A few of the headlines from our 2025 coverage:
Newburyport Company Lands $462,700
Federal Grant
Federal tax dollars given to Crystal Engineering Co., Inc. in Newburyport, a CNC machining company servicing many industries including aerospace will receive $462,700 to replace its propane forklift with an electric equivalent and other such items.
The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District Granted $4.9 million to Purchase Electric Buses
Taxpayers pay approximately double for the cost of buses as they are electric based. Concerns about heating and mileage in the winter remains…
ConCom Director Suspended Over $48
Georgetown’s Conservation agent was temporarily suspended and a hearing was held regarding her submitting 2024 mileage reimbursement forms. She was unable to drive so she had a commission member drive her and then submitted the forms to the town without detailing on the forms “what was common knowledge throughout town hall” as one meeting member explained. (Some argued she was not entitle to reimbursement, other noted that the mileage is town’s business and needed to be paid, but the forms needed to detail the payments correctly.) She received a 5-day suspension without pay.
Taxpayers’ Additional $2.6 Million Outlay Will Keep MEVA Rides Free
Free buses running throughout the Merrimack Valley continues for the third year, thanks to Massachusetts taxpayer spending.
Ken Gray Honored One Last Time
Amesbury mayor was honored with a display of photos at city hall in a dedication ceremony.
What’s Happening in Your Town Government?
A roundup of recent meeting minutes show most towns lagging in posting meeting meetings online – typically from three to six months.
Celebrated Artist Richard Jones Retires as Newburyport City Clerk
Boxford Invited Into MSBA Accelerated Repair Program for Harry Lee Cole Elementary School Roof
Groveland Handyman Turning Frowns Upside Down
Lance Blais, a popular handyman who lives in Groveland, was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago. The Army veteran had a portion of a lung removed and began chemotherapy treatments – dresses in costume garb for all appointments to bring cheer to others.
Wenham Museum Names Sarah Sosa-Acevedo New Executive Director
Newbury Police and Fire Respond to Minor Plane Crash at Plum Island Airport
Guided Seal Walks at Salisbury Beach
Rowley Search for New Police Chief Begins
Newburyport Sculpture – Blending History, Clipper Ships, and Abolitionists
Rowley Windward Crossing Up to 70% Affordable Housing Project May Yet Get a $500K Taxpayer Boost
Georgetown FinCom Advances Budget Development Based on Anticipated Tax Override
Newburyport Wind Turbine Springs a Leak – Sprays Hydraulic Fluid Over Neighborhood
Georgetown Conservation Commission Details Enforcement Order Against ‘Forest Bathing’ Site
Decks, floats, boats, propane grill, lots of wine bottles and party decorations… claimed to be “culture.” All in wetlands, prohibited. Owner removed/sold off property we’re told.
Boxford Honors Fire Department for 2024 Brush Fire Responses
Georgetown FinCom Advocates $6 Million Property Tax Increase
Groveland’s Johnson Creek Dam Slated for Removal
Pentucket Bank Charitable Foundation Contributes $50,000 to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank
Ipswich First Responders and Northeast Technical Rescue Team Partner to Rescue Horse
Wenham Police Participated in Boston Bruins BFit Challenge
Proposed FY26 ‘Local Aid’ to Cities/Towns
Tax dollars distributed to cities and towns remains at sub-fractions of the overall budget. For example, Newburyport to receive just 0.015% of overall state spending, Ipswich 0.010%, Boxford a paltry 0.004%. Georgetown 0.011%, Groveland 0.002%, Essex close to 0%, Rowley, Salisbury, West Newbury, Newbury, and Wenham: 0.001%. Topsfield 0.004%.
Gloucester Democrat Mayor Seeks 3rd Term
Post-Fire Cleanup, Pentucket Reopens with Thanks
Gloucester Fire Dept. Welcomes New Member from Mass. Firefighting Academy
Georgetown Fire Department Responds to Rollover Crash on I95
Groveland Fire Department Extinguishes Chimney Fire in Home on King Street
Hampton, N.H. Academy Launches Hands-On Robotics Program
IPSWICH: Buying Time for MBTA 3A Housing Explosion
Plant Matters Column Debuts
Whittier Tech Shuts Down Four Programs
Design and Visual Communications, Early Education and Care, construction Craft Laborer, and Engineering see the axe and Whittier seeks to merge with Northern Essex Community College.
Groveland Council on Aging Presents ‘Empowered Voices”‘International Women’s Day Panel
Masconomet Regional High School Varsity Girls Soccer Team Visits the State House Following MIAA Division II State Championship Win
DA Asked to Review Alleged Payroll Fraud in Georgetown
Saying Goodbye Is Hard
The Pink House, despite lobbying efforts apparently attempted by Republican State Senator Bruce Tarr, is slated for demolition.
Groveland Fire Department Responds to Brush Fire on West Newbury Town Line
Pentucket Regional Middle High School Fine Arts Teacher Receives Massachusetts Art Education Association Award
Triton Approves New Graduation Rules
Rockport Police, Fire, and MSP Bomb Squad Respond to Discovery of Possible WWI Ordnance
Newburyport Charitable Foundation Awards $2,500 to Chase Home for Children
Off With Her Crown – Iconic, Beloved Pink House’s Last Sunrise
Pink House demolished by state.
Rowley’s Chris Thornton Steps Down from Planning Board as Rowley Farms Advances
Resigned after more than 10 years of service to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
Triton Middle School Presents MEAN GIRLS JR.
Ipswich Affordable 3-Bedroom Unit Housing Opportunity
34 Citizens Groups from 34 Communities Supporting Rockport’s 2022 Opposition Lawsuit to the MBTA ‘Mandate’
Whittier Receives Financial Literacy Grant
Boxford Police Successfully Recover Funds in Cryptocurrency Fraud Investigation
Georgetown Royals Boys Basketball Wins the Division 4 State Championship
NEWBURY: 15 Year Old Singer-Songwriter Ava Valianti Announces Events
Gloucester Police Mourn Passing of Former Chief James Marr Sr.
Friends of the Newburyport Public Library’s Book Sale
Rowley’ Sea View Wins Battle with State
The Sea View Retreat longterm care facility was exonerated by an administrative magistrate in the state Public Health Department of charges that it committed deceit, malpractice, gross misconduct and was incompetent in closing the decades-old nursing home during the Covid Pandemic.
Will Ipswich Star in an Ed Sheeran Music Video?
Newbury Police and Fire Clear Scene of Reported of Explosive Device at
Pearson Plaza
High-End Condos Proposed to Present New Plum Island Gateway
Newburyport Bank Offers Home Buying Assistance to People of Color
Howie Newman Musical Baseball Show
Sewage 30% Above Average in Merrimack River
Greater Newburyport YWCA Annual Engaging Communities Luncheon
Groveland Eradicates Lead in Water System
Boxford Stiles Pond Athletics Partnership
Rowley’s Three Sweet Peas Bakery Event at Council on Aging
Newburyport Choral Society Drop-in Fundraiser at the Grog
Boxford’s King’s Tree Farm Richard ‘Dick’ King Passed
Amesbury Police Use Drone to Find Lost Dog in Woods
29 Articles for Newbury Town Meeting
Ipswich Police Department to Hold Annual Drug Take Back Day and Touch-A-Truck Event
The Town Common Hosts Georgetown Candidate’s Forum
Boxford Officials Seek Voter Approval of $16 Million New DPW Facility
Who Sent the $6 Million Override Letter?
School committee members in Georgetown sent multiple mailings to get-out-the-vote for a $6 million override.
Rowley Docks Installation Volunteer Crew – Beth DiMento Photo Contest Winner
Newburyport Police Seek Information After Pedestrian Was Struck by Vehicle
Merrimac’s Purple Sage Pottery – Open House
Mike Anderson for Georgetown Light Commissioner
Newburyport’s YWCA Creating Housing for
Low-Income Seniors Event
Groveland’s New Pickle Ball and Tennis Courts
Groveland CPA Town Meeting Projects
Rowley Council on Aging End-of-Month Events
Newburyport: Soothing Immigration Fears
Police Officers Will Not Work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Newburyport Bank Donates $10,000 as Sponsor of YWCA Engaging Communities Luncheon
Sunday’s High Winds Complicate Firefighting – 10+ Acres Burned in Newburyport
Boxford: 24 Articles for Town Meeting
Rowley Police Investigates Property Scam, Summons and Charge Washington Man
Newbury Soliciting Bids for Space for Byfield Fire Station
WENHAM Files Superior Court Action to Hold the Commonwealth’s Housing Agency Accountable to its Legal Obligations Under the MBTA Communities Act
SALISBURY: Playing With Fairies and Gnomes
Gloucester Fire Department Extinguishes House Fire Caused by Careless Disposal of Smoking Materials
Portsmouth, NH: Sara Bareilles Headlines this Year’s Emerging Artist Benefit Concert
WENHAM: Sgt. Marsh Retires
NEWBURYPORT: Fighting in the Library Stacks
ROWLEY: Select-Board Candidates Offer a Choice
IPSWICH: Veterans Walkway Coming Soon
GEORGETOWN: What Does Town Get from Huge Trash Transfer Station?
DANVERS: Historical Society’s Art C
GROVELAND Town Meeting Voters Embrace Future ‘MBTA’ Housing GEORGETOWN Override Will Ensure Raises
Nichole D. Raftopoulos of Nvest Financial, LLC Honored in Forbes Best-In- State Wealth Advisors; Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors
IPSWICH: End of an Era – Beloved Magestic Dragon Provides Area Firefighters Training Ground Prior to Demo
IPSWICH, GEORGETOWN, ROWLEY, and BOXFORD Town Meetings Face/Faced Tough Decisions
SALISBURY/GLOUCESTER/BEVERLY and Beyond: Latest Complicated Rules for Massachusetts Fishermen
Local Scholars
YWCA Greater Newburyport Executive Director to Step Down
GEORGETOWN, ROWLEY, SALISBURY … Tax Overrides, New Leaders Approved
Pentucket School District Updates
Merrimac Police/Fire and Amesbury Police Rescue 7-Year-Old Boy Stuck in Swamp
YWCA Greater Newburyport Celebrates Opening of Their New 48 Units of Senior Housing in Methuen
HAMPTON, NH Winnacunnet Cooperative High School Students Pay Respects to NH World War I Soldier
Georgetown Eagle Scout Court of Honor
NEWBURYPORT: Meet the Commerce Cottages
GRADUATION: Senior Spotlight
Georgetown Memorial Day Parade Photos
NEWBURY: Food Bank Turns 10!
BOXFORD Select Board to Host Public Info. Session on Potential Membership in North Shore Regional 911 Center
NEWBURYPORT Adult and Community Education
Rowley Public Library Seeks Your Input on Strategic Plan
Newburyport: ‘Clipper Ship’ Arrives on the Waterfront
Loss of
Mary Donahoe Lytle
James J. McCarthy Appointed President of Newburyport Bank
West Newbury Art in the Garden Tour
Newburyport Announces Departure of Director of Public Services
Georgetown Receives $250,000 Taxpayer-Funded Grant for Municipal Fiber Optic Network
Three Vehicle Crash at Rte 1 and Pond St.
Newburyport Police Investigating Accident Involving Police Cruiser and Teenage Pedestrian
For the Fifth Year, Pentucket Regional School District Receives National Recognition by the NAMM Foundation
Pentucket Fine & Performing Arts Chair David Schumacher Honored as 2026 GRAMMY Music Educator Award Quarterfinalist
Salisbury Board of Health Amends Fee Schedule to Match Applications
Newbury Opens New Playground at Central Street Recreation Area
TOPSFIELD TROOP 81 Eagle Scout Court of Honor – 2025
Georgetown Town Releases ‘Imperfect, Incomplete’ Stirm Group Report
50th Anniversary of Jaws with a trip to ‘Amity Island’
Newburyport Firehouse Center for the Arts Presents: Legally Blonde: The Musical
Plum Island: 2 Women Mourned
Newburyport Lantern Festival Returns
‘Remembering the Women Who Raised America’
Free Swim Lessons Across North Shore and Cape Ann through Northeast Arc’s Saving Lives Swim Program
GEORGETOWN: Beaver Deceivers?
Newburyport Builds New Tennis Courts for $474,560
Manchester Essex Regional Middle School Grade 8 Civics Students Present Projects at State Civics Showcase
Groveland Town Meeting Notes
Summer Concert Series on the Rowley Library Lawn
Newburyport Bank Announces Promotion of Tim Regan to Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer
Newburyport’s Mega ‘Plaza Landing’ to be Largest Building
Road to Revolution Parade – Newburyport
Georgetown SelectBoard Ousts ConCom Chair
Refuses to re-appoint chair, appoints outgoing selectboard chair as member of ConCom.
Town Trucks Line Up at Mello’s New Roadbed
Amesbury Fire Responds after Child is Struck by Waste Collection Vehicle
SALISBURY BEACH THIS WEEKEND
American Legion at Georgetown’s American Legion Park
Fun Tuesdays in Ipswich
Mike Lago Remembered
Boxford Select Board Appoints A.J. Paglia as Captain of Police Department
GROVELAND: Valley Manufactured Products Well Contamination Part 1 How did it happen?
HAVERHILL: Events at the Buttonwoods Museum
Newburyport Art Presents 10 x 10 Small Works
GEORGETOWN: Summer Concert Series at the Library
Large Sand Mining Operation in Georgetown Passing as Farm Prep?
The Blind Can Walk Newburyport’s Rail Trail
Newburyport Horticulture Society’s Annual Student Scholarships
Groveland Announces Police Promotions
Georgetown Knights of Columbus Officer John Takis to Ride in the 2025 Pan-Mass Challenge to Fight Cancer
Is Zibell Farm Being Illegally or Legally Mined for Sand?
Manchester-by-the-Sea Police Rescue Five Teenagers from Sinking Sailboat
Yankee, Come Home Once Again
Coming Home: A Newburyport Art Exhibit Honoring Community & Legacy
Newburyport: MassDOT Wants Signal Lights on Merrimac Street
Owner of Zibell Farm ‘Sand Mining’ Operation Allowed Private Viewing to Planning Board. Eject Selectwoman, Deny Viewing to The Town Common
What Else Did the Planning Board Miss?
Hampton Beach: New Entertainment Venue Coming to North Shore
Ipswich Police and Fire Seek to Identify Owner of Overturned Boat on Hoods Pond
Plant Matters: Let’s Talk About the American Lawn Fetish
Planning Board Postpones Action on Georgetown Sand Mining Operation
Newburyport YWCA Picks a New Leader
Salisbury Link House Reopens Women’s Center
A Sign to Remember the Pink House
Newburyport Custom House Setting New Attendance Records
Town Sues to Stop Huge Sand Excavation
Georgetown Fire Department Welcomes New Hires
Newburyport Art Celebrates Yankee Homecoming and Thanks Newburyport Bank by ‘Coming Home’
Rowley Veterans Committee Invites All to Attend Ceremony for American Flag Collection Box
Gloucester Fire Department Battles Fire at Business on Eastern Avenue
Essex Police Arrest Man on Drunken Driving, Resisting Arrest Charges After He Parked and Drove Atop Boulders
Town of Newbury Implements Heavy Commercial Vehicle Exclusion on Larkin Road
Smooth Sailing at Yankee Homecoming
Georgetown Rene J. Gagnon American Legion Post #211 Sponsored Ricky DiChicco for Boys State Program
Rowley Library – School Clothes: Donate, Shop!
Rowley Council on Aging August Events
Yankee Homecoming Parade Photos
Mosquito Spraying on the Coast
Town of Newbury Once Again Honored for Excellence in Budget Presentation
North Hampton Fire Rescue and Mutual Aid Partners Maintain Containment, Continue Multi-Day Effort to Fully Extinguish Brush Fire
Rowley Opposes Whittier Shared Campus Manchester-by-the-Sea and Essex Police Respond to Violent Mental Health Crisis
Rowley Veterans Committee Thanks Jessica Garron for Spearheading U.S. Flag Retirement Box
Georgetown Sand Mining Halted by Court
Newburyport: Essex Ensemble to Play to Raise Funds for Newbury Food Bank
Groveland’s Tracy Gilford Named Grand Marshal for 175th Celebration Parade
Dementia-Friendly Equine Assisted Program
Two New Assistant Principals to Join Pentucket Middle High School
Newburyport’s Vintage Car Show Block Party!
Rescued Alpacas from MSPCA Find a Cozy New Home at Great Rock Farm
Smart Glasses Help the Blind Read
Michael Updike: Gravestones Don’t Have to be Morbid
Byfield Parish Church Praise Band Shined at the Salisbury Beach Christian Concert Series 2025
Salisbury Beach Lifeguard Command Station Named after ‘Boots’ ChouinardAmesbury
McDonalds’ Backpack Giveaway a ‘Wonderful Event’
Temporary Water Bans Coming as Groveland Launchs Drinking Water Filtration Treatment Study
Rowley’s Eddie MacDonald: Outstanding Again!
Seacoast Composite Squadron of Civil Air Patrol in Portsmouth to Host an Open House
Civil War Roundtable 30th Anniversary Meeting: Salisbury
Newburyport’s Custom House Soiree Adding Seats
Ipswich Zoning Board of Appeals Unanimously Approves 214 Unit Mega-Development
Newburyport: Record Number of Filmmakers to Appear Here
Triton Music Parents Organization Fall Electronics Recycling Event
Down the Road Releases Roots Music
Boxford Water Woes – Andrews Out, Aquarion In
PlumFest 2025!
Georgetown Sand Wars/ Dumping Wars?
With 60% Drop in FreshmanEnrollment, Should Georgetown High School Close, Go Regional?
Newburyport’s Illume Bookstore Adds Art Gallery
Ipswich to Commemorate 285th Anniversary of the Devil’s Footprint Legend
BOXFORD: Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Johnson Playground
Do Rail Trails Need a Speed Limit?
Greater Newburyport YWCA Celebrates the Tenure and Legacy of John Feehan, YWCA Executive Director: 2009- 2025
Building a Canoe Wampanaoag Style
Town of Boxford Earns AAA Bond Rating from S&P Global Ratings
Saving People: One Animal at a Time
New Record Set at Topsfield Fair Hot Dog Eating Contest
Boxford General Obligation Bonds Net 3.789%
Beverly Police Arrest Juvenile Following Church Fire
Nvest Financial Group, LLC is Recertified in the Renowned Certification for Fiduciary Excellence
To be continued…
