Plymouth has been hit especially hard by the summer wave of Covid that has washed over the state and the country, according to data collected by the state. But even though the virus has made a comeback here – with more people seeking medical treatment – most cases have not been severe, according to medical […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inGovernment
Meet the candidates who want to represent Plymouth on Beacon Hill
Editor’s note: To help voters make informed choices in the Sept. 3 Democrat and Republican state primaries, the Plymouth Independent reached out to all the candidates seeking to represent Plymouth in the House of Representatives and Senate. We focused on contested races, but plan another story before the general election in November. The deadline to […]
Posted inGovernment
Sound solution: Select Board, restaurant owner reach agreement on outdoor music
Erin Murphy will be able to offer amplified outdoor live music at her downtown restaurant after all, but it will be on the back deck, not out front as she initially requested. After two charged meetings of the Select Board last month that ended with the board denying her a permit, Murphy and Select Board […]
Posted inGovernment
Exit interview: Former Planning Board member says taxpayers need to be more engaged
Birgitta Kuehn is concerned about the direction of Plymouth’s Planning Board – especially now that she no longer serves on it. Kuehn has moved to Chicago to follow her husband, who has taken a new job there. It is a return to her hometown of sorts, as she grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, […]
Posted inGovernment
Community Preservation Committee recommends spending taxpayers’ money to improve White Horse Beach access
A key town committee has given its support to using taxpayers’ money to create more access to White Horse Beach and to former cranberry bogs, as well as for funding affordable housing across the street from the library on South Street. The Community Preservation Committee Thursday night voted unanimously to recommend buying six properties at […]
Posted inGovernment
Planning Board’s Kuehn steps down
Birgitta Kuehn, an at-times embattled member of the Plymouth Planning Board, has resigned, following a move to Chicago. Kuehn broke the news to the board Wednesday night via Zoom and submitted her resignation to Town Clerk Kelly McElreath on Thursday. Kuehn served on the board for five years. She was chair until fellow board members […]
Posted inGovernment
Restaurant’s pitch for outdoor music denied after heated exchange between owner and Select Board member
Erin Murphy was hoping to add amplified outdoor music to the menu for three more nights this summer at her “modern Baja cuisine” restaurant. Instead, she found herself fighting back tears as the Select Board Tuesday denied her request during a contentious 30-minute exchange that mostly pitted her against board member Charlie Bletzer. Murphy, the […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Holtec doesn’t need a permit to evaporate radioactive water from Pilgrim plant
The state says Holtec Decommissioning International, the company that is disassembling the Pilgrim plant site in Manomet, does not need a permit to evaporate radioactive water from the former nuclear power station. That determination – made in a July 18 letter to Holtec from Seth Pickering, deputy regional director of the Bureau of Air and […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
State won’t let Holtec dump radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay
The state has denied Holtec Decommissioning International permission to dump up to 1.1 million gallons of treated radioactive wastewater from the former Pilgrim nuclear power station into Cape Cod Bay. Holtec is decommissioning the Pilgrim plant in Manomet, which stopped generating electricity in 2019. As part of its plan, the New Jersey-based company asked the […]
Posted inCulture
Neither rain nor tent-assembling could deter these campers
A driving rain did not dampen the enthusiasm as rangers eagerly taught families how to set up camp last weekend at Myles Standish State Forest, marking the return of a program that began in 2008, but was put on hold for several years because of the pandemic. “We want families to become confident and skilled […]