Town officials have closed Memorial Hall until early next week, when they expect to receive test results from an air quality sample taken July 10, a week after dust was created when a contractor removed a cement covering on a wall. The closure means the relocation of a national dance contest, Take Centerstage Dance Challenge, […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inBusiness
Can downtown Plymouth become more like Portsmouth?
Plymouth’s downtown and waterfront businesses are putting together a plan that they hope will persuade residents and visitors to spend more time and money in the district. Their pitch comes as the town is preparing to launch a major transformation of Court and Main streets aimed at making downtown more resilient to climate change and […]
Posted inCulture
Plymouth’s Brazilian residents live in fear
From a squat gray brick building on Castle Street in North Plymouth, Pastor Gessuy Freitas leads a congregation of about 100 at the First Brazilian Baptist Church of Plymouth. The congregation has been roiled by recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, leaving families frightened, and wondering what will happen next. Freitas said that 90 percent […]
Posted inBusiness
Outdoor dining drops off the menu for downtown restaurants
Outdoor dining was a savior for downtown restaurants during the pandemic, attracting patrons who didn’t want to eat indoors because of Covid and bringing a lively spirit to the district during otherwise bleak times. Many thought it was here to stay. Apparently not. Five years later, not a single business will offer outdoor dining in […]
Posted inGovernment
‘No Kings’ rally draws a large, boisterous crowd
Hundreds of charged-up protesters gathered on Coles Hill and around Plymouth Rock on a gray Saturday to demonstrate against President Trump and his polices, taking part in a wave of similar “No Kings” events held in cities and towns in Massachusetts and across the country. They were protesting, among other things, the detention of Plymouth […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board’s Cedarville meeting attracts a crowd
Residents packed the Cedarville Fire Station Tuesday evening for the first in a series of Select Board meetings to be held in Plymouth’s neighborhoods, starting with those farthest from Town Hall. “I wanted, personally, to come to Cedarville first because I know that Cedarville often feels ignored and not heard by people at 26 Court […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
ICE arrests in Plymouth upend lives, raise concerns
Josiana Cruz Silva has been crying and praying since her husband was plucked off a Plymouth street by ICE agents last month. After being taken to Burlington, and then back to Plymouth, Daniel Nogueira Capuzzo, 39, was moved to Arizona. Now he’s being held in Colorado, where, Silva said, her husband is surrounded by criminals. […]
Posted inEducation
At Hedge, diversity and community thrive while immigration fears swirl around it
It is the town’s oldest school, built in 1910, a place that has educated generations of immigrants, including some of Plymouth’s newest residents. For many of its students, English is not their first language. Two thirds of them come from low-income households, compared with 31 percent townwide. “We have families that have been in North […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Last call at White Horse: A ramshackle bar is finally razed
The squat, weather worn shack at the beachfront on Taylor Avenue that once housed the Full Sail bar finally came down on Monday in front of about a dozen spectators. During its heyday in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the tiny lounge – perched on the edge of White Horse Beach – was home to a […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
ICE agents cause a stir in North Plymouth
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descended on North Plymouth early Friday morning in a surprise visit that Police Chief Dana Flynn said raised safety concerns and Select Board Chair Kevin Canty called “unacceptable.” It is unclear what or who ICE was looking for, but Flynn said he was unaware of any arrests. In a […]