News Nearby: Cat Killed in Wakefield Fire

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

• : WAKEFIELD—A fire broke out at a two-family Chestnut Street home on Thursday afternoon, causing extensive burn, heat, and smoke damage in the house. No one was home at the time, and there were no injuries reported in the blaze. However, one cat was killed. Two other cats in the home survived the blaze.

• MEDFORD—A local pizza shop owner faces a drug trafficking charge after police caught him with over $750,000 worth of marijuana, prosecutors said. Nikita Yanakopulos, 34, of Medford was arrested on Boston Street in Everett on Aug. 26 after investigators watched him load boxes full of about 250 pounds of marijuana into the back of his pick-up truck, according to county prosecutors.

• : READING—In response to Reading's twin, possibly-drug related murders and the continuing conversation surrounding those deaths, The Reading Coalition Against Substance Abuse issued a letter this week explaining where the group came from and what it's doing—particularly in regard to the Ronan and Fischer murders.

• : STONEHAM—Several state and local officials from the Stoneham area voiced their opposition Thursday night during a public hearing to a plan that would send hazardous material (hazmat) trucks onto Route 95/128 through multiple communities, including Stoneham, instead of Route 93 through the city of Boston.