On a recent weekday at Whites Christmas Tree Farm in Essex, longtime employee Mark Tourville was easy to spot amidst the trees in his neon yellow waterproof coat and big work boots. Tourville took a 9-foot Frasier fir from a customer and loaded it into the tree shaker, a machine that shakes off snow, dead needles and other vestiges of the forest.

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"You’ll find small critters in there, and that’s why we like to shake ‘em down," he explained.

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo's office today announced that he will step down due to health reasons.

Lembo's resignation will take effect at the end of the month. His office says he "a serious and debilitating cardiac condition that has recently been worsening in intensity and severity."

In a statement, the office says doctors recommended that Lembo stop working. Lembo expressed appreciation for voters who "took a chance on a gay, vegetarian nerd that had never run for office in his life."

He has three children with his spouse Charles Frey.