What a difference a year makes in local politics. In 2024, only one candidate, David Golden, was on the ballot for Select Board. This year, five people are competing for two seats in the May 14 town election. Charlie Bletzer and John Mahoney are seeking re-election. They face three challengers: Scott Vecchi, Deb Iaquinto, and […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inBusiness
Struggling Mayflower Brewing has tapped a buyer
Amid a wave of consolidation and closings in the craft beer industry, Mayflower Brewing Company – Plymouth’s oldest and largest beer maker – is changing hands. Drew Brosseau said Tuesday that he is selling the business he founded in 2007 to Orleans-based Hog Island Beer Company for an undisclosed sum. But the Mayflower name and […]
Posted inCulture
Trump administration pulls funding for Pilgrim Hall work
In what is the first local example of a wave of federal budget cuts, the Trump administration has revoked a $200,000 grant to Pilgrim Hall Museum that would have supported modernization and preservation of four centuries of documents in its archives that are now housed in deteriorating boxes. In an email, Keith Sonderling, acting director […]
Posted inGovernment
Following Town Meeting vote on guns, Select Board backs off on ballot question
Voters will not be able to weigh in on whether to allow firearms in town-owned buildings and parks after all. By a 5-0 vote, the Select Board Tuesday reversed its earlier decision to put a non-binding referendum on the ballot in the May 17 town election. A yes vote would have supported exempting Plymouth from […]
Posted inGovernment
Krasinski’s ‘Farmhouse,’ which ran afoul of town officials, is for sale
The Farmhouse, a 9.7-acre property in Ellisville that ran afoul of town officials on several occasions over owner Paul Krasinski’s use of buildings to run educational programs without proper permits and in alleged violation of the state’s fire code, is apparently no more. Krasinski, the enigmatic and locally controversial brother of actor John Krasinski, […]
Posted inGovernment
Town Meeting wrap-up: Gun ban stays, Jenney Pond dam gets funding, school building maintenance change rejected.
Town Meeting members Saturday voted by a wide margin to keep in place a ban on firearms in town buildings, playgrounds, and parks, rejecting a call from Police Chief Dana Flynn and Town Manager Derek Brindisi to opt out of a clause in a state law that took effect in October. The spring gathering of […]
Posted inGovernment
Town Meeting preview: Much ado about guns, money for Holtec land, zoning for Costco (maybe), and funding a dam project
Plymouth Town Meeting members have a lot of business to attend to when they gather Saturday morning at Plymouth North High School. Among the issues they will decide starting at 8 a.m. are whether guns should be allowed in town buildings and grounds, whether money should be set to buy land around the former nuclear […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board withdraws its support for allowing firearms in public buildings, parks
Faced with a wave of opposition from residents, the Select Board Tuesday withdrew its earlier support for Police Chief Dana Flynn’s call to opt out of a provision in a state law that prohibits firearms in town-owned or managed buildings, parks, recreational facilities, and other public places. At Tuesday evening’s meeting, Select Board Vice Chair […]
Posted inEducation
Nursing program is critical to health of Quincy College’s Cordage campus
Adam Coste took a roundabout route to nursing. He dropped out of Plymouth North High School in ninth grade, at the age of 16, in 2014. The next year-and-a-half, he said, was a blur. “I was working random jobs, trying to make myself useful in society,” Coste said. Eleven years later, he is one of […]
Posted inGovernment
Why did my property taxes increase by so much?
“How come my property taxes went up by more than 2 ½ percent?” It’s a question heard across Plymouth – and statewide – every time bills are sent out. (The next quarterly payment is due on May 1.) The answer, as you might expect, is complicated. First, Massachusetts’s 45-year-old Proposition 2 ½ law does not […]