Whitman-Hanson Express

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Whitman and Hanson libraries receive bequest

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Whitman and Hanson libraries receive bequest

BROCKTON — Some people may, on occasion, consider taking a walk to their town’s public library — if the weather is nice and it’s not too far — but avid patron Bruno G. Guerra of Hanson thought nothing of walking as much as four miles through the woods to use a library.

The Brockton native used his research at three area libraries to build a healthy stock portfolio and, in his will, shared the dividends.

Brockton, Hanson and Whitman public libraries were each left more than $350,000 for capital projects. Guerra also left funds to Bentley College to endow a scholarship in honor of his wife Marjorie.

All three libraries will also post a memorial plaque to Guerra.

The libraries receiving bequests from Guerra’s estate co-hosted a reception program at the main branch of the Brockton Public Library Sunday afternoon as a thank you to his family.

“He loved the library,” said nephew Barry Guerra. “He loved to read and had a lot of passion for libraries and he had a lot of friends — he just loved to talk to people.”

The libraries loved him back as the advocate for the valuable services libraries continue to provide communities.

“It took a lot of self control on my part to tell nobody for like a year,” Brockton Library Trustees President Fred Howell said of the probate period. “We decided it would be really nice to have an event to memorialize Bruno’s gift to the library systems of Brockton, Hanson and Whitman and to bring his family here to recognize what a wonderful gift this was.”

Library directors were invited to talk about the benefits of the libraries to their communities.

“Libraries are a place that anybody can go to,” Howell said. “It’s just a huge opportunity and a place where you can grow personally.”

Two of Guerra’s friends — Corinne Cafardo of Hanson and Don Karp of Brockton — spoke fondly of their late friend.

“The [Hanson Library] Foundation is overwhelmed by the generous donation made by Bruno Guerra,” said Foundation member Cafardo, a neighbor of Guerra’s. She enjoyed conversations with him about libraries and books he liked to read.

Honoring a friend

After seeing him walking through Whitman one day, Cafardo asked Guerra where he was headed and he told her he often walked the two miles from his house on Holly Ridge Drive in Hanson to the Whitman Library. Agreeing that Whitman’s Library is an excellent facility within easy walking distance, Cafardo also told him about Hanson’s library.

“Then I found out he had walked four and a half miles to the Hanson Library through the woods,” she said. “I had a talk with him about walking through the woods. I didn’t want anything to happen to him. The next I heard, he was walking down Route 58.”

She then had to insist driving was safer.

Cafardo said Bruno believed in the value of public libraries as a means to connect people and foster friendships.

“I will always remember Bruno as a loveable neighbor and friend,” she said, choked with emotion.

Karp, for whose family business — Central Radio Stores — Guerra worked for some 50 years, related how Guerra worked to learn bookkeeping and became a tax preparer.

“His life was centered around the library,” Karp said. “He was a very modest man, not particularly materialistic, he drove old cars because they were imperfect.”

Libraries were Guerra’s Google search engine, he said. He used the library to research companies before making small investments.

“His life centered around the store, his friends, his nephews in particular and the library,” Karp said.

Plans for gift

Hanson Library Director Nancy Cappellini, said Guerra was a very humble man who  is helping enhance the facility. She said his bequest can help her library, built in 1991 and outgrown within four years, to expand.

“Libraries are busier than ever,” she said. “You can find any information you need … it’s a lifeline for most people.”

Whitman’s Assistant Library Director Marcie Walsh-O’Connor said the gift is greatly appreciated by a staff that is as dedicated to the community as Guerra was to libraries.

“It is truly a blessing to have staff and to have a community that cares,” she said, noting the gift will be used to enhance library technology. “Most people no longer have a desktop in their home anymore, so the ability to have brand-new computers in the library to assist them so that the staff can sit with them and show them how to use this lovely gift will be amazing.”

Brockton Library Board of Directors member Mark Lindy added that libraries treat all patrons alike.

“There are no barriers,” he said referring to a 1930s WPA mural on the third floor that calls libraries “the people’s university.”

Physical barriers to the city’s libraries were recently removed through renovations at the main and east branches and Guerra’s gift will be used to help renovate the west branch.

“People that need to seek jobs come here, people that need to learn about the stock market come here … and we’re just happy and pleased that we have all these folks here on a cold winter’s day to keep the library alive,” Lindy said.

Bob Buckley, chief of staff to Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter concluded the program by presenting a citation of appreciation to members of Guerra’s family.

“Municipalities can’t survive without the generosity of people like Bruno Guerra,” he said. “Money is tight, as you all know, we’re battling for every dollar at the state, federal and local level and a gift like this is something that opens doors to people that would [otherwise] be closed forever.”

South Shore Vo-Tech gets budget review

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South Shore Vo-Tech gets budget review

HANOVER — The South Shore Regional School Committee held its annual public hearing on the school budget proposal for fiscal year 2017 — a $12,455,356 spending plan — on Wednesday, Jan. 20. That figure represents a 2.91-percent ($352,203) increase over fiscal 2016.

Preliminary information on town assessments will be available after the governor’s budget is released Wednesday, Jan. 27. The committee will take a vote on certifying the district budget on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Finance committee representatives from Whitman and Scituate attended the Jan. 20 hearing.

SSVT_frontMore than 300 applications were received last year for the school’s 180 seats in the freshmen Class of 2019, according to Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey who called it “one of our strongest years on record.”

Because of the added students, even if assessment formula remains the same, SSVT will have a bigger foundation budget which should bring in more state aid.

“We build a budget zero-based, of course, so each year there are factors that change,” Hickey said.

Within the budget request are:

• $170,000 for capital expenses such as paving, rooftop units, instructional technology and feasibility funds placed in stabilization;

• $175,533 for full-time entrepreneurship and science teachers and a part-time graphics communications position (the latter two now funded by grants) and summer funds for an assistant to the technology director;

• $112,140 for active employee health insurance, a 12-percent increase;

• $1,977,885 — 15.9 percent — of the budget covers health insurance, retirement, debt, unemployment, snow removal and other post-employment benefits (OPEB).

Non-salary budget items are projected to cost less than in fiscal 2016, Hickey said.
“There’s not five cents-worth of fluff in here, so if we don’t have it we don’t get to use it,” said committee Chairman Robert Molla. “We don’t have the ability to go back [to towns] for an override to get more money and we don’t have the ability to go beyond what we have.”

The committee also voted Jan. 20 to resubmit a statement of interest letter to the Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA) to fund building renovation work to the heating system in the original   1962 part of the school and adding on for needed space.

“Whether MSBA invites us into their core program, or not, I want to begin to build toward us eventually having to look at the fact that renovations to the building will need to be done,” Hickey said. “I am very proud of the fact that we do not need a total overhaul of this building.”

In other business, the committee honored Whitman culinary arts senior Connor Christie as Student of the Month and allied health teacher Lynne Ricardo as Staff Member of the Month.

Christie, who plans on attending the Culinary Institute of America next year, was selected “for his overall efforts within the school,” said Assistant Principal Mark Aubrey.

“Many teachers spoke about how hard a worker he is, how willing he is to assist others, I personally say he is a self-learner … which is always a good thing in life,” Aubrey said. “He seeks out additional work to see how it can apply to skills he has learned … and never hesitates to help a peer who might need additional support.”

Christie is also on the management track at McDonalds, a highly competitive industry program, as part of his co-op work.

Ricardo was selected by students during her first year at SSVT on the strength of her inspirational presence in the classroom, according to Principal Margaret Dutch.

“She is very helpful and understanding,” one student reported. “She is a good person to talk to and has a great personality.”

“She is always there for us when we need her,” said another. “She is willing to share her knowledge with us and never fails to put a smile on her students’ faces.”

“It is very easy to talk to her and have a regular conversation instead of the typical teacher-student conversation about school or homework,” another student said.

Dutch also announced an online application for admission to the school has been launched.

“It is posted and we have already started receiving applications from students online,” she said. “It allows students and parents to make that decision at home, to answer those questions together — they’re not doing it at their middle school where they might be writing down what their friends want … and it brings that information directly to us.”

Hanson plans future for Plymouth County Hospital

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Resident members approved for reuse committee as Hanson plans future for Plymouth County Hospital

HANSON — Selectmen got their wish.

After postponing appointment of the two at-large citizen representatives to the Final Plymouth County Hospital Re-use Committee on Jan. 12 in an effort to attract more applicants, they received four more.

Green Hanson founder and chairman Marianne DiMascio and environmental consultant Philip F. Clemons were appointed from a five-person pool that included original applicant and Community Preservation Commission Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. Robert Sutter and town building maintenance employee Brian H. Clemons, both members of the original reuse committee, had also applied. Resident Mark Vess had indicated via email an interest in serving, but selectmen only considered those who had filed applications by Jan. 15.

plymouth_county_hospital“I am an excellent team member and good at consensus building, facilitating discussions and ensuring that all voices are heard,” DiMascio stated in her application. She works in public policy with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Phil Clemons noted his experience with regulatory permitting, environmental compliance, facilities planning and management.

They will join Selectman Don Howard, Planning Board designee Don Ellis and a representative from the Zoning Board of Appeals on the PCH committee.

FitzGerald-Kemmett, who was the only applicant attending the meeting, pledged to attend all reuse committee meetings citing the need for CPC involvement with the project. She supported the appointment of DiMascio.

Selectman James McGahan expressed concern that FitzGerald-Kemmett was already spread thin with her other club and committee work. Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said he would not vote on her nomination — but would not vote against her — noting he backed DiMascio as a new face.

“Laura’s tremendously qualified for this committee,” Young said.  “The only thing I would say is we have a relatively new person here that wants to get involved … I just would like to see a new face on the committee.”

McGahan noted that, in addition to Community Preservation, FitzGerald-Kemmett is also active with the Hanson Business Network, Hanson Kiwanis and Panther Education Trust.

“The only problem I have is the number of committees that [she’s] on,” McGahan said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett countered that she is “very well aware” of her obligations.

“I think I’m really the best judge of what my ability to take on more would be,” she said. “This isn’t a lifetime commitment. This has to be done by Town Meeting.”

Selectmen encouraged her to attend meetings to bring Community Preservation input to the discussion.

“I think, with Laura’s experience with Community Preservation, she would be a valuable asset,” Selectman Kenny Mitchell said in support of her appointment.

The Selectmen also approved the Highway Building Committee’s selection of Weston and Sampson environmental consultants of Boston to conduct a needs assessment, authorizing Interim Town Administrator Richard LaCamera to sign a contract.

“All four of [the interviewing firms] did a real good job — good presentations — but one particular company kind of knocked it out of the park,” Selectmen Bill Scott, who chairs the building committee, said of Weston and Sampson. The firm also came in under budget, bidding $28,000. Town Meeting had appropriated $30,000 for the assessment.

“This company just stood right out,” said Mitchell, who also serves on the building committee. He noted that Weston and Sampson does not subcontract services.

In other business, LaCamera reported on progress with the fiscal 2017 budget. Selectmen were provided budget books for review.

The town has $21,826,000 available for appropriation.

The school budgets for both W-H and South Shore Vo-Tech [see related story] had not been received as yet. W-H rolls out its budget Wednesday, Feb. 3.

The Propostion 2 ½ levy limit would bring in an added $437,000 and new growth accounts for $175,000 — down from $373,000 last year — of available revenues. Gov. Charlie Baker is pledging no cuts to local aid, which would mean Hanson could even see an increase of $50,000 over the current $1,371,000.

“It’s down significantly from last year,” LaCamera said of new growth revenue, because condominiums under construction last year have been completed.

Debt exclusion payments for the new police station ($389,000) and the high school ($347,000) and the first of five payments for school technology ($160,000) must also be calculated into the fiscal 2017 spending plan. Payments for the high school have been reduced by about $20,000 through refinancing and will continue to decline over the remaining 10 years on the bond. The town is also involved in contract negotiations with five unions.

“There is no amount [in the budget] having to do with union negotiations at this point,” LaCamera said.

Legislators and school board discuss Chapter 70 funding

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How it adds up: Legislators and school board discuss Chapter 70 funding

When the W-H Regional School District budget is rolled out Feb. 3, it will consist of two scenarios — one reflecting the increased costs in a level-service budget and one a student-success budget — according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner.

The latter would add $3 million to the level-service budget to bring back cut library and art programs, decrease class size, bolster writing skills and improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) instruction.

“What we’ve been doing in our district planning is looking at where we’ve been, where we are and where we’d like to be three years from now,” Gilbert-Whitner said at the Wednesday, Jan. 13 School Committee meeting. “Clearly, where we are today we’re seeing that revenue has been stagnant but costs that we have no control over continue to increase.”

The School Committee, Hanson Selectmen, teachers’ union members and several concerned residents heard presentations from state representatives Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury and Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, as well as state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton, on how the state calculates aid such as Chapter 70 funds to the district are calculated and affect the budget.

They also touched on the budget impact of unfunded state and federal mandates.

“I don’t think any of us here are comfortable with the lack of full funding for education,” Diehl said. “But the ground beneath us is moving constantly. The Foundation Funding Formula known as Chapter 70 is under review and at the same time we are trying to navigate changes caused by the adoption of Common Core.”

Gov. Charlie Baker’s budget will be delivered to the House at the end of the month on the heels of a second year in which state revenues have failed to meet expenditures, Diehl noted.

There is, for example, only $1.25 billion in the state’s stabilization fund, “a historic low which is below the national average” and affects the state’s credit rating, Diehl added. State borrowing is also nearing its allowed limit.

“All these elements provide a background of uncertainty about the future, but we’re tackling those challenges each and every day to turn it around,” he said.

Most of the discussion was devoted to an effort to explain the Foundation Funding Formula and how it might be changing.

Foundation formula

Currently, the formula includes district enrollment — including demographics, grade level and special education, English proficiency or vocational program involvement as well as income data — factoring in 14 enrollment and 11 program areas. Communities are assigned minimum local contributions to the school budget as well as an “extra local contribution,” or target share. Falling short of the target share can affect the amount of Chapter 70 funds a district receives. Local contributions are based on property values and aggregate resident income.

Hanson’s contribution of $1,322,998 is currently 7.66 percent below target share and Whitman, at $1,170,654 is 4.82 percent short. The district has invited Department of Elementary and Secondary Education representative Melissa King to an upcoming meeting to further explain the Foundation Funding Formula.

“We’re about 1 or 2 percent over the foundation budget, while towns around us were meeting that state pupil average, or getting closer to it, are well above their minimum budget,” said Whitman resident Chris George. “That either comes from state aid — which we know they’re not getting — or it comes from the taxpayers.”

A member of W-H Support Our Schools, he said the choices were to go after other town departments or choose to raise the revenue base.

“It’s time to pay the piper,” George said. “We benefitted for years, we shouldn’t be putting it on the backs of our kids.”

W-H receives the third-highest state reimbursement of the state’s regional schools, but is 29th of 87 regional districts in per-pupil spending — 10th from the bottom in per-pupil expenditures among all state public school districts.

“Whitman and Hanson are both residential communities with very little commercial infrastructure, but we’re weighted the same as a Braintree that has South Shore Plaza,” said School Committee member Fred Small. “We’re weighted the same as Brockton that is a city that has malls and many businesses and a lot of commercial enterprises.”

He said state funds fall short of what the district needs and puts the burden on the back of the taxpayer.

“The one-size-fits-all formula is what’s discouraging,” School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes. “It makes W-H look like they get a lot because [we’re] third in regional schools, but there are other parts of this budget that it fails in. … You can’t just pick a number and say, ‘That’s enough.’”

Hanson Interim Town Administrator Richard LaCamera said the problem has been ongoing for a number of years.

“To funding provided for the W-H Regional School District is  [near] the bottom of the state,” he said. “To think this coming year that we’re going to get a significant increase in state aid, I think, is unlikely.”

All Hanson’s town budgets have been level-funded for fiscal 2017 with only about $650,000 left to spend for all departments, including school assessments.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” he said.

“We’re very aware that W-H gets a significant percentage of its budget from the state,” Gilbert-Whitner said. “We’re also realistic in knowing that’s not going to increase at a level that’s going to solve our problems.”

Her major concern, however, was that regionalization was approved by voters because of the promised state funding as an incentive for it.

“Something was done to W-H at the state level that hasn’t been fixed,” she said. “The towns, I believe, believe in education, but they have revenue issues that have to be addressed.”

Cutler noted that he, Diehl and Brady have all worked in municipal government and understand the challenges and frustrations.

“There’s two issues here,” he said. “One is the size of the budget and how much you get from the state year to year. … The size of the pie we have control over … how the pie gets divvied up is all done by formula.”

Each year, Chapter 70 aid is increased by $25 per pupil for the 201 districts where local contributions do not permit an overall increase in Chapter 70 aid.

Small asked the legislators to work toward increasing that to at least $50 per pupil, but $100 to $200 would really be needed to come closer to closing the gap.

Under-funded
mandate

Diehl also indicated the state has also backed off full transportation reimbursement — now at 66 percent of the WHRSD $1.2 million transportation cost for students living 1.5 miles from school — as a way to force districts to “put skin in the game” and prevent some districts’ practice of billing unworkable bus schedules to the state. He argued 66 percent is still too low and noted the local legislators are working to try and get the reimbursement increased.

Hayes also pointed out that regional schools are not permitted to charge for, or opt out of busing students.

A federal mandate to provide transportation for homeless students from shelter facilities to their “origin district,” was initially unfunded and is still underfunded, Diehl argued.

Whitman looking to grants

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Whitman looking to grants: Funds could back dog park, trail improvements

WHITMAN — Grants are enabling the town to save money on energy costs and may help plan for a dog park and continue improvements to walking paths in Whitman Park.

Selectmen supported an application to the Stanton Foundation, an organization that helps finance dog parks through grants and which has expressed interest in assisting Whitman. Grants would cover 100 percent of design costs and 90 percent of construction costs.

“We would have to come up with a committee to review where we want it, make sure that it’s on town land and provide water and a maintenance plan,” said Assistant Town Administrator Gregory Enos.

Officials in West Bridgewater and Holbrook are also pursuing the non-competitive Stanton grants for dog parks.

The grants range from $100,000 to $250,000. Town Administrator Frank Lynam said his talks with foundation officials indicated Whitman could receive $120,000 and the town would have to fund $12,000.

Whitman officials are currently looking at the parcel between Memorial Field and the DPW facility of Essex Street as the location.

“We’re looking for a way to move dogs out of the park and off of the streets to an area where it would be more natural to take them,” Lynam said. “We will have an article on this year’s Town Meeting for it.”

Patrons would be assuming any risk in using the park, as would be outlined by signs at the entrance.

“We will be insured in the event a claim is filed against the town,” Lynam said. “It’s really not very different from recreational use [of town property].”

Funds received from a Green Communities Grant in the amount of $166,215 are planned for interior sand exterior lighting changes at municipal buildings and switching to variable speed motors at the town pumping station. The lights in Town Hall Auditorium —priced at $4,200 to replace 85 light bulbs — have been postponed for now. Future grants through the Green Communities program will likely focus on mechanicals and HVAC controls.

“Right now this gives us more bang for our buck,” Enos said of this year’s plan. “It will save the town $50,000 a year on energy costs alone.”

A $50,000 Trail Program Grant is being applied for in an effort to continue funding Whitman Park walking paths, Enos said. Selectmen voted to support the application due in February and sign a support letter.

The grant provides 80-percent funding for such projects and requires a 20-percent match of funds or in-kind gifts. Enos estimated the grant, if obtained at the end of a nine-month application review period, could finance another 2,000 feet of curbing and path work at the park in spring 2017.

Friends of Whitman Park and DPW may be approached for funds or in-kind services.

In other business, Selectmen agreed to a two-week extension for David Federico, the owner of Diesel Trucks, 575 Bedford St., to complete the cleanup of the premises ordered by the board on Jan. 5. The extension was recommended by Building Inspector Robert Curran.

“There’s been some changes, but not nearly enough as far as I’m concerned,” Curran said. Still, he suggested an extension until Feb. 9. “I will attend whatever meetings on-site that he needs for me to guide him on what I think is best for the town.”

Federico has reduced the number of vehicles from 65 down to between 48 and 50, and has created a handicapped parking space, but more issues — such as a car parked in the loading area — remain.

“I did see some effort there,” said Selectman Dan Salvucci. “But if you look at his lot and the lot next to it, it was night and day. One lot looked like it was open for business and the other one looked like it was there for salvage.”

Salvucci said he supported an extension, but would advocate further action if Curran was not satisfied by Feb. 9.

The board also voted to adopt the one-day suspension of O’Toole’s Pub’s All-Alcohol License as recommended by the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. The board had initially sought a five-day suspension last year after infractions at the pub were reported by Whitman Police. Selectmen selected Saturday, March 19 as the suspension date to give the pub owners time to inform patrons of the date it will not be open.

Selectmen also offered “friendly advice” to the Police Department to determine the suspension is heeded.

WH hoops alums fundraise for grandkids of coach

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The goal in sight: WH hoops alums fundraise for grandkids of coach

HANSON — PJ Fisher, 3, and his little sister Jovi, 1, are like a lot of children — he loves train sets and hanging out with his grandpa and she has a favorite blanket to snuggle.

But an eye exam at 10 days old, confirmed PJ had bilateral retinoblastoma, a genetic mutation that causes tumors to grow in the retina. His sister was diagnosed in-utero and was delivered prematurely to permit surgery on her right eye.

“My eye was sick,” as PJ puts it now. “We had to heal it.”

kidglasses

PJ Fisher, 3, says ‘Swiss cheese’ for the camera as his dad, Paul Sr. looks on while discussing his children’s retinal tumors. Photo by Tracy Seelye

It’s not quite that simple. PJ and Jovi have to have MRIs every six months, if not sooner, to monitor their eye tumors and any potential growth in their brains. They also have very routine eye exams under anesthesia (EUA) on a monthly or bi-monthly schedule. The EUAs will continue for the rest of their lives.

Tumors had also started to show up on photos, such as at PJ’s baptism when he was 3 months old, according to his mom Kate Daley-Fisher.

“It started glowing white [in photos],” she said. “It’s a big movement called ‘Know the Glow.’”

Red-eye in photos is normal, a white spot is a sign of trouble.

“It’s pretty obvious when you see it,” said the children’s maternal grandmother Maureen Daley.

Reaching out

W-H girls’ basketball alumnae who played for PJ’s grandfather, James Daley when he coached the Lady Panthers, have stepped up to help fund some of the children’s medical costs. Their fund-raising goal is $10,000.

As the song puts it, “That’s what friends are for.”

It still elicits an emotional response from their former coach.

“I see a lot of them at different times and we do connect and get some nice Christmas notes,” Daley said of his former players Sunday evening. “This took me by surprise. They’ve really done a wonderful thing.”

One of those former players, Susan Cole of Whitman, said she and Kate (Buckley) Lussier are “planning to give back” with a fundraiser at the Meadow Brook Restaurant from 7 to 11 p.m., Saturday Feb. 20.

“At W-H Mr. Daley touched so many kids’ lives,” Cole said. “It’s time for us to start to give back to them.”

Admission is $20 per ticket. Baskets for raffle range from Bruins ticket packages to an overnight stay at the Cape, gift card tree and much more. At this point there are 20 baskets up for raffle as well as cash prizes.

“Mr. Daley was a huge part of my life and our family,” Cole said. “Mrs. Daley babysat my son from the time he was 6 months old. I want people to realize this family wouldn’t seek anything out and they’ve handled this like champs — they are those people who just do, do, do, including Kate and her husband Paul.”

Daley-Fisher was also touched by the gesture.

“It’s really nice,” she said. “It’s nice to see them come together and want to help.”

Future risk

Retinoblastoma carries a higher risk for secondary cancers and sarcomas, so PJ and Jovi will be watched very carefully. They also will pass the genetic mutation on to their children.

The children inherited the mutation from their dad.

There are about 200 cases of bilateral retinoblastoma diagnosed each year, but there are “tons” of mutations, Daley-Fisher said. Her children and husband are three of only four people with their specific mutation.

“I’m the first one to have it,” Paul Fisher Sr. said. PJ is a family nickname for Paul Jr. “When they found mine it was pretty much by accident because my mother had brought me to the doctor for an ear infection.”

During that examination, Fisher’s eye tumors were discovered.

“Our kids’ form is hereditary,” said Daley-Fisher. “Not all forms are. We were told of would be a 50/50 chance one of our children would get it. We just hit the jackpot and got two.”

Daley-Fisher is a teacher in Randolph and her husband is self-employed shipping contractor. The couple reside in Holbrook.

PJ’s left eye was removed due to spreading tumors in the fall, when daily radiation appointments forced his mom to take a leave of absence from teaching. She is now back at work.

“He likes to say, ‘I fixed my eye’ and hands it to you,” Daley-Fisher said of PJ. “He’s trying to get used to it — it doesn’t fit right yet.”

Petition seeks action on Murray mystery

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Petition seeks action on Murray mystery using Change.org

On Feb. 9, 2004 Hanson native Maura Murray, then 21, disappeared after a car accident on a remote stretch of Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H.

Almost 12 years later, private investigator John E. Smith of Truth Seekers Investigations in Bethlehem, N.H., has launched a change.org petition to ask the FBI to actively enter the case.

Petition seeks action on Murray mystery

Photo courtesy of https://truthseekersinvestigationssearch4mauramurray.wordpress.com/

“We’re trying to keep Maura’s story in the light,” Smith said. “We’re not looking for anyone to be ‘on our side’ … we just want what we’re trying to do put out there.”

Smith, a retired Littleton, N.H., police officer who lives about 15 miles from the scene of Maura’s accident, has been working with the Murray family for nearly 12 years.

The FBI, meanwhile maintains it is already aiding in the investigation.

“The FBI is assisting New Hampshire Sate Police and we’re going to defer to them as they are the lead agency,” spokesman Kristen Setera of the Boston FBI office said in a prepared statement this week. “Due to the fact that there is an ongoing investigation, we have to decline further comment.”

As of press time, a spokesman for the New Hampshire Sate Police had not returned calls for comment.

The petition has 2,880 of a 5,000-signature goal as of Wednesday morning, but Smith would like to see 50,000 people sign it. A podcast interview with Maura’s father Fred linked to the petition has had more than one million views.

A father’s pain

Fred Murray described his daughter as one who “never gave her parents any trouble in her entire life.” Initially interested in a military career, she later determined it did not suit her personality and transferred to UMass, Amherst midyear to study nursing.

“We just want her back,” Fred said on the podcast. “I need help and I’m so totally frustrated. … It’s my daughter. I can’t go away. I’ve got to find her.”

He said his daughter’s car was malfunctioning and due to be replaced within a week.

At about 7 p.m. on the night Maura disappeared she evidently veered off the road on a curve near a farm, a review of case information on the change.org petition states. A witness calling 911 reported hearing a vehicle accelerating and a thud. It was determined her car had spun out of control and hit a tree but Maura was nowhere to be found.

Accident reconstruction later determined no trees were hit by her black 1996 Saturn and that the damage to the car was likely caused by “a solid stationary object or a solid object at the same height as the damage” to the car.

A rag was also found stuffed into the tailpipe, according to the writeup.

“The only thing that the FBI ever did was, in late 2004, they went to Hanson, Mass., and talked to Maura’s high school friends,” Smith said last week. “We’re not sure what that had to do with the whole investigation because none of her high school friends were her college friends.”

That was one of the questions on which the FBI deferred comment.

“I think the only way it can be [solved] is if we have, hopefully, and unbiased FBI that will step in here,” Smith said. “We’re not sure what happened. We have several different theories.”

He said she could have just walked away, she could have been picked up by someone at the scene and  “taken far away and murdered or something.”

Smith said there have been a lot of inconsistencies with police reports over the years, including conflicting ID numbers of responding cruisers and a lack of timely investigation to the east of the crash site.

“We’re even looking into the possibility that there’s some type of police involvement or some type of cover up on the part of the locals because someone important might have been involved,” he said.

He said New Hampshire authorities would have had to ask for help and that he was told they felt the assistance was not needed.

Questions

Smith said that is one of the questions surrounding the case that has never been answered and hopes signatures on the online petition will generate answers and a full-scale FBI investigation into a case involving Maura’s movements through three states.

“We actually have three states involved because she lived in Massachusetts, she drove though Vermont and she ended up in New Hampshire,” he said. “Now, with as long as this case has been going on, there’s just so many inaccuracies and inconsistencies that have followed this case for years that it just   made no sense and made it harder to investigate for all of us involved.”

Nurse mourned after fatal crash

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‘Always a smile’: Nurse mourned after fatal crash

HANSON — Amanda Turner Russell, 32, of Hanover was getting in a training run for the Boston Marathon when she was hit by a car on Winter Street just over the town line in Hanson on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

She died from traumatic injuries to her head and neck on Monday, Dec. 28, according to family spokesman Brian Dever of the Taunton-based Keches Law Group.

nurse

Amanda Turner Russell, a labor and delivery nurse at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was taking a training run for her first Boston Marathon when she was hit by a car in Hanson Dec. 23. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Russell was a labor and delivery nurse at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She leaves an 8-year-old son.

At about noon on Dec. 23, Hanson Police received numerous 911 calls reporting a motor vehicle crash with a person ejected from the vehicle in the area of 854 Winter St., according to Chief Michael Miksch.

“Hanson Police officers working a paid detail in the area arrived to find a motor vehicle had struck a pedestrian and a utility pole,” Miksch stated.

Hanson Fire and Hanover Fire also responded to the scene.

The pedestrian, later identified as Russell, was transported to Brockton Hospital for treatment. She was flown by Med Flight to Boston for further treatment. The operator of the vehicle, a female Hanson resident, was transported to South Shore Hospital for treatment.

Miksch said the driver’s name won’t be released unless charges are filed, but Dever indicated civil action is likely regardless of whether the driver faces charges.

The vehicle involved in the crash is a 2004 Nissan Altima, according to Miksch. The Altima was travelling south on Winter Street when it crossed the roadway and struck Russell. The vehicle then struck a pole, snapping it in half before coming to rest in the center of the roadway.   

National Grid crews responded and shut off power to the area while pole repairs were made — a job that took about an hour. Approximately 480 customers lost power in Hanson and Hanover.

The road remained closed as members of the Hanson Police, Massachusetts State Police, and Plymouth County BCI investigated. The roadway remained closed for the afternoon as crews worked to restore power to the area.  Hanson Police were also assisted by the Hanover Police Department.  The office of Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz is also investigating, a process that is still ongoing, according to spokesman Beth Stone.

A family steps in

Russell’s son is being looked after by her family members, including her ex-husband and the boy’s grandparents, according to Dever.

“The family is a strong and supportive one,” he said. “There’s an actively involved father. There are grandparents that are actively involved. There are wonderful aunts and an uncle. … Everyone is really trying to do what’s best for Amanda’s 8-year-old son.”

Dever said the family is in the process of setting up a fund for the boy’s education.

“It’s a tragic situation,” he said.

Russell’s colleagues at BIDMC are also mourning her death.

“I had intended no more blog posts for this year, but then Amanda died, and she merits recognition,” former Beth Israel CEO Paul Levy wrote on his “Not Running a Hospital” blog. “She was a loyal friend. Working in the most optimistic part of our hospital, she saw and delivered joy.”

‘shining light’

Levy called her “a shining light in so many ways.”

As Russell was fond of posting sunrise photos on social media (#bidmcsunrise), dozens of her friends are honoring her life on Facebook with #sunrisesforamanda posts of their own sunrise photos, according to Levy.

As of Tuesday, Russell’s Crowdrise page for Team BIDMC had raised $19,073 — 254 percent over her original goal of $7,500 for what would have been her first Boston Marathon run. Her fellow labor and delivery nurse Nancy Eaton told Runner’s World magazine she now plans to run the marathon in Russell’s place — to earn the finishing medal Russell wanted so much.

A GoFundMe page  has been created by Beth Sinibaldi of Marshfield to benefit Russell’s family, raising $26,721 of a  $30,000 goal from donations by 440 people in six days.

“Amanda succumbed to her injuries earlier this week and gave the ultimate gift in her passing, the gift of life,” Sinibaldi wrote Dec. 30. “Amanda was always the first person to help out someone in need, she would always go that extra mile for anyone, and always with a smile on her face.”

 

Whitman-Hanson school budget gains support

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Whitman-Hanson school budget gains support

A group of nearly 500 concerned parents, community members, educators and business leaders who have teamed to form Whitman-Hanson Supporters of Schools (SOS). Representative members from both towns presented their concerns to the School Committee — and pledged to affect change in school budgeting — during the committee’s Wednesday, Dec. 16 meeting.

Kara Moser of Whitman read the group’s mission statement, which was printed in the Dec. 17 Whitman-Hanson Express opinion page.

“We aim to be a credible, proactive resource for accurate information to support education and drive informed action,” Moser read from the statement. “Together we will support our schools to build the future our children deserve.”

They were joined by retired Hanover Schools teacher, and Hanson resident Peggy Westfield, who also urged greater budget transparency to ease the effort to adequately fund the schools.

“I’m not here to chastise anyone,” Westfield said. “I’m here to say I’m very happy to defend the schools in Whitman-Hanson, but I cannot defend the way the budget is presented.”

Westfield said she had downloaded the fiscal 2016 budget from the district website and compared it to area schools, in particular the Hanover school budget posting.

She found the differences glaring.

“Transparent means open, frank and candid, and looking at the [W-H] budget on the website it is not open, frank or candid,” Westfield said, noting that Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner offered to sit down with her and explain it. “The Hanover school budget is a line-by-line budget and you know every thing that the Hanover Schools spent … right down to copy paper/postage.”

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said that information is printed in the town reports, but Westfield urged that it be available online. He applauded her for asking the questions.

“She’s not hitting us over the head and I know that,” Hayes said. “Communication is everything.”

Westfield stressed that, if people don’t know what the school district does with the money, they don’t want to give it any more.

“You have no trust out in the community,” she said.

Westfield also related that state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, has said Whitman-Hanson has the highest percentage of state aid than any school system on the South Shore.

Committee members and district officials said that assertion is inaccurate.

“We have to be very specific in telling [legislators] that increase didn’t cover anything,” said member Steve Bois. “It could have been $200 or $400 — after the charges from the state … it’s not an increase.”

Committee member Fred Small said the increase in Chapter 70 funds was actually $125,000 — only $25 per pupil.

“Part of the issue is, they look at what the state gives Whitman-Hanson [reimbursement rate] vs. what other towns are and they don’t take into consideration we are a regional school system,” said Hayes.

On the transparency issue, Gilbert-Whitner also noted that the district puts together a community guide to the budget, available online and at both town meetings. The committee also holds a meeting at which the budget is presented the first week of February. This year that meeting will be 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 3.

The budget is certified in a public meeting in mid-March.

“Nobody comes to the meetings,” Gilbert-Whitner said. “As we move forward with FY ’17 we’ll be working on making it more and more transparent.”

Chris George of Whitman suggested that part of the communication problem stems from the fact that, as a regional school district, the budget for the schools appears as a single line in the budget warrant article.

“If you come to the meetings they are [being transparent], but folks aren’t coming to those meetings so how do we put it back in their face — to say ‘Here it is. You’re voting on one line item, but here’s every single line in the budget,’” George said. “We need to do something different in how we present it.”

The committee has also planned a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at which Cutler, state Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, and state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton have been invited, and will attend, to discuss budget issues.

State aid

Gilbert-Whitner said an important issue about which they must be informed is proposed formula changes for Chapter 70 state aid that could be felt by fiscal 2018.

“The more aware we are about the change in that formula, the more intelligently we can speak to our senator and our two representatives,” she said.  “Whitman-Hanson runs on its Chapter 70 money — $24 million of our $47 million budget comes from the state.”

Bois, who arranged the meeting as a member of the Legislative Affairs Subcommittee, said it is important for the legislators to see and hear from the large groups of teachers and the members of SOS who have attended recent School Committee meetings.

“It’s going to be very interesting and I’m asking them all to be here for the January meeting, because we told them it’s going to be somewhere between an hour to an hour and a half,” Hayes said. “We have people that have questions. Our task to you would be come with some questions. Ask them.”

Communication is a large part of the job, he stressed.

Hanson business owner John Ferry Sr

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Hanson business owner John Ferry Sr, decorated WWII vet

HANSON – John J. Ferry, Sr., 92, the proprietor of Ferry’s Automotive, Inc. of Hanson, and a decorated veteran of World War II, died peacefully on a beautiful Sunday morning at home surrounded by his family.

ferry-2Mr. Ferry was a B-25 flight engineer-gunner in the China-Burma-India theater of the war, flying 75 missions during that time and achieving the rank of staff sergeant. He served with the 83rd Bomb Squadron, 12th Bomb Group of the 10th Air Force. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, seven Bronze Stars, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Asiatic Pacific Service Medal.

John-Ferry

John J. Ferry, Sr.

Mr. Ferry was born on Sept. 30, 1923, in Halifax, where he loved to spend time on the Twin Lakes when he wasn’t bothering his four beloved sisters. He graduated from Whitman High School before joining the armed services in 1942.

An avid mechanic, he worked for Bryantville Olds after the war, and then Lloyd’s Garage in Hanson. In 1954, he married Dorothea “Dot” Girouard, and built their home on Winter Street in Hanson. In 1965, he opened John’s Jenney in Hanson, which became John’s Citgo in 1968. In 1975, he opened Ferry’s Automotive Inc. – better known as “Ferry’s Sunoco” – on Liberty Street in Hanson. This year, Ferry’s Sunoco celebrated its 50th year of operation. The business was his great passion, and he loved to spend nearly all of his time at “the station,” where he worked alongside his son, daughter, grandchildren, and many beloved friends. When his health began to prevent him from working long hours on his feet, Mr. Ferry still spent every afternoon at the station, visiting with his many customers and friends.

He is predeceased by his son James “Jimmy” Ferry, and leaves his wife of 61 years, Dorothea M. Ferry, his son John J. Ferry, Jr. and his wife Kathleen of Hanson, his daughters Victoria Miller and her fiancé Beau Dyer of Plympton, Vivienne Gilbert and her husband Andrew of Hanson, and Vanessa Ferry of Hanson. He also leaves his six grandchildren: Erik Miller, Sara and Taylor Ferry, and Cassandra, Cory, and Kelsey Gilbert.

His services will be held at 8 a.m., Monday, Dec. 28 from the Blanchard Funeral Chapel, Plymouth Street (Route 58 at the rotary) Whitman, followed by a funeral Mass at 9 a.m. in St. Joseph the Worker Church, Hanson. Burial will follow in Central Cemetery, Halifax. Visiting hours will be held from 2 to 6 p.m., Sunday Dec. 27.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Whitman-Hanson Dollars for Scholars, P. O. Box 26, Whitman, MA, 02382.

For online condolences and directions visit blanchardfc.com