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Your region roundup of news for Tuesday, June 14.

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Money the Major Issue for Norwood Town Meeting Tonight

The majority of articles for discussion require funding decisions from the Town Meeting Members.

Money, or the lack thereof, tops the list of issues for tonight's Special and Annual Town Meetings in Norwood - as members will address articles on wage increases for town employees, taxation and collection, and the raising, transferring or appropriation of funds for a number of purposes. The Special Town Meeting will begin at 7:25 p.m. in the auditorium of the Coakley Middle School with the Annual Meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m. There are 33 articles on the warrant for the Special Town Meeting and 13 for the Annual Meeting, all of which can be found on the town website for download prior to the meeting convening this evening. A full list of Norwood Town Meeting Members and their districts is also available on the website. Watch Norwood …

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Fire Budget Still Troubling Norwood Officials

The issue of substitution costs within the department continues to be a concern within both the department and the town.

The monthly report from Fire Chief Michael Howard to the Board of Selectmen at Tuesday night's meeting was met with concern over the current state of the budget. Howard reported the department responded to 495 incidents in the month of December, ending 2010 with 5,414 calls total. He reported this was an increase of 249 incident calls over 2009, or a 4.8 percent increase in call volume. The chief said that 3,817 of these were medical calls. The high volume of calls does not necessarily equate to a large number of house fires in Norwood, Howard said. "A fire call could be an electrical problem, could be a care fire, could be any number of things," the chief said. Looking to the future, Howard was optimistic about firefighters returning to …

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Week in Review, Dec. 12-17

A summary of this week's biggest headlines.

This week started off with a day of good news, as fifth-graders from the Oldham Elementary School brought donations to the food pantry and some favorite animated characters showed up in Norwood to have breakfast with local kids and raise money for the Norwood drama department. Monday Patch had coverage of the special town meeting continued from last week, and the added funding to the fire department the members voted on. The Board of Selectmen this week also voted to move forward on a smart growth project for the town on Washington and East Hoyle Streets and to allow for changes in the Peabody Rd. and Nichols St. intersection in front of the high school. This week Patch also uncovered nondisclosures in the campaign fundraising of state …

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today, Dec. 15

The information you need and the information we need!

1. The School Committee is meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Superintendent's offices at the Savage Center. 2. Mustang hockey is in action tonight, the boys at Newton at 7:00 p.m. and the girls at home against Newton at 8:30 p.m. Watch Patch for the scores! 3. If you missed the special town meeting but want to know how your neighbors voted on important articles, check here on Patch or you can now watch the entire meeting online courtesy of NPA-TV. 4. Entry forms for the Civic's holiday house decorating contest must be in my Friday at 5:00 p.m. Don't forget to snap a picture and email it to Patch! 5. Patch is still looking for your holiday recipes! Send us an email and you could find your tasty treats on our homepage - kelly.glista@patch.…

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today, Dec. 14

Missed last night's town meeting? Want to know if the Mustangs won the game? Feeling under the weather this season? Patch has your answers.

1. The town meeting members voted to appropriate $151,000 to add to the Fire Department's Substitution Fund. Read about the details of that article and other important votes here on Patch. 2. It was a rough night for the Mustangs as the Norwood boys basketball team fell to Bishop Feehan high school last night by a score of 66-43. They will travel to take on Newton North on Friday night. 3. Tonight's Selectmen's meeting has been moved to 6:00 p.m. There will also be a public hearing at 7:00 p.m. on the proposed Hoyle St. Smart Growth Development Project. 4. Haven't gotten that flu shot yet? The Norwood Health Department will be holding a clinic today on the ground floor of Town Hall from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. No one will be denied a flu…

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Fire Dept. Gets $151K for Substitution Costs

The town meeting voted on that issue and several others in its continuation Monday night.

Discussion of Article 16, the appropriation of $151,000 for the Fire Department's Substitution Fund, dominated Monday evening's continuation of the special town meeting at Norwood High School that began last Thursday night. The motion was eventually carried, but not before prolonged discussion and debate among the town meeting members and presentations from both Chief Michael Howard of the Fire Department and Alan Slater of the Fire Department Substitution Review Board. The money in the Substitution Fund is used when department members go on medical, family, vacation or military leave, to temporarily fill those positions. So far in this fiscal year, according to Howard, the department has expended almost $345,000 in substitution costs, out…

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Week in Review, Dec. 5-10

A little holiday cheer and a lot of headlines.

On Monday the Norwood town meeting was postponed by request of the Board of Selectmen, who were concerned that the Patriots vs. Jets football game that night might prevent them from achieving the necessary quorum. When the town meeting members convened Thursday night the discussion centered around the article appropriating money for a new DPW yard and the Ellis Pond vegetation control program. The agenda was not completed and the remaining articles will be discussed this coming Monday. Patch got into the holiday spirit by shopping around for the best place to buy a tree in town and listening to the Norwood High Celtic Strings as they played holiday favorites for Barnes and Noble shoppers. The winter sports previews continued with a glimpse…

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