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This is in response to the recent story about not worrying about tick bites and allergies to red meat. I have been diagnosed with AGS — Alpha Gal Syndrome — which is indeed being allergic to red meat from a tick bite. Studies now are indicating that the blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick, can carry this also.

I’m now in my third year with this allergy and the case has been medically confirmed with my VA doctor and documented with the CDC. The tick definitely originated from Vassalboro with no out-of-state travel done during this time period. I do self-checks every time out but managed to miss this one between my pinky toe and the fourth toe. I did not seek medical treatment thinking that it was a dog tick and I watched the bite site for weeks.

When in doubt, remove the tick safely and save it for the doctor’s visit.

Robert Rooney
Vassalboro

A 70-year-old Massachusetts man allegedly tried to drown an injured 21-year-old during a violent clash over a jet ski at a community lake boat ramp in a chaotic, caught-on-camera brawl.

Steven Dana is accused of attempted murder, strangulation, and assault and battery on a disabled person for the alleged attack on Matthew Duffy at Lake Maspenock’s Sandy Beach in Hopkinton, Mass., on Wednesday.

Duffy and his friends were using the boat ramp with their jet ski when Dana, a resident on the lake, became agitated by the noise coming from the motorized craft and attempted to kick the group out of the water, according to a police report viewed by WCVB.

Duffy has been using crutches to get around after he was severely injured in an accident a few months ago.

The group of friends had been recording the interaction with Dana on a GoPro when the older man became increasingly upset during the confrontation with Duffy, according to the video obtained by the outlet.

“Let me have fun with my jetski,” Duffy told Dana, who told the younger man to take the craft to another lake.

Duffy refused and claimed he lived nearby and was allowed to use the lake. Some of the younger lake users began to egg Dana on, saying, “You’re not going to do s–t.”

Dana threatened to call the police “again” before asking if Duffy wanted “me to shoot you.”

The older man walked down to Duffy, who had been standing at the lakeside, and got into the 21-year-old’s face.

“Are you going to beat up a cripple?” one of Duffy’s friends asked the heated man.

“I don’t care, I’ll take a cripple.” Dana said, according to the video.

Dana slapped Duffy across the face before the two grappled each other and fell into the lake, as one of Duffy’s friends drove off with the jet ski.

Dana was filmed allegedly holding Duffy under the water as three other men showed up and separated the pair.

“I was so scared for my life because I can’t fight back, I broke practically everything and this guy’s on top of me under the water, I can’t see what’s going on, I can’t fight back,” Duffy told WCVB.

Both men refused medical attention after the scuffle.

Dana was arraigned in Framingham District Court on Thursday and initially held without bail, but a judge on Friday released him on a $7,500 cash bond, according to NBC 10 Boston.

“I’m fuming that he’s out now. This is insane. He just tried killing me two days ago, and then it’s like, apparently you can just pay bond, and it’s wiped clean,” Duffy told the outlet. “When he toppled on me in the water, there was nothing I could do.”

“He literally came up to me and my friends, and was instantly being aggressive and rude for no reason, in trying to kick us out of a public space,” Duffy said. “We weren’t having it, so we weren’t moving, and then he eventually came down after we were arguing with each other, and then more arguing led to him attacking me and then shoving me in the water, and I needed my friends to help me get up.”

CONCORD, NH — A grand jury in Merrimack County recently indicted the individuals listed below.

Robert S. Bzdula III, 23, of West Chrisco Road in Seagrove, North Carolina, on a felony count of attempted aggravated felonious sexual assault. He was accused of exposing his erect penis in front of a child under 13 between Dec. 1, 2022, and July 26, 2025, in Dunbarton.

John Camden, 42, a homeless man now located in Concord, on a felony controlled drug, prohibited-fentanyl, on Jan. 6 in Concord.

Timothy Casey, 24, a member of Concord’s unhoused community, on a felony receiving stolen property charge. He was accused of possessing stolen copper pipes from Yamas on South Main Street in Concord, on March 18.

Keyan Chambers, 30, of Brown Avenue in Manchester, on second-degree assault and second-degree assault-attempt charges. He was accused of assaulting a child in Pembroke, causing hemorrhaging to his neck on March 27, 2025. Between March 1 and March 31, 2025, Chambers pushed the child against the wall, “toward the commission of… strangulation,” according to an indictment, in Pembroke.

Megan R. Champagne, 40, a homeless woman now located in Concord, on a felony count of conspiracy to commit theft by unauthorized taking. She agreed with David King to steal a tent from Target in Concord on Dec. 10, 2025, according to the indictment.

Sarai J. Chapman, 35, of Spofford Street in Claremont, on a felony possession of methamphetamine charge on Nov. 25, 2025, in Henniker.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Merrimack County Superior Court and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.

Amanda S. Colgan, 38, of Main Street in Claremont, on a felony count of controlled drug act; acts prohibited-meth in Bradford on Dec. 30, 2025.

Jay Thomas Johnson, 50, of Woodbryer Avenue in Greensborough, North Carolina, on a felony count of identity fraud. He was accused of posing as another and requesting the man’s detailed banking information at Merrimack County Savings Bank in Concord on Oct. 6, 2025.

Matthew W. Kelly, 46, with a last known address of Robie Road in Salisbury, on a felony count of penalty; registration of criminal offenders. He was accused of failing to let Concord police of his residence on Feb. 2. Kelly is a Tier III sex offender due to a rape conviction in Massachusetts in September 2003.

Stephanie M. Kelly, 37, of Pheasant Lane in Manchester, on a felony controlled drug act; acts prohibited-meth charge on May 8, 2024, in Hooksett.

Kayleigh King, 23, of Union Street in Concord, on a felony assault by prisoners charge. While in the Merrimack County Jail in Boscawen, she was accused of kicking a corrections officer in the stomach on Feb. 20.

Timothy J. Leclair, 45, of Canterbury, on possession of fentanyl and possession of a fentanyl and meth mix charges, both felonies, on May 4, 2025, in Hooksett.