Fitchburg News

With the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families under fire over the disappearance of a 5-year-old Fitchburg boy, state Rep. Sheila Harrington has filed an amendment that aims to toughen the court's standards for determining whether children will be removed from their home, remain in their home, or reunited with their family.

Having recently purchased Fitchburg's well-known Marshall Farm, Jim and Allison Lattanzi have not only brought a new name to the 100-acre property, but also a different way of doing things.

Gardner Police Chief Neil Erickson put a drop-box kiosk for residents to surrender prescription drugs inside the lobby of his police station nearly three years ago, and 10 other communities in North Central Massachusetts are ready to join the effort.

Enjoy some local art and music and help feed some "starving artists" at the same time today at Revival Gallery's latest exhibit.

Over the last few years, particularly in bigger cities, traffic cameras have become commonplace.

A Gardner man was arraigned Friday in Leominster District Court for his alleged role in the Feb. 11 robbery of CVS/Pharmacy on Nelson Street.

Silence fell over Susan Bunish's fourth-grade classroom last week as her students collected 10 stones apiece from boxes in the center of the room and sat down on the floor to play with them.

Neighborhoods in Fitchburg and Southborough made the cut for the recently released list for America's 1,000 Richest Neighborhoods .

A natural play area for children at Green Acres and gateway streetscape improvements are among this year's federal Community Development Block Grant projects.

Police say a convenience-store robbery early Thursday morning in Littleon may be the latest hit from a group of hooded thieves with a preference for Newport cigarettes.

Store clerks in Littleton were held up by three armed men recently, they say they could see their lives flash in front of them.

An independent group reviewing the state's troubled Department of Children and Families has recommended the agency reduce social worker caseloads, improve background checks on foster homes, use mobile technology for field work and conduct initial medical screenings for children coming into their system.

Fitchburg police say their special training to respond to suicide and other mental-health calls is paying off as they are helping more people get into hospital bracelets instead of handcuffs.

A Gardner man charged in the murder of a Fitchburg man last June has been indicted in Worcester Superior Court on charges incurred during the course of his incarceration.

A Fitchburg man was given five years of probation Thursday after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to manslaughter in the fatal beating of another Fitchburg man in 2012.

For my column celebrating St. Patrick's Day next week, I wanted to get the real scoop from somebody who was Irish -- perhaps favorite foods of the day, traditions they follow on St. Patrick's Day, what it means to them to be Irish.

Christine Coleman of Templeton and Michael Hildreth of Ashburnham, juniors in Monty Tech's cabinetmaking program, sell raffle tickets for a custom-made, solid cherry-wood Shaker-style dining room set that students in the program made.

Collaboration and making education work from birth through college are going to be the keys to success in Gateway Cities such as Fitchburg and Leominster, local education officials said Wednesday.

A five-minute stroll through that light-filled, clean space can lift spirits and inspire creativity.

LED streetlights with dimming controls, automated meters and the ability for public-safety officials to tap into the system to brighten or flash the lights in emergency situations, may be in the city's future.