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Plymouth: Public shut out of sheriff candidates forum

Candidates for Plymouth County Sheriff face off in Plymouth behind closed doors, then, after the debate, their campaigns get into an altercation in the parking lot. This was on Wednesday at the Plymouth Elks 1476, at a candidates' forum sponsored by correctional employee unions. Around a hundred people attended. Incumbent Sheriff Joe McDonald, a Republican, faces a challenge in November from Democrat Rick Pond. Union officials and Pond would not allow the public inside Wednesday's forum, which was open to corrections union members by invitation only. McDonald and his supporters objected.

Massachusetts: Court says search warrant powers broad

The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that district court clerks can issue search warrants for any location in the state, not just within their own geographic territory. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Wednesday in an appeal by Joseph Mendes, a Cape Cod man who was convicted on a series of drug and firearms charges.

Boston: Over one-third of students overweight/obese

State public health officials say that more than one-third of the students in 80 Massachusetts school districts are overweight or obese. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health released a study Wednesday of more than 100,000 students which found that 17.3 percent were obese and 16.9 percent were overweight.

Halifax: Man rescued from capsized boat

Halifax fire crews rescued a man who was clinging to the side of a sailboat that had capsized in Monponsett Pond Tuesday afternoon.

South Shore: Homes sales drop; refinancing, foreclosures on the rise

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors says pending sales of single-family homes dropped 10 percent in August compared with the same time last year, the fourth straight monthly decline.

Plymouth: County Commissioners call for tighter control of payroll procedures

A report to the County Commissioners results in policy changes by the Commissioners to correct unauthorized pay increases and unauthorized budget changes. The report calls for more oversight of Treasurer Tom O’Brien’s department and referred to counsel measures reprimanding Advisory Board Chairman Dan Pallotta.

Brockton: Fin Com orders independent audit of Water Department

The Water Department is under fire after retroactively billing around 8,000 customers, some for tens of thousands of dollars. Water officials say malfunctioning meters are to blame for low estimated bills. On Tuesday night, councilors led by Jass Stewart and Michelle DuBois hammered away at Brockton Mayor Linda Balzotti and DPW Commissioner Michael Thoreson for more than two hours. Thoreson says his office is getting three- to four hundred calls a day, and anyone who disputes a bill may meet with him personally. Balzotti says she'd be prepared to look at staff changes. Both say they welcome an audit.

Rockland: Officials finally discuss employee I.D. incident

Rockland selectmen have finally taken on the issue of old cancelled town employee checks that flew out of a truck en-route to a Brockton recycling center.

Brockton: Officials lobby Brown for federal money for new public safety building

US Sen. Scott Brown tours Brockton, where he sees the good, the bad, and the ugly. Brown saw the good at the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center -- the city's largest employer -- where the senator read to children. He saw the bad too, along Main, Montello, Nilsson and Pleasant streets, touring homicide, bar problem and other crime spots. And he saw the ugly with the outdated and crumbling Brockton police station, where city and law enforcement leaders lobbied Brown, behind closed doors, for federal funds for a new public safety building for Brockton and Plymouth County.

Quincy: Boston Archdiocese announces last Mass at parish

The Boston Archdiocese has officially shut down a Quincy church, six years after it announced the church was closing. Star of the Sea Church was one of dozens of parishes closed in a broad consolidation the archdiocese announced in 2004. In a statement Monday, the archdiocese said it had agreed to let the church operate as a chapel until appeals of its closure were fully exhausted. It said that happened earlier this year when the Vatican's highest court rejected its appeal.

Duxbury: Public comment period opens for proposed dredging project

A proposed dredge of the Duxbury Harbor would remove an estimated 135 thousand cubic yards of sandy and silty material from DuxburyBay..

Boston: Cape Wind power deal brings fight to utility panel

The brawl over a planned wind farm in Nantucket Sound is moving to a hearing room in Boston this week. On Tuesday, regulators at Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities will begin considering whether National Grid utility's contract with the Cape Wind project is a good deal for ratepayers. Teams of lawyers will present and cross-examine witnesses over 12 days of hearings that have been previewed in hundreds of pages of written testimony.

Massachusetts: Officials warn boaters of migrating endangered marine species

There are renewed calls for boaters and commercial fishermen to be on the lookout for leatherback turtles, after two of the migrating endangered turtles were rescue recently off Cape Cod.

Photos: Spindles Car show makes its return to Marshfield Fairgrounds

Photos: Marshfield Playground becomes reality at ribbon cutting

Plymouth: Air Fair delights hundreds

Up, up and away. An air fair draws hundreds to Plymouth Municipal Airport. This was Sunday. The fair included plane- and helicopter rides, an air show put on by Alpha One Flight School, and even a helicopter golf ball drop contest. Michael Albertian, a certified flight instructor with Bridgewater State University's aviation program, was there. He says careers in aviation are great. "We show up everyday excited to go fly our planes. Everyday is a different office, nothing is ever the same. There are new experiences everyday. It is definitely work, but it's rewarding and extremely fun," he said.

Marshfield: Officials pleased with storm preparedness

The once-fearsome storm named Earl hit the region without leaving much of a mark Friday into early Saturday but Marshfield Emergency Management Director Lt. Paul Tabor says he’s pleased with the preparedness effort-- and says he feels very confident that the town was ready to respond Hurricane Earl had the storm shifted, maintained its intensity, and more directly impacted the town.

Kingston: Police Station temporarily evacuated for smoke

Main Street in Kingston was shut down Saturday night and police station personnel displaced for several hours, after a sprinkler system motor malfunction in the basement gave off smoke. Kingston Police Department in a statement says that at around 9 p.m., officers noticed the smell of smoke inside, and found it to be coming from the basement. But not only was a sprinkler system motor found to be the source of the problem, but the fire alarm system malfunctioned giving no warning to station personnel of smoke in the building

Massachusetts: Candidates set for Tuesday debate; WATD proposes its own debate

The four gubernatorial candidates in Massachusetts are set to face off in the first of several TV debates before the general election in November. The candidates, none of whom have a Sept. 14 primary opponent, will square off Tuesday at 7 p.m. on WBZ-TV. WATD-FM has proposed a debate for October 6th between all four candidates at Whitman Hanson Regional High School, with a start time of 7pm. Green-Rainbow candidate Jill Stein is the only one to confirm that she will participate in the debate.

Boston: Court to hear appeal in foiled Marshfield school killings plot

Massachusetts' highest court is set to hear an appeal from a Marshfield man convicted as a youth of planning a Columbine-style attack on Marshfield High School, which was later foiled. Lawyers for Joseph Nee argue he should not have been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder because he abandoned the plan that he and several other students at Marshfield High School had talked about in 2003 and 2004, and he told police of the plot.