Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
KINGSTON – The Kingston Board of Selectmen voted unanimously October 22 to order a dog named Angel humanely euthanized after deeming it dangerous following multiple attacks.
The hearing was held to review three incidents involving the pit bull owned by Rebecca Montgomery of Silver Lake Drive.
Senior Animal Control Officer Joanna Boudreau detailed the first two incidents from April 2023 and April 2024, where Angel escaped her yard and attacked neighboring dogs. The third and most serious incident occurred in September 2024, when Angel broke through a screen door.
“She busted through the screen door and due to the weakness of the [runner] cable it snapped,” said Assistant Animal Control Officer Sonya Buckner, who responded to the third incident. “She attacked the two puppies.”
Torin Jensen, owner of the attacked puppies, described the incident: “Door flings open, dog comes running right out. Jumps on one of my puppies ripping her face, grabbing it very viciously.”
Jensen said his dogs required $8,000 in veterinary care. He also sustained injuries himself trying to separate the animals, stating the combined medical and veterinary bills were $12,000.
“It was one of those moments where you just completely like blackout and shock and just go into like fight mode,” Jensen said.
The board heard testimony from multiple witnesses, including the dog’s owners. Emily Montgomery, Rebecca’s sister, said Angel had never had issues with small dogs before and was “great with kids.”
However, Boudreau recommended the dog be deemed dangerous, citing its history of aggression.
“I do believe that based upon our information, previous incidents, that Angel is a dangerous dog,” Boudreau said. The Board agreed, voting unanimously to deem Angel a dangerous dog.
Boudreau initially suggested several restrictions, including muzzling and insurance requirements. But after deliberation, the board opted for euthanasia given the severity and pattern of incidents.
“This is very difficult to say the least,” said Board Chair Eric Crone before the unanimous vote.
The owners have the right to appeal the decision. If upheld, animal control will coordinate the euthanasia after the appeal period expires.
In other business, the board voted 2-3 against recommending a state-mandated MBTA zoning district, potentially jeopardizing millions in state funding and grants.
The MBTA Communities zoning law requires certain towns to create multi-family housing districts near transit stations. Kingston must designate 50 acres for up to 805 new housing units to comply.
Town Planner Valerie Massard presented a proposal that would concentrate the zoning changes primarily within the Kingston Collection mall property, with some additional areas nearby.
“Valerie’s done an incredible job,” said Selectman Tyler Bouchard. “Our town planner is taking what they’ve done and worked magic with it.”
Bouchard argued Kingston has “the best situation out of any other town” to implement the zoning with minimal impact. The proposal avoids residential neighborhoods and focuses on already developed commercial areas.
However, other board members expressed concerns about state overreach and potential negative impacts on the town.
“I’m an absolute no on MBTA, not because I don’t appreciate all the work the staff has done,” said Selectman Kimberly Emberg. “You guys have done a tremendous job and I honestly couldn’t say enough positive things about the time and effort you’ve put in.”
Emberg warned that approving the zoning could lead to further state mandates. “They’re going to keep moving the goal line,” she said.
Town Administrator Keith Hickey outlined the financial stakes, noting Kingston has received $8.25 million in state grants in recent years that it would no longer be eligible for without MBTA compliance.
This includes $6 million for water and sewer infrastructure related to the Amazon development and $1.6 million for water quality improvements on the Jones River.
Hickey also pointed to upcoming water infrastructure needs, including a $5 million well and $4.5 million water tank, that could potentially qualify for state funding.
“We’re trying to make as positive a thing as we can out of a really lousy situation,” Hickey said.
The town already has 282 apartments at the Kingston Collection mall site, which count toward the 805-unit requirement. Officials said it’s unlikely the full 805 units would actually be built given existing development.
“Could they build 805 units? I guess that’s what would be allowed,” Hickey said. “I think what’s important for people to recognize is that every single property that’s in this district right now is already developed.”
Chair Eric Crone expressed frustration with unfunded state mandates.
“I’m really sick of the state sticking their nose into Kingston and just costing us money, not helping us,” he said. “We haven’t had help. They’ve done nothing but cost us money.”
The board ultimately voted 2-3 against adopting the zoning changes. Bouchard and Melissa Bateman voted in favor, while Crone, Emberg and Donald Alcombright voted against.
According to Crone, State Rep. Kathy LaNatra plans to introduce legislation in January to repeal the MBTA zoning law. However, Hickey cautioned that many communities have already adopted changes.
“The horse is out of the barn,” he said.
The zoning proposal will still go before Town Meeting on Nov. 19. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the issue next week.
If Kingston remains non-compliant, it risks losing access to certain state grant programs. The attorney general has also sued some towns that rejected MBTA zoning.
“It’s blackmail and it’s terrible and nobody likes it,” Bouchard said. “I’m not gonna mince words about it. It is what it is.”
The board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 5.

Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
In a political forum hosted by WATD, incumbent Democrat Kathy LaNatra and Republican challenger Eric Meschino presented their cases for representing the 12th Plymouth District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The district includes Kingston, Plympton, precincts 1 and 2A in Halifax, as well as parts of Middleborough, Pembroke, and Plymouth.
Immigration emerged as a contentious topic, with Meschino taking a hard line. “First thing I think they should do is stop funding [the migrants]. Simple as that. You know, people have a problem with illegal immigrants in this state, in our district. Kathy’s fault. She voted for that.”
LaNatra, defending her record, emphasized the need for federal immigration reform while acknowledging the complexities of the issue. “We’ve made reforms to the right to shelter law, and we will continue to make reforms,” she said, noting that some immigrants are here legally on protective status.
On affordability, both candidates recognized it as a pressing concern for the district. LaNatra highlighted recent legislative efforts, including a $1 billion tax cut package. “We did that this session. It extended the [two dependent child] cap… That significantly helps families,” she said.
Meschino, however, argued for a different approach. “What makes it unaffordable? Taxes. Everything keeps going up,” he said, advocating for less government intervention and lower taxes.
When asked about the Governor’s recent emergency preamble on the new gun law, Meschino said “Licensed gun owners are the single most law-abiding citizens in this country,” he said, criticizing the underlying bill. “Where’s the emergency? It’s nothing more than a gun grab.”
LaNatra reminded listeners about her vote against the gun law but supported the Governor’s emergency preamble. “Emergency preambles are done quite frequently, so it’s not uncommon that the governor would call that,” adding “if [the repeal folks] want to put it on the ballot, absolutely. It’s their right to do that.”
The candidates also diverged on the issue of auditing the state legislature. Meschino strongly supported the idea, stating, “The state auditor was elected to audit. I think they should open up the books.” LaNatra, while not opposed to audits, suggested an independent auditor would be more appropriate than the state auditor.
On education, the candidates discussed the potential elimination of MCAS as a high school graduation requirement. LaNatra supported the change, saying, “I do think we should eliminate it as a requirement to graduate.” Meschino disagreed, arguing, “We need some kind of standards.”
In their closing statements, the candidates summarized their positions and appeals to voters. LaNatra emphasized her experience and bipartisan approach, saying, “I’m a seasoned leader who listens, acts, and delivers.” Meschino positioned himself as an agent of change, stating, “If you want change, I can be a change agent. If you want the same thing you got now, vote for Kathy.”
The two candidates vying for the vacant 6th Plymouth District seat also squared off on WATD. The district is made up of Duxbury, Precinct 2 in Halifax, and parts of Hanson, Marshfield, and Pembroke. Republican Ken Sweezey and Democrat Becky Coletta addressed topics ranging from the migrant crisis to affordable housing during the hour-long forum moderated by Christine James and Tom Gorman.
The candidates clashed most sharply on the state’s response to the migrant crisis. Sweezey called for a residency requirement for the right to shelter law, arguing, “This is a math problem. There’s no inflammatory language here. It’s a math problem. We cannot afford it.”
Coletta countered that the focus should be on expediting work permits for migrants. “I would work as hard as our governor has been working to get work permits and get people to work. It doesn’t cost money if we have these people working,” she said.
On housing affordability, both candidates acknowledged the challenges facing the district. Sweezey estimated that a “ready to move in” home for $350,000 “doesn’t exist” in the area. Coletta suggested that an affordable apartment would cost around $1,900 per month, but added, “I don’t think it exists.”
The candidates also differed on the MBTA Communities Zoning Act. Sweezey strongly opposed the measure, stating, “This directly changes, and I would say ruins the character of our towns.” Coletta, in addition to criticizing the law, argued that it was itself deregulation “it was a Charlie Baker idea. It was a Republican principle of deregulation. Zoning is regulation of private property use. This was deregulation.”
On ballot questions, the candidates found some common ground. Both opposed Question 5, which would change how tip workers are paid. However, they diverged on Question 2 regarding MCAS testing, with Sweezey opposing the measure and Coletta supporting it.
On the one issue they’d like to be known to champion, Sweezey pointed to immigration, “the immigration issue touches so many things between budget and housing and affordability and everything. So the immigration crisis has to be solved.” Coletta highlighted affordability, “People need to be able to buy homes and live here at all stages of their life so that the communities can continue to be the diverse, welcoming places they have been in our lifetimes.”
The election for both seats will be held on Nov. 5..

The Halifax Elementary School Committee met on Monday, Oct. 7. Chairman of the Ballot Committee to support the Community Preservation Act (CPA), Candy Kniffen, presented to the Committee. She explained, “Halifax is the only town in the region that has not enrolled in the Community Preservation Act… what the Community Preservation Act does is it allows communities to put money aside for specific areas – one is historical preservation, one is open space and recreation, and one is affordable housing.” She said that while there is an assessment that the town pays, there are also “generous” abatements available.
Kniffen, who said that all of her children went to Silver Lake schools and she served on the school committee at one time, asked to speak to the benefit of the CPA for the schools. She said that there are historical projects that could be completed with the funding that would be able to be utilized by the students in town. She also said that replacement of playground equipment or expansion of the existing playground would also be eligible for CPA funding. “Quite frankly, we don’t see a downside to this and when it comes to the schools, we think they could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the CPA funding,” Kniffen explained. She said that there is a myriad of information on their website and Facebook page.
Committee Chair Lauren Laws asked what the 1.5 percent assessment would equal in terms of funds available. Kniffen said that it would be based on the average home price in Halifax of $511,000 and would total around $250,000 raised at the local level, not counting what the State would contribute. School Committee member Lori Costa-Cline said she has heard from critics of the CPA that it was a way to funnel money toward housing projects as ten percent of the funding is mandated to be set aside for housing. She asked who makes the determination of which projects are chosen and was told that Town Meeting would make those decisions. Kniffen said that regarding housing, the CPA gives the town total control of how to spend the funds and said that they also encourage the reuse of existing buildings over new construction.
Laws said that she has also heard that they could build a senior center with the funding. Kniffen said that she was sure that the town would have one by now if they had enrolled in 2000. Costa-Cline said, “I think that the timing is unfortunate because… this is a worthwhile project… but everyone is so tight and stretched and at their limit, so you’re dealing with that… the MBTA Affordable Housing project… there’s a lot of mish-mashed of misinformation and everything getting lumped together. I think that people should look into what the benefits are… I hope people will look at the long view and not look at the short.” Kniffen said that it is unfortunate that there is misinformation confusing the CPA with the MBTA Communities initiative. She also reiterated that the decisions as to how to spend the funding would be in the hands of the town.
Regionalization
Discussion
Laws told the Committee that Costa-Cline asked that a full regionalization discussion be added to that evening’s agenda. “We all consider ourselves part of Silver Lake even though Halifax School Committee is its own separate entity… but I think we all recognize that there needs to be some symmetry in the way that the elementary school committees do things,” she explained. She said that budget season really highlights the need for full regionalization.
Superintendent Jill Proulx said, “so there’s a community compact efficiency and regionalization grant. Last year this Committee voted to support the town of Halifax looking into that grant. Last year, Kingston applied for that grant. Kingston School Committee also voted to look into that grant. What that grant would allow us to do for the town is to look into the pros and cons, the benefits and perhaps, the downsides of full regionalization.” Proulx said that two out of the three communities support looking into full regionalization. “The majority of regionalized school districts are fully regionalized,” Proulx said. Laws pointed out that it felt a bit disjointed to have the schools regionalized for Pre-K, not regionalized for K-6, and then regionalized for 7-12.
Costa-Cline said she would like to ask the town to apply for the grant and also said that she would like to see regionalization be a standing agenda item moving forward. Laws said that she was in agreement. The Committee voted unanimously to ask the town to support the grant application.
Prize Distribution as Part of Fundraising
A member of the Committee proposed a change to policy to stop giving out individual prizes to students based on how much they personally have fundraised. A representative from Boosterthon spoke to the Committee saying that it was his job to tailor the fundraising efforts to each individual community. “Of course, Booster, over the last twenty years have seen that when you do individual prizes and students are motivated to go home and talk to their parents, that’s when the fundraising is at it’s highest level,” he said. Laws said she would rather leave it up to the PTO to figure out the prize piece.
Sub Committee and
Administrative Updates
Costa-Cline provided an update on the Pilgrim Area Collaborative. She said that right now there are 112 students in the day program and a little over 100 in the extended services program. The Executive Director offered a tour to anyone on the Board that is interested in seeing the program. They are applying to be a service provider to students 22-30 years old as right now they are only able to provide services through 21 years of age.
Principal Kayne Beaudry introduced new Assistant Principal Kristy Luperon. He told the Committee she has been doing a great job. He also provided an update on the bus routes since dropping from ten to eight buses. He said that they haven’t seen any changes with the numbers for parent pickup and drop off and said they are comparable with last year’s. He did say that they may have seen a slight uptick in children biking to school. He also compared bus misconduct slips and said that they haven’t seen any more problems as compared to last year. He said the adjustment to new bus stops for families has been the biggest issue. He also provided an update on enrollment saying they were at 532 and the kindergarten class is 82 students.
Proulx provided an update. She said that homeschool enrollment for Halifax for Grades K-6 went up from 11 last year to 17 this year. A decline was seen at the 7-12 grade level. She said the overall enrollment population hasn’t been changing much with a slight increase seen for Halifax at the elementary level.
Proulx asked the School Committee what they would like to see from administration in their preliminary budget. Laws said she would like to see a level services budget as well as potential places in the budget for cost savings. She referred to the cost savings of going from ten buses to eight as she said it had a significant impact on the budget while causing minimal disruption for students. Costa-Kline recommended having a prioritized list of budget wants/needs. Laws said that her priority would be to add back staff.