Host Slapped With $300 Fine For Huge House Party: Patch PM

Today is Friday, Sept. 18. Here are some of the top headlines we are covering.

A Winthrop man was fined $300 after hosting a house party in violation of state gathering restrictions, police said. Officers responded to Bellevue Avenue around 10 p.m. Sept. 12 after receiving several reports about a loud party.

Police said there were approximately 30 people in attendance, many of whom were violating social distancing and face covering protocols. The host, a 51-year-old Winthrop man, was cited for failure to comply with mandatory face coverings.

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Other top stories

Cambridge Woman Admits To Impersonating Her Dead Mother

A Cambridge woman pleaded guilty Thursday in connection with impersonating her dead mother for nearly a decade in a scheme to collect the some $80,000 in Social Security and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

Phaedra M. Sheets, 45, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of public funds, Thursday. Sheets had been arrested in February and indicted.

Sheets' mother was receiving Social Security benefits and SNAP benefits at the time of her death in 2009. But her mother's death was never reported to the Social Security Administration nor to the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, and the agencies continued to pay monthly benefits on her behalf.

Massachusetts Had Nation's Biggest Drop In Unemployment In August

The Massachusetts unemployment rate fell to 11.3 percent in August, down from 16.1 percent in July, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The drop was the biggest in the nation and ended a two-month streak when Massachusetts had the highest unemployment rate in the country. It was the second straight month the Massachusetts unemployment rate fell after peaking at 17.7 percent in June. The state's unemployment rate was, however, still above the national rate of 8.4 percent.

Friday's unemployment report comes on the heels of a report showing that certain segments of the retail sector are doing better than expected, while state and local governments continue to ease coronavirus restrictions that triggered a massive economic slowdown in March.

Current Events: Electric Fence Deters Trump Sign Thieves

A Massachusetts man tired of people stealing his Donald Trump campaign sign has come up with a shocking solution: an electrified fence around it

John Oliveira, 54, a disabled Navy veteran and a member of the New Bedford School Committee, put the fence up a few weeks ago.

Oliveira told Southcoasttoday.com, which first reported the story, that he started displaying a Trump sign on his lawn in late May. The first one disappeared in July.

Also

120-Case Coronavirus Outbreak Confirmed At Providence College

The school has moved to fully distanced learning and has issued a stay-at-home order for students until Sept. 26.

Sudbury Police ID Masked Man Who Entered Local Home

The man was wanted by Sudbury and Lincoln police after he was seen sneaking around homes along Route 117.

Sweep Dreams: City Eyes $243K Street Sweeper Replacement

A brakes mishap in which the city's street sweeper rolled backward down a hill was the final straw for the Department of Public Works.