Top 10 Melrose Headlines—March 2012

Here's a look at the top headlines from Melrose Patch for the month of March.

In order, these were the 10 most-read stories last month:

1) Melrose sure likes its hair salons. The , it was also one of the most-read articles on the site.

2) : Melrose Fire Chief John O'Brien is leaving the department after nine years as chief and 35 years in the department, Mayor Rob Dolan announced in a press release. O'Brien will be retiring from the Melrose Fire Department on June 1. According to the release, he will be taking an unspecified job in fire safety in Hudson, NH.

3) : The Superintendent Search Committee recommended five finalists for the Melrose Public Schools superintendent job.

4) : A bus on hit the opening door of a vehicle carrying U.S. Marshals, who were serving a warrant at 306 Main St. in Melrose on a man wanted for allegedly violating his probation, Melrose Police Chief Mike Lyle said.

5) : Two Melrose middle school students were charged with assault and battery after a fight that allegedly took place on Melrose High School grounds. According to the Melrose Police logs, on Friday, March 9 at 5:03 p.m., a mother called from Children's Hospital in Boston reporting that her son was attacked by three other youths.

6) : Cyndy Taymore will be the next superintendent of Melrose Public Schools, pending contract negotiations, after a School Committee vote.

7) : An inmate serving life without parole in the murder of a Plaistow, N.H. woman born in Melrose was found dead in his cell in New Hampshire state prison in Concord, officials said.

8) : On the day of the scheduled School Committee vote, after visits to the candidates' districts and public meetings and interview with each candidate here in Melrose, we asked you to vote on who should be the next  superintendent of Melrose Public Schools.

9) The second installment of our weekly Best of Patch Readers' Choice contest had Melrosians voting on their favorite dentist.

10) : Mayor Rob Dolan is proposing to eliminate the Melrose Public Schools' $2,500 full-day kindergarten fee. The move would cost approximately $500,000 next school year, but the city's Chapter 70 state education funding would cover the cost of the full-day students in subsequent years. Level-funded local aid, a lack of snow deficit and a low health insurance increase would allow the city to fill the one-year financial gap before the boost in state education funding, Dolan said.