Weekly Recap: Apartment Fire; Home Sales; New Library Directors

Here are some of the highlights from Melrose Patch's news coverage this past week. This is only a small sample—to see all the coverage, click on the News tab on the navigation bar, and to see your neighbors' news, check out our Announcements section under News.

Top Three Articles of the Week

Melrose firefighters in an East Street apartment Wednesday evening. No one was injured in the ordeal.

Like the rest of Massachusetts, compared to last year, according to the latest figures from The Warren Group, which still warned that the past two Octobers have been the worst on record since October 1990.

. The library’s board of trustees has chosen Linda C. Walsh, the previous assistant director of the library, to replace Dennis Kelley as its director. Meanwhile, the former head of circulation, Diane Ridley Wall, will become the new assistant director, after decades of working her way up through the library’s ranks.

Holidays

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Now that the holiday season has hit full throttle, television channels are full of movies about Christmas and Hanukkah, and . 

Going out to brunch on New Year's Day is a tradition for many people who celebrated late into the night, slept in and are either too tired to prepare a meal or want the festivities to keep going. So for this week's Patch Picks, we asked: Where are the best places for New Year's Brunch in Melrose? .

On a related note, for next week's Patch Picks we want to know the .

Since Thanksgiving evening, Stone Zoo has been adorned by holiday decorations and "thousands upon thousands of lights," according to Brooke Wardrop, director of communications for Zoo New England, as part of the .

Hey Melrose business owners and restauranteurs—is your place open around the holidays this year? !

Schools

A group of female MHS teachers volunteered to cut their hair and donate it to the Pantene Pro-V company to be used in the creation of wigs for children with cancer; then, these and several other teachers  by the highest bidder to raise money for Toys for Tots.

MHS sophomore Felicia D’Amico's essay addressing the question “Is There Pride in Serving in Our Military?” recently .

Opinion

In a letter addressed to several state legislators, a from those legislators submitted to the DCR regarding the Fells Resource Management Plan.

The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent agency, recently recommended that states ban the use of hands-free cellphone use, according to a report by The New York Times. With this announcement in mind, we at Melrose Patch would like to know w.

On a somewhat related note, last week we asked you to twith several comments (and picks that weren't in our original poll).

The Neighborhood Files

Ever take a great photo in Melrose and want to share it with everyone? Add it to our new Neighborhood Gallery—Instagram and other cell phone pics welcome too! (It's even easier to add with the official Patch App.)

Police and Fire

A domestic assault arrest, reported stolen car and vandalism to the 11th hole at Mount Hood in .