Whitman-Hanson Express

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Grants prep new work force

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HANOVER — Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and state Secretary of Education James Peyser toured electrical and machine engineering shops at South Shore Vo-Tech Thursday, May 12 to get a first-hand look at how state vocational grants are being used.

The school was one of 35 districts to receive a combined $9.2 million in Mass. Skills Capital Grants in February. SSVT received $231,419 of the grant money.

Polito and Peyser chatted with students working on final projects in an engineering class, as well as those at work on precision manufacturing machines and 3-D printers.

Alex McPherson of Hanson, for example, was working to create injection molds for the electronics department designed by the drafting shop. Dylan Key, also of Hanson, explained 3-D printing in the electrical engineering shop.

“It prints in polymer, so you can print in multiple types of materials,” Key said, passing around examples. “This shows how precise that can be.”

Polito and Peyser were impressed with what they saw.

“For an employer that has machines like this in their industry, having people with the skills he just described is very valuable,” Polito said after McPherson’s demonstration.

“There are employers that are working directly with the school and the students through co-ops and through shared work spaces — and making sure they have jobs available to these students when they graduate,” she said after the tour. “This is truly a workforce development intiative. It’s something that’s working.”

Joined by several state representatives from SSVT’s eight sending towns — including state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, whose district includes Hanson — as well as municipal officials, Polito and Peyser were guided by SSVT officials.

“I was very impressed with the level of skill and the equipment that they used, and how many high-performance tasks they can do with them,” said Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam. “It’s really an impressive place.”

Officials had the chance to speak with students in the three shops before taking part in a round table discussion in the school’s Brass Lantern Restaurant.

“They know that we’ve been the recipient of several competitive grants for engineering and manufacturing programs,” said Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas Hickey about the visit Polito and Peyser requested. “The purpose of today’s visit is to give them a chance to see where engineering and manufacturing are thriving in the school.”

The programs toured have benefited from both state grants as well as Mass. Life Sciences grants.

“There’s no replacement for seeing first-hand how the kids are using the equipment to advance their skills,” Polito said, noting the grants also help students seeking to advance to college engineering programs.

“There are thousands of young people who are on waiting lists to get into programs like this one,” Peyser agreed. “By investing in the equipment that is necessary to run these programs, we’re not only improving the quality of the programs themselves, bringing them into line with current industry standards, but we’re also increasingly providing access to more and more students.”

After the tour, Polito noted that she and Gov. Charlie Baker have placed a high value on vocational education, terming it a “real gem” within the K-12 public school system. Business leaders also stress to them the importance of trained employees, she said.

“We have a skills gap here in Massachusetts and in order to close that skills gap we need to ramp up the vo-tech experience for more kids,” Polito said. “One of the ways we’re doing that is through the vo-tech equipment grants.”

Hickey has said SSVT’s grant is being used to purchase Cyber Security training equipment for computer information technology, a new surface grinder for precision machine technology and much more.

An Economic Development Bill also aims to provide $75 million more toward equipment purchases by the state’s vocational schools, according to Polito. Hickey, meanwhile, is also hoping the state’s commitment extends to building funds as another way to bring in the students on the waiting lists Peyser mention.

“[The tour] also gives me the opportunity to dialog on what some of the needs are for vocational education at  South Shore,” Hickey said, gesturing toward 15-year-old modular classrooms visible through the window of the school library. “I’m thrilled that the Baker administration is going to support vocational tools in the area of equipment, but the time will come where we’re going to need support for building and infrastructure.”

The original portion of the SSVT building was constructed in 1962.

When Maura went missing

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In 2011, an out-of-work journalist named  James Renner began searching for Maura Murray.

While he didn’t find her, he has drawn his own conclusions about her disappearance and, in the process of writing a book, he has found himself while getting “lost” in the case.

The book, “True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray,” [Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 280 pages, $25.99 hardcover] goes on sale Tuesday, May 24.

“It’s been a long time coming, for sure,” Renner said last week. “I hope the book eventually brings some sort of closure to Maura’s case. At the very least, I think it will advance the story and bring up some new clues and information.”

The same week Facebook was launched in 2004, Murray disappeared. Renner has termed the case one of the first unsolved mysteries of the social media age.  In fact, he leaned heavily on a small army of Internet sleuths — which he dubbed My Baker Street Irregulars, after the poor street kids who fed information to Sherlock Holmes. Renner’s Irregulars lived online, reading blogs, surfing sites and even trolling him. They helped pose questions, interpret information and notice overlooked clues.

The trolls also second-guessed him, sniped at his plans to write a book and, in one case, cyber-stalked him. Maura’s father Fred did not cooperate with Renner on the book.

At the time Murray vanished on Feb. 9, 2004, Renner was a reporter for alternative weeklies in northeastern Ohio. By 2009, the fallout from his coverage of an Ohio state senator at the center of a sex scandal had cost him his job and he was looking for a new story.

True crime seemed a natural draw for him.

At age 11 he had fallen in love with the photo of missing Amy Mihaljevic. The obsession led him to his career as an investigative journalist and a struggle with PTSD. By 2011, Renner told his counselor he was ready to delve into another mystery.

The new mystery he was ready for was Maura Murray. While conducting his investigation, there were mysteries in his own life to confront: the truth about his grandfather, the violent tendencies his son was beginning to display and Renner’s own impulses.

Chapters in “True Crime Addict” jump between Murray and Renner’s own demons — “Being a true crime addict is not a good thing and  I learned this the hard way,” as he says.Renner spoke about the book with the Express by phone from his Cleveland home on Friday, May 13.

Q: Why the Maura Murray case?

A: “I was looking around for a big case, something national. I was a reporter in Cleveland for about seven or eight years and I had written about some famous cases from the northeast Ohio region. I looked around for a while — I’m always drawn to the cases that are difficult, if not impossible, to solve. What I find interesting is that it’s actually kind of a double mystery. Number one, what happened to Maura, but number two is, what was she doing in the White Mountains to begin with? I think if you can find the answer to one of those questions, you’ll get very close to the solution to the other question. I think I have an answer as to what was she doing in the White Mountains. I believe she was running away, I believe she was looking to start a new life and to put the people that treated her wrongly in her rear-view and not look back.

Q: It seems certain that people will read it expecting some kind of break in the case. What do you want readers to get out of it?

A: “I think there are quite a few new pieces of information in the book and new clues. I think the takeaway here is that Maura, like everyone else, was very complicated. She had her secrets, she had her skeletons and the question is whether or not those contributed to what happened. I think for sure they did. There were some things that hadn’t been reported — the fact that when she disappeared, she was in trouble for credit card fraud and identity theft.”

Q: What were your reasons for being so frank about your own family’s past?

A: “I wanted to explore why I was so fascinated with these true crime cases and what led me into that career as a true crime writer. That made me take a good, hard look at my own life and, of course, looking at it objectively now, I can see that the story about my grandfather and who he was — what he did and how I learned about all that when I was 11 years old — certainly had an impact. All these bad guys that I’ve been chasing after since I was 11, they’re my grandfather. I could never go after him, so I looked elsewhere. As I was uncovering Maura and her personal demons I thought it was only fair to share mine as well.”

Q: How do you think Maura’s case has been handled?

A: I think the police did their due diligence. When they found her car up there, it certainly looked like a DUI. The car had run into a snow bank, there was wine spilled on the inside … they see that kind of thing all the time, so I think they treated it correctly at the time. Now, a day later when the owner hadn’t come to collect the car and they start to put together that it was Maura who was driving, then it becomes a missing persons case. The [N.H.] State Police were actually in the air with helicopters. … The family’s always been critical of them, but I think they did all right.”

Q: How do you assess your methodology? Would you have approached it differently if you had it to do again?

A: “Looking back I think it happened organically, the way it was supposed to. These pieces are always different. The family could have been more helpful. Fred was the first person I contacted indirectly and he made it clear through family members that he did not want a book written about this case, so that was always a difficulty. But over the course of a few years I did manage to speak with every member of the Murray family except for Fred.”

Q: You describe this as the first major missing person case of the social media age — has social media really been any help or does it do more to hinder cold cases like this?

A: “It’s certainly a double-edged sword. Social media is more helpful to these cold cases than anything, the fact that you can reach practically every person on the planet. You can get the information out to anybody and they can, in turn, find you. It’s a wonderful tool for journalism. With that also comes the anonymity of the Internet and that allows these dangerous people to mask themselves and threaten you from afar. It’s the worst of the worst and the best of the best.”

Q: How can social media be better used in crime investigation?

A: “I think police should be using social media. In fact over the last year or two, the U.S. Marshals have reached out to me and asked me to help them with getting some of the cold cases they’ve worked on out into social media through Reddit and Twitter, online message boards and things like that. So I know bigger agencies are really paying attention to it and trying to use it as a tool for investigation, too. It’s remarkable what’s possible with it.”

Q: Your title: “True Crime Addict” — does it still apply? Toward the end of the book it seemed you might be turning away from all that.

A: This is the last big crime story I’ll work on, at least for the foreseeable future until my kids are grown up. It does take you to a dark place and what I’ve discovered through the course of this book is the fact that I was addicted to true crime, not just true crime, but “addict” extends to my own life, the fact that I learned through the course of this that I was an alcoholic, I was addicted to prescription medication. These true crime stories are and addiction, just like anything else. Once you realize that it’s unhealthy, then you need to start taking action and get it out of your life.”

Q: What’s next for you?

A: “I’m concentrating on novels and screenplays. I’m adapting my first novel (“The Man From Primrose Lane”) into a television series right now. It’s a murder mystery about an out-of-work reporter who tries to solve an old cold case — write what you know.”

Hanson holds candlelight vigil in memory of student

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Hanson Community members are sponsoring a candlelight vigil in memory of Hanson Middle School eighth-grader Samuel P. Andrews, 14, at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, May 15 at Hanson Town Hall. Sam died unexpectedly Wednesday. The vigil follows scheduled visiting hours at Blanchard Funeral Chapel in Whitman, which will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Samuel P. Andrews, 14, Hanson Middle School student

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Samuel P. Andrews, 14, of Hanson died on May 11, 2016. He was born March 5, 2002. Sam was the loving son of Philip J. Andrews of Hanson, Melissa M. Andrews and her partner Jared Royse of Chelmsford. He also leaves behind his loving sister Abigail Andrews of Hanson and his younger siblings, Logan Gonyea, Ella and Jay Royse of Chelmsford.

Sammy was an eighth grader at Hanson Middle School.

He was a rambunctious boy that loved riding ATVs, dirt bikes and an occasional lawn mower. He took many family trips to Vermont. Most recently he went on an RV trip across the Southwest states. As most kids his age, he liked playing video games, hanging out with his friends and country music. He was known to have an ungoverned sense of humor. He was happy and proud to be a trusted helper to his grandmother and especially being rewarded with a brownie (without nuts) or a very large bowl of ice cream.

Sammy’s presence brought true joy to everyone who loved him, a sensitive soul who asked for so little but gave so very much.

In addition to his parents and siblings, he leaves by his grandmothers: Phyllis M. Andrews of Hanson, Sandra Andrade of New Bedford and many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Visiting hours will be held from 2 to 6 p.m., on Sunday, May 15 in the Blanchard Funeral Chapel, Plymouth Street (Route 58 at the rotary) Whitman. His funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, May 16 in the Chapel.  Following the service, Sammy will be laid to rest beside his Grandpa at Fern Hill Cemetery in Hanson.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Sam’s honor to Samaritanshope.org.

For online condolences and directions visit blanchardfc.com.

Hanson Youth Cheer registration and tryout

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Hanson Youth Cheer will hold registration and tryout sessions from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17 and Wednesday, May 18 at Hanson Middle School. Come learn to cheer and dance.

Evaluations will be held as follows on Thursday, May 19: Mites from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.; Pee-Wees from 6:30 to 7 p.m. and Midgets from 7 to 7:45 p.m.

Board approves talks with Verizon

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WHITMAN — Selectmen have authorized Town Administrator Frank Lynam to approach Verizon about negotiating an extension of fiber-optic cable television service to Whitman under a secondary cable license.

If successful it would mean an added option to, not a replacement of, Comcast service in town. The current contract between the town and Comcast expires in 2022.

“We have a license with Comcast,” Lynam said. “Verizon has not indicated any interest in coming to Whitman since we last met about seven years ago.”

That position might be changing.

“They have begun build-outs,” Lynam said of Verizon. “So I would like to approach Verizon, rather than waiting for them to get to us and perhaps offer some inducements to come up with a plan to provide fiber-optic service in Whitman.”

He required the board’s permission to begin that process.

Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci asked if there would be continued financial support for Whitman-Hanson Community Access Television’s studio. Lynam said WHCA is funded by access fees paid by cable customers channeled through Comcast.

“Obviously, if we bring another cable company into Whitman, we would have to provide some accommodation and we would expect them to provide similar services in terms of public access,” he said.

Verizion would eventually have to apply for a license, with Selectman required to hear their application and issue public notice.

In other business, Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski reminded Whitman residents of the May 21 annual Town Election and the important override question on the ballot.

“I think we have to think long and hard about spending the money to take care of our schools better than we’re taking care of them now,” Kowalski said. “As I said at the Town Meeting, we’ve done really well in this town getting through an economic downturn. We haven’t let people go, we’ve been able to treat our firemen and our policemen well … I don’t know if we can say the same thing about the schools.”

Kowalski said it is time to think about changing that pattern where the schools are concerned. He and Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci also credited the Finance Committee, led by people like chairman William Capocci, stepping down after 22 years, and Don Hunt, leaving after serving 23 years, as well as Lynam’s efforts in managing the town’s finances. Whitman has the lowest tax rate in the immediate area right now.

“It’s time to do all right by the kids,” Kowalski said. “I was thinking today how important my teachers were … you spend so much time from age 5 or 6 to 17 with a special group of people who could use our support.”

Lynam noted that teachers, such as his daughter in-law, spend hours before and after school hours in unpaid preparation.

“A teacher’s job doesn’t begin when they walk into the school and it doesn’t end when they go home,” he said.

The override, if successful in Whitman, is good until the tax rate is set in the fall, according to Lynam. Should one town pass it and the other reject it, it fails by default unless the other town revotes before that time.

“I think the most confusing situation will be if one town passes and one doesn’t,” he said. “That would be breaking new ground.”

Lynam also expressed appreciation for the work done at Town Meeting, May 2.

“I am extremely thankful that we completed Town Meeting in one night with very little controversy,” Lynam said.

“And keeping democracy safe in Whitman,” Kowalski said.

“So I hear,” Lynam replied.

Memorial Day events outlined

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With Memorial Day just two and a half weeks away, veterans’ organizations are finalizing plans for parades in both towns.

Ahead of the Monday, May 30 observances, Boy and Girl Scout troops will be placing flags on veterans’ graves and Whitman’s Duval School will be holding its annual “We Remember Ceremony” on Friday, May 27. Duval pupils, their families and school staff will gather in the school gym at 9:30 a.m., along with invited town officials, veterans and members of the Duval family, for a program of patriotic music, student poetry and honors for deceased veterans.

On Memorial Day itself, parades and memorial ceremonies for those fallen in service to country are the focus of a morning full of events.

The 149th annual Whitman Memorial Day Parade forms at 8:45 a.m. at the corner of Park Avenue and Court Street. The parade steps off at 9:30 a.m.

Marchers make their way along South Avenue to the Town Hall for ceremonies at the Honor Roll and then up Temple Street to the World War I Memorial Arch and then along a route to Colebrook Cemetery for ceremonies followed by programs at the Whitman Park flag pole, the Civil War Soldiers Monument and at the Veterans Monument for All Wars near the park pond for concluding ceremonies.

In Hanson, units including the WHRHS marching band, veterans’ groups, color guards, civic leaders, antique cars, horse, clowns and youth groups gather at Indian Head School for a ceremony and 10 a.m. parade start.

The parade heads down Liberty Street to the Town Hall green for ceremonies at the Civil War Monument, after which the parade re-forms and proceeds to Fern Hill Cemetery for the main presentation ceremonies and a keynote address. Hanson’s parade and related events conclude at 11 a.m.

Hanson Scouts are scheduled to place flags on veterans’ graves on Tuesday, May 17 at Fern Hill. Should a flag and/or appropriate marker be missed, families of veterans are asked to call the Veterans’ Agent at 781-293-2772 after May 17 so arrangements may be made.

The Hanson Veterans’ Services office reminds families of deceased veterans that they are eligible to receive, at no cost, a printed Presidential Memorial Certificate, a plastic grave marker commemorating the era and conflict in which the veteran served, and either an upright headstone or flat grave marker commemorating the veteran’s service branch, name, rank, birth date and year of death. For more information, contact the Hanson Veterans’ Agent.

LAST CALL!!!!

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Thursday, May 12, at 2 p.m. was the last day to submit for letters to the editor in regard to the annual town elections on Saturday, May 21.

Hitting their Stride

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Behind a first-place finish from Senior Captain Samantha Coletti and juniors Alexandra Santos, Lily Nolan and Olivia Morse in the Sprint Medley Relay, the Panthers finished 12th in the Sunday, May 1 Division 2 Relay Meet at Marshfield High School.  Coletti (1,200) combined with junior Lily Perkins and senior captains Jill O’Leary (800) and Abbie Newman (mile) to take fourth place in the distance medley.  Santos, Perkins and senior Olivia Reed took fifth place in the long jump.

The girls’ track & field team improved to 2-1 with a 99-28 win over Quincy at home on Tuesday, May 3. Junior Alexandra Santos with wins in the long jump (16′) and the 100 dash (12.4), along with a second-place finish in the 400 (62.5), and freshman Dorothy Donohue with wins in the 100 hurdles (17.5) and triple jump (31′ 5″) and a second place in the High Jump (4′ 4″) led the way. Other double winners included Senior Captain Samantha Coletti in the 400 (60.1) and 400 hurdles (69.0) and sophomore Julia Cosgrave in the 2 mile (13:38) and discus (48′ 10″.)

The boys’ track team dropped its meet to Plymouth North 94-42 Thursday, April 28. Whitman-Hanson winners were: Matt Evans in the shot put (second in discus), Riley Holland in the discus (second in shot put), Pat Duffey at 800 meters (third in discus and the mile) Dan Cashman had a great day placing second in the high jump, triple jump and was third in the 100.

Whitman-Hanson bounced back Tuesday, May 3, beating Quincy 89-47 as eight W-H boys won events on the way to their first victory of the season.

Winners for W-H were: Shane Walsh in the 100, Bryce Pulkinen in the mile, Billy Martell in the 400, Hurdles Josh Prevetti at 100 hurdles, Pat Duffey in the 800, Lucas Muscoso at two miles, Brian Edwards in the high jump and Dan Vanemringe in the triple jump.

The girls’ track team traveled to Silver Lake High School Thursday April 28, losing to Plymouth North High School by a score of 96-40.  Senior Captain Samantha Coletti won both the 400 meter hurdles (1:06.8) and 800 meters (2:20) in the losing effort, while Plymouth North standouts Jordan Callahan and Jackie Sullivan led the Plymouth North squad. W-H’s Alexandra Santos was also impressive winning the 100 meter sprint (12.6) and taking second place in both the 200 (26.9) and long jump (16′ 1″.)

Hanson voters support Maquan roof repairs

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HANSON — In a Town Meeting that impressed even Town Moderator Sean Kealy with its smooth going, Hanson voters acted on 37 articles in less than two hours Monday, May 2 — with no discussion at all on the W-H regional school budget or override articles.

“This is great,” Kealy said at one point, urging the crowd to attend more town meetings.

After the meeting, School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said he was not surprised by the lack of discussion on the school articles.

“It was pretty much cut-and-dried [as to] what it was going to do,” he said. “It’s got to go to the vote, and that’s what everybody wanted, anyway. The people of Hanson have always been good to the school district.”

Kealy had explained that the individual expenditures involved in the Student Success budget, listed in the warrant and read aloud by Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young, would not be a subject for debate.

“We don’t have control over it,” Kealy said. “We either give them the money, or we don’t give them the money.”

He explained School Committee meetings are open to the public and concerns could be expressed directly to them. Young also outlined that Article 6 appropriates the funds, but the ballot question must authorize spending.

After the article passed without discussion, resident Joseph O’Sullivan sought reconsideration in the hope that his motion would fail. Kealy asked for his reason, explaining the Hanson Town Meeting tradition required a “compelling reason,” such as correcting a mistake in wording or calculation.

“We have never done it to close out an issue,” Kealy said. “I do not want to set that precedent, so is there a compelling reason other than you just want no monkey business later on?”

“I want no monkey business later on,” said O’Sullivan, withdrawing his motion.

Kealy reported there were 268 voters present when the Town Meeting began at 7:40 p.m. The 10-minute delay was allowed so that people still in line to sign in by the 7:30 start time could do so. A few more voters arrived after Town Meeting convened.

The town’s free cash balance at the beginning of the special Town Meeting, which was conducted first, was $885,030.

One article that received some unexpected debate within the special Town Meeting was a proposal to spend $3,000 from free cash to pay for a person to come in and scan oversized Planning Board documents onto a digital format. The program was begun last year,

New resident David Pell of 33 Great Cedar Drive asked why the town didn’t buy its own scanner, which could save money in the long run.

“We’re paying $3,000 on an ongoing basis,” Pell said. “I think it would be cheaper if we bought ourselves a printer.”

Capital Improvement Committee Chairman John Norton pointed out that the town owns such a printer. The Historical Society worked with the Community Preservation Committee to obtain one, which is housed at the Hanson Public Library.

“If they walk over to the library, they can save $3,000,” he said. On a counted vote of 172-84, the Town Meeting took Norton’s advice and rejected the Planning Board’s article.

“Once again, welcome to town,” Kealy said to Pell with a laugh after the unanticipated exchange.

Discussion also cropped up in the annual Town Meeting regarding  the Maquan School roof repair project under Captial Improvement projects on which there had been a hold placed by selectmen until the board’s pre-Town Meeting session .

Selectman James McGahan, in a meeting of the Board of Selectmen prior to Town Meeting, advocated leaving the figure at $322,000 in case the roof repair came in higher than the current estimates received from Gale Engineering.

“We expect this price to be less, but any difference between the price [goes] back into free cash,” McGahan said at the time, and repeated his reasoning during the Town Meeting session.

Young had argued for reducing it to $150,000. Hayes agreed with McGahan’s approach.

“Another issue to think about is we have to do this work in the summer,” Hayes said during the selectmen’s meeting, cautioning that under-funding the project could delay it because additional funding would have to wait for the October special Town Meeting. “If we can’t do it in the summer, we’re back to the next summer.”

One resident asked how the animal control officers’ hours, which she found inadequate, could be increased. Kealy and selectmen pointed out that, as a regional service, changes would have to be negotiated with partner communities Whitman and Abington. It was one of only four minor questions asked about the $22,621,024 budget article.

“It almost seemed too easy to get through that article compared to previous years,” Kealy said. “It might seem easy, but it’s not. It took a lot of effort by the Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen with the help of all the town departments, the school board — a lot of work went into this and it’s really a testament to their hard work that we were able to do this so smoothly.”

Town Meeting also gave unanimous support to the establishment of a Memorial to John Ferry at the intersection of Winter and Liberty streets, also voting to support the expenditure of $2,000 for a marker there.

Veterans’ Agent Bob Arsenault said the highly decorated WWII veteran was worthy of the honor, not only for his wartime service to country, but also for a lifetime of service to community.

“John did many things for many people,” Arsenault said. “He was a quiet one. … Many people, for one reason or another, couldn’t afford to have their vehicles fixed. … John would put it on the cuff.”

He also said that Ferry was known to provide reconditioned used cars to some residents who could not afford to buy a car.

“He loved the town of Hanson and I think this is only appropriate for us to do for him,” Arsenault said, indicating a dedication ceremony is being planned for early September.

Public information

Voters were also given questionnaires on open space use preferences from the Conservation Commission prior to checking in at Town Meeting and a demonstration of electronic voting devices was also presented in the Hanson Middle School lobby.

“I’m not quite sure whether I’m in favor or opposed to [electronic voting] at this point,” said Kealy about the work of the special committee he appointed to report back to him, selectmen and the Finance Committee at the end of the year or sooner.