EXTRA...

Portland wreck filmed; "No" on 1; Miranda was unarmed; Auntie "Green Water"

Divers discover, film, Portland Wreck
Famous Cape disaster never before seen

Based on the ship's final location - north of Cape Cod - and the amount of damage witnessed by the divers and the remote-controlled cameras, experts believe the ship tried but was unable to return to Boston and then struggled for hours to ride out the waves and wind, getting battered to the point that it likely lost its power or ability to steer. The above-deck structures either were swept away by the storm or broke off as the ship sank.

Five recreational scuba divers from Massachusetts have become the first people to lay eyes on the wreckage of the SS Portland, which sank 110 years ago and is New England's worst maritime disaster.

"There are more artifacts than I've ever seen on any wreck. They're everywhere - plates and dishes and mugs and sinks all over the bottom," said Bob Foster, a leader of the three dive expeditions to the wreck in August and September. "You realize what a violent storm this thing must have gone through. All the upper decks were gone."

Foster, who has visited numerous other New England wrecks, announced the dives this month and posted new photos of the wreck site at bostondeepwrecks.com. Officials with the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which contains the artifacts, said the divers' photographs and descriptions match information gathered by remote controlled video cameras sent to the ship since its location was confirmed in 2002.

The Portland is the Mount Everest of New England shipwrecks, according to sanctuary officials, because of its historical significance and the technical and physical challenges of reaching such an extreme depth... Portland Press Herald.
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Lawyer Arne Lett:
Man shot by cops did not have knife

According to Cape Cod Times, the attorney for the man shot by a Harwich police officer on Sept. 29 questions police reports that his client had a knife. Marcus Miranda, 29 on right, was shot by Officer Neil A. Nolan in the trees off Willow Street in West Harwich, after he told Nolan he had a knife and was going to kill him, according to police. But in a brief phone interview today, defense attorney Arne Lett of West Dennis said, "It's my understanding, there was no knife."

Vote "No" on Question 1
Income tax repeal would create chaos

We share the frustration of Massachusetts taxpayers at a state Legislature that has failed to return the income tax rate to 5 percent, as demanded by voters eight years ago, and which has not done enough to control spending and root out corruption and waste. However, Question 1, which would eliminate the state's income tax, would do less to bring fiscal responsibility to Beacon Hill than to wreak fiscal chaos from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. We urge a "no" vote.

Advocates for Question 1 advance tempting arguments. They point to galling examples of wasteful spending, redundant bureaucracies and agencies where patronage is a way of life. They hold out the promise of $3,700 per family in annual tax savings and argue that only a radical reduction of state tax revenues - some 40 percent - can cure the Legislature of its wasteful habits.

No one denies that state government is guilty of excesses. However, the claim that 41 cents of every tax dollar is wasted is not based on a serious fiscal analysis, but on a single public opinion survey of residents' best guesses. One does not build rational tax policy on guesswork... Telegram.
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 Good Age: She's the native elder at Plimoth Plantation
Auntie Shirley Highrock "Green Water" is 73 and still helping others

Since she retired four years ago from the Veterans Administration in Boston, Shirley Highrock has taken on a new identity as the native elder at Plimoth Plantation.  "It is our responsibility to look at the next generation and ask, ‘Are you doing OK?'" she says. "Not to ride by, say, ‘That's wrong,' and keep going."

In the Wampanoag home site at the recreated 1627 community, she is known as Green Water - the one other American Indian employees go to for advice. Many call her ‘‘Auntie.'' She is 73.  Drawing on the experience of elders has always been a driving force behind the native culture. Older folks were listened to, respected for their wisdom and had a place of honor.

When she retired as a VA unit coordinator in West Roxbury, Highrock didn't plan on working. She attended social events at Plimoth Plantation and found she was drawn to her past. She was 70 when she was offered the job of elder and thought it might be too tiring.  Instead, it is calming and energizing... Patriot Ledger.