As North Shore Recovers From Storm, Outages Remain High: Patch PM

BEVERLY, MA — It's Thursday, Oct. 28. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• After more than 3,500 homes were without power across Beverly, Salem and Swampscott early Wednesday night, that number was down to less than 350 by Thursday afternoon, while much of the South Shore and Cape remained in the dark.
• Community members are defending Melrose Superintendent Julie Kukenberger 's decision to no longer have school celebrations focus on Halloween in the public school system. Patch's Mike Carraggi will appear on WGBH's Greater Boston Live tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss the Halloween controversy in Melrose.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

The rain is gone and the wind has died on, but the power outages live on.

As of 2:15 p.m. Thursday, more than 290,000 Massachusetts electric customers were without power following the Nor'easter that slammed the state Tuesday and Wednesday. The good news is that's down from about 450,000 just 24 hours earlier.

The bad news? Some of those customers may be without power until 6 p.m. on Saturday, according to Eversource President and CEO Joe Nolan. The repair efforts were hampered overnight, when string winds continued to bring down tree limbs and utility lines.

"We had strong, hazardous winds on the Cape through the night, which brought down more trees and electric lines, causing additional power outages. The number of massive trees down is a major factor and has made the job even more challenging, but we remain laser-focused on this restoration – which will intensify as the day goes on," Nolan said in a statement. "We are grateful to our customers for their patience and recognize the tremendous disruption that being without electricity presents."

Most residents on the North Shore were able to turn on the lights, heat, dry out and warm up on Thursday. While more than 3,500 homes across Beverly, Salem and Swampscott were without power early Wednesday night, that number was down to less than 350 by 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Some crews even lent a helping hand on the South Shore and Cape Cod.

More on Patch:

• Hingham Ferry Service Stopped For Third Day In A Row
• All Service To Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket Suspended
• Mayflower Wind Cape Cod Marathon Canceled Following Storm

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Thursday's Other Top Stories

Community shows support for superintendent's Halloween move: Superintendent Julie Kukenberger has been under scrutiny for days following her letter to parents Friday confirming the district would no longer revolve fall celebrations around Halloween. That scrutiny quickly turned to outrage amid accusations that Kukenberger was "canceling" Halloween — something she denied at Tuesday night's School Committee meeting — and that outrage gave way to vitriolic online attacks. Community members have come to the superintendent's defense as she continued to be targeted this week. Meanwhile, late night host Jimmy Kimmel picked up on the story Wednesday night.

• Watch: Patch's Mike Carraggi will appear on WGBH's Greater Boston Live tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss the Halloween controversy in Melrose.

Homeless 'lose everything' in Worcester: Worcester police and outreach workers appeared at a homeless camp on Oct. 20 and told everyone they had to leave. Then, heavy construction vehicles hired by the state and a private railroad company began clearing possessions, trash and other detritus that were left behind. "We were one big family over there," one of the displaced residents of the camp said. "People lost everything; it was bad."

Heading to Salem to celebrate Halloween this month? Read Patch's visitors guide.

Picture This: Black bear sightings

A black bear has been spotted on Country Road at the Wareham/Marion line, police say. Marion police warn residents not to try to approach the bear, they say if you do come into close contact to try to remain calm, moving away slowly and sideways.