A planned transformation of Court and Main streets aimed at improving walkability, pedestrian safety, aesthetics, and climate resiliency will be delayed for at least a year after funding for the project fell through. The work would have been largely paid for by a $3 million state grant that did not come through, said Michael Cahill, […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inPolice & Fire
Plymouth firm’s app lets ICE identify people through eye scans
A Plymouth company has landed a contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to provide ICE agents with an app that can scan irises to tap into databases nationwide and identify people. BI2 Technologies, based in a one-floor building on State Road, signed a $4.6 million deal with ICE in September. The app […]
Posted inGovernment
Here’s what happened at Town Meeting
During a relatively low-key Town Meeting Saturday, members cut funding for irrigation and lighting from a proposal to restore the 314-year-old Training Green, rejecting an argument from Town Manager Derek Brindisi in support of the improvements. The fall gathering of Plymouth’s legislative body also supported repaving an airport runway and taxiway, an accessible trail near […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Bill Nye sounds alarm on climate change deniers
Bill Nye, known for the long-running public television series “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” told attendees at the 4th annual Plymouth Blue Future conference Thursday that science is under siege. “People are attacking science for reasons that are deeply tribal within us,” said Nye, who was the keynote speaker at the conference, held at the […]
Posted inGovernment
Town Meeting takes up the public’s business on Saturday
Plymouth’s fall Town Meeting is scheduled to convene at 8 a.m. Saturday morning at Plymouth North High School. Among the issues elected Town Meeting members will decide are whether to fund reconstruction of a runway and taxiway at the airport, a full-access trail at Jenney Pond, and a report on the viability of making expensive […]
Posted inBusiness
Here today, here tomorrow: Razing of Bert’s in limbo
Bert’s still stands. It turns out that the town’s plans to swiftly raze the landmark eyesore, which has been slowly decaying for more than a dozen years, were overly optimistic. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, demolition of the abandoned restaurant building at the entrance to Long Beach has been delayed. “Given the sensitivity of […]
Posted inGovernment
Dozens of committee appointees can now officially take a seat
Thanks to some administrative maneuvering, the Select Board Tuesday voted to legitimize dozens of appointees to boards and committees who were not sworn in within the legally required 30-day period. It unanimously adopted a solution proposed by board member Kevin Canty to retroactively appoint people to boards and committees. “I’m glad that we took the […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Reshaping Brewster Gardens: ‘It’s a lot of work’
The early stages of major repairs to the Jenney Pond dam, the construction of a nature-like fishway around the Plimoth Grist Mill, and the remaking the pathway through Brewster Gardens are underway. The work is part of an ambitious project to revitalize the popular park area all the way through to the waterfront. The first […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Brazilian man pulled from car by ICE being held in Louisiana
David De Paula Souza, the Brazilian man pulled out of his car and taken away by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents in front of a school bus filled with middle school students Sept. 23, is being held at a detention facility in Louisiana, according to an ICE website. “The bus driver initially described the […]
Posted inGovernment
Systemic failure resulted in committee appointees and elected officials not being sworn in
Town Clerk Kelly McElreath appeared before the Select Board Tuesday evening to explain how a systemic failure led to dozens of residents appointed or elected to town positions not being sworn in within the required 30-day period. McElreath was put in the spotlight after a revelation at the Sept. 9 board meeting that 66 people […]