Methuen High School Online

Thankfully it looks like nobody was seriously injured, but you couldn't tell that from the video.

Poor little guy. It looks like he was thrown pretty harshly. Kids at that age are pretty flexible with softer bones and tissue, but still, I'm just glad it looks like he's going to be OK.

What a great idea and way to spend some quality time with the kids. I want to get one of these for my niece.

Here's a link to the online store: http://electronickits.com/

NYTimes.com story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/technology/techspecial2/02robots.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Fiorello, 45, a 1981 graduate of Methuen High School, works out of his home in Oakland, Calif., running Carl's Electronics. He bought the company from its Massachusetts owner three years ago and moved it to California.

Since then, he's learned a lot about robots from the kits he deals. He told the Times that his business has experienced a 51 percent increase in sales of the kits this year.

     

Leonard D. Lee, 24, was captured just minutes after he robbed A & B Package Store at 161 Pelham St., police said.

He allegedly entered the store around 9 p.m. and distracted the clerk by asking where he could find a $200 bottle of Hennessey. Instead, he grabbed two bottles of Moet champagne, which cost $38 a piece, and two bottles of tequila valued at nearly $100 and bolted.

Minutes later, Lee, whose last known address was in Lawrence, was arrested on Pelham Street a short distance from the store and charged with armed robbery, larceny of property valued under $250, threatening to commit murder, and unlawful possession of ammunition, police said.

No surprises here, Methuen isn't immune to this economic crisis.

Assessors inspected and updated the values of every property in the city this year — something done only every 10 years. The state Department of Revenue still needs to approve the assessments, but preliminary data shows that for the most part, homes have lost value.

But just because your property value dropped, it doesn't mean you'll pay less in taxes.

The city still needs to raise enough from taxes to be able to function, so the City Council is likely to raise the tax rate to cancel out the drop in property values. If it kept the tax rate the same, people who saw their home values drop would see their tax bills drop. But then the city would lose money.