Week in Review: 2012 Town Meeting Begins

Life gets busy, and Patch certainly understands that. So with that in mind, here are a few stories you might have missed on Needham Patch this week:

1. : A guide to the warrant for Needham’s 2012 Annual Town Meeting, which began Monday, May 7 and will pick up again next week following the special Town Meeting on Monday, May 14.
2. : Now entering its fourth century of incorporation, the town of Needham opened its 2012 Annual Town Meeting on Monday, May 7 in the . Needham Patch was there to capture images of some of the activity that occurred in the meeting's first night.
3. : Needham Town Meeting members moved quickly through the warrant at the opening of the 2012 Annual Town Meeting on Monday night, dispatching more than half of the articles in the first three and a half hours, including the town’s fiscal year 2013 operating budget totaling $117.7 million.
4. : A Needham man is being summonsed to court on charges of assault, destruction of property and others after he allegedly shot a BB gun into an occupied vehicle .
5. : A student is being charged with unlawful possession of ammunition after he allegedly brought .22 caliber bullets to school on Monday, May 7.
6. Firefighter/paramedics Patrick Muir and Joseph Tierney III were introduced at the selectmen's meeting on Tuesday, May 8 as the newest members of the department. Both are licensed paramedics.
7. All Needham voters will have the chance to weigh in on the subject of allowing retail alcohol sales in Needham. On Wednesday, May 9, Town Meeting members voted 158 to 59 in favor of the article. Earlier in the week, to recommend the article.
8. Town Meeting will wait to take up as the first item when they reconvene next week following the special Town Meeting, which opens Monday, May 14. In addition, Town Meeting members voted down an article that would have changed the town’s integrated pest management plan into an organics-focused plan. Earlier in the week, but ultimately maintained their positions, to recommend Article 23 (3-2) but not to recommend Article 22.

Did we miss something? Send news tips, comments and suggestions to Becca.Manning@patch.com.