Geoff Diehl for US Senate
Press Statement

In his hometown of Whitman, Representative Geoff Diehl (R-Whitman) officially announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

With his wife, KathyJo, and his two daughters, Kaylee and Emily, by his side, Diehl declared his candidacy in front of a large crowd at the Whitman VFW. Kaylee Diehl introduced her father to the large crowd.

“Tonight, I am making it official. I’m a candidate for the United States Senate.  Massachusetts is too great for a part-time Senator. We need a Senator who will focus on the citizens of the Commonwealth,” said Diehl. “From the time you wake up in the morning and until you go to bed in the evening you should be working to help the people of Massachusetts. I think people should come first ahead of oneself. Our Senator needs to do their job by putting you first!”

Diehl has a proven track record of putting people ahead of politics. Three years ago he led the successful ballot initiative to repeal automatic gas tax hikes –saving taxpayers $2 billion.

“When Beacon Hill tied the gas tax to inflation, I knew we had to stop taxation without representation. Despite the odds and being outspent 31 to 1, working with the people we were able to repeal this costly tax hike saving taxpayers billions. Already, we have avoided three gas tax increases,” said Diehl. “While other people have focused on putting money in their wallets, I have focused on putting money into your wallet.”

Diehl’s speech emphasized a positive vision of being a proactive Senator who will put Massachusetts first, work to secure our borders, lower the tax burden, and grow jobs.

“I will be a jobs Senator who focuses on doing my job and creating more jobs for Massachusetts,” said Diehl. “I will not ignore the needs of communities such as New Bedford. I will fight to keep fishing licenses in our state.”

Diehl also took the opportunity to outline the differences in this race. He has been disappointed with Senator Warren who is more focused on her national profile rather than working in the best interest of Massachusetts. One key example of this, Diehl pointed out was how she voted against the 21st Century Cures Act.

“If she cared about our state, she wouldn’t have voted against a bipartisan measure to promote medical innovation and the development of new treatments for cancer and other diseases. Massachusetts is a medical research leader and she still voted against the bill,” said Diehl.

The program included sports talk legend John Dennis as the master of ceremonies, Casey Scholl of Pembroke singing the national anthem, and former State Commander Brian Martin leading the crowd in the pledge of allegiance. Officials attending included: Representatives Shaunna O’Connell, Jim Lyons, Peter Durant, and David DeCoste, and former New England Patriot Fred Smerlas to name a few.

Halifax residents and business owners will save nearly $80,000 annually thanks to the newly created Halifax Community Choice Power Supply program.

The Town of Halifax and Colonial Power Group, Inc. are pleased to announce they have entered into a three-year agreement to bring energy cost-savings to the town’s residents and small businesses through this initiative.

The Town and representatives of Colonial Power Group will hold an informational session on Monday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall on the 2nd floor of Town Hall to discuss the Halifax Community Choice Power Supply program.

The new program will help residents and business owners achieve stability and substantial savings on electricity costs. Participating residents and businesses in Halifax will see an annual savings of close to 3 percent in their monthly energy bills and the program will provide a combined savings of approximately $6,530 per month for the town’s homes and businesses.

“The Halifax Community Choice program provides price stability, local control, and competition while also lowering the burden of energy costs for Halifax’s residents and business community,” said Mark Cappadona, President of Colonial Power Group, Inc. “We commend Halifax’s Board of Selectmen and Town Administrator Seelig for their forward-thinking approach to energy purchasing. By taking this action, they are helping to save residents and business owners money on their electricity costs.”

Under the Halifax Community Choice Power Supply program, residents will not notice any change in their electricity service. The only discernable difference will be that NextEra Energy Services of Houston, Texas, the selected electricity supplier for the Community Choice program, will be printed under the “Supplier Services” of monthly bills. Residents and small business owners will continue to receive one bill from National Grid and to send payments to National Grid for processing. There will be no interruption in billing, power, or customer service.

Colonial Power Group is the leading aggregation consulting firm in Massachusetts. Municipal electricity aggregation allows cities and towns to pool the electrical consumption of all ratepayers in their jurisdictions and competitively procure lower cost electricity supply on behalf of the participants. The aggregation allows the municipality to obtain better pricing than individual residents and business owners could due to economies of scale. Colonial Power works with state officials, utility executives, and energy industry leaders to facilitate the purchase of electricity at a rate lower than basic service rates. Since July 2013, Colonial Power has saved households and businesses across New England a total of nearly $11 million on their electric bills.

Colonial Power Group, which serves more than 60 municipalities in Massachusetts, was chosen to design, implement, and administer the program on behalf of Halifax. NextEra Energy Services was selected through a competitive process. The cost savings for Halifax residents and businesses will begin with the September 2017 meter reads (October 2017 billings).

No action is required by ratepayers to participate in this cost-saving program. The program will be operated on an opt-out basis, meaning that all Halifax residential and business customers currently on National Grid’s basic service will be automatically enrolled into the program unless they choose to opt out.

Susan Basile,

Halifax Historian

On July 15, 1984 the residents of Halifax buried a time capsule. It’s been said the site would be recorded in Plymouth and mentioned in the next year’s Town Report as well as in the Town Clerk’s Records of 1984. (No one remembers where the last time capsule, buried on July 5, 1934, was buried. Everyone had learned a lesson from that.)

The big question back then, as it is today is, “What happened to the 1934 records?” Some say they were buried in the front of the Town Hall. Some say they were buried at the base of the chimney at the United Church of Christ/Congregational Church. There are those that said they were never buried. Much search with Geiger counters and divinity rods was undertaken to no avail.

The Highway Surveyor at the time was Ralph Hayward and he was to see that the capsule’s cap was cemented in place. What everyone thought would take but a few minutes took an hour. The bottom of the cement case had water in it. The Fire Department came equipped with a generator and a pump, but it was not long enough so the next step the Fire Department took was to use a mop – it worked! The water was removed and finally the patient, hot and thirsty groups were rewarded with the capsule being lowered but up it came again – a rope was needed to lower it with ease. A bag of various items was also put in on top of the capsule which had such items as: Town Report; a letter from the White House; Telegram from Halifax, Nova Scotia; a program for the week’s activities; 1984 calendar; a tax bill; letter to citizens of 2034 to name a few. The cover was sealed with cement and now we wait until July 2034 when the town will celebrate it’s 300th Anniversary.

The town of Halifax will kick off the 4th of July extended weekend with a family fun day, Saturday, July 1, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Town Hall Green, Rte. 106, at the Town Hall. 

There will be bike decorating contests, games, music, baby contests, make your own tie dye shirts, food, and much, much more. 

There are still opportunities to volunteer; email Theresa Levenson: Theresa.Levenson@HalifaxFireworks.org.

Mac & Cheese with a Twist

The Halifax Congregational Church will host a Mac & Cheese Supper from 5 to 6 p.m at the church, next to the Town Hall.  They will serve mac & cheese with a twist – a variety of add-ins so diners can customize mac & cheese to their liking, choosing from bacon, sausage, hot dogs, various vegetables, chives, olives, onion rings, and such.  Or just enjoy it as it is. 

Supper begins at 5 p.m. and will be served right up to 6 p.m. Tickets are only $5.  To reserve a ticket in advance, call Susan Mahan at 781-293-0422.  Tickets are also available at the door. 

Enjoy a fun supper out, before you watch the famous Halifax fireworks display.

Fireworks

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros reminds everyone to leave the fireworks to the professionals!

The Halifax Fireworks Committee will hold evening events including the annual fireworks display from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 1 at the Halifax Elementary School, across from the Halifax Town Hall.

Fireworks will light up the sky beginning at 9 p.m.

Bring your lawn chair, blanket, bug spray, sit back, and enjoy!

For all you fireworks aficionados, continue the experience on Sunday, July 2, at 10 p.m. in Middleboro at Battis Field/Pierce Playground on Jackson Street; in Freetown, Monday, July 3, at 8 p.m. in Hathaway Park, Carleys Way; or in Sandwich at 9 p.m. at the Ridge Country Club, 70 Country Club Road.

And on the day itself, Tuesday, July 4, go to Bridgewater at 9:30 p.m.  at Legion Field, 200 South St. to see their fireworks extravaganza; or of course to Plymouth, at 9:30 p.m. on the Town Wharf, Plymouth Harbor, rain date July 5.

Happy 4th of July to everyone!  Warm up the grille, toast those rolls, beef up the burgers and smile!

Maybe it was not what the Silver Lake High softball team had in mind, but it still goes down as a successful year.

The Lakers won their first 25 straight games which made them a favorite to win the state title. Their success led them to the Division 1 South final but ultimately, that would be as far as they would make it. On Saturday, June 10, their year came to a close as they took a 4-0 loss to Milford at Taunton High School.

At the plate, the Lakers were able to make contact–and lots of it. They did not strike out once, but Milford had a quality pitcher on the mound, who was able to prevent hard contact. The Lakers were limited to one hit in the contest; it was an infield single from Anna Battista in the bottom of the fifth inning.

While the Lakers were able to make a lot of contact in the contest, they simply just had some bad luck with it. Most of the balls they hit were taken care of by Milford’s clean infield defense. As a result, they only got a runner in scoring position on one occasion. On the mound, Jill Richards took the loss. But she managed to strike out six batters and only allowed one extra-base hit.

Milford had the bulk of their success offensively in the third inning of the contest. They put up three runs on five hits, which put them ahead up 3-0. In the top of the sixth, they added another run on a bases-loaded single.

The win improved Milford to 23-1.

In the Lakers previous three games before playing Milford, they put up 26 runs.

Last year, the Lakers had a similar year; they fell, 5-2, in the Div. 1 South final against Bishop Feehan.

A .500 record of nine wins and nine losses was enough to lead the Silver Lake boys’ lacrosse team to the playoffs. And despite being a No. 17 seed, they played a competitive game against a tough program in the preliminary round of the MIAA Division 1 South playoff bracket.

On Wednesday, May 31, the Lakers made the trip north to Newton South High School to take on Newton South. Despite the Lakers’ surge at the end of the regular season, winning seven of their last ten, they came up just short in their playoff game, taking an 11-10 loss, which ended their season.

The Lakers entered the fourth quarter trailing by two goals and while they actually managed to outscore their foe in the final 12 minutes of the contest. Their tight defense held Newton South to just one goal in the fourth quarter, but even that strong defense could not supplement for the strong play in net from their opponent’s tough goalkeeper, who protected a one-goal lead late in the contest.

In the early going, the Lakers game plan on the attack went particularly well. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to strong execution and by the end of the first quarter, they owned a 4-1 lead. Freshman attacker Gregory Wolff put up a pair of goals in the quarter; senior midfielder Drew Neal and sophomore attacker Brendan Dean put up the other two. 

Making it to the playoffs in itself was a major accomplishment for the program, a team who won just one game the year prior–against a Milton High team that went defeated–0-18–on the year.

Now, the Lakers will graduate 10 seniors: midfielder Myles Toole, midfielder Nolan McDonald, midfielder Jared Silveira, defender Jack Walsh, defender Jonathan Lawless, midfielder Cameron Lambert, defender Thomas Bruce, attacker Tyler Heath, midfielder Timothy Feight and midfielder Drew Neal.

The Silver Lake girls lacrosse team made history this season.

For the first time, they found themselves in the playoffs after a 14-6 regular season and earned themselves the No. 11 seed in the MIAA Division 1 South playoffs. On Tuesday, May 30, they faced the No. 6 Hingham Harborwomen on the road and took a 16-7 loss, which ends their season.

In the early going, the Harborwomen controlled play, going on a 6-0 run before junior midfielder Cam Daly put up back-to-back goals in the second quarter, making it a 7-3 game. But the Harborwomen scored four of the next five goals, spanning into the first few minutes of the second half.

Daly had a very strong performance on the attack for the Lakers. She put up a team-best five goals in the playoff loss to Hingham. Junior attacker Sarah Brockway and senior defender Danielle Levin put up the other two goals for the Lakers.

Although the Lakers were not able to come out on top, making it as far as they did was an accomplishment in itself.

“They just kept having a goal of, let’s get to tournament, let’s get to tournament,’” Lakers head coach Taylor Wiedemann said. “Now we’ve got there so it’s let’s get better, let’s get as far as we can.”

The Lakers will graduate a strong senior class of eight. Their captains were midfielder Lea Mason and defenders Jessica Huard and Nina Whidden. The Lakers will also graduate fellow defenders Tess Griever, Mikaela Wilson, Danielle Levin, Taylor Barnett and attacker Lyndsay Kramer.

Junior goalkeeper Devin Zambruno had a strong season in net and sophomore attackers Ann Chapman and Claudia Scigliano helped lead the team’s scoring effort throughout the year.

In the regular season, the Lakers also fell to Hingham, 17-4, on Thursday, May 18 at home.

One run is all that separated the playoff-bound Silver Lake baseball team from a Patriot League title.

Ultimately, they did not get the win in what turned out to be the league championship game, but the Lakers made a strong effort and put together a convincing comeback effort in their 6-5 road loss to the Whitman-Hanson Panthers on Saturday afternoon.

A five-run fourth inning made the difference in the contest. Heading into the inning, the game was tied at one apiece but by end of it, Whitman-Hanson led, 6-1.

The Lakers first score of the game came in the top half of the first inning. With one out, Dan Collins knocked in an RBI single, giving his team a 1-0 lead. Josh Harvey, who led off the game with a single, scored the run.

Although they trailed heading into the sixth inning, the Lakers did not give up. In all, they tacked on three runs, making it a 6-4 game. The Lakers got two of their runs on a single from Connor Molloy. Harvey drove in the other run, also with a single.

In the top of the seventh, the Lakers comeback effort got shut down. Before they were done though, Matt Bettle hit a sacrifice fly — which scored Collins — to make it a 1-run game. The sac fly, however, came when there was already an out in the inning, so the next out ended the ballgame.

The Lakers reached base in every single inning of the game.

Albeit they did not get the league title, the Lakers are still having a strong year and are in position for a potentially deep playoff run. After all, they were 12-6 on the year.

The Lakers wrap up their regular season at home on Friday, May 26 against St. John Paul II, a private school in Hyannis (Barnstable, Mass.). First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. in that one.