News

News

Ballot box to be locked overnight

The ballot box outside Town Hall will be locked overnight due to security concerns. Ballots can be dropped in the box between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., now through Election Day. Town Clerk Michele Bissonnette explained that the boxes would be secured...

Voters register before deadline at Town Hall event

With the final day of voter registration for the Nov. 3 election underway, the town held a small voter registration event. From 2 to 4 p.m., Town Clerk Michele Bissonnette spent time at Town Hall, registering eligible voters. The second part of the...

Christmas craft fair is a hit, even in October

The Church of the Good Shepherd’s annual Christmas craft fair looked different this year because of the pandemic, but it was no less successful, according to organizers. Karen Clark, president of the guild — which is the church organization that...

Sewer Commissioners approve moratorium on new connections

The Sewer Commissioners unanimously voted to approve a moratorium on issuing any new capacity commitments for the next nine months at their October 22 meeting. The water treatment plant is operating at about 76 percent capacity, which is near the 80...

Cape Cod Shipbuilding Company’s hundred year history

All throughout its 121 year history , Cape Cod Shipbuilding Company has been one of the South Coast’s key businesses. At a talk Thursday night, Wendy Goodwin, president of the Cape Cod Shipbuilding Company, walked listeners through the history of...

Redevelopment Authority updated on plans for Littleton Drive apartment complex 

Members of the Wareham Redevelopment Authority seemed to approve of a recent update on plans to build a new apartment complex on land owned by the town on Littleton Drive. The complex is set to have 93 units, with a variety of one bedroom, two...

Wareham still in yellow moderate-risk category for covid cases

Wareham remains in the yellow moderate risk category for coronavirus cases this week, as the state’s October 22 Public Health Report shows cases in town are continuing to rise. The state reports 24 cases over the last 14 days, an increase over the...

Photos of veterans sought for Veterans Day ceremony

The Wareham Veterans Council is collecting photos of veterans to be included in the virtual Veterans Day ceremony and in local media outlets. Veterans and their family members are invited to submit photos of veterans -- preferably in uniform from...

Ghoulish sights, haunts, and horrors across town

As the nights have grown longer and the leaves on the trees turn, haunting displays have popped up on yards and in windows across town. Leering skeletons, friendly pumpkins, and even spiders that move (eek!) now occupy greet passersby. At 5 Crab...

Register to vote

The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election is October 24. On October 24, the town will be hosting a voter registration event in the Town Hall parking lot at 54 Marion Road from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m.

Carver pulls out of transfer station, curbside pick-up plans

It looks like Wareham will be on its own for waste disposal plans, as Carver voted to reduce the Carver Marion Wareham Waste District’s operations to administrative duties only at their Town Meeting on Oct. 19. Wareham and Carver had discussed...

Early voting encouraged, town hall service to be limited Nov. 3

Town Administrator Derek Sullivan said that despite the success of early in-person voting and voting by mail, he expects Election Day on Nov. 3 to bring crowds to all the voting precincts, including Town Hall. Some Town Hall employees are worried...

Covid cases continue to rise in Wareham

The number of covid cases continues to be on the rise, reported Town Administrator Derek Sullivan at the Oct. 20 Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Since Oct. 5, there have been 22 new confirmed cases in town. The number of active cases is 28. Since Sept...

Covid-19 relief grants available for very small businesses

The town of Wareham is teaming up with Abington, Avon, Holbrook, Hull, and Rockland to offer covid-19 relief grants of up to $10,000 to small businesses that have been impacted by the pandemic. The grant program is open only to microenterprises,...

CleanSlate treatment center sued for fraud

CleanSlate, an addiction treatment company with a Wareham office at 40 Church Ave., is being sued by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey for ordering excessive urine tests to increase the company’s profits -- a scheme that allegedly cost...

Wareham resident, Dennis firefighter charged with rape

Myles Heselton, a 30-year-old Wareham resident and firefighter in Dennis, has been arrested and charged with rape and photographing an unsuspecting nude person. According to police reports: A woman met Heselton on Bumble, a dating app, early in...

Elks, Mass Maritime distribute food to those in need

The Wareham Elks Lodge teamed up with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy cadets on October 17 to distribute boxes of healthy food to local veterans and others in need. Many of the more than 185 boxes were distributed at the Mass Maritime Academy in...

Hundreds participate in first day of early voting

Hundreds of Wareham voters turned out to vote on Saturday as early voting began for the Nov. 3 election. In total, 288 people cast their ballots in the auditorium in Town Hall, while many others utilized the dropbox out front to return their mail-in...

Wareham still “moderate risk” for coronavirus

Wareham has, according to the state, had 19 coronavirus cases over the last two weeks. That keeps the town in the yellow, “moderate risk” zone for the second week in a row, and Town Administrator Derek Sullivan expects it to stay there for at least...

The sunfish is ‘FINE!’

A sunfish in Broad Cove was quite the attention-getter on Sunday, as enough people called the police to ask if it was okay that the Wareham Department of Natural Resources released a statement saying that “the sunfish is FINE.” The sunfish is an...

Town Meeting postponed to unknown date

Town Meeting, originally scheduled for October 26, will be postponed for at least 30 days. The decision was made by Town Moderator Claire Smith, in collaboration with the Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator Derek Sullivan, Health Agent Bob Ethier...

Curbside pick-up, transfer station in the works

Wareham residents can look forward to both townwide curbside pick-up and access to a transfer station — at some point. The Board of Selectmen voted at their Tuesday night meeting to work towards offering both options to residents, which they believe...

‘Survey says’: Town surveys residents on their style preferences for downtown

The Town of Wareham has released a “visual preference survey” to find out what Wareham residents would like the downtown to look like in the future. The survey includes a variety of images of buildings and design elements, including signs, open...

YMCA’s costume sale is eco-friendly Halloween fun

The YMCA’s lawn was festooned with tutus, witch hats, and racks and racks of Halloween costumes on Saturday at the annual recycled Halloween costume sale. Each September, the Y collects donated costumes that it resells before Halloween for prices...

Knit Wits celebrate ten years of friendship, crafting, and giving back

At least ten thousand: That’s the mind-boggling number of knitted hats, mittens, shawls, blankets, baby booties, scarves, and neck warmers that the members of the Knit Wits have donated over the last decade. The group meets every Thursday morning in...

Water treatment plant nears capacity

The Sewer Commissioners are considering a moratorium on new sewer connections as the Water Pollution Control Facility nears capacity, and are starting work on a project that could fix the capacity problems. Increasing the capacity will take time, so...

Coronavirus cases bump Wareham into ‘yellow’ on state’s risk map

Wareham’s coronavirus case rate took it out of the green and into the yellow in this week’s public health report from the state. The state reported 16 cases over the last two weeks, bringing the case rate to between 4 and 8 cases per 100,000 people...

Fall Town Meeting location still to be decided

Wareham’s Town Meeting is scheduled for October 26 -- just a few weeks away. But the location for that meeting is still unknown, and rising numbers of coronavirus cases are likely to make the decision even more difficult for town officials. In the...

Wareham sees uptick in coronavirus cases over past week

Coronavirus cases are on the rise in Wareham, calling the town’s lower risk status into question, according to Town Administrator Derek Sullivan. Sullivan discussed the recent uptick during the October 6 Board of Selectmen meeting. According to...

Keeping Rte. 28 transfer station open could pose challenges

The Carver Marion Wareham Waste District Committee met Monday morning with the goal of hashing out the details of how Carver and Wareham could run the Rte. 28 transfer station in Rochester. However, keeping the transfer station open is a more...

Work begins on old comfort station on Merchants Way

Over the last week, the old comfort train station on Merchants Way has been wrapped in orange plastic netting as town crews get to work upgrading the building so it can be public space, enjoyed by the whole community. The work is being funded by a $...

Highway of cranberries on Cranberry Highway

Cranberry Highway’s name was literal on Friday morning as thousands of cranberries littered the road after spilling from a truck. The cranberries covered the roadway from Harbor Freight to the Burger King, and stained the asphalt red even after the...

Democratic Committee has presidential yard signs on offer

The Wareham Democratic Town Committee has a limited supply of “Wareham for Biden/Harris” signs available for those who want to show their support for the candidate. Although there is no set cost for a sign, the committee appreciates donations. To...

How to vote in the Nov. 3 election

Election Day is Nov. 3. Aside from the presidential election race between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, Massachusetts voters will be deciding between incumbent US Senator Ed Markey or Republican challenger ...

Cranberry Station connects scientists, farmers

Since 1910, scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst have been working in East Wareham to learn more about cranberries: how to grow them efficiently, protect them from pests and fruit rot, and how to best use fertilizer to support...

Friendly bet benefits Don’t Trash Wareham

Don’t Trash Wareham was the true beneficiary of a friendly bet between the Wareham Fire Department and A.D. Makepeace. Makepeace had been hosting monthly blood drives. In July, the fire department bet the company that the firefighters could recruit...

Key Club keeps it clean

The Wareham High School Key Club volunteered on Friday to clean up Minot Avenue. Lead by advisor Matthew Stanton, the group picks up litter on the heavily-trafficked street each semester. This year, they observed social distancing and wore masks and...

Selectmen approve clothing collection bins, but may scrap them if used improperly

Selectmen approved two collection bins for old clothing on September 29, but reserved the right to remove them if people start using them as garbage cans instead of their intended use. While collection bins for clothing are intended for charitable...

Focus on resiliency at Brandy Hill Apartments

A new project to promote resilience and support those dealing with trauma will be coming to affordable housing in Wareham after receipt of a $2.5 million grant to the non-profit Preservation of Affordable Housing, which owns and manages the Brandy...

Some highway exits to be renamed in Wareham

Expect your GPS to sound a bit different when approaching Wareham from the highway this October. Beginning later in the month, exit signs along I-195, I-495, and Rte. 25 will be changed to a mile-marker based system as part of the Massachusetts...

Cannabis manufacturer hopes to open in old Ocean Spray building

The owners of YouCanBeCo LLC, a cannabis manufacturing company hoping to open in Wareham, plan to bring their business skills and experience with regulators to the cannabis industry as they manufacture tinctures, extracts, and edibles for those who...

Onset Bay Center begins a fall of fun, learning

Fall is here, but that isn’t stopping outdoor learning experiences at the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Onset Bay Center just yet. The bath house, which was completed in June, has started its fall programming after a summer of altered programs due to the...

Library offers wealth of education, entertainment online

While the library buildings remained closed, there are a wealth of resources online for those looking to learn more about the world or their ancestry, and for those looking to relax into a good book or movie. And those offerings keep expanding: Just...

Nip ban, school name to be voted on at Town Meeting

The warrant for the 2020 Fall Town Meeting is now officially closed, and voters will get the chance to weigh in on a variety of topics ranging from the name of the new elementary school, to a potential ban on alcohol nips, to a proposed bylaw change...

Selectmen stress importance of proper mask use

At Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, town officials stressed the importance of continuing to wear masks when in public to limit the spread of coronavirus. Selectman Patrick Tropeano said that while wearing the masks may be unpleasant, it...

Town receives grant to improve Narrows Pump Station

The town of Wareham has been awarded a grant from the state in the amount of $233,720 to install a bypass connection at the Narrows Pump Station. The emergency sewer bypass will be installed to allow the station to continue to function even in the...

Planning Board against downtown rezoning proposal as-is

The Planning Board voted against endorsing the Redevelopment Authority’s plan to rezone Wareham Village to make it more appealing to investors at the board’s September 21 meeting. Although they supported the goals of the rezoning, which will be up...

South Coast athletes protest postponed season

Athletes and parents from Old Rochester, Dighton-Rehoboth and Somerset-Berkeley High Schools gathered at Wareham Crossing on Sept. 20 to protest the cancellation of fall sports by the South Coast Conference. The group, which fluctuated between 14-18...

Recycling Center welcomes back customers with new safety procedures

Wareham’s Recycling Center has been back open since August 1, with new safety procedures -- but Recycling Coordinator Marilyn Russell said there haven’t been too many customers. The center, located on Plymouth Road off Maple Springs Road, is open...

Growing together: Community gardeners share knowledge

On Tihonet Road, there is a small gravel parking lot marked by a diminutive sign for the Wareham Community Garden. Always a peaceful place, the garden has been a solace for the gardeners who cherish the community as much as the opportunity to grow...

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