Top Stories - August 7, 2006

Hero moms save tot at Milton pond when lifeguards wouldn’t

Left: La’Nay Johnson of Randolph explains how she helped save a young boy yesterday at Houghton’s Pond in Milton.

Beachgoers at a Milton pond are being hailed as heroes for doing CPR on a little boy who nearly drowned yesterday. Witnesses said lifeguards refused to do the life-saving mouth-to-mouth procedure.

The 3-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, is expected to survive after a day at the beach turned into a nightmare.

The beach at Houghton’s Pond was packed with people yesterday at 4 p.m. when the horrifying scene unfolded.

Anthony Graham, 35, who was swimming with his daughter, noticed the boy floating in the water about 20 feet out and carried his lifeless body to the beach.

“I brought him in where the lifeguard was sitting. I laid him down,” said Graham, of Hyde Park.

But several witnesses said lifeguards said they wouldn’t do CPR without a mouthpiece to protect themselves, so two young moms trained in CPR took control.

“I would want any mother to do what we did,” said Valerie Johnson, 25, of Randolph, who gave the boy mouth-to-mouth while her friend did chest compressions.

Town prepares for avian flu threat

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is asking communities across the state to develop an emergency response plan for the avian flu, just in case the virus takes flight, and Wakefield officials are doing just that.

Town officials developed an emergency response plan in 2002, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Wakefield's original emergency response plan was developed due to concerns about bio-terrorism. Officials wanted to develop a plan flexible enough to handle other potential hazards, from anthrax attacks to flu outbreaks. The avian flu outbreak in Southeast Asia poses unique concerns because the virus has yet to be spread from person to person. Humans can only get the avian flu virus from direct contact with birds. However, local officials are preparing just in case the virus finds a new way to spread.

Peter Gray, who serves as the health director of Wakefield's Department of Health, said the plan is "easily adapted for anything that comes our way."

Grant focuses on school funding

Saugus resident Sean Grant says the current state representative in Massachusetts’ Ninth Essex District has gotten out of touch with community issues, which is one reason why he has announced his candidacy to run against him.

Currently, another Saugus resident, Democrat Mark Falzone, holds the seat that includes precincts 1, 2 and 7 in Wakefield; precincts 1 and 2 and 4 through 9 in Saugus; precinct 2 in Lynnfield; and precincts 1 and 2 and ward 1 in Lynn.

Falzone is up for reelection this fall, but Grant, a 36-year-old Democrat, says the district’s clear need for change has drawn him into the race.

FBI: Video shows Boston PD celebrating after smuggling drugs

Carlos Pizarro sat on a plush leather couch in a black-and-white surveillance video played today in court, sipping from a Champagne flute in what federal agents described as a celebration in North Miami Beach by two Boston police officers charged with protecting cocaine shipments in Massachusetts.

Pizarro dunked what looked like shrimp into cocktail sauce while a voice off camera identified by FBI agents as Roberto Pulido, 41, discussed plans for more smuggling.

“What can be brought down?” Pulido asked, according to a transcript of the video released by prosecutors.

“We can do 500 keys of coke,” an undercover officer said, who moments before had referred to the officers as “family.”

“That’s want I wanna see,” Pulido said in the transcript.

(Sources: Wakefield Observer, Wakefield Daily Item, Boston Globe, Boston Herald)