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With our Main Street reconstruction getting underway for the third year, I can’t resist opining on a topic I know so little about. I do know the new Fruit Street bridge is planned at 32 feet wide, curb to curb, features a 5-foot-wide paved walk on one side and,...
We have heard a lot about the school budget, with many more conversations likely as we approach Town Meeting. The schools receive a significant portion of our town budget, and the growth of our school budget continues to outpace that of our town budget. Probing...
As springtime and Boston Marathon time approach, it is imperative that as a town we should focus on two of our most important downtown green spaces: the Town Common and the Center School land. The Town Common is in desperate need of more shade trees. Where is the tree...
Based on a measurement by the urban forester for northern Massachusetts, Hopkinton is home to the third-largest sassafras tree (sassafras albidum) in Massachusetts. Sassafras trees are most commonly seen as small shrubs, or as tall, relatively thin, straight trees...
As we approach our annual town meetings and decide our funding priorities, I want to make a case for fully funding Hopkinton Public Schools. Hopkinton has long held providing a top-tier public education as an essential piece of our identity. Our schools have received...
Thank you for sharing the news about the closing of Community Covenant Hopkinton. The story of a church cannot be told in just dates and numbers but must include the story of the Spirit working among them. This church at many points during its history responded to the...
At the Feb. 2 Upper Charles Trails Committee meeting, the UCTC chair made an opening statement about two citizens’ petitions seeking articles on the Annual Town Meeting warrant targeting the UCTC and its future work. As it relates to petition organizers and the timing...
On Feb. 2, the Hopkinton Independent reported on the Upper Charles Trail Committee (UCTC) meeting regarding discussion of two citizens’ petitions for Town Meeting articles. One article would reorganize the committee under the umbrella of the town’s Trails Coordination...
I support Peter LaGoy’s assessment that running the Upper Charles Trail down Hayden Rowe will be of limited usefulness. Not only will it put people’s lives in danger, it will further increase the congestion on a main thoroughfare. The proposed trail route crosses...
This time of year my favorite morning chore is firing up our old cook stove. It’s a fairly complex process, but the first step in the lighting protocol requires three newspaper pages, which I crinkle up and drop into the firebox. (We keep a random collection of...
At night the traffic pattern on Marathon Way, which includes the Doughboy triangle, is confusing and dangerous. The Doughboy triangle is not lighted, and the construction materials still remain in the area along with portable toilets in the roadway. We were told by...
[Editor's note: This letter is in response to the Year in Review column that included a summary of the School Committee controversy earlier this year.] Does it disturb only me that a local paper puts in print assumptions based on hearsay, statements the editor, upon...
Using only organic fertilizer on the Hopkinton Common is an idea long overdue. I watch children and dogs rolling on the grass and families eating sitting on the ground. Pesticides and herbicides are increasingly implicated in multiple health problems, often after...
I receive informative emails from the Audubon Society and Cornell University, both highly respected avian institutions focusing on birds and their changing populations. Apparently and alarmingly in 2022, many species are in a significant state of decline; across the...
I wanted to take a moment and thank all the voters of Hopkinton for participating in the recent election, regardless of who you may have supported or how you voted on the ballot initiatives. I am honored by the outcome and significant support here in Hopkinton in my...
My unexpected and greatly appreciated act of kindness this Thanksgiving was the gift of an Out Post Farm apple pie from the Troop 11 Scouts. The woman who delivered the pie stated that the Scouts raised money and wanted to share a pie with veterans and seniors. The...
I have known James Arena-DeRosa for more than 20 years. James has always been involved in social and economic issues. As our state representative, James will be a supporter of the following: women’s rights, education, economic development and preserving the...
I have been a resident of Hopkinton for over 25 years, raised three children in town and have been a part of numerous town activities, as well as a couple of committees. I am endorsing Loring Barnes for state representative, 8th Middlesex District, for the following...
The proponents of Question 3 are a grassroots group of liquor stores, supermarkets and convenience store owners and employees trying to get the word out on a limited budget. Your help and support are greatly appreciated and needed. Please vote yes on Question 3! The...
We are writing to express our disappointment that the Select Board has chosen to exclude registered 501(c)(4) non-profits (civic leagues and social welfare organizations) from the Boston Marathon invitational entry process this year. This year only registered...
