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Whitman sets ‘19 tax rate

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WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen again approved a single tax rate for fiscal 2019 during their Tuesday, Oct. 30 meeting.

Assessor Kathleen O’Keefe said residential property makes up 89.23 percent of the total valuation, with commercial/ industrial and personal property combined at 10.76 percent.

The levy determined necessary for 2019 is at $1,647,813.53 used to determine a projected tax rate of $15.38 per $1,000 of valuation. While that is lower than the current year’s $16.01 per $1,000, property values have increased, making the average single family home tax bill $262.30 higher.

Assessors advised the single rate.

“To my knowledge, Whitman has never split the tax rate,” O’Keefe said. “The commercial component is such a small percentage of the total valuations.”

Neither a small commercial business exemption — which benefits the property owner, rather than all small business owners — nor a residential exemption — which benefits multi-family home or apartment building owners over single-family homes — were supported by either the assessors or selectmen.

O’Keefe also reported that the excess levy capacity is estimated to be $361,073.25. That reflects the difference between the maximum allowable levy and the actual tax levy.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam reported that the Department of Revenue has certified Whitman’s free cash at $1,146,271 for the general fund and $5,592,861 for the sewer/water enterprise fund.

DPW report

Selectmen also met with the DPW Commissioners and superintendents Dennis Smith and Bruce Martin to discuss the departments long-term needs.

Commissioner Kevin Cleary reported the DPW’s 17 employees not only perform the regular work involved in maintaining roads and water/sewer services, they also work on projects for other town departments to save money for the town. Recent projects include the preschool drop-off driveway at the high school and sidewalk repairs at Whitman’s schools and library.

But the DPW is also doing that work with aging equipment and a budget that has seen only a .3-percent increase over the past 10 years. Funding sources for the DPW budget are the town’s contribution, state Chapter 90 funding, which averages $300,000, and the water/enterprise account. The average cost per mile to repair roads is $400,000.

“You start doing the math [and] it doesn’t go very far,” Cleary said. “Everybody here can probably come up with a list, whether it’s their own street, the streets they drive down … it continues to be an issue. … We stretch that Chapter 90 money as far as we can.”

Roads and Parks Superintendent Martin said it may take a three-year hiatus from repairs to amass the money in order to repave Auburn Street alone, which is the town’s responsibility even though it is shared by Route 14.

Much of the dump truck fleet dates back to 1999 and the only backhoe is 32 years old.

Selectmen agreed that the DPW not only needs funding for road repairs and some new equipment but a new building as well — and argued that its workers are underpaid.

“I would vote for a new building in a second,” Selectman Dan Salvucci said. “We’ve made so many cuts over the years that our equipment is old, our buildings are old.”

“The bottom is always the DPW,” said Selectmen Brian Bezanson. “These guys deserve more money, they work hard. I just don’t understand how we, as a community can let this happen and I’m embarrassed to say that this needs to be at the top of the list and, now that we’re in a financial pinch, it’s even harder to do.”

He said the town has to be tougher with the state in how it disperses Chapter 90 funds.

Selectman Randy LaMattina agreed that it needs to be addressed.

The aging sewer system and lack of a backup generator to keep waste flowing in the event of main breaks were also highlighted. Commissioner Wayne Carroll noted that a recent sewer main break on Auburn Street was caused by pipe corrosion from the outside in, and said the cause has still not been determined.

“It’s got to be a soil source of some sort,” Carroll said.

The building shortcomings include the need for workers in the garage to use the restrooms in the VFW across the street as well as showers to permit them to clean up after working sewer main breaks. But the OSHA regulations that went into effect in July are a bigger concern as the building does not meet the new regulations, particularly for worker safety. For example, there is no eyewash station at the garage.

“I firmly believe we can put a building together for under $5 million,” Lynam said. “It’s a matter of getting it queued and prioritized.”

Salvucci said part of the problem is that people look at the DPW building as a garage.

Hanson orders debris removal

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HANSON — JJ’s Pub owner Patricia Harrison has been given five days to put up secure fencing around the site, 15 days to take out a demolition permit, which will include an environmental study to look for hazardous materials, and 45 days for the debris to be cleaned up to the satisfaction of the building inspector.

On Tuesday, Oct. 30, Hanson selectmen held a hearing pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 139, § 1, to determine if the debris from the burned-down JJ’s Pub at 16 Liberty Street constituted nuisance demolition debris.

Harrison, was represented at the hearing by her lawyer, Jack Atwood, and accompanied by her boyfriend, Wayne Cummings. Harrison and Cummings are under indictment along with a friend, Alfred Russo, in Plymouth Superior Court for the suspected arson fire of JJ’s.

“I’ve had so many freak accidents here…I just want to get out,” said Harrison, who indicated that she feels she is being treated fairly by the town, in an interview after the meeting. “It [JJ’s] was my 10th birthday present. I’m heartbroken.”

Town counsel, the building inspector, and both the police and fire chiefs were available to testify, although only town counsel and the building inspector did.

Atwood, Harrison’s Plymouth-based defense attorney, said that Harrison is waiting on insurance money to remove debris from the property, but because of the indictments, the insurance company won’t pay for the cleanup. Curran believes the total cost for removal will be in the realm of $16,000. Atwood also mentioned that Harrison has a buyer and a purchase and sales agreement for the property, which did not hold much weight with the board.

Kate Feodoroff, Hanson Town Counsel, had prepared a statement from the board to Harrison, and described to the board how to proceed with the hearing. She encouraged them to describe their observations and feelings about the site and said she wanted to encourage Harrison to clean up the site, so that public funds wouldn’t be expended on the removal. But, she said, the town could act to clean up the site if Harrison does not and put a lien on the property to recoup the cost.

The board did find that the building on the property was demolished after the fire, but the debris was never removed. Photos of the site were presented to the board by the building inspector, Robert Curran, who also spoke of his efforts to work with Harrison to clean up the site.

The board found as well that the property was not secured and was an “attractive nuisance,” especially to children, to which Atwood said everyone agreed. “There is substantial risk of injury or death to inhabitants, trespassers or emergency personnel who may enter the property,” the document states.

“It’s a blessing that no one’s gotten hurt,” said Selectman Clerk Matthew Dyer. “People all want a piece of JJ’s pub.”

The board also found the property to be a general nuisance and eyesore. “The complaints are non-stop,” said Selectman Wesley Blauss.

Although the board discussed several different approaches to the removal, they all agreed on one thing: they were done acting in good faith with Harrison, who had been asked to clean up the property several times.

“I can appreciate there’s other stuff going on,” said Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I have constituents who are sick of looking at it,” she added.

3 arraigned in pub arson

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BROCKTON – The owner of the former JJ’s pub, Patricia Harrison, 59, and her longtime boyfriend Wayne Cummings, 49, were arraigned on arson charges in the fire that destroyed the former bar at 16 Liberty Street, Hanson, last July, along with Alfred Russo, 75, who was previously accused of setting the fire.

Russo, Harrison and Cummings, all of Bourne, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Russo faces one count of burning of a dwelling and two counts of arson causing injuries to firefighters while Harrison and Cummings face one count each of burning of a dwelling.

The three appeared at Plymouth Superior Court at Brockton Friday, Oct. 26 before Judge Robert C. Cosgrove.

The assistant district attorney, Alex Zane, presented over 130 exhibits to the three defense attorneys, saying that they represented the culmination of a very long grand jury investigation. Russo is a friend of Harrison and Cummings, say police reports.

Russo, a retired Boston firefighter, was arrested last August, while Harrison and Cummings were arraigned on “direct indictments,” meaning that the matter never went to District Court, just before the grand jury. Now that the matter is in the Superior Court, the District Court proceedings are obviated.

According to the ADA, most troubling to him was the alleged fact that all three were in “precarious financial situations” – Harrison stood to gain $250,000 in insurance payouts–and were illegally consuming prescription drugs and heavily consuming alcohol, leading the judge to order all three to remain drug and alcohol free while awaiting trial.

Russo already had this condition imposed, and while Cosgrave kept it in place for him, the judge did remove the condition that he wear a GPS ankle bracelet that was used in an exclusionary manner to keep him away from the crime scene.

Harrison, according to Zane, was taking Vicodin, a narcotic pain killer, before being called as a witness before the grand jury and was asked not to take the stand because her demeanor had changed so much after consuming the pills, which she said were for an old car accident.

Zane also alleged that Russo had joked, “What’s the big deal?” and “I better get a passport,” when confronted with the allegations.

In a previous interview with the Express, Russo blamed the fire on “spontaneous combustion” and noted that his presence there on the date of the fire, which he freely admits, was a “bad coincidence.”

Russo’s Falmouth- and Taunton-based attorney, Drew Segadelli, said in a phone interview with the Express that there are other possible people that could have burnt down the building, including a “firebug,” common slang for an arsonist, who was investigated, and he says not held, at the time of the JJ’s pub arson.

The alleged serial arsonist Segadelli is apparently referring to, Mark Sargent, who investigators say committed many arsons, including one at this building, was held on $100,000 bail and ordered to home confinement and to wear a GPS bracelet if he posted bail. Sargent, according to court personnel, was being held without bail at the time of the fire, as he still is, although Segadelli suggests Sargent as an alternative to Russo in the case of the arson.

“I think that’s kind of jaw-dropping,” said Segadelli, referring to Sargent not being investigated in this case.

“Who knows the real truth? None of us were there, we just defend our people,” said Segadelli.

Maybe it’s not even an arson at all, he suggested. “They’ve got to exclude all other possibilities…to prove this is an arson,” he said.

Segadelli emphasized Russo’s age, disability and length of service with the Boston Fire Department in terms of his defense.

The fire, according to Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson, III, reached nearly four alarms and totally destroyed the abandoned commercial property adjacent to the intersections of Liberty Street and East and West Washington Streets.

It sent two firefighters to the hospital, Lt. Sherilyn Mullin and Timothy Royer, who both sustained heat-related injuries and had to miss some work due to these injuries, stated court documents, and an Express photographer also was treated at a hospital due to injuries sustained in the course of her work.

The fire took some time to extinguish, due to the full involvement of the structure, according to a previous statement from the district attorney, and many towns and the state responded or provided station coverage for Hanson during the incident, according to Thompson, putting many lives at risk.

The chief has been outspoken at times, in the media and on Twitter, about this fire and especially about Russo’s release. He was present in court along with several Hanson firefighters, but did not wish to comment on the removal of Russo’s GPS bracelet.

Video surveillance from Dandel Construction Corporation was used to identify “a party” park a vehicle on the side of the abandoned building, enter through a door and remain inside for nearly eight minutes, according to reports.

The party then exits, enters a vehicle and drives away. About six minutes after the party exits the structure, smoke is visible venting from the roof, it continues. Less than nine minutes later, fire is visible out of a side window.

Police and prosecutors allege this party was Russo.

When investigators went to meet Russo at his home in Bourne two weeks after the incident, police say he, “spontaneously stated that he was driving his Jeep in Hanson on the day of the fire.”

Russo stated that he had been in Hanson on the day of the fire for a cookout at Cummings’ sister’s house but didn’t end up attending because he didn’t feel well, according to the report.

He freely admitted to driving to the JJ’s Pub property, purportedly to move a generator, but said he never went inside, according to police.

They are next scheduled for a pre-trial conference in Plymouth Superior Court at Plymouth on Dec. 20 at 2 p.m.

Election enters the final stretch

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When voters go to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 6 — if they haven’t already done so under early voting provisions — the state ballot they’ll see is a lengthy one, featuring candidates in 14 races and three ballot questions.

Hanson voters, meanwhile, will see a separate town election ballot with two more questions to determine whether the town will permit recreational cannabis retailers in town.

Polls on Election Day are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hanson voters cast ballots at Hanson Middle School for all precincts. Whitman voters cast ballots at the Town Hall Auditoriums for all precincts.

Cannabis questions

The two Hanson cannabis questions entail changes to both the General Bylaws and Zoning Bylaws, both of which require a “yes” vote to block retail cannabis businesses in the town. Whitman voters have already prohibited such sales in their town.

Hanson’s town ballot question 1 pertains to the General Bylaws and question 2 involves the Zoning Bylaws.

Voters at special Town Meeting Monday, Oct. 1 narrowly approved an article amending the General Bylaws in order to prohibit the retail sale of recreational cannabis products, but failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required by a second article to amend the town’s Zoning Bylaws.

Both will also appear on the Nov. 6 town ballot, but the zoning question is effectively moot — leaving the town to depend on a bylaw approved in May restricting retail marijuana businesses to an overlay district with frontage on Route 27, Main Street and Franklin Street.

“The reason why we have two separate bylaws on this Town Meeting warrant is because there is some question as to whether or not a General Bylaw will serve to prohibit,” said Town Counsel Katherine Feodoroff on Oct. 1. “It’s potentially challengeable.”

She said her firm would do their best to protect the town if a challenge is received.

Opponents of retail cannabis shops cite the potential for adverse effects of marijuana use on teenagers.

“Dr. Ruth Potee, M.D., of Greenfield, recently told an audience in Shrewsbury that last year, for the first time, marijuana use among teens surpassed cigarette use. And that’s a problem because early exposure to cannabis, as with early exposure to other drugs, can harm the developing brain,” the Rev. Peter Smith, recently wrote, quoting a story in the Milford Daily News. Smith is a member of W-H WILL.

“Proponents of legalized marijuana may say that legalization does not extend to minors, but who are they kidding?” Smith stated. “The more it is available, the more its use will spread, and we will all be the poorer for that.”

While proponents countered at the Oct. 1 Town Meeting that putting “another liquor store on the corner it doesn’t make you an alcoholic,” others are not convinced by that argument.

“We need to realize that marijuana and alcohol are not the same thing nor do they affect the body in the same way,” stated Hanson resident Ken Duty of County Road, citing a recent fatal East Bridgewater crash in which the 18-year-old driver was charged with driving under the influence of marijuana — in a crash that killed four other teens. Duty asks what voters would say to the parents of those killed.

“Do you say I voted and welcomed Pot and Edibles to be sold in Hanson? Not me, I want deniability saying I voted to stop marijuana sales in Hanson,” he said.

Patrick Powers of Holmes Street reported, during the Town Meeting, that health department reports in Colorado and Washington both found that marijuana use actually decreased among youth in grades six through 12 after legalization as well as a 6.5 decrease in opioid overdose deaths. He also said children are not allowed in cannabis shops where customers must show ID to enter and wait in a waiting room before they are assisted by a certified employee who has passed background checks.

Joseph Campbell of Woodbine Avenue argued that Hanson would benefit from tax revenue on both the local and state level, noting that similar towns out west have benefits for land-locked towns with slowing growth.

“We have an opportunity knocking at our door,” Campbell said Oct. 1, noting individual moral decisions must take place in the home. “If you have a liquor store at the end of your street, is that going to make you an alcoholic? Probably not.”

He stressed that the Board of Selectmen will retain the right to grant or rescind licenses as well as bestowing the financial “gifts” of taxes from the businesses to public safety and school needs.

The candidates

Topping the State Ballot is the race for U.S. Senator, with incumbent Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., facing state Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, and Independent candidate Shiva Ayyadurai of Belmont.

Republican incumbent Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito are being challenged by Democratic challengers Jay Gonzalez, a former Secretary of Administration and Finance under Deval Patrick, and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Quentin Palfrey who served in the White House under President Obama as a senior advisor for jobs and competitiveness, and as a deputy general counsel in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Incumbent Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, is facing a challenge from Republican James R. McMahon III of Bourne.

Secretary of State William Galvin, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Anthony M. Amore of Swampscott, and Green-Rainbow candidate Juan G. Sanchez Jr., of Holyoke.

Democratic state Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, the incumbent, is on the ballot with Republican candidate Keiko M. Orrall of Lakeville and Green-Rainbow candidate Jamie M. Guerin of Northampton.

For state Auditor, Democratic incumbent Suzanne M. Bump faces Republican Helen Brady of Concord, Libertarian Daniel Fishman of Beverly and Green-Rainbow candidate Edward J. Stamas of Northampton.

Both 8th District U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, D-Mass., and Governor’s Councillor Christopher A. Iannalla Jr., are unchallenged on the ballot, save for write-in candidate for Governor’s Councillor Erin Johnson. In the 9th congressional district, Hanson voters will see incumbent Bill Keating, D-Mass., is challenged by Republican Peter D. Tedeschi of Marshfield.

Incumbent state Sen. Michael D. Brady, D-Brockton, is being challenged by Republican Scott Hall of Brockton.

Brady is currently seeking re-election for his third term for the district, which represents Plympton, Halifax, Hanson, Whitman, Brockton, and parts of East Bridgewater and Easton. Prior to becoming a senator, he served four terms as State Representative in the Ninth Plymouth District.

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Revenue where he has worked to provide funding for the district for education, public safety, infrastructure, seniors and veterans, according to a statement from Brady’s campaign.

“Senator Brady will continue to support and fund and protecting public education, incentives for renewable energy resources, opioid abuse prevention, helping veterans, the elderly, and increasing economic development,” his campaign stated.  “He says that constituent services have always been his top priority and will continue to do so if re-elected.”

State Rep. races

Hanson state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury in the 6th Plymouth District, is unopposed for re-election.

In Whitman, seeking the seat vacated by Diehl in the 7th Plymouth District, candidates Alex Bezanson, a Democrat, and Alyson Sullivan, a Republican are on the ballot. Both are Abington residents in a district that includes all of Whitman and Abington and precincts 2, 3 and 4 in East Bridgewater.

Bezanson and Sullivan met in a WATD political forum broadcast on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV on Monday, Oct. 8.

A Quincy native, Bezanson moved to Abington in 1987 and owns a contracting business. He has served on the Abington Conservation Commission, Water Commission and Board of Selectmen. He and his wife founded the HUG Foundation that aids families facing medical issues and the Abington Substance Awareness Coalition as a resource for families of addicts and to promote awareness of the problem for students and parents.

Sullivan, a lifelong resident of Abington, and a law student in her final year at the Suffolk University School of Law, has worked as a legal assistant in the U.S. Immigration Court before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Massachusetts District in its victim/witness unit. She is currently a legal assistant in the state’s Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

The WATD debate touched of issues of climate change and the need for renewable energy — which both supported, the importance of municipal experience in the State House; 40B affordable housing issues; business development and challenges to it, public transportation needs; ballot question 2 limiting corporate contributions to political campaigns — which Sullivan opposes as a free speech issue and Bezanson supports, but concedes is not germane to local races; use of state surplus and criminal justice reform.

The debate is posted on the WHCA-TV YouTube channel for streaming.

Incumbent DA Timothy Cruz, a Republican, is facing a challenge from Democrat John E. Bradley Jr., of Plymouth.

Other unchallenged candidates on the ballot are: Democrat Robert S. Creedon Jr., for Plymouth County Clerk of Courts; Democrat John R. Buckley Jr., of Brockton for Register of Deeds and Republican Sandra M. Wright for County Commissioner.

Question 1, regarding whether or not limits should be placed on the number of patients that could be assigned to one registered nurse, has received the most attention.

A yes vote would place limits in, what proponents say is in the interest of quality care. A no vote makes no change to current laws to avoid what opponents of the question see as putting “patient care quality and safety at risk.”

Question 2 would create a citizens commission to promote an amendment to the U.S. Constitution limiting the influence of money in elections and reversing a Supreme Court ruling that corporations have the same rights as human beings.

A yes vote supports such an effort. A no vote would not create such a commission.

Question 3 adds gender identity to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination in places of public accommodation, resort or amusement. A yes vote retains the current law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity. A no vote would repeal that protection under the public accommodation law.

Finding history in the darndest places

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HANSON – Have you heard the story about the Puritan who threw a bowling ball away in the privy?

It may seem like the set-up line for a joke, but early American outhouses are providing archaeologists with a trove of information about our cultural history. Besides unusual finds such as the 17th century bowling ball, archaeologists have found information about the shoes people wore, the toys children played with and other details lost to the changing urban landscape.

Archaeologist Joseph Bagley discussed this, and other sources of historic artifacts at the Hanson Public Library Thursday, Oct. 16 as he spoke and offered a slide presentation about his book, “A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts.” Bagley has been the archaeologist for the city of Boston since 2011 and has also worked on several excavations of native American sites from Maine to Georgia.

Copies of the book, for which he has signed over his copyright and proceeds to the Boston Landmarks Commission, were on sale at the event where he signed copies.

“Don’t think whole plates,” Bagley said in describing the type of artifact most often unearthed. “Think rusty nails, broken windows, broken dishes, animal bones – that kind of stuff.”

So it becomes clear where much of the pieces are found.

“The one thing every historical archaeologist dreams to find is … a privy,” he said. “We love them for a couple of reasons.”

They were essential sanitary requirements for urban areas before indoor plumbing and yards were smaller, so large preservation areas are not required. The excavations of the Big Dig unearthed “a ton of archaeology.” They are also deep, which allows a lot to happen at ground surface, without disburbing what may have been tossed in there – besides the obvious use – including, kitchen waste, toys, deceased pets, and much more.

Volunteers dig

The community archaeology program on which he serves depends heavily on volunteers to do its field work, as he is the only full-time staff member.

“We got rid of the barriers to our digs,” he said. “We wanted archaeology to be approachable and accessible … so people could just walk off the street, walk up to us digging, ask us what we’re doing and get involved with us.”

The most recent project on which he has worked has been a dig at the Malcolm X landmark-designated property in Roxbury, seeking information about him and his family, unearthing thousands of artifacts to learn more about the civil rights leader before he changed his name from Malcolm Little. Deeper that in the yard, they also discovered thousands more pieces dating back to the 1600-1700s.

“[That] was a bit of an annoyance because all of my research said nothing happened on this site until 1860 when that house got built,” Bagley said. “That wasn’t true, so we had to go back … and we found out we were close enough to an historic mansion of Elijah Seaver.”

He started his talk about the book with a slide of a spear point dating back to 5,500 and 7,500 years ago.

Bagley said his pet-peeve is histories of Boston that begin in 1630.

“If you made a timeline of Boston history, 1630 is in the last three feet of a 100-foot timeline,” he said. The people of the area go back at least 12,000 years.

Saugus, Ipswich and Canton have seen more findings than Boston from these early periods because of the changes made to the landscape over the last four centuries.

Bowling for Puritans

Then he came to the Puritan bowling ball.

When it was first found, it was assumed to be a newell post, but the hole gave it away. Owned by Katherine Nanny Naylor, a wealthy woman whose father the Rev. John Wheelwright and his sister Ann Hutchinson had been banned from Boston for heresy.

Katherine married a wealthy man who left her as administrator to her children’s inheritance. She also obtained the first divorce – from her second husband – on grounds of her husband’s cruelty and adultery.

“Her wealth gave her acertain privileges that other people wouldn’t have in Puritan Boston,” Bagley said. “Bowling was illegal. … The way that we’re interpreting it is that Katherine, because of her wealth and social status in the community, was able to do things that other people were not able to do.”

A toy belonging to Tory merchant Charles Apthorpe’s son Thomas – and bore the child’s name – was another valuable find. Thomas Apthorpe, later became a paymaster for British troops, fled Boston to England after Evacuation Day, March 17, 1776.

He also spoke of how dish shards and bits of Hebrew Bible pages found on the site of the African-American Meetinghouse, shed insight into how African-Americans and, later, immigrant populations assumed their place in the history of Boston during the 19th century.

Bits and pieces that may first seem insignificant can, therefore, be very valuable indeed, requiring a great deal of back-up research, Bagley said.

The scale of work

“The dig itself is the smallest component of an archaeological survey,” Bagley said. A recent 11-day dig required him to prepare for it beginning in July and he will spend the rest of the winter on his report.

That bowling ball in the privy may also lead to another  book for Bagley — he is currently looking into writing about the life and times of Katherine Nanny Naylor.

MCAS shows growth at SSVT

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HANOVER — If MCAS improvement placed all students at the 10-yard line on a football field, South Shore Tech students would have advanced to the three-yard line this year.

Principal Mark Aubrey outlined the improvement in last year’s scores for the School Committee at its Wednesday, Oct. 17 meeting.

Aubrey reiterated that the state is looking more at how any students achieve proficient and advanced ranking, rather than how many pass the test.

“We’re focusing on learning,” he said. “We’re trying to take a hodge-podge of different curriculums [from sending schools in and out of the district] and put everybody on the same page and move them forward.”

In the English Language Arts (ELA) test, there were 43 students who scored as advanced in 2017 out of 143 students tested, this year 63 students achieved those scores. In math — Aubrey said, using percentages because the data was reported differently — the school went from 79-percent proficient/advanced to 84 percent over the same period.

“Student growth percentile (SGP) measures how far we’ve moved them down the football field,” he said. “This school in ELA was 12th in the state … on moving SGP. That is a phenomenal effort by your staff, every single day, coming to school.”

Still, one student did earn the perfect score of 280 on the mathematics MCAS test this year.

“The math department [based on SGP] was number three in the state,” Aubrey said. “That is teaching and that is learning and that is what this building is about.”

In science, 109 students scored proficient/advanced last year, this year there were 125 scoring at that level.

“We’re moving in the direction the state wants us to move in,” he said. “It’s not just passing. We are moving kids further up the ladder to where they need to be and where the state expects them to be. … This is done by the entire staff.”

Related instructors use math and ELA skills, through reading and bookwork in the latter case, to reinforce classroom instruction.

Hickey thanked School Committee members who were able to attend the Saturday, Oct. 13 open house, during which 265 students were registered for 175 to 180 available places in next year’s freshmen class — 161 applications were completed and 125 interviews were also completed. Of the 265, 198 were eighth-graders and 44 were seventh-graders taking an early look at the school.

“When we only have so much room and we have to turn around and say to parents ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have room for your children,’ We should be able to get them all in the school that are looking to be here,” said Whitman School Committee member Daniel Salvucci.

Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said the data received from MCAS scores and the number of applicants the school receives should help SSVT’s position when the Massachusetts School Building Authority makes its decisions on statements of interest in December.

School Committee member Robert L. Molla Jr., of Norwell agreed with Salvucci’s comments about the number of students that are placed on waiting lists.

“The parents, especially, were positive [at open house] about this school, that’s why the students are here,” Molla said. He noted tat parents from Rockland have been disturbed that SSVT has not been allowed to go to Rockland to conduct interviews with student applicants during the day.

School Committee member Robert L. Mahoney of Rockland said he has already spoken to his town’s school officials.

“The bottom line is public education has become a competitive market and we are in that competitive market a lot stronger than we used to be in the past,” Mahoney said. “What the towns are not realizing is we have to be held to the same standards as they have to be held by the state.”

He said the competition public schools are now experiencing from private, charter and parochial schools are costing them a lot of students and the state funding that goes along with them.

“The frustrating part of this is it’s not about kids, it’s about money,” Mahoney said. “It’s about the money they’re losing, and it’s about the money we’re losing because we’re not big enough to take in more.”

Vocational schools are, however, public education, Mahoney stressed.

“We are the second public school,” he said. “We are succeeding in the public market out there, that’s the problem.”

In other business, the school’s new vocational coordinators, Keith Boyle of Hanson and Robert Foley, reported on their new initiatives at the school.

“These gentlemen are responsible for overseeing and being the direct supervisors for half of our vocational-technical programs,” Hickey said. “Their job is to get to know the teachers and the students, the advisors in these programs and they have both done a phenomenal job from Day One.”

Boyle, formerly a horticulture teacher at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Bourne, is also a cranberry grower in Hanson. Boyle is a graduate of Norfolk County Agricultural High School. He is developing SSVT’s horticulture program as well as serving as a vocational coordinator where he is working to expand the cooperative work program.

Right now 33 seniors are working at approved coop sites and have earned a collective $22,000 in the first month of the school year, Boyle reported. He has also started a school chapter of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program, a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education from horticulture and animal husbandry to forestry and agri-business.

Horticulture students have already been working to improve the outward appearance of the school, Boyle said, including planter boxes at the restaurant/salon entrance and are working to install a well at the front of the building to provide irrigation.

Foley, a former lead carpentry teacher at Blue Hills Regional Vocational Technical High School in Canton, is a Kingston resident. He was president of the SkillsUSA Board of Directors, which he had to forego the position as he is no longer a teacher. He is still a board member and will soon become director of the state SkillsUSA competition.

“I’m excited to help invigorate a very rigorous program that’s already in place here,” Foley said.

A licensed builder with a heavy construction background, he is assisting with construction of the new greenhouse for the horticulture program, and is planning a pre-apprentice vocational school training program sponsored by Mass. Laborers International Union, on Monday, Nov. 5.

That program, part of the UMass Transportation Committee and Workforce Development Program funded by a federal transportation grant through MassDOT. Instructors will work with 25 students from various shops for week, after which students will be certified in first aid, CPR and AED with all hours involved qualifying as pre-apprentice hours transferrable to carpenters, laborers, electricians, sheet metal workers, pipefitters and operators unions. A free CDL license will also be offered through the New England Tractor-Trailer Training School.

“It’s a great opportunity for our kids,” Foley said.

“This is a very exciting time to be in voke-ed,” said Assistant Principal Sandra Baldner. “We’re really in a good spot right now and I think you’re going to see lots of growth in our school.”

An additional Chapter 74 grant is being sought to offer a license in web design and programming, which could help students throughout the school.

Halifax man charged in Hanson crash

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A Halifax man faces charges in connection with a rollover crash in Hanson Tuesday night that caused serious, but non-life threatening injuries to his passenger and himself.

At approximately 8:30 p.m., Oct. 23, Hanson Police received numerous 911 calls reporting  a motor vehicle crash in the area of 863 Monponsett Street (Route 58). Upon arrival the officers found that a 2014 Chevrolet Cruz had struck a utility pole and rolled over.   The vehicle was traveling south when it crossed the northbound lane striking the pole and rolling over.    

The vehicle sustained extensive damage in the crash. A small fire was extinguished by a passerby prior to the first responders’ arrival. Hanson and Halifax Fire also responded. The road was closed for a short time and National Grid restored power.

The operator, Brian Alden, 36, of Halifax and his passenger Kelly Doherty, 31, of Halifax both sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries in the crash.

Doherty was transported to South Shore Hospital by Halifax Fire.   Alden initially refused treatment and was taken into custody.   Alden was charged with OUI liquor second offense, OUI liquor with serious bodily injury, operating after revocation of license, operating to endanger, and marked lanes violations.

Alden requested treatment later at the police station and was transported to Brockton Hospital. He was later transferred to Boston Medical for further treatment.

He was held on $1,000 bail and was expected to be arraigned Wednesday, Oct. 24 on the above chargers.   

Whitman gains state IT grant

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WHITMAN — Fire Chief Timothy Grenno and town IT Director Joshua MacNeil announced at the Tuesday, Oct. 23 Selectmen’s meeting that Whitman has received a $199,601 state Community Compact IT Grant.

The funds will enable the town to make improvements to radio communication infrastructure to improve coverage for police and fire operations.

Selectmen and Planning Board members also met jointly and voted to appoint Elaine Bergeron and Adam Somerville to the Planning Board to fill vacancies. Both terms expire May 18. The Planning Board will keep résumés of candidates Adele Carew and Jerry Blumenthal on file in case another vacancy crops up. All four were encouraged to run for office in the next Town Election.

Grenno and MacNeil, reporting on the communications grant, said Whitman was among 44 communities receiving the funds for Fiscal 2019 — and was awarded the most cash on the list.

“When it gets into public safety, the fire and police departments’ communication systems are pretty much their lifeline,” Grenno said. Last year he and Police Chief Scott Benton sat down with MacNeil and Town Administrator Frank Lynam to assess the communications infrastructure in town and submitted an article to the Finance Committee to replace the radio systems and network.

“Mine is 11 years old and [Benton’s] have been failing at alarming rates,” Grenno said. “There just wasn’t funding for it last year and we were looking for different options.”

The Community Compact IT Grant provides $2 million to eligible communities with a cap of $200,000 per project, according to MacNeil.

“We’re always looking for ways that we can do better and provide what we can for the community at little to no cost and this is a great example,” he said, noting that a small portion of the work would still need to be added later. But the main goal was to provide full coverage to Whitman Middle School and WHRHS.

“Those two buildings have some deficiencies that are problematic and, unfortunately, public safety — when they’re trying to communicate — receiving communications in those buildings is very difficult at times and has interrupted communications on different incidents,” MacNeil said.

National Grid

Grenno also reported that concerns voiced on gas leaks reported at the intersection of routes 18 and 14.

“I’ll tell you that there was a Grade One leak at that intersection back in September,” Grenno said. “The gas company did respond, they deemed it a Grade One leak, they had crews there that evening and that Grade One leak was repaired in the overnight hours that night.”

He said there have been two or three Grade One leaks since the National Grid lockout started four months ago, but he has not seen any effect on response time to major problems despite the labor dispute.

“It’s a tough time right now, both Columbia Gas and National Grid have a moratorium against them,” he said. “It’s not pretty out there in the gas world, but as far as this town goes whatever Grade One leaks we have had have been handled in a timely fashion.”

Planning Board

The interviews with Planning Board candidates were among the first orders of business before Selectmen Tuesday. Somerville received seven votes, and on a second ballot between Bergeron and Blumenthal — Bergeron then garnered six votes. The new members were then sworn in by Town Clerk Dawn Varley, so they could attend the evening’s Planning Board meeting.

Somerville, has been a gas company sub for 25 years with experience in underground utilities including water and electric as well as gas. He also has construction experience and had owned his own residential building company for about eight years.

“As long as I know a couple of days ahead of time, I could be anywhere at any time,” he said of his availability for meetings.

Bergeron, who interviewed with both boards Sept. 24, has served on the Finance Committee in the 1970s and has been a member of the Whitman-Hanson Scholarship Foundation for almost 40 years as well as serving as an election worker. She is currently a senior vice president director of personal insurance, overseeing a staff of 60 both directly and indirectly, for a large insurance agency. Among her duties are figuring out what houses are worth and how they should be insured.

Blumenthal had to leave the Sept. 24 meeting early, due to a family emergency, and Somerville interviewed this week. He is also a former Finance Committee member. A civil engineer on municipal transportation projects as well as for state and private colleges and universities Blumenthal has been a resident engineer for the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, and is retiring next week. He had also served on the School Building Committee that worked on WHRHS, but has limited experience in residential development.

The game of life: W-H students learn Credit For Life

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By Brooke Loring
WHRHS Student Intern

It seemed like enough — $536.28, was how much I had in my bank account, after paying for a month’s worth of rent, insurance, student loans, groceries, a late credit card payment and more. Many of my classmates believed that to be a good thing, but the adult volunteers and teachers thought otherwise.

After being given an occupation that fit our interests, and a net monthly income, the senior class of Whitman-Hanson got to take a step into the real world Wednesday, Oct. 10.

The Credit for Life Fair has been an event at Whitman-Hanson for four years now, and gears students, specifically seniors, toward preparing for their financial future.

“Today you are going to get a chance to learn by doing,” was how WHRHS principal, Dr. Christopher Jones, put it.

The fair has been prepared for since the spring by school officials, the WHRHS Business department, as well as parents and funded by a variety of sponsors including the Panther Education Trust, Mutual Bank, Jack Conway Real Estate, and many more.

Held in the school gym, students had to use their monthly income to successfully pay for a month of housing, insurance, credit and lending, student loans, food, transportation, retirement plans, and luxuries, without going into debt — a sort of mash-up between the board games of Monopoly and Life.

Students were also able to win prizes and gift cards, as part of a raffle.

At the end of the fair, many students reflected on what they had learned. For example, one student, Morgan Kerins, believed the whole event to be, “a kind of eye opener.”

Savannah Hyde was also thankful for the experience.

“I like how much information we got about everything,” she said. “We’ll definitely be more prepared for the future.”

Others like Ashley O’Brien, who didn’t know what to expect, admitted that it changed her mind about her future plans, but for the better.

“It made me realize which careers will work best for me,” O’Brien said.

As a student that participated in the event, I can say for sure that it was a wake-up call. Many of us students had considered finances to be a problem to be solved later. Little did we know how fast life actually moves. The Credit for Life Fair taught us how  to stay on budget, but most importantly, it taught us how to prepare for the future.

The WHRHS Credit for Life Fair was sponsored by Mutual Bank, Massachusetts Division of Banks, Granite State Development Corp., Panther Education Trust, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, Jack Conway Real Estate, Eastern Insurance, Bridgewater Savings Bank, Edelman Financial Services, Webster Bank, and Residential Mortgage Services.

Building bridges: Span salutes a bipartisan legacy

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HANSON — Bridges over sometimes-troubled political waters — and the late Charles W. Mann’s role in spanning political divides throughout his career in public service — was the theme of the Oct. 12 dedication of the Hon. Charles W. Mann Bridge.

“Today, we come together to commemorate a man who built bridges between communities, parties, people … that when we leave, in the days to come, we would be able to help build bridges, as well,” Pembroke Assembly of God Pastor Joe Quaresimo prayed in his invocation.

The Charles W. Mann Bridge, spanning the Drinkwater River — which flows under Winter Street — connects the towns of Hanson and Hanover. Mann’s public service, too, spanned the two neighboring towns. A very short distance downstream the Drinkwater joins with Indian Head Brook to form the Indian Head River and further downstream it is joined by Herring Brook in Pembroke and there turns into the North River.

Most of Friday’s emotional ceremony was moved from the bridge to Hanson Town Hall, where a collation had already been planned in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room. But once the morning rain abated, the actual unveiling of signs took place at both ends of the bridge.

“It’s very evident that Charlie did not have many ‘fair weather friends,’” quipped host and Hanson state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, about the large turnout as torrents of rain fell outside. “I think it’s very appropriate that we’re here at Hanson Town Hall in the Selectmen’s Room. … We know that Charlie was a consummate public servant who served his district and Commonwealth for five decades.”

Cutler added that the only location that would be as appropriate was Sandy’s Coffee Corner, where Mann often held forth over coffee with members of the community.

“He loved to talk to people, connect with people and help people,” Cutler said, noting that Sandy’s is where he first met Mann while campaigning for Mann’s old Sixth Plymouth District Seat. “Even though we were from different generations, different towns, different political parties, I’ve always admired him, and respected him and appreciated the civil discourse he brought to his endeavors.”

Friends and political colleagues and family members spoke at the ceremony about Mann’s dedication to reaching across the political aisle in the interest of serving his state and constituents back home.

Fifth Plymouth District state Rep. Dave DeCoste, R-Norwell; state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton, Hanson Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell and retired sheriffs Peter Flynn and Charles Decas shared memories of their work and friendships with Mann before his daughter, Karen Barry spoke for the family.

Brady noted that Mann’s service in the State House in 1966, “when I was only 4 years old,” noting that Mann was an Army veteran who epitomized bi-partisanship.

“Unlike what we see in Washington today, we were very fortunate to have people like Charlie Mann, because he was able to work across the aisle,” Brady said.

Cutler and DeCoste — who co-sponsored the bill to name the bridge after Mann — also alluded to the bipartisan effort to honor Mann, whose legacy was one of bridging the political divide.

“I was a strap-hanger in this whole effort,” DeCoste demurred. “Josh is the guy who did it. … There were so many people who came out of the woodwork [to support the bill]. They saw it on the agenda that the [Hanover] Selectmen were going to approve it.”

DeCoste said Mann’s legacy has lived on as one of the people who went to Boston to get something done and not for political perks.

“Your dad was able to put together coalitions of people on a broad political spectrum and make things happen,” he told Mann’s daughters Barry, Theresa Cocio, Debbie Stauble and Jennifer DiCristofaro.

Mitchell also continued the bridge metaphor in his remarks, while noting Mann also served on the School Committee, the North River Commission and as a Town Moderator.

“I think it is very fitting that we are dedicating this bridge in his memory,” Mitchell said. “Charlie was a uniter — someone who tried to bring people together and bridge divides, just as this bridge does now.”

He thanked the Mann family for sharing him with Hanson all these years.

Flynn and Decas, who were close friends of Mann’s shared personal stories of the Charlie Mann they knew — a guy who loved a card game and a good cigar with a close friend who was fighting a losing battle with cancer, Flynn’s brother David.

“I was on the periphery, but they were really friends,” Flynn said In a choked voice. “David was dying … I’m sure they talked about the past, I’m sure they talked about the present and I’m sure they talked about Dave’s future.

“I think that was one of the toughest bridges that Charlie had to build — the bridge, for my brother, between here and there,” he said, pointing skyward. “Charlie probably didn’t know how much he meant to our family for what he had done.”

Decas said passing over the bridge will be sure to bring back memories of Mann to all who knew him.

“When special people touch our lives, then suddenly we see how beautiful and wonderful our world could really be,” he said.

Barry said Flynn and Decas were a tough act to follow, and thanked all those who attended. She also thanked Mitchell and the selectmen in both towns who chose to dedicate the bridge to her father.

“More than anything, it’s the wanting to do this that’s most meaningful,” she said. “I believe that our father considered his public service as a privilege, not a job, he loved these communities, never left them … and he loved the people in them.”

She said the bridge was a fitting legacy to a man who believed in bridging divides.

“He made it clear that he represented everyone,” she said.

Among the people thanked by Barry and Cutler were the Hanson and Hanover town administrators and boards of selectmen, Hanson Selectmen’s Assistant Meredith Marini, the Hanson Historical Commission, Hanson Police, Fire and Highway departments, Plymouth county DA Timothy Cruz, the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department, Country Ski & Sport, Legislative Aide Cole Angley and the staffs of Brady and DeCoste.