News

News

Read up on the candidates ahead of Tuesday’s election

Wareham Week has profiled each of the candidates in contested races up for votes at the May 3, 2022 town election. For a general round-up of the candidates, click here. Four candidates are running for two three-year seats on the Select Board: Ron...

Decas ‘resolution’ passes at Town Meeting

After an hour of discussion, town residents voted to pass what the Town Moderator described as a “resolution” supporting the use of the former John W. Decas School building as a community center. Within that hour of talk from proponents of the...

Affordable Housing bylaw to stay as-is

Town Meeting voters decided not to rescind an affordable housing-related article first approved last year. They also voted against updating that bylaw to address issues within it that were identified by the state’s Attorney General. The measure...

Solar bylaw changes passed at Town Meeting

After months of work, the Solar Bylaw Study Committee saw its bylaw passed, where it now awaits a seal of approval from the attorney general. The bylaw offers several updates to the town’s solar regulations. The committee has rewritten and expanded...

Town Meeting to continue Tuesday night: Solar bylaw, Decas ‘resolution’ passed

Town Meeting will continue Tuesday night at 7 p.m. after three hours of often vigorous discussion on Monday. After nearly an hour of heated discussion, voters passed an item related to the proposed Decas Community Center that was described as a “...

Town Meeting is tonight: Decas, solar bylaws, affordable housing up for votes

Town Meeting voters will decide tonight, April 25, on a host of issues, ranging from the future of the old Decas school building to new solar bylaws and more. The meeting begin at 7 p.m. tonight at the Wareham High School auditorium, 7 Viking Drive...

Owl’s well that ends well: Wareham’s new animal control officer rescues baby owl on Day 1

Wareham’s new animal control officer, Devin Cloutier, had a busy first day of work when she helped rescue a baby owl that got blown down by the wind storm earlier this week. “Everything’s going well now,” Cloutier said with a smile on Saturday. The...

Volunteers celebrate dog park groundbreaking

Crunching their shoes in the sand and hiking up the future parking lot of a future dog park, volunteers cheered and clapped for the ground-breaking of a new Wareham fixture. Members of the Dog Park Affiliation of Wareham gathered around a pile of...

Two from Town Hall in the running for Town Clerk

Two candidates are on the ballot for a three-year term as Town Clerk. Some voters may remember voting for a charter change last year that converted the position to an appointed one. Those changes must be approved by the state legislature and signed...

Candidate profile: Michele Bissonnette for Town Clerk

Incumbent Town Clerk Michele Bissonnette said she loves her job, and hopes to continue her outreach to Wareham’s young people if reelected. She’s running for a second three-year term. Bissonnette’s first experience with the role was in the...

Candidate profile: Jenna Deane for Town Clerk

Town Clerk candidate Jenna Deane has a laundry list of training, titles and work experiences she says she can bring to the table if elected on May 3. She’s trained in handling vital records, voter registration, Town Meetings, Town Census, dog...

Covid-19 cases on the rise

Board of Health officials addressed the rise in reported Covid-19 cases in their Wednesday night meeting this week. "Everything’s starting to go up a little bit," chair Amy Wiengandt said during the meeting. Case counts were high earlier this year...

Garden Club hands out saplings, sunflower seeds at Arbor Day celebration

Free saplings, soil testing and story time awaited those who participated in the Wareham Garden Club’s Arbor Day celebration at A.D. Makepeace on Thursday, April 21. Garden Club President Barbara Van Inwegen said the day’s event was the biggest...

Monday’s Town Meeting to tackle solar, sewer, Decas School

With so many items up for votes covering so many topics across Wareham, it might be easier to ask what isn’t going to be voted on at the Town Meeting on Monday, April 25. A $73,376,492 total budget — up 4.19% from last year. Affordable housing...

Osprey knocks out power for residents (again)

An osprey has again caused a power outage for several hundred Wareham residents, Eversource confirmed Wednesday morning. “Our crews responded to the area of Narrows Road in Wareham just before 6:30 this morning for reports of a power outage,”...

Select Board talk community center plans

Some Select Board members expressed concerns Tuesday about the viability of the Decas Community Center proposal. At the Fall 2021 Town Meeting, voters approved the creation of a Decas Steering Committee tasked with providing a recommendation to Town...

Town secures bond for part of Little Harbor purchase

The Select Board voted to approve a $1 million bond to cover the rest of the cost of purchasing the Little Harbor Country Club. That bond will be repaid by Community Preservation Funds — collected via property tax surcharge — over the course of ten...

Voters to decide on two solar bylaws at Town Meeting

Two items tackling solar projects in Wareham are up for votes at Monday night’s Town Meeting. The influx of solar development in town has sparked a slew of proposed bylaw changes meant to curb, or at least slow down new proposals over the past year...

Captain John Kendrick Maritime Museum opens its doors for the first time in years

The doors of The Captain John Kendrick Maritime Museum were open to the public for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic on Patriots’ Day. The event, co-hosted by Wareham Historical Society President Angela Dunham and Select Board...

Want critters in your yard? Try planting native plants

More than 40 gardening enthusiasts gathered at the Wareham Free Library on April 13 to learn how plants in their yards can support local wildlife. “Without plants, we have no animals,” said Joy Marzoff of the Joys of Nature. Marzoff is a longtime...

Everett School auction delayed to May 11

The former Everett School building at 15 Gibbs Ave. will be up for auction at noon on May 11 – a new date for the building which has seen its auction date delayed several times. The school, built in 1918, has served as a high school, kindergarten,...

Kids collect hundreds of eggs in minutes

Roughly 300 kids collected nearly 1,000 eggs on a blustery Saturday morning on the bluffs of Onset in the triumphant return of the Onset Bay Association’s annual Easter Egg Hunt for the first time since the pandemic began. The Easter Bunny and Onset...

Little League opening day parade OK’d by Select Board

The Select Board voted during its April 12 meeting to approve Wareham Little League’s use of town roads for its annual Opening Day Parade scheduled for Saturday, April 30. Little League President Quirino doCanto said the organization is rebuilding...

Residents discuss their dreams for Wareham Village

Dozens of Wareham residents gathered in town hall to discuss the Wareham Village Redevelopment Plan on Thursday, April 14. Emily Innes of the consulting firm Innes Associates Ltd. led the discussion. Innes took attendees through the town’s history...

Wareham Fire District passes all articles at short meeting

The Wareham Fire District held its annual meeting on April 11, and about 40 voters passed the entire warrant within a half hour's time. The most expensive item up for a vote was a request for $2.3 million to rehabilitate and paint the town’s largest...

Select Board votes against recommending several citizens’ articles for Town Meeting

With two weeks left to go before Town Meeting on April 25, the Select Board voted on whether to recommend several articles proposed by residents in recent months. The board has heard from petitioners on these articles before , but made several of...

Select Board discusses cannabis retail limit, future of cafes

The Select Board spoke on how many retail cannabis businesses are currently allowed in town and what to do about the possibility of the state piloting “marijuana cafes” in some communities. Chair Judith Whiteside said she’s received emails and phone...

Bentley Companies voted master developer of Tremont Nail Factory again

The Select Board voted to approve naming Bentley Companies as the master developer for the Tremont Nail Factory after a change in lease length necessitated a repeated request-for-proposals process. The original request-for-proposals detailed a lease...

Show and tell personal treasures at the Historical Society

The Wareham Historical Society will host a “Show and Tell: Personal Treasures” program at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 18, at the Methodist Meeting House at 495 Main St. The public is invited to bring an object or objects that remind them of simpler...

Osprey drops sticks on power lines, disrupts power for 2,500

No ospreys were electrified in Wareham’s latest nest-caused power outage, which took out power for about 2,500 customers this afternoon. Half of those 2,500 customers saw power restored in minutes, Eversource representative Chris McKinnon said...

Tour the Captain John Kendrick Museum with Tricia Wurts, Angela Dunham

Select Board Candidate Tricia Wurts and President Angela Dunham of the Wareham Historical Society will be hosting a one-hour tour of the Captain John Kendrick Maritime Museum on Patriots Day, Monday, April 18, at 11 a.m. Wurts said the tour will...

Garden Club plans Arbor Day event

The Wareham Garden Club will be hosting an Arbor Day Event at the A.D. Makepeace Company’s 158 Tihonet Road location from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 21. The event will include a Red Bud and Red Maple seedling giveaway, and the master...

Public invited to tour of Decas school building

Members of the public are invited to a tour of the old Decas school building from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 at the school, 760 Main St. The tour is hosted by the Decas School Steering Committee. The committee aims to explore possible...

Wareham to receive more than $750,000 in opioid treatment, recovery funding

Wareham will receive more than $750,000 in cumulative payments over 16 years as part of a statewide settlement with opioid distributors and manufacturers. After Massachusetts’ $26 billion resolution with several drug companies, the state has...

Management of Little Harbor Country Club down to two candidates

The search for who will manage Little Harbor Country Club has been narrowed down to two candidate companies: Northeast Golf Company and Sterling Golf Management Inc. The Golf Course Advisory Committee met Saturday afternoon at the Little Harbor pro...

Free covid-19 tests available at Town Hall next week

The Wareham Board of Health will hand out free at-home covid-19 test kits from Monday to Thursday next week. Residents can visit the Town Hall auditorium from 2-5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday or from 3-6 p.m. on Tuesday to pick up the...

Residents encouraged to share hopes for Wareham Village in redevelopment discussion

The town is asking residents to share their questions and hopes for the future of Wareham Village in a public discussion next week. The Wareham Redevelopment Authority will host a meeting at 7 p.m. on April 14 at the Town Hall Auditorium, 54 Marion...

Wareham resident takes aim at new activity: Equestrian archery

Do you want to learn how to shoot arrows while riding a galloping horse a la Legolas from Lord of the Rings? Wareham resident Ann Rams has you covered. “The first thing you need is a horse,” the mounted archery teacher said, standing near a paddock...

Wareham Fire District Meeting to be held April 11

Residents of the Wareham Fire District will be asked to approve a $7.8 million budget, rehabilitation of the water district’s largest water storage tanks, improvements to communication systems and union contracts at the district’s Annual Meeting at...

Onset streets to be swept April 11 through 15

The Wareham Municipal Maintenance Department will be sweeping the streets in Onset between Monday, April 11, and Friday, April 15. There will be parking bans in effect that week between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sweeping will start in Onset Center on...

Candidate profile: Ronald Besse for Select Board

Ronald Besse stretches his time across several municipal committees, his soon-to-open printing business and his five children. Besse currently serves on the Conservation Commission, Open Space Committee, Solar Bylaw Committee and the board of the...

Candidate Profile: Jody Santagate for Select Board

What sets Jody Santagate apart from other Select Board candidates, she says, is something that makes her similar to the voter base: being a “regular, every day person who lives in the community” who’s experienced many hardships. “I am one of the...

Four candidates vie for two seats on the Select Board

Four candidates are facing off for two three-year seats on the Select Board. Voters will decide the question during the town election on May 3. The seats are currently held by Jim Munise, who is seeking reelection, and Patrick Tropeano, who isn’t...

Candidate Profile: Jim Munise for Select Board

As the sole incumbent Select Board member running for election this spring, Jim Munise said he brings experience and knowledge to the role. Munise said the biggest challenge currently facing the town is “the lack of resources to provide the...

Select Board hears presentations of Special Town Meeting articles

Several articles up for a vote at the upcoming Special Town Meeting on April 25 were presented to the Select Board during its Tuesday night meeting. Many of the other articles that were to be presented, per the agenda, were postponed until the...

Select Board commends Boy Scout for Eagle Scout award

The Select Board congratulated Boy Scout Jared Forrest during its Tuesday night meeting, as the scout has recently completed requirements to earn his Eagle Scout award. Forrest attended the meeting virtually, along with his father Brendon and Troop...

Candidate profile: Jared Chadwick for Select Board

For Jared Chadwick, a career firefighter and paramedic, the town’s public services are the most important issue facing the town. “One of the biggest things that I’m seeing is the lack of public services: our EMS system is understaffed and...

Select Board member proposes revoking of affordable housing bylaw

Should voters rescind the affordable housing bylaw passed at a Town Meeting last year? That’s the question posed by an article one Selectman proposed at last week’s board meeting. Select Board member Peter Teitelbaum proposed an article for Special...

Lights, cameras, candidates: Incumbents, newcomers discuss town’s future

All of the candidates in the upcoming town election attended a candidates’ night on April 4 to give voters insight into their ideas for the town’s future. The event was held in person in the Select Board’s meeting room and also broadcasted on WCTV...

Candidate profile: Tricia Wurts for Select Board

In her second campaign since winning a third of the vote in her write-in campaign last year, Tricia Wurts is listening to residents on what they want from their town government — and how they want to hear about it. Wurts has conducted surveys across...

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