MAC: Cause of E. Coli Detected

DID YOU KNOW …

The town of Canton was under a boil water order by the Department of Environmental Protection for almost one week, from September 28 through October 3. E. coli bacteria was found in a water sample during a routine collection on Cedar Street. The town notified residents and businesses using the reverse 911 system. The cause of the bacteria was determined last week to be a birds’ nest combined with a rusting rivet atop a water tower near Indian Lane. The large nest contained rodent bones and was found near a penny-sized rust hole. The town drained thousands of gallons of water from the tanks and distributed bottled water to residents.

Canton High School varsity basketball coach Mike Devoll, a 1996 CHS graduate, reluctantly resigned after serving as the head coach for the past eight years. Devoll has been the principal at Old Rochester Regional High School in Mattapoisett for the past three years. He is now married, living in Marion, with a second child due next month, which are his reasons for leaving. Many coaches will tell you that Devoll was not only a great basketball coach and a great motivator, but he was also able to get the most talent out of his players. Coach Devoll will be sorely missed on the Canton High School basketball court.

On Tuesday, September 27, the Canton High School girls’ teams beat Stoughton in field hockey 3-0, soccer 6-0, and volleyball 3-0 (all shutouts). On the same day, the boys’ soccer team beat Stoughton 4-0. All in a day’s work.

This week, the Boston Globe listed the Canton High School boys’ soccer team as the No. 2 team in eastern Massachusetts while the girls’ soccer team was rated No. 9 out of their top 20 teams. Both teams are undefeated.

The town of Canton has a new animal control officer, Nadya Branca. Nadya has been an assistant animal control officer since 2004. She is the wife of Canton Police Officer Bill Branca and comes highly recommended by Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowitz.

Mary Ellen Hudner will leave her position after six years as co-director of the Canton Food Pantry.

Runners will be interested in the 23^rd annual Canton Fall Classic Road Race, which will be held on Sunday, October 30. The race begins at 10 a.m. at Temple Beth Abraham. The event features three races: A 5K, 10K, and a 2K fun run. It is expected that about 500 runners will participate. The races offer more than $2,400 in cash and merchandise. There is also a $500 bonus if anyone breaks the 20-year-old 10K course record of 30:12. For more race information, call Rich Zides at 781-818-7284 or check out their website at www.cantonfallclassic.com.

The Canton Women’s Softball League playoffs were won by Angelo’s Pizza/Pete’s Place when they defeated the American Legion team, who finished in first place in the regular season with an 11-1 record.

The cost for a qualifying runner to participate in the 2012 Boston Marathon has increased from this year’s $130 price tag to $150, according to BAA officials. Last year, roughly 25,000 runners forked over the entrance fee. For you math majors, that’s an entrance fee of $3,250,000.

Some bad news: Home heating oil prices in Massachusetts averaged $3.73 a gallon this past month, up $1.00 from the same time last year. A 250-gallon fill up will now cost over $900. Some good news: Gas prices are going down, although that’s also up $1.00 from last year.

Because of the steeply declining use, more than 60 percent of the U.S. Postal Service’s blue mailboxes have been removed, and more are vanishing every day from American street corners. According to the Postal Service, if a mailbox gets fewer than 25 pieces of mail per day over a six-to-eight-week period, it gets targeted for removal. The blue Postal Service mailboxes are becoming a thing of the past thanks to the Internet.

Twenty-three proposed ballot questions have been certified by Attorney General Martha Coakley for the Massachusetts ballot in 2012. Supporters can now begin to gather the nearly 69,000 registered voters’ signatures necessary to get their measures on next year’s November ballot.

In 2010, an estimated 19.3 percent of Americans still smoked, but in Massachusetts, the smoking rate is 14.1 percent. Smoke-free workplace laws enacted in Massachusetts seven years ago and a high cigarette tax currently at $2.51 per pack may have contributed to the drop. In Kentucky, nearly 25 percent of residents smoke, which was the Massachusetts rate in 1988.

Most colleges and universities across the country have banned the use of all tobacco products everywhere on campus, both indoor and outdoor. On September 1, both Salem State and Bridgewater State implemented their tobacco ban, while the University of Massachusetts at Amherst will go smoke-free in July 2013.

Vince Lombardi once said, “It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not a winner.”

This is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=8690

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Oct 12 2011. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.