Massachusetts
Massachusetts “Sesame Street” Performer Also Appeared on “Bozo'
![Massachusetts “Sesame Street” Performer Also Appeared on “Bozo'](https://townsquare.media/site/518/files/2024/04/attachment-GettyImages-458748746.jpg?w=1200&q=75&format=natural)
Sesame Street is a mythical, magical place where millions of American pre-schoolers have gathered for decades through television, video, film, books, music and elsewhere. We’ve met countless wonderful souls on Sesame Street, some real, some fictional but all memorable.
Sesame Street, created for public television by Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett, Jon Stone and Jim Henson, premiered on November 10, 1969.
My colleague Phil Devitt recently wrote about Waltham, Massachusetts native Caroll Spinney, the man behind – and inside – Sesame Street‘s Big Bird character from 1969 to 2018. Phil had the great fortune to interview Spinney in 2014.
The article is a must-read for anyone who spent time alone or with their children watching Sesame Street on television.
READ MORE: Massachusetts Was Home of Humble “Sesame Street” Legend Behind Big Bird
But there is more and I am here to tell you the rest of the story.
Not only did Spinney immortalize Big Bird, but he was also the voice of Sesame Street fan favorite Oscar the Grouch and was the puppeteer who controlled Oscar’s movements.
How’s that for a little Street cred?
86th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
According to his autobiography The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch), during the 1960s, Spinney played several characters on the Boston television version of Bozo’s Big Top, which featured the late Frank Avruch as Bozo.
On Bozo, Spinney performed as several costumed characters including Flip Flop the Rag Doll, Mr. Rabbit, Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo and Mr. Lion.
Spinney also appeared on Boston television on the Judy and Mr. Goggle Show in 1958.
Spinney married twice and had three children. He retired from Sesame Street in 2018 and died a year later in Woodstock, Connecticut. He was 85.
LOOK: Guess the Iconic TV Show Locations
Test your TV home knowledge! We’ve found iconic homes from the ’60s to today. Can you guess which shows they’re from?
Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz
Famous Television Moms
From the 70s to today, TV moms that made us laugh!
Gallery Credit: KEVIN MILLER
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Massachusetts
Massachusetts man sentenced for bribing examiner to pass failed road tests
![Massachusetts man sentenced for bribing examiner to pass failed road tests](https://www.wwlp.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2022/09/rmv.jpg?w=1280)
BOSTON (WWLP) – A former driving instructor was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to bribing a road test examiner to pass people who failed their road test, including some people who didn’t even show up.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 48-year-old Ngan Dinh of Boston was sentenced to two years in prison with the first six months to be served as home confinement with a GPS monitor. He must also pay a fine of $4,000 and a $5,450 forfeiture. Dinh pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud in March.
Dinh is a naturalized U.S. citizen who speaks Vietnamese and some English. Vietnamese immigrants who didn’t speak English would work with Dinh to help them understand RMV rules and requirements for a license. Instead, Dinh would bribe a road test examiner at the Brockton RMV to pass his customers on the road test after they failed the test. Some customers never showed up to their tests as well.
Customers would pay Dinh up to $1,200 in cash only. Dinh would also persuade the customers to pay him larger amounts by lying to them. In some cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, he would lie to his customers, saying the RMV wasn’t offering road tests due to the virus, but that was false. He claimed he could get them licenses during this time because he was a “certified rep” for the RMV. Dinh paid the employee $100 cash for each customer and kept the rest of the money for himself.
Local News
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Massachusetts
Two from Massachusetts allegedly break into a dispensary, then a restaurant
![Two from Massachusetts allegedly break into a dispensary, then a restaurant](https://fallriverreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/blackstone-6-30-24.jpg)
They say marijuana can give you the munchies. That may explain the alleged break-in spree of two from Massachusetts.
According to police, on Saturday, at approximately 5:36 a.m., Blackstone Police received multiple reports of car break-ins on Michelle Lane and Ascension Street, and break-ins at multiple businesses including, First Choice Dispensary and Casa Burrito.
Officers responded to the area. Through a preliminary investigation, which included reviewing surveillance footage and through the cooperation of the public, officers were able to identify two juveniles, a 15-year-old male and 17-year-old male both from Blackstone.
Both juveniles are being charged with the following:
- Breaking and Entering into a Vehicle in the Nighttime
- Breaking and Entering into a Building in the Nighttime (Two Counts)
- Larceny from a Building
- Larceny under $1,200
- Larceny of a Credit Card
- Malicious Destruction Under $1,200
- Trespassing
- Larceny Under $1,200 by False Pretense
Both juveniles are expected to be charged in Milford District Court next week.
Massachusetts
Trump campaign HQ opens in Massachusetts
![Trump campaign HQ opens in Massachusetts](https://www.wpri.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Trump-NB.png?w=1280)
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) — A new campaign headquarters opened up in Massachusetts for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign on Sunday.
The office is located at the DeMello International Center on Union Street in New Bedford.
Massachusetts GOP Chair Amy Carnevale and former Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, chairman for Trump’s campaign in Massachusetts, delivered remarks.
Another office in Massachusetts opened up a couple of weeks prior in Northborough.
-
News1 week ago
Tracking a Single Day at the National Domestic Violence Hotline
-
World1 week ago
Israel accepts bilateral meeting with EU, but with conditions
-
News1 week ago
A Florida family is suing NASA after a piece of space debris crashed through their home
-
World1 week ago
Is Israel’s Smotrich fulfilling his dream of annexing the West Bank?
-
Politics1 week ago
Supreme Court upholds federal gun ban for those under domestic violence restraining orders
-
World1 week ago
Israel will be the ‘ultimate loser’ in war with Hezbollah, Iran says
-
World1 week ago
New Caledonia independence activists sent to France for detention
-
News1 week ago
Arkansas police confirm 4th victim died in grocery store shooting