Top Stories - September 19, 2006

Deval Patrick walks away with a win

Crack open the history books, Deval Patrick has captured the Democratic nomination for governor.
Patrick is now the first African American to win a major party’s nomination for the corner office.
With results pouring in from all over the state, Patrick’s grassroots campaign has taken root and Attorney General Tom Reilly just conceded the race.
Early results showed Patrick taking the lead: With 17 percent of the precincts reporting, Patrick was shown with 48 percent, or 85,382 votes. Chris Gabrieli was shown with 29 percent, or 52,314 votes, while Reilly trailed the pack with 23 percent, or 40,559 votes.

Developing story:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christopher Gabrieli is giving a concession speech in which he said that he told Deval Patrick he will work diligently on his behalf in the general election. But he scolded GOP nominee Kerry Healey for running negative ads against him in the waning days of the campaign that criticized his support of stem cell research. "Tonight, this campaign ends, but its spirit lives on," he said. Attorney General Thomas Reilly, a candidate in the same race, conceded earlier. Timothy P. Murray, 38, the three-term mayor of Worcester, has been nominated as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

Early voter turnout is fairly strong

Poll workers around Wakefield were happy about the healthy amount of voters who turned out for today’s primary election so far this morning.
At 9:15 a.m., 109 votes were cast in Precinct 5 and 121 were cast in Precinct 6. Voters from both precincts voted at the West Side Social Club on Harrington Court.
Meanwhile, at the Masonic Temple on Salem Street, 143 votes were cast from Precinct 7 at 9:45 a.m., while 132 were cast from Precinct 1 at the same time.
A complete count of town votes will appear in tomorrow’s Item.
Among the voters at the West Side Social Club was School Committee member Anthony Guardia, who stressed the importance of voting while he was there. Guardia has been an open supporter of Sean Grant, a Saugus Democrat who is running for State Representative in the Ninth Essex District, which includes Precincts 1, 2 and 7 in Wakefield.
At the Masonic Temple, Vin Falzone, the father of Mark Falzone, the current State Representative of the Ninth Essex District, was on hand to support his son. Vin Falzone says he holds signs for his favorite candidates at the Masonic Temple during every election.
“I guess it’s tradition,” Falzone said.

Family sues furniture store saying it let the bedbugs bite

A “devastated” Randolph family has brought a $500,000 federal lawsuit against Bob’s Discount Furniture, claiming a teen sleep set they purchased from the zany retailer infested their home with bloodsucking bedbugs.
“I had to literally get rid of everything - clothes, the TV, keepsakes, my wedding gown,” a teary newlywed Yvette Downey, 39, told the Herald.
“Right now, I’m living out of green garbage bags,” Downey said. “We were sleeping on the kitchen floor. No one wanted us to bring the bedbugs to their house.”
Downey credited Bob’s with refunding her $698. The Connecticut-based chain store also had her home decontaminated after confirming the wood bed was “infested with bedbugs,” according to her product liability suit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston.
But Robert “Bob” Kaufman, the company’s president and celebrity pitchman, cautioned, “We are customer-oriented, so don’t confuse reaction with responsibility.
“My heart goes out to these people,” he said yesterday. “I’m sure it’s a terrifying, ugly situation. But to say we’re responsible for it, that’s a stretch. I’d be out of business if we delivered buggy furniture.”

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