Submit Your Holiday Display To Patch's 2021 Tour: Patch PM

ANDOVER, MA — It's Thursday, Dec. 9. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Issues of understaffing and trust between students and teachers in Medford came to light during a school committee meeting, as the fallout continues from two incidents of violence at the high school last week.
• Police are investigating three burglaries in Wellesley that happened while residents were home asleep early Wednesday morning. Similar burglaries happened just weeks ago in another neighborhood; police said the thieves entered through unlocked doors in each case.
• A woman was attacked by a raccoon while she was outside putting up Christmas lights. The five-minute skirmish ended when she was able to put the animal in a headlock, but the fight left her with scratches, bruises and bites on both arms.

Today's top story

It's the holiday season again, and Patch is again compiling a holiday light tour of the area.

Shoot us an email if your home or business is worth a drive-by this holiday season. We'll keep adding to the 2020 guide leading up to the day before New Year's Eve — Thursday, Dec. 30.

Follow the guides below for submitting your display to Patch:

• Andover
• North Andover
• Tewksbury
• Wilmington
• Woburn

Thursday's other top stories

Cape Cod radio personality found dead: A man was found dead with a gunshot wound in his Hyannis home Wednesday, according to the Cape & Islands District Attorney's office. Around 6 p.m., Barnstable police and fire officials were called to a home on Oakview Terrace after receiving a call that a man, later identified as Eric Christensen, 51, was unresponsive. Christensen was a radio personality with Cape Cod's iHeartRadio affiliate and went under the name Eric "The Prozac'" Christensen.

Wellesley homes burglarized while residents slept: Police are warning residents to be careful following three early morning burglaries on Wednesday. One or more burglars entered homes along Garden, Sawyer and Hawthorne roads while the residents inside were asleep. The burglars got inside through unlocked doors and windows, police said.

Man who filmed sleeping trooper stopped minutes later: The man who videotaped a state trooper who appeared to be sleeping while on duty told MassLive he was stopped by another trooper roughly three minutes after taking the video. The trooper told Nick Ford he was being pulled over for using an electronic device, but Ford felt the stop was "retaliation."

Raccoon attacks woman putting up Christmas lights: A Lancaster woman says a raccoon attacked her while she was outside putting up Christmas lights. The woman told WCVB she struggled with the animal for about five minutes until she was able to put it in a headlock.

DA's office requests inquest for man shot by police: Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has requested that an inquest be conducted for 28-year-old Michael Conlon, the man who was fatally shot by Newton police inside a building on Lincoln Street earlier this year.

Picture this

Peabody teen Maura Stein will get to sing alongside Broadway legend Idina Menzel in "WILD: A Musical Becoming" at Harvard University's American Repertory Theater. Stein, a sophomore at Essex Tech, is a member of the Boston Children's Chorus, which is featured in the show.

They said it

"I will not apologize for the desperation of my peers and I as we stood outside last Wednesday, afraid of receiving the same punishment as the person who sent [the] victim to the hospital just one day prior."

• Medford High School senior Katie Rotramel addresses the school committee following recent violence at the school. The meeting revealed the district is grappling with staff shortages and issues of trust between students and educators.

In case you missed it

MA colleges requiring extra COVID vaccine: Several colleges will require eligible students, staff and faculty to get COVID-19 booster shots for the spring semester. The Boston Globe reported Wednesday Boston College, UMass and Emerson are among those extra dose of vaccination. The news comes as COVID-19 cases spike and the Omicron variant spreads ahead of what could be another harsh pandemic winter.