Downtown restaurants this year will have to shoulder more of the costs of setting up outdoor dining, a pandemic-born dining option that quickly became popular with many residents and visitors. The Select Board Tuesday decided that the town should stop covering all of the expenses related to installing outdoor dining areas in front of restaurants […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inGovernment
Nip ban election cost taxpayers $50,000
The Jan. 13 special election that overturned the town’s nip ban cost taxpayers more than $50,000, Town Manager Derek Brindisi told the Select Board Tuesday. That compares with the $57,000 Town Clerk Kelly McElreatch estimated last May’s town election cost. The turnouts for the two elections were about the same, McElreath said, with about 15 […]
Posted inGovernment
MacRae seeks Republican nomination for state Senate seat
Kari MacRae is running for the Plymouth and Barnstable state Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Susan Moran. Moran, a Democrat, announced in November that she would not run for re-election. MacRae, 50, a Bourne School Committee member, is seeking the Republican nomination in the Sep. 3 primary. She’ll face off against State Rep. Matt […]
Posted inEducation
‘You need tissues at these ceremonies’
Josh Charpentier beams as he watches his students enter the room for a rehearsal just prior to the main event: their graduation from high school. Charpentier, co-founder and co-director of Plymouth’s Map Academy Charter School, talks them through the upcoming ceremony: giving roses to those who have come to celebrate with them, bringing their loved […]
Posted inGovernment
Two finance committee members quit over handling of vote on homeless shelter
Plans for a $7 million shelter to house up to 26 families in the Plymouth Industrial Park brought long-simmering tensions to a boil during a Plymouth Advisory and Finance Committee meeting Wednesday evening. By the end of the marathon session, two committee members had resigned in protest of how the meeting was conducted. The Plymouth […]
Posted inGovernment
As expected, Muratore announces bid for state Senate
State Rep. Matt Muratore, a Plymouth Republican, made official his long-expected announcement that he is running for the state Senate, during an event at the 1620 Winery at Cordage Park Tuesday. Muratore, 62, is running to succeed Susan Moran, a Falmouth Democrat, who is not running for re-election to the Plymouth and Barnstable seat. […]
Posted inCulture
As Israel-Gaza conflict rages, Chabad of the South Shore hopes to foster community
A new Jewish community center has opened in downtown Plymouth amid the increasing antisemitism that has surfaced nationwide since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. “Especially with what is going on in Israel, people are looking and wanting to be part of a community,” said Rabbi Levi Lezell, who leads Chabad of the South […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Plymouth Public House, Tavern on the Wharf hit with huge labor law fines
The owners of the Plymouth Public House and Tavern on the Wharf restaurants have been fined nearly half a million dollars for violating state labor laws. Peter Lucido and Paul Tupa have been ordered pay a total of $476,351 in civil penalties and in restitution for violating child labor, sick time, wage and hour compensation, […]
Posted inGovernment
‘She’s not supposed to be here’
In October, the Planning Board suspended member Birgitta Kuehn from being its representative on the Community Preservation Committee. Nonetheless, Kuehn showed up at Thursday night’s meeting to take a seat at the board’s table. Her presence set off fireworks. Kuehn was determined to defend what she says is her right to serve on the committee. […]
Posted inGovernment
By a narrow margin, voters reject ban on nip sales
Plymouth residents who prefer drinking their alcohol by the nip will not have to drive to neighboring towns to buy one after voters narrowly overturned a ban on the tiny containers that was approved by Town Meeting in October. After a long and often heated campaign by opponents and proponents of a prohibition on the […]