Middleborough Police Chief Robert Ferreira reports that the Middleborough Police Department is investigating two motor vehicle thefts reported early Monday morning, Feb. 10.
At 7:38 a.m., on Monday, Feb. 10, Patrolman Cameron Amaral was dispatched to Ashley Lane to investigate two stolen vehicle reports.
One resident told police that their 2024 Chrysler Pacifica was stolen overnight. A second resident reported their 2016 Hyundai Elantra GT also was stolen overnight.
Middleborough Police broadcast an alert about the thefts to departments in surrounding communities.
The incidents remain under investigation.
WPI students complete intensive research projects
A total of 356 undergraduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) completed research-driven, professional-level projects that apply science and technology to address an important societal need or issue.
Known as the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP), this project is a core part of the innovative undergraduate experience at WPI. Centered around project-based learning, this hands-on approach offers students opportunities to help develop thoughtful solutions to open-ended problems. These real-world problems affect the quality of life for people in the communities where students work, giving students a chance to make a difference in the world before they graduate. About two-thirds of WPI students complete their IQPs at one of the university’s 50+ off-campus project centers located in more than 30 countries around the world.
“The WPI project-based curriculum’s focus on global studies brings students out of the classroom and their comfort zones and into the global community to apply their knowledge and to solve problems,” said Professor Kent Rissmiller, professor of International & Global Studies and associate dean of The Global School. “Students are immersed in all aspects of a different culture-from the way people live and work to the values they hold to the foods they eat, all valuable perspectives for surviving and thriving in today’s global marketplace. They also learn the meaning and magic of teamwork; make a real and meaningful difference in their host community; and gain a competitive edge for any resume, or graduate or professional school application.”
The following students were part of a team that completed an intensive project:
Matthew Hybertson from Kingston, class of 2026, majoring in Mechanical Engineering, completed a project titled Exploring History Through SantaFe.live’s Interactive Archive.
Colby O’Connell from Kingston, class of 2026, majoring in Aerospace Engineering, completed a project titled Evaluating Nordural’s School of Heavy Industry.
WPI is a top-tier STEM-focused research university and a recognized pioneer and global leader in project-based learning. WPI was founded in 1865 on the principle that students learn most effectively by applying the theory learned in the classroom to the practice of solving real-world problems.
, WPI’s continued mission is to transform lives, turn knowledge into action to confront global challenges, and revolutionize STEM through distinctive and inclusive education, projects, and research. WPI’s project-based curriculum engages undergraduates in solving important scientific, technological, and societal problems throughout their education and at more than 50 project centers around the world. Today WPI offers more than 70 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs across 18 academic departments in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. To help address ongoing challenges, improve lives, and help create a more sustainable world, WPI faculty and students pursue groundbreaking research in such areas as the life sciences, smart technologies, materials and manufacturing, and global initiatives.
Kingston man earns expert certification
Diesel technicians from Advantage Truck Group (ATG), including Kingston resident Kevin Johnson who works at the company’s Raynham location, recently earned the Daimler Truck North America expert-level certification for the Freightliner Business Class M2 truck.
The technicians earned the expert-level certification for the M2 truck by completing classes that provided in-depth training on the functions, operation and troubleshooting of the vehicle’s multiplexed electrical system and all of its electronically-controlled systems, including lighting, instrumentation, HVAC, body builder interface and air management system.
“Achieving this certification is an important milestone that distinguishes a technician’s expertise and ensures a high level of service for our customers,” said ATG Training Director and certified dealer-trainer Rob Lynds, whose classes at the ATG training center in Shrewsbury often include technicians from other dealer companies.
Lynds, along with ATG Network Trainer Matthew McCuin, leads training for ATG technicians throughout the company’s locations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Express Redux
The Mirriam-Webster definition of Redux – in case you were wondering – is something that has been brought back or revived. Here it is, one week later, and we have been revived.
They say that if you take a leap of faith, a net will appear. It did. A person who is genuinely interested in keeping this little paper coming to you every week has appeared. We are taking the month of February to see if we can put it all together and make it happen.
Thank you all for your patience.
Deb
Public Comment period opened for MBTA Communities regs
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has opened a Public Comment Period for the MBTA Communities Act now through Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
To access the public comment form online, go to https://www.mass.gov/forms/mbta-communities-regulations-public-comment-form
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) had filed emergency regulations with the Secretary of the Commonwealth to support ongoing implementation of the MBTA Communities Law.
The filing came six days after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion affirming that the state’s MBTA Communities Law is constitutional. The decision affirmed that under the law each of the 177 communities included in the MBTA Communities Law must have at least one zoning district of reasonable size where multifamily housing is permitted as of right. It also affirmed the Attorney General’s right to enforce the law.
As part of the opinion, the court wrote that the previous administration did not correctly advance the guidelines for the law’s implementation. The court directed EOHLC to publish the law’s guidelines in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act in order for the law to be enforceable. Emergency regulations are in effect immediately and for 90 days. EOHLC intends to adopt regulations permanently following a public comment period.
“These regulations will allow us to continue moving forward with implementation of the MBTA Communities Law, which will increase housing production and lower costs across the state,” said Governor Maura Healey. “These regulations allow communities more time to come into compliance with the law, and we are committed to working with them to advance zoning plans that fit their unique needs. We look forward to soon celebrating more communities joining the 116 that have already said yes to housing.”
“Firefighters, teachers and essential workers deserve to live in the communities they serve,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “Cities and towns that have taken action recognize that the MBTA Communities Law creates housing opportunities for their residents, and we look forward to supporting communities who have yet to act and help them come into compliance.”
The emergency regulations do not substantively change the law’s zoning requirements and do not affect any determinations of compliance that have been already issued by EOHLC. The regulations do provide additional time for MBTA communities that failed to meet prior deadlines to come into compliance with the law.
“We want to make sure these communities have adequate time to develop their zoning, conduct public engagement activities and bring that zoning to their local legislative bodies,” said Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. “Local involvement is critical in developing zoning districts that put multifamily housing where communities have determined are the best locations.”
Communities that did not meet prior deadlines must submit a new action plan to the state, outlining their plan to achieve compliance, by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2025. These communities will have until July 14, 2025, to submit a district compliance application to the state.
Communities designated as adjacent small towns still have a Dec. 31, 2025, deadline to adopt zoning.
A total of 116 communities have already adopted multifamily zoning districts as a result of the law and more than 3,000 housing units are already in the pipeline to be built in adopted districts.
The MBTA Communities Law (Section 3A of the state Zoning Act) was passed near-unanimously in 2021 by a bipartisan Legislature with the intention of removing exclusionary zoning barriers to housing production. The law requires 177 communities to zone for multifamily housing. It does not require development.
Multifamily zoning district design is a locally controlled process. More information on community categories, deadlines, and zoning requirements can be found on the Mass.gov website under “What is an MBTA Community”?
Adventures with the Lindas; finding the tunnel…
By Linda Ibbitson Hurd
Special to the Express
When I was eight years old, a new family moved to Hanson at the very end of Elm Street where it turns onto Hudson Street. They were from Hingham and moved into a big two story post and beam colonial house that had been owned by a doctor at one time.
I boarded the school bus one morning and noticed a new girl sitting with two of my friends. They were smiling at me when I sat in the seat behind them and I wondered why, when one of them turned to me, pointing to the new girl, and said, “Linda, meet Linda”. I realized then why they were grinning. Linda and I exchanged grins and hellos. As time went on, we got to know each other and became not only fast friends but life long ones.
Linda was the youngest of six. Two sisters still lived at home, the other two and her brother were married with families. Her mother, Minnie, was a registered nurse. Her father was Lou Brouillard, one of the first professional fighters to win both the welterweight and middleweight World titles and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The local boys tried to date or make friends with the sisters so they could meet their father. I felt honored to meet him myself; he was a quiet, modest man with a good sense of humor.
The first time I was invited to Linda’s, I was impressed. The circular driveway went from the red brick walk that led to the front door, to a two story barn on the far right with a field beyond. There was a kennel for boarding dogs between the house and the barn with a gate that led to the backyard. Their dogs of choice were golden retrievers; I met and loved theirs right away.Her name was Molly.
When Linda and her sister Judy had friends over for the first time, they held an initiation. They brought me upstairs, blindfolded me and directed me to crawl around in what felt like storage space in the eaves. I was told to keep moving and to not touch the blindfold. Suddenly I felt fur underneath me. I kept going until I felt what I thought was a head and I screamed and ripped off the blindfold. I was on a big black bear rug and beside it was a white one, also with a head. We were laughing as I looked around at a very nice room with knotty pine walls and a long cushioned window seat.
Before I left that first day, I met Linda’s grandfather, Joe. He was her mother’s dad and they were from England. He had a workshop on the top floor of the barn where he made beautiful things out of wrought iron. He had also helped her father in his boxing career. I remember him as a good-natured man who almost always had a smile on his face and in his eyes.
During the next few years Linda and I had many good times. One winter during February vacation, we had gone ice skating. Grampa Joe met us as we came in the back door to hang up our coats and skates, telling us he had hotdogs, beans and cocoa warming in the dutch oven in the living room fireplace and a fire going so we could warm ourselves. He sat in his chair entertaining us with stories about growing up in England while we sat on a warm braided rug on the floor beside him. Eventually he fell asleep. Linda’s parents weren’t home and neither were her sisters. She looked at me and gestured for me to follow her.
She led me into one of the front rooms that was a spare bedroom and quietly shut the door. She asked me if I remembered asking her what a post and beam house was and that one day she’d show me. I nodded yes. She opened the closet door, reached for the four-foot ladder inside, climbed up and pushed a board at the top of the closet away. I realized I was looking up at the inner structure of the house. “Be quieter than quiet”, she whispered, as up she went and I followed.
I found it hard to keep quiet as we climbed. I likened it to a huge jungle gym with it’s vertical timbers and horizontal hand-hewn beams. Linda was on one side of the structure, I on the other as we kept climbing and exploring, until we heard a voice. “You both come down here, slowly!” “Okay Gramp”, Linda shouted down.
He was waiting for us at the closet door. He didn’t raise his voice but was very stern when he looked at us, saying, “This won’t happen again and we’ll never speak of it, agreed?” In unison, we said yes. He looked weary as he said goodnight and that he’d see us in the morning.
The next morning when we came downstairs for breakfast, Linda’s parents and sisters were up and Grampa Joe had just finished eating. He smiled when he saw us and said, “Sometimes all a body needs is a little sleep.” When he got up to leave he gave us each a nod on the way out. Everything was back to normal.
When summer came that year, we explored the woods near Linda’s house looking for an Indian burial ground that our sixth grade history teacher told us was supposed to be in that area. One hot, humid day we were walking across the driveway and as we passed by the corner of the barn, I noticed rocks that looked like they had been part of a building. Linda said when the house and barn were built there had been a carriage house there. I noticed a door that was slightly opened and pointed it out. “Oh my gosh, the tunnel, I forgot all about the tunnel, follow me.” When she opened the door I realized it was the cellar underneath the barn. “This is usually locked”, she said, “No one is supposed to be in here, it’s dad and Gramp’s workshop.” When we went in, there were stationary drill presses, lathes and saws. We walked past them until we came to a dark opening. It was a tunnel.
We rushed to the house to look for a flashlight, to no avail, grabbed a book of matches, ran back to the tunnel and started walking. The dirt floor was solid and we were surprised there was no trash or clutter other than an occasional stick, some paper, a few mouse remains and no graffiti. We were determined to find the end to see where it came out. There were places we felt fear, even danger. We had no doubt this had been a tunnel to hide and help keep slaves and possibly others, safe. It got darker in the tunnel and we both lit matches. They went out. We lit two more. They went out again. We realized we were were running out of oxygen. We turned around and headed back, dying of thirst.
We knew we were getting closer to the entrance of the tunnel when it became easier to breathe. We heard someone yelling, “I can see them, they’re okay!” Linda’s sister Joan helped us the rest of the way out.
Linda’s mother gave us water, telling us to take small sips. When we were back in the house Linda’s mother looked at us, “I was just about ready to call the fire department when Joan saw you in the tunnel. What do you have to say for yourselves?”
Linda and I looked at one another. I could see her thinking.“I’m glad we did this, we could feel a little bit what it felt like for those people and I’m proud of our house and the owner during the Civil War who helped people.” Linda’s mother said with a smile, “you’re saved by depth of thought. Can you both guarantee me a stress-free rest of the summer? ”
Everyone laughed when we said yes.
A Sad Good-bye…
Nomination papers ready in Plympton
Plympton Town Clerk Tara Shaw has announced that nomination papers for the town’s annual election of officers are available during regular town clerk hours, Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The last day to submit nomination papers to the Board of Registrars is Friday, March 28, 2025.
Positions for election include one Selectman for three years, one Board of Assessor member for three years, one Board of Health member for three years, one Constable for one year, two Finance Committee members for three years, two Library Trustees for three years, one Library Trustee for two years, one Moderator for three years, one Planning Board member for five years, one Plympton School Committee member for three years, and one Silver Lale Regional School Committee member for three years
Town election will be held Saturday, May 17. Residents may cast their ballots from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Rd., Route 58, Plympton.
If you are not registered to vote, the last day to register to vote for the Annual and Special Town Meetings is Friday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The annual town meeting will be held at the Dennett Elementary School, 80 Crescent St., on Wednesday, May 11 at 7 p.m. The Special Town Meeting, within the Annual Town Meeting, will be Wednesday, May 14, at 8 p.m.
Adams Center will Host Three Homebuying Seminar Programs
The Kingston Public Library will put on three homebuying seminar sessions sponsored by a local mortgage lender, a real estate agent, and a lawyer during the first two weeks of February at the Adams Center.
They will include “How to obtain a mortgage” on Tuesday, Feb. 4, put on by Michael Fleming of Rockland Trust, “Looking for a new home and the new MLS agent compensation rules” presented by Caty Starr of Jack Conway Realty on Wednesday, February 5, and “Closing on a Real Estate Property” hosted by Christopher Knoth, of Moody & Knoth, P.C. on Tuesday, Feb.11. All three programs will be held at 6 p.m..
Whether someone is looking for a new home, trying to downsize, a first-time home buyer, considering an investment property, or anyone in between, the sessions are structured for any potential homebuyers to learn about the three key phases of the process.
Fleming is presently a Vice President and senior loan officer at Rockland Trust. Over the last eight years he has held mortgage loan officer positions at BayCoast Mortgage Company, St. Anne’s Credit Union, Bank of England, and Leader Bank. Previously, he owned New England Golf Management for 25 years, maintaining several golf courses and serving as a proprietor of a number of driving ranges.
Starr has been an agent at Jack Conway Realty for the last 10 years. During this time, she has worked with buyers and sellers in over 130 transactions. Previously, she has worked as a franchising specialist and contract administrator of Dunkin’ Brands, a real estate paralegal in the law offices of Daniel W. Murray in Sudbury and Wellesley, and as a property manager and marketing specialist for apartment communities in Norwood, Beverly, and Marlboro.
Knoth received his undergraduate degrees at Roger Williams University in Criminal Justice and Psychology, and his Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School. He started his practice at Cilmi & Associates PLLC in New York, before joining Moody’s law firm in 2012 focusing on residential and commercial real estate transactions, estate planning, business law and land use/title matters. Knoth was made partner in 2019 and is a member of the Plymouth District Bar Association.
To register for this event, please visit – https://kingstonpubliclibrary.org. For more information, you can contact Steven Miller, Reference Librarian at (781) 585-0517 x6272 or at [email protected].
Baby it’s COLD outside!!
Temperatures throughout the region have been frigid this week, far below average, testing the limits of our home heating systems. Meteorologists have said that this is the coldest period of winter. Temperatures are expected to rise this weekend and a return to normal will be welcome.
Martin Luther King Day, a day off from school, brought these siblings out into the cold to build a snow fort and play in the white stuff. The cold half moon is just rising over the fields and trees to urge the sun to set.
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