Updates on Andover stories from 2008: What happened to...

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January 7, 2009

By Judy Wakefield

The flooded dentist

Dr. Charles McQuade, a dentist with an office at 10 Main St., was forced out of his basement-level office due to flooding on Friday, Sept. 26. Like a good Novacaine, Orthodontist Jeffrey Leonard, whose office is on Chestnut Street, came to the rescue and graciously invited McQuade to temporarily set up his office on Chestnut Street. McQuade is on vacation this week, but an office worker who did not want her name used said the Main Street dental office is back to normal operations. McQuade moved back on Oct. 28, 2008, she said.

Court cases still there

Two well-known court cases involving Andover residents are still awaiting court dates in this new year. The former dean of the business school at Merrimack College, Edward Popper of 120 Dascomb Road, was indicted on 37 counts of disseminating child pornography. He was arrested Aug. 13 at home. The 63-year-old is facing 10 to 20 years in jail on each of those counts, according to court documents.

And, a neighborhood quarrel in the Ballardvale section of town had caused hordes of media to descend upon Andover last fall. Developer Bill Johnson of High Vale Lane and his wife were arrested on charges of harassing a neighbor. The alleged harassment included a laundry list of harassment charges, like advertising a motorcycle for sale on an online service, which brought scores of potential buyers to the neighbor's home, according to court documents. There was no motorcycle.

Cell tower fight will continue in 2009

Residents in the south of town plan to continue their fight against a proposed T-Mobile cell phone tower. The 125-foot tower is slated for construction at the corner of Route 125 and Prospect Road, on state-owned land used by the Massachusetts Highway Department.

Neighbors there have formed a group, Residents for Integrity in Telecommunications Evaluation and Siting — or RITES, to advocate against cell towers in residential neighborhoods.

After initially being denied a special permit and variance, T-Mobile settled out of court with the Zoning Board of Appeals before it was denied a building permit in December 2008.

Andover Building Inspector Kaija Gilmore denied T-Mobile's building permit application for, among other reasons, failure to provide detailed designs of the tower and its foundation.

Before the denial, construction of the tower was expected to begin sometime in 2009.

A T-Mobile spokesman has said the company will reapply for the building permit.

Oldest PA alum

Charles Yardley Chittick, the oldest Phillips Academy alumnus, was 107 when his prestigious alma mater honored him in an alumni parade in June. Known as "Yardley," he graduated with the class of 1918. He died on July 18, from injuries suffered in a fall at the Pleasant View Retirement Community in Concord, N.H.

Fire victim not home yet

Volunteers are still working to get 81-year-old fire victim Mary Manock back into her Elm Street home. Manock's home was condemned after an Aug. 20 fire, but a group calling themselves Mary's Angels stepped up to help the admitted hoarder. More than a half-dozen dumpsters full of her belongings have been hauled from the property, located near Merrimack College, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs have been made.