Fernald Center Building To Be Used For Veteran Housing: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Tuesday, March 30. Does it feel like it's already been a long week for anyone else? Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• A police captain accused of bilking taxpayers out of more than $12,000 by skipping out early.
• Another plea to not let up on the fight against the coronavirus.
• Robots are poised to take over the world —or help with repetitive heavy-lifting tasks.

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

Today's Top Story

A building at the city-owned former Walter E. Fernald Development Center is set to become affordable housing for veterans.

"It will probably be a couple of years, we need to go through the whole process, out out for RFP, the study, apply for grants, but yes, it's happening," said City Councilor Cathyann Harris who sits on the Fernald Use Committee.

This comes a four months after the city started the process to move its public works department to the largely abandoned property and amid cries from activists and residents who have said the property has sat too long unused. The city bought the property for $3.7 million in 2014 with a large portion of CPA funds. Read the rest.

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Other top stories

This ain't over yet: Gov. Charlie Baker urged people not to confuse progress with victory, asking virus-weary residents to keep guard against a "false sense of security." Baker spoke Tuesday alongside CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, who yesterday warned of "impending doom" because of rising coronavirus cases across the country. One of those places seeing an increase in cases is Massachusetts, but Walensky said Tuesday she wouldn't comment on the restrictions in individual states. She did say she was pleased to see so many in Massachusetts wearing a mask. Walensky also stressed the "impending doom" is preventable. Fun fact: Walensky lives in Newton.

Good for workers? That might be a stretch: Boston Dynamics, the Waltham-based company known for its robot dog Spot, released a video of Stretch, its latest robot prototype. This robot is designed to automate repetitive box-moving in warehouses and distribution centers. Stretch can unload trucks and build pallets of boxes, according to the company. The company said Stretch makes "makes warehouse operations more efficient and safer for workers." We wonder what the workers feel about the new guy.

Captain arrested in alleged OT fraud scheme: A retired Boston police captain was arrested Tuesday as part of a federal investigation into an overtime fraud scheme at the department's warehouse. Richard Evans, 62, of Hanover, is accused as being part of a group of officers who skipped out hours early on overtime shifts for the Evidence Control Unit he oversaw. Officers can make 1.5 times their pay in overtime working the unit. The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's office said that between March 2015 and February 2019, Evans was paid $12,395 in overtime hours he didn't work, while he endorsed dozens of fraudulent overtime slips for other officers.

We hope he used GEICO: A traveler from Florida brought home an unlikely souvenir —a lizard that hid in the car during the whole trip up to Massachusetts. Once the driver spotted the lizard, they brought it to the Animal Rescue League of Boston's Brewster location. The ARL said the lizard was a Brown Anole lizard and not native to Massachusetts. So he got another ride.

They're right there!: Ever see an endangered right whale? If you were motoring around off the Cape earlier this month you probably did. There were 89 sightings of the creature on March 21, the most spotted in a single day this season. Federal officials have urged boaters to slow down to avoid injuring the endangered fellas.