When is Plymouth going to get a Trader Joe’s? That question has probably been asked more times than there are O’s in a box of Joe’s O’s. It popped into my mind the other day as I glanced at a sad display of Stop & Shop strawberries – $9.99 for one measly package of off-season […]
Author Archives: Mark Pothier - Independent Staff
Posted inWe Have Questions
The privilege and pain of being a veterinarian
When our golden doodle died a few weeks into the Covid lockdown, my wife and I grieved in isolation. Norm Stillman rescued us from despair. At the time, the Plymouth veterinarian owned Court Street Animal Hospital, which he opened in April 2005 and sold in December 2020. He tirelessly tended to pets and their owners […]
Posted inBusiness Beat
How many self-storage businesses does Plymouth need?
For months, I wondered what the building going up at the intersection of Commerce Way and Resnick Road might be. An office complex? A manufacturing plant that would create good-paying jobs? A – gasp! – tech startup incubator? Then came the big reveal: Another self-storage facility. What a letdown. The national company’s warehouse – with […]
Posted inCulture
High and mighty: Inside (and on top of) the Spire renovation project
From the perspective of passersby, the restoration project underway at the Spire Center for Performing Arts has transformed the downtown building itself into an outdoor art installation. The former synagogue, with its striking steeple, has been surrounded by scaffolding wrapped in green mesh for months, evoking the monumental works of the artist Christo. The 25 […]
Posted inBusiness
Have an Atrius appointment on or after Feb. 5? You might want to read this.
The doctor will see you soon – at a new location. That will be the case for nearly 30,000 Atrius Health patients in Plymouth and throughout the region as the health care provider’s planned consolidation of medical and other services now has a start date. Atrius on Saturday began informing patients that its previously announced […]
Posted inBusiness Beat
Taking on the trouble with tipping
Has tipping reached the tipping point? I’m hardly the first to ask this question. Ever since iPads on swivel mounts began showing up on store counters everywhere, consumers have been under pressure to tip on almost any type of transaction. Here’s your cookie: Please pay me an additional 20 percent to hand it to you. […]
Posted inEducation
‘Welcome to Panther TV’: Watch Plymouth’s South’s journalism students in action
This is the kind of teen screen time that educators and parents will encourage. “Welcome to Panther TV” is an honors English elective class at Plymouth South High School that is totally student driven. They “have the opportunity to learn what it is like to work in a real television newsroom,” says English teacher Tami […]
Posted inWe Have Questions
Ana Walsh gets pumped up about healthy food and happy employees
The first thing to know about Vela Juice Bar is how to pronounce its name – with a soft E, like, fella. The word derives from “velum,” which means “sail of a ship” in Latin. “I wanted something that was different from your typical juice bar,” says Ana Walsh, who earlier this year set sail […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Mother Nature has her way
The howling winds of Monday’s storm, which began raging in the early morning hours and continued into the afternoon, wreaked some havoc around town and made driving tricky, but Plymouth appeared to be largely spared the destruction that the powerful system caused in other parts of New England. Two deaths were reported, including one in […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Georgia man charged with human trafficking after arrest at Colony Place
A Georgia man faces human trafficking charges after two women said the semi-trailer truck driver assaulted them at the Colony Place shopping plaza on Saturday. Plymouth Police said Akeem Shabazz, 27, of Dakula, Georgia, fled the scene in his truck before being pulled over. The women, ages 19 and 20, told police Shabazz picked them […]