WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 A dustup over custodians in Saugus Lynn By Bridget Turcotte don’t appoint town of cials. They don’t hire New hires are expected to “begin July 1, man ITEM STAFF employees. They don’t sign contracts. They 2019,” a day after the current contracts ex- don’t negotiate contracts. Even when this pire. SAUGUS — A Town Meeting member says Town Meeting appropriates money, the town “The proposer must demonstrate the need- admits he is being silenced after he was not allowed manager or the school side are not required ed organizational abilities to successfully im- to read a resolution that supported school to spend that money.” plement the transition from our current ser- custodians. Twice. Contracts for the school district’s 20 custo- vice to the new program within the proposed role in “This is absurd,” said precinct 5 Town Meet- dians are set to expire on June 30 and mem- timeline,” according to the document. ing member Ron Wallace. “I’m totally being bers of Local 262 believe their jobs will be Listed under staf ng requirements, the silenced.” lost to privatization. RFP speci es that the contractor must agree lottery Town Counsel John Vasapolli said the body A Request for Proposals obtained by The to interview Saugus Public Schools employ- has three functions: to appropriate funds for Item states that “the School District current- ees “who may be displaced by the execution the town budget, adopt or amend bylaws, and ly staffs custodial/cleaning and light mainte- of this contract” for open positions. accept local option statutes. nance services. The District is seeking pro- Wallace said he was “disgusted” that no scheme “Town Meeting does not spend the funds posals for custodial/cleaning services from that they appropriate,” said Vasapolli. “They private companies …” SAUGUS, A3 By Thomas Grillo ITEM STAFF BOSTON — A Lynn man pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in a Newhall scheme to buy millions of dollars’ worth of winning Massachusetts State Lot- keeps tery tickets at a discount to help the ticket holders avoid taxes, according to the U.S. attorney’s of ce. Cuffe Clarance Jones, 80, was arrested last fall and charged with tax fraud legacy and ling false tax re- turns. Law enforcement authorities alleged he used a “10-percenting” alive ploy to become the na- tion’s top lottery winner. By Thor Jourgensen Under the scam, ticket ITEM STAFF holders sold the winning tickets to Jones for less LYNN — The late Walter A. than face value. He pre- Cuffe Jr. gave Tom Newhall his sented them to the lottery rst job and now he is turning as his own, and collected the page on a new chapter in the full winnings. Jones Cuffe-McGinn Funeral Home’s reported the winnings on history. his tax returns, but offset Newhall is the managing fu- them with purported gam- neral director for the Maple bling losses. Street business owned by Digni- From 2011 through ty Memorial, a national funeral 2017, Jones has cashed home network. With a legacy more than 7,300 winning stretching back to 1934 when lottery tickets with a total Cuffe’s father, Walter, opened a of $10.8 million. Johnson Street funeral home, It is alleged that during Cuffe-McGinn arranges almost that six-year period, Jones 260 funeral services annually paid less than $16,000 in with six employees and assis- federal tax on a total of tance from Walter A. Cuffe Jr.’s $52,000 of reported in- widow, Sally Cuffe. come. During this period, “To me, Walter was a legend. Jones claimed that he was He taught me the value of taking a professional gambler care of families in their toughest and all of his winnings times,” Newhall said. were offset by alleged Newhall was a junior at Lynn losses. Vocational Technical Institute in He is scheduled to be 1988 when his parents told him sentenced by U.S. Dis- to add work on top of his study trict Court Judge F. Den- schedule. He met Cuffe as an al- nis Saylor on Aug. 13. He tar boy at Sacred Heart Church. could spend as many as “I knocked on Walter’s door and eight years in federal pris- he said, ‘Go to the garage and on and pay $350,000 in wash the cars,’” Newhall said. nes. A Tech Class of 1990 member Jones, who has had at (and Hall of Fame member), Ne- least seven Lynn addresses whall studied the funeral busi- since the 1990s, according ness at the former New England BY BILL BROTHERTON to public records, could not be reached for comment. NEWHALL, A3 In addition, two co-con- spirators, store owners Lynn’s Sylvia VIA whose businesses were not identi ed in court l- ings, have pleaded guilty is calling all artists in connection with the scheme. LYNN — Sylvia VIA, a Lynn- other local artists,” said VIA, who George Kinslieh, 68, of based artist and designer, has has a studio in the LynnArts Lynn, was charged with one count of ling false been put in charge of creating art building in Central Square. She tax returns. He is sched- for the Harborside Inn boutique has been asked to provide 85 in- uled to be sentenced on hotel near Boston’s Faneuil Hall. stallations. Above, Sylvia VIA models some of her June 26. And she’d like every North “I want to issue a call for art- Bhavna Patel, 44, a Pea- Shore-based artist to participate. ists, especially in Lynn, because jewelry designs. Top, one of her paintings. body resident, pleaded “I am beyond ecstatic about this some of my Lynn Classical teach- guilty to one count of con- opportunity to create art for the ers like Patty White or Mrs. spiring to defraud the IRS hotel and be on its design team. I want to share my blessings with ARTISTS, A3 SCHEME, A3 INSIDE Tutwiler sets sights on Opinion Swampscott makes the right move. A4 goals with budget plan NSCC has a lot By Gayla Cawley ment to a city department, is ex- ing at the middle school level, to celebrate. A4 ITEM STAFF pected to be nalized on May 30 getting closer to state compli- Sports and would be a 7.25 percent in- ance with meeting the needs of LYNN — Superintendent crease over last year’s amount. English language learners and Tech boys, Classical Dr. Patrick Tutwiler told the students on Individualized Ed- girls win rst-ever The budget allows Lynn Public City Council Budget Commit- ucation Programs (IEPs) and meet between city’s Schools to maintain its existing tee Tuesday evening the Lynn staff and meet all of its con- implementing a social-emotion- ve schools. B1 Public Schools scal year 2020 tractual obligations, including al learning program for grades budget has not been nalized K-5. ITEM PHOTO | JIM WILSON Busy stretch catches up to teacher step increases, accord- or approved, but school of cials He said the school department St. Mary’s baseball. B1 ing to Tutwiler. Tom Newhall is the man- are working from an allotment Tutwiler said the budget al- will be using their budget to ad- aging funeral director for of $159.3 million. lows him to meet some of his dress the “ever-growing” student Cuffe-McGinn Funeral Mistakes cost Classical softball in loss. B1 The projected budget, which district improvement goals, Home. represents the largest allot- such as addressing overcrowd- TUTWILER, A3 OBITUARIES ..............................A2 ENTERTAINMENT .......................A7 COMICS/DIVERSIONS ........... B4-5 HIGH 67° VOL. 141, ISSUE 140 OPINION ...................................A4 LOOK! .......................................A8 CLASSIFIED ........................... B6-7 LOW 53° POLICE/FIRE .............................A6 SPORTS ................................ B1-3 FOOD ........................................B8 PAGE A8 ONE DOLLAR A2 THE DAILY ITEM WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 OBITUARIES Elaine Antonakes, 85 Norma J. Melanson, 85 1934-2019 Elaine (Katsos) Antonakes LYNN — Mrs. Norma J. passed away on May 21, (Coco) Melanson, 85, of Lynn, 2019 on her 85th birthday. passed away at North Shore She is the wife of Michael Medical Center Salem Hos- Antonakes, with whom she pital following a brief illness. shared 63 years of marriage. She is the wife of the late Jo- Born in Lynn, she is a grad- seph P. “GiGi” Melanson. uate of Lynn Classical High Norma was born Jan. 12, School and Simmons College. 1934 in Omaha, Neb. She is After her marriage, Mrs. Anton- the daughter of the late Jack PHOTO | ASSOCIATED PRESS akes worked in New York City and Maxine (King) Coco. She Mary Ann DeMello hugs her husband, Frank, for several years before be- grew up in Nebraska and who has Alzheimer’s disease, during a rally at coming a mother. After spend- graduated from Central High the State House in Boston Tuesday. ing a year in Greece, Mrs. An- School in Omaha. She has re- tonakes, her husband and her sided in Lynn for many years. children returned to this area Norma worked for the City of to raise their family. Lynn as a clerk in the election Senate debates When she received her Mas- of ce for many years until her ter’s in Education from Salem retirement. State University, she began her Christopher Hoffman and Lau- Norma enjoyed cooking, son Joseph Melanson and her Lynn Public Schools teaching ren McMann; Dean and Nina bowling and entertaining her grandson Tony Melanson. $42.7B state career, which spanned 25 Antonakes of Pickering, Ontario, friends and family as well as Service information: Nor- years. She had varied experi- Canada, and children, Michael traveling. She will be fondly ma’s visiting hours will be in ences on the elementary lev- and Demi; and Steven and remembered for her sense of the CUFFE-MCGINN Funeral budget plan el.