Following the recent revelation that students at Hopkinton Middle School have made “racist comments to one another,” Hopkinton Public Schools Superintendent Carol Cavanaugh and HMS Principal Alan Keller reached out to the community to share their plan to combat the...
Jerry Spar
School Committee roundup: Members seek to ‘strengthen the dialogue’ with help from consultant; security camera policy debated
Following recent issues of divisiveness, the School Committee had a midyear check-in of its norms and beliefs, part of its protocols and best practices for effective meetings. While at recent meetings some members expressed frustration with how meetings were run and a...
UCTC continues discussion about potential trail location
The Upper Charles Trail Committee tried to get back on track at its meeting Wednesday night and revisited the debate over which option would be preferred to get from Milford to the Marathon School area. The committee previously had expressed support for a route along...
Select Board roundup: Tributes paid to Doyle; new police officer approved
At its meeting Tuesday night, the Select Board paid tribute to longtime Hopkinton High School teacher and coach Aubrey Doyle, who died Feb. 21 at the age of 90. “He was kind of the epitome of what Hopkinton used to be,” Brendan Tedstone said. “A really, really...
Fire ravages Mayhew Street home
[Editor's note: Updated March 2 with the fire chief commenting on a possible cause for the fire.] A three-alarm fire broke out at 10 Mayhew Street early Tuesday afternoon. Heavy smoke could be seen in the downtown area around 12:30 p.m. According to a Hopkinton Fire...
Health director: PFAS detected in other water supplies in town
Not only is Hopkinton’s PFAS problem not improving, the chemicals are turning up in other water supplies in town, health director Shaun McAuliffe shared Monday. Speaking at the Board of Health’s regular meeting, McAuliffe said elevated levels of PFAS (man-made per-...
Independent Thoughts: HHS seniors hopeful for ‘normal’ send-off
After a couple of years of masks and social distancing, the Class of 2022 at Hopkinton High School is looking forward to a somewhat normal final three months of its senior year. Normally prom is only held for the junior class, but because the current seniors missed...
UCTC divided over trails plan after suggestion of Hayden Rowe ‘realignment’
The Upper Charles Trail Committee is at a crossroads, members acknowledged in a meeting Wednesday, and it’s not clear how it can find a path forward. Town Engineer Dave Daltorio dropped a bombshell midway through the meeting when he said the group’s favored proposal...
Farrell, Team USA fall in Olympic quarterfinals
Hopkinton's Sean Farrell and the U.S. hockey team's memorable run in the Beijing Olympics came to an end Wednesday with a heartbreaking shootout loss to Slovakia in the quarterfinal round. Team USA was the top seed following its 3-0 performance in the qualifying...
Select Board roundup: Town’s COVID numbers still high; Lykan TIF moves forward; Center School update provided
During his COVID-19 update to the Select Board on Tuesday, Health Director Shaun McAuliffe announced that he and his staff “continue to observe improvement in the Town of Hopkinton,” but the town still has a ways to go to get to a point where he would recommend...
Farrell, Team USA top Germany to earn spot in Olympic quarterfinals
https://twitter.com/NBCSportsHockey/status/1492876566380097540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1492876566380097540%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcolympics.com%2Fnews%2Fusa-vs-germany-score-updates-highlights-2022-olympic...
Farrell assists Team USA in win over Canada
https://twitter.com/usahockey/status/1492396804377305088?s=20&t=IalyMKl3vHCmLr3Ml3uFrQ Hopkinton's Sean Farrell continued his hot start in Beijing on Saturday, recording an assist to help the U.S. men's hockey team to a 4-2 victory over Canada in an Olympic...
Schools Notebook: Local collegians honored
Northeastern University announced its dean’s list for the fall semester, and a number of Hopkinton residents are on it. The list includes Sebastian Toledo (majoring in game design), Tyler Gorman (economics/business administration), Mihika Abraham (business...
Farrell’s hat trick leads U.S. hockey team to win in Olympic opener
https://twitter.com/usahockey/status/1491794766287097860?s=20&t=FdN4_Ur--UoZYhzuYHGRug Sean Farrell’s Olympic experience is off to an incredible start. The Hopkinton native recorded a hat trick and added two assists to lead Team USA to a tournament-opening 8-0...
Independent Thoughts: Town tunes in to honor MLK
COVID curtailed the town’s Martin Luther King Day activities last month, but two local organizations hosted memorable virtual events on MLK weekend. On Jan. 17, the Hopkinton Freedom Team hosted an event broadcast on HCAM that featured keynote speaker Jamele Adams,...
Select Board roundup: Lykan TIF presented; COVID optimism expressed
A draft of the tax increment financing (TIF) agreement between the town and Lykan Bioscience was presented to the Select Board on Tuesday for its consideration, with a vote to come at a future meeting. Lykan is looking to construct a 112,141-square foot manufacturing...
Town’s $105M budget, still in need of $500,000 trim, ‘presents a fiscally sound path forward’
One week after announcing that a deadline-beating tax appeal filed by Eversource would require an adjustment of the town’s budget to the tune of $1.5 million, Town Manager Norman Khumalo returned to the Select Board on Tuesday with a revised budget that still needs a...
Health Department discusses target data for making masks optional in town: ‘Pure metrics, pure science, no politics’
While Hopkinton has continued to see an improvement in the number of COVID cases, the town continues to be listed by the CDC as “high risk for community transmission” and is at least a few days away from getting out of that designation, Health Director Shaun McAuliffe...
Town Clerk Degan plans bid for state representative
It’s a big election year for Connor Degan. In addition to planning Hopkinton’s elections as town clerk, Degan is running for two positions in separate elections. The first is for his town clerk position in the Annual Town Election in May. The second is for state...
UCTC addresses public concerns about trail proposal
At its meeting Wednesday night, the Upper Charles Trail Committee addressed feedback it has received about its trail proposal and discussed ways to better connect with the public about its goals and ideas. UCTC Chair Jane Moran explained that the committee has “just...