One of Dedham's residents, Alex Doucette, is in Scotland for school for a semester abroad. He was supposed to come home for the holidays, but that doesn't seem possible seeing as he has to fly through London. With a  bad storm there, tons of people stuck at the airport. 

Cheryl Doucette, his mother, said, "I would rather have him stay with friends than try to make it home and get stuck in London. We will miss him but, as long as he's safe and happy, I am."

College Students Come Home

By now, most of the college students have finished their finals and are either home or headed home to Dedham. Many of them fall back into place such as Effie Panagopoulos, who works at Dedham House of Pizza.

Her brother, George, is happy to have her home saying, "I got my best friend back."

Colleen Laughter, of Mocha Java, was eager to get back on schedule and the patrons received her well, joking with her and asking if she was new today. It is always a good time of year when your family returns home for the holidays.

Emergency Alert System Growing in Norfolk County

Norfolk County Sheriff Michael Bellotti said in a statement Tuesday that the Rapid Alert Notification System (RANS) is growing quickly, and now involves 19 towns, including Dedham. The system sends out automated voice messages to home phones in the registered towns during an emergency. 

"This is a versatile system that directly and quickly alerts residents," he said in the statement. "We can make the list of recipients as large or as small as necessary, based on the type of urgent situation."

RANS is funded through grants from Homeland Security. Bellotti said he hopes to stretch the alerts to cell phones as well soon, which system administrators are now working on.

Holiday Concerts Today

Students at Greenlodge Elementary School  and Dedham Middle School will hold their winter/holiday concerts today. Greenlodge students will perform twice at the school, first at 9:15 a.m. and again at 1:15 p.m. Middle school students will sing at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the middle school.

Party a Little Bit Longer

Dedham residents will get to party a little later on New Year's Eve as bars received permission from the Board of Selectmen to stay open an hour later, until 2 a.m. The drinks will stop pouring at 1:30 a.m. and all establishments will close a half-hour later.