This Week in Bedford: Responding to a Hometown Tragedy

The biggest stories this week in Bedford were the attacks at the Boston Marathon on Monday and the manhunt for the two suspects in Watertown on Friday. Check out Patch's extensive coverage of the attacks and the manhunt, and please leave any thoughts for the victims of the attacks in the comments section below: 

Patch Employee Detained in Search for Bomb Suspect

List of Confirmed Marathon Bombing Victims

Obama to Lead Interfaith Service in South End Today

Bombing Victim Lu Lingzi Remembered Back Home

Medford Native Killed in Boston Marathon Bombings

. More than 1000 National Guardsmen from Hanscom Air Force responded and remained on duty in Boston assisting law enforcement with  MBTA security and perimeter security to the main area affected by the explosions. Three members of the Bedford Police Department responded to Boston as well as part of the the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council.

Local business owners also responded with an outpouring of support for those affected by the bombings, including Dana Strayton, owner of Prince Street Cafe and Bakery, who went out and bought the last 30 American flags at iParty and lined the parking lot of her business, at 200 Great Road, with them. 

Richard Meltz, 65, Chief of Police for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Bedford, was arrested April 15 as part of the FBI investigation into the so-called "Cannibal Cop" rape and murder plot, according to the Manhattan Attorney General's office. Read more on the case on Bedford Patch.

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, meals, rides and more to those needing assistance following tragedy. 

. The material to be sprayed is the biological larvicide bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis, or Bti.

In this week's installment of You Ask, Patch Answers, we took a look at who the new pastor is at Bedford's First Church of Christ Congregational. After a 12 month search process that saw a seven-member search committee review more than 100 applications, Bedford's  finally has a new pastor. Rev. John Castricum will officially begin his tenure as the church's new pastor on Monday, April 22.