Westport marine police navigate array of challenges on waterways
07.07.11
As the holiday weekend approached last Friday, a balmy midday sun enveloped Compo Beach. Scores of beachgoers basked in the rays on the shore, while dozens of children frolicked in the water.
A few hundred yards away at the Ned Dimes Marina , Westport Police Officers Bob Myer and Kevin Smith were decidedly less leisurely.
"Hit the spotlight. OK, now hit the starboard light," Myer said, standing at the dock. To his left, Smith stood inside the cabin of Maine One, a 27-foot Boston Whaler vessel, testing its control console.
"Good, now try the air horn," Myer said.
A honk then bellowed from the boat. After a few more checks, Smith stepped out of the cabin to join Myer on a 25-foot Boston Whaler, otherwise known as Marine Two. Stocked with more than a half-tank of gas and keys in its ignition, Marine One was now ready if other officers needed to deploy it to assist Myer and Smith on a call.
Source: Westport-News
Officials find body in water off Cape
28.06.11
Body was recovered last night from Popponesset Bay by the Coast Guard and Massachusetts Environmental Police.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Connie Terrell said a 41-foot boat was sent to retrieve the body and bring it to Woods Hole. Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said state police detectives were en route at 7:30 p.m. to meet Coast Guard officers. O’Keefe could not immediately confirm if the body was that of Daniel Andrade, a 21-year-old East Falmouth man who disappeared June 21 while operating a Boston Whaler off Popponesset Beach in Mashpee.
After leaving Little River Boat Yard in Mashpee at about 9 a.m. that day, Andrade did not show up to his reported destination — a dock on Popponesset Bay in New Seabury. The Coast Guard suspended its nearly day-long search by air, land and sea in the early afternoon on June 22, but family members and the Mashpee police and firefighters continued the search. Andrade’s sister, Rachel Andrade, said she was aware a body was recovered but had not yet seen the body in order to identify it.
Source: Boston Herald
Portage Fire Department eyes 'floating fire engine'
23.02.74
PORTAGE | The Portage Fire Department has received a $298,460
U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management
Agency grant through its Port Security Grant Program to purchase a
36-foot Lake Assault dive and rescue fire boat.
PFD Dive Team leader Tom Colvin said Monday the boat was
necessary for the department to conduct water rescues and because
of the potential vulnerability of the Port of Indiana, located
within the city's jurisdiction.
The board of works on Monday approved a notice of special
purchase of the boat from Lake Assault Boats of Superior, Wis. City
Attorney Ken Elwood said the purchase is an exception to the public
bidding process because there is only one source available.
Source: nwitimes.com