News

News

Grant funds could help town evaluate cost of riverfront boardwalk plans

Town Planner Ken Buckland hopes state grant money will fund a concept plan and feasibility study for a riverfront boardwalk in downtown Wareham. Officials have explored the idea of a riverfront boardwalk for years — one concept drawing for the...

Town approves host community agreement with one cannabis company, starts talks with another

The Board of Selectmen approved host community agreements with one cannabis company and signed off on the start of negotiations with another at their May 26 meeting. Emerald Turtle Cove, located at 10 Little Brook Rd., will be working toward...

Town to request funds for new Swifts Beach Playground

The Board of Selectmen voted on May 26 to allow Town Administrator Derek Sullivan to request funding for the replacement of the playground in Swifts Beach. The funding request will be for about $250,000, which would cover the cost of new equipment...

About 46 percent of Wareham residents have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine

Any person aged 12 or older who lives, works or studies in Massachusetts is now eligible to be vaccinated against covid-19. Local public health experts continue to encourage people to get the vaccine as soon as possible. People over the age of 18...

Wareham now in ‘green’ covid-19 risk category

The town saw 17 new cases of covid-19 in the past week and has been moved to the “green” covid-19 risk category, according to data from the state’s May 20 Weekly Public Health Report . Wareham’s average daily incidence rate decreased to 9.5 cases...

Council on Aging plans June events

While the Council on Aging is still closed, it is hosting several outdoor activities, weather permitting. The center may reopen in August. Thanks to the Onset Bay Center, a different outdoor program will take place each month this summer. On June 15...

Downed lines result in power, internet outages across town

Downed wires on Main Street led to an electrified fence, small brush fires and widespread power, internet and cable outages on May 25. A spokesperson from the Wareham Fire District said a series of primary wires were dislodged and fell to the street...

Planning Board unable to block solar applicants

The Planning Board was unable to block eight solar projects’ requests for preliminary subdivision plans at their May 25 meeting. All of the applicants were requesting approval of preliminary subdivision plans that would grandfather them in if the...

Department of Natural Resources cracks down on litterbugs

The Wareham Department of Natural Resources fined two people recently for littering. On May 19, a Natural Resources officer was driving on Cranberry Highway in a marked car when the driver ahead started to throw items from the car window. The items...

Officials sign beam for Tobey Hospital’s new emergency department

For Tobey Hospital staff, the long-awaited expansion of the hospital’s emergency department promises two crucial things: more space and increased privacy. “In the old emergency department, standing in one position, I could see everything happening...

Town to apply for Urban Renewal Plan grant

The town of Wareham will be applying for a grant to develop an Urban Renewal Plan for Wareham village, Town Planner Ken Buckland reported at the May 20 Redevelopment Authority meeting. Towns with an approved Urban Renewal Plan are able to acquire...

Smithers Lab interested in purchasing Decas School

The Smithers Laboratory, which has operated out of a location next door to the Decas School since 2002, has expressed interest in purchasing the school after it closes, officials reported at the May 20 Redevelopment Authority Meeting. The lab is...

Wareham Free Library Director accepts job in Westport

George Ripley, director of the Wareham Free Library, has accepted a new position in Westport. Town Administrator Derek Sullivan announced that the town was going to have to search for a new library director at the May 11 Board of Selectmen meeting...

Photos: Volunteers help tidy the VFW

A number of volunteers helped clean up the grounds and spruce up the pavilion at the Onset VFW on Sunday ahead of the summer season. Deneen Rose said everyone at the VFW was grateful for the help from volunteers, members, and the Iron Order...

Memorial Day services planned

The Veterans Council, a color guard from Wareham High School’s ROTC and the Wareham militia will lay wreaths at various monuments and cemeteries around Wareham to honor Memorial Day on Monday, May 31. The group will meet on the town green, across...

Community groups come together to clean up Hammond School

With the help of many dedicated volunteers on Saturday, May 15, Ethel E. Hammond School in Onset was given some much-needed care and attention. The volunteers picked up debris, raked sticks and leaves, pulled up old and broken garden supports and...

Town to request funds for Hynes Field improvements

The Road Commissioners voted on May 17 to support a grant application from the town that would improve the Hynes Field parking lot in Onset. Director of Municipal Maintenance Dave Menard said his department designed the parking lot to include 97...

Church of the Good Shepherd gets security grant

The Church of the Good Shepherd received a $26,750 grant from the state to strengthen the church’s safety and security. The funds were issued through the Commonwealth Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps implement “target hardening” and...

Friends of the Library to host used book sale May 20-22

This weekend the Friends of the Wareham Free Library will hold its used book sale for the month of May at the main library, located at 59 Marion Rd. The sale is scheduled for Thursday, May 20, and Friday, May 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and...

Stop & Shop celebrates renovations with donation to Damien’s Place

Stop & Shop donated $1,000 in gift cards to The Family Pantry — Damien’s Place to celebrate the “grand reopening” of the store following renovations. The store will also be collecting non-perishable food items for the pantry throughout the month...

Walk up, get vaccinated on the pier on Tuesday

The Southcoast Wellness Van will be offering one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines on the Onset Pier from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18. Anyone 18 years or older is eligible, and no Southcoast primary care doctor is required. No appointment...

A.D. Makepeace Company’s blood drives assisted more than 850 patients, Red Cross says

The blood drives hosted by the A.D. Makepeace Company over the past year have provided assistance to 864 patients needing blood, according to a spokesperson for the American Red Cross. The blood drives — hosted at Rosebrook Event Center in Wareham...

All state covid restrictions to end May 29

Governor Charlie Baker will be lifting all remaining covid-19 restrictions on May 29, at which point a new face-covering advisory will be issued. The administration justified lifting the restrictions by citing the state’s relatively high vaccination...

Wareham ‘Springs into Bloom’ with Garden Club’s annual plant sale

The Wareham Garden Club’s annual “Spring into Bloom” plant and yard sale saw “fabulous” turnout on Saturday, May 15, according to Club President Barbara Van Inwegen. She said the event went well, noting that the club wasn’t able to have its annual...

Pfizer vaccines now available to those aged 12 and up

People aged 12 or older who live, work or study in Massachusetts are now eligible to be vaccinated against covid-19. People over the age of 18 can sign up to receive any vaccine, but those ages 12 to 17 can only get the Pfizer vaccine. Local public...

New covid-19 cases in town continue to decline

For the third week in a row, the number of new cases of covid-19 in Wareham has decreased. The town saw 17 new cases of covid-19 in the past week and remains classified in the “yellow” covid-19 risk category, according to data from the state’s May...

Walk-ups welcome as Southcoast vaccine clinics open to those 12 and older

Anyone aged 12 and over is now eligible to get the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at Southcoast Health clinics across the region — and walk-ins are still welcome, the not-for-profit health system announced on May 13. The decision comes after the federal...

Dentists honored with pizza party

The staff at Gateway Dental on High Street were treated to a pizza party on May 13, courtesy of Papa Gino’s Pizza My Heart program. The office was nominated by Aprilleigh Lauer, a patient at the practice. After several bad experiences, Lauer was...

Officials reckon with what to do with property on Recovery Road

To renovate or not to renovate — that is the question. After receiving no responses to a request for proposals, members of the Wareham Redevelopment authority are wrestling with what to do with the town-owned building at 4 Recovery Rd. The building...

Onset Fire District to hold Annual Meeting

The Onset Fire District will hold its annual meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Onset VFW, 4 Gibbs Ball Park Rd., on Monday, May 17. Most articles on the warrant pertain to routine financial business like paying salaries, allocating funds for workers’...

Slide into summer: Water Wizz to open June 19

Water Wizz will open for the 2021 summer season, following the state’s shift to the next stage of reopening — Phase 4, Step 2 . Jackie Pierce, the operations manager at Water Wizz, said that hearing Gov. Charlie Baker’s May 7 announcement that...

Solar rush: Companies try to get ahead of potential bylaw change

The Planning Board discussed eight solar field projects at its May 10 meeting. All of the applicants were requesting approval of preliminary subdivision plans that would grandfather them in if the citizens petition article restricting solar fields...

Community leaders propose long-term alternative to Boys and Girls club programs

The future of the Hammond School property is up in the air as community leaders work to propose a long-term replacement for the programs offered by the Boys and Girls Club of Wareham, which closed suddenly on April 30. After-school programs are...

Onset Bay Association’s Mostly-Annual Chili Contest brings the heat

The smell of simmering chilis filled the air at Stone Path Malt on Saturday night at the Onset Bay Association’s Mostly Annual Chili Contest. Originally scheduled for March 2020, the event was postponed several times, and when it finally happened in...

Walk up, get vaccinated in Wareham on Tuesday, and Thursday at Woods at Wareham

Southcoast Health will be offering walk-in vaccines without appointments at various locations this week, with more walk-in clinics to come. Two walk-in days are currently scheduled for Southcoast Health’s new vaccine clinic at the Wareham...

Wareham back to ‘yellow’ covid-19 risk category

After weeks in the “red” category, Wareham has been recategorized as “yellow” in the state’s covid-19 risk reporting. The town saw 30 new cases of covid-19 in the past week, according to data from the state’s May 6 Weekly Public Health Report...

'Bright by Text' program launches in Wareham

Wareham families can now get notified of family-friendly events and programs in their area through a text to their phones. The United Way of Greater New Bedford recently announced it has partnered with Bright by Text, a program providing parents,...

Department of Natural Resources helps owl in need

The Wareham Department of Natural Resources lent a hand to an owl in need on Tuesday. Officers were told about an owl in distress. When they arrived on the scene, the owl seemed to be having a hard time flying, and eventually landed in a small body...

Two store owners fined for tobacco violations

The owners of two Wareham gas stations were fined $300 and $1,000, respectively, for various violations of tobacco restrictions. At the May 5 Board of Health meeting, the owner of B2B, the gas station at 3199 Cranberry Highway, was found to be in...

Free legal help for those fighting covid evictions

South Coastal Counties Legal Services, which provides free civil legal aid to low-income people across the south coast, Cape and Islands, will continue to offer its Covid Eviction Legal Help Project through the end of 2021. The project was funded by...

Conservation Commission rejects proposed amendments to wetland bylaw

After discussions at multiple meetings, the Conservation Commission ultimately decided not to recommend two proposed amendments to the town’s wetland bylaws that will be up for a vote at Town Meeting on June 12. The proposed amendments, which were...

Grant helps Damien’s Place expand food distribution

Damien’s Place Food Pantry received a more than $9,000 grant from the Greater Boston Food Bank to expand its ability to efficiently serve more people. The grant is part of the Greater Boston Food Bank’s efforts to expand the emergency food network...

Wareham Free Library now open without appointments

The Wareham Free Library is now open to all without an appointment from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Inside the building, patrons can pick-up held items, browse the stacks, register for a library card, borrow materials, use public...

Newcomers fall short in Town Election

Voters ultimately favored familiar faces in the May 4 Town Election. Alan Slavin was reelected to his seat on the Board of Selectmen by 40 percent of voters. Nearly all write-in votes were cast in support of Tricia Wurts, who launched a late-stage...

Plans in the works to replace Boys and Girls Club programs

Various officials and community members are working hard to come up with a replacement for the programs offered by the Boys and Girls Club of Wareham, which closed abruptly on April 30. After-school programs are currently being held at the Bridge...

Town to pursue grants to build flood, coastal resiliency

The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved grant applications for three coastal resiliency projects. Russel Kleekamp, an engineer at GHD Engineering who regularly works with the town Sewer Department, explained each of the projects the grants would...

Town to negotiate marijuana host community agreement with Trade Winds

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to allow the town to negotiate a host community agreement with Trade Winds, a cannabis courier company affiliated with Trade Roots. “This is just so that he can get a courier license from the state that would...

Town Meeting postponed to June 12

The Town Meeting scheduled for May 8 has been postponed to June 12 because there is a chance of rain on Saturday. Town Moderator Claire Smith said that she agonized over the decision, but ultimately decided that, with the chance of rain, it was best...

Planning Board recommends passage of affordable housing citizens petition article

The Planning Board voted 2-1 on May 3 to recommend the passage at Town Meeting of a citizens’ petition designed to promote the development of affordable housing. Former Selectwoman Brenda Eckstrom proposed the zoning change, which is meant to create...

Officials move forward with slum and blight studies

The Slum and Blight Studies of Wareham Village and Onset have been approved by the state, reported Town Planner Ken Buckland at the April 39 Wareham Redevelopment Meeting. “Until you have a slum and blight study, you can’t start the redevelopment...

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