As we ring in the new year, it’s only right that we take a look back at our top stories of 2025. According to our itemlive.com analytics data, below are the top three most-viewed stories from Peabody with brief summaries.
Peabody plumber wins HVAC National Championship
When most people are good at their jobs, they get a $1 raise. But when some are really great at their jobs, they wind up winning more than $100,000 in competitions that showcase their talents. At least, that was the case for Craig Childress.
Childress has now won the ServiceTitan Elite Trades Championship Series’ HVAC National Competition three years in a row, earning $40,000 for each win. On top of that, he won the Plumbing National Championship back-to-back in 2023 and 2024, earning an additional $10,000 for each win and bringing his grand total to a whopping $140,000.
He also became the first person to win two championships in the same year in 2023 before proceeding to do it again in 2024.
“It’s been a crazy couple of years for me,” Childress said.
Moving Inn to Northshore Mall
In February, Utah-based real estate developer PEG Companies began construction on a Residence Inn by Marriott Hotel that will occupy 2.7 acres of space on the Northshore Mall property.
Simon, the investment trust that owns the mall, successfully closed on financing to build the 142-room hotel on the parking lot between Barnes & Noble and the Rockland Trust Bank, which was most recently being used for the Logan Express shuttle service.
Originally, PEG was exploring the possibility of purchasing the land from Simon, but with the hotel’s walkable distance from the main mall building, a partnership between the two companies was mutually beneficial, and the two have remained closely aligned, according to PEG Development Manager Anthony Maxfield.
Maxfield also highlighted how the old Residence Inn conversion will provide the city with crucial attainable workforce housing, something he believes is “a win-win for both the Peabody community and our valued investor partners.”
Concerns over safety in Peabody shelters
In response to a motion made by City Councilor-at-Large Anne Manning-Martin at the Jan. 9 City Council meeting, Police Chief Thomas Griffin gathered all data on calls, arrests, and specific charges made at the three hotels serving as shelters for homeless families, many of whom are migrants.
His report includes data from Jan. 1, 2023 to Jan. 30, 2025, where 31 arrests and criminal complaints took place between the three sites.
One, the Springhill Suites on Newbury Street, ended its shelter operation on Dec. 31, 2024, while the other two, the Holiday Inn also on Newbury Street and Extended Stay on Jubilee Drive, are still shelters.
According to Griffin, some of the more violent situations include an arrest for two counts of aggravated assault and battery on a pregnant individual and aggravated rape, a juvenile summons for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and an arrest for strangulation.
