e t c e t e r a
1. A number of unspecified additional things; 2. pl. additional items, odds and ends
TOWN HIRES PATRICIA PERRIS AS NEW HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR On Dec. 18, Patricia Perris will become Nantucket's new Human Resources director replacing Nancy Oliver who is retiring after a long and varied municipal career.

Perris, currently the Human Resources and Human Services director for the town of Chatham, is on vacation and could not be reached, however her contract was approved last week. Perris has been Chatham's director since August 2000. Previously, she was associate vice-president for Administration and Human Resources with the United Way/Crusade of Mercy in Chicago, Ill. for 19 years.

Before that, she spent four years as Corporate Personnel Administrator with Trans Union Corporate World Headquarters in Lincolnshire, Ill. For more than six years Perris was an adjunct faculty member for human resources at North Park University in Chicago.

She is a 20-year member of the Society for Human Resources, is an assessor for Emergency Response Systems, Inc., and a board member of the Southeast Coast Human Resources Chapter of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources. Perris earned her master's degree in business administration from the Lake Forest School of Management in Lake Forest, Ill.

COAST GUARD AIDES VESSEL OFF COAST The Coast Guard helped pump water out of a listing ship near Nantucket Monday evening.

The Coast Guard got a call around 3 p.m. Monday afternoon that the 50-foot fishing vessel Susan Marie was taking on water and listing about 30 miles off the coast of Nantucket.

A helicopter with a de-watering pump was dispatched from the Coast Guard air station on Cape Cod. The pump was lowered into the ship and controlled the flooding. Authorities from the New Hampshire Coast Guard boarded the boat and found the source of the flooding. Coast Guard officials escorted the boat to Stage Harbor in Chatham yesterday morning.

POLICE VEHICLES TO GET BROADBAND LINK In about one month the police department will have a special command truck under assembly now, that will be equipped with broadband and allow cruisers with wireless modems to connect to the Internet for enhanced emergency responses.

WiBlast Communications, a local wireless Internet service provider, has supplied the department with Motorola Canopy and Tropos Networks equipment for the command vehicle, which is being paid for through a half-million dollar grant from the Department of Homeland Security.

The cruisers, when in proximity of the specially equipped truck, will be able to access secure police databases and send reports directly from the vehicles to the station without needing to leave their routes.

Deputy Chief Charles Gibson said the service will allow reception of weather reports and a wide range of critical information that will assist in responding to crimes, fires, natural disasters and medical emergencies.

SHERBURNE COMMONS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Sherburne Commons, the island's nearly completed retirement village for senior citizens off South Shore Road, is now accepting applications for its assisted living program and Sherburne House, which offers a memory impairment care program. For more information call 228-4080 or stop by the model cottage to inquire about details for qualification.

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