Rittenhouse letter, Raynham Park memories, mayor withdraws CFO candidate: Our top 5 stories
Before we begin the new week in earnest, we're taking a look back at the week that was, and the stories that led the news with Taunton Daily Gazette readers.
Leading the way was an unusual item: a Letter to the Editor! Not that it's unusual to get a Letter to the Editor. No, this is only unusual in the sense that these letters do not often lead our most-read stories of the week.
This past week, Gazette readers also turned to memories of Raynham Park; Mayor Shaunna O'Connell withdrew her pick for Taunton's first chief financial officer; and an anti-vax protest on the Berkley-Dighton bridge got some attention.
Finally, proving you can never predict what anyone is going to be reading or drawn to, a crime story from Sept. 2020 also made the Top 5 this past week.
These were the Top 5 stories of the week, according to Gazette readers:
Letter to the Editor: Rittenhouse verdict sends a frightening message
This week's most-read piece was a Letter to the Editor we received from Kathryn N. Cunningham, about the Rittenhouse verdict.
Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty of intentional homicide and reckless endangerment, after being put on trial for fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber with an AR-15 style rifle during a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He also wounded Gaige Grosskreutz. Rittenhouse's mother brought him across state lines to the protest, which followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha. Blake was left paralyzed, and the white police officer who shot him was cleared of any federal or state charges.
"We're going to continue to fight," Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake, told news cameras posted outside the courthouse after the verdict. "Somehow, some way, those 12 jurors who had the evidence found he was innocent of the charges, yet we have two young men that will never be walking through the door to their families again."
From the trial: Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all counts of homicide, reckless endangerment
Memories of Raynham Park
The grandstand at Raynham Park was demolished in early November as part of a massive makeover of the park, which hosted live greyhound racing until it was banned statewide in 2011. The demolition brought back memories for both Raynham Park regulars and the people who used to work there.
"It was the place to go," said Stephen Smith, who remembers pulling down $14 a night as a lead out, back when Raynham Park ruled the local entertainment scene.
Smith worked the track from 1968, when he was 14, until he graduated from Taunton High School in 1972.
Like it does for countless others, the mostly demolished park holds a special place in his memories.
'It will rival Vegas': Betting facility at Raynham Park to get massive makeover
O'Connell withdraws pick for Taunton's first CFO
Mayor Shaunna O'Connell has withdrawn her pick for the city's first chief financial officer, Patrick Dello Russo, pending further review of potential red flags that include a personal bankruptcy in 2016.
O'Connell had planned to ask the City Council to confirm her choice of Dello Russo at Tuesday's council meeting. Dello Russo had recently gone on paid administrative leave from his post as treasurer-collector for Marshfield. The Board of Selectmen in that town said the move was for "personal reasons."
At press time, the Gazette had been unable to reach Dello Russo.
Dello Russo on leave: Marshfield hires interim treasurer to replace one on leave for 'personal reasons'
Anti-vax protest on Berkley-Dighton Bridge
An anti-vax protest was held recently on the Berkley-Dighton bridge, prompting one Dighton resident to mask up and engage in respectful dialogue with the protesters. Gazette Reporter Chris Helms was there and has the story here.
Each of the three coronavirus vaccines has been authorized for emergency use, and have undergone clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people in addition to peer-reviewed studies.
The Pfizer vaccine is fully FDA-approved for people 16 and older and authorized for emergency use for children 5-15. Both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for emergency use for people 18 and older.
Fact check: 6 of the most persistent misconceptions about COVID-19 vaccines
2020 arrest makes Top 5 stories
This Sept. 2020 story about a Fall River man who was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer and operating under the influence, after he allegedly attempted to run over multiple people in Taunton, rounds out the Top 5 stories from this past week.
Taunton Daily Gazette/Herald News copy editor and digital producer Kristina Fontes can be reached at kfontes@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette today.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Top 5 stories Rittenhouse Raynham Park Patrick Dello Russo anti-vax
