The signs have been up to detour around the Winnetuxet Bridge in Plympton for more than a month now. The pretty, picturesque bridge has been taken down to its very bones to make a more sturdy and attractive bridge with a concrete and steel uperstructure and substructure. The old timbers that made up the floor of the bridge are gone and will be replaced with a blacktop surface that is easier to plow and maintain, according to Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte.
Winnetuxet Rd. residents Kevin and Jackie Rafferty, who walk by almost daily, said the project is slated for completion in late August. The $1.2 million project is Plympton’s answer to The Big Dig!
Women’s History Month author panel to be held at Adams Center
Writers Emily Franklin, Dawn Tripp, and Adelle Waldman will visit the Adams Center (33 Summer Street, Kingston) on Sunday, March 23 at 2 PM, for an author talk celebrating Women’s History Month.
The trio will talk about the female characters in their novels, the ways in which authors researched individuals in stories, and the subject matter. Franklin and Tripp recently authored books featuring Isabella Stewart Gardner (The Lioness of Boston) and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Jackie) while Waldman published a fictionalized book inspired by her experience unloading boxes at a big box-store, Help Wanted.
Franklin is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels for both adults and young adults, as well as a poetry collection titled, Tell Me How You Got Here. Her award-winning work has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, The Kenyon Review, and other numerous publications. The Lioness of Boston was a Boston Globe and Indie Bookstore bestseller, as it was featured on WBUR’s “Local Authors.” She has been featured on NPR and named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Franklin lives outside of Boston with her family and two large dogs. You can follow her at https://emilyfranklin.com.
Tripp is the nationally bestselling author of Jackie and Georgia (a fictional novel about Georgia O’Keefe), was a finalist for the New England Book Award and winner of the Mary Lynn Kotz Award for Art in Literature. Her three other previous novels are Game of Secrets, Moon Tide, and The Season of Open Water, which won the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction. Her poems and essays have appeared in the Virginia Quarterly Review, Harvard Review, Conjunctions, AGNI, and NPR.
Tripp graduated from Harvard and lives in Massachusetts with her sons. For more information about Tripp, her website is https://dawntripp.com
In addition to the novel Help Wanted released in March of 2024, Waldman has also written The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. It was named one of the years best books by the New Yorker, The Economist, NPR, Slate, Bookforum, and the Guardian. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, e Wall Street Journal, Slate and other publications.
Waldman lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter. You can read more about her by visiting https://adellewaldman.com.
Books will be on sale following the event for all three authors. This event is generously sponsored by the Kingston Public Library Foundation.
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].
Kingston School Committee avoids override
Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
The Kingston School Committee unanimously approved a level service budget for fiscal year 2026 without requiring a tax override, utilizing emergency shelter funds from the State to close the budget gap.
The committee voted Monday, March 3, to approve a $15,596,804 operating budget, which represents a 7.1% increase over the current fiscal year. The total expenditure for Kingston schools will be $16,991,596 after accounting for additional funding sources.
“We’re not going to need an override to settle our budget tonight,” said Committee Member Jeanne Coleman during the meeting, delivering she called “the good news” that parents and community members had been waiting to hear.
The budget approval comes after weeks of community concern about a potential override that could have reached nearly $1 million. Instead, the committee found alternative funding sources to maintain educational services without additional tax burden.
Business Administrator Sarah Hickey presented a plan to utilize emergency assistance shelter funds received from the state to help close the $1.4 million gap between the committee’s budget and the amount approved by the Kingston Select Board.
“In January of 2025, we received a payment of $338,270.25, of which we talked about allocating $180,000 of that towards salaries in the FY26 budget,” Hickey explained. “And we have been told by the state that we are going to potentially receive an additional $555,464 in those emergency shelter funds.”
The committee voted to allocate $255,110.74 from existing shelter funds already on deposit with the town, plus $341,127.26 from anticipated future payments to balance the budget.
Several parents spoke at the beginning of the meeting in support of maintaining educational services. Barbara Gildea of Crescent Street thanked the committee for “continuing to support our schools and for passing budgets that advocate for level funding.”
“The community is rallying in support of the school budget, and we will continue to do so,” Gildea added, noting that a Facebook group created to help parents advocate for the school budget has attracted more than 300 members.
Jackie Giovannangelo of Franz Lane echoed those sentiments, saying, “We’ve been hard at work over the past month plus, gathering the parents of the town to the Facebook page we created to ensure that as many parents as possible are aware of the budget concerns.”
Committee members acknowledged that while this solution addresses immediate budget needs, it creates challenges for next year since the emergency shelter funds are not a permanent revenue source.
“We’re going to have $800,000 that we need to come up with for next year’s budget,” noted Committee Member Michael Shekane. “We need to be aware that this is a huge hole for next year. We’re just kicking the can down the road.”
The committee also voted to remove a proposed additional English Language teacher position from the budget, saving approximately $65,000. Chair Megan Cannon suggested that if the position becomes necessary, there would still be shelter money available to fund it.
Superintendent Jill Proulx clarified that the budget maintains level services rather than level funding. “A level funded budget, if you were to advocate for that, would actually result in reductions in force,” she explained.
Committee members also discussed the timeline challenges of the budget process, with Coleman noting that state funding numbers often aren’t available until late January, after preliminary budgets are already being presented.
“Our budgets are incomplete if we don’t even know what the state numbers are,” Coleman said. “Last year, if everyone remembers, our budgets went into a tailspin at the end of January when the state numbers were released, like 4% lower than what we were anticipating.”
The total cost of education for Kingston, which includes both the elementary school budget and the town’s assessment for Silver Lake Regional School District, will be $32,770,590.36 for FY26, representing a 4.7% increase over the current year.
The committee’s decision means Kingston will avoid joining the approximately 80 Massachusetts communities that sought education overrides last year, of which only about 40% passed, according to information shared during a previous Silver Lake School Committee meeting.
The committee also heard from Assistant Superintendent Tricia Clifford about ongoing curriculum work, including the development of a district literacy plan and the review of math curriculum materials.
Kristen Pishkin, co-president of the Kingston Teachers Association, thanked officials for securing a level service budget.
“The KTA would like to thank administration, town leadership, School Committee, and all the families working hard to secure a level service budget that will meet the needs of our students,” Pishkin says. “We know it has taken a lot of effort on everyone’s part.”
“So we appreciate everyone’s hard work and sleepless nights. And the teachers’ sleepless nights, too, because a lot of them were very worried what their classrooms would look like and their jobs would look like next year,” Pishkin added.
Halifax Fire Dept. celebrates the women on staff for National Women’s Day
Celebrating the Women of Halifax Fire on National Women’s Day!
Today, we proudly honor the incredible women who make Halifax Fire stronger every day. Thank you to Firefighter Paramedic Bridget Riley, Firefighter EMT Shannon Worton, and our Executive Assistant to the Fire Chief Kendra Kelly for your dedication, service, and commitment to our department and community.
Your hard work and resilience inspire us all. We appreciate everything you do to keep Halifax safe!
Halifax ATM warrant will close March 11 for citizen petitions
The warrant is now open for Halifax’s 2025 Annual Town Meeting which is scheduled to occur on Monday, May 12, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at the Halifax Elementary School. Citizen petitions must be submitted to the Town Clerk’s Office by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
In order to participate in Town Meeting, residents must be registered to vote. The voter registration deadline to participate in the 2025 Annual Town Meeting is Friday, May 2, 2025. For all questions relating to Voter Registration, contact the Town Clerk’s Office by calling (781) 293-7970 or e-mailing [email protected].
Any questions regarding the Annual Town Meeting, submitting warrant articles, etc. should be directed to the Board of Selectmen’s Office by calling (781) 294-1316 or e-mailing [email protected].
A copy of the Warrant will be posted on the Town’s website and mailed to every household when it becomes available.
Revision 2/13/2025 10:26 am: Correction of the citizen petition submission deadline; Tuesday, March 11th, 2025.
Learning is Loud!
Samantha Perry
Express correspondent
Officially known as the Head of Youth Services for Kingston Public Library, Holly Iannucci is better known to the kids of Kingston as “Miss Holly”. She is warm and welcoming, a joy for parents and children alike. Holly’s dedication to what she does is clear to all who have the pleasure of spending time in the Kingston Public Library’s Children’s Room. An education major in college, Holly spent the first 14 years of her career in early childhood education before moving on to the Holmes Public Library in Halifax, and then the Kingston Public Library she now calls home.
Holly’s family has lived in Kingston for generations and it was always a goal of hers to give back to the community she grew up in. You may know her grandfather as the owner of Kingston Block which has been in business since 1948. She recalls spending her free time at the Kingston Public Library growing up, shelving books alongside then-librarian, Joan Enriquez. Joan quickly became one of Holly’s greatest mentors.
Holly describes the library the way some people describe trusted family and friends: safe, comforting and resilient. “If you are new in town and don’t know anyone, if you need a safe place to go, go to the library,” she says. “Libraries have been here since the ancient Greeks, they will always be here, they just won’t always look the same.” Holly explains that the landscape of libraries has already changed drastically to accommodate for the shifts in our world. It used to be a space where community members typically came to work quietly or in solitude. Children’s Programs such as Storytime were offered in the past, but often felt serious and structured. “Now,” Holly says, “Learning is Loud!”
Kingston Public Library offers many Children’s programs that Holly refers to as educational entertainment. Kids can come as they are, pick up a variety of skills and have fun while doing it. Holly describes the Children’s Room as a “community living room where children can come and learn through play.” As a Kingston parent myself, I have had the pleasure of joining Miss Holly for Babies and Bubbles where parents, caregivers, and their little ones gather together for songs, stories and – of course – bubbles! It is a wonderful chaos of little voices, tiny hands clapping, caregivers chasing after fast feet, knowing glances from one mama to another, and many wide-eyed babies just taking it all in. At first glance the program is very much geared towards babies and creating a safe space for learning, but in so many ways it is for caregivers also. “There are mothers at home who need to get out of the house for their own mental health, nannies can make friends with other caregivers, and infants can make their first friends,” Holly says. The benefits are boundless. Babies and Bubbles is offered on Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for children 0-2 years.
Preschool Storytime is also offered at Kingston Public Library on Thursdays and most Fridays at 11:30 a.m. for children 3+ years. Children can expect lots of laughing, silly songs, learning their numbers and letters, crafts and – of course – storytime! For children who have not yet entered Kindergarten, Preschool Storytime is great practice for them. “When kids go to kindergarten so much is expected of them,” Holly explains. For some children, particularly those who are not enrolled in preschool programs, this is the first time adults other than their parents or caregivers are giving them instruction. Holly has created a safe space where kids can be free to have their first outside-of-the-home learning experience with loved ones nearby.
Holly’s passion for her work, and for libraries, is contagious. She explains that libraries have the ability to level the economic playing fields within the communities they support. “For lots of kids it is the first time they use a computer,” Holly shares. Kids who are looking for the latest book, video game, or even boardgames can get them for free at the library. There are a variety of apps included with a Kingston Public Library card such as Kanopy, Hoopla and Libby where members can access eBooks, audiobooks, movies, TV, music and more – all for free.
Holly urges us all to explore these resources and get involved in your local library. “It doesn’t matter if you use our library, just use a library. No matter where you stand in this world, how rich or poor, your race or your gender, you are welcome at the library.”
The Kingston Public Library is located at 6 Green Street in Kingston, MA and their website is https://kingstonma.gov/219/Library.
Women’s History Month Author Panel to be held at Adams Center
Writers Emily Franklin, Dawn Tripp, and Adelle Waldman will visit the Adams Center, 33 Summer St., Kingston, on Sunday, March 23 at 2 p.m, for an author talk celebrating Women’s History Month.
The trio will talk about the female characters in their novels, the ways in which authors researched individuals in stories, and the subject matter. Franklin and Tripp recently authored books featuring Isabella Stewart Gardner (The Lioness of Boston) and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Jackie) while Waldman published a fictionalized book inspired by her experience unloading boxes at a big box-store, Help Wanted.
Franklin is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels for both adults and young adults, as well as a poetry collection titled, Tell Me How You Got Here. Her award-winning work has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, The Kenyon Review, and other numerous publications. The Lioness of Boston was a Boston Globe and Indie Bookstore bestseller, as it was featured on WBUR’s “Local Authors.” She has been featured on NPR and named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Franklin lives outside of Boston with her family and two large dogs. You can follow her at https://emilyfranklin.com.
Tripp is the nationally bestselling author of Jackie and Georgia (a fictional novel about Georgia O’Keefe), was a finalist for the New England Book Award and winner of the Mary Lynn Kotz Award for Art in Literature. Her three other previous novels are Game of Secrets, Moon Tide, and The Season of Open Water, which won the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction. Her poems and essays have appeared in the Virginia Quarterly Review, Harvard Review, Conjunctions, AGNI, and NPR.
Tripp graduated from Harvard and lives in Massachusetts with her sons. For more information about Tripp, her website is https://dawntripp.com.
In addition to the novel Help Wanted released in March of 2024, Waldman has also written The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. It was named one of the year’s best books by the New Yorker, The Economist, NPR, Slate, Bookforum, and the Guardian. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, Slate and other publications.
Waldman lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter. You can read more about her by visiting https://adellewaldman.com.
Books will be on sale following the event for all three authors. This event is generously sponsored by the Kingston Public Library Foundation.
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].
Sen. Dylan Fernandes in support of Gov. Healey’s pause in planned facility closure
Senator Dylan Fernandes issued the following statement in response to Governor Healey’s announcement directing the pause of the planned closure of the Pocasset Mental Health Center.
“I am deeply grateful to Governor Healey for supporting mental health beds in our region and working to keep the Pocasset location open. We spoke out and rallied against the Department of Mental Health’s decision to close the in-patient center and we are incredibly fortunate to have a Governor who listens and deeply cares about the closure’s impact to our geographically isolated region and to people struggling with lack of access to care.
We are going to keep fighting for healthcare access on the Cape & South Shore and I want to thank everyone who stood alongside us – especially the Pocasset mental health workers and patients who understand what these beds mean to our district more than anyone.”
Kingston firefighter graduates
State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine and Massachusetts Firefighting Academy leadership has announced the graduation of 18 firefighters from the 50-day Career Recruit Firefighting Training Program.
“Massachusetts firefighters are on the frontlines protecting their communities every day, and today’s graduates are needed now more than ever,” said State Fire Marshal Davine. “The hundreds of hours of foundational training they’ve received will provide them with the physical, mental, and technical skills to perform their jobs effectively and safely.”
“Massachusetts Firefighting Academy instructors draw on decades of experience in the fire service to train new recruits,” said Massachusetts Firefighting Academy Deputy Director Dennis A. Ball. “Through consistent classroom instruction and practical exercises, today’s graduates have developed the tools they’ll need to work seamlessly with veteran firefighters in their home departments and in neighboring communities as mutual aid.”
The graduating firefighters of Class #BW33 represent the fire departments of Barnstable, Dennis, East Bridgewater, Hull, Kingston, Milton, New Bedford, Sandwich, West Bridgewater, Whitman, Wrentham, and Yarmouth.
The Richard N. Bangs Outstanding Student Award, which is presented to one recruit in each graduating career recruit training class, was presented to Firefighter Christopher Palin of the West Bridgewater Fire Department. The award is named for the longtime chair of the Massachusetts Fire Training Council and reflects the recruit’s academic and practical skills, testing, and evaluations over the course of the 10-week program.
Basic Firefighter Skills
Students receive classroom training in all basic firefighter skills. They practice first under non-fire conditions and then during controlled fire conditions. To graduate, students must demonstrate proficiency in life safety, search and rescue, ladder operations, water supply, pump operation, and fire attack. Fire attack operations range from mailbox fires to multiple-floor or multiple-room structural fires. Upon successful completion of the Career Recruit Program, all students have met the national standards of NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications, and are certified to the levels of Firefighter I/II and Hazardous Materials First Responder Operations by the Massachusetts Fire Training Council, which is accredited by the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications.
Today’s Firefighters Do Much More than Fight Fires
Modern firefighters train for and respond to all types of hazards and emergencies. They are the first ones called to respond to chemical and environmental emergencies, ranging from the suspected presence of carbon monoxide to gas leaks to industrial chemical spills. They may be called to rescue a child who has fallen through the ice, an office worker stuck in an elevator, or a motorist trapped in a crashed vehicle. They test and maintain their equipment, including self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), hydrants, hoses, power tools, and apparatus.
At the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, recruits learn all these skills and more, including the latest science of fire behavior and suppression tactics, from certified fire instructors. They also receive training in public fire education, hazardous material incident mitigation, flammable liquids, stress management, and self-rescue techniques. The intensive, 10-week program involves classroom instruction, physical fitness training, firefighter skills training, and live firefighting practice.
The MFA provides recruit and in-service training for career, call, and volunteer firefighters at every level of experience, from recruit to chief officer, at campuses in Stow, Springfield, and Bridgewater.
Halifax seniors enjoy Valentine’s Day luncheon
Valentine’s Day, Friday, Feb. 14, Halifax seniors were treated to a Valentine’s Luncheon in the Great Room of the Halifax Town Hall.
The Singing Seniors of Halifax, left, were the stars of the Halifax Council on Aging Valentine’s Day celebration.
Special guests included Plymouth County District Attorey Tim Cruz and his crew.
Guests enjoyed a lunch of pizza and salad after listening to a variety of songs with the theme of love, romance, and friendship.
Trivia and sweet treats rounded out the afternoon celebrating Valentine’s Day.
~ Photos and text by Linda Redding
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