Duxbury's former police chief Mark DeLuca has been placed on paid administrative leave as Cohasset’s police chief following multiple complaints from the Cohasset Police Department's union.

Cohasset Acting Town Manager Michael Milanoski placed DeLuca on paid leave this afternoon pending an investigation by the town. Town officials received multiple allegations against DeLuca from the town's police union according to union president Patrick Reardon. In a press release Milanoski announced that pending the investigation and its results, Deputy Police Chief Bill Quigley will manage the day-to-day operations and personnel of the police department.

DeLuca’s tenure as Duxbury’s police chief was marred by allegations of favoritism and intimidation of police officers and town officials. In February, DeLuca filed a civil suit in federal district court against the Town of Duxbury, Town Manager Richard MacDonald and former Chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen Elizabeth Sullivan claiming a violation of his First Amendment rights. In the complaint, DeLuca alleges his contract with the town was not renewed in 2009 due to his “supporting the organization of a management union.”

At Cohasset's May 12 Town Meeting, residents were forced to pass an additional $190,000 in unexpected police overtime.

Efforts to reach DeLuca were unsuccessful. His lawyer in the civil suit against the town, Gregory Aceto, said he was not aware DeLuca had been placed on leave.

After almost a decade of negotiating to get Duxbury two new contracts for cable television and a third for local programming, the cable TV advisory committee has officially called it quits, a move supported by the Board of Selectmen.

Selectmen voted unanimously to dissolve the cable television committee at their meeting Monday night and they praised the volunteers for a job well done.

On Sunday, May 27 at 281 Powder Point Avenue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Duxbury will honor Olga Owens Huckins and Rachel Carson in celebration of the anniversary of the publication of ‘Silent Spring.’

By Elizabeth Lewis, Chair,

School Building Committee

The School Building Committee (SBC) announces two important upcoming events on Tuesday June 5.  A Groundbreaking Ceremony for new Middle and High School will be held at 10 a.m. on the field behind the middle school, rain or shine. 

Later that evening, the SBC and Mount Vernon Group Architects will host the last design forum beginning at 7 p.m. in Alden Room 104.  Final building and site plans will be presented and the Construction Manger, Dimeo Construction Corporation, will discuss the project schedule, traffic and phasing plans.  The public is invited to attend both events.

The Alden House was the host for the sixth annual Speak for Thyself Awards dinner at the Duxbury Senior Center. The Speak for Thyself recipients: Pamela Campbell Smith, Rev. Catherine Cullen, Janet Laberge and Alba Thompson. (Photo by Julius A. Prince, Jr.)

Thursday, May 10

5:09 p.m.  Accident with property damage reported on Buckboard Road.

Friday, May 11

6:39 a.m.  Suspicious activity reported on North Street.

8:11 a.m.  Well being check on Union Street.  Services rendered.

8:54 a.m.  Suspicious activity reported on North Street.  Spoken to.

Richard D. (Dick) Glass, age 72, retired Master Sergeant, USAF, of Addison, Maine, formerly of Wareham, died at his home on May 17.  Mr. Glass was born in Duxbury on June 26, 1939 to Ellen H. (Hanigan) and Delbert C. Glass.  He was a 1957 graduate of Rindge Technical High School in Cambridge.  After graduation, he served as an air technician in the US Air Force until 1970 and retired as a Master Sergeant from the Air National Guard 102nd Fighter Interceptor Wing in 1986.

Jean Noel Tariot, 83 of Duxbury, died on April 17, 2012 due to complications of a stroke.

In 1969, Mr. Tariot and business partner James Upton co-founded International Computer Terminals Corporation in Massachusetts, later renamed Incoterm, which designed and manufactured the first generation of compact high speed digital information display systems and helped launch the era of “intelligent terminals.  In 1978, Incoterm merged with Honeywell as a subsidiary and then later a division of Honeywell Information Systems, Inc.  Mr. Tariot was Vice President of the division until 1980. He had previously worked at Raytheon, RCA, and the Air Force Research Center in commercial display systems and defense electronics.

Daphne Herrick Dunn of Hopkinton died at home on May 3, 2012, following a courageous battle with cancer.  She was born July 8, 1953 to the late Thomas and Dorothy Herrick of Duxbury.

Ruth Preble Bailey, of Kingston, died on May 17, 2012 at the age of 80 surrounded by her family.  Born in New Rochelle, NY, she is the daughter of Winsor D. and Ruth Preble White.  Known as “Preble” to her family and friends, she is a graduate of Mamaroneck High School class of 1949, and went on to graduate from Colby Sawyer class of 1951.

Robert Franklin Rapelye, 92, died May 8 at the Bethany Home in Providence, RI. Born in New York City, he was the son of the late Foster Rapelye and Elizabeth (Ernst). A graduate of the Class of 1941 at Brown University, he spent part of his undergraduate years acting in a featured documentary film, “The Ramparts We Watched,” depicting events during the period 1914-1918.  After Brown, he completed Officer Candidate School at Yale University before joining the 9th Air Force as a photo reconnaissance interpreter. His squadron flew missions for the D-Day invasion 1944 as well as for General Patton’s 3rd Army for the duration of World War II. A member of the New York Holland Society, Mr. Rapelye was a direct descendant of Joris Jansen Rapelye, one of the original settlers of the Dutch colony in America, New Amsterdam.  He held a deep appreciation for art, music and history and enjoyed sports, in particular, football, golf and tennis. His love of tennis led him to play in the U.S. National Tennis Championships as a junior at Forest Hills.

Maggie Cornelius will be joining The Clipper this summer as an intern. She is going into her junior year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst studying design and art history. She also writes for the UMass Daily Collegian online blogs page writing about arts and entertainment. She’s covered events such as The Black Keys concert in Boston and reviews of TV shows for her blog. She has experience in photography and working for the Dragon Flyer as layout editor in high school.

Buzz, buzz, buzzzzz.

Publishing types are abuzz about Duxbury Free Library (DFL) and Westwinds Bookshop summer collaboration, Book Breeze – so much so that the series has attracted some of the top names in publishing.

(A piping plover at Duxbury Beach.)

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sharpshooters were dispatched to Duxbury Beach in early May and killed two coyotes and a lactating fox as part of the Duxbury Beach Reservation’s (DBR) new predation program. It was instituted in 2011 to protect nesting piping plovers and least terns from various predators that feed on their eggs and chicks.

In a May 12 written report issued by Michael Pforr, the Endangered Species Officer for the Duxbury Harbor Master, he wrote:

Full story available on our eEdition

(Brett Roderick)

An off duty Duxbury police officer prevented a home invasion Monday night when a masked man wielding a handgun pounded on his Deerpath Trail Home, demanding to be let in.

According to Assistant District Attorney Douglas Humphrey, the suspect, Brett Trevor Roderick, 19, approached the home at 10:45 p.m. wearing a hooded sweatshirt and mask, while wielding a semi-automatic handgun, and said, “Hurry up let me in it’s cold.” The residents of the house said Roderick appeared to try to disguise his voice.