Region Roundup: Walpole Postal Worker Allegedly Steals Packages, Man Arrested for $1M Worth of Pot, Woman Killed in Crash & More

Walpole Police are looking for the owners of dozens of valuables sent by mail within the past year that were allegedly stolen by a part-time employee at the East Walpole post office.

The employee, Marie Kernian, 24, of Mattapan was arrested Feb. 5 after a sting operation set up by Walpole PD and the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General's Office resulted in her allegedly opening two packages, taking the contents and then resealing the empty boxes.

After being placed under arrest, authorities found cell phones, iPads, GPS systems and dozens of gift cards in Kernian's car believed to have been stolen. They found 25-30 items they believe were taken from packages coming into the East Walpole office.

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Brooklyn Man Arrested in Canton For Allegedly Accepting Nearly $1M Worth of Marijuana

Massachusetts state and local police arrested a Brooklyn, N.Y. man in Canton Friday for allegedly accepting a marijuana delivery valued at nearly $1 million. Thomas Jin Kim, of Brooklyn, was taken into custody after taking possession of nearly 300 pounds of pot, and was subsequently charged with trafficking in marijuana.

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Seekonk Woman Dies in Car Crash

Jennifer Mello, 42, of Seekonk was pronounced dead late Tuesday morning at Sturdy Memorial Hospital after crashing her vehicle into a tree in Attleboro, the city's police department reported. The crash took place off County Street near the Phillips Street intersection. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

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Drugs may have been the focus of a conflict that led to a man being shot at his Smith Street Rear home late Sunday night. Attleboro police say they found illegal drugs, marijuana plants and more than $24,000 in cash at the home of shooting victim Michael Briggs. He was in stable condition at Rhode Island Hospital as of Monday, police say. A search for the shooting suspects is ongoing, and police are following "several leads," according to a press release from the Attleboro department.

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Foxborough Native Bayuk Throws Scoreless Inning Against Boston Red Sox

Foxborough native Nate Bayuk did something no other Boston College pitcher could against the Boston Red Sox Thursday … retire the side in order.

Bayuk, a BC graduate student, started Thursday’s scrimmage against the Red Sox at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. and hurled a perfect bottom of the first inning.

Bayuk got leadoff hitter Justin Henry to fly out to left field, Brock Holt to ground out to second base and Jackie Bradley to fly out to center.

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Easton Police Officers Train For the Worst

Jason Brennan of the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council scrolled through slides Thursday morning at Oliver Ames High School to train Easton police officers for an "active shooter" scenario.

The object was simple: mentally and physically prepare for the worst.

"It [could be] just a horrific scene," Brennan said. "And, for us to go in there, if we're not mentally prepared for it, that's a bad situation."

Brennan, who also serves as a Sergeant in Medway, led a training session along with Easton Police Officer Steve Hamilton to prepare Easton and Stonehill officers to face a potential gunman in a building.

With February vacation in full swing, Easton School Administrators allowed for use of the high school. The sessions were held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

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Ernie Boch Jr. Interested in Buying The Boston Globe

Ernie Boch Jr., owner of Norwood-based Boch Enterprises, is considering the purchase of The Boston Globe, the Boston Business Journal reports.

"Ernie is teaming up with Bruce Mittman, president and CEO of Mittcom (the Newton marketing agency), and partner in Community Broadcasters (the radio station group in upstate New York)," Peggy Rose, a spokesperson for Boch Enterprises told the journal.

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In the end, the activities surrounding the funeral of LTC Michael Greene wasn’t about responding to a hateful message, it was about saying goodbye a member of the community. In response to a threat from the Westboro Baptist Church to picket the funeral, about 50 people stood at the South Common to pay tribute to Greene as the procession left the church and headed towards the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.

Plans for the gathering came together on the afternoon of February 17 when Rev. Ted Newcomb of the Mansfield Congregational Church hosted a meeting to discuss a peaceful response to the picket if it were to happen. Slowly during the discussions, the conversation evolved from dealing with an extremist group to paying tribute to a beloved resident.

"I think everybody at the meeting the other day, they heard especially from the friends of the family what was needed for the family, and to be able to do it this way was really helpful,” Newcomb said.

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Norton Selectmen Discuss Liquor Policy Changes

The Norton Board of Selectmen discussed their plan to revise the alcohol policy of the town. Selectmen decided in an earlier meeting to take a look at their current liquor policy since it hasn’t been changed since the early 90s.

The biggest issue of contention on the policy was the punitive rates for establishments in Norton that break the town’s policy. Currently in the policy, the punitive measures for a first and third offense had minimums. A first offense was a suspension of the place’s alcohol license for five days and the third offense was 10 to 30 days.

The board tentatively agreed to suspend an offender’s liquor license for up to five days on a first offense to allow for some flexibility and human error.

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Community Police Academy Aims to Teach Dedham Residents About DPD

The Dedham Community Police Academy ended their last tutorial with a bang Wednesday morning.

Members of a Dedham Retired Men's Club got to see first hand some of the firearms training that Dedham officers go through using a simulation program that shows them different scenarios they may see through the course of duty.

"It's like a big video game for cops," said Sgt. Frank MacMillan who ran Wednesday's session.

The purpose of the tutorials, held at Endicott Estate, is to show Dedham residents, first hand information on how their police department works.

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