~Photo by Jackie Rossetti

$400k in damage estimated at Glenwood Road blaze, two trapped on third floor

By George P. Hassett

Somerville firefighters saved two people trapped on the third floor of a blazing Glenwood Road home Sunday night but the dramatic rescue could have been avoided if the building's landlord had put batteries in the smoke detectors, said Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher.

Firefighters arrived at 111 Glenwood Road Sunday around 6:30 p.m. and found the "entire front porch fully engulfed in flames," Kelleher said. An electrical wire then caught fire and fell, bouncing up and down in the middle of the street with a flame on the end of it, he said.

A Dorchester man suspected of being a major drug trafficker swallowed four bags of heroin as Somerville police officers approached him June 24, police said.

Roberto Moreau-Rivera, 28, of Dorchester, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to violate a drug law, witness intimidation and possession to distribute a class A drug and Leslie Stephatos, 45, of 93 Temple St., was arrested and charged with conspiracy to violate a drug law and warrant charges.

By Cathleen Twardzik

Even as the earthquake in Haiti has faded from the headlines, Haitian-Americans in Somerville continue to volunteer and offer aid to their struggling home country.

Somerville Haitian Coalition volunteers recently returned from a two-month long mission to the country, where they helped deliver medical assistance and mental health counseling to 1,200 survivors, distributed supplies, food, clothing, beds, temporary shelter and other materials to 1,300 survivors, and provided CPR training to 60 women.

By Tom Nash

An eleventh hour shift by Mayor Joseph Curtatone will save 28 school custodian jobs from the chopping block, but will likely have to answer questions from the state on whether the move is legal.

Curtatone, who had proposed cutting all 49 school custodian positions and outsourcing the work, put forward what he called a "hybrid plan" to the Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday.

By William Tauro

Somerville police units were dispatched to the Big Kmart department store at Assembly Square for a male and a juvenile female allegedly shoplifting Tuesday evening.

Both were arrested on shoplifting charges. The male was also charged with an open warrant.

By George P. Hassett

Somerville residents will have a chance to grill the candidates for the city's open police chief job at a public Q&A session July 7 in City Hall.

On Tuesday, City Hall announced the six finalists to replace former Police Chief Anthony Holloway, who left the job two years into a five year contract, to return as chief to the Clearwater, Florida police department, where he had been a captain.

A Cambridge man who tried to steal a cash drawer filled with $340 from a Walgreen's on Broadway June 21 was slowed down when he tried to leave the store through the entrance and could not open the door, according to police.

Kenneth Allen smiled at a Walgreen's cashier and stepped behind the counter before pulling a cash drawer out and trying to run out of the store, police said.