The New Romford Free Press

Tag: Dino-Day

  • Residents Repay Businesses After Dino-Day Disaster

    Residents Repay Businesses After Dino-Day Disaster

    By Muffy Borgeron

    Businesses were hit hard during the Dino-Day Disaster, especially the ones that sold food.  Many were looted by hungry people, whose increased sizes required more calories to burn.  Today, thousands of residents flooded these businesses to pay for what they ate.

    “I was not expecting this,” said Sal Montoya, owner of Sal’s Deli in LoDo.  “My deli was empty after that day, and my insurance could only pay so much.  I don’t blame anyone for taking what they needed because it was a rough time, you know, so this really is something special.”

    Allie deFranco, a Parkhill resident, started a Facebook campaign to repay the businesses that unwittingly helped so many people.  “When I was an Allosaurus that day,” she said, “I was just so hungry, and I didn’t really care where I got my food.  Perhaps it was the animal in me, but the human in me felt guilty that I was raiding Sal’s Deli.  Then I started talking to some of my friends, who had similar experiences, and we decided to just start a campaign to take one day out of the week to repay these places the best we can, with money.”

    DeFranco thought she’d get at most 100 people interested in her campaign, but as word spread online, that number quickly shot up to over 20,000 people.  Everyone was encouraged to repay what they thought they took, but if they couldn’t afford that, they asked to donate at least $5 to that business.

    Markets, delis, restaurants, and bodegas all over Downtown, Bexton, and Dukes were flooded with patrons, and most people gave back more than what they took.  “This one lady was just too kind,” said Maria Gonzalez of Chica’s Bodega in Dominicana.  “She told me how she was this big armored dinosaur, I don’t remember what she said she was, but she was just so hungry that she ate 20 heads of cabbage and a whole basket of tomatoes.  If that’s true, it’d cost at least $100, but she gave me triple that.  I just hugged her like she was my own daughter.”

    DeFranco hopes that the money can be used to help get these businesses back on their feet, even if that’s going to be a long road.  “My home only got a few scrapes from that day,” she said.  “My office was closed that day and didn’t get damaged, so I’m one of the lucky ones.  These people’s whole livelihoods have been dismantled.  It’s the least we can do.”

  • New Romford Up to 60% Capacity

    New Romford Up to 60% Capacity

    By Buffy Bolivar

    City officials have released figures estimating that New Romford is now running up to 60% capacity following the Dino-Day Disaster several weeks ago.

    All sewer lines have been repaired, and water and power have been returned to nearly the entire city.  Some of the older parts of Downtown, Bexton, and Dukes are still without full services.  Water and power are expected to be returned to everyone by the end of the week.

    The majority of main roads have been repaired for traffic, but most side streets are still unusable.  City officials estimate it could take the next several months to a year to repave the streets.  Dr. Amazing and ATOM Labs are building machines to help repair the streets in less time.  “Nothing too fancy,” Dr. Amazing said.  “Just some drones to strip the streets and to pour cement in one fell swoop.  No AI (artificial intelligence) in them, so they won’t turn evil.”

    The bridges on the other hand will take several years to repair, especially the 4th Ave Bridge and the Judith Bridge.  They both collapsed during the disaster, and given their historic nature, there are likely to be legal battles.  “Already there’s talk about how to improve them,” said one unnamed city official.  “They need better structural support, but we got to do it in a way that preserves their history.  That’s going to be a challenge.”

    Most businesses have reopened to some degree, but many may not even reopen.  The 300 block of 24th Ave was hit especially hard, and the costs to rebuild everything, in some cases the entire building, may be too much for business owners.  Keiko MacNamara of Keiko’s Treats lost everything.  “I lived above my bakery and came down to work everyday,” she said.  “Now the whole building is just gone.  I just don’t know what I’m going to do.”  Right now, MacNamara is staying with relatives in Norwoods.  She’s hoping her insurance will help pay for a new bakery in another building, but that could take months.

  • Dr. Amazing Fertilizes Future Farm with Dino Dung

    Dr. Amazing Fertilizes Future Farm with Dino Dung

    By Packie Williams

    fftowerweb
    File photo

    One of the biggest, and stinkiest, problems in the wake of the Dino-Day Disaster was what to do with all the dinosaur dung that was left behind.  Dr. Amazing has volunteered to use it as fertilizer.

    “Dung is nature’s natural fertilizer,” he said.  “It’s full of nutrients that plants need in order to grow, and with so much of it around, it just makes sense to use it in the Future Farm.”

    Dr. Amazing and robots from ATOM Labs have been scooping up as much of the dino dung as they could and hauling back to ATOM Labs for study.  First, they wanted to have samples available for paleontologists to study and also to see if there were any remnants of the Dinosaur Queen’s magic left over.  “The last thing we wanted,” said Dr. Amazing, “was for whatever magical particles that turned us into dinosaurs to be left in the dung, and if it were to fertilize crops, we had to make sure nothing evil got transferred to the food, which might turn people back into dinosaurs if they ate a tomato for instance.”

    “Luckily, the occult section of ATOM Labs has given us the all clear,” said Dr. Amazing.  “I don’t put much stock into magic personally, but it happens, so we have to be careful.”

    Dr. Amazing hopes that the dino dung will naturally speed up the growth of his crops.  “No one wants artificial chemicals put into their food,” he said.  “So we’re going to use the next best thing.  Which is dinosaur dung.”

    Dr. Amazing’s wife, Snow Woman, did not comment.

  • New Romford Begins New Promotional Campaign

    New Romford Begins New Promotional Campaign

    dinoposter

    by Julia Crumpelman

    Sensing a need to attract new businesses and residents, the City of New Romford has unveiled a promotional campaign to highlight the good things about living in a city constantly besieged by supervillains.

    The campaign, “Life in New Romford,” will distribute posters, billboards, and television, radio, internet, and psychic ads all across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe.  “Understandably,” said Chamber of Commerce Head, Idara Mulholland, “people are hesitant to come to New Romford.  But once you come here and experience the energy for yourself, then you get why this is such a vibrant place to live and work.”

    adonisposterMulholland said that the campaign will focus primarily on the East and West Coasts of North America and in Western Europe.  “That’s where the majority of our out-of-town business comes from,” she said.  “Eventually, we want to spread out to Asia once we have the budget for it.”

    Three of the posters/billboards will focus on turning the negatives of living in New Romford into positives.  One will feature Dr. Alan Guinness, a.k.a. The Gator, one will feature Adonis saving television reporter, Michelle Meyers, and another will showcase the recent Dino-Day Disaster.  That one was a controversial choice for the campaign.  “I get why people are against it,” Mulholland said.  “It’s such a recent event, but sadly, it’s something that could happen at any moment, and you have to find positives in everything.”

    “In order to remain a leader in the national, global, and galactic community,” she continued, “we have to reassure non-New Romforders that life here goes on even when it does get crazy.  We can’t let every supervillain, alien invasion, monster attack, and Frankenstein annexation stop us from following our dreams.”

    “And that’s no offense to all the aliens, monsters, and Frankensteins that live here in peace.  We accept all lifeforms in New Romford.”

    Some of the posters are available for sale online here.

  • Speedster Helps with Recovery, Wrecks More Things than Repairs

    Speedster Helps with Recovery, Wrecks More Things than Repairs

    Speedster
    File photo

    By Buffy Bolivar

    While intending to be helpful as always, Speedster ended up making things worse today when she “helped” with the recovery after the Dino-Day Disaster.

    The majority of the Peace Force was working with the New Romford rescue crews to remove debris from fallen buildings and to find missing people, the typical superhero work.  Speedster was on hand as well today, and her super-speed began tearing up the Industrial and University Districts.  “I know she’s just trying to help,” said Sally Wynn, a resident of the University District, “but could she at least think through her actions first?  Just once, please.”

    Speedster saw a large pile of rubble blocking the intersection of Industry Road and 26th Street and used one of her patented “Speed Tornadoes” to move the rubble.  Unfortunately, she hasn’t perfected this patent yet.  She ran around the rubble at super speed, creating a vortex that carried the rubble into the air.  Then it shot out all over the neighborhood, crashing into buildings that had survived the dinosaurs on both sides of the Winston River.  Thankfully, no one was hurt, but she left the scene in a puff of dust.

    Someone at the Peace Force must’ve reprimanded her because she stopped using her “Speed Tornadoes”.  Instead, she helped out with the otherwise slow removal of debris from collapsed buildings, and for about an hour, Speedster was helping in a constructive way.  Then, she decided to speed things up, as she is wont to do, and wasn’t paying attention.  “We were working on buildings on Billings Street,” said Sal Hodgson, rescue worker, “and she piled up all that rubble at the end of the street.  She blocked us in.  We couldn’t get out.  We had about 20 people that needed to get to a hospital or safe zone, and we couldn’t get them out.  How dumb can you be?”

    After another half hour of making a path for the rescue workers, Speedster left to help somewhere else but caused a 14-vehicle pile-up on Romford Way before collapsing a parking garage on 4th Avenue and 59th Street.  She had removed the wrong piece of rubble that had been keeping the garage intact.  Luckily, she had removed everyone from the garage in the brief second before the collapse.

    By then, Titana and Adonis reportedly had a word with Speedster, and she ran off.  There were no more reports of speed-related destruction after then, much to everyone’s relief.

  • Mysterious Thefts Continue Even After Dino-Day Disaster

    Mysterious Thefts Continue Even After Dino-Day Disaster

    By Packie Williams

    In what can only be described as adding insult to injury, the mysterious thefts plaguing the neighborhoods of Dukes have continued even after the Dino-Day Disaster.

    Andrew and Marshall Parks of Essex Town reported that their house was damaged in the Disaster, but nothing of value was missing.  “We were just getting settled in,” said Andrew.  “We patched up part of the roof and made sure our doors and windows locked like normal, and then we wake up this morning to find that all our jewelry and money was missing.  And the doors and windows were still locked.”

    Several houses in Essex Town reported similar thefts, all on the same night.  The NRPD are now investigating this as a superhuman crime spree.  “That’s the most likely conclusion,” said Police Commissioner Trombeau.  “Everything points to a superhuman using his or her powers to invade these homes and steal money and valuables from unsuspecting residents.  Whether or not last night’s thefts have any connection to the other series of supposed thefts from the past couple months cannot be determined at this time.  One of the perpetrators could a man with a mind-control device on his head, and the other could be a smoke monster with psychotropic powers.  It’s difficult to tell.”

    A ghost has also been proposed as a possible suspect as some currently inhabit the city, and they may be vengeful, as ghosts generally are.

    Regardless, who or whatever has committed these thefts clearly doesn’t care about the recent Disaster these residents have experienced.  “I mean, we were some really tiny dinosaurs,” said Marsha Parks.  “Really really tiny.  It was all we could do to not get squished.  And now, we think we’re out of the woods, and this happens.”

    “Sometimes I wonder why we still live in this city.”

  • Transforming into Dinosaur Did Not Help ‘Normal Man’

    Transforming into Dinosaur Did Not Help ‘Normal Man’

    gilBy Muffy Borgeron

    Gil Heredia, the ATOM Labs maintenance worker who fell into a vat of chemicals several weeks ago, is still in critical condition, and transforming into a dinosaur didn’t help his recovery.

    When the Dino-Day Disaster happened, Heredia, who has been on life support at ATOM Labs, was changed into a Deinonychus.  The scientists monitoring him did not notice any change in his vital signs or any new superpowers.  “We thought, ‘Oh, this is going to trigger something finally,’” said lead biologist Carlos Montero.  “We thought that he was going to get dinosaur powers or at least stay transformed as a dinosaur.  Finally, he’d be on the upswing.  But nothing.”

    “It’s like he doesn’t want superpowers.”

    After the Dino-Ray was shut down, Heredia, along with everyone else at ATOM Labs, turned back to human.  Heredia’s injuries had remained during his transformation, and briefly becoming a dinosaur didn’t seem to accelerate his healing ability either.  “It was just the same old, same old,” said Montero.  “If anything, being turned into a dinosaur only made things worse.  Poor guy.”

    Heredia’s family, who have asked for privacy throughout the matter, have seemed more distraught than normal.  With his recent downturn, those closest to the family get the sense that Heredia may pass away soon, unless of course he develops superpowers, but that seems unlikely.