Week in Review: June 21-27

This week in Melrose had a little bit of everything, starting with Cataldo Ambulance's Vice President telling Melrose Patch that the company would fire any of its EMTs facing suspensions due to a state investigation into EMT re-certifications. In our police log round up, an alleged flasher was umpiring a game at Lebanon Park, according to Melrose Police Chief Mike Lyle, and an underage alleged drunk driver crashed on to the lawn of a Waverly Avenue home.

On the lighter side — quite literally, as the summer solstice was on Monday — summer is here, and the boys of summer of the Marlins Babe Ruth team celebrated their championship on the Morelli Field mound, captured in a great photo by a Melrose Patch Reader. The Melrose Public Library's summer reading program began on Monday and the library's summer hours also began this week; and the city's summer recreation program is underway as well.

In natural disaster news, an earthquake with an epicenter in Canada shook the Northeast, including Melrose (did you feel it?) and a "stormpacalypse" was forecast for Thursday, but ended up only being twenty minutes of rain and few branches down here and there — unfortunately one fell on a car.

In arts news, Melrose Girl Scout Troop 71236 organized Turtle Day at Ell Pond on Saturday, June 26, and Melrose Patch was there to capture photos of kids petting turtles and one turtle who made like Steve McQueen in repeatedly attempting his own Great Escape. Melrose Patch also caught up with Clint Chadsey, the artist behind the surreal, intriguing box art displays seen at the library.

In school news, Newsweek magazine ranked Melrose High School in the top 6 percent of public high schools nationwide. The Melrose School Committee worked on improving that ranking by debating and ultimately approving the district's new five-year strategic plan, but that approval is contingent on the committee's approval of more specific plans that will be developed later this summer and the committee working on adding more specific goals and priorities to the strategic plan.

Under the new state law, the definition of cyber-bullying means that school officials will have to intervene in incidents that happen outside of school, while anti-bullying interventions were strengthened in the new Melrose High School handbook. The School Committee also officially adopted some of the new meeting and agenda changes it has been trying out, while planning to continue working tweaking others.

In City Hall news, the Board of Aldermen tied up any loose ends before starting its summer break, while the state targeted the intersection of Lynn Fells Parkway and Melrose Street for safety improvements. Also, Melrose residents now have until July 12 to apply for federal aid and reimbursements related to damage incurred during March's floods.

Don't have any plans yet for the Fourth? We've got a round-up of events in Melrose and nearby communities, including fireworks displays.

You might have noticed a new feature on Melrose Patch starting this week: you can now "like" articles, events and announcements on our site by clicking on the button under the headline to share those items with your friends on Facebook. You can become a fan of Melrose Patch on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MelrosePatch. Also, for other items of interest, quick photos and videos from around Melrose and more, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MelrosePatch.