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A new author’s homecoming

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HANSON — Jennifer-Lyn Keniston has completed a 10-year labor of love in the publication of her first novel “Afta-U,” a title inspired by her grandfather’s sailboat.

She will hold a book signing, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, June 4 at the Café Deli, 1280 Main St., Hanson. The restaurant is a favorite of her mother, and Keniston wanted to do a signing in her hometown.

“This will be a meet-and-greet, signing books,” Keniston said. “Talking to people, talking about the book.” There will also be a raffle for Café Deli gift certificates, copies of the book [210 pages, Tate Publishing, $16.99 softcover] and more.

“I hope people enjoy reading it,” she said.

In fact, the fictional town of Graytown, Mass., in her book takes inspiration from some of the locales and people Keniston remembers from her childhood.

While the Hanson native uses the boat as a touchstone in the mystery novel, it is more of a metaphor that hope floats. In fact Hope is also the name of a main character not really there — the childhood best friend of the narrator Jean Cartwright Rhodes, who is literally haunted by Hope years after her friend’s tragic death at age 11.

A dark, complex mystery, “Afta-U” is less a whodunnit that a why they did it as Jean reflects on her faith and past to reveal long-buried truths about the tragedy she had hidden away in her psyche. Much of the incident is also unknown to her husband and teenage daughter, making for some strain in he family — all witnessed by the silent spectre of Hope.

“Afta-U” has been a labor of love and the expression of a lifelong dream,” said the Plymouth State (N.H.) and Bridgewater State graduate who now works as a project manager for a Cloud software products company.

Her master’s degree in English and minor concentration in philosophy are felt in her approach to her subject matter, as is her faith.  “Afta-U” is rich in Christian messages and each chapter ends with a poem reflective of a theme touched on in the chapter.

The Express spoke with Keniston on her book and approach to writing last week.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

A: “I did. Ever since I was a little girl, my dream has been to write a book.”

Q: How did you find a publisher? That can prove difficult for new writers.

A: “It was quite an ordeal, initially. But it was an exciting time.  I submitted a bunch of query letters looking to get an agent and, in the end; Tate [Publishing] works with the author. They’re more of a hybrid publisher, as I refer to it, they’re not self-publishing … they work directly with an author and not an agent.”

Q: Your book had something of a gothic feel to it, was that the genre you aimed for?

A: “It’s not a gothic book at all. It does have the apparition, ghost, about it. It’s a darker novel but it’s got a lot more Christian themes throughout it. The main character Jean grapples with a lot of those, like ‘Let go, let God.’ It’s more of a mystery/suspense novel, I call it.”

Q: Your reasons for including Christian themes?

A: “I feel it’s things I have probably grappled with, too. Even though it’s a completely fictional story, obviously some of the characteristics and traits of Jean are drawn from myself and people that I know, along with some of the other characters. Even though the town is fictitious, it’s from my hometown, which is Hanson.”

Q:  Are you worried people might recognize themselves in the book?

A: “Maybe. [laughs] Some people do recognize themselves in the book, yes. I get more people who say Jean reminds them of me or my voice coming through, which is kind of funny. People who grew up in my neighborhood, I think they find some enjoyment [with locales].”

Q: There are a lot of literary references, especially Shakespeare, in your book. Does that reflect your interests as well?

A: “Yes. ‘The Great Gatsby,’ also referred to throughout the book, is actually my favorite story. It even has the nine chapters in Roman numerals to match ‘The Great Gatsby.’ I wanted it to be a story that people could read for the story and there’s a bunch of other stuff intertwined throughout the story.”

Q: What is your writing process?

A: “This one took me about 10 years to complete. I don’t expect the next one to do that. Basically, I write everything out of order. I’ve done that throughout college and high school working on research papers, too. I do an outline last. I really kind of write all over the place and then pull it all together.

I brought up a screen one day, typed what is now a couple pages in [the book] and titled it ‘Afta-U,’ which is my grandfather’s boat. … I had no idea who the characters were, no idea what the story was, so it’s kind of exciting to write it like that because characters just kind of talk to me and come to life throughout the pages. And I put it down for months and years at a time.”

Q: Aside from Jean, who is based a bit on yourself, is there a character you would consider a favorite?

A: “I loved writing Michael, which surprised me because it was a dark novel. I had to step away from it to get into those inherently evil characters. They’re actually a lot of fun when you allow yourself to do that, but in the beginning I was kind of taken aback at trying to make them that way. He’s a mixed bag of a character. At different points some people are angry with him, or hate him, and then perhaps that all changes as the story unfolds.”

Q: This is going to be a series?

A: “It is. I see it being a trilogy. In the second book, the characters carry over but it’s really more of a mystery unfolding where everyone’s trying to solve it, including Jean. But it really stands alone.”

Whitman weighing ‘24/7’ hours rules

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WHITMAN — Officials are working to address how the town will approach businesses seeking to locate round-the-clock operations in Whitman.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam recently received a request from 7-Eleven, which has taken over the Tedeschi’s convenience store locations, to operate the stores on a “24/7” basis in Whitman.

Right now, there is no authority to say yes or no, he told selectmen on Tuesday, May 24, so the business will be told to proceed on “the basis of operating standards.”

Whitman’s store is at the corner of Park Avenue and Washington Street.

“We have not regulated the hours of business, except by license,” he said. “In the case of Tedeschi’s, or 7-Eleven, there will be no license issued by the Board of Selectmen because they are not a common victualler.”

Lynam explained that, in the past, when businesses were opening and required site approval, and the process included an assessment of impact on residential areas, the Board of Appeals would set business hours that would have the least disturbing impact on abutters.

As the location in question in this case is within a business district, Lynam said he sought advice from town counsel, which is “lacking in a firm reason to limit the hours.”

To do so would be considered restraint of trade, Lynam reported. He said he will be receiving a written opinion on the issue, at which time he plans to consult with other communities on their licensing process and come back to the board with a recommendation on whether the town needs to establish an ordinance or by-law providing oversight to hours of operation.

“Lacking any other type of authority, we really can’t regulate those hours,” he said. “By virtue of opening, they have the right to operate a convenience store 24 hours a day.”

The Board of Appeals had “exceeded its authority” in denying another business the right to operate 24/7, Lynam said the business opted to locate in another town. While he is working to identify “when, how and where” such a business may operate to avoid future conflicts.

Selectman Dan Salvucci asked if, should the store sell alcohol, would they be required to cover those products during certain hours and lock it up. He also asked about the number of employees the store plans to have on duty each shift for safety concerns.

“They don’t have a license to sell alcohol and they would have to come to us for that, and that would give us the authority to regulate the business,” Lynam said. “I don’t think it’s our authority to tell them how many people to have working in the store.”

In other business, Selectman Brian Bezanson said that, while 20-percent turnout was very good for a town election, the fact that only one in five voters turned out for an important override vote was “troubling,” and asked if more could be done to increase turnout.

Chairman Carl Kowalski said Lynam had asked him if a town-wide emergency message should be sent out as an election day reminder, but he didn’t think it necessary at the time.

He did agree, however, that something needs to be done to unify the town and motivate people to vote.

Duval School honors those who serve nation, community

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WHITMAN — Students of Duval Elementary School offered thanks to those in military and public service — often at full volume — during the school’s annual We Remember ceremonies Friday, May 27.

The school hosted town officials, veterans and members of the Duval family for the program, which included recitation of student writing and quotes from historic documents as well as music.

Guests were invited to speak and retired Navy SEAL, Lt. Cmdr Anthony T. O’Brien led a group of students, clad in some of his old camouflage fatigue blouses, in saluting the five military branches as classmates yelled out, “Thank you for your service!”

“Serving is not just about those who serve in the military,” OBrien said, noting members of the police and fire departments also serve their community. “You know who else serves? Teachers. You’ve got a lot of really great talent among your teachers. They could be doing other things, but they’re here serving.”

He encouraged the children to thank teachers and public service officers, too.

After the program introduction by Duval Principal Julie McKillop, the program was turned over to students. It culminated in members of the faculty and student body honoring family members who have served with the placement of tiny American flags on a wreath, which was displayed in the school lobby for the rest of the day.

“This weekend is huge as far as remembering all of the military who have lost their lives by protecting our freedom and our rights,” said Thomas McCarthy of the Whitman Veterans’ Services office. “Please remember them. That’s why we’re still here and still free. … This weekend is not just about hot dogs and hamburgers.”

O’Brien echoed McCarthy’s message.

“Be by the pool, have a hot dog, enjoy — I’m gonna, too,” he said. “But for some of us, it’s a much more solemn time, too, because we lost some friends.”

Whitman Selectman Daniel Salvucci, whose father in-law served in WWII also spoke to the assembly about respecting those who serve their country.

“We are here today because of them,” Salvucci said. “If you know someone who served, just say ‘thank you,’ because they have done the most amazing thing — protecting us.”

The program was also a chance for the students to say goodbye to Assistant Principal Dr. Elizabeth Wilcox, who takes over as principal of Hanson’s Maquan Elementary School on July 1.

“Dr. Wilcox puts lots of time and energy into this program,” said McKillop. “[She] gets to go to a new school next year, so I think we should take a minute to thank her for all the work she does.”

The audience gave Wilcox a warm and sustained round of applause.

Sobering message to teens

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Mock crash illustrates consequences of OUI

The W-H Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter held its biannual mock car crash May 20 — a strong, emotion-laden performance to, it is hoped, drive home a point for W-H juniors and seniors.

As this week brings the senior prom, educators said they hope to have reached students with a life lesson. With help from law enforcement from both towns as well as EMS the group responded to a crash in which students had reportedly left a party after drinking. In an assembly beforehand students watched their fellow classmates in a play depicting, drinking games, chugging beers and then discussing who was OK to drive.   

A short movie was then played of the group who chose to drive, with realistic blurring, swerving and sounds of glass as the students are involved in the car “crash.”  The student body then headed outside to view the aftermath in a realistic scene of mangled metal, blood, and glass in the W-H parking lot. The wrecked vehicles were provided by McQuarrie Auto Engineering of Hanson.

Darcie MacDonald, actress and real life mom to Brody MacDonald, 11, of Hanson, hysterically reacted to her son nearly being killed in the car as they awaited medical help. Her emotions were so real several students could be seen wiping their tears and clutching their arms together as she cried out she needed to be with her son. He lay unconscious in the car as police escorted her away and she collapsed in the officers’ arms.

She appeared helpless a victim of someone else’s poor choices, which W-H SADD volunteers later said “felt terribly real.”

Seniors Rachel Sword, Matt Evans, and Marena DeMinico were just three students playing parts, but after the mock crash while students returned inside the building they still had adrenalin coursing through their veins.

Covered in fake blood the three compared notes on how the crowd perceived the performance.

“I forgot I was acting at one point,” said Sword as she described her character trying to take and then fail sobriety tests.

No one was talking as they watched the crowd watching them Sword and Evans agreed they got their point across to the crowd of their peers.

Nick Smith who played the fatality was brought away in a hearse at the end of the crash leaving students dumbfounded. His real mother Rene’ Smith arrived at the end as she was told they “lost him.” Watching a mother get the news of losing her son although fabricated for the performance appeared to affect many who stood in stunned silence.

Matt Evans called Smith, also known as “Turbo” because of his running speed a “great kid an all-around respected three sport captain. Even though this was not real — it could have happened,” he said.

“Teens shouldn’t feel invincible,” said DeMinico.  “This is reality.  It’s hard but we are glad we did it. People think it won’t happen to them but we just watched it happen.”

Water quality woes

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HANSON — Classic rock tunes aside, there’s nothing to love about dirty water when it’s coming out of your home faucets.

“It’s random,” said Assessor Lee Gamache, who lives on Main Street. “It can be clear and then one day it’s just bad. … Sometimes it’s actual sludge coming out of the pipes.”

Homeowners are frustrated with the situation.

Besides health concerns, many say it’s unfair to expect them to pay for running water for as long as five hours to flush sediment from traps while the town is under a water ban. Gamache did say she had her water independently tested and said it was deemed safe to drink, but can irritate skin when one bathes in it.

The town is on Brockton water while the High Street water tank undergoes routine maintenance.

One couple, 38-year residents Brian and Lorraine Skorohod of 791 High St., having found no recourse with the Water Department, brought their plight to the Board of Selectmen Tuesday, May 24, seeking recourse for water bills and damage to their home.

Selectmen responded that, while there is really no financial action they could take, they authorized Town Administrator Michael McCue to look into the issue.

“This is not an issue the Board of Selectmen has purview over, however with the board’s acquiescence I can certainly take a look to see if there are any avenues [under which] something like that could be addressed,” McCue said.

Selectman Bruce Young suggested the situation could provide an opportunity for the Water Department to formulate emergency plans for the future.

“I don’t think this is something that’s happened before,” Young said. “It’s been the most expensive [maintenance] shut-down in the water tank’s history.”

He noted that the town couldn’t compensate residents, as the Water Department is a separate entity.

Lorraine Skorohod had brought in a sample of their water drawn this week, with black manganese and iron sediment at the bottom, and asked if selectmen would like to drink it.

“If our water is drinkable, then I certainly wouldn’t want to drink this — and that’s what we were told,” she said. “Would you want to drink that?”

“No, ma’am,” said Selectmen Chairman James McGahan, noting the board is equally frustrated and he appreciates the Skorohod’s efforts to speak on behalf of many residents dealing with the same problems.

Board of Health Chairman Gil Amado, who also serves on the Water Commission, said many hours have already been invested in seeking a solution.

“The water from the Pleasant Street break … was literally the color of root beer coming out of the tap,” Brian Skorohod said. “It was like that for a whole day.”

He said the water meter “is spinning the whole time” homeowners have outside spigots open to drain traps.

“I’m not the only one that has a problem on High Street,” Lorraine Skorohod said, noting that one of her neighbors has an infant that needs water.

“I can understand the dilemma that the town is in,” Brian Skorohod said. “But we shouldn’t have to continually pay somebody to come out and make repairs due to that.”

The Skorohods were upset that they have had to pay for three service calls and parts costs for work on a gas boiler that was installed in December 2014 as a result of the water main break. Their boiler had been working fine until sediment-tainted water got into the system and flooded the boiler and electrical panel — both of which had been properly installed.

“I just want to know if there’s some recourse,” Brian Skorohod said. “If we can have the town reimburse us for the money that we’re spending because of this problem.”

Selectman and former Water Commissioner Don Howard said the problems began with the Pleasant Street water main break several weeks ago. The break was observed by a resident at 3 a.m., but not reported right away.

“We’re trying to solve the problems,” Howard said.

Calls began pouring into the Police Department later on the morning of the Pleasant Street break, because of low water pressure on High Street, Route 58 and where the ground is high on Whitman Street. Police discovered the break at about 6 a.m., after patrolling the area to investigate the calls.

The main was shut off for repairs, but by that time, Howard said, it is estimated the water had been flowing since about midnight — about six hours.

“The pressure in the system dropped down to 70 pounds coming in from Brockton,” Howard said. “Having the water run like a spider web where the break is, it disturbed everything in the water mains south of West Washington Street, High Street and everything into Monponsett Street.

By the time pressure was restored all the lines were filled with manganese and iron. When the water tank is online, the water flows in the opposite direction through the mains.

Back online in June

The tank is expected to be back online by mid-June, but the water may still be affected through the end of the month. Hydrant flushing in Hanson takes place in the fall.

“Water pressure fluctuates [by 20 to 30 pounds] coming from the city of Brockton,” said Water Superintendent Richard Muncey. “That’s creating different surges throughout our system. It stems from their service flow.”

Because of that pressure fluctuation, there have been four more water main breaks in Hanson, according to Howard.

“Every week we’ve had one,” Muncey said.

“There really isn’t anything you can do with it until you’re on your own system,” Howard said.

W-H voters reject override

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School panel discusses next steps

The W-H Regional School Committee Monday, May 23 began discussion on its next steps following the defeat of the override during Saturday’s town elections.

Chairman Bob Hayes noted the committee has already consulted legal counsel on the matter, explaining that the panel faces a Sept. 15 deadline to either bring the percentages down or take other action to arrive at a budget.

“I thought it would be incumbent to speak with both of the finance committees before we made that type of decision to see financially where they are, rather than to just leap into something,” Hayes said.

The school committee will meet next at 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 8, at which time they expect more information on the status of the increase in per-pupil state funding from the current level of $20 to $55 as proposed by the region’s legislators within the state budget.

“It’s incumbent upon this committee to make some strong decisions about what we are going to do,” Hayes said as the committee began a lengthy discussion on factors that may have contributed to the override’s failure and how voters’ doubts can be addressed.

“It’s obvious that this is a fairly critical point in time … and I know emotions are running high for lots of people,” he said.

He said elected officials must lead the way to finding a solution.

“Let’s find a way,” he said. “There’s a way we can make some of this work, we’ve just got to dig in and get at it.”

Committee members expressed disappointment on the override outcome and refuting the contention by some voters that the School Department does not live within its budget.

Member Dan Cullity noted that, in Whitman, no other town department took a hit during the recession, as the schools did, and cautioned the public against armchair quarterbacking.

“We’ve got mandates that we have to follow,” he said. “They’re not fully funded, that takes more out of the budget.”

Robert Trotta stepped away from the dais to address his committee as a resident, parent and retired educator.

“Yes, it was an aggressive budget request, but one that was much needed,” Trotta said. “We cannot become a second-rate school system. We must put together a budget strategy immediately.”

Member Kevin Lynam asked what the committee can realistically do now.

“We asked for 20 percent and the towns said no,” Lynam said. “Is there an opportunity for compromise on both sides?” He suggested perhaps working to determine what can be afforded from year to year — such as 3 percent one year and 6 percent the next — comparing such a process to a farmer rotating crops.

Hayes said that was one of the reasons he wanted to set up meetings with the finance committees. Member Robert O’Brien Jr., suggested another try at forming a joint financial subcommittee between the towns and school committee members.

Improved communication with voters was also cited as a need. Among the inaccuracies and misunderstandings members of the committee and Support Our Schools group said they had encountered during discourse with voters were:

• The district does not live within its means;

• Volunteers could be used to reopen school libraries;

• Non-resident children are attending district schools;

• The budget gap can be closed by cuts in administration; and

• The schools should use the excess and deficiency funds to close the budget gap.

Not easy

State cutbacks in Chapter 70 reimbursement as a way of motivating the towns to reach target share of local contributions was cited as a major problem.

“It’s not quite as easy as running your own house,” Hayes said. “There’s no runaway train here.”

School officials stressed that, while “volunteers are great helpers,” schools require licensed librarians with a master’s degree work as librarians — as is required in town libraries.

Even pupils in lower grades, including kindergarten, are assigned research projects on which school librarians are needed to reinforce critical thinking skills and help teach students what research materials are credible and which are not.

“Our kids begin research when they begin school,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner said.

She also stressed that, when non-resident students — not participating in school choice — are discovered, they are removed.

“We just had experiences in the past two weeks where we did determine that we had students living here under what I would call false pretences,” Gilbert-Whitner said. “Those students are no longer enrolled in the W-H Regional School District.”

She stressed that any information about such cases is addressed through local law enforcement, registrars and building principals.

Gilbert-Whitner said the district is also below state average in the number of administrative staff members. The district’s cost-saving measures won the district an award from a business manager’s group that enabled the awarding of a scholarship to a graduating senior two years ago.

Residents and educators in the audience also spoke — often with emotion — about how the budget impasse can be bridged.

Painful cuts

Whitman resident Christopher George advocated sharing the pain with the larger community by assessing user fees for all extracurricular activities or exacting cuts on other town departments such as those the School Department dealt with during the recession. He also advocated earmarking revenue from new growth for the schools.

“People don’t understand the real story,” George said. “We spend less than any other town around us. We have cut program, after program, after program. … It’s time for the other departments to either make cuts or go for the override themselves.”

Hanson Finance Committee Chairman Michael Wojdag and several members of the School Committee said that was not a scenario they are advocating. Wojdag also said the idea of taking more from excess and deficiency is not sound fiscal planning.

“FinCom at a $20 million budget does not have $1.2 million to cut out of the Hanson budget,” Wojdag said. “The Hanson FinCom last year supported the new elementary school … and we were the first ones to support the $3 million [student success] budget.”

He argued the problem is a revenue, not a finance committee problem.

Hayes also suggested figuring out how to use social media better to respond to confusion and criticism posted online. Teachers in the audience also pledged to continue working on their own time and spending out of their own pocket to help their pupils succeed, urging residents now talking on social media about moving out of the school district to stay.

“We really are going to continue to provide the best education for your kids,” said Stephanie Powers, a first-grade teacher at Duval School.

WHEA representative Beth Stafford also reminded residents that teachers have given up, or limited, raises, furlough days, course reimbursements and other benefits to help the region weather the recession.

School vote key issue in election

Voters in Whitman and Hanson on Saturday, May 21 rejected a ballot question seeking an override of Proposition 2 ½ to fund the WHRSD Student Success operating budget for fiscal year 2017.

The vote was close in Whitman, where 77 votes made the difference — 1,000 voted no to 923 votes in support of an override. Hanson, however, crushed the proposal with 1,444 voting no and 770 voting yes.

“We were very disappointed with the results of the override election,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner. “It really is a loss for the children of Whitman and Hanson.”

She also expressed thanks to all those who worked trying to get the student success component of the budget passed and pledged to continue to serve the district’s school children.

“Tremendously disappointed” was the phrase Whitman School Committee member Fred Small used to sum up the override result, “especially to be so close in one town and so far in the other.”

“We have to respect the wishes of the taxpayer, and I somehow take it personally that, perhaps somehow some way, I didn’t communicate clear enough with people. I don’t know what else we could have done.”

Voting had been heavy ahead of Election Day, as Hanson Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan reported that 264 absentee ballots had been cast in the election by the time the polls opened at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21. In Whitman, more than 125 absentee votes had been cast. There were short lines at polls in both towns when doors opened.

Sloan was expecting a 40-percent turnout. They got 31 percent.

School Committee candidates in both towns had expressed optimism as they held signs for their campaigns or in support of the override.

Incumbents Daniel Cullity and Robert Trotta had been cautiously optimistic about the override’s chances and, after the results were in, related their disappointment.

“We got elected, but the override didn’t go through,” Cullity said of the result. “That’s part of the game. The people spoke and, obviously, it was too much of a tax burden at this point.”

He said the School Committee now has to go back to work with the selectmen and finance committees to get the towns closer to target share on school funding.

Trotta, Cullity win

Trotta was the top vote-getter with 1,151 votes, followed by Cullity with 965. Newcomer Marshall Ottina fell short with 781 votes.

“I focused on the ‘we’ not ‘me,’” Ottina said, noting that the override had been his main concern. “We learned some lessons and we’ll regroup for next year and see what we need to do to get our schools where they need to be.”

The day had started on an optimistic note in Hanson as well, with candidates and override partisans holding signs at the polls.

“I’m feeling positive,” Hanson candidate Michael Jones said about the override’s chances. He and Christopher Howard were basically running unopposed as the only two candidates running for two open seats representing Hanson on the School Committee.

Jones received 1,284 votes and Howard received 1,229.

Howard, meanwhile, said he would leave the prognostication regarding the override to others.

“I think it’s going to go great,” SOS member Lisa Ryan said Saturday morning. “I think we’re going to get this. There’s been a lot of positive response, especially in the last couple of weeks.”

Hanson override opponent Mark Vess credited both sides of the override question for running positive, informative campaigns.

“I have great admiration for the work that the school side folks did,” he said.

He was hesitant, however, to offer an early prediction on the outcome.

“I think it’s going to be close,” he said on arriving to hold a “vote no” sign. “I think both sides have worked extremely hard in getting out the message that they want to make. … This is what democracy is all about, you never know until people come out at the polls.”

There was a bit of controversy outside the polling place about a half hour into voting.

Vess said he felt compelled to call the police to the Hanson polling place because members of SOS were blocking him from holding his anti-override sign in a visible location and “had assigned a person” to shadow him. SOS sign-holders disputed the claim and, after both sides spoke with an officer, they were told to “play nice in the sandbox,” Vess said.

Police Chief Michael Miksch said Monday there were no other calls to the polling place recorded in the log, but that duty officers are routinely assigned to the polls to handle any issues that might arise.

In Hanson, the only contested race on the ballot was for tree warden, but resident Joseph Campbell of Woodbine Avenue was also outside the polling place waging a write-in campaign for Planning Board. There had been no announced candidates for Planning Board or Board of Health vacancies. Hanlon won the tree warden position 959 to 909 for Means. Running unopposed, Selectman Kenny Mitchell received 1,554 votes.

“I want to express my heart-felt thanks to the voters of Hanson for re-electing me to my first full term,” Mitchell stated. “I am honored and humbled.”

Campbell received 166 write-in votes for Planning Board.

“I wondered what’s going on in the town,” Campbell said. “The seats should never go vacant.”

After a long discussion with his wife, and consideration of the requirements and meeting schedules of the two offices, he opted to run for Planning Board.

“Everything fits where I’m able to devote some time to it,” he said. “I had to be honest about the position and decided I’d be able to give more on the Planning Board as opposed to the Board of Health.”

Business growth in town is an important issue for him.

“I think the people of Hanson don’t pat themselves on the back enough to say we are run by business,” Campbell said. “I’m not against business at all, but I think that Hanson should stay a rural community. It’s probably its best asset.”

Both tree warden candidates Michael Means and David Hanlon also held signs outside the polls Saturday morning.

“I’m confident,” Means said. “It’s not [a position that’s] really well-known.”

Hanlon agreed the job is not familiar to a lot of voters.

“I tried to get the information out there,” he said. Hanlon had appeared on Kevin Tocci’s “Crosstalk” program on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV and said there’s has been a lot of discussion on social media about what the tree warden does.

“I think they’re pretty good,” Hanlon said of his chances. “There’s going to be a big turnout with the school question and tree warden is the only contested race.”

Region mourns a gifted broadcaster

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Whitman-Hanson Cable Access Executive Director Stephen Roy is being remembered as a gifted musician, talented broadcast executive and good friend.

His loss leaves a “significant void,” in the words of WHCA Cable Access Coordinator Kevin Tocci. Roy, 65, died unexpectedly Sunday, May 15.

“He was a great boss,” Tocci said. “I was fortunate to know the guy for about 15 years and learn a lot from him.”

Roy had a vision, not only about everyday life, but about the cable access organization and how it served its communities.

“The whole region is going to miss him,” said former Whitman School Committee member Mike Kryzanek, who recalled working with Roy on a cable access program titled “Issues & Opinions.”

“He was always quite helpful, always willing to go the extra mile, a wonderful technician, but also a wonderful human being,” Kryzanek said.

Co-workers at WHCA echoed those sentiments.

“I’ve found myself lately just thinking, ‘I’ve got to ask Steve this,’ and then I realize I can’t,” said Producer Carol Brewster. “He was always the go-to guy.”

Brewster said Roy was a patient, calming influence when things go wrong.

“It is a rare commodity,” she said. “He was technically inclined and yet seemed to be able to manage people fairly well. Usually you don’t get those combinations together.”

Brewster came to cable access in 1985 after taking a course at Bridgewater State and wanted to learn more about television production.

“I think he was a very good teacher,” she said.

Roy also met his wife Michele while working at the Brockton studio where she volunteered. She said her late husband was a Kennedy Assassination buff mentioned in 13 different books and working on one of his own, as well as a musician. He was also a devoted dad of two daughters, Simone and Evette.

“It’s hard for them, but we’re going to get through it with the help of all these wonderful people,” Michele said.

For many of those people the wonder was Steve Roy.

‘Make it happen’

Tocci said Roy was all about helping residents of Whitman and Hanson put their own vision on the air.

“He had a saying, ‘Let’s make it happen,” Tocci said. “We have a mission. The mission is to provide local programming and also show people how to create their own magic.”

Whitman Selectman Dan Salvucci agreed Roy will be a hard act to follow.

“I’ve known Steve Roy probably from the time he started in Whitman at our cable studio,” said Salvucci who, as selectmen chairman at the time, was involved in contracting Whitman-Hanson Cable Access. “He did a fantastic job. … He not only knew about what went on behind the camera, he knew how to fix a camera. He was just amazing.”

Even those new to local public service, knew Steve Roy.

“I’ve known him for years,” said first-term School Committee member Alexandra Taylor of Whitman.

State Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, who used to work in television in Los Angeles, said Roy was an advocate of getting people to do their own cable access shows.

“He ran it efficiently with a great staff,” Diehl said. “The guy really understood that content from the people in town was what would make people watch that station.”

He recalled how Whitman-Hanson Cable Access was “must-see TV’ sometimes. Diehl’s wife KathyJo Boss had been on WHCA performing with her dancing school as a kid and that viewers felt a connection with such programs as they watched the children in the community grow up.

“The good news is that he was in a vocation that he loved,” Diehl said.

There are many people in Whitman and Hanson, in all walks of life, who have worked with Roy on local programming.

“I worked with Steve Roy for over 30 years,” said Hanson resident Mark Vess. “He was an incredibly talented man. His musical abilities, his electronics abilities and his personality were exceptional.”

Wings Over Hanson

Vess, in fact, reminisced with Roy during a Hanson Selectmen’s meeting on April 19 about their production of a program titled “Wings Over Hanson,” which Roy said was one of the most popular programs he ever worked on and had one a local cable award.

“You were in the plane and you were hanging out of the plane taking the camera work, right?” Hanson Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said to Vess during that meeting.

“That is correct,” Vess replied. “It couldn’t be done today, I don’t think.”

“Can you guess how many people were watching at home, hoping you would fall out of the plane?” Young said.

“Literally dozens,” Vess rerplied with a laugh.

Vess said Saturday that he valued the opportunity to know and work with Roy.

“I am extremely saddened at his passing, and I think there’s going to be a giant hole in cable TV communications as well as his personality,” Vess said. “He’s going to leave a big pair of shoes to fill over there and he’s very much missed already.”

Producer Paul Watson is another WHCA colleague who has known Roy “for about 30 years,” a phrase one hears a lot from those who knew and worked with him.

“I’m one of the late-comers to that one,” Watson said. “Steve was one of those guys I went to when I got stymied by something because I knew he’d have a solution.”

He also remembers Roy as “just a nice guy to talk to.”

“His sense of humor was very dry, very wry and at times, extremely outrageous,” Watson said.

Lost friend

Young, who had also worked with Roy since the days when Continental Cablevision was the contracted service also expressed sorrow over the loss of a man he counted as a friend.

“Steve Roy’s passing leaves a tremendous void in cable access in Hanson,” Young said. “He was the rock that really held it together for all these years and the man was a true believer.”

Young also noted Roy’s skill in passing on his knowledge of television production to those wishing to learn it.

“I have no idea how the process works, but those are going to be hard shoes to fill,” he said.  “You would be hard-pressed to find anyone as skilled and as dedicated as Steve was.”

McCue takes helm

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HANSON — Town Administrator Michael McCue was sworn into office during the Tuesday, May 17 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, but he’s already been working to acquaint himself with the town’s government since his May 9 start date.

Selectmen also voted to grant the final go-ahead to Friday’s Bluegrass on the Bog Festival, now that the insurance certificate, signed agreement, arrangement for police detail officers and sufficient portable toilets have been made.

The festival producers have met with the Board of Health regarding sanitation facilities and the selectmen’s approval is contingent on confirmation that there will be enough toilet facilities made available.

After the McCue’s oath of office was administered by Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan — and a recess for a brief welcoming reception — he reported to the board on his first week on the job.

“I would like to extend my thanks to staff and the several citizens that have come by to wish me well and greet me,” McCue said. “I really look forward to meeting with all of them.”

He has already met with the police and fire chiefs as well as the highway surveyor as part of an effort to meet with all town department heads to discuss where each department has been, where they would like it to go, and to build relationships with staff.

McCue also plans to review all policies and procedures in town, “to see what needs to be revved up and what may need to be added.”

“Kind of oddly, I actually like doing that,” he said.

He credited Executive Assistant Meredith Marini with overseeing the installation of Wifi in the building as part of the project to supply selectmen with tablet computers to help reduce paperwork. The devices will be delivered soon and selectmen will be set up with e-mail addresses.

McCue also attended the May 2 Town Meeting and noted that a Town Moderator-appointed committee is investigating electronic voting devices for future sessions.

“If introduced properly it makes an awful lot of sense,” he said.

The town of Avon, where McCue has also served as a town administrator, already uses the devices successfully. He offered his services to help facilitate the move if the town opts to use them.

“I’m sure all of us would like to wish Mike well, and he’s assured me he is here for the duration, and he’d like to retire in the town of Hanson,” Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said.

“That is true — years from now,” McCue replied.

Young also noted McCue’s interest in working with selectmen to establish yearly goals and indicated that would be discussed at the next meeting.

McCue’s parents are Hanson residents, and his mother Constance, sister Katie, uncle Jim and aunt Pat attended the ceremony and reception.

In other business, School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes announced that Gale Engineering had come in with a proposal cost of $9,750 for the engineering study on the Maquan School roof repair project.

“We tried to speed up the process, because roofs the size of Maquan need to be done when the students are not in school, it makes for a better job with much [fewer] problems,” Hayes said.

Funding for the project was approved at the May 2 Town Meeting.

As the Gale proposal had just been received Tuesday afternoon, Hayes said he would make the letter from the firm available to Selectmen ahead of a May 24 meeting to vote on it. The School Committee meets next .

An RFP will be issued based on the engineering study with the aim of having the work done over the summer before school resumes in September.

“We were [the Indian Head & Maquan Priority Repair Committee] concerned that we’d run out of time and not be able to get this done, and we’re still in a time constraint a little bit,” Hayes said. “By moving this RFP forward … it allows us to take, maybe, a month off of the time schedule.”

Contractors base their bids on information in the request for proposals, or RFPs.

“That’s good news,” Selectman James McGahan said of the engineering estimate.

The board also approved the promotion of Officer Peter Calegero to sergeant to fill one of seven vacancies created by retirements and other departures.

“There’s a lot of experience leaving the force,” Chief Michael Miksch said. Right now, there are two or three shifts a week working with no sergeant on duty.

Calegero who is the next high-scoring officer on the sergeant’s exam list, has shown willingness to help new officers and has served as a school resource officer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UMass.

Selectmen also voted to offer conditional employment — pending completion of a medical exam, a background check, a psychological exam and final appointment — to Brent Peterson and Christopher Dominguez. Since Dominguez has recently moved back from Florida where he has been a full-time deputy officer with the Hillsboro County Sheriff’s Department, his hiring is also contingent on acceptance of his Florida certification as a police officer by the Mass. Police Training Committee.

Peterson is currently serving on the Plympton Police Department and has been an officer for three years and worked for four years on the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Western New England College. Dominguez  holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Endicott College and now works for the Norfolk County Corrections Department.

Grants prep new work force

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

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

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

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

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

Polito and Peyser were impressed with what they saw.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When Maura went missing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

True crime seemed a natural draw for him.

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

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

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

Q: Why the Maura Murray case?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q: What’s next for you?

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