Since Election Day is coinciding with a global pandemic this year, Massachusetts has provided voters with a number of alternatives to voting in person on Tuesday, Nov. 3. If you are a registered voter in Massachusetts, you should have received a vote by mail application. Mail-in ballots may either be mailed back or placed in ballot drop boxes that are located within individual municipalities. Halifax voters can find a ballot box bolted to the front porch of the Town Hall.  Plympton voters have a ballot box in the entrance of the Town House.  Kingston ballots can be dropped off at the Kingston Town Hall, 26 Evergreen St., in the locked “Ballot” box or delivered to the Town Clerk.

It should be noted that ballot boxes will be closed on Oct. 31 from 5 p.m. Halloween night until 7 a.m. the following day as ordered by the Secretary of State.

Early voting is an alternative to mail-in ballots that will allow voters to circumvent crowds and lines. Early voting runs through today, Friday, Oct. 30. Both early voting and Election Day voting will be held at the Plympton Townhouse located on 5 Palmer Rd. for Plympton residents. The Plympton Townhouse will be closed for regular business on Election Day for voting and the day after for deep cleaning.

Halifax residents can cast their votes early at Town Hall while Election Day voting will take place in the gym of Halifax Elementary School.

Kingston voters can cast their votes early today, Oct. 30, from 8 a.m. until noon, the last day for early voting.

Plympton town clerk Patricia Detterman said that as of Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 27, 394 voters had elected to vote early in-person while 497 voters had submitted their ballots by mail.

Halifax town clerk Barbara Gaynor told The Express that she mailed out an excess of 1600 ballots to voters who requested them. She noted that some of those who received their ballots by mail elected, instead, to come to the Town Hall for early voting. Gaynor also said that while early, in-person voting has been somewhat steady, there have never been any lines. She estimated that on the busiest day of early voting thus far in Halifax saw about 100 voters cast their ballots.

Both Gaynor and Detterman confirmed that in Massachusetts ballots postmarked on or before November 3 will be counted as long as they are received by 5 p.m. on November 6.

Both Plympton and Halifax will have special accommodations in place to ensure a safe voting experience on Election Day. Detterman said that an EMT or Paramedic from the Plympton Fire Department will be at the door of the Town House to direct voters and check their temperatures with a forehead thermal scan.   All precautions from the May local election and the September primary will also be in place. Detterman said that voters will be encouraged to bring their own pen and that the pens at the town house will be single use. Masks will be mandated as will social distancing. Voting booths and other high traffic areas will be sanitized throughout the day.

Gaynor listed similar precautions for Halifax noting that pens will not be single use but will be sanitized between voters. Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the voting area and plexiglass shields will separate poll workers from voters as they check in and out.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met on the evening of Monday, Oct. 19. Chair of the Finance Committee Nathaniel Sides made a brief visit. Sides told the selectmen that he was looking for their support in getting better budget monitoring and reporting from the various departments in town as they prepare for the next fiscal year. Sides said that there was in influx of last-minute requests to the Finance Committee this year.

“I think that a formal letter would be helpful,” Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy said. Dennehy agreed to draft a letter to the departments to be signed by herself, Sides, and Selectmen Chair Mark Russo. Sides said he would also like to see regular updates coming from the revenue side as well. “We surely hear you. Some of this is structural and systemic and may take a while but moving in that direction surely makes sense,” Russo told Sides.

Continuing with the new tradition of meeting with a different department head at their meetings, Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte attended Monday’s meeting. The topics of discussion included the two safety zones which would reduce the speed limit to 20 mph, initial research on restricting heavy truck traffic, and a redesign of the intersection at Main St. and Ring Rd.

Firlotte said he had received an estimate that day from an engineering firm for much of the work. Russo said that he didn’t believe that all of the services listed in the estimate were necessary and proposed saving money by asking for a lesser scope particularly for the safety zones. Russo said he was, “just wondering if we have to spend that much, at least initially.” He proposed signage and painting of the road as an inexpensive first step. Firlotte said he would reach out to the engineer again and ask for the quote to be amended. Russo said that should they decide to move forward with a redesign of any of the intersections, he would hope that there would be a funding source available. Before Firlotte left the meeting, Russo said of him, “Rob’s been doing an amazing job.”

Chair of the Plympton School Committee Jon Wilhelmsen was also in attendance and told the selectmen that himself, Mike Antoine, and Jason Fraser had interviewed two candidates for an open spot on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee to be filled with a Plympton resident. Wilhelmsen sang the praises of both candidates saying, “I wish we had two spots because both were excellent candidates.” In the end they chose Lukasz Kowalksi to come before the Plympton selectmen.

Kowalksi told the Board that he is originally from Poland but has spent the last twelve years in the United States. Kowalski, who doesn’t have any children but said he is a former teacher, said, “I love this place so far and I would like to do something for the school.” In closing, Kowalksi said, “I’m a tough guy. I’m a fighter and I will fight for kids and especially for Plympton kids.”

Kowalski was appointed to a 1-year term with the position to appear on the ballot in May for a 2-year term. Since it is an elected position, it can only be filled until the next election.

While there were no specific issues at the Dennett, Wilhelmsen said that since Kingston has been in the red zone for COVID infections for the last two weeks, the data that comes out this week will be significant. Back in September Governor Baker urged communities to use three weeks’ worth of data to make decisions regarding changes in school models. Should the trend continue in Kingston, the affected school committees will have to at least consider moving to a fully remote model.

Wilhelmsen also told the selectmen that they are continuing to struggle with securing substitutes at Dennett Elementary. He said there are more staff absences than normal as staff is being encouraged not to come to work if they are feeling unwell in any way. Wilhelmsen said they have been encouraging members of the community to step up and offer to substitute. The Dennett may need to hire a full-time building-based substitute as was done at both Halifax Elementary and Silver Lake Regional. CARES Act funds were used to order laptops for teachers at the Dennett as the chromebooks were proving inadequate for their needs.

Selectman John Traynor, who is acting as the interim director of the Council on Aging (COA) provided an update on the COA to his fellow selectmen. Traynor said he plans to get a newsletter out to older residents to alert them of what services are available to them such as plowing and handyman services.

Traynor said he is putting in 25 hours per week into the job currently and stated that once the position is filled, it should be recognized that it requires more than 10 hours per week despite that being all that can be paid out. “Thank you so much for jumping into the breach,” Russo said to Traynor.

There was a request for use of town owned property for Sunday, Oct. 25 from 2-4 p.m. for a Track or Treat program put on by Plympton Athletic Youth Sports (PAYS). Initially the Board of Health rejected the idea but PAYS has since put extensive efforts into making sure it would be both fun and safe. The Board of Health has since signed off on the event. “I know a considerable amount of thought went into this,” Dennehy explained. The selectmen agreed to the event pending a sign off from both the Police and Fire departments.

Dennehy said that in conjunction with the emergency management team and the Board of Health, it was decided that the townhouse would be closed to regular business both on election day and the following Wednesday. The intention would be to minimize the number of people in the building on election day and then have it professionally disinfected the day after. Dennehy also said that a ballot box has been bolted to the ground outside of the townhouse and that residents can drop their ballots off at any hour of the day. Dennehy’s final update was that the Fire Chief had submitted $173,000 in CARES ACT expenditures to be submitted for reimbursement.

The selectmen ended their meeting with their raves of the past week. Christine Joy said her rave was for PAYS for coming up with a safe alternative to Halloween. Russo said his rave was for the Bylaw Review Committee for how willing and eager they are to volunteer for things. “It’s so refreshing,” Russo said, adding, “It’s quite beautiful.” Russo’s second rave was for the Walt Whitman poem, Election Day, November, 1884. Traynor said his rave was for the volunteers of the town referring to them as Plympton’s “backbone.”

Dennehy also had a rave that she wanted to share. Fire Chief Stephen Silva, his wife Deb Silva, Captain Cheryl Davis and Amira Kim, also of the Plympton Fire Department spent their Saturday evening rearranging and organizing the COA pantry at the townhouse. Council on Aging Administrative Assistant Jean Pacheco said she was nearly brought to tears by how good the pantry looked.

Want to attend a high school sporting event at Silver Lake High this fall?

That might be tough, depending on the circumstances. The school recently released its guidelines for spectators at high school sporting events — and it depends on the sport and one’s association with the team.

As far as indoor events at the school go, due to the pandemic no fans will be allowed to attend games, according to the guidelines put out by the Lakers athletic department. In this case, that means varsity, junior varsity, and freshman volleyball.

Only athletes and game management will be allowed in the gym while those games are going on, but the games will be livestreamed by Silver Lake online.

Outdoor sports are different. this fall, that means soccer, field hockey, and cross country.

At home, it works like this: every athlete on those teams gets two badges on a lanyard, and they pick who they give those to.

Then, the people who have those badges/lanyards may attend the game. There is an exception to the rule: if a younger relative cannot stay home alone, they can come with a family member.

In other words, students aren’t really allowed to attend games. Everyone in attendance at these events is expected to not only social distance, they are required to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of the virus.

Silver Lake honors lanyards from other Patriot League schools, and some other schools in the league are confirmed as doing the same: Duxbury, Whitman-Hanson, Hingham, Marshfield and Plymouth North.

At the conclusion of games, fans are expected to leave the premises and asked to not congregate.

It is possible that the Lakers end up revising these guidelines at some point before the end of the season; the guidelines do say they are hopeful that some students will be able to attend games by the end of the season.

The Silver Lake Regional School Committee met virtually on Thursday, Oct. 1. The committee was told that there were two positive cases of COVID-19 in the district, one in the middle school and another at the high school. Building principals had already sent out notifications as of last Thursday’s meeting. Principals worked with the school nurses and Boards of Health regarding the notification of close contacts. Superintendent Jill Proulx said that she also sent out a notification on October 1 that included reminders about effective practices for reducing the spread of the virus. Chair of the school committee Paula Hatch said, “I hope they have a speedy recovery and we wish them well.”

Much of the relatively short meeting was spent discussing what share of the three towns’ CARES Act funding has been used for school related purposes. Committee member Laura Tilton said she would like to see a running list of what had been purchased with CARES Act funding for the towns of Kingston, Plympton, and Halifax as well as what had been purchased for the region.  “I think that would be helpful just to sort of make us feel good that there are things that the money has been spent on,” Tilton explained. While one was not readily available, it was said that they would try to compile the list.

Director of Business Services Christine Healy said, “All of the three towns have been very willing to work with the elementary communities… there’s just a little disconnect between the region and the towns.” Healy did note that Kingston was looking to pay some invoices for school related expenses, which she said she had sent that that day. Committee member Eric Crone said he had spoken with the town of Kingston and noted that the schools account for fifty percent of the town’s budget and should receive a proportionate amount of the CARES Act funds designated for Kingston.

Proulx noted that there have been several COVID-related expenses for the schools that have been sent in for reimbursement. “I don’t want that to get lost in the shuffle that we are making purchases,” Proulx explained. Chromebooks, additional staff including maintenance personnel, and cleaning supplies were amongst those listed by Proulx. Halifax selectmen previously voted to use a portion of their town’s CARES Act funds to pay for the additional maintenance workers at Halifax Elementary School, Silver Lake Regional Middle School, and Silver Lake Regional High School per the request of Director of Facilities Matthew Durkee.

Crone said he wanted to take a moment to recognize the efforts of Durkee saying, “He’s really stepped up and really done quite a bit to get our schools ready and continues to be responsive… I just really think he deserves a pat on the back.” School committee member as well as Halifax selectman Gordon Andrews made a point to second what Crone was saying of Durkee.

At last month’s school committee meeting, the region voted to send letters to the Boards of Selectmen as well as the Finance Committees of the three towns asking them to allocate the proportionate amount of CARES Act funds received for use by the region to reimburse Covid-19 expenses. Since those letters went unrecognized, the committee decided that a better approach might be to plan a small group meeting with the town administrators, Healy, and possibly some members of the regional school committee. Hatch said the intention would be to get a proportional commitment discussed and agreed to by the towns. Hatch did note that the letter to Halifax included an acknowledgment and “thank you” for their funding of two long term substitute positions, one for each school.

The refunding of the school’s debt was also discussed at Thursday’s meeting. Healy and Lisa Lombard led the discussion. Back in 2015, some bonds from 2009 were refunded and with rates low, it is now a good time to refund more bonds from 2010. Doing so required a vote of the committee to approve reward of the bonds to JP Morgan Chase. The vote was unanimously in favor.

Finally, the committee voted to approve the donation of surplus culinary equipment. While cleaning out their stockpile the CT department found equipment that was no longer needed by the schools. The hope is to make it available to the three towns’ senior centers.

For all schools in Silver Lake School District for 10/5-10/9

Silver Lake In-School Lunch Menus

Monday/Thursday: Grilled  cheese sandwich, crispy crunchy chickpeas, steamed broccoli, fresh orange, low-fat milk.

Tuesday/Friday:  Cheesy Max stuffed crust pizza, fresh baby carrots and cucumber circles with light ranch dressing, strawberry cup, cookie, low-fat milk.

Grab and Go bags

Monday: Ham & cheese wedge, celery sticks & cucumber circles, raisins, low-fat milk, cereal, apple juice, assorted fresh or canned fruit.

Tuesday: Ham & cheese wedge, mango wango juice, sweet potato crinkle fries, applesauce cup, low-fat milk, cereal, apple juice, assorted fresh or canned fruit.

Wednesday: Caesar Salad with Chicken, Goldfish crackers, light mozzarella string cheese, peaches, Low-fat milk, Cereal, apple juice, assorted fresh or canned fruit.

Thursday: Chicken salad sandwich, sweet potato crinkle fries, mango wango juice, fresh apple, low-fat milk, French toast sticks, apple juice, assorted fresh or canned fruit.

Friday: Hamburger and bun, French fries, mixed veggies, fresh apple, low-fat milk, cinnamon roll, apple juice, assorted fresh or canned fruit.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Monday, September 14 for one of their bonus meetings they’ve been holding throughout most of the pandemic.

Selectman Gordon Andrews recused himself from the Board of Selectmen in order to put on his School Committee hat. Andrews said that on September 9 Precision Air did an evaluation of the air flow at Halifax Elementary School. He explained, “They came back with a number of issues with basically the summary being that there are twenty classrooms that don’t meet the recommended level of having the air exchanged six times per hour in the classrooms.” Vice Chair of the School Committee Alex Meade, who works in the HVAC industry, told Andrews that ideally the filters would have been changed prior to running the test. Andrews said that time constraints prevented that from happening. The school plans to make improvements beginning with the classrooms that were flagged as having airflow issues. The test will be run again once that is complete.

As of the meeting on September 14, the test on the quality of air (versus the airflow test mentioned above) in the classrooms had not been done as that test would best be completed once the classrooms were populated with students and teachers. Andrews as well as Board of Health agent Bob Valery noted that something as small as mold on someone’s backpack or the tennis balls used on the bottom of chairs could affect the outcome of a test.

Andrews told the Board that Head Custodian Matt Durkee was requesting one additional maintenance facility personnel at the Halifax Elementary School through the CARES Act reimbursement deadline of December 31. The cost would be $19 per hour for 40 hours per week. The Board unanimously agreed to use some of the town’s CARES Act money to fund the position.

Andrews also requested that the selectmen approve the town using CARES Act funds to cover similar positions at both the middle and high schools. The positions being requested by Durkee would also be for $19 an hour and would be 40 hours per week over roughly 13 weeks. Each position is anticipated to cost $9,988. Andrews’ proposal to the other selectmen was that Halifax use their town’s CARES Act money to fully fund these maintenance positions with the assumption that Kingston and Plympton would be footing the bill for other COVID-related expenses that the schools will incur. Andrews said that as it was explained to him, whatever CARES Act funds that Kingston has left to be spent, will be put towards the schools as they had previously received none of the money.

Selectman Chair Tom Millias expressed concern over Halifax potentially expending a greater share of CARES Act money on the schools than the other two towns. Seelig said, “We’re putting money in early and the other two communities will be putting money in late; any future requests should reflect that.” The Board of Selectmen agreed to approve the requests for the two additional maintenance personnel with the understanding that other future requests from the middle and high schools will be considered based on the amounts already expended by the town.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said that the outdoor licenses granted to restaurants in town could be extended by the Board of Selectmen for two months from November 1. Seelig acknowledged the obvious in that restaurants would have to utilize heaters, etc. in order to serve people outside in the coming months.

Last Monday’s meeting also included the annual classification hearing prior to establishing the tax rate and issuing the tax bills. Before turning things over to Principal Assessor/Appraiser Holly Merry, Millias recused himself from the Board of Selectmen as he also serves on the Board of Assessors.

Merry said that they were proposing that residential, industrial, and commercial all be taxed at the same rate. The town of Halifax has less than ten percent of their properties that fall into either the industrial or commercial zone so therefore the Board of Assessors were not recommending a tax rate split. They also recommended against adopting the open space discount, the residential exemption, and the small commercial exemption. Merry asked the Board of Selectmen to vote on the proposals. They did so unanimously.

The Plympton School Committee met on Tuesday evening, Sept. 8 to provide an update on school reopening plans.

Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto said, “Our back to school plan shifted slightly in that the school committee initially voted for us to start full remote but as I suspected, once we had staff members in the building and we got down to the planning… my teachers want students in front of them and we feel that we can do it safely.” The first day for most students will be Wednesday, Sept. 16 and it will be a full remote day. Cohorts B and D will report to school in-person on Thursday, Sept. 17 and Friday, Sept. 18. Kindergarten screenings will take place on that Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The first day of school for kindergarten will be Monday, Sept. 21. That Monday will also be the first day of in person learning for Cohorts A and D.

Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen said, “The reason we voted for a phased-in hybrid approach was to provide Peter and the teaching staff with the opportunity to consider all the options which they did and this appeared to be the best option for facilitating getting folks back to school.”

Veneto said the administration took into account the information from parents when creating cohorts. “We did have to do a little bit of tap dancing… basically A-K would be in Cohort A and the rest of the alphabet Cohort B. That became a challenge because we were trying to honor families’ wishes about keeping their children within the same cohort so inevitably, when you have a district our size, there were some errors along the way,” Veneto explained.

Committee member Jason Fraser asked if there was room built into the cohorts for students that wish to opt back into some in-person learning midway through the year. Veneto acknowledged that the cohorts are very tight as-is. “Much like our master schedules, with these cohorts, it is a very, very delicate balance,” Veneto said. He continued, “If there was to be a lot of shifting, we would have to get even more creative.” Fraser also asked Veneto what he referred to as a “dad to dad question” saying, “You would feel comfortable with your own children in your school come September 17?” Without missing a beat, Veneto responded, “absolutely, no question.”

Veneto also provided the committee with an update on changes to staff. Two staff members retired while several more decided not to return to work due to concerns around COVID. “I completely respect the opinion and the judgment of the people that decided they were uncomfortable coming back,” Veneto said. There will be a new librarian, music teacher, and kindergarten teacher. As of Tuesday’s meeting, Veneto said he still needed to hire a new art teacher as well as a part time kindergarten aide. He said he felt confident that the positions will be filled prior to the start of school.

A Health and Safety Advisory Committee has been established to deal with issues related to the pandemic. The ad-hoc committee is made up of Wilhelmsen, Fraser, Veneto, several teachers, the school nurse, and a parent with expertise in the area. The formation of the committee will ensure a two-way communication that includes those with their boots on the ground in the day to day implementation of new safety procedures and policies.

According to Fraser, one of the committee’s concerns was with the state’s ability to provide data on COVID infections in the area in an accurate and timely way. Fraser said that himself, Wilhelmsen, and Veneto had previously met with the Emergency Management Team, including the Board of Health, where he says they were told, “contact tracing isn’t necessarily the 21st century science that we would all hope it would be… we’re all going to have to be advocates at the local level.” Fraser stressed the importance of parents notifying the school nurse regarding any COVID cases within their family. Due to Plympton’s small population, it would only take 8 cases to move Plympton into the “red” risk level which could necessitate a school closure. Fraser said that since 8 cases could be two households with no connection to the school, the committee will be exploring an alternate means of interpreting the data regarding school closure.

Students and staff will be required to complete an attestation each day that verifies that they are in compliance with the CDC checklist of COVID risks. If not completed on time, parents will be sent a reminder within 15 minutes.  “We realize, and its almost purposeful, that this is inconvenient. It’s supposed to make you stop – knock you out of your routine a little bit and really consciously think about your own health or your child’s health before you send them to school each and every day,” Fraser explained. He also pointed out that for most families it will only be twice a week and that doing so helps to ensure the health of the community.

Superintendent Jill Proulx read through a list of revised policies. She said the policy regarding visitors to school will remain the same except she will have the ability to amend the policy should the need arise. Proulx also spoke on the policy regarding communicable diseases saying that while it will be similar to the current policy, it will allow the superintendent to “establish protocols for tracking student’s contacts as a means of locating others from whom the student may contract or expose other persons to COVID 19.” Proulx noted that the policy will be in line with privacy laws. Proulx also noted changes such as the stance on attendance. She said that while in the past, perfect attendance would be celebrated, it won’t any longer as individuals are encouraged to stay home whenever symptoms of illness are present.

The policy on masks in school was also discussed. The school is asking that all students be put on buses with masks on regardless of their age. Bus drivers in Plympton will be supplied with spare masks. Some masks will also be deemed inappropriate for school. These include either homemade or store-bought single ply masks, masks with valves, and gaiters. If a mask is deemed unacceptable, it will be replaced with a school-supplied disposable one and the caregivers will be contacted. If after multiple attempts to facilitate proper mask wearing fails, the school will reserve the right to ask that a student be moved to remote only.

“As we continue to move forward in opening the building, we’re going to be keeping our eye on the data but we’re aware that that data is actual people and individuals with family and people who care about them. I never want it to get lost that each number that you see on the TV every night when the state does its reporting is a person that has a family,” Fraser told those present at Tuesday’s meeting.

The Plympton School Committee meets again on September 21.

According to Tricia Detterman, Plympton Town Clerk,  there were nearly triple the number of votes cast in Tuesday’s primary – 779 votes in all – or 34% of voters.

Barbara Gaynor, Halifax Town Clerk, saw a similar increase in ballots cast with 32.4% of registered voters in Halifax casting 1,934 ballots, either through early voting at the Clerk’s office in the Halifax Town Hall, mail-in ballots, or voting on election day.  “We processed well over 1,000 mail-ins… it was definitely a busy day,” Gaynor said.

The most hotly contested race was that for Senator in Congress, with longtime incumbent Edward J. Markey challenged by Joseph P. Kennedy, III.

While Markey won the election statewide, both Plympton and Halifax ticked the Kennedy box for their choice, with 285 for Kennedy in Plympton and 253 for Markey.  Halifax voters chose Kennedy 724 to Markey’s 583.

Republican candidates for Senator in Congress saw Kevin O’Connor victorious over Shiva Ayyadurai, with 373 to her 223 in Halifax, and 135 votes to 95 votes in Plympton.

State senator Michael D. Brady (D-Brockton) handily won his race for re-election, beating his challenger, former Brockton Mayor Moises M. Rodrigues 323 to 181 in Plympton, and in Halifax, 783 to 436.

The Democratic race for County Commissioner saw five candidates vying for two seats.  Greg Hanley won with 651 votes, and second was John Patrick Riordan with 497 votes in Halifax.  Plympton also gave Hanly and Riordan the nod with 257 and 207 votes respectively.

Republican Jared Valanzola ran unopposed for the County Commissioner taking 501 votes in Halifax and 182 votes in Plympton.

Halifax hometown favorite Summer Schmaling ran unopposed on the Republican ticket for Representative in General Court.   She took 542 votes in Halifax and 209 in Plympton.

Democrat Kathleen LaNatra, incumbent for Representative in General Court, took 1,099 votes in Halifax and 463 in Plympton.

Democrat Bill Keating of Bourne, incumbent, took 467 votes in Plympton and 1,118 in Halifax.  On the Republican side, Helen Brady took 498 votes in Halifax and 188 votes in Plympton.

Matthew J. McDonough, Democrat for Register of Probate, took 448 votes in Plympton and 1053 in Halifax.   There was no Republican candidate on the ballot.

Plymouth County Treasurer Thomas J. O’Brien took 1083 votes in Halifax and 448 votes in Plympton running unopposed on the Democratic ballot.  Republican Carina Leeza Mompelas won 454 votes. in Halifax and 180 votes in Plympton.

The Councillor race saw 1077 votes for Democrat Christopher Ianella, Jr.  There were no Republicans on the ballot for that position.

The presidential election, a mere 60 days away, will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3.  Plympton Town Clerk Tricia Detterman has already put out the word that she will be looking to augment her crew of election workers for the Nov. 3 election, expecting a heavy turnout.

A Halifax resident in his 90s was the second Plymouth County resident to contract the rare and often deadly Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus last week.  His family has told  The Express that he is recovering.

Additional positive EEE mosquito samples have been identified in Middleborough..

Middleborough and Carver are already designated as critical risk for EEE.

The Massachusetts Department. of Public Health has raised the EEE risk level in Halifax to “Critical” (a map showing risk levels is available at https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-arbovirus-update). Therefore, the Halifax Board of Health advises that there be no activities from dusk (approximately 20 minutes after sunset) to dawn (approximately 20 minutes before sunrise) at the following locations:

• Vaughn Field (540 Plymouth Street) • HOPS Playground (480 Plymouth Street • Playing Fields behind the Elementary School (464 Plymouth Street) • Holmes Street Playground (129 Holmes Street) • Holmes Street Beach and Boat Ramp (40 Holmes Street) • Summit Street Soccer Fields (75 Summit Street) • Lingan Street Beach at 5^th Avenue

The BOH further advises all residents and visitors to refrain from other outside activities from dusk to dawn. Every resident should continue to take precautions from being bitten and check their properties to ensure that equipment, supplies, etc. do not have stagnant water, perfect for mosquito breeding grounds.

For more information, please contact the Halifax Board of Health at 781-293-6768

PLYMOUTH, MA (August 11, 2020)—Sixty-seven students received their diplomas on Saturday, August 8th from Rising Tide Charter Public School (Rising Tide) during a commencement ceremony held on the school’s campus. Students and their families from thirteen different South Shore towns gathered to celebrate the students’ accomplishments.

Graduating senior, Julianne Parma, opened the ceremony with the singing of The National Anthem. The students were welcomed by Christopher Schelleng (Chairman, Board of Trustees), and opening remarks were made by Michael O’Keefe (Head of School). James Simons (Upper School Principal) introduced the class of 2020, and Jared Fredrickson (senior class speaker) gave the student address. Graduates were awarded their diplomas by their immediate family members who joined them on stage.

 Two students were not in attendance for the ceremony since they entered the armed services. Each was honored with a private ceremony in June before they left for service.

The 2020 graduates by town are:

Buzzards Bay: Madisyn Burek

Carver: Daykota-Skye Pioppi

Duxbury: Calder Felty

Halifax: Jenna Boardman, Samantha Sawler

Kingston: Brendan Casey, Jenna Jernegan, Lauren Kelliher, Maryn Lally, Carson Parent

Lakeville: Trevor Boivin, Annamaria Poullas

Middleborough: Morgan Derby, Eden McNeil, Kashka Senat, Dante Sologaistoa,

Plymouth:  Andrew Baier, Alyssa Barker, Colin Clancy, Madelyn Cobb, Armandea Connelly, Ina Dombrowski, Katie Ferrante, Liam Foley, Cameron Garvey, Luke Gindel, Emily Gouvia, Mary Haley, Emily Hamilton, Mercedes Herrera, Elizabeth Ingeme, Joshua Krueger, Madison Luongo, Owen Mackenzie, Josephine Hughes, Tyler O’Neil, Heli Parekh, Julianne Parma, Alexandra Phaneuf, Nina Quattromani, Madelyn Quinn, Victoria Rice, Isaac Ryan, Roan Ryan, Madeline Salamone, Sara Sampson, John Schelleng, Elaine Schofield, Lily Schultz, Jack Smerczynski, Benjamin Smith, Emily Snyder, Autumn Studley, Rory Sullivan, Justin Trimberger, James Walker, Stephen Whealan, Fiona Whitney, Zachary Winston

Sagamore: Carder Demarest

Sandwich: Brian Freedman

Taunton: Emma Walsh

Wareham: Jared Fredrickson, Alexander King, Scout McBride, Colin Morrison

Weymouth: Angelina Kelliher

For more detailed information about Rising Tide, please visit the website at www.risingtide.org.

Contact:
Martha Popoloski, (781) 405-8328, mpopoloski@risingtide.org

Rising Tide Charter Public School is an inclusive college preparatory public school serving grades 5-12, with high expectations for all students. Founded in 1998, the school provides a strong academic program rooted in the history of Plymouth, MA. Enrollment is open to all students regardless of academic achievement, special education needs, or proficiency in the English language. In its 20 years of operation, Rising Tide has developed a reputation as a school that holds high expectations for all students, where the teaching and learning environment helps students develop foundational skills and critical thinking. A small school with a structure of supportive relationships, Rising Tide is able to provide an environment that is physically, emotionally, and intellectually safe. In such a setting, students can develop a love of learning and high achievement, take creative and intellectual risks, build increasing personal and academic responsibility, and develop an understanding of themselves and others.