Marblehead's Shalane Flanagan Keeps Up Marathon Pace: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Tuesday, October 12. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Marblehead's Shalane Flanagan called Monday's Boston Marathon "My best Boston, by far" after completing her fourth marathon in her quest to run six world majors in 42 days.
• Walmart is pulling some lots of Parent's Choice Rice Baby Cereal from its shelves in Massachusetts stores after the baby food tested above U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended levels for naturally occurring arsenic.
• Dedham police are seeking the public's help in retrieving an 8-week-old puppy stolen during a home burglary Sunday night.
• The Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series with Monday night's win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

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

Today's Top North Shore Story

Shalane Flanagan came "home" to run her fifth Boston Marathon on Monday.

The Marblehead High alumna and 2008 Olympic silver medalist said this one stood out as special among all the rest.

"I have never loved it more than I did this morning," Flanagan posted on her Instagram account on Monday after completing the 26.2 miles in 2:40.34 — just one day after she ran the Chicago Marathon in 2:46.39. "Today was my best Boston, by far."

Flanagan, who won the New York City Marathon in 2017 before retiring from competitive running in 2019, raced the Boston course on Monday as part of a quest to run six world marathon majors in 42 days.

Read the full story.

Today's Top Statewide Story

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker activated 450 National Guard members Tuesday to help test for COVID-19 in schools and prisons across the state.

Up to 200 National Guard members will assist with testing in K-12 public schools, the Baker Administration said. Staffing shortages are causing serious testing delays across many school districts, and extra testing is needed.

With training beginning this week, guard members are expected to help administer tests in public schools Monday.

Read the full story.

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Tuesday's Other Top Stories

Dedham Dognapping: The Dedham Police Department is seeking the public's help in retrieving an 8-week-old puppy stolen during a home burglary Sunday night. Police said they responded to a housebreak at 72 Bussey St. Sunday, Oct. 10 at 8:20 p.m. The homeowner said someone had forced their way into the home through the back door while they were gone, stealing a myriad of items and the pitbull puppy.

Walmart recalls baby food: Walmart is pulling some lots of Parent's Choice Rice Baby Cereal from its shelves in Massachusetts stores after the baby food tested above U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended levels for naturally occurring arsenic. Maple Island Inc., the manufacturer of the Parent's Choice products, said its voluntary recall is "out of an abundance of caution." The product was distributed nationally, both in Walmart stores and online.

MA coronavirus hospitalizations primarily among unvaccinated: The vast majority of hospitalizations in Massachusetts due to COVID-19 are among unvaccinated people, according to statistics available from the Department of Public Health. Over the past month, 76 percent of the 2,609 statewide hospitalizations due to the virus were among persons who had not received the shot. That's from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2, the dates of weekly state reports on coronavirus among vaccinated residents.

Happy 8th anniversary, Kate! I love you!

Picture This: Two-Headed Turtle On Cape Cod

"No, you are not seeing double!" That's what officials with the Cape Wildlife Center said when they shared a picture of a two-headed turtle that just hatched. The diamondback terrapin hatchling was born with a rare condition called bicephaly. It occurs because of genetic and environmental factors influencing the embryo during development, according to wildlife officials. And along with two heads, the turtle also has six legs.

They Said It

"We always said we had a good baseball team that had some holes, and we still have some holes, but at the end, for how bad it looked sometimes, we're still here. We're still in the dance."

• Red Sox manager Alex Cora after the team advanced to the American League Championship Series with Monday night's win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

In Case You Missed It

Best Massachusetts middle, elementary schools: A new ranking sorts out the best elementary and middle schools in Massachusetts, according to a new list released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report. The top-ranked elementary school is Martha Jones School in the Westwood Public School District. The top-ranked middle school in Massachusetts is probably one you never heard of. Thomas Prince, a K-8 school, is located in Princeton and part of the Wachusett Regional School District.

By The Numbers

7 percent: The percentage of people with substance abuse disorders who reported breakthrough COVID-19 cases in a new study. The general population's rate is 3.6 percent.