Shooting Suspect Caught After Rush Hour Manhunt: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Friday, July 9. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Tropical Storm Elsa arrived in Massachusetts, as expected, Friday morning and is expected to drop three to six inches of rain on most parts of the state during her brief stay.
• It's a good weekend to stay home — not only because of the dreary weather, but because the Acceler-8 Mass Pike bridge replacement project is set to return.
• A Brookline man, now 55, is looking for the man who saved him from a Brookline pond when he fell through the ice in 1974.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

A police manhunt for a man who shot four or five rounds outside a MassDOT facility in Middleborough ended with no injuries, but lots of chaos on the Southcoast Friday morning.

Police were called to the facility at 9:05 a.m. Friday for a report of shots fired. Witnesses told police a man wearing fatigues fled after firing his gun. Police issued a shelter-in-place order to area residents and businesses by 9:20 a.m.

Parts of Route 28 and nearby streets were closed for two hours before the suspect, whose identity was not released, was arrested around 11:30 a.m.

Read the full story.

Like this article? Sign up for our newsletter and get it delivered every weekday. It's free!

Tropical Storm Elsa: Latest Updates

Tropical Storm Elsa arrived in Massachusetts, as expected, Friday morning and is expected to drop three to six inches of rain on most parts of the state during her brief stay. That means most Massachusetts residents are under a flash flood warning throughout the remainder of the day. Flooding and downed trees from the storm closed streets from Falmouth to Framingham to Salem.

You can expect some lingering showers on Saturday, followed by a mostly cloudy day on Sunday with highs in high 70s and low 80s on both days.

Friday's Other Top Stories

Weekend road work = delays on Mass Turnpike: It's a good weekend to stay home — not only because of the dreary weather, but because the Acceler-8 Mass Pike bridge replacement project is set to return. Beginning Friday evening, MassDOT will squeeze the freeway down to four lanes. Two lanes of westbound traffic will move onto the eastbound side of the freeway. Eastbound traffic will shift into the right two lanes. That configuration will remain in place until about 5 a.m. Monday.

BooBoo bear, a South Shore Internet sensation, is dead: BooBoo the black bear, who has been seen wandering across many south shore towns this spring, has been found dead, wildlife officials said Thursday. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife says BooBoo died after getting hit by a medical transport vehicle in Marion on June 24. The bear was given his name after police departments across the South Shore saw an increase in calls about bear sightings.

'Anthony The Molar Man' on AGT: Woburn mail carrier Anthony Denucce will appear on America's Got Talent Tuesday. Denucce, a Peabody resident, performs as "Anthony The Molar Man" and plays music on his teeth. Denucce auditioned virtually in February, passed two rounds, then was invited to Pasadena in April to audition live for the judges, he said. Of 200,000 auditions, only 140 make the TV show, including Denucce.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

Picture This

There goes his hero: Damon Schreiber, 55, is looking for the man who saved him from a Brookline pond when he fell through the ice in 1974. Schreiber hopes someone may remember hearing the story of a guy reaching out and saving an 8-year-old boy that windy winter day way back when. (Photo courtesy of Damon Schreiber)

They Said It

"The intent of this was never to subjugate or shine any light poorly on the American flag. I don't know if I can support this anymore ... If we're going to try and find a way to help community members express themselves, we need to do it in a different way."

• Burlington Selectmen Nick Priest. A discussion about erecting a flagpole to display certain flags on town property became an impassioned dialogue about the treatment of the American flag in Burlington and around the country. The board unanimously voted to deny the permit for the flagpole.

In Case You Missed It

Positive coronavirus test rate rises for second straight week: Massachusetts reported a slight rise in the positive coronavirus test rate for a second week in a row Thursday. Reported cases and hospitalizations both fell as vaccinations continued. Six Massachusetts cities and towns reported coronavirus positive test rates above 2 percent, up from four last week, in to the latest Department of Health town-by-town report. But over 140 communities didn't report a single positive test over the past two weeks.

By The Numbers

$380: The average monthly energy cost in Massachusetts according to a study released this week, which includes $315 for electricity, $63 for natural gas, $128 for motor fuel and $54 for heating oil. The WalletHub study found Massachusetts had the third-highest energy costs in the country, after Connecticut and Washington, D.C.

Only In Massachusetts: Where Did All The Bay State's Fireflies Go?

Only In Massachusetts is an occasional series where Patch tries to find answers to questions about life in Massachusetts. Have a question about the Bay State that needs answering? Send it to dave.copeland@patch.com.

Of the more than 2,000 firefly species in the worldwide, at least 20 can be found in Massachusetts.
But good luck finding them.

Ask just about any lifelong Massachusetts who was a kid in the 1980s or earlier, and they'll tell you there are far fewer fireflies in the Bay State these days. They'll tell you about thousands of lightning bugs frolicking in suburban backyards in July and August. They'll tell you about the thrill of momentarily catching one in a glass jar, then freeing it back into the night.

Science can't tell us how many fireflies remain in Massachusetts, but it can offer hints on why seeing them in 2021 is far harder than it was in 1981.

Read the full story.