BOSTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry was slapped with a $50 fine for failing to have a side street adjoining his Boston home shovelled following the blizzard that dropped more than 2 feet of snow on Massachusetts this week, a spokesman said on Friday.

The fine was issued on Thursday after a snow-removal company hired by Kerry and his neighbours in the city’s historic Beacon Hill neighbourhood saw yellow tape blocking the sidewalk alongside the home and thought it was related to security for the top US diplomat. The tape had been put up to warn pedestrians of falling ice and snow, said Kerry’s spokesman, Glen Johnson.

“Once they understood that they were allowed to enter the area, the contractors finished the sidewalk late on Thursday morning,” he said. Kerry was in Saudi Arabia with President Barack Obama to attend the funeral of King Abdullah and meet with his successor, King Salman, at the time of the storm.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2015

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