Xfinity Center- Most Dangerous Place

In August, GoLocal Worcester reported on the dangers to be found at the Xfinity Concert Center in Mansfield.

According to the report, "in the past 2.5 seasons the concert venue in Mansfield, MA has been the site of more than 2,100 arrests and detentions during just 81 concert nights. The XFinity Center (previous called Comcast, Tweeter and Great Woods) was also the source of hundreds of hospitalizations and recently one alleged rape.

Statistically per event there are more than 26 arrests and incarcerations and many more are taken to the hospital."

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Mailer Proves Campaign Immaturity

State Representative Ryan Fattman (R), who ran against Senator Richard Moore (D) for the Worcester and Norfolk County State Senate seat, sent out a mailer to his constituents with apicture of him licking the face of his wife, Stephanie Fattman.

Also in the limelight during this election year, Mrs. Fattman ran as the Republican candidate for Worcester County’s Register of Probate, against current Register Stephen G. Abraham.

Neither candidate was hurt by the mailer, as they both finished victorious in their races.

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Student Wears KKK Costume to School

On the day before Halloween, at Worcester Technical High School, a female student showed up to school wearing a Ku Klux Klan costume. The day, themed “Heroes and Villains” day at Tech, drew an abundance of inappropriate costumes, but nothing compared to the unfortunate and tasteless Klan outfit.

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Bench Claims Outrage Family

According to a report by GoLocal Worcester, "After hearing claims that her son’s bench may be the cause of an uptick in gang related crimes at University Park and that there may have been discussions about potentially removing the bench, Niki Winfield was outraged.

After the bench was dedicated to her son Juan Shippee – who passed away on December 31, 2009 from Hemolytic Anemia, a condition that he was born with that shortens the normal lifespan of the body’s red blood cells – Winfield says that the community has been nothing but supportive, continually gathering around the bench to pay their respects to someone who was taken far too soon."

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Double Stabbings on Shrewsbury Street

In the span of 48 hours over a weekend in October, Shrewsbury Street was the site of multiple violent crimes. A double stabbing occurred outside of 7 Nana Restaurant. A domestic dispute resulted in another stabbing at Union Station. East Side Liquor Store was the victim of an armed robbery. Two waitress were attacked outside of the Wexford House.

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Assumption Ranked Top Regional College

Worcester’s Assumption College has been named to the top "Regional Universities" list in U.S. News & World Report's 2015 Best Colleges guide.

Assumption is ranked at No. 31 among approximately 200 regional universities in the North that offer bachelor and master’s degrees. Today’s announcement follows last month’s recognition of Assumption by The Princeton Review for being one of the best colleges in the nation. Assumption was also named last month a “College of Distinction” for its innovative, teacher-centered undergraduate education and preparing our graduates for real-world success.

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Assumption Evacuated Due to Bomb Threat

In October, Assumption College was the site of a bomb threat. The faculty, administration and students were all evacuated.

It turned out that a former student, who had been expelled from Assumption, was the perpetrator of the threat. He was arrested days later.

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DA Early Confirms 3 Dead Infants

In September, Worcester County District Attorney Joe Early confirmed that Law Enforcement officials were investigating the discovery of three dead infants in Blackstone, MA.

Blackstone officials have confirmed that the house on St. Paul Street in the site.

Four children of varying ages were taken into custody by DCF. They are ages 6 months, 3, 10, and 13-years old, but it has been disclosed if they are all of the same family.

Recently, the mother of these children, Erika Murray was indicted on two murder charges.

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South High Alum Dan Ha's Body Found

In November, GoLocal reported that 26-year-old Dan Ha, a graduate of South High School in Worcester, vanished in San Francisco on Halloween. 

According to Dan Ha's family, his body was found in San Francisco Bay. The Ha family does not believe it to be a suicide. 

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University Park Hotbed for Gang Crime

As GoLocal reported this summer, gang crime was on the rise at Worcester's University Park.

At the time, Bill Breault, chair of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety said, “I think we are in for a long hot summer. There are a lot of concerned parents in the area that don’t want their children going anywhere near the park because they are afraid of the violence. We need to do something; I don’t want to wait until someone dies to have to do something.”

According to the Main South Alliance for Public Safety agenda minutes, a number of shootings near the park have been confirmed by ShotSpotter technology in the past few months. In addition, at least one stabbing has occurred, which happened on May 1st.

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Racial Incident Rocks Worcester

On the final weekend of November, Danielle Spring of Worcester, was verbally attacked with racial slurs and was reportedly told to "go back to Ferguson," outside of a Pub 99 in Worcester.

"It was a night to remember," said Spring, a former Pub 99 employee. "I'm still in shock that it even happened."

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Gang Crime Fueled by New Bench at Park

"A newly dedicated bench in University Park has a lot of local residents wondering whether the bench is becoming a hot spot for local crime.

The bench was dedicated to a local resident who died of a heart condition. Although his death had nothing to do with gang violence or gang related activity, local residents claim that he had been affiliated with other known gang members.

'Since the bench was dedicated, we have had a lot of crime related problems in the area,” said Bill Breault, Chair of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety. “There have been a number of folks congregating around the bench. I can certainly tell you this; this isn’t a problem that is just going to go away.'"

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Firefighters Dying at Alarming Rate

"According to a report entitled “Dying for Work in Massachusetts: The Loss of Life and Limb in Massachusetts Workplaces,” all three of Worcester’s reported deaths in 2013 were firefighters. Even more striking is that all three firefighters – as well as the nine total firefighters that died throughout Massachusetts – died because of work-related illnesses such as heart disease or cancer."

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Heroin Overdoses By the Numbers

In August, GoLocal Worcester reported that nine people had died in Worcester in the first week of August. 

"While the city of Worcester has declared a public health advisory and is doing everything that they can to help prevent heroin overdoses from happening in the city, public health officials say that these overdoses are still happening at an alarming rate."

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