Halloween

The eighth annual townwide Halloween costume drive run by the Ouellette family is under way. The effort has grown from collecting 25 items the first year to more than 2,000 items last year, delivering more than 5,000 costumes to foster children in the care of the state Department of Children and Families. No donation is too small, said organizer Joanne Ouellette. Anyone who can help is asked to place a new or used costume in a plastic bag labeled with size and type at a Halloween drop box at any Westwood public school.

A COUPLE OF MINUTES past 8 p.m., five days after the Halloween storm had blacked out much of Boxborough, Maureen Strapko ushered out the last patron from the town library and locked the doors for the night. While most of that northwest-of-Boston community – like much of the region – remained in the dark, the Sargent Memorial Library had been welcoming the biggest crowds of Strapko's decade-long tenure. That's mainly because restoring power to key town facilities like the fire and police departments had also turned it back on at the nearby library.

MANASSAS, Va. -- Scores of men convicted of child molestation and other sex offenders in Virginia will have to report to their probation offices for three hours Halloween night to keep them away from trick-or-treaters. "I cannot recall that any of our offenders have offended while they've been on parole on Halloween," said Randi Evans of the Virginia Department of Probation and Parole. "Our goal is to make sure they don't. " About 80 offenders in Prince William County alone have been ordered to go to their probation offices from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Officials could not say how many other...

By Justin A. Rice, Town Correspondent Salem brought in a net profit of approximately $250,662 during its annual month-long Halloween celebration, according to officials. Finance Director Richard Viscay said this morning that Haunted Happenings revenue figures for the city were down from last year's profits of about $266,699. "We basically had two things I think that contributed to the slight decrease, one was an early October storm we had that basically scared off some of our visitors in the first week in October, and then of course Halloween did not fall on...

So what did you dress as? What were the best costumes you saw?  My favorite was a kid dressed like a black cat. Pretty basic ... except for the cardboard box around him that said "Property of E. Schrodinger. "  Only in Cambridge. 

Before those oh-so-stylish vampires arrive this Halloween season, consider donating blood instead to a purer cause. The Northborough Rotary Club and Premier Home Health Care of Massachusetts are hosting an American Red Cross blood drive Thursday from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Church of the Nativity, 45 Howard St. Those who donate must be in good health and at least 17 years of age, or 16 with parental consent. To review other requirements or make an appointment to donate blood, visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RedCross.

Trick-or-treatiquette! Can I make that a thing? Probably not. Anyway, here are two questions about next Monday's festivities:  I live in a nice neighborhood in a poor part of town, so our area has long been popular with local trick-or-treaters. One of my neighbors gives out full-size candy bars every year, and word gotten around. Now kids are showing up in large groups, piled into minivans, and even in school buses! I'm worried that so having so many youngsters in the neighborhood creates a safety hazard, because cars drive quite fast on my street, and I also fear that some of the...

PELHAM, N.H. - The boy who was killed on Halloween by a falling tree was a student at a Catholic elementary school in Lowell, school officials said yesterday. Christian Gualtieri of Pelham was with about 20 other trick-or-treaters on Halloween night when a gust of wind toppled a birch tree onto him. He was rushed to Saints Medical Center in Lowell, where he was pronounced dead. Police Lieutenant Gary Fisher called the crash a “freak accident’’ and said he didn’t think anything could have prevented Christian’s death.

There was a fair amount that director John Carpenter didn't show in the original "Halloween" back in 1978. Like blood. Or much of the back story of super-slasher Michael Myers. The creative raison d'etre behind Rob Zombie's new remake - the franchise's ninth installment - seemingly was to dish up heaping helpings of both. If only he hadn't killed virtually all of the suspense in the process. The movie's first half is devoted to establishing 10-year-old Michael (Daeg Faerch) as the product of a gleefully profane, '70s trash household headed up by a stripper mom (Sheri Moon...

Monday's questions covered what to do about That One House where full-sized candy bars are distributed, and how to give books for Halloween. There was general consensus on question #1 that there was no point doing anything about That House. Why bother? It wasn't making others look bad by comparison; kids know that the full-sized bar is a rare treat. I really liked SeeSome' s approach:  As for the house that gives out larger Halloween candy and attracts people from outside the neighborhood.

Carpentry students at Weymouth High School are taking orders for holiday gifts. Money from the sales will go toward tool repair and to buy more materials for the carpentry program. Available items include a jewelry box, sleigh ornament, rocking horse, and Halloween candy dish. More information is available by contacting carpentry teacher Bruce Secor at bruce.secor@weymouthschools.org or by going to the school web page, www.weymouthschools.org. - Johanna Seltz

Ohio prosecutors have dropped an inducing panic charge against a man who carried a rubber prop ax into a bar before Halloween. Akron City Prosecutor Doug Powley says he reviewed the case against 42-year-old Bill Morrison and determined that, in his words, the "situation did not warrant a criminal conviction. " The Akron Beacon Journal reports ( http://bit.ly/v2M0cK) paperwork dismissing the case was filed Monday. Morrison was arrested Oct. 16 and spent a night in jail after a woman saw him with the ax under his coat and called 911. The ax had red paint on it to simulate...

Last week's snowstorm stopped runners in their tracks, knocked out power to about 3,000 electric customers, and put a damper on some Halloween fun. The 23d annual Canton Fall Class Road Race, which had been set for Sunday, was postponed to 10 a.m. today, starting at Temple Beth Abraham. Police Chief Charles Doody said his department received about 20 weather-related requests for assistance and, at the height of the storm, about 3,000 were without electricity. As of Wednesday afternoon, all but 53 homes, mostly in the Indian Lane neighborhood, had had their power restored and communication with NStar was greatly...

School officials arrived at work Halloween morning faced with an unexpected trick: no power. After last weekend's snowstorm knocked out electricity across the region, Superintendent Bradford L. Jackson made a point of checking the power situation at the school district's buildings on Sunday. All was fine, he said. But when the workers arrived to open the schools before 6 a.m. Monday, they found no power, Jackson said. "We found out NStar had cut power to this section of Holliston to affect repairs in Sherborn," he said.

In response to a Boston Herald story last Monday that rated local politicians' social media savvy, Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll has updated her Twitter account. The Herald gave Driscoll a B rating - behind Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson (A-minus), state Senator Ben Downing of Pittsfield (A-minus), and US Repesentative Niki Tsongas of Lowell (B-plus) - because Driscoll's Twitter handle (@mayordriscoll) is protected. "The mayor of Salem uses her Twitter page well, actively supporting and encouraging Salem's tourism industry," the Herald wrote.

WRENTHAM - The comic book superhero Wolverine does not normally walk the streets here on a Friday night in early November. But last night was anything but normal in Wrentham, where trick-or-treaters went door to door for candy after a nor'easter last weekend made the annual rite almost impossible on Oct. 31. But 5-year-old Dermott Amorim was more than happy to don his Wolverine costume last night and hunt for candy in his neighborhood with...

Angry Birds, zombies, and pirates are expected to be hot costumes for Halloween this year, but a runaway hit has yet to emerge. Whether one does will depend on something crazy, cool, or riveting happening in pop culture, said Dorice Dionne, head of marketing and merchandising at iParty , the Dedham-based retail chain. "When Sarah Palin caught on a few years back," she said, "we weren't expecting that, and needed to quickly find her eyeglasses and the right kind of wig to copy her trademark hairdo.

MIAMI -- Trick-or-treating was canceled for many youngsters across South Florida yesterday -- a week after Hurricane Wilma struck -- because the power still was out in many areas and storm debris made some streets and sidewalks hazardous. Nine-year-old Mika Lorenzo was disappointed, but still planned to wear his knight's costume for Halloween. "In Miami Springs, they always have parties and tell stories. And now they have canceled that," Mika said. Officials in Miami and other communities asked parents not to let their children go out after...

A New York foreclosure law firm criticized for a 2010 Halloween party in which employees dressed as homeless people is attracting attention in Washington. The ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wrote Friday to the Steven J. Baum firm near Buffalo requesting records and documents relating to its foreclosure practices — and its Halloween party. Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings tells Baum pictures from the party published by The New York Times last week "demonstrate a culture of disdain for families suffering foreclosure and a...