News Nearby: Photos Inside Abandoned Malden Hospital

Each Saturday, Melrose Patch will run a round-up with links to stories from surrounding communities that are of interest to Melrosians.

MALDEN—The former Malden Hospital—owned by Hallmark Health System—has been in a state of limbo after an effort to build a senior-living center on the property crumbled with the economy in 2008. 

The facility, which closed in 1999, still had some power running through it when Flickr user Jvelmar—first name "Jonathan"—took his camera into the facility to explore it in 2009. The renegade photographer has entire sets of albums dedicated to his explorations of abandoned buildings, and took shots of the property three years ago.

WAKEFIELD—A Wakefield High School English teacher resigned amid charges that he broke school policy by downloading school-issued ID photos of female students onto his town-issued computer.

According to a document obtained by Fox 25 news, the computer belonging to 31-year-old Anthony Cresta, who has been teaching since 2005, was seized by Wakefield Police in late January. Police found several ID-card images of students on the computer, according to the document.

Wakefield Police Lieutenant Craig Calabrese said there are no criminal charges being pressed against Cresta and the matter is being handled internally by the schools.

MEDFORD—It only took about 25 minutes to contain the fire, but it was difficult to gauge due to high winds, Deputy Fire Chief Steve Howe said Wednesday.

An acre of marsh was left barron and black from the fire, which occurred near the banks of the Mystic River and only a couple hundred yards from the State Police Barracks on Route 16.

"At one point we had concerns about the barracks," Howe said. Fifty foot flames snapped in 30 miles-per-hour wind as a fire burned about an acre of tall grass in MacDonald Park Wednesday evening.

A Stoneham man was arraigned in a Woburn court Tuesday on charges that he drove a motor vehicle with a suspended license while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine and striking two Stoneham Police officers, according to a press statement issued by Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's Office.

“We allege that this defendant put the public at great risk by driving a motor vehicle the wrong way down a public street while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol,” Leone said in the statement. “This defendant blatantly and seriously demonstrated that risk by proceeding to crash his vehicle several times while repeatedly attempting to leave the scene in an attempt to avoid arrest, ultimately striking the two police officers who attempted to stop the defendant from harming himself or anyone else.”