Plymouth school officials say they have increased staff monitoring after a kindergartner was inadvertently allowed to walk away from a before-school program at Nathaniel Morton Elementary School earlier this month. The five-year-old boy apparently left to walk home and was missing approximately six minutes before an alert bus driver spotted the child walking on South […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inGovernment
As budget crisis looms, Select Board won’t back significant cuts
Under fire for suggesting last-minute cuts to the town budget, Select Board members voted to back off on a proposal to slash $2.5 million in spending next year. Instead, the board on Tuesday recommended adopting far more modest cuts totaling $28,047, including $10,000 from the town manager’s office, $2,550 from human resources and $15,497 from […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board asks for trimmed budget to offset rising healthcare costs
Select Board members voted unanimously on Friday to instruct Town Manager Derek Brindisi to come up with $2.5 million in proposed budget cuts to consider at its Tuesday night meeting. In a unanimous vote on Friday, board members asked for the alternative budget proposal after listening to dire predictions about the town’s fiscal future. The […]
Posted inGovernment
Residents turn out in force to debate immigration policy
In a marathon five-hour session Tuesday night before a rare standing-room-only crowd at Town Hall, the Select Board considered a policy to further restrict town officials from participating in federal actions against any undocumented residents. In the end, the board voted unanimously not to change the policies after Police Chief Dana Flynn detailed restrictions already […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Town ringing in new year with a ban on Styrofoam containers
As of New Year’s Day, expanded polystyrene containers – better known by the brand name Styrofoam – will be banned in Plymouth restaurants and take-out establishments, including supermarkets that serve prepared foods. The town is joining more than 60 cities and towns across Massachusetts in banning the containers, which are considered a threat to people’s […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Harvard study finds proximity to nuclear plants increases cancer risk
A new Harvard University study has found that cancer risk may increase with proximity to nuclear power plants, including the now shut down Pilgrim station in Manomet. “We found that living near nuclear power plants increases the risk for cancer,” said Petros Koutrakis, professor of environmental sciences at Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board rejects proposal that could help rein in healthcare costs
By a 3-2 vote, the Select Board has decided not to put a proposal before Town Meeting that could address one of Plymouth’s costliest expenses at a time when it faces a budget crunch, according to the board member who brought it up. Town employees currently pay for 30 percent of their health insurance premiums. […]
Posted inGovernment
Is Plymouth on the brink of a fiscal crisis?
Whenever discussion of a budget includes the mention of potential layoffs and a tax override, alarm bells sound. That’s what happened during Tuesday’s Select Board meeting, where members and Town Manager Derek Brindisi raised the specter of a Proposition 2 1/2 override and layoffs within one or two years unless the town can better control […]
Posted inBusiness
At long last, bye bye Bert’s
The demolition of Bert’s, the abandoned restaurant at the beginning of Plymouth Beach, finally got under way Tuesday as a backhoe began ripping the structure apart. The razing came after months of delays. “It’s been an eyesore,” said Mike Shine, who owns a nearby cottage and used to have dinner at Bert’s in the late […]
Posted inGovernment
At North Plymouth meeting, residents decry ICE tactics
Opinions on encounters between North Plymouth residents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dominated an emotionally charged Select Board session at Cold Spring Elementary School Tuesday evening. In all, 18 residents spoke about whether the board should take a formal position in response to ICE detentions of immigrants, with most of them decrying the […]