Salem Bookstore Shuts Out Disrespectful Crowds: Patch PM

SALEM, MA —Today is Monday, Oct. 12. Here are some of the top stories we are covering on the North Shore and across Massachusetts.

An award-winning bookstore in Salem on the Pedestrian Mall is locking its doors on weekends to those who don't have an appointment due to what it says is a "lack of compliance with mask and hand sanitizing requirements" associated with the coronavirus health crisis.

Wicked Good Books, the independent book store on Essex Way, posted on its website that it will be open "by appointment only" during October on Saturdays and Sundays. The store remains open to the public on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

"This year is unprecedented," Wicked Good Books owner Denise Kent told Patch on Monday. "Honestly, it's been exhausting emotionally and physically for our staff, and we're only one third the way through the month."

Read the full story here.

Also on the North Shore today

Swampscott Animal Control Officer Helps Free Coyote Stuck On Boat

Swampscott Animal Control Officer Daniel Proulx was part of a police response crew that helped free a curious coyote that got caught up in quite a seafaring adventure.

Massachusetts Environmental Police said a coyote was stuck inside a docked vessel at the Volunteer Yacht Club in Lynn on Friday. Environmental officers, with help from Proulx's coyote catchpole and his expertise corralling the canines, were able to free the nautical-minded rover believed to be from a nearby wooded area of Nahant.

Peabody Municipal Light, Verizon Agree To Cell Tower Solution

Two weeks after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled the "limitation has been reached" on Verizon's need to find an alternate solution to building a 60-foot cell tower in South Peabody, the wireless company and Peabody Municipal Light Plant reached an agreement to avoid building
the tower that some residents and city officials opposed for six years.

Peabody Municipal Light Plant announced that it reached a pact with Verizon to install wireless communication devices onto utility poles in Peabody.

Bishop Fenwick Track Standout From Salem Named Triple-Impact Competitor Finalist

Breanna Benoit set an ambitious long-term goal for herself on the track. A year later, the Bishop Fenwick senior from Salem achieved it.

That determination helped her be named one of 15 finalists in the Positive Coaching Alliance's Triple-Impact Competitor Scholarship Program.

Across Massachusetts

Tewksbury Selectmen Praise Police But Reject Resolution

The Tewksbury selectmen rejected a proposed resolution in support of the town's police department, recently, though the selectmen praised the department.

The Tewksbury Republican Town Committee submitted the draft resolution, which cited recent protests across the country as a reason to assert that the board stands in solidarity with the department.

Falmouth Campground Facing $7.5 Million Wrongful Death Suit

A Brockton woman is suing Cape Cod Campresort and Cabins following the drowning of her 4-year-old son.

Dead Minke Whale Found Stranded On Cape Cod Beach

The initial autopsy of the whale revealed injuries caused by entanglement and signs of a possible infection.