For Malden Catholic to get five goals from its top line of Ryan Fitzgerald, Brendan Collier and Michael Iovanna should come as no surprise. For the Lancers to get two from third-line right winger Patrick Wrenn, however, is a different story. The sophomore from Charlestown had a goal in each of the first two periods, tying the game each time and paving the way for the Lancers to beat BC High, 7-4, in a Catholic Conference showdown at Valley Forum II in Malden yesterday. “He had some great goals, and it carried us for two periods,” Malden Catholic interim coach John McLean said. “I didn’t Continue reading >>>

Editor’s note:  First in a two-part  series on heroin addiction and the vise-like grip it has had on the region for more than a decade. The scourge of heroin abuse continues unabated in the greater Brockton and Taunton region, according to two recent federal reports on substance abuse. And the problem, as first reported by The Enterprise in its ongoing series “Wasted Youth,” now extends to all of Eastern Massachusetts, which outpaces much of the nation in heroin-fueled emergency room visits and admissions to state treatment programs for painkiller addictions, the studies say. During Continue reading >>>

Sixteen members of Winchester Hospital’s medical staff were honored as top-rated doctors in their respective specialties in the December edition of Boston Magazine. The issue featured the 2011 list of “Top Docs” in Greater Boston. In all, 650 physicians were selected for recognition by their peers in 57 specialties. Winchester Hospital’s honorees are colorectal surgeon Dennis Begos of Commonwealth Surgical Associates in Stoneham; ophthalmologist David Gendelman of Burlington Eye Associates; plastic surgeon Jonathan Hall, who has a Stoneham Continue reading >>>

The Danvers Committee for Diversity will present its Drum Major for Justice Award to four individuals and four organizations at its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Awards dinner from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on Jan. 16 at the Danversport Yacht Club. The individual recipients are Juliet Sithole-Berk, Emily Jones, Georgianna Melendez, and Paul and Donna Pepper. The four groups are the Prep@Pingree Program and its founder, Malcolm Coates; Eastern Bank; North Shore Bank; and Students United for Acceptance. The event will include a keynote speech by Melendez, a Peabody Continue reading >>>

Pharmacies in Concord were notified in late December that the Board of Health officially voted to ban the sale of tobacco products in health care institutions in town beginning Feb. 14. On Dec. 20, the Concord Board of Health voted 5-0 to ban the sale of tobacco products in healthcare institutions and in retail establishments that operate or have pharmacies or drug stores within them, making Concord the 25th town in Massachusetts to adopt the regulation. Out of the three pharmacies in town: Rite Aid, West Concord Pharmacy and CVS, the West Concord Pharmacy is the only pharmacy that currently Continue reading >>>

THE HOUSE AND SENATE. There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week. The Legislature convened the 2012 session on Wednesday and most of the activity was ceremonial. Beacon Hill Roll Call has obtained the official list from the state treasurer’s office of the “per diem” travel, meals and lodging reimbursements collected by the Legislature’s 39 state senators from Jan. 1, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2011. The list reveals that senators have collected a total of $63,918. Under state law, per diems are paid by the state to senators “for each day for travel from his place of Continue reading >>>

It was hard to know where to start: He only knew one artist, his school art teacher. He found others by searching illustrators and artists on the Web, contacting artist associations, through referrals from Reach Out and Read, and by shooting for the stars. He wrote, for example, to glass artist Dale Chihuly, whose work he’d seen at the Museum of Fine Arts. (“If he wanted to do a glass tree, Isy was all there for it,’’ said his mother, Becky Behar.) He wrote to Michelle Obama. She isn’t an artist, but she’s big on children’s literacy, Isy explained.

NEWTON - Isy Mekler is an unusual 13-year-old boy. He loves to read books. With pages. “I personally do not own a Kindle or anything like that,’’ said Isy, a seventh grader at Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. “I love the sound of a page turning, for some reason.’’ For some reason, he also feels compelled to encourage other kids to turn pages. So when the time came to prepare a project for his November bar mitzvah, he thought up an ambitious fund-raising idea to buy books for needy children. He wrote to hundreds of artists across the country Continue reading >>>

The Appalachian Mountain Club, a national leader in promoting outdoor recreation and conservation, is to name its first new chief executive in 23 years today. The Boston-based organization, which has more than 100,000 members and supporters, has hired John D. Judge, a seasoned nonprofit leader, as its next president and chief executive. Judge says his primary goal is getting more young people and their families exposed to the wonders of the natural world, at a time of increasing concerns about issues such as childhood obesity and living in a digital-media world. “A Continue reading >>>

PEABODY, Mass.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Energi, a Massachusetts based Industrial Reinsurance Company, is hosting a symposium style event called Mobilize Energy Efficiency in New England on January 9th 2012 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The event is open to stakeholders including contractors, property owners, financial institutions and municipalities, who will participate in educational seminars and learn methods to activate energy efficiency projects throughout the New England region. “Our main intention in Continue reading >>>