Week in Review: Hurricane Sandy, Bickford's Closes and Needham Businesses Launch Food Drive

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:

Early this week, Hurricane Sandy dominated the news cycle. Here is some of our local coverage of the storm:

1. NSTAR: Power Back On After Hurricane Sandy—The lights are back on for NSTAR customers across the state who lost power during and after Hurricane Sandy, NSTAR reports.
2. PHOTOS: Chronicling Hurricane Sandy’s Destruction Here and Across the Northeast—Here are just some of the Hurricane Sandy photos that ran on Patch sites from New Jersey to New Hampshire this week. Flip through to see Sandy's effect the Northeast—and just click on the "Upload Photos & Video" button below the gallery of photos to add your own.
3. Needham Continues Hurricane Sandy Cleanup—Though crews throughout town worked Tuesday to clean up after Hurricane Sandy, more than 1,000 NSTAR customers in Needham were still without power as of 9 p.m.
4. Hurricane Sandy Cleanup Info for Needham Residents—As cleanup continues around Needham following Hurricane Sandy, town officials would like residents to keep in mind the following information, as posted on the town website, needhamma.gov.
5. PHOTOS: Needham Cleans Up After Hurricane Sandy—Crews around town are working to clean up Needham after Hurricane Sandy blew through on Monday. Click the "upload" button at the top or bottom of this image gallery to add your photos.
6. —More than 2,200 Needham residents remained without power at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning following Hurricane Sandy.
7. Needham Handles 100+ Calls During Hurricane Sandy—By about 7 p.m. Monday, Needham Police and Fire had received more than 100 calls related to Hurricane Sandy. The majority of the calls we had were for trees down into wires, with some about wires down and also some transformers that blew—a couple that actually caught on fire.
8. —Follow the track of the storm as it blew through town on Monday as local residents provided updates, asked questions and shared news via social media.
9. Hurricane Sandy Massachusetts Live Blog—Looking for solid information about Sandy's impact in and beyond Needham? Our live stream follows Patches across the state, public officials and agencies, trusted public safety Twitter users and a few others throughout the storm on Monday.
10. Special Town Meeting Rescheduled Because of Sandy—Needham's special Town Meeting has been postponed, according to an alert posted on the town website at a little after noon on Monday.

Other Needham News

1. Bickford’s Grille in Needham Closes Its Doors—Bickford's Grille in Needham has reportedly closed its doors. Though the company has not released an official statement about the closure, the restaurant at 669 Highland Ave. has not open all week. A sign on the door says the restaurant is closed, and many of the building's doors and windows are papered over.
2. HAZMAT Team Called for Ammonia Spill at Coca-Cola Plant—Employees at the Coca-Cola plant in Needham Heights were evacuated Wednesday evening after there was an ammonia leak in the building's compressor room.
3. Needham Soccer Earns No. 1 and 2 Seed; Field Hockey Back in State Tournament—MIAA Division 1 tournament seedings and schedules were announced Wednesday, Oct. 31 for boys and girls soccer and field hockey.
4. Letter: Needham Businesses Giving Thanks with Community Food Drive—The Needham Merchants Association, the Needham Restaurant Association, and the Needham Business Association, as part of the Discover Needham Local First Campaign, are coordinating an effort to give thanks and give back to the community. They are sponsoring Needham Gives Thanks, a food drive—“20 Days of People Helping People in Needham”—from Nov. 1-20 to benefit the Needham Community Council. 

Halloween Contest

There’s still some time to enter to win Patch’s Best Halloween Costume in America Contest. Because of Hurricane Sandy, the contest has been extended to run from Oct. 15 to Nov. 5. Entries will be accepted on the final day up until 11:59 p.m. National judges will choose 21 finalists from each Patch state and select one grand prize winner based on who has the most creative and innovative costume (we've combined North Carolina and South Carolina for this contest, as well as Washington, D.C. and Virginia). Each state finalist will receive $250 and one grand prize winner will receive $5,000.

Sound Off

Needham Patch is all about you—the news and issues that matter to Needham readers. That’s why we occasionally ask readers to respond to polls, talk about local or state issues and submit their own photos and videos as part of our online community.

• Poll: Will Hurricane Sandy Help Obama?
• Hey Needham: Let’s Take the ‘Thankful’ Challenge
• Was Sandy as Bad as Snowtober?

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