Plymouth residents hunkered down as the town was battered by a historic storm bringing high winds, heavy snow and whiteout conditions Monday. Thousands of residents sheltered in their homes without electricity or heat. Plymouth was one of the Massachusetts towns worst hit by power outages. As of 4:37 p.m. Monday, Eversource reported 26,372 Plymouth customers […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Ban on potent nicotine pouches takes effect April 1
The most highly potent forms of nicotine pouches sold over the counter will be banned April 1 in Plymouth, making it the latest Massachusetts community to halt their sale. In a unanimous vote by the Plymouth Board of Health on Wednesday, any retail pouches containing more than 6 milligrams of nicotine will no longer be […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board recommends bylaw to restrict ICE
Unsatisfied with a decision to leave the town’s immigration enforcement policy solely in the hands of police, a group of Plymouth citizens is petitioning to enact a new bylaw at Town Meeting. More than a dozen residents seeking to codify a policy prohibiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement turned out at Tuesday’s meeting […]
Posted inGovernment
Golden announces Republican bid for state representative
Less than two years after his election to the Select Board, David Golden is looking ahead to the next step in his political career. He is running in the Sept. 1 Republican primary for state representative in the 1st Plymouth district, which includes the entire town, except for downtown, North Plymouth, and part of West […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Study to measure radiation levels around Pilgrim site
A Harvard University professor whose team recently published a study on the cancer risks near nuclear plants has been tapped to conduct a federally funded effort to measure radiation surrounding the decommissioned nuclear power plant. The research team – led by Petros Koutrakis, professor of environmental sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Select Board rejects advisory committee on wastewater plan
The recommendation of a citizens advisory committee to torpedo controversial plans to change the way Plymouth disposes of its wastewater was itself rejected by the Select Board on Tuesday. The Wastewater Groundwater Discharge Citizens Advisory Committee – appointed by the Select Board in 2024 to investigate and recommend a solution on how to dispose of […]
Posted inGovernment
Piled snow, covered sidewalks draw ire from downtown residents
Responding to criticism from residents and business owners about what they say was a plodding snow removal effort this week, Plymouth officials cited a reduction in manpower and a “historic” 22-inch snowfall as among the reasons. Bill Coyle, the town’s director of the Department of Public Works, told the Independent his department is down roughly […]
Posted inEducation
Wandering kindergartner prompts tighter security
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 […]
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 […]