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 Facing $1.15 Million Deficit
The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Finance Committee, as well as members of the School Committee, were in attendance. Town Administrator Cody Haddad said that the Selectmen would be voting to open the annual and special town meeting warrant that night with it set to close on March 11. Any citizen petition articles would also be due by March 11.
Haddad introduced the budget discussion. He noted that public safety “continues to be cognizant of the budget” saying, “their request this year, across all public safety, is a zero percent increase from fiscal 25 to fiscal 26; that’s unprecedented.” He said that this allowed for a 3.5 percent increase for education. “Halifax Elementary School Committee did meet last night; their level service budget request was around a 23 percent increase and they did move forward and vote to request that,” Haddad said. He continued, “if we were to fund all of those requests in addition to the reasonable requests that we anticipate from the town side that we’ve cut down already, we are looking at a deficit of around $1.15 million.”
Silver Lake Superintendent Jill Proulx said that Circuit Breaker, the State’s reimbursement program to offset costs of special education, was largely responsible for the 23 percent increase. Director of Finance for Silver Lake, Sarah Hickey, said that they were directed to present a Silver Lake budget that was a 2 percent increase over FY25. “The preliminary assessment using that 2 percent increase for Silver Lake would have Halifax’s preliminary operating assessment at $8,610,322.50,” Hickey said. She said it would be a 5.1 percent increase over the previous year. Hickey also said that that the total cost of education for Halifax is $17,301,856.69 which equates to an 11 percent increase over FY25. She called them preliminary calculations.
Selectman Thomas Pratt said that he attended the meeting where the school budget was voted. He said there “was a lot of passion in the room.” He asked, “any administrating positions being cut?” Proulx said, “we did consider administration positions and we consulted with our attorney; we are legally obligated to honor contractual obligations and we have contracts that currently haven’t expired.”
Asked about whether the Town could expect large increases and override requests every year, Hickey clarified that comparing FY24 to FY25 “doesn’t work.” She said, “At the behest of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Silver Lake Regional School District and Union 31 did a major restructuring last year.” She said that for future years she anticipates merely cost of living level increases of approximately 3 percent.
Someone asked if special education students are ever moved off an IEP and was told that if that were to happen, it typically occurs at the Middle and High School levels. A resident spoke saying that if math and reading interventionists were included in budgetary cuts, as was suggested, her child who did move off an IEP, wouldn’t have, therefore arguing that the cuts will end up costing the schools and towns more in the long run. It was also said that there would no longer be an adjustment counselor which will impact the social and emotional support.
Pratt said that his disappointment with the School Committee’s vote to support the budget request is that they “went all in.” He expressed concern that if the override doesn’t pass, the schools will be decimated. “So, the balance is getting something on the budget that makes an impact on the future of the children but that you’ll have buy-in from the town that invests in those kids to pass.” He referenced the need for it to pass, “not once, but twice” alluding to a vote at Town Meeting as well as on the ballot. He requested that the schools provide a Plan B.
According to Haddad, whether the Silver Lake budget will require an override on behalf of any of the three towns, still remains to be unseen. If it does and two of the three towns support it, Halifax would still be on the hook for their portion regardless of their vote.
There was also some discussion about a hiring freeze or an overtime freeze. It was said that an overtime freeze would likely affect public safety where it was needed. Bruno also said that if there are snowstorms, overtime would be needed to plow the roads, etc. Pratt replied, “there are some things that you could cut that are overtime. There are some things, I hate to say it, but the woodchipper on Saturdays; if things are tight in the schools, we don’t have to have the woodchipper on Saturdays. Let’s call a spade a spade. And the other thing is, public safety aside, if things are okay this year, but maybe if we didn’t budget for so much overtime, the elementary school wouldn’t have had to cut so much last year as they did.” The Selectmen did decide to implement a hiring freeze for the time being.
Elementary School Committee member Jessica Page said she has been hearing from many parents that if the school’s budget doesn’t pass, they will move their children to charter or private schools. School Committee member Lori Costa-Cline suggested that there is room at some of the elementary grade levels to reduce the number of classroom teachers while maintaining equitable class sizes. She noted that this would result in class sizes of 22 or 23 and not overly large classes of 30 or more. She also noted that the vote for the level service budget was not unanimous, saying two members were looking to reduce the budget further.
Morse Brothers
The Selectmen went into Executive Session to discuss the Morse Brothers case. “The Board has discussed the Morse Brothers lawsuit; just to remind everyone that the Superior Court found in favor of Morse Brothers and so we have asked our Town Counsel to file an appeal,” Bruno said
Halifax Pride
A request was approved for the fifth annual Halifax Pride celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 8 to use the Town Green. They also have a live entertainment permit.
Resident Karen Fava of 66 Clyde O Bosworth Rd. asked to speak saying, “I know that there was conversation that they used the bathrooms here last year for Pride and that shouldn’t be happening.”
Lana Eldridge, who was there on behalf of Halifax Pride said, “I’m one of the coordinators for Pride and we actually provide port-a-potties outside.” From her seat, Fava insisted that they were used for “changing costumes.” Eldridge clarified saying, “Up here in the Green Room; {should be Great Hall?} we pay to use this room, just like anybody else does that wants to use this space… we’re a part of town as well.” There was controversy in years past about the presence of drag queen performers at the event.
Resident John Spada of 59 Firefly Rd. said, “Is there any way we can possibly find a different location not right across from the playground?” Bruno said, “The Town Green is used as a public space and it’s available to anybody; in fact, we probably aren’t allowed to discriminate against one group or another. Because we have it open to everybody, it’s either going to be open to everybody or closed to everybody… as long as it’s okayed by the Fire Department and everybody else.” Fava asked what the performance was “rated.” Eldridge clarified that it was a “family-friendly event.” Eldrirdge said, “If you have a preference and choose not to enjoy the entertainment that we offer, you don’t have to come.”
Fava said, “What I’m asking is are there going to be men dressed as women?” Eldridge replied, “As we have done in the past for the last four years, yes, there are drag performers involved. Again, we’ve had them every year for the last four years. Nothing has been inappropriate… it’s family -friendly and again, if people don’t enjoy that type of entertainment, you don’t have to come.” The Selectmen voted to approve the event.
MBTA Communities
The Selectmen took up the issue of the MBTA Communities Law which requires that towns comply with submitting an MBTA Action Plan that allows for multi-family housing close to MBTA transit stations. The town held a public forum recently where residents came out in droves to express their overwhelming rejection of the law and the subsequent action plan. Towns not in compliance risk losing valuable grant opportunities.
Bruno, who is against the law, said that should the town choose not to be in compliance they will likely risk litigation from the Attorney General.
Chair of the Halifax Elementary School Committee Lauren Laws spoke saying that the schools, like the overall town, are in dire need of funding due to budget constraints. She pleaded with the Board to remain in compliance for the time being so as not to risk losing grant funding such as the grant to explore K-12 regionalization.
Selectmen Thomas Pratt and Bruno voted against staying in compliance. Selectman Jonathan Selig voted nay but was outvoted.
At the current time, only a revised plan, rather than any actual action is needed to stay in compliance.
Ted Reinstein finds friends in small rural communities
Author and “Chronicle” contributor Ted Reinstein loves “The Main Streets and Backroads of New England,” so much so that that’s where he found the subjects of one of his books – and several people he now considers close friends.
This is a person who finds comfort and adventure in the small communities of rural New England. But one of his first visits to Hanson Library shook him.
Reinstein shared the anecdote as a humorous opening to his recent book talk at Hanson Public Library, titled, “Travels Through the Heart and Soul of New England: Stories of Struggle, Resilience and Triumph,” on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
“Part of what I love about coming down here is it is tucked away,” he said of the Hanson Library.
Not having GPS at the time, he thought, Reinstein sought directions out of town after his talk. He recalled how two library staff members argued a bit about directing him.
“It’s the most lost I’ve ever been in my life,” he said to his full-house author talk.
After driving a while, he came upon a large swamp in the dark.
“Oh, my god,” he thought to himself. “This is the Bridgewater Triangle!”
“I’ve been traveling all over New England for almost 30 years and this book is about the most memorable people I’ve met. Every single person is someone whose story not only intrigued me a lot…In telling their stories, I got to be equally fascinated with each of these people and, with no exceptions, they’ve become lifelong friends,” he said. “That is why I wanted to write a book. That doesn’t happen with every story – it can’t – but it did, and that’s why I wanted to tell their stories.”
It’s also about “third places.” Not workplaces or home, but where communities gather. Libraries, diners, general stores, rail trails offer nothing one can’t find somewhere else, except a sense of community, Reinstein says.
That sense of community can help people deal with struggles such as the loss of family-owned fishing boats in Gloucester; losing a livelihood through injury; working to chronicle the story of overlooked ancestors; or running a business alone.
Reinstein chronicles the struggles of:
•Fifth-generation Gloucester fishing boat Capt. Joe Sanfilippo, who now teaches fishing to people who may want to go into the business since families are no longer passing the skills down the generations.
•Louis Escobar, a former Rhode Island dairy farmer who was paralyzed when his tractor fell on him, immediately switched gears and work helping others with farm plans.
•Jerri-Anne Boggis of Milford, N.H., a Jamaican immigrant, has a knack for asking questions about people who look like her in her adopted state, and ended up co-founding the New Hampshire Black Heritage Trail.
•The Windsor Diner in Windsor, Vt., is owned by Theresa Rhodes, a rarity as a woman who owns a diner outright, but rarer still – she runs it by herself, with a secret to make it all work.
Then there are the tales of resilience.
“I think resilience is in New Englanders’ DNA. You have to be resilient just for weather, if nothing else,” Reinstein said.
That introduces the only non-human subject in his book.
“New England’s mill towns are the embodiment of resilience,” he said. “They’ve always been there. They’ve been there through thick and thin, they’ve been there , empty, abandoned and nobody wants to look at them anymore.”
Leaders of any mill town in New England could tell you the exact same thing: “If I could have blown those damn things up, I would have done it,” Reinstein said,
The buildings were too expensive to get rid of and they all were built on the exact same blueprint and a history of decades of economic ups and downs, only to be killed by corporate greed and the search for cheaper labor.
That began to change in the 1990s with an improving economy and new companies like biotech – and leaders with vision, such as Alan Casavant of Biddeford, Maine.
As a teen, he worked in a mill, the first in his family to go to college, he returned to his hometown to be a math teacher and track coach – and eventually ran for mayor to give something back to his city.
His success story is one of mayors across America who have used public-private partnerships to bring their cities back from the brink.
Small community rope-tow-equipped nonprofit ski areas in Vermont; a diner transferred from a mom to her daughter; an addict’s use of extreme hiking as a recovery program on Mt. Monadnock; and the Providence, R.I.’s Good Night Lights program for the children at Hasbro Children’s Hospital round out the book.
Kingston facing massive increases
The Kingston Finance Committee met on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Chair Carl Pike explained, “We’ve been looking at an original budget that is prepared by our Town Administration and presented to the Selectmen. Since that original one, we have an updated budget that has been approved by the Board of Selectmen. That budget… included increases in revenue of $481,000 for State aid; $445k of which was specifically schools.” He went on to say that they had increased local receipts by $328,000.
Pike told those assembled that the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and Town Administration have $886k of additional revenue that can be applied to the budget. He said that he and Town Administrator Keith Hickey had decided that the $445k worth of Chapter 70 State Aid should go toward increasing the school’s budget beyond the targeted 4 percent increase. Pike said that there was some hope that if they increased the amount to the schools, there might be a compromise from the school side to reduce their budget. Regarding the schools compromising Pike said, “they have not.” He went on to say that $220k would be going to the Police budget, $178k would be going to the Fire budget, and $52k of increased levy capacity.
“The bottom line of the expenses now in that budgets have increased by $3,386,000 which is an increase of 5.9 percent,” Pike said. He continued, “One million and twenty-eight of that is what has been plugged into the budget for schools – 7.1 percent. $880k of it is what’s been plugged in for the Police and Fire – that’s your 9.7 percent increase. Fringe benefits – $496 thousand dollars – 6.1 percent… Silver Lake assessment, even at 4 percent, that’s a $670k increase.” Pike stressed that the Library, the Board of Health, and all other town departments resulted in an increase of just $312k out of over $3 million. “We are forcing… issues by overfunding our Police and Fire and overfunding our schools at the expense of everything else in this town,” Pike said. Pike said that from the tier one to tier two reductions, “not a nickel” has been taken away.
He emphatically stated that the Town cannot do a 6 percent increase every single year without doing a proposition 2 ½ increase every year. He also noted that they were looking at a nearly 6 percent increase this year without the override due to the $900k they had left over in excess levy capacity last year. He noted that those funds and the state aid are just one-time funds that won’t be there indefinitely. Pike told those in the room that the schools are looking for a 13 percent increase and public safety a 9 percent increase.
Pike said that a million-dollar override at Town Meeting would likely result in a several hundred dollar increase in residents’ tax bills. Other members of the Committee pointed out that a $200 increase or so would be there forever. Pike said that his fear is that each year an additional 5 percent gets added to the budget. He said that his hope is that the Board of Selectmen say that they cannot afford a proposition 2 ½ override.
Pike also touched upon whether it is the Finance Committee’s budget that appears on the warrant or the Board of Selectmen’s. He said that Town Counsel insists it is the budget as recommended by the Board of Selectmen. Selectman Kimberely Emberg said of the Selectmen, “we work with the Town Administration to give you a budget that you can review in greater detail and then can re-vote at a later date.”
Finance Committee member David Fuller asked where the town’s free cash stands. Pike said it was “somewhere around $2 million.” Hickey said that due to an accounting error, which he blamed on himself, he said that they had to trim back the capital plan. He further said that the intent is to have a free cash number of approximately $1 million.”
Following a discussion on the police and fire increases, Hickey said, “the staffing levels at the Police Department now have been the same for at least a decade.” Pike said the actual police cost in 2024 was $4,309,000. He said that with the budget before them for the upcoming year, they are looking at a police budget of $5,404,000 representing an increase of nearly 26 percent over two years. “We are doing things to get that department up to the number where they should be,” Pike explained. He said that they will have to wait to see what the Board of Selectmen as well as Town Meeting decide.
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
Plympton considers Prop 2 1/2
The Plympton Finance Committee is discussing a Proposition 2 ½ override to address budget concerns and fund essential services. During a Feb. 10 joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen, officials discussed the possibility of increasing the town’s levy limit to meet financial needs.
Town Counsel Gregg Corbo provided an overview of override and debt exclusion options.
“An override is something where you raise your levy limit permanently for either a particular purpose or for general municipal purposes,” Corbo said. “The primary difference between an override and a debt exclusion is that the debt exclusion only stays on the tax rate until the debt is paid off.”
Only selectmen can call for an override vote.
Officials are grappling with a tight budget situation. The town’s current budget has only $7,343 available under the maximum allowable limit, while using some free cash and possibly general stabilization funds to balance the budget. This assumes budget requests were funded as they came in, and leaving only $450,000 for Town Meeting articles.
“We need to do something,” Finance Committee member Marilyn Browne stated. When discussing using over $800K in one-time funds to meet the operating budget she added, “we don’t want to do that anymore. We can avoid that. It’s just not very smart. It’s not fiscally sound.”
The Finance Committee is exploring various options to address the shortfall. These include potential cuts to department budgets and the use of reserve funds. However, officials expressed concern about relying too heavily on one-time funding sources.
“You don’t really want to draw from stabilization to fund your budget shortfall, or the reserve fund,” Corbo advised.
The school budget is a significant factor in the town’s financial considerations. Officials discussed potential increases in the Silver Lake assessment, which could range from $600,000 to $783,000. However, there is hope that this number could be reduced through various funding sources and reimbursements.
Silver Lake is also awaiting certification of the Excess and Deficiency (E&D) Fund, which could provide additional relief. “Depending on how E&D comes up, depending on the Circuit Breaker number, and depending on the 240 grant, there is a chance we could potentially get the assessment for Silver Lake to a net zero increase over last year,” School Committee member Jason Fraser stated.
Town officials anticipate receiving final cost estimates for the new fire station project by mid-April. The project’s design includes a wood frame building, potentially minimizing the impact of steel tariffs.
The fire station project has been designed with cost considerations in mind. Officials noted that the building will be primarily wood-framed, which could help mitigate the impact of potential steel tariffs.
“We don’t have a ton of steel in the station. It’s mostly going to be a wood frame building,” Wilhelmsen explained.
The town is also making progress on water infrastructure. A mega well producing 109 gallons per minute has been successfully tested. However, two smaller wells have experienced collapses and require further investigation.
If the town decides to pursue an override or debt exclusion, officials will need to navigate complex legal requirements. Corbo cautioned about limitations on using public resources to advocate for or against ballot questions.
“There is a campaign finance law in Massachusetts, and the requirements of the state ethics commission limit the extent to which public funds can be used or public resources can be used to advocate for or against a valid question, including an override or a debt exclusion,” he said.
The Finance Committee plans to reconvene after gathering more information on potential funding sources and budget adjustments. They aim to develop a comprehensive plan before presenting options to the public.
Officials stressed the importance of public outreach and education if they decide to pursue an override or debt exclusion. “It does take a fair amount of outreach,” Corbo noted. “You know, all the departments kind of have to, you know, work together.”
The town faces critical decisions in the coming weeks as it balances the need for essential services with the financial constraints of Proposition 2 ½ . The outcome of these discussions will have significant implications for the town’s budget and services in the upcoming fiscal year.
Voices raised in protest at Plymouth Rock
PLYMOUTH – More than 500 South Shore residents gathered at Plymouth Rock on a frigid Presidents Day to protest illegal cuts to federal programs and access to government data bases by a group of 19-24-year-old acolytes of presidential appointee Elon Musk, and excesses of the Trump administration generally.
The protest was in concert with similar rallies, large and small, across the country. Dubbed “No Kings on Presidents Day” in some places, the Plymouth protest, which featured local and state government officials, was called, “Not On Our Watch.” The local protest was organized by the several South Shore Democratic town committees.
“We are living in a time when our democracy is being tested, not just in Washington, but in communities like ours,” said state Rep. Kathy LaNatra, D-Kingston, who added that, while it’s easy to get caught up in headlines about the nation’s angst and problems, focusing instead on what people can do to make changes right in their own backyard. “The truth is, Democracy isn’t just about what happens in Washington, it’s about what happens in our town halls, in our community meetings, in our local elections. If we want to protect democracy, we have to start right here, where we live.”
Musk, a South African immigrant, and said to be the world’s richest man has been given unfettered access to computers in government departments, such as the Treasury Department, where it is alleged his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has accessed personal information of millions of Americans.
The office carries the same acronym as an internet meme and joke cryptocurrency.
“Lots of things can be done by a small group of committed people,” said Halifax Democratic Town Committee Co-chair Ellen Snoeyenbos. “We’re going to gain strength from each other, take a measure of how much we have built together. … We have built safety nets – Social Security, education, Medicare, health care and state-of-the-art research facilities, to protect our health and sustain life on this planet, environmental, climate and weather safety – these things are at risk.”
All are programs and/or departments targeted for deep cuts and mass firings of employees by the Trump administration. Cuts at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which have been pointed to as contributing factors to a recent spate of crashes and threatened cuts to NPR under the National Endowment for the Arts, and National Parks were also spoken of.
“We built it! Don’t let them take it away,” she said as motorists honked their horns on the way by. “Not on our watch!”
Whitman Select Board member Justin Evans “nerded out” on the risk to the nation’s administrative and regulatory agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), tasked with enforcing marine regulations, monitoring the atmosphere and oceans for evidence of climate change – and, most importantly, has control of the National Weather Service.
“In Trump’s first term, he nominated the CEO of AccuWeather to take over NOAA,” he said. “His explicit goal … was to privatize or prevent that from becoming public information. That didn’t happen, but in Project 2025, it’s back and the goal there is to dismantle the research arm of that agency, because their research gathers evidence of climate change. Elon and his staff have already shown up, they’ve told staff to expect 50 percent in cuts.”
Evans outlined the risk
“He’s coming in with a sledgehammer for political means, and the downstream risk is we are not going to have as accurate climate modeling or weather tracking, and local officials like myself rely on that,” he said, listing hurricane forecasts, fire watches, tornado watches to know whether to issue evacuation warnings or shelter in place.”
He added that towns need to know if heatwaves or deep freezes are coming in order to plan for opening warming or heating centers.
“Not having this publicly available access to information is a threat to all of us,” he said. “All of this stuff is interconnected, and if you’re cutting the safety net across each of these regulatory agencies, the risks are catastrophic. … I know the experts are freaking the hell out. I want you too, as well.”
So, what to do with it?
Rockland Democratic Town Committee Chair Jessica Laverty had some suggestions.
“We’ve got 625 days – until what?” she said.
“Midterms!” the crowd shouted.
“Guess what’s not going to make it through 625 days?” she asked: “Our environment, our democracy, our Board of Education, our departments, our NOAA – nothing is going to make it through 625 days, so we need to stand up right now.”
Donate your time, reach out to people and look to municipal elections, she advised. Confront “obnoxious betrayals of the truth” in person or online but do so with facts and with kindness.
“We need those folks to make sure that, in four years, we’re not here again, in whatever wasteland is left,” she said.
State Rep. Michelle Badger said that the Office of the President represents unity, leadership and the voice of the people and there is no better time than Presidents Day to reflect on what those qualities mean to the country.
“These issues matter deeply and its natural to feel frightened and uncertain about what lies ahead, but we cannot let ourselves be paralyzed with fear,” Badger said, encouraging people to apply for appointed posts on local boards and commissions, which are always seeking new members, or run for elective office. “We need to take our nervous energy and channel it into action. … When the federal level seems to be too hard and overwhelming, look locally. Find your voice.”
Middleborough police look for car thieves
Middleborough Police Chief Robert Ferreira reports that the Middleborough Police Department is investigating two motor vehicle thefts reported early Monday morning, Feb. 10.
At 7:38 a.m., on Monday, Feb. 10, Patrolman Cameron Amaral was dispatched to Ashley Lane to investigate two stolen vehicle reports.
One resident told police that their 2024 Chrysler Pacifica was stolen overnight. A second resident reported their 2016 Hyundai Elantra GT also was stolen overnight.
Middleborough Police broadcast an alert about the thefts to departments in surrounding communities.
The incidents remain under investigation.