Like the Red Sox spring lineup, the roster for the next Plymouth Select Board is in soft focus. Whether it looks like a winning season ahead depends on your political perspective. For those keeping score at home, five candidates are competing for two seats on the five-member board. Incumbents Kevin Canty and Dick Quintal are […]
Author Archives: Mark Pothier - Independent Staff
Posted inCulture
Thomas Dolby is drawn to the ‘next new thing.’ It’s bringing him to Plymouth.
Thomas Dolby is coming to the Spire Center for the Arts? Along with longtime David Bowie bass player and singer Gail Ann Dorsey? Am I reading this correctly? That was my reaction to seeing the listing for Dolby’s (sold out) April 14 show at the 280-seat downtown venue. His biggest hits, “She Blinded Me With […]
Posted inReal Estate Sales
Just 42 homes sold in Plymouth last month
There’s no way to take the chill off this: Last month’s local real estate market was in a deep freeze. No, it wasn’t because of the February blizzard – the effects of that storm on home sale closings won’t show until April or May – but the snow and cold certainly didn’t help motivate people […]
Posted inGovernment
Charges fly in Select Board race
The way Dick Quintal tells it, Select Board candidate and former Plymouth police officer Scott Vecchi went to Quintal’s produce business recently with a proposition: If Quintal helped him get back on the force, Vecchi would drop out of the race. Quintal, an incumbent up for re-election in May, would face one less competitor, and […]
Posted inGovernment
Out cold: One of Memorial Hall’s boilers has failed
At what point do you stop pouring money into a car with sentimental value and a growing list of problems? It’s not a perfect analogy, but close enough to apply to Memorial Hall. The century-old downtown venue has been decaying for years. I first wrote about its sad state last July, after touring the space […]
Posted inCulture
For once, All Things Plymouth was more than an online cage fight
Facebook’s All Things Plymouth page can feel more like a toxic waste site than community gathering place. With a purported 150,000 “members” – exceeding by two times the total of every adult and child in town – it’s often a steaming caldron of bad grammar stirring hate, ignorance, and racism. But last week’s crippling blizzard […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Blizzard bears down on Plymouth
With Plymouth in the crosshairs of a massive nor’easter expected to slam into the coast Sunday night deep into Monday, creating dangerous blizzard conditions, the town has declared a “local weather emergency.” Schools and municipal buildings will be closed Monday, recreation programs and Meals on Wheels deliveries have been cancelled, and a parking ban in […]
Posted inReal Estate Sales
Cold, snowy winter adds an extra chill to the real estate market
As Mick Jagger once sang, “It’s sure been a long, cold winter.” And that’s not conducive to buying or selling a home. But people who are looking to cut a deal this time of year are generally “motivated” – they need or want to sell for a variety of reasons. So while there may not […]
Posted inNews Analysis
When a private property becomes a public problem
Almost every Plymouth neighborhood has a home or business in disrepair no one seems to care about. From trash-strewn yards to sagging siding to rusting cars propped on blocks, they are the definition of blight. But the stories behind them can be nuanced. Maybe they’re the result of financial hardship or illness, physical and mental. […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
More snow, another parking ban
Light snow began falling mid-morning Saturday, in sync with the start of another parking ban in the downtown and North Plymouth areas. With a fast-moving Alberta Clipper system expected to drop between 5 and 8 inches of snow on Plymouth Saturday – followed by extreme cold for the rest of the weekend – the town […]