Seventeen year old, James Laboke of Old Orchard Beach saved an old mans life this morning from getting plowed into pieces by the Downeaster train.
On Labokes early morning walk to work at 6am he spotted a car stalled on the tracks. After banging on the window, he said the man was slumped over the steering wheel appearing to be unconscious. All the doors were locked and the cars engine was still running.
There is a passenger train operated by Amtrack called the Downeaster that runs through Old Orchard Beach around 6:10am every day. Once Laboke spotted the car he ran 100 yards to the police station to get help.
At 6:05am Janet Paradiso, Captian of the town police force was in her cruiser a mile away from the railroad crossing when she heard the call on the radio about the stalled vehicle. She arrived at the scene at 6:05, where she heard the trains whistle howl from a distance.
Paradiso knew she had little time to get the car off the tracks. So she rammed her police cruiser into the elderly mans Cadillac Seville and pushed it off of the tracks. Thirty seconds later, the train passed through at about 40 miles per hour.
The man in the car was 80-year-old Francois Truffaut, a tourist from Quebec City, Canada.
"I don't remember a thing," said Truffaut who is a diabetic.
The police report said that Truffaut may have gone into insulin shock as he reached the railroad crossing.
After the incident, Laboke reported to work on time where he is a waiter at the Easy Breezy Restaurant. Laboke's boss, Charles Champagine learned about Laboke's heroic actions later from reporters calling the restauraunt. Laboke had never mentioned to him what had happened.
"It doesn't surprise me at all," said Champaigne. "That young man is one of my most responsible employees. Hes's just as great kid."
Laboke said later, "I never thought about it. I just knew I couldn't let that man get crushed by a train."
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
EHS Senior Olympic Medalist
Victoria Arlen was left paralyzed from the waist down at age 5.
It was an illness called transverse myelitis, a rare neurological virus that caused inflammation in her spine.
Fast forwarding to Victoria's senior year of high school she has won four medals in the 2012 Paralympic Summer Games in London for swimming.
Arlen's story has been an inspiration to many. Friday will be Victoria Arlen Day in New Hampshire.
It was an illness called transverse myelitis, a rare neurological virus that caused inflammation in her spine.
Fast forwarding to Victoria's senior year of high school she has won four medals in the 2012 Paralympic Summer Games in London for swimming.
Arlen's story has been an inspiration to many. Friday will be Victoria Arlen Day in New Hampshire.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Mill Road Accident
Tuesday evening two passengers were hospitalized after a car accident on Mile Hill Road in Belmont, Mass. It took rescuers 45 minutes to free the two victims from the car.
Jamie Peterson, 17, of Elm Street in Belmont was the driver of the car. He managed to escape out of the car on his own. The two female victims, which names are still unknown, rescuers had to use the jaws of life to free both of them.
The victims were taken to Memorial Hospital in Belmont. One victim was in stable conditions while the other was airlifted to Mass. General Hospital.
Tom Carroll Jr., 17, was driving on Mile Hill Road at the same time as the car.
"I thought the worst. They were flying," said Carroll. "Its hard to see kids your age in something like this."
Carroll was first to the scene and told police he had been driving behind their car when it suddenly sped up ahead around a curve. When he got around the curve the car was flipped over on its roof.
Josie M. Crandall lives on Mile Hill Road and saw the accident happen from her home window.
"I've never seen a car going so fast on this road. It's a dirt road, and its really easy to lose control," said Crandall.
There was a fatal accident at this same spot Dec 24, 2005. Here two local teenagers were killed in that accident.
Jamie Peterson, 17, of Elm Street in Belmont was the driver of the car. He managed to escape out of the car on his own. The two female victims, which names are still unknown, rescuers had to use the jaws of life to free both of them.
The victims were taken to Memorial Hospital in Belmont. One victim was in stable conditions while the other was airlifted to Mass. General Hospital.
Tom Carroll Jr., 17, was driving on Mile Hill Road at the same time as the car.
"I thought the worst. They were flying," said Carroll. "Its hard to see kids your age in something like this."
Carroll was first to the scene and told police he had been driving behind their car when it suddenly sped up ahead around a curve. When he got around the curve the car was flipped over on its roof.
Josie M. Crandall lives on Mile Hill Road and saw the accident happen from her home window.
"I've never seen a car going so fast on this road. It's a dirt road, and its really easy to lose control," said Crandall.
There was a fatal accident at this same spot Dec 24, 2005. Here two local teenagers were killed in that accident.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Journalism
90% reporting and 10% writing. Its about not being afraid to go out and meet new people and learn new facts. Its about not making the reader bored by using the style of the inverted pyramid, stating the most important information first to the least important information last. This style will make the reader keep wanting more from your story. Journalism is a lot of listening, if you're not a good listener then Journalism probably isn't for you. You need to get the facts right and perfect because there's a chance you could get these facts wrong by not listening well. Journalism is what keeps us on top of the news, even if its thousands of miles away from us. We can simply get our news from smart phones, tablets, and wireless laptops instead of reading our daily newspaper. Times are changing.
Red Riding Hood
Early Tuesday morning, in the woods, a Huntsmen saved a young girl and her Grandmother from being eaten by a wolf.
"Every day hunting in the woods I pass by this Grandmothers cottage and have never heard such a noise come from the window, I knew something was wrong and someone was in danger," said the Huntsmen.
When the huntsmen went to go check up on the Grandmother he found a wolf lying down in her bed, clothed with all the Grandmothers clothes on. He knew that the wolf had eaten the Grandmother whole.
The Huntsmen grabs a knife and kills the Wolf, and then proceeded to cut open his stomach. Here the Grandmother and the young girl crawl out of the wolfs stomach and are saved.
"I will never wonder off the forest path again," said Little Red Riding Hood
"Every day hunting in the woods I pass by this Grandmothers cottage and have never heard such a noise come from the window, I knew something was wrong and someone was in danger," said the Huntsmen.
When the huntsmen went to go check up on the Grandmother he found a wolf lying down in her bed, clothed with all the Grandmothers clothes on. He knew that the wolf had eaten the Grandmother whole.
The Huntsmen grabs a knife and kills the Wolf, and then proceeded to cut open his stomach. Here the Grandmother and the young girl crawl out of the wolfs stomach and are saved.
"I will never wonder off the forest path again," said Little Red Riding Hood
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