There was a late update Thursday evening in the killing of a Reading woman inside her home. Police in Vermont spotted and arrested the victim's son, Ryan Hanafin, 22, hours after Reading cops and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan called him a person of interest in his mother's shooting. The family's younger son was home at the time of the killing, according to Ryan, but their daughter was away at college. This is the second time in two months the Middlesex DA stood before reporters to allege someone in her county committed matricide. Back in August, an Acton teen was charged with killing his mother and younger brother. Investigators in that case said Arjun Aravind, 17, had been writing online fiction, including themes of family murder, in the months leading up to his arrest. Now, to the rest of the news: Boston just put the word out: The city's school district is in the market for bus-mounted cameras to catch stop-sign runners. The city and school department on Thursday said they plan to add so-called stop-arm cameras to the city's bus fleet, and asked for bids from companies that do this sort of work. The bid said the district will start with 25 buses to gather data before rolling out more cams. - How it works: When a school bus rolls to a stop and the driver activates the little stop sign arm near the front of the vehicle, the camera turns on. If a driver blows by the bus, the camera will grab images of scofflaw's car and license plate.
- Positive results elsewhere: Boston's not the first Massachusetts community to try bus cams. Peabody set up a pilot program in September 2023, adding cameras to 10 school buses. More than 3,400 drivers were photographed running the bus-mounted stop sign, according to a CBS Boston report. Over in Salem, a three-month pilot program nabbed pics of 3,000-plus bus runners.
- What they're saying: Speaking with WBUR's Suevon Lee, City Councilor Enrique Pepén called the program a "huge step forward" for kids and parents. " This is the first time that we are getting so close to doing some type of — any type of — enforcement, honestly, or to hold drivers accountable if they run the stop sign on school buses."
- Big Brother on the bus?: Pepén was quick to note these cameras aren't like Flock or other always-on surveillance tools that have people worried. Instead, these cameras only turn on when the bus' little flashing stop sign swings out and uses artificial intelligence to detect when the car rolls past the stop sign. License plate images would also only be stored for 14 days.
Jury selection in the time of TikTok: Opening statements are expected to begin today in the murder trial of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell, who is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore and her unborn child. It follows what was a tricky jury selection process this week, according to WBUR's Patrick Madden. That's because just like recent high-profile trials involving Karen Read and Lindsay Clancy, this case is also gaining a pretty big social media following. - One key question prospective jurors faced: How much they've learned about the case, through more traditional media like a newspaper or local radio, or through social media platforms like YouTube or TikTok. "The proliferation of information on social media makes it harder to get an impartial jury," former prosecutor Glenn MacKinlay, of lawfirm McCarter and English, told Patrick.
- Zoom in: One prospective juror was removed from the pool after saying she followed the Karen Read case closely on YouTube and Instagram. She also mentioned having opinions on the police officers and department involved in this case.
PSA to ferry fans: You can now track the MBTA's ferry boats in real time. The agency launched the new feature on its MBTA Go app this week. That means T riders can now follow all modes of transit from a smart phone, not just those landlocked lines. Plus a good night for sports fans: The Bruins had a 6-1 win over the Utah Mammoth last night at TD Garden, with big thanks to captain David Pastrnak leading the team with 2 goals and 2 assists. And the Celtics won their preseason opener against the Cavaliers in Cleveland, 124-113. They'll both be back on their respective home ice and court tomorrow and, coincidentally, they're both taking on teams from the land of cheesesteaks, Philadelphia. P.S.— Franklin Park is set to get a new monument. What is it dedicated to? Take our Boston News Quiz to test your knowledge of this week's biggest news moments. |
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