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Sunday, May 7, 2017
Click here for today’s events in and around Westport, MA!
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current theater and arts listings!
Updated
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Saturday, May 6 - Tonight! Reception
on Saturday, May 6th
from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. for Stephen Remick, William
C. Shattuck and Chris Gustin in Land, Sea, Sky at
The Shattuck.
Exhibit opened
Wednesday, April 26th with threeArtists: Stephen
Remick paintings are familiar scenes to any
New Englander; images of tumbledown stone walls and woodpiles,
shadow-striped paths leading through snowy forests, and centuries-old
foundations. 
William C. Shattuck presents luminous paintings of coastal
Massachusetts.
Chris Gustin is an internationally acclaimed ceramics artist
who will be exhibiting his new Cloud
Series.
Dedee Shattuck Gallery, 1 Partners Lane, Westport.
Visit their
website for more
information.
Artist
receptions and exhibitions are free and open to the public.
Saturday,
May 6 - Spring Beach
Cleanup sponsored by the Westport River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Westport
Town Beach off Cherry and Webb Lane,
Join
the WRWA for its annual Spring Beach
Cleanup. To participate in the cleanup meet at 10:00 a.m. at the parking
lot of Cherry and Webb Beach. WRWA will
distribute gloves and bags for cleaning trash. Please come out
and help! Be a part of the solution.
Friday, May 5 – BREAKING NEWS! 5:25
p.m. The National
Weather Service has issued a flash
flood warning until 7:30 p.m. tonight for SouthCoast.
The SouthCoast is under a
flood watch until 8:00 a.m. Saturday. Heavy rain is expected to continue
through tonight, along with scattered thunderstorms. Total rainfall of up
to 3 inches is forecast with higher amounts possible, according to the NWS.
Doppler
radar indicated heavy rain moving into and across the warning area.
Rainfall of 1 to 2 inches in an hour is expected in some areas. As a
result, poor drainage flooding is expected to rapidly form.
Westport brooks and streams, Head Of Westport, and
low-lying roadside flooding is expected.
Click here for the latest
updates.
Friday, May 5 -
Local Westport campground owner sponsors Earth Day cleanup. Martin Costa like a lot of Westporters
got tired of looking at litter on Westport roadsides.
But unlike a lot of folks he decided to do
something about.
Costa organized with the help of Selectmen
Steve Ouellette a three-hour street cleanup on the weekend of Earth Day.
Over three hours each day Costa and his crew
focused on Old County Road, Main Road and a few side streets in their
inaugural cleanup effort.
And they won’t stop there.
The Clean Our Westport crew will continue to
pick up our streets over the next few months.
Interested in helping? Call or click Martin
Costa at 508.636.2555; email westportcamp@aol.com.
They will furnish you with trash pickers/grabbers, gloves,
collection bags, and bright yellow neon T-shirt with the project logo
"C.O.W." (Clean Our Westport!)
Above: The Clean Our Westport crew
invites you to join them in future roadside litter pick up patrols.
Thursday, May 4 -
BREAKING
NEWS! Massachusetts
tax revenue came in far below expectations in April, destabilizing the
already precariously balanced $39 billion state budget and raising the
specter of additional cuts to government services.
Revenue
Commissioner Michael J. Heffernan said in a statement that it is “unlikely”
the state will meet its yearly revenue target.
Payroll
withholding taxes on par; sales tax revenue way down.
Could
cuts in state aid to towns and cities be imminent?
Could
Westport’s new $37 million budget face state aid cuts?
More...
Wednesday, May 3 – Town
Meeting approves record-breaking $37 million budget, but votes down three
petition articles including contentious special act for recall elections,
kills a $200,000 request for a town facilities fiber optics network, and no
pot in town for now.
Photos | EverythingWestport.com
 By
Robert Barboza
Special
Correspondent to EverythingWestport.com
Just
under 300 voters turned out on May 2nd to act on a 36-article annual town
meeting warrant, approving more than $40 million in spending for Fiscal
Year 2018, starting July 1, with little or no debate in many cases.
The
biggest financial matter on the warrant, a $37.1 million municipal
operating budget, passed on a voice vote with only minor adjustments
proposed by a handful of departments.
The
biggest share of the general fund budget for FY2018
will be $19.5 million for local schools and regional school assessments.
Another $5.5 million is budgeted for public safety; $2.2 million for
general government; $1.4 million for public works and facilities; and $6.2
million for pension and insurance costs.
Inset: Town Moderator Steven Fors kept the meeting on mark, presiding over a
36-article warrant in just three hours, 13 minutes.
 The
spending plan for the coming fiscal year is nearly $1.4 million more than
was budgeted for the current year, representing roughly a 3.8 percent
increase in funding, Finance Committee Chair Hugh Morton reported at the
beginning of the meeting. Outside of the “general fund” municipal budget
package, the meeting also approved several million dollars more in
revolving fund and enterprise fund expenditures for FY 2018.
The
town is facing “difficult financial circumstances” in FY 2018 due to
decreasing state aid and increasing unfunded mandates, but was able to
balance the budget against anticipated revenues with the use of $1.34
million in “free cash” left over from the previous fiscal year and tapping
$228,000 in overlay reserves held for potential property tax abatements,
Morton indicated.
More.
Above:
The Town Clerk’s office, Town Counsel, Town Administrator and Selectmen
share the big stage as Moderator Steve Fors
conducts Annual Town Meeting 2017.
Thursday, April 27 - Westport Housing Production Plan
workshop. 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. at Alice Macomber Primary School 154 Gifford
Road, Westport. Registration is
not required, but they request you pre-register for the workshop by email
to WestportHousing@outlook.com
to determine a head count.
The Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund has
contracted with a consultant to prepare an update to the town’s Housing
Production Plan, set to expire at the end of July. The town has selected
the planning firm of JM Goldson community preservation + planning to
prepare the plan under the oversight of the Trust.
Click here to
view their flyer. PDF
Having a current Housing Production Plan is
important to enable the town to reach safe harbor and have more control
over potentially unfriendly Chapter 40B housing
proposals. The new Housing Production Plan must be approved by both the
Planning Board and Board of Selectmen before the end of June.
More...
Tuesday, May 2 - Ray’s Kettle Korn,
26 Kelly Avenue,
Westport has just been added to our Directory
of Local Businesses. You can contact them at 508.730.7866 or visit their
website.
"Gift Bag Kettle Corn Delivery"
Check
them out and the hundreds of other local
businesses in Westport.
Tuesday, May 2 – Buzzards Bay
Coalition, Westport Fishermen’s Association file notice of intent to sue
EPA for failure to approve Westport Rivers nitrogen pollution cleanup plan
The Coalition and the Westport Fisherman’s
Association (WFA) have filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the federal Clean Water Act for
its failure to approve or disapprove a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the Westport Rivers: a nitrogen pollution
cleanup plan that has been in the works for
15 years.
Submitted Photo
The Westport Rivers suffer from too much nitrogen
pollution from home septic systems, which can lead to cloudy water and loss
of habitat for fish and shellfish.
“Government inaction is literally choking the life
out of the Westport Rivers,” said Coalition President Mark Rasmussen. “The
EPA has been on notice for 15 years now that the Westport Rivers are in
trouble, but the situation has gotten worse every year. It’s time to get
moving with nitrogen cleanup action in Westport, and we’re not going to
just stand by and watch government agencies stall that work any longer.”
More.
Monday, May 1 – BREAKING
NEWS 7:30
p.m. Sodom Road piggery shut down by
Board of Health.
Citing non-compliance with a piggery permit for just four pigs, Sodom Road
property owner Alan Martin was told by Board of Health Chairman, William
Harkins that when a state-enforced quarantine on the Martin piggery expires
in 30 days, the embattled farmer would have to dispose of all his pigs, a
number estimated by Martin to be around 45 pigs.
Above: Alan Martin of Martin’s Cheese Company
is grilled by the Westport BOH while a packed
audience of animal advocates looks on. Martin was ordered to remove all his
pigs when a 30-day, state-imposed quarantine expires.
Photo |
EverythingWestport.com
When asked by the board, Martin said he
would give ready access to his property for municipal animal inspectors.
Martin would be able to re-apply for a
piggery permit after all conditions imposed by the board were met.
Related story.
In one form or another pigs have been
kept at the 1927 farm for the past 40 or more years.
Story updated tomorrow.
Monday, May 1 - Take a Hike: On the trail in Westport. Happily, we are
blessed in our area with such a wealth of forests and nature preserves
where one can hit the trail with very little bother: they are all so close,
offering short to moderate-length, satisfying hikes that even the beginning
hiker can handle, and so many of them happen to be well maintained.
My hat is off to the Westport Land Conservation Trust
both for the excellent maintenance of trails on their properties…
More...
Sunday, April 30 – Fledgling author’s literary career began quite by
accident, literally.
Westport author Cheryl Aguiar will appear
in an upcoming book signing Saturday, May 13th at Partners Village Store
and Kitchen.
Lifelong
Westport resident Cheryl Aguiar’s fledgling literary
career began quite by accident when two owlets literally fell into her lap
at her home in Westport.
Her
and her husband’s efforts to save two young owlets is the inspiration for a
new book, ’The Great Horned Owlets Rescue — Where There’s a Will There’s a
Way,’ by Cheryl Aguiar.
Click
here to watch short video.
“We
had been hearing the hoots of Great Horned Owls in the woods behind us,’
Aguiar said. But the drama began when the Aguiars
discovered that a nest containing two young owlets had fallen from an
80-foot tall pine tree in back of their house last April, 2016.
“The
owlets were too young to be out of the nest, on the ground — they would
have been killed by predators,” Aguiar said.
More...
Saturday, April 29 –
Photo
of the Week! Highway
Department freshens up ‘Westport of the Worlds’ Sign.
Acting
on a tip from a concerned resident, Westport Highway Surveyor Chris Gonsalves dispatched himself and three Highway
Department workers with shrubs and flowering plants, rakes and shovels, and
a backhoe to spruce up the signage project initiated almost three decades
ago by the Westport River Gardeners.
Above, from the left: Evan Almeida, Paul Lourenco,
Chris Gonsalves, and Scott Boyd doing their
landscape thing!
The
Briggs Road and Route 88 location was unkempt and overgrown with dead tree
branches shrouding the sign, looking like some apocalyptic scene from a
horror film instead of welcoming visitors to the Town of Westport.
So
the four “landscapers” cut back the growth and tree branches, cleared,
filled and graded the hillside, and planted flowers, finishing the project
with a princely covering of pine bark mulch.
A
tip of the hat to the Highway Department for taking pride in their
community!
Above: Current Chairman of the
Board of Assessors, Steve Medeiros,
provides a departing jab at retiring Jack McDermott while
McDermott’s daughter Anne Boxler, Office Manager
Sharon Potter, fellow board member Robert Grillo,
the full Board of Selectmen and State Senator Rodrigues enjoy the gaiety of
the moment. Photo
| EverythingWestpot.com
Saturday, April 29 – After
48 years of dedicated service to the town of Westport, assessor John “Jack”
McDermott has called it quits.
Deciding
not to run again in this year’s town’s April elections, McDermott
officially retired on April 11th after 42 years (14 terms) as an Assessor,
and previously six years on the town’s Personnel Board.
Only
two other Westporters have served longer than McDermott - Elmer B.
Manchester served 50 years as Town Clerk, previously Town Accountant; and
Clayton Harrison served 48 years on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
McDermott
was recognized at the April 3rd Selectmen’s meeting with citations from the
Westport Board of Selectmen, State Senator Michael Rodrigues, and Westport
State Representative Paul Schmid.
Michael
Castro, running unopposed in the April elections won the seat vacated by
McDermott.
Above from the left: Selectmen Antone Vieira, Craig Dutra, Steven Ouellette, Michael
Sullivan, McDermott, Selectwoman Shana Shufelt, and
Senator Rodrigues.
 Friday, April 28 – WLCT
gets closer to purchasing St. Vincent DePaul property. The Westport
Land Conservation Trust is moving closer toward purchasing the former St.
Vincent de Paul Camp on Adamsville Road and turning approximately 21 acres
into a recreational park for the town.
There
are still many more hurdles and decisions that must be made and WLCT
interim executive director Jennifer Dubois outlined some of them recently
for selectmen at their Monday meeting.
But
the town’s CPC fund has to come up with a sizable chunk of money to make it
happen
More....
Thursday, April 27 – Westport
Historical Society makes the top 10 in Best
Things Massachusetts, according to an AmericanTowns
Media survey of Massachusetts Historical Societies.
Hats
off to WHS Director Jenny O’Neill and President
Tony Connors for WHS being selected seventh in
the top 10 state’s Historical Societies.
“Congratulations to our colleagues and friends at the Westport
Historical Society - voted Top Ten in Massachusetts” Little Compton Historical Society
Above: Westport Historical
Society’s Handy House Museum
Photo | EverythingWestport.com
The
selection criteria are not known, but all these Societies are winners in
their own right. In descending order are:
1. Beverly Historical Society
2. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston
3. Lexington Historical Society
4. Peabody
Historical Society & Museum
5. Winchester Historical Society
6. Cambridge Historical Society
7. Westport Historical Society
8. Nahant Historical Society
9. Danvers Historical Society
10. Hudson
Historical Society
According to Best Things Massachusetts, “Focused on fueling an enthusiasm for
the continuation of preserving the past, the Westport Historical Society
inspires visitors with a wealth of educational programs. Check out their
collections of artifacts and exhibits, as well as their vast array of
historical records.”
Thursday, April 27 - Narrows Center for the Arts announces
its  entertainment
line-up for May. The Narrows Center for the
Arts is the southcoast’s most diverse and
surprisingly fun live entertainment venue for young and old alike.
Here’s the May
schedule of upcoming performances. For all the
details of future events please visit their website.
Doors
open at 7:00 p.m. and shows start at 8:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, April 27 – Replicas of Christopher Columbus’ The
Niña and Pinta are coming to Newport this June.
The
Columbus Foundation is sailing the two vessels from Florida to Newport as a
new and enhanced ‘sailing museum’, for the purpose of educating the public
and school children on the Portuguese ‘caravel,’ a
small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by
the Portuguese to explore the new world.
Photo
| The Columbus Foundation
The
replica ships started their journey in Perdido Key, Florida on March 1st. Currently, in
Beaufort, South Carolina, the ships will next head
to Charleston, South Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; Cape May, New
Jersey; Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Hartford, Connecticut before arriving
in Newport on June 16th.
The ships will dock at Fort Adams State Park from June 16th –
25th and will be open for tours from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm daily. General
admission tours are $8.00 for adults, $7.00 for seniors (age 60+), $6.00
for children age 5-16 and age 4 and under are free.
Click here to read more about
Wednesday, April 19 – Computers
and monitors and printers, oh my! Volunteer Ryan Palmer (above) took a
quick break after stacking a truck with computers and monitors and all
sorts of outdated electronic gadgets destined for recycling in a program
sponsored by the Westport River Watershed Alliance (WRWA.)
For two hours at
the Town Hall parking lot, a team of WRWA
volunteers led by Director Deborah Weaver sorted through all types of
obsolete electronic equipment brought in last Wednesday by town residents finally
coming to grips with ridding their homes of the electronic albatrosses
hanging around, gathering dust.
In a program
designed to keep that old equipment out of landfills and into the hands of
a recycler, Indie Cycle, LLC will dispose of all unused or unwanted electronics in a responsible
manner.
All electronic
materials were transferred to Office Recycling Solutions,
an R2 certified recycler for processing (R2
certification is recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as
a set of voluntary principles and guidelines designed to promote
responsible practices for electronics recyclers.)
Above:
Two pickup trucks loaded with old, some might even say ancient, Westport
school equipment including an overhead projector that was collecting dust
in some remote classroom closet was brought in for recycling.
Most items were
accepted with no charge; a small fee of $10 was charged for TVs &
Monitors, printers, mini-fridges, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers and
other coolant containing appliances.
Tuesday, April 25 - Dead pig leads to quarantine at Sodom Road
piggery. There is a quarantine from the state
Department of Agricultural Resources on a Sodom Road natural cheese farm,
because the death of a pig and its rotting carcass led to the exposure of raw
meat, according to Selectman Craig Dutra.
Reports
from town officials put the number of pigs on the quarantined Sodom Road
natural cheese farm anywhere between 50 and 100 — well above the four owner Alan Martin is permitted to have.
Dutra
said selectmen were given a briefing Friday and learned the state was
concerned about the other pigs consuming the meat from the carcass, and
reports indicate the rotting carcass had been on site for around two weeks.
More...
Monday, April 24 – Westport - Mid-sized
Toyota sedan hits parked landscaping truck and trailer, flips over and
comes to rest on its roof.
A 4:15 p.m. crash
between a Toyota Camry heading north and landscaping equipment parked on
the east side of 185 Drift Road sends the driver to St. Anne’s Hospital
with unknown injuries.
There were no passengers
in the Camry and the landscaping crew escaped without injury.
Photo |
EverythingWestport.com
Reports indicate the
4-door Toyota sedan struck the left backside of the truck’s trailer,
careening the vehicle to the left, where it flipped over, just short of
colliding with a stone wall.
The trailer and some landscaping
equipment were heavily damaged.
The scene of the
collision was at a dangerous curve in the narrow roadway that has seen
numerous accidents over the years, with speeding automobiles taking out
long stretches of stone wall when the drivers failed to navigate the curve.
The speed limit on that
section of road is 30 mph.
The road was closed to
traffic for almost an hour.
First responders were on
the scene in minutes including police, fire apparatus and an ambulance.
The accident is under
investigation.
Saturday, April 22 – 8:00 p.m. WESTPORT - Sodom Road company to appear before the Westport Board
of Health to answer a complaint of exceeding their swine population permit.
Once again a local
farmer, this time a dairy cheese processor, is under fire from social media
advocates who irresponsibly claim that 100 pigs are running wild through
the woods of the 135-acre property owned by Martin Cheese Company.
 The Martin family has
owned the one-time dairy farm and now cheese business since 1927.
Owner Alan Martin is
permitted by the Westport Board of Health to keep up to four pigs, but
recently admitted to assistant BOH health agent,
Fred Ponte that he had 35, a violation that Martin acknowledges.
Martin will face the
Westport Board of Health to answer that charge.
Photo |
EverythingWestport.com
Recently a Massachusetts
Department of
Agricultural Resources (MDAR) state inspector in
an annual inspection of the farm’s dairy milk discovered a dead pig on the
property.
Ponte was initially
dispatched to the farm to investigate the dead pig.
In
the interim, social media lit up with claims that other pigs had eaten the
carcass of the dead hog, which if true could cause a quarantine of those
animals.
Martin
disputed that claim but did say the pigs had broken through their pens but
never strayed from his property.
Martin
was negligent in not removing the two-week-old dead pig which had died from
natural causes.
“Anybody
that knows me knows my animals are all good,” Martin told the news media
that descended on him this Saturday.
News
of the violation was leaked to the media causing a furor from animal
advocates who are still up in arms over the recent Route 177 tenant farm scandal
that rocked the community and resulted in 151 complaints and the indictment
of 27 tenant farmers and landowner over animal abuse and neglect charges.
Officials
from MDAR and the town of Westport aren’t
talking, but Westport police did say said they are not involved in the
investigation now under way by Westport Board of Health officials at the
Sodom Road farm.
More to come, be
assured.
Saturday, April 22 – What’s one more porker among
friends? A natural cheese farm on Sodom Road is under investigation by
state and town officials for a possible piggery violation.
According to town officials, health
agent Fred Ponte and an agent from the state Department of Agricultural
Resources recently were at the property, Martin’s Cheese Co.
Town Administrator Timothy King and
Board of Health Chairman William Harkins confirmed that there could be a
piggery violation. The business is permitted to have up to four pigs but
the farm may have more than that, according to Harkins, adding there are
“varying reports.”
More...
Friday, April 21 – Opening night. Westport Art Group presents their Spring Open Juried Show: In
My Life opening reception at 5:30 p.m.
Click here to view
Video!
The theme this year is
inspired by the Beatles lyrics: In My Life… There are places I’ll
remember / All my life, though some have changed / Some forever, not for
better / Some have gone and some remain.
Opening reception tonight 5:30 –
7:30 p.m. Prizes awarded at 6:00 p.m.
Show dates: Saturday, April 22nd – Sunday,
April 30th. 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
1740 Main Road, Westport
Point
For more information and
Call to Artists information, please go to www.thewestportartgroup.com
and select Events and Shows.
Thursday, April 20 - WESTPORT - They
call themselves the “Peculiar Peeps.”
 However, the only two things peculiar about the
Westport Elementary School’s Destination Imagination team are their uncanny
successes and unwavering empathy toward others.
This
fourth- and fifth-grade team made history — for the first time, a Westport
DI team was invited to perform in the global DI competition.
According
to parent and team spokeswoman Melissa Avila, the team clinched the
regional title in Dennis-Yarmouth on March 11th ...
More...
Photo |
EverythingWestport.com
Wednesday, April 19 – Breaking News
4:20 p.m. Single-car crash sends male driver to Charlton
Memorial Hospital; condition unknown.
At around 4:20 p.m. a
late model Hyundai Sante Fe mid-size SUV
travelling north on Pine Hill Road left the pavement crashing into a large
boulder, propelling the SUV up and over the boulder, eventually coming to
rest in a clump of trees. The boulder weighing several tons was pushed
forward over 10 feet by the impact.
The front end was
demolished and the vehicle was totaled.
There were no reported
passengers.
It appears a medical
condition may be the cause of the crash.
The accident occurred at
38 Pine Hill Road and is under investigation.
Monday, April 17 – Osprey in springtime!
Allens Pond Sanctuary’s  Director, Gina Purtell keeps us up to date on the local osprey as they
move through spring.
“While daffodils burst into bloom and we rev up
our lawnmowers, female osprey are hunkering down for five weeks of stillness.
For the next 35 days or more, each female has
the important job of radiating her warmth to 3 or 4 eggs beneath her and
simultaneously sheltering the eggs from rain, wind, parasites, and
predators.
Every so often she will rise up to gently turn the
eggs as needed ....”
More...
To participate in an intensive, day-long dive into
the lives of osprey, the
Sanctuary is offering an Adult Field School on Saturday, June 24. To
register and learn more, go to www.massaudubon.org/allenspond.
Monday, April 17 – The Dianne B. Snyder Tennis Center offers tennis
programs for youngsters starting with a spring tennis camp on Saturday
mornings beginning Saturday, April 29th.
The program is geared for youths who are looking
for more tennis, for that next level. Participants will be grouped
according to level (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced). They will
progress through eight 1-hour sessions to include stroke and footwork
development, hitting drills, and learning how to play and enjoy the game of
tennis.
The Spring Kids Camp runs eight sessions from
April 29th through June 24th on Saturdays only from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. at
the center, 400
Old County Road, Westport.
Cost is $100 per child; $80 per additional child
in same family.
Please call Lisa at 508.646.8111 or email DBSTCtennis@gmail.com.
Sunday, April 16 – Animal site registry proposed by town advisory committee.
 By Robert Barboza
Special
Correspondent to EverythingWestport.com
WESTPORT – After months of pondering potential
local regulations for supervising properties where farm animals are being
kept, Westport’s Animal Action Committee is recommending that the town set
up a registration system to help keep track of all sites where certain
types of livestock are present.
The advisory committee reached consensus on the
need for a town-wide site registration requirement at their April 10 meeting,
deferring a decision on whether the registration system would be ordered by
a new town bylaw or a Board of Health regulation to other town officials.
Delegates from the Board of Selectmen and Board of Health indicated they
would take up the recommendation with their respective boards and seek
legal advice before working out the specifics of the proposal.
Sunday, April 16 – Westport town election wrap-up. You may wonder who swears in
the Town Clerk when it’s the Town Clerk who swears in all newly elected
town Officials.
Well, as shown in the photo above, Justice of
the Peace Jerry Coutinho swore in Town Clerk
Marlene Samson who ran unopposed for the umpteenth time and is the town’s
top vote getter.
JPs and judges are also authorized to swear in
elected officials.
Click
here to read about the who, what and why of this year’s Annual Town
Election, and the supporting statistics.
Friday, April 14 - Officials on different
tracks for South Coast Rail route.
DARTMOUTH - Elected officials took turns Thursday ripping plans for a Middleboro
route, then supporting the route as part of the SouthCoast
Rail Notice of Project Change Forum at UMass Law at Dartmouth.
The meeting began with officials coming
out against the “Phase 1” plan proposed by the Massachusetts Department of
Transportation including Sen. Marc Pacheco and Mayor Jon Mitchell.
“I share Sen. Pacheco’s skepticism that
people will ride the Middleboro route,” Mitchell said.
More...
Friday, April 14 - Allens
Pond Sanctuary seeks volunteers to repair damaged nest platforms, monitor
breeding activity.
Osprey are returning in numbers to
the SouthCoast
 This short story was written by Gina
Purtell, Sanctuary Director of Mass Audubon Allens Pond wildlife sanctuary.
“A new season is just getting
underway, and I don’t mean spring. I mean the season of bird nesting and
raising young. So many of our avian neighbors are here for this
season alone, living half or more of their life someplace further to the
south.
Mass Audubon’s team at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary will be repairing
damaged nest platforms and then monitoring the breeding activity at nearly
90 nests in the Westport River/ Allens Pond
Important Bird Area. This project is funded by project sponsors and
executed with tremendous volunteer help.”
Read more to volunteer.
Thursday, April 13 – Photo of the Week: Handy House gets a utility building.
The Westport Historical Society is moving full steam ahead with the
construction of a small building on the historic Drift Road site which will
include two handicap accessible bathrooms, a storage space, and a small
utility room with a sink to support the on-going operations of the restored
home once owned by Westport physician Dr. Handy.
Above: The recently poured concrete foundation and basement
walls are finished off with gravel fill per the help of local contractor
Lennie Potter deploying the use of a cutting-edge conveyor belt/gravel
hauler that certainly makes the job easier, saves time and makes the work
hands free.
Thursday, April 13 - Westport Housing Production Plan
workshop scheduled for Thursday, April 27th.
Registration is not required, but they request you
pre-register for the workshop by email to WestportHousing@outlook.com
to determine a head count.
The Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund has
contracted with a consultant to prepare an update to the town’s Housing
Production Plan, set to expire at the end of July. The town has selected
the planning firm of JM Goldson community preservation + planning to
prepare the plan under the oversight of the Trust.
Click here to
view their flyer. PDF
Having a current Housing Production Plan is
important to enable the town to reach safe harbor and have more control
over potentially unfriendly Chapter 40B housing
proposals. The new Housing Production Plan must be approved by both the
Planning Board and Board of Selectmen before the end of June.
More...
BREAKING NEWS! Election
Day 10:00 p.m. Valcourt edges out Spirlet by just 60 votes from a
total 3025 cast in this year’s April election. The two ran against each other to replace Antone Vieira who decided not to run for re-election.
Six-term candidate Steven Ouellette was a heavy favorite to win a seventh
term, and Valcourt paired up with Ouellette to run as allies against
Spirlet.
The retired New Bedford police captain and south
coast drug czar won four out of the five precincts, but couldn’t overcome
the substantial deficit in Precinct 5 (High School.)
It was a tight race overall with Ouellette getting
1067 votes, Valcourt 1004 and Spirlet 944.
Above:
Menard being sworn in by Town Clerk Samson.
Photo |
EverythingWestport.com
Nursing professional Judith Ann Menard handily
beat back a challenge by resident/advocate Greenwood Terrace’s Craig D. Mignone, taking 72.34 percent of the vote.
Maurice E. May, running uncontested for the 3-year
seat on the Board of Health, tallied an overwhelming 1057 votes against 221
write-ins for late-entry candidate Constance Gee of River Road, an advocate
for farm animal protections.
Question 1, removing burdensome excise takes on machinery,
farm implements, and certain farm animals for non-commercial farmers
received 54.57 percent of the YES votes.
Westport’s popular, long-time Town Clerk Marlene
Samson was once again (and always?) the majority vote getter with 1429. Tax
collector Carol Borden was just behind Samson with 1380 votes.
Precinct 5 turned out the most voters with 18.82%
and Precinct 3 the least with just 11.67 percent, costing Spirlet his third
term as Westport Selectman.
1850 ballots were cast out of a possible 11,687,
representing just 15.83 percent of Westport’s registered voters.
Click here to get all the election
results.
Tuesday, April 11 – The
Westport Cultural Council is pleased to announce that over $26,000 in grant
funds have been awarded to nineteen community projects.
WCC is proud to support
creative and cultural experiences in Westport for all ages. All dollars awarded will help to bring a
wide array of wonderful activities and programs throughout the year, and
introduce school children to music, theater and literature.
Funds for these awards
are from a grant from the Helen E. Ellis Trust/ Bank of America. WCC members are gratified to receive these funds in
memory of a beloved artist and longtime resident of our town.
Each grant will give
support to individuals and nonprofit organizations, teachers and students who
work so hard to bring concerts, field trips, outstanding artists and
exhibits that enrich and expand the life of citizens in our town.
Click here to see who
won cash awards!
Tuesday, April 11 – Plan touted to tie 500
homes along Route 6 in Westport to Fall River sewer line. There is a plan to connect 500 homes
along Route 6 to the Fall River sewer line.
Water Resources Management
Committee Chairman Maurice May said he and his committee have been in
contact with Terrence Sullivan, Fall River’s director of community
utilities, about the prospect. May said he also plans on speaking with
selectmen at their May 1st meeting.
May, also the vice chairman
of the Economic Development Committee, said he believes the plan could be a
boon to business and the environment. May said that Whites and the Hampton
Inn have had a private arrangement with Fall River to use the sewer line
and he would like to see the arrangement extended farther along Route 6.
Selectman Steven Ouellette,
chairman of the Economic Development District, also would like to see the
line extended.
Read more.
Tuesday, April 11 - Leaked town report implicated town
officials, MSPCA for lax oversight of tenant
farm.
A report leaked two weeks ago
to news media took town officials to task for deficiencies said to have
enabled horrific conditions for animals at the former tenant farm at 465
American Legion Highway.
However, protesters say local
officials are not the only ones who deserve blame.
Animal advocates and
protesters Constance Gee and Roxanne Houghton say they have found documents
that implicate the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.
MSPCA
Chief Enforcement Officer Richard LeBlond said
his organization did everything it could within its scope of duties.
Gee, who is a write-in
candidate for the health board in Tuesday’s election said that after animal
abuse occurred on the property in 2010, the MSPCA
was supposed to take the lead in ensuring that the abuse had not been
repeated.
Read more.
Monday April 10 – Local Fire Fighter and Paramedic develops CARES
program to assist seniors in home safety.
The Westport Cares Program is a new program
created by the Fire Department, the Council on Aging, and the Police
Department.
According to Ann Marie Peckham, Westport FF/Paramedic
and Cares Program Coordinator, “The goal of the program is to provide
safety items, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors among other various
programs for the at-risk elderly and/or disabled residents.
The program is fashioned
after the Somerset Fire Department’s outreach Cares program, which was a
success for their residents.”
Peckham’s goal is to raise awareness of the program and the many
benefits it provides to Westport seniors.
“It’s important to give back to the community and
take care of our older generation who took care of us,” Peckham
said.
More...
Monday April 10 – JLA wins majority
endorsement from School Building Committee to build new Jr/Sr High School.
But
with an obvious schism between some committee members and Jonathon Levy
Architects, is the still-to-be-approved project’s on-time/on-budget success
moving forward in jeopardy?
And
Committee Co-Chair Diane Barron is concerned that inaccurate reporting by a
local weekly newspaper over project cost-cutting could muddy the waters
when seeking voter approval.
 By Robert Barboza
Special Correspondent to EverythingWestport.com
Nearly all of the Westport School Building
Committee voted on Thursday, March 30th to stay with the custom-designed
local plans for a combined middle/high school developed over the past 12
months, rather than switching to a new “model school” design that could
have potentially saved the town as much as $6 million dollars in project
costs.
Of the 17 building committee members present, 14
voted to stick with the locally-developed custom plans, while two others
favored scrapping that “preferred option” in favor of an adapted version of
the design used for the construction of Longmeadow High School in 2011.
Committee Co-Chair Dianne Baron abstained from voting, indicating she still
had concerns about project costs, site issues, and with continuing to work
with the consulting architects developing the local plans.
Friday, April 7 – Additional $1.8 million sought for new police
station project.
Construction and site preparation costs soar due to tight
labor market - only two bids received for the project.
 By Robert Barboza
Special
Correspondent to EverythingWestport.com
Westport selectmen have decided to
lend their support to a request for additional funding for the construction
of a new police station after a meeting with the Police Station Building
Committee on Monday, April 3rd.
The building committee reported that
recent construction bids for the new police station planned off Hix Bridge Road came in much higher than expected,
leaving the town with the option of downsizing the building to fit the
original $8.5 million budget, or seeking more money from town
meeting.
After reviewing a number of
alternatives to the preferred building plan, selectmen voted 4-1 to put an
article on the annual town meeting warrant seeking an additional $1,849,800
in town funds for the project.
Chairman R. Michael Sullivan was the
one dissenting vote. 
Thursday, April 6 – UPDATED
6:45 p.m. Hoffman holes 7
birdies to lead opening day at the Masters. The wind was howling at
August National but Charlie Hoffman was one happy man as he holed 7 birdies
to take a first-round 4-stroke lead over the field.
Above: Charlie Hoffman
leads the Masters on opening day.
Dustin Johnson has withdrawn from the Masters. After winning
his last three starts, the No. 1 player in the world, heavily favored to
win at Augusta, slowly went to the first tee paired with two-time Masters
champion Bubba Watson and PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker in the final
group of the opening round. He left the tee box never taking a shot in the
first major of the year and walked back to the clubhouse.
The 2017 Masters
Tournament kicks off today from Augusta National Golf Club in
Georgia. The season's first major has produced four
different winners over the past four years and hasn't yielded a
back-to-back champion since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002.
That's a troublesome trend for reigning
champion Danny Willett (pictured left), who edged Jordan Spieth and Lee
Westwood by three strokes to win the 2016 Masters.
This year’s favorite, Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 golfer who is seeking his first green
jacket, injured his lower back in a fall on Wednesday at his rental home in
Augusta, putting his playing status into question.
The King, Arnold Palmer will miss this morning’s ceremonial
tee off that includes Jack Nicholas and Gary Player as he passed away at
the age of 87 on September 25, 2016
Look this year for some surprising finishes at the
tournament Bobby Jones built.
Thursday, April 6 - Speaking of golf, Oceans 18 - Black lite mini golf located on 500 King’s Highway, New Bedford will shut its doors May 15th,
2017 after 12 years of operation, according to their website.
Their golf simulator was a popular attraction for winter
golfers for over a decade.
Click
here to visit our golf page!
Another fatality of a weakening golf market that has
dramatically affected local outdoor golf courses. http://www.oceans-18.com
Thursday, April 6 - State House
Approves $200 million for local  infrastructure needs; Westport to receive
$672,651.35 a cut of $4,573.65 from last year.
BOSTON – Representative Paul A. Schmid
(D-Westport) joined his colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass
legislation that authorizes $200 million for Chapter 90 funding to help municipalities complete road, bridge and infrastructure
improvement projects.
The bill also appropriates $70
million to replace the Registry of Motor Vehicle’s information technology
infrastructure.
The Town of Westport will receive $672,651.35
in Chapter 90 funding in order to provide improved road and infrastructure
conditions....
More...
Tuesday, April 4 – Westport’s spring peepers announce
their arrival, and that of spring, in a noisy but longed-for way.
What’s a spring peeper you say? Click
on the picture to hear for yourself!!
Above:
Selectmen and Town Administrator Tim King give departing Antone Vieira (center) a warm sendoff at last night’s
Selectmen’s meeting.
Photo
EverythingWestport.com
Tuesday, April 4 - Photo of the Week – Selectmen gave
a warm sendoff last night to two-term Selectman and former chair, Dr. Antone Vieira as he serves out his last days on the
Westport Board of Selectmen.
Dr. Vieira had announced that he would not seek a
third term.
Dr. Vieira will best be remembered for his sense
of fairness, an avid supporter of good government, good schools, and his
close relationship with the working community.
As a third generation farmer Dr. Vieira has always
had strong ties and deep support for Westport’s agricultural heritage.
As an educator he had no peer in his support for
Westport’s educational system.
His straight talk and political acumen in fighting
for the small guy will be missed.
Watch video on his
sendoff by Selectmen.
Tuesday, April 4 – Third times a charm for foreign car
importer. After multiple trips to the Planning Board and three appearances
before the Board of Selectman, Dartmouth resident and entrepreneur Kyle DeMelo gets his class II license to sell distinctive, used foreign import cars,
but only a half dozen at a time and housed in a building, in a commercial
district off Route 6 in Westport.
Last night DeMelo was
once again peppered with questions from residents in the High Street
neighborhood who were determined to keep him out of their community,
fearing parking issues, racing cars and dangers to their grandchildren
playing in the street.
Tempers flared when Vice Chairman Craig Dutra, fed
up with the fault-finding questions from the room full of abutters blurted
out, “
Previous headline news continues
below.
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