We’re Number 1!
(Of the Most Overpriced
Places to Live)

{Rockport}

It's not just that these areas have high housing prices and living costs—it's that salaries and job growth don't keep up, either

Every American adult gripes about the price of daily life, from a gallon of milk to a posh dinner. But in some areas, where ever-increasing living costs and real estate prices are pitted against lackluster salaries and job growth, complaints are more legitimate. There's no way around it -- such locales are anything but bargains.

That we're talking about places like New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco should come as no surprise. But what about Tucson, Ariz., and Essex County, Mass. Both made our annual list of the most overpriced placesin the United States.

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By Observer Staff on Sep.21.2006 | Link | Comments (1453)

Body Found in Missing Newburyport Woman’s Car

{Rockport}

Rockport police are waiting for autopsy results to positively identify a woman’s body—believed to be the owner—found in a submerged car yesterday.

The vehicle belongs to 53-year-old Michele Harrison of Newburyport who’s been missing for more than a month.

A diver setting a boat mooring yesterday spotted the car in 25 feet of water.

Harrison is a special education teacher at the Greater Lawrence Educational Collaborative and has been missing since March 17th.

Her E-Z Pass highway toll account shows that she passed through the I-95 tolls in Hampton, New Hampshire twice on March 17th, heading north and south.

A Salisbury man reported seeing Harrison in the town of Millinocket, Maine. She was last heard from on March 16th in a phone conversation with her son.

By Observer Staff on Apr.28.2006 | Link | Comments (145)

Adelphia: 57 Channels and
Nothin’ On. Off. On. Off. On. Off...

{Rockport}

Adelphia's on-again, off-again, on-again relationship with Cape Ann enters its fourth week today. We don't know about you, but we're about to start having seizures watching it. The cable service goes off and on so often, it's like watching a strobe light.

One customer reported that he sat down to watch Moday Night Football last week, only to lose service in the first 3 minutes of the game. After determining the cable was not coming back, he turned to the internet to keep up with the game. But wait! That was down too! The service and the game ultimately returned when there were only 5 minutes remaining. By our count, that's about a 150-minute gap (beat that, President Nixon!)

Countless phone calls to Adelphia were greeted with a recorded voice noting that, yes, there was indeed a "service interruption" in our area. But what's the cause? The weather, normally the culprit for this kind of thing, has been outstanding.

Talk to us Adelphia!

By Observer Staff on Nov.21.2005 | Link | Comments (1053)

Zoning Board to Wellspring:
What’s the Plan?

{Rockport}

Wellspring House, owners of the Rockport Lodge property on South Street, continued its smoke and mirrors show at last night's Zoning Board meeting at the Rockport Public Library. Now several months, in fact years, into a proposed project to build "affordable" housing at the site of the former Rockport Lodge, Wellspring still has not provided the town with a complete plan for the development of the site.

Town Moderator Loyd Starrett, who at times was visibly frustrated by the project's architect, Doug Coots of Boston's Bergmeyer Associates, demanded further information from the firm by the time the groups meet again next month.

A telling and embarrassing moment occurred when Starrett asked the architect simply, "what's the square-footage?" Coots, who presumably has been at work on the project for several months replied, red-faced, "I don't know."

While Wellspring sprints forward with this project, and town boards blindly follow, Rockporters can only hope that someone is paying attention, and that they may find out what's happening at the Lodge before it's too late.

By Observer Staff on Nov.17.2005 | Link | Comments (24727)

Rockport May Glimpse Future
in Newburyport Development Plan

{Across the Bridge}

Newburyport:: A city of antiques shops and fishing docks, red-brick and cobblestone, Newburyport is full of old New England charm.

But the Clipper City doesn't have a lot of housing with views of the Merrimack River. Or enough boat slips to make its harbor really hum. Or parking spots. And folks still can't seem to get a hotel built here, especially one with a function room for fancy dinners.

Now enters the man from Nantucket.

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By Observer Staff on Nov.06.2005 | Link | Comments (382)

Wal-Mart Will Soon Control Us All

{Across the Bridge}

New York, NY:: Wal-Mart Stores went to Manhattan last night for a peek at a movie about itself. But before it got the chance, a Wal-Mart consultant was told to leave the theater after the director accused him of trying to secretly record the film.

Minutes into the premier of the film, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, the director, Robert Greenwald, said he spotted the consultant pointing his open cellphone toward the screen. A confrontation ensued in the lobby. "Get out of here," Mr. Greenwald yelled, according to the director and a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. "This is a disgrace."

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By Observer Staff on Nov.03.2005 | Link | Comments (185)

Could Justice System
Have Prevented Rockport Murder?

{Rockport}

The criminal justice system may have missed key opportunities to save Wendy Cox, whose corpse was found Wednesday in the home she shared with her alleged killer boyfriend just steps from the Rockport police station.

Essex County prosecutors opted not to request a dangerousness hearing that could have resulted in John D. MacKenzie being held without bail in June, when he was charged with assaulting Cox. Instead, prosecutors recommended $500 bail, the district attorney's office said.

Gloucester District Court Judge Richard Mori released MacKenzie without any bail and he walked free—with a court order that he not abuse Cox and a warning that he could be held for 60 days if arrested again, court records show.

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By Observer Staff on Oct.15.2005 | Link | Comments (3373)

Main Street Murderer
Lived with Corpse

{Rockport}

Tragedy is First Rockport Murder in Over 30 Years

A Rockport man allegedly murdered his girlfriend the night before he was to go to trial for assaulting her, then holed up in their home for two weeks, sharing a sofa with her corpse while he watched TV, authorities say.

John D. MacKenzie, 45, of 249 Main St. claims that after watching the Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 25, he helped Wendy L. Cox kill herself by suffocating her with a pillow and a dry-cleaning bag in the bedroom of their quaint, sunflower-yellow home, police say.

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By Observer Staff on Oct.14.2005 | Link | Comments (879)

Rockport Man Pleads Innocent
in Woman’s Death

{Rockport}

A Rockport man pleaded innocent to killing his girlfriend and leaving her body on the living room couch for nearly three weeks.

Police made the gruesome discovery on Wednesday night, when they found John D. MacKenzie, 44, sitting on the couch next to the decomposing corpse of 35-year-old Wendy Cox, which was wrapped in blankets.

Authorities allege that MacKenzie suffocated Cox on Sept. 25, while awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting her in June. He was ordered held without bail at his arraignment Thursday in Gloucester District Court.

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By Observer Staff on Oct.14.2005 | Link | Comments (252)