The Boston Athletic Association announced Wednesday that the 2021 Boston Marathon will not be held on its traditional date of the third Monday in April and will be postponed "until at least the fall of 2021." “With fewer than six months until Patriots’ Day and with...
Jerry Spar
Independent Thoughts: An election like no other worth effort for town clerk
When town clerk Connor Degan scheduled his wedding for Oct. 3 he couldn’t have imagined what was in store. Not only is the entire world in the midst of a pandemic the likes of which has not been seen in over a century, Americans are participating in an election unlike...
Solar zoning issues dominate ZAC public forum
During Monday night’s Zoning Advisory Committee meeting there was a public forum for zoning proposals and ideas. Not surprisingly, the conversation was focused on commercial solar zoning and how the town can better control the situation. “This was not intended to be a...
HHS sports roundup: Girls soccer sweeps Norton; boys soccer earns win, tie behind Schnur (4 goals)
Freshman Johanna DuPont scored the game’s lone goal in the 64th minute as the Hopkinton High School girls soccer team completed a weekend sweep of Norton with a 1-0 victory on Sunday in Hopkinton. Tiffany Mikulis started the game-winning sequence when she dribbled up...
Hopkinton Little League 9U team completes unbeaten season
The Hopkinton Little League 9U team beat Southborough 10-0 in four innings on Sunday at EMC Park to win the Southborough Little League 9U Fall All-Star Championship with an 11-0 record. Hopkinton, which earlier this season won the Medway Tondorf Tournament, finished...
Pair from HHS join Youth in Philanthropy board
The Foundation for MetroWest announced 32 students, including Hopkinton’s Kevin Gu and Ashley Wojcik, will represent MetroWest on its Youth in Philanthropy (YIP) Junior Board. The students will serve on the student-run board, which functions like a nonprofit board and...
Select Board roundup: Members debate potential changes to policies following public comment controversy
At Tuesday night's meeting the Select Board discussed possible changes or clarifications to its policies, most notably the public comment portion. The issue rose to the forefront in August, when Select Board chair Brendan Tedstone allowed four people to deliver...
HHS reports another COVID case; affected families being notified
Hopkinton High School principal Evan Bishop emailed families Wednesday to inform them that there has been another positive case of COVID-19 in the HHS community. The Hopkinton Public Schools are working closely with the Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC) and...
Conservation Commission ruling puts hold on residents’ forest cutting plan
At Tuesday night's Conservation Commission meeting, the commission unanimously ruled that a Lumber Street couple who had two forestry cutting plans approved by the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation could not remove trees to access one of the desired...
Select Board raises concerns about adopting MAPC pledge to ‘address systemic racism’
Following the deaths of a number of people of color at the hands of police earlier this year, some Metropolitan Boston community leaders joined together and signed a pledge to “address systemic racism in our communities and violence in law enforcement.” The Select...
Health director: Town sees ‘significant increase’ in COVID cases
Town health director Shaun McAuliffe, in his COVID-19 update to the Select Board on Tuesday, warned that there has been a “significant increase in the number of cases in town over the last two weeks,” and with seven active cases Hopkinton is expected to shift to the...
Select Board supports programs to help residents in need of COVID-related financial assistance
The Select Board threw its support behind two new programs related to COVID-19 and one returning program that are designed to provide financial assistance to residents. “The two programs that we are introducing tonight speak to why Hopkinton is a great community,”...
Planning Board addresses concerns regarding proposed Lincoln Street/Cedar Street Extension development
The proposed Lincoln Street/Cedar Street Extension development was the primary focus of Monday’s Planning Board meeting, with the discussion centered on whether the area would be better served with two cul-de-sacs or a through road. The Planning Board received...
HHS sports roundup: Rare loss for girls XC; boys run past Holliston
The Hopkinton High School girls cross country team fell to visiting Holliston on Saturday by a score of 25-32. It marked the program’s first loss in a dual meet since September of 2013, snapping a 41-meet win streak. Olivia Jones was second overall and Autumn...
Independent Thoughts: Health director hopeful about safe Halloween
Halloween has a few things going for it in terms of being a pandemic activity. Many trick-or-treaters already are wearing masks, and they’re outside. The primary concern is contact with residents giving out treats. So Hopkinton health director Shaun McAuliffe is...
Lake Maspenock extended drawdown OK’d by Conservation Commission
At last Tuesday’s Conservation Commission meeting, the commission voted to approve the Department of Public Works’ request to conduct the triennial 8-foot drawdown of Lake Maspenock in an effort to kill weeds at the bottom of the lake, despite concerns related to the...
Principal: Member of HMS community tests positive for COVID, but school still on
Hopkinton Middle School principal Alan Keller emailed HMS families Monday evening to announce that "a person in the HMS community has tested positive" for COVID-19. "The Hopkinton Public Schools are working closely with the Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC) and...
Town clerk clarifies mail-in ballot deadline after some voters receive wrong information
Town clerk Connor Degan clarified the deadlines for mail-in ballots after indicating that instructions mailed with some of the first round of ballots mistakenly have deadlines from last month's state primary election. "Fewer than 200 voters of the more than 5,600...
HHS soccer, field hockey, cross country open modified seasons this weekend
Hopkinton High School's fall sports teams — aside from golf, which already is off to a 3-0 start — open the season this weekend with contests against Medway. The sports will play with modified rules designed to limit contact, and only play against a "pod" of five...
HFD: Storm causes dozens of incidents with poles, trees, wires
According to the Hopkinton Fire Department, there were dozens of incidents involving damage to poles, trees and wires in town cased by Wednesday evening's storm. While there were minimal power outages, the HFD requested residents "stay off the road if you can." Around...