Saugus’ White Hen Pantry gets variance for newspaper deliveries

SAUGUS – The newsstand is once again open and this time for good at the Hamilton Street White Hen Pantry since selectmen granted the convenience store a variance allowing it to receive newspaper deliveries before 7 a.m.
White Hen General Manager John Rogalski was caught off guard last August when a crack down on early morning deliveries hampered his newspaper sales.
A town bylaw prohibits any deliveries to be made after 10 p.m. and before 7 a.m., including newspapers. Rogalski said newspapers are generally delivered between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. and no one had ever complained before. Then neighbor Aldo Cassano complained and the Police Department cracked down.
Selectman Michael Kelleher said Cassano actually called to complain about early morning Dumpster pickups.
“It’s not about White Hen Pantry it’s about the whole strip mall,” he said. “It was about trash pickups and blew up into newspapers.”
Rogalski said he simply wanted to be able to sell newspapers prior to 7 a.m.