MA Warns Of Mystery Disease Killing Birds On East Coast: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Thursday, July 15. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Somerville police say 26-year-old Edson Moreno, of Somerville, shot and killed his roommate following an argument Wednesday.
• Two Worcester police officers are on leave after they were found in a Hyde Street home in June after overdosing on drugs.
• The first two police dogs trained to sniff out COVID-19 are on the job in Massachusetts.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

Reports of common songbirds dying of a yet-unidentified disease have prompted Massachusetts wildlife officials to ask residents to put away bird baths and bird feeders.

The mystery disease has been seen in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana and has sickened blue jays, robins, starlings and common grackles, according to MassWildlife. The state is asking residents to report sightings of sick or dead birds, unless there's evidence the animal has been killed by a car, cat or other common hazard.

Some signs of the disease include eye crust and neurological symptoms. The disease was first seen in May in the states between Kentucky and Maryland, but no cases have been confirmed yet in Massachusetts. Biologists in other states have ruled out common ailments like salmonella, West Nile and avian influenza.

Read the full story.

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Thursday's Other Top Stories

COVID-Sniffing dogs: Police K-9s have long been used to detect dangerous drugs, guns and explosives — and now they can also detect COVID-19, according to the Bristol County Sheriff's Office. The department on Thursday became the first law enforcement organization in the United States to have police dogs trained to detect the virus, the sheriff's office announced.

Fight between roommates ends with fatal shooting: The shooting happened shortly after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a two-family home in Somerville. Police found 22-year-old Robert Favreau, of Cambridge, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Favreau died shortly after first responders arrived, Ryan said. Arriving officers found a man, later identified as 26-year-old Edson Moreno, of Somerville, standing outside the home with a gun, Ryan said. Police ordered him to drop the gun and placed him under arrest. Ryan said Favreau had been staying with Moreno for several months, and the pair got into a "verbal altercation that escalated."

Mystery disease killing birds: Reports of common songbirds dying of a yet-unidentified disease have prompted Massachusetts wildlife officials to ask residents to put away bird baths and bird feeders. The mystery disease has been seen in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana and has sickened blue jays, robins, starlings and common grackles, according to MassWildlife. The state is asking residents to report sightings of sick or dead birds, unless there's evidence the animal has been killed by a car, cat or other common hazard.

Worcester cops on leave after overdosing: Two Worcester police officers are on leave after they were found in a Hyde Street home in June after overdosing on drugs, according to a MassLive report. The outlet named the officers as Rodrigo Oliveira and Santo Dell'Aquila. Oliveira is on a "last chance agreement" to keep his job after he was accused of hitting a prisoner, according to MassLive.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

Picture This

Make way for ducklings: A morning walk turned into a rescue mission for a half-dozen ducklings. A Stoneham resident was walking near Forest Street and Elizabeth Road Wednesday morning when she noticed a mother duck and six ducklings. The little ones fell into the sewer. Stoneham police and firefighters removed the grate and pulled the ducklings out in a heroic scene. (Liz Lowe photo)

They Said It

"I'm so grateful for the genius and the magic that has gone behind creating the vaccines for us. My illness could have been much worse without the vaccine. That's an objective fact."

• Travis Dagenais, who contracted COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Dagenais, of Boston, was among a handful of fully vaccinated Provincetown tourists and residents to test positive for the virus.

In Case You Missed It

Cannabis delivery from Quincy to Salem to Newton: Born from Drizly, the largest online marketplace and delivery service for alcohol in North America, Lantern is striving to take the seat as the leading cannabis delivery marketplace for Massachusetts. Launching Thursday, Lantern is a user-friendly website that allows customers to type in their addresses and shop for recreational cannabis from the comfort of their homes.

Relief For Some MA Restaurants, But Not Enough For All | Eat Mass

Eat Mass is Patch's weekly round up of food and restaurant news in Massachusetts. Click for more, including:

• The latest restaurant openings, closings and moves in Massachusetts.
• The average Massachusetts resident pays $406.21 per month for groceries —the eighth highest of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to a study released last week.
• A Norwell restaurant owner gave his employees something rare in the restaurant industry: a paid week off.
• A Cape Cod restaurant closed for breakfast last week after customers berated staff to the point some employees cried.

Read the full story.