Beverly Harbor Yacht Sighting Fuels Speculation: Patch PM
BEVERLY, MA —It's Thursday, July 2. Here's what Patch has been covering on the North Shore and across Massachusetts today.
The arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell in New Hampshire Thursday morning on charges that she helped Jeffrey Epstein recruit, groom and sexually exploit girls as young as 14, comes a day after a luxury yacht was seen in Beverly Harbor. The yacht, which departed Wednesday, is owned by another billionaire linked to a decade-old sex scandal and is fueling speculation that the British socialite's arrest is somehow linked to the stopover in Beverly.
Maxwell, 57, reportedly lived at Tidewood Estate in Manchester-by-the-Sea with Scott Borgerson, chief executive of CargoMetrics Technologies and an ocean conservation activist, between 2016 and 2019 and after some of Epstein's victims accused her of having a role in their abuse.
The yacht that showed up in Beverly this week is owned by Alexander Mashkevitch, a Russian businessman and Jewish philanthropist with close ties to political leaders in Kazakhstan. It's not clear if Mashkevitch was on board the yacht when it anchored in Beverly Harbor, or if there is any connection to Maxwell's arrest.
In 2010 Turkish police seized another one of his yachts on suspicion that it had been used to host a sex party with nine young women, including two underage girls, for Kazakh businessmen. Mashkevich was not charged or arrested in the 2010 incident.
Also on the North Shore:
There's trash talk in Swampscott, with residents divided over new rules reducing the amount of garbage they can put out each week. In the fiscal year that began Tuesday, Swampscott is projecting trash hauling costs to rise between 26 and 46 percent, to somewhere between $95 and $105 from $75 per ton. The town said it conducted a trash audit and found that 45 percent of Swampscott households were throwing out one barrel or less of trash per week.
Four Salem city councilors were singled out by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker for blocking housing projects. The Swampscott Republican called Mayor Kim Driscoll "my good friend" who has gotten "thwarted" when she presents housing initiatives to council under state law calling for two-thirds approval for the initiatives.
Another North Shore restaurant appears to have fallen victim to the coronavirus. Bancroft & Co. said it closed its location at the Northshore Mall in Peabody, but plans to open a new concept in the space this fall.
Across Massachusetts:
Phase three of Massachusetts's coronavirus reopening plan will begin Monday. It's the final phase before therapeutics or a vaccine is made available, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday. With the announcement, the Encore Boston Harbor set its reopening date. Here's the full list of what can reopen in Phase 3.
Patch updated its map and spreadsheet with the latest coronavirus data for every Massachusetts town.
Somerville became the first city in the country to recognize polyamorous relationships. Councilor Lance Davis, who introduced the ordinance, said he doesn't feel "it's the place of government to define a family."
A Groveland man is accused of following a Black woman as she drove up his street to pick up a bag of dog food. The 65-year-old man, whose name was not released by police, will be charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
And, finally today: Happy Fourth of July! Have a safe holiday weekend.
Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).
This article originally appeared on the Beverly Patch
