Lynn to hold peace vigil

LYNN – With the holiday season approaching and in the light of recent bloodshed on the city streets, the Ford School has organized a Peace in the City vigil in partnership with the Lynn Police Department and the Neighborhood Coalition.Ford Principal Claire Crane said the candlelight vigil will take place Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. at the school, and members of the community are invited to join Ford students and their families, representatives from local churches, the Lynn Police and city officials at the vigil.The school purchased long-lasting candles that will stay lit for seven hours, so that those in attendance can show their support for bringing peace to the city.”We just think it will be a nice thing to do around the holidays,” said Crane. “Especially with everything that has been going on in the city.”The vigil comes on the heels of a violent month in Lynn that has featured three murders since Oct. 15.On that date, former Lynn resident Esther Kinyanjui was killed in front of her family by the father of her children after a domestic dispute. Just 10 days later, 26-year-old Michael Reyes was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting on Johnson Street.On Nov. 1, Christian Vargas-Martinez, 18, was shot in an ambush outside the Golden Lakes Restaurant on Bennett Street in an incident that has since been followed by six arrests.Adding to the violence and tragedy of the murders has been a series of domestic incidents, robberies and home invasions, the most recent incident taking place Tuesday evening when three men allegedly followed two victims to their home on Trinity Avenue and attempted to come inside at gunpoint.Crane also said Friday that NASA is close to setting a definitive date for their next meeting with astronauts on the International Space Station.Depending on conditions and the mission schedule, students will link up with astronauts on the Space Station on either Jan. 8 or 9 for an informative question and answer session.During the 20-minute downlink, students will have the opportunity to ask questions to the astronauts while they work in the Destiny Laboratory. The questions will focus on living and working in space.The school, which is designated as a NASA Explorer School, has already communicated with the space organization once this year, as part of a live downlink from the shuttle headquarters in Houston on Aug. 19.Students were supposed to speak with astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery that day, but poor weather on Earth forced the shuttle back home early, and meant that the shuttle crew was too busy preparing for the landing to answer the students’ questions.