeple), with 250 seats?
Do you believe this residential property will be paved to provide 83 car parking spaces with only a 10 foot buffer space between them and neighboring gardens.
Do you believe that this plan is put forward as serving the neighborhood, when services start at 6am 5 days a week, choir practice, educational classes as well as services weekday evenings and of courses multiple services on Sundays?
Do you believe the arrogance of the churches legal advisor speaking for the Church, `who says "not if, but when we build it", "we have no need to consult with residents" and "people always resist change".
Do you believe these charitable organizations pay no taxes, yet add to town's tax burden and by converting residences, actually decrease the number of properties paying tax, thereby passing the burden on to their neighbors?

I not only believe - I know. I witnessed it first hand on Tuesday 21 March at 9 Acorn Lane Lincoln. The home of the Korean Hope Church of Boston

Well brothers and sister, it is real, it is happening and it could happen to a property right next to you.

Another milestone

2006-03-16T07:34:00.000-05:00

With some trepidation, I emailed my 750 word piece - Interview 101 - to the mercy of the collective wisdom that comprises the 10 member Write Stuff critique group. My first public reading of it - indeed my first public reading - was less nerve racking than I thought it would be.
People are generally kind and helpful, unless threatened and this proved to be the case. Comments were helpful and some even complimentary. "Tightly written", "realistic dialogue", "as though sitting watching through the interview room window", "enjoyed reading it" are some of the good things said. "Continuity issues and POV slippage", "grammar errors and English idiosyncrasies" were others to be corrected.

I also learned:

that writers require confidence in themselves
to recognize that everyone will spot at least one error and has at least one opinion on the piece
to write first for ones self

Write Stuff at the Library

2006-03-02T07:34:00.000-05:00

Is it a bird, is it a plane, will it take off? Time will tell if a group of writers from Lincoln, who met on a cold March evening, has what it takes to meld into a supportive and effective critique group.
Organized by Librarian of the Year (2005) and mystery maven, Jean Bracken, the Lincoln Library sponsored group of ten met to decide their ground rules, modus operandi and more importantly, who goes first.
A round robin indicates that interests range from family memoirs, to journalistic activism and ambitions from therapy to hall of fame status with the financial trappings sufficient to pay Town taxes. If only that could be true. Diverse backgrounds and experiences bonded together by no more than the desire to put finger to keyboard and produce the 2 to 1000 words that will be shared, critiqued and probably strongly defended by four of the ten on a bi-weekly basis.
Will deadlines encourage attendance or excuses? Time and March 15 will tell.

Cold cuts for two

2005-12-10T15:45:00.000-05:00

The snow stopped at around 4pm yesterday, after a final blast that created white out conditions. The house is cocooned with blown snow heaped up on all sides and of course on top of its almost flat roof.

Are igloos and ice palaces naturally warm? Is a layer of snow a benefit as insulation, compared with no layer of snow? Or does the snow conduct heat away from the fabric of the house. Answers on a Christmas card or $20 bill please.

We were too lazy to put away torches, tables and chairs before the storm and I am rather glad I didn't. All day I watched as the layer built up, like soft icing sugar on a cake, spilling on to the chairs and gliding down on to the ground. The torches with their flames snuffed out by snow caps make a statement about the persistence of cold over heat.

Clean up took 3 hours using snow blower, and shovels, but the sun was warm, the sky bright and the breeze non existent. So the first storm of the year was earlier than last and wasn't too bad. In fact it made a rather fine table setting.

Snow joke for feathered friends

2005-12-09T13:23:00.000-05:00

Today brought the first "real" snow of the winter, a blast that has deposited 9 inches since 6 am and won't let up for a while.
With it came a feeding frenzy of birds. The feeders were full at 9am, but I just counted approximately 70 birds flying around it, goldfinches, tufted titmouse, black cap chickadee, wood doves, red cardinals, blue jays, purple finches, dark eyed junco, white breasted nut hatches. How many do you see?

Turkey denied entry to safe house

2005-11-11T06:52:00.000-05:00

We don't get many visitors at our front door. When we do, they are usually selling magazine subscriptions or soliciting help to save the environment. Today the tap, tapping was hesitant, unsure, but louder than the usual scratching made by ground squirrels.

I tugged the door open to find a wild turkey standing there.

Did it sense that we are vegetarians or detect by the aroma of nut loaf & marinara sauce that this was a safe house for Thanksgiving? Was it looking for respite from media coverage of the avian flu epidemic and looking for somewhere to go cold turkey?

Perhaps, but the next day 7 more turkeys glided in for a smooth touch down, before waddling off into the woods cackling with delight.

To hear and see more about wild turkeys go these excellent pages from Fairfax County Public Schools.

Tea leaves a bad taste

2005-11-06T15:27:00.000-05:00

So what did we learn from Saturday’s State of the Town meeting?

Town meetings are run by well intentioned people, who are unable to start on time, have a tendency to talk at you and keep doing it for too long and have difficulty framing a yes/no answer question. Meetings are attended by polite, concerned people who seek in depth clarification, but generally have difficulty framing a coherent comment.

The ARP (At Risk Property) committee did a fine job of identify building plots and using consultants to describe what might happen them and consequently the positive or negative cost to the town, aka property tax payers.
The consultants massaged egos with observations on median property values, now over $1,000,000, and the Town’s creative land management policy.
Their cost models also appeared to be massaged and were taken to task by many, as was the probability of the plots current owner playing the 40B or any other Chapter 40 cards.

The ‘Town’ received a mandate by a scrappy vote, although it was made clear the meeting was for information only, to pursue modest ‘friendly’ 40B development now to buy time for similar modest development later, ultimately protecting the Town from aggressive Chapter 40B forever.

When I got home, I took a look into my drained teacup and saw the following:

The DeNormandie property will be purchased by the Town as open space and a corridor to Minuteman National Park.
The BIIC site on route 2 will become a commercial development of office and/or retail, with perhaps custodial accommodation.
The Kennedy site which straddles Lincoln and Waltham will be the focus of friendly 40B development.
It will take 5 years minimum for any of these things to happen, unless overlay/zoning districts are amended, which will take 2 years.

At risk properties - a burning issues.

2005-11-05T07:12:00.000-05:00

The townpeople of this rural New England enclave will meet to today to discuss a burnining issue. One that raises the temperature of many for vastly different reasons. Some because they live next to an 'at risk' property and see their property values 'at risk', others because the recognize a softening up process leading to higher taxes and others because they just want an affordable home in the town they work in.

Yes, specter of Chapter 40B, the law that allows a developer to circumvent Lincoln's 2 acre (that's right, you need a 2 acre plot to build a house here) zoning is make an appearance again, too late for Halloween, but you might see some fireworks.

In 'Olde' England, people will gather tonight to celebrate a different burning issue. One that took place in 1606 long before 40B developments or even the founding of America. Guy Fawkes, the fall guy of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament will be burned in effigy all over England and there will definitely be fireworks.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys of Hanscom Field

2005-10-25T17:17:00.000-04:00

If you live in North Lincoln, anywhere near Minuteman National Park, you’ll know what I mean, if not read on.
Imagine your neighbor turns their ghetto blaster real loud and 3 times a day, 7 days a week, treats you to his ‘musack de vie’.

How did it come to this? First train whistles in the South and now bugles in the North.

I first ‘noticed’ the testing of a new sound system back in July, when Hansom Air Force Base was saved from the wrecker’s ball by the Base Re-Alignment and Closure Commission (BRACC).
I assumed it was a celebration, parade, publicity stunt or just the military being the military.

Over the next week the sound volume increased further, as did the number of times played.

Now we have:

7:30am – Reveille and the Star Spangled Banner; to start of the working day.

4:30pm – Retreat and the Star Spangled Banner; to end of the official working day.

9:00pm – Taps signaling lights out. (I noticed they don’t actually turn the lights out, which I think is cheating).

So will the selectmen come to the aid of North Lincoln? Do we need a whistle blower ?

Should we sound the call to arms or just be glad that BRAC did not close this fine R&D establishment and that we can still hear the bugles above the roar of Hanscom Airfield, New England’s busiest private jet airfield?

Sassy Seniors exceed 'sell by' date.

2005-10-21T14:50:00.000-04:00

Male members of the Friends of the Council on Aging are seeking to raise $500,000 by taking their clothes off every day for the next 12 months and are willing to share the experience with anyone for the low, low sum of $15.
Yes, for less than 5 cents a day you too can experience men without tights or much of anything else. As English comedian, Dick Emery, would say "Oh you are awful...But I like you".

Lincoln, MA. a dry town, a town without a restaurant or any entertainment after the selectmen meeting ends, is not given to excesses. So it came as a shock when I flicked open the glossy pages sitting prominently on the library counter, just a few inches above the eye level of a six year old.
Oh, the pictures are as tasteful as they can be of bare skinned men riding a bike, or painting a house, or picking daisies or any of the 'creative poses' that lie in wait. But nobody should be exposed to the naked reality of aging.
The well known fitness chain for women, Curves, recently opened in the mall. Based on this showing Lincoln has a greater need for a men's fitness centre - any offers.

Sadly the full story can be found in The Lincoln Journal.

The is 'Mr. August' Kenton Ide, who posed with this paint can, signs a calendar during Sunday's Coming Out Party for the 'Sassy Seniors' 2006 calendar and was taken by Lincoln Journal staff - Ellen Bullock.

Since only 2400 copies of the calendar were published it would help if they were sold as far away from Lincoln as possible so please, PLEASE, contact COA Director Karen Santucci at 781-259-8811 or by e-mail at santuccik@lincolntown.org and purchase one for the inside of your cupboard or dark drawer

Note passing at Lincoln bank

2005-10-20T13:25:00.000-04:00

As reported in 'Missing Inaction', I wasn't there when a white male (described as 6 feet tall, in his mid-20's and wearing black pants, black shoes, black windbreaker - is there a pattern here - and a white baseball cap) made a written request to a teller at the Bank of America, Lincoln Mall. He made a big mistake; everyone here wears a Red Sox cap, so he will be easy to pick out in a line up.
We don't know exactly what the note said, whether it was hand or type written or even made from scraps cut out of the Lincoln Journal. The culprit had the presence of mind to ask for it back, along with $380 from the teller's drawer, before running to an adjacent parking lot. Police responded quickly to an automatic security alarm and 911 call from the bank and officers from Lincoln, Concord K9, Weston and the FBI bank robbery task force interviewed witnesses and continue to investigate.
One witness observed that 'given the hourly cost of all these fine people, not to mention the cost of trial and incarceration when the guilty person is brought to justice, it's a pity there isn't a method of requesting $380 direct from the tax payer without involving everyone else'.
There is, it's called the town override. The problem is that it can only be requested by elected officials, but all they need is a vote instead of a note.

Road Block

2005-10-20T07:58:00.000-04:00

After a while the locals figure out a way to block of all escape routes.

State Police go the extra mile.

2005-10-19T07:56:00.000-04:00

State police finally arrive, by which time a large, but unusually happy crowd has gathered. Reinforcements are only seconds behind.

Missing inaction.

2005-10-18T20:56:00.000-04:00

Sad but true, not much happens in the Town of Lincoln, MA and when it did I was there, or rather I wasn't.
This conservation minded town has only one small shopping mall. Not a strip mind, but an elegant design, with small cafe, mini-market, ladies fitness centre, hardware store, gift shop, art gallery, travel agent and a large chain bank. Let's call them Bank of Albania - (but remember where we really are).
I pop into the food store and then sit outside, enjoying the sun after 8 days of rain. I am reading a book, occasionally taking notes of passing conversation in my new journalist notebook. Nothing special - no "yeah, she never got up afterwards" or "he was down there doing his business all night" just simple things like "did ya pick up the invoice?" and "no, after you've eaten."
Police sirens wail, but they've been pretty active today, stopping speeding cars on the 20 mph school stretch and so I continue reading, eventually getting in the car to drive home. That's when I first see the scene of crime tape. Streams of it, cordoning off the bank, cafe and travel agent, bold and bright, tied like a yellow ribbon round the old... Well you get the picture. Five police cars, from Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln are stopped at 'screech to a halt' angles. Cops with notebooks talk to men and women in business suits. A reporter and photographer hover, aiming telephoto lenses beyond the perimeter. Traffic crawls by slowed by the novelty of it all.
No I don't know what happened. I slink away, annoyed with myself for missing the action because of a book. A book with the title - 'Solving Real Life Mysteries'. I'll let you know what "went down" when I find out.