Buried by Blizzards Preview

BURIED BY BLIZZARDS TH E R ELENTLESS W I NTER O F 20 15

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Copyright Š 2015 by North of Boston Media Group All Rights Reserved ISBN: 978-1-59725-563-9 No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.

Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. www.pediment.com.

Printed in Canada.

LEFT: A Lawrence city worker removes snow from a sidewalk on

the Lawrence High School Campus in front of the Center for the Performing Arts building Jan. 28. For this storm and the ones in Februrary, local schools canceled five or more days due to the weather. C ARL RUSSO/STAFF PHOTO 2 | INTRODUCTION

Foreword Christmas Day 2014 dawned warm and rainy.

The temperature would top 50 degrees and meteorologists predicted it would be among the 10 warmest Christmases on record.

Those dreaming of a white Christmas were sorely disappointed. Snow lovers of all persuasions were as well. Barely a trace of snow had fallen in December, and it looked as if those of us who live North of Boston were in for one of those rare, snowless winters.

What a difference a month would make.

Arctic cold would take root across the region in January and hold us in its icy grip through February, setting the stage for recordsetting snow.

Over a 20-day period beginning in late January, the relentless winter of 2015 would pound New England with four major snowstorms of a foot or more, the most ever in any winter season. Two of those storms would each drop more than 2 feet of snow. By midFebruary, the North of Boston region would be under more than 8 feet of snow.

We would be buried by blizzards.

It began modestly, some might say sneakily.

On Jan. 24, we got a little taste of what was to come as 5.1 inches of snow was recorded in Boston, the first significant snowfall since November.

But by that time, meteorologists were warning that a potentially historic storm was

heading our way. Forecasters began to talk of parallels to the famed Blizzard of ’78 that had wreaked havoc on New England in early February of that year.

The storm lived up to the hype. Only the public’s heeding of the warnings, travel bans and advisories prevented the kind of mass strandings seen in 1978.

By the time it stopped snowing heavily, Jan. 28, 2 to 3 feet of snow had blanketed the region.

That storm alone would have been enough for any winter season. But it was just the first of four that would impact the region over a 20-day span.

The endless snow — and the bitter cold and relentless wind that came with it — numbed hands and faces, piled up drifts that buried cars and turned roads into white canyons, created heavy ice dams that collapsed roofs, canceled day after day of school and overwhelmed the public transportation system, creating nightmare commutes for those determined or strong enough to struggle in to work.

The numbers are staggering.

The National Weather Service has kept extensive records for Boston since 1872. By the end of the four major storms of January and February, the city’s snow total for the 20142015 season stood at 102 inches, just shy of the all-time record of 107.6 set in 1995-1996. The

average snowfall for a season is 43.5 inches.

On Sunday, March 15, a light snowfall pushed Boston to a new record of 108.6 inches.

According to The Weather Channel, this season produced Boston’s record 30-day snowfall of 94.4 inches from Jan. 24 to Feb. 22. The previous 30-day record was 58.8 inches from Jan. 9 to Feb. 7, 1978 — a period that includes the famed blizzard.

This season also saw Boston’s fastest 6-foot snowfall, 72.5 inches in 18 days, and the fastest 90-inch snowfall, spanning 23 days from Jan. 24 to Feb. 15. That obliterated the previous record of 78 days set in 1994.

Boston also reported 28 consecutive days in January and February with a daily low temperature of 20 degrees or colder. That broke a record cold snap of 27 days that had stood since 1881.

Boston is merely a benchmark. The numbers there just begin the story of our experience here on the North Shore, Cape Ann, the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire.

“Buried by Blizzards: The Relentless Winter of 2015” is a record of these experiences, the story of snow upon snow and how we, hardy New Englanders all, plowed on.

— By Ken Johnson, writer and editorial page editor with the North of Boston Media Group.

INTRODUCTION | 3

4 | INTRODUCTION

Table of Contents A MONSTER WINTER SNOWSTORM................................. 7 FOOT UPON FOOT UPON FOOT....................................... 45 ANOTHER ‘LONG-DURATION’ STORM.............................. 71 MY STORMY VALENTINE................................................ 105 OUR PHOTOJOURNALISTS............................................. 142 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................. 144

LEFT: John Spagnoli clears his parents’ porch on Bates Road in Swampscott on Jan.27. P AUL BILODEAU/STAFF PHOTO

INTRODUCTION | 5

6 | A MONSTER WINTER SNOWSTORM

JANUARY 27-28, 2015

A Monster Winter Snowstorm On Saturday, Jan. 24, it began to snow across northeastern

Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. It was a heavy, wet snow that left about 8 inches across the region, produced a number of accidents on slick roads and knocked out power to a few hundred homes.

It was just a prelude of what was to come.

More important than the snowfall from this perfectly average New England winter storm was the cloak of cold Canadian air its passing drew down across the region.

Forecasters were projecting that a historic storm was targeting New England early in the coming week. That cold air would contribute to a storm that ranks in the top 10 ever to hit the region.

National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson said a number of factors have to come together to create a monster winter snowstorm. There has to be a pool of cold air over the target, a source of warm, moist air and instability in the atmosphere to create the lift that produces heavy precipitation.

The jet stream must be positioned perfectly to guide the storm up the coast. Too Community

Snow total (in.)

high temp

low temp

+/- from avg.

BEVERLY

24.3 30 23.3 16.1

18º 27º 22º 20º

14º 8º 5º 12º

-9.8º -8º -10.4º -8.4º

NEWBURYPORT HAVERHILL LONDONDERRY, NH

LEFT: A lone pedestrian braves the

storm, heading down South Union Street toward the Duck Bridge in Lawrence during the blizzard Jan. 27.

R YAN HUTTON/ STAFF PHOTO

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far east and the storm goes out to sea. Too far west and the storm passes inland, dropping rain, rather than snow, on most of New England.

If everything is just right, the storm passes over “the benchmark” — the 40 degrees north, 70 degrees west point just 80 miles south of Nantucket. A storm on this route will stay offshore and expand powerfully in the Gulf of Maine, its counter-clockwise circulation sweeping up moist air and dropping it as snow in eastern Massachusetts.

On Jan. 27 and 28, all those factors came together perfectly. The Blizzard of 2015 was born.

The wind howled and a fine-grained snow fell for hour after hour. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker ordered a state of emergency, banning all but essential vehicles from the roads. In New Hampshire, Gov. Maggie Hassan urged drivers to exercise caution. Cities ordered parking bans on their streets and every local school district canceled classes.

By the time the steady snow stopped on

Wednesday, Jan. 28, more than 2 feet had fallen across the region. The relentless wind pushed the snow into drifts easily topping 3 feet in some locations.

Official National Weather Service records generally seem to fall below people’s experience as NWS spotters try to discount factors such as drifting and snow from previous storms.

The tallies were still impressive: Atkinson, N.H., had 26 inches; Beverly, 24.3; Haverhill, 23.3 inches, Groveland, 23.5. Closer to the coast, the tallies were higher: Newburyport posted 30 inches and Gloucester 31 inches.

The people of the North of Boston region on Wednesday, Jan. 28, looked out across a white landscape, all hard edges softened by a deep blanket of snow.

Digging out would take days. People didn’t have days.

The next storm was coming that weekend.

OPPOSITE TOP LEFT: Early morning traffic on Route 102 in Derry at the start of the Jan. 24 snowstorm. C ARL RUSSO/STAFF PHOTO OPPOSITE TOP MIDDLE: Evelyn Dorsey, 6, left, and her brother James, 4, of North Andover, make a snowman near the Thomson

Elementary School on Jan. 24. TIM JEAN/STAFF PHOTO

Page 11

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Serving Cape Ann

NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR Wednesday, January 28, 2015

THE BLIZZARD OF 2015 Gloucester, Cape Ann emerge from nor’easter’s best shots

By AriAnnA MAcneill StAff Writer

With a blizzard’s high winds and driving snow persisting into Tuesday night, residents across Cape Ann face a massive cleanup task today.

But there were no injuries or significant damage reported across Cape Ann, as had been the case with blizzards past. Heading into the storm’s final hours Tuesday night, there were no reports of any deaths or significant injuries across the state, the Mass. Emergency Management Agency reported.

In general, residents and travelers abided by a statewide travel ban, and heeded officials’ advice to stay off the roads and remain inside. “ S o f a r, s o g o o d , ” Gloucester police Chief Leonard Campanello said Tuesday. “The cooperation from the public has been great.”

The police chief said he was spending some time at O’Maley Innovation Middle School, where the city’s emergency center was set up.

Other than “a couple little power outages,” Campanello said, the city emerged from the blizzard in decent shape.

There were some reports of minor flooding and a few power outages in Gloucester, DESI SMITH/Staff photos including one that left 53

Tally’s Towing assisted a state trooper who got stuck in the snow while driving in whiteout conditions Tuesday morning on the Route 128 Extension near Gloucester Crossing.

snowstorm Jan. 24. T IM JEAN/STAFF PHOTO OPPOSITE BOTTOM: Snow-covered branches frame Lexington Avenue in Haverhill during an afternoon snowstorm Jan. 24.

TIM JEAN/STAFF PHOTO

Essex Police Chief Peter Silva

Towns, harbors weather storm By tAylor rApAlyeA Cape Ann’s harbors and seawalls, considered vulnerable as so-called Winter Storm Juno approached, have held strong in the face of the blizzard after two high tides and storm surges Tuesday.

One major point of concern — the Rockport breakwater at the end of Bearskin Neck, which is currently being rebuilt — was doing fine through late Tuesday, according to Harbormaster Rosemary Lesch.

“So far, so good,” she

said. “The Bearskin Neck breakwater seems to be holding its own.”

With the community awash in snowdrifts, and many roads and streets impassable, Essex Police Chief Peter Silva said residents were abiding by the statewide travel ban, and that’s helped public works and emergency crews.

“For the most part, people are behaving,” said Silva Tuesday. “Let the plows do what they have to do, and we’ll be fine.”

There have been a few exceptions. Silva noted that a police cruiser on Belcher

Street was nearly taken out by a civilian car Tuesday morning, but he said the driver had an excuse for being out on the road.

There was a possible hit-and-run on John Wise Avenue around 4 a.m., which may have been the cause of a National Grid pole cracking and falling into the road.

As a result, Route 133 was closed from Island Road to the golf course on John Wise Avenue from early Tuesday into the afternoon as crews attempted to reset the pole and restore power to Highland Road.

Check out video coverage from Gloucester emergency communications center, and click on our live blog for more blizzard coverage

Causeway, schools The Essex Causeway was closed at around 4 a.m. as well due to flooding, and again at high tide Tuesday afternoon.

Schools across Cape Ann — in Rockport, Manchester Essex and Gloucester — are closed Wednesday for a secBreanna and Jim Pappas of Essex make their way through the ond day as well.

blinding snow near J.T Farnham’s during Tuesday’s blizzard.

See TOWNS, Page 8 The couple wanted to go out for a walk.

Supporters say Schools, teachers approve sculpture won’t new contract in Rockport need city funds StAff Writer

By AriAnnA MAcneill Park, said Monday that StAff Writer

City money is no longer being sought in the push to bring a new, abstract sculpture to Gloucester.

Bruce Tobey, former mayor and one of the organizers behind the effort to install a David Black sculpture in Solomon Jacobs  Weather A bit of snow in the morning� High, 27°; low, 10°� Forecasts: marine, Page 7; extended, Page 18.

 Tides

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he believes the $60,000 the city needs for installationrelated fees can be raised entirely through private donations.

A joint meeting for residents of Wards 1 and 2, meanwhile, to discuss the sculpture and allow

See SCULPTURE, Page 2

R O C K P O RT — Th e Rockport Teachers Association and the town’s school committee have ratified a new teachers’ contract, ensuring they will go into effect in September.

With a 2 percent raise in monetary compensation over some additional split steps, funding for the contract is included in the fiscal 2016 school budget

B

plan that will be proposed at the budget meeting in April.

“It got ratified by both sides, so we have a smooth 3-year contract that begins next fall, Sept. 1,” Superintendent of Schools Rob Liebow said Monday.

He said the split steps simply allow the school to distribute money differently than in the past, adding that the contract was achieved easily due to the positive relationship between

the RTA and the school committee.

“I think it was a mutually respectful process that we reached resolution fairly quickly,” Liebow said. “We started in the fall — it wasn’t a prolonged negotiation. I think it was the result of a high level of trust and understanding.”

Teachers’ union representative Jodi Goodhue could not be reached for comment.

See TEACHERS, Page 2

To our readers ...

Dear Readers, We at the Gloucester Daily Times have been working hard to gather the news and deliver your newspaper as the region has battled this historic storm.

If you are a subscriber, remember you can access much of the news report as it develops at www.gloucestertimes.com. Also, if you have not yet activated your online subscription, you can do so by clicking on http:// www.gloucestertimes.com/ subscriptions/ Thank you for being patient with any delays in your regular newspaper delivery that may have occurred Tuesday and today due to the weather.

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Essex ��������������������������������5 Lottery ����������������������������� 7 Manchester���������������������5 Obituaries ����������������������� 7 Court �������������������������������� 3

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8 | A MONSTER WINTER SNOWSTORM

See BLIZZARD, Page 8

“Let the plows do what they have to do, and we’ ll be fine.”

By tAylor rApAlyeA

OPPOSITE TOP RIGHT: Sally Driscoll shovels snow away from her driveway on Lexington Avenue in Haverhill during the

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PORT HOME

Festival celebrates eagles returning to restored habitat

SPORTS

Local ingredients give Super buffet a starring role in national tradition

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Bill Burt says Pat’s LeGarrette Blount luckiest guy in U.S.

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WEATHER

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Today: Clearing. High of 23.

Tonight: Low of 5.

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WIND, SURF POUND BEACHES

In storm’s wake, huge piles with few places to put them STAFF REPORTS A statewide travel ban during yesterday’s storm kept accidents and incidents to a minimum as the blizzard dropped close to 2 feet of snow on the area, local police said.

The nor’easter blasted the region with heavy snow and high winds that caused substantial drifts. Thousands of people heeded Gov. Charlie Baker’s order to stay off the roads and many remained at home.

Local official expressed relief that stormrelated incidents were few. Newburyport encountered one small fire around 8:30 a.m. yesterday. Newburyport firefighters were dispatched to a car fire on Unicorn Circle, just next to the municipal parking lot. No injuries were reported and the fire was quickly SNOW, Page 4

TOP 5 SNOWSTORMS 1. Blizzard of ‘78 (Feb. 6 and Feb. 7) 27” 2. Blizzard of 2015 (Jan. 26 and Jan. 27) 22” 3. Blizzard of 2013 (Feb. 8 to Feb. 10) 21.2” 4. (tie) April Fools’ Day storm (April 1 and April 2, 1997) 20” Jan. 24 and Jan. 25, 2005 20” 5. Feb. 17-18, 2003 16.5” – Information from Ray Whitley

BRYAN EATON/Staff photo

A handful of people check out the waves at Plum Island Center at high tide yesterday afternoon. A few waves almost made it up to the parking lot, but plowed piles of snow kept them back.

But Plum Island, Salisbury escape serious damage STAFF REPORTS NEWBURY — Ten-foot surf pounded the coast of Plum Island twice yesterday, but as of last night, no homes were lost to the Blizzard of 2015.

“I think we made it through,” Plum Island homeowner Ron Barrett said. “(The tide) didn’t go as high as it was supposed to. We will see in the morning how much

storms before this. If we get another storm right after this one, we could get some damage.”

Homeowners, police and the news media gathered at the beach at the end of the Plum Island Turnpike to witness yesterday’s 5 p.m. high tide, which forecasters indicated would generate unusually large and damaging surf.

Brad Cedolin moved from BEACHES, Page 4

from yesterday’s storm as of last night. He hopes to get a better Go online for more photos and video look at any potential damage from the air in the next couple of days to see how much the sand bars have moved.

“There has been no flooding either for being a 10-foot-high tide and three- to four-foot surge — we didn’t get flooded,” Barrett said. “Two years ago, when we lost the houses, we had some

the sand has moved.”

Six Plum Island homes were lost to the Atlantic during a nor’easter in March 2013, which came just weeks after the Blizzard of 2013. Barrett lives in the Basin and said he was glad to see no major damage was apparent

BRYAN EATON/Staff photo

A delivery crew from Knight Oil wades through deep snow after filling a tank at this home on Merrill Street in Amesbury.

‘You really felt like a rock star’ Our Neighbors’ Table gets new home

BY JIM SULLIVAN

Former Patriots lineman Max Lane talks about the Super Bowl experience

STAFF WRITER

BY MAC CERULLO SPORTS EDITOR

NEWBURYPORT — The New England Patriots will take the field on Sunday looking for their fourth Super Bowl championship.

After nearly two weeks of practice, logistics and answering questions about deflated footballs, the team will soon begin final preparations for the biggest game of their lives.

For Max Lane, who works as a broker out of MINCO Corporation’s Newburyport office, this week brings back a lot of memories. He went through the same thing nearly 20 years ago.

Lane played seven seasons with the Patriots from 1994 to 2000 as an offensive lineman, and he was a starter on BRYAN EATON/Staff photo the 1996 team that competed in Super Bowl XXXI, which Former New England Patriot Max Lane discusses the the Patriots lost to the Green upcoming Super Bowl with Daily News sports editor Mac LANE, Page 4 Cerullo.

This Day in hisTory On this day in 1845, Richard Coffin of Newbury recorded in his diary: “My neck no better, cannot stir about, it is so lame with pain. Weather very pleasant a.m., p.m. foggy. People pass with wheels and runners, [but] going not good for either.”

— From the collections of the Historical Society of Old Newbury

AMESBURY — According to executive director Lyndsey Haight, Our Neighbors’ Table outgrew its current home on the campus of the Main Street Congregational Church about five years ago.

Over the years, the nonprofit food pantry had reached out to local property owners looking for a new home. Those owners included Amesbury Industrial Supply owner Greg Jardis, who had two units of his Pattens’ Hollow plaza on Main Street come available early last year.

Jardis had offered to make use of the roughly 4,800 square feet for Our Neighbors’ Table’s food inventory free of charge, but the situation changed right around Thanksgiving when the property owner paid a visit to Haight in her office and left her speechless.

Rather than telling Haight that he would now be charging ONT rent, Jardis told her he was going to sell them the space, roughly $500,000 worth of real estate, for $1.

“He might have had to hold me up,” Haight said. “I was in complete disbelief and awe,

Business owner Greg Jardis gives his property to food pantry for $1

ABOVE: The Salisbury Department of Public Works kept Broadway at Salisbury Beach clear of drifting snow Jan. 27. Depending

upon the location, communities around the region were hit with up to 2 feet of snow in this blizzard. Wind, tides and ice were big problems on the coast. B RYAN EATON/STAFF PHOTO BRYAN EATON/Staff photo

Lyndsey Haight, executive director of Our Neighbors’ Table, with Greg Jardis, who is donating two units of this building on Main Street in Amesbury to the charitable organization, where they’ll be moving all operations. but he was sincere. He had thought this through and here we are.”

“I am a lucky guy (and) Our Neighbors’ Table has been near and dear to my heart for many years,” Jardis said.

“It is a great organization. I heard it might be in jeopardy and I wanted to help.”

But a simple empty space was not enough for Jardis, who told Haight that his work was not done.

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“He came back to me and said, ‘I just don’t feel good about giving you this space in an unfinished state,’” Haight said. “So he asked me about how much it would cost to build out the space inside.

We had a couple of quotes from contractors and he has offered us another up to $250,000 for the build-out.”

Operating since 1992, Our Neighbors’ Table feeds more PROPERTY, Page 4

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OPPOSITE TOP LEFT: A front-end loader waits to fill a truck with salt and sand at the Department of Public Works yard in

Gloucester. Clearing, salting and sanding roads was a round-the-clock task for many workers in late January and much of February as the blizzards just kept coming. P AUL BILODEAU/STAFF PHOTO OPPOSITE TOP RIGHT: Beverly Department of Public Works motor pool mechanic Josh Wade attaches chains to one of the truck

tires in preparation of the upcoming snowstorm Jan. 26. K EN YUSZKUS/STAFF PHOTO OPPOSITE BOTTOM LEFT: The dairy aisle at the Market Basket in Gloucester Crossing emptied quickly as people prepared for

the blizzard Jan. 26. P AUL BILODEAU/STAFF PHOTO OPPOSITE BOTTOM RIGHT: Erwin Cardona of Lawrence shops at the Market Basket in the North Andover Plaza on Route 114 on

Jan. 26. Supermarkets around the region were packed as people bought supplies before the blizzard. C ARL RUSSO/STAFF PHOTO

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ABOVE: Downtown Amesbury was a virtual ghost town on the evening of Jan.

27, as the blizzard kept on. B RYAN EATON/STAFF PHOTO LEFT: Tom Quinn of Danvers takes a breather after clearing a path from his

home in the early hours of Jan. 27. A MY SWEENEY/STAFF PHOTO FAR LEFT: A resident of High Street in Newburyport gets down and dirty to clear

snow from under his car. B RYAN EATON/STAFF PHOTO

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PARENT News The Salem 28, 2015 January Wednesday,

THE BIG BLUSTER

Massive blizzard blankets North Shore, but does little damage

Lottery fears losing to casinos State lottery officials worry their games will lose out to the state’s new casinos, and they want to spend more money to stave off losses� Page 2

Maimoni again tries for release Convicted in ’91 murder of Salem woman

BY JuLIE MANGANIS STAFF WRITER

Operations Center at the O’Maley School on Jan. 27. D ESI SMITH/STAFF PHOTO OPPOSITE TOP LEFT: This is the view from a plow as it heads down Sutton Street in North Andover on the morning of the Jan. 27

blizzard. R YAN HUTTON/ STAFF PHOTO OPPOSITE BOTTOM LEFT: Chris Spanks of the North Andover Department of Public Works takes a break under the I-495

overpass on Sutton Street to scrape ice off his plow’s windshield Jan. 27. R YAN HUTTON/ STAFF PHOTO OPPOSITE RIGHT: Chris Spanks, with the North Andover Department of Public Works, checks to see how a shoveler on the sidewalk is holding up Jan. 27. RYAN HUTTON/ STAFF PHOTO FOLLOWING LEFT: Tally’s Towing was called out to assist a state police officer whose vehicle became stuck while he was driving in whiteout conditions Jan. 27 near Gloucester Crossing in Gloucester. DESI SMITH/STAFF PHOTO FOLLOWING RIGHT: Olivia Marchioni, 20, of Salem, N.H., attacks the snow pile on top of her mother’s car. All around the region it

was humans vs. snow as cleanup began after the blizzard. TIM JEAN/STAFF PHOTO

Storm drops 24 inches, but power outages modest

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE Dear Readers: We at The Salem News are working hard to gather the news and deliver your newspaper on time as the region digs out from this historic storm� If you are a subscriber, remember you can access the news report as it develops at www�salemnews� com� Thank you for being patient with any delays in your regular newspaper delivery that may occur due to the weather� For assistance, call 978-927-6800�

BY PAuL LEIGHTON STAFF WRITER

The blizzard of 2015 lived up to expectations by dropping more than two feet of snow over most of the North Shore Tues■ More storm day, but a relatively coverage. m o d e st n u m b e r Pages 7, 8, 16. of power outages spared the region an even worse fate on a day when most people were stuck indoors.

Snow crews worked nearly 30 straight hours in some cases in an attempt to clear the massive amount of snow from streets. City and town officials said the public cooperated for the most part by obeying parking bans and keeping their cars off the street.

The cold temperatures, averaging around 15 degrees, reduced the snow’s water content and prevented the kind of heavy snow that sticks

to trees and leads to power outages, according to Salem State meteorologist Arthur Francis.

As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, only 411 of National Grid’s 262,440 customers in Essex County were without power, according to the company.

“Thank God it was a light snow because there was a lot snow that came down,” Salem Department of Public Works Director John Tomasz STORM, Page 16

Residents in cheery mood amid the snow Some local

BY ETHAN FORMAN STAFF WRITER

BEVERLY — Brianna Mattson and Courtney Roberts of Beverly were the last two customers at Super Sub Shop before it closed early at 3 p.m.

Tuesday.

With a statewide travel ban in effect, both young women walked about a mile and a half from Bridge Street in the cold and blowing snow to get to the Cabot Street restaurant.

The reason for their trek?

“Because we love Super Subs, and they are open,” Roberts said. “And I am so grateful that they are open right now. Legit.”

Their mood seemed to reflect othBoth seemed quite pleased, too. ers who were dealing with Tuesday’s Shop owner Paul Guanci, the volume of snow and a snow day off.

Beverly City Council president, “It’s not that bad,” Roberts said of threw in some large bags of chips the storm. “Just the wind blowing in for the women as a reward for their your face.” perseverance.

RESIDENTS, Page 16 Watch the snow bury a garden gnome in Swampscott.

businesses stayed open through the blizzard

BY JOHN CASTELLuCCIO STAFF WRITER

Blizzard babies: A dozen miracles arrived during storm

BY DuSTIN LuCA STAFF WRITER

They’re known as blizzard babies — newborn wonders who choose only the most chaotic introduction to begin their lives.

As schools were closed and roads looked like winterized ghost towns, about a dozen lives were celebrated at hospitals throughout the area.

Five babies were born at Beverly Hospital during the storm — four Courtesy Photo from parents arriving during the Micah Thomas Bartley, weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce, was one of about a dozen BABIES, Page 16 babies born in Beverly and Salem during the blizzard.

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14 | A MONSTER WINTER SNOWSTORM

PAUL BILODEAU/Staff photo

Salem firefighters help fellow firefighter Dan Blanchette get free after he got stuck near the back of the fire station on Klop Alley during the morning hours of the blizzard of 2015.

Photo by Mike Rollins

ABOVE: Police and fire officials, along with staff from Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association, work the Gloucester Emergency

SALEM — Three years ago, convicted killer Thomas Maimoni sat before the state Parole Board and, among other things, insisted that he’d never filed any federal lawsuits challenging his conviction or targeting the prosecutor and witnesses.

But the Thomas man convicted of sec- Maimoni ond-degree murder in the 1 9 9 1 d e at h of Martha Brailsford, 37, has a lengthy history of trying to rewrite his- Martha tory, hoping Brailsford some judge will buy his claims of a “rogue wave,” or of witnesses coached to lie by the prosecution, or even that the “official witch of Salem,” Laurie Cabot, was part of a conspiracy to frame him.

Earlier this month, Maimoni filed a rambling, 10-page petition for what is known as a “writ of habeas corpus,” a proceeding in which an inmate can argue that he’s been wrongfully imprisoned.

It’s at least the fifth time he’s done so since 2000.

Maimoni, now 69 and serving a life sentence at MCI Norfolk, was convicted in 1993.

Investigators believe that Maimoni, enraged after the married Brailsford rejected his sexual advances while aboard his sailboat, repeatedly struck her, either knocking her unconscious or killing her, and then tied a diving belt and anchor to her body and threw her overboard.

In his memorandum, Maimoni contends that the “official version” (which he capitalizes and then abbreviates as “O.V.”) involved a “manufactured motive” that he was luring women aboard MAIMONI, Page 7

Clockwise from left: Christina MacDougall, Danny Wholley, Eric Cagney, Horell Cruz

“Hair to take the edge off”

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Not much of anything was open Tuesday afternoon, not even Dunkin’ Donuts.

While it appeared most businesses on the North Shore heeded the state of emergency declared Monday by Gov. Charlie Baker on the eve of a potentially historic blizzard, several shop owners did open their doors Tuesday to provide a warm spot and a bite to eat for emergency responders, plow crews and anyone else daring enough to head out into the snow.

“When you’re a small businessman in today’s economy, you can’t BuSINESSES, Page 16

For more coverage of the blizzard of 2015.

WEATHER Today: Breezy; cloudy, then some sun� High of 23� Details, Page 18.

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Weather art by: Annika Johnson, grade three, Winthrop School Extended Day Program, Ipswich