TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2017 Drainage a Pleasant City council facing a project in Marblehead question of leadership By Gayla Cawley age system more ef ciently, ” said Amy By Thomas Grillo said Cyr. “We will be an unbelievable ITEM STAFF McHugh, superintendent of the Water ITEM STAFF team, we are all about openness and and Sewer Commission. have already had lots of discussions and MARBLEHEAD — Phase 2 of the LYNN — The new year will bring fresh Pleasant Street drainage project, that To proceed with the second phase, the leadership to the city council. are looking forward to working with the will prevent water from leaching out of town was awarded more than $1 mil- Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr has mayor to make sure things keep moving culverts into nearby basements and in- lion in Federal Emergency Management lined up votes to be the next city council in the city.” crease the ow rate, will move forward Agency funds in 2015. president and Councilor-at-Large Buzzy City Council President Daniel Cahill, this spring, say town of cials. Funds were initially approved for drain- Barton has secured the vice president who was elected to the legislature in “In short, water will enter the storm- age improvements in the Pleasant Street post. The vote is expected to take place May, told councilors he planned to step water system faster, be contained in on the council’s rst meeting of 2017. the system and moved out of the drain- DRAINAGE, A7 “I believe Buzzy and I have the votes,” CITY COUNCIL, A7 A SIX-ALARM AFTERMATH Families seeking shelter By Thomas Grillo ITEM STAFF LYNN — One day after a New Year’s morning re forced more than ve dozen residents into the street, 15 spent Sunday night at Lynn Classical High School. The six-alarm blaze at 22 W. Baltimore St. de- stroyed the roof and much of the interior of the yel- low brick building, in what the district re chief called a total loss, leaving the occupants homeless. While most of the res- idents have been united with family with the help of the Red Cross, many are still waiting to be AFTERMATH, A7 Neighbors offer their assistance By Thomas Grillo ITEM STAFF LYNN — They lined Ex- change Street in SUVs, pickup trucks, late model cars and jalopies. Hundreds of Good Sa- maritans arrived in droves at LynnArts Monday with bags of clothes, shoes, coats, diapers, toys, gift certi cates and cash in re- sponse to a plea of support from the nonpro t and Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy to help the doz- ens of families displaced by the New Year’s Day re on West Baltimore Street. “Lynn is very unique,” PHOTOS | SCOTT EISEN said Lisa Wallace, founder Top, 22 West Baltimore St. the day after the building was destroyed by a six-alarm re in Lynn on Sunday. Above left, Lorin of One Community One Buksa sorts donated children’s toys for victims of the West Baltimore Street re at LynnArts on Monday. Above right, Lynn re ghters on the scene of the West Baltimore Street re during a small rekindling on Monday. DONATIONS, A7 Funding in the works Peabody in for manufacturing jobs a state of By Thomas Grillo ITEM STAFF celebration LYNN — Thirty prospective machinists will have their tuition paid at the E-Team program, an adult By Adam Swift machinist training project housed at Lynn Vocation- FOR THE ITEM al Technical Institute. The program won more than PEABODY — Mayor Edward A. Bet- $145,000 in grants from the Advanced Manufacturing tencourt Jr.’s review on the state of the Training Program that will pay tuition for 30 students, city, followed by its centennial celebra- part of a $1.5 million state grant. tion Monday night, was, even more this “People assume manufacturing is dead,” said Tony Dunn, year than most, a chance to look forward program director and instructor. “But it’s coming back and while looking back. the only thing that’s stopping it is the lack of skilled ma- “It was Jan. 1, 1917, that the rst Pea- chinists to do the work. Right now, (General Electric) is try- body city government was sworn into of- ing to hire and they can’t nd quali ed candidates.” ce, in a ceremony that was much like GRANT, A7 this,” said Bettencourt at city hall for the mid-term inaugural and city council reorganization ceremony. Bettencourt’s talk was followed by a birthday party for INSIDE the city in the Wiggin Auditorium. PHOTO | NICOLE GOODHUE BOYD Earlier in the evening, the city council In Opinion In Sports elected Ward 5 Councilor Joel Saslaw as LHAND’s St. Mary’s girls hockey Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. speaks during the mid- pioneering work. A4 cruises past Lexington. B1 term inaugural and city council reorganization ceremony. PEABODY, A6 OBITUARIES ..............................A2 LOOK! .......................................A8 DIVERSIONS .............................B5 HIGH 44° VOL. 139, ISSUE 23 OPINION ...................................A4 SPORTS ................................ B1-3 CLASSIFIED ........................... B6-7 LOW 40° POLICE/FIRE .............................A6 COMICS ....................................B4 BUSINESS ................................B8 PAGE A8 ONE DOLLAR A2 THE DAILY ITEM TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2017 OBITUARIES John A. Peters, 70 Armless Syrian boy thrives in 1946-2016 LYNN — Mr. John A. sons; Anthony and US, hopes family can join him Peters, 70, of Lynn, Nicolas; his close died Friday in the Ka- cousin; Maryann By Philip Marcelo plan Family Hospice Brown and her hus- ASSOCIATED PRESS House in Danvers band Skip, all of after a courageous Lynn; as well as three SHARON — Ahmad battle with cancer. nieces and many Alkhalaf has had a busy He was the husband cousins and extend- year. of Jean M. (Cerica) ed family members. He attended Democratic Peters with whom he He was the brother of President Barack Obama’s shared 42 years of marriage. A the late Patricia Peters. final State of the Union ad- lifelong Lynn resident, he was Service information: His dress as a special guest of the son of the late Angelo and funeral will be held on Thurs- a congressman. He learned Fannie (Luise) Peters. day at 10 a.m. from the SO- to bike and rollerblade, John was the owner of John LIMINE Funeral Home, 426 took martial arts and gym- A. Peters Landscaping for Broadway (Rt. 129), Lynn, nastics classes and spent many years. He built a suc- followed by a funeral Mass his summer playing soccer cessful business on his own; at 11 a.m. in Holy Family and swimming in a lake at a business he took great pride Church, Lynn. Burial will a day camp in the Boston in. He was also proud of the be in Pine Grove Cemetery. suburbs. work he did on the grounds Relatives and friends are And he received his first of Our Lady, Star of the Sea respectfully invited. Visiting pair of prosthetic arms af- Church in Marblehead. He and hours are Wednesday from ter his were blown off three his wife enjoyed dining out, as 4-8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, years ago in a refugee camp well as their trips to Maine donations may be made to bomb blast that also killed and New Hampshire nearly the Kaplan Family Hospice three of his siblings. FILE PHOTO | ASSOCIATED PRESS every weekend. His greatest House, 78 Liberty St., Dan- But as the 11-year-old Syrian refugee Ahmad Alkhalaf, left, dashes away from Rayyan Jalal joy was spending time with his vers, MA 01923 or the Da- Syrian boy looks to an- while playing capture the flag with friends during a day camp for local beloved grandsons. na-Farber Cancer institute, other year in his adopted Muslim children in Sharon on Dec. 10. In addition to his wife, he PO Box 849168, Boston, home, he says his dream is survived by his daughter; MA 02284. Directions and is to be reunited with his curtail the flow of Syrians Alkhalaf said he can’t “I’ve got nowhere to go if Christine Sorrentino and her guest book at www.solimi- mother and four surviving and Muslims to the U.S. return to Turkey after re- the U.S. doesn’t want me.” husband Anthony; two grand- ne.com. siblings, who are living in Alkhalaf has applied for nouncing his temporary The father and son have Istanbul. asylum and hopes to pe- residency status there. been living among a rotat- “I want my mom to come tition for the rest of the Returning to Syria, where ing group of Muslim fam- MASSACHUSETTS BRIEFS here,” he said on a recent family if he and Ahmad the Sunni Muslim family ilies since their arrival in Saturday as he kicked are permitted to stay. lived just outside the bat- June 2015 on a medical around a soccer ball in a Tuesday in Boston and on “I can only be hopeful tle-scarred city of Aleppo, visa for Ahmad. Rescuers aid 10 stranded park. “I feel like I’m losing Thursday in Holyoke. he’ll do the right thing,” also isn’t an option. Alkhalaf works as a se- dolphins in harbor her. It’s been too long. I Under current rules, Alkhalaf said of Trump “There is nothing left curity guard at a mosque can’t take it anymore.” through an interpreter. in Syria for us. Our home after receiving his work WELLFLEET (AP) — patients need permis- Ahmad’s father, Dirgam “No matter what people is destroyed; the govern- permit in July. He hopes Animal welfare activists sion from their doctors Alkhalaf, said those hopes say, I’m optimistic.” ment is out to get us,” he to take his driver’s license began the new year in before they can register largely hinge on whether Trump transition team said, referring to Syrian exam soon.