
Proposed FY26 ‘Local Aid’ to Cities/Towns
City and town finance managers and finance committees got their first look at anticipated state funding for next year's budgets, when the...
Wenham Police Participated in Boston Bruins BFit Challenge
WENHAM — Chief Kevin DiNapoli is pleased to share that the Wenham Police Department participated in the 9th Annual Boston Bruins BFit Challenge. The...
Groveland’s Johnson Creek Dam Slated for Removal
GROVELAND – You'ver probably never noticed what appears as a mere culvert under a road, but the "Johnson Creek Dam" located off Salem Street is...
AMESBURY GriefShare Support Group Classes
Starting Thursday, February 20, 6:30 PM GriefShare Support Group Classes is for those who have lost a loved one through death and will be held on...
SALISBURY Civil War Roundtable of the Merrimack
Wednesday, February 12, 7:30 PM Hilton Senior Center, 43 Lafayette Road, Salisbury, Mass. This month's meeting will feature two brief talks by...
NEWBURYPORT Anna Jaques Hospital Community Listening Session
Wednesday, February 12th from 11 a.m-12:30 p.m. Beth Israel Lahey Health and its member hospitals are conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment...
Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation Contributes $50,000 to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank
HAVERHILL – The Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation has committed $50,000 over five years to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank to support the...
ROWLEY Antarctica: An Austral Summer Cruise
Thursday, February 20, 1:00 PM Is traveling to the seventh continent on your bucket list? Join photographer Jack Homes and his wife Meg as they walk...
IPSWICH/ROWLEY Dinner at Masonic Hall
A delicious free dinner is available from 5-6 PM most Mondays at the Masonic Hall, 70 Topsfield Road, Ipswich. Knowing that hunger presents itself...
REVERE BEACH 2nd annual Winter Wonderland
Saturday, February 8, 2025, from 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM This family-friendly event will feature world-class ice sculptures, a Winter Market with over 20...
Looking to Teach Cool Stuff? Newburyport’s Adult & Community Education Program
NEWBURYPORT – The Greater Newburyport Adult and Community Education is looking for instructors for its spring semester, which runs from late April...

Georgetown FinCom Advances Budget Development Based on Anticipated Tax Override
GEORGETOWN – Despite last year's rejection by voters of a requested $3 million tax override, the Georgetown Finance and Advisory Committee voted at...
Fall 2024 College Honor Students
Nichols College President's List Carter Renaud of Hampton, N.H. Dean's List Fernando Barranco of Haverhill Gianna Filtranti of Amesbury Jack Ellis...
Salisbury Historical Society Awarded $2,500 Grant from Mass Cultural Council for “Scenes of Salisbury Traveling Quilt Show”
SALISBURY – The Salisbury Historical Society is thrilled to announce it has been awarded a $2,500 grant on December 13, 2024, from the Mass Cultural...

NEWBURYPORT, NEWBURY, SALISBURY: ‘Valentine Love’ Pet Food Drive-By
Saturday, February 14, 10 am. - 1:00 pm Central Congregational Church, 14 Titcomb St., Newburyport. All donations go directly to the First Parish...

SALISBURY: Civil War Roundtable of the Merrimack
Wednesday, February 12, 7:30 PM Hilton Senior Center, 43 Lafayette Road, Salisbury, Mass. This month's meeting will feature two brief talks by...

Triton Regional High School Debuts First Ever Winter Play with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
BYFIELD January 31 at 7:00 PM and February 1 at 2:00 PM, at Triton Regional High School. Triton Regional High School Theatre presents a heartwarming...
Groveland Trash and Recycling Survey
by Mike Dempsey The Groveland Select Board and the Trash and Recycling Committee want your input. The committee recommends moving towards automated...
Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation Donates $10,000 to the Atkinson Conservation Commission
HAVERHILL – The Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation has donated $10,000 to the Atkinson Conservation Commission to assist with the creation of an...

Town of Boxford Announces Plow Truck Names Chosen by Elementary School Students
BOXFORD – The Town of Boxford proudly reveals the official names for its snowplow trucks, creatively selected by the students of the town’s...

Charles T. Davis August 11, 1943 – December 8, 2024
Charles Thomas Davis, formally of North Revere, MA, and Rowley, MA, passed away on Sunday, December 8, 2024, at River Terrace Healthcare Center in...
DAR Marian Anderson Legacy Scholarship Accepting Applications, Apply by Jan. 31
WASHINGTON – Undergraduate and graduate students studying music can apply for the DAR Marian Anderson Legacy Scholarship through January 31, 2025....
Fall 2024 College Honor Students
Bate's College Dean's List Mikaila Whitaker Bennett of Rowley Gabriella Bellacqua of West Newbury Brigham Young Univ. Honor Society Ian Timothy of...

SUNDAY Feb 2nd and THURSDAY Feb 6th Byfield: TTS Players Open Auditions
TTS Players will be holding open auditions for their upcoming spring production of Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (School Edition)...

SATURDAY Feb 15th Haverhill: Reverand Robert B. Jones, Sr.
A pastor, a songwriter, a storyteller, a multi-instrumentalist, an award-winning educator with an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of African...

Boxford Invited Into MSBA Accelerated Repair Program for Harry Lee Cole Elementary School Roof Replacement
BOXFORD – The Town of Boxford and the Boxford School Committee are excited to announce that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has...
SOLD OUT!! YWCA Greater Newburyport Hosts 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Breakfast ‘Protecting Freedom, Justice and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence’
NEWBURYPORT – The YWCA Greater Newburyport is excited to host its Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Breakfast on Monday, January 20, 2025....
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21st Newburyport Choral Society Seeks Members
The Newburyport Choral Society enthusiastically welcomes new singers to their music family. Open rehearsals are being held on Tuesdays, January 21,...
Essex/Middlesex Association of Insurance Women is Accepting Scholarship Applications
The Essex/Middlesex Association of Insurance Women is now accepting applications for its 2025 Estelle T. Jeter scholarship award. The $500...

Georgetown FinCom Advocates $6 Million Property Tax Increase
GEORGETOWN – Despite the voters rejecting a $3 million tax increase last year, town officials here are preparing to ask their property owners this spring to approve a $6 million increase in their property taxes. The tax increase, which would be above the 2.5 percent hike the state allows, may be levied over two years -- $4 million for 2026 and $2 million more for 2027. At that level, projections are that property taxes on a $750,000 house in Georgetown would rise almost $2,000 over the two-year span. The town’s...

Show Your Love for Horses this Valentine’s Day in West Newbury
by Mary Martin President & Founder, NEER, North Inc. WEST NEWBURY – Valentine’s Day always reminds me of the broken-hearted horses I’ve been privileged to help over the years. As founder and president of New England Equine Rescue North, a small non-profit in West Newbury, Massachusetts, I’ve worked with scores of horses and donkeys in dire straits, through no fault of their own. Most of our rescues are from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Some are former race horses who were pushed too hard and arrive at...

Boxford Honors Fire Department for 2024 Brush Fire Responses
BOXFORD – Town Adminstrator Matt Coogan related that on Monday, January 27th, the Boxford Select Board proudly presented a Resolution of Appreciation to Fire Chief Brian Geiger and the Boxford Fire Department for their extraordinary efforts in battling the 2024 brush fires that threatened Boxford and surrounding communities. In the fall of 2024, the Town of Boxford and other Massachusetts communities faced a severe wildfire emergency, with over 403 fires reported statewide and more than 1,063 acres burned. The...

Ipswich First Responders and Northeast Technical Rescue Team Partner to Rescue Horse
IPSWICH – Fire Chief Paul Parisi and Police Chief Paul Nikas report that the Ipswich Fire and Police Departments responded Friday to an incident in which a horse got stuck in a drainage swale. On Friday, Jan. 31, at approximately 12:09 p.m., Ipswich Communications received a report of a horse that was stuck in a drainage swale at 6 Mill Road. Ipswich Police, Ipswich Animal Control and Ipswich Fire responded, and located a 31-year-old horse on its back in the swale with its legs in the air. The horse was not able...

Rowley Windward Crossing Up to 70% Affordable Housing Project May Yet Get a $500K Taxpayer Boost
ROWLEY – Town Meeting in May is likely to reconsider and may reverse a vote from last year to fund a portion of a new affordable housing project near the Market Basket shopping center on Rte. 1. The Rowley SelectBoard voted four to one last week to support a request of $500,000 from Community Preservation Funds for the project, called Windward Crossing, by Harborlight Homes. The recommendation now goes to the Community Preservation Committee for its approval before going to the Town Meeting. The SelectBoard’s...

Some Winter Sports Happen Indoors! Photos by Peter McClelland
Some Winter Sports Happen Indoors! Photos by Peter McClelland
Are UFOs Real?
AMESBURY – Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), now called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), came to the Costello Senior Center last week. About a dozen senior residents listened enthusiastically to Chris Torres of Salisbury Beach explain how the government and academics no longer believe people are crazy if they believe impossibly fast space ships from another planet are visiting Earth. “We are entering a new era of transparency” about extraterrestrials, Torres said. Notably, a new documentary, the Age of...

Wind Turbine Springs a Leak – Sprays Hydraulic Fluid Over Neighborhood
NEWBURYPORT – Mark Rickey's wind turbine, solar panels and a biomass boiler have long been examples of green manufacturing here. But earlier this month, wind and rain caused a container of hydraulic fluid on the turbine to spill into its catch basin, polluting the surrounding neighborhood when the turbine blew it onto houses, cars, and buildings. On the following Tuesday, crews began the extensive clean-up project in the neighborhood along Route 1, while the Department of Environmental Protection supervised....

Georgetown Conservation Commission Details Enforcement Order Against ‘Forest Bathing’ Site
GEORGETOWN – While the left hand is all concerned with $48.83 in wrongly submitted mileage reimbursements over a 10-month period (see prior stories), the Georgetown Conservation Commission continues to focus on matters of septic system upgrades, boundary markers to firmly define no-disturb boundaries near wetlands, a failed septic replacement, removal of a deck and creation of an addition, and enforcement of extensive violations into the wetlands where Mr. Tianqui Wang created a party/meditation/forest bathing...

Newburyport Sculture – Blending History, Clipper Ships, and Abolitionists
NEWBURYPORT – The city expects this spring to install Sail Trace, a tall clipper ship sculpture, in Market Landing Park on the Merrimack River waterfront. Designed and created by Portland, Me. sculptor Aaron T Stephan, the art work, chosen by the city’s Public Art Committee from 20 entries, is likely to be the city’s signature sculpture on its popular waterfront park. Stephan proposed and the committee agreed last week to enhance the metal sculpture with a quotation by 19th century writer and anti-slavery leader...
NEWBURYPORT Anna Jaques Hospital Community Listening Session
Wednesday, February 12th from 11 a.m-12:30 p.m. Beth Israel Lahey Health and its member hospitals are conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment...
Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation Contributes $50,000 to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank
HAVERHILL – The Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation has committed $50,000 over five years to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank to support the...
ROWLEY Antarctica: An Austral Summer Cruise
Thursday, February 20, 1:00 PM Is traveling to the seventh continent on your bucket list? Join photographer Jack Homes and his wife Meg as they walk and cruise Ushaia, the South Shetland Island, and Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. Call the...
IPSWICH/ROWLEY Dinner at Masonic Hall
A delicious free dinner is available from 5-6 PM most Mondays at the Masonic Hall, 70 Topsfield Road, Ipswich. Knowing that hunger presents itself both physically and relationally, the Ipswich Dinnerbell is a non-profit cooperation of...

Plum Island Property Owner Moves to Replace Closed 125-Seat Restaurant with Four Multi-Story Condos
NEWBURY – With the former owner of the Plum Island Grille facing a felony criminal charge for vandalizing the popular, but now closed restaurant, property owner Mark Friery is planning to tell the town in the next couple of weeks that he will seek...
NEWBURYPORT Anna Jaques Hospital Community Listening Session
Wednesday, February 12th from 11 a.m-12:30 p.m. Beth Israel Lahey Health and its member hospitals are conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment to better understand the most pressing health-related issues impacting the people living and...
NEWBURYPORT Anna Jaques Hospital Community Listening Session
Wednesday, February 12th from 11 a.m-12:30 p.m. Beth Israel Lahey Health and its member hospitals are conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment to better understand the most pressing health-related issues impacting the people living and...

Brighter Smiles … THE FINAL SAY
By J. Peter St. Clair, DMD Of the 1048 Brighter Smiles columns published over the last 19 years, I will admit, I repeated a few. Trying to think of new things to write about, other than the importance of an electric toothbrush, water pik, and...

Brighter Smiles … MAKE ‘EM STICK
Happy New Year! So, how does it feel being back at work? Or, if you are retired, does today feel like any other day? For many people, the New Year is time for resolutions. Gym memberships go up and so do sales of healthier food. I don’t know about...

Brighter Smiles … 21 SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS IN 2025
At the end of each of the past 19 years, I have used this space to publish these 21 Suggestions for Success authored by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Cut this out and put it on the refrigerator. Read this list often and take these suggestions to heart....

Georgetown FinCom Advocates $6 Million Property Tax Increase
GEORGETOWN – Despite the voters rejecting a $3 million tax increase last year, town officials here are preparing to ask their property owners this spring to approve a $6 million increase in their property taxes. The tax increase, which would be above the 2.5 percent hike the state allows, may be levied over two years -- $4 million for 2026 and $2 million more for 2027. At that level, projections are that property taxes on a $750,000 house in Georgetown would rise almost $2,000 over the two-year span. The town’s...

Georgetown FinCom Advocates $6 Million Property Tax Increase
GEORGETOWN – Despite the voters rejecting a $3 million tax increase last year, town officials here are preparing to ask their property owners this spring to approve a $6 million increase in their property taxes. The tax increase, which would be above the 2.5 percent hike the state allows, may be levied over two years -- $4 million for 2026 and $2 million more for 2027. At that level, projections are that property taxes on a $750,000 house in Georgetown would rise almost $2,000 over the two-year span. The town’s...

Show Your Love for Horses this Valentine’s Day in West Newbury
by Mary Martin President & Founder, NEER, North Inc. WEST NEWBURY – Valentine’s Day always reminds me of the broken-hearted horses I’ve been privileged to help over the years. As founder and president of New England Equine Rescue North, a small non-profit in West Newbury, Massachusetts, I’ve worked with scores of horses and donkeys in dire straits, through no fault of their own. Most of our rescues are from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Some are former race horses who were pushed too hard and arrive at...

Boxford Honors Fire Department for 2024 Brush Fire Responses
BOXFORD – Town Adminstrator Matt Coogan related that on Monday, January 27th, the Boxford Select Board proudly presented a Resolution of Appreciation to Fire Chief Brian Geiger and the Boxford Fire Department for their extraordinary efforts in battling the 2024 brush fires that threatened Boxford and surrounding communities. In the fall of 2024, the Town of Boxford and other Massachusetts communities faced a severe wildfire emergency, with over 403 fires reported statewide and more than 1,063 acres burned. The...

Proposed FY26 ‘Local Aid’ to Cities/Towns
City and town finance managers and finance committees got their first look at anticipated state funding for next year's budgets, when the Massachusetts’s governor recently unveiled her budget proposal for FY26. The currently proposed state spending of approximately $62 billion represents a 6.8% increase of the budget the governor signed last year, and a $10 billion increase since FY 2023. However, money distributed to cities and towns remains...
Wenham Police Participated in Boston Bruins BFit Challenge
WENHAM — Chief Kevin DiNapoli is pleased to share that the Wenham Police Department participated in the 9th Annual Boston Bruins BFit Challenge. The challenge took place on Sunday, Feb. 2 at the TD Garden in Boston. The event invites all first responders and military personnel in the community to walk, run, or step to raise awareness about health and wellness while raising funds for charities. Wenham Police, along with the Hamilton and...
Groveland’s Johnson Creek Dam Slated for Removal
GROVELAND – You'ver probably never noticed what appears as a mere culvert under a road, but the "Johnson Creek Dam" located off Salem Street is slated for removal as part of a long list of state-wide dams deemed inconsequential and/or not being used for their orginal purposes. The dam was inspected in 1979 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division and deemed in need of repairs at that time. Last week, the Massachusetts...
AMESBURY GriefShare Support Group Classes
Starting Thursday, February 20, 6:30 PM GriefShare Support Group Classes is for those who have lost a loved one through death and will be held on Thursdays at 6:30 pm from February 20 thru May 1 at the Market Street Baptist Church, 37 Market Street, Amesbury. There is a notebook that goes along with a video series at the cost of $20 donation if able. All are welcome. Parking is available behind the church and in the BankProv lot. To register:...
SALISBURY Civil War Roundtable of the Merrimack
Wednesday, February 12, 7:30 PM Hilton Senior Center, 43 Lafayette Road, Salisbury, Mass. This month's meeting will feature two brief talks by...
NEWBURYPORT Anna Jaques Hospital Community Listening Session
Wednesday, February 12th from 11 a.m-12:30 p.m. Beth Israel Lahey Health and its member hospitals are conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment...
Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation Contributes $50,000 to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank
HAVERHILL – The Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation has committed $50,000 over five years to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank to support the...

Plum Island Property Owner Moves to Replace Closed 125-Seat Restaurant with Four Multi-Story Condos
NEWBURY – With the former owner of the Plum Island Grille facing a felony criminal charge for vandalizing the popular, but now closed restaurant,...
NEWBURYPORT Anna Jaques Hospital Community Listening Session
Wednesday, February 12th from 11 a.m-12:30 p.m. Beth Israel Lahey Health and its member hospitals are conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment to better understand the most pressing health-related issues impacting the people living and working in the communities we serve. Please join us to hear key themes from our assessment, share your perspective, and discuss potential solutions. All attendees are entered to win a $100 Visa Gift...