|
||||||
|
Get Ready... On Your Mark...
June 16, 2011 — Mike Hovagimian, Dave Krueger and Abbie Rosenberg get the start line ready next to the high school for Saturday's Sharon Timlin Race.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
All-Weather Fans
June 16, 2011 — Clients, workers and friends of the Respite Center showed their loyalty to their favorite hometown hockey teams today, encouraging quite a bit of honking support from passersby. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Instant Home
June 16, 2011 — The Carlsons, Faith, Kyle and their 8 year-old twins, will find their new 2,200 square foot home a little more roomy than their previous 800 square foot dwelling. The home came in pre-made sections from Pennsylvania, and assembled on Parker Point Road yesterday. Their are two hinged sections that will come together and complete the roof. "This is so well thought out," said Faith yesterday. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
In Its Element
June 16, 2011 — This cute — note to self: It's a rodent! — chipmunk and its companion scurried around near the photographer's feet, pausing momentarily to look up and see what they were attached to. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Two Cars, One Arrest
June 16, 2011 — Following a two car accident, and the administering of a breathalyzer test before noon near the town common today, the driver of the vehicle on the flatbed above was accompanied to Milford Hospital, under arrest, by a Hopkinton Police Officer in the Hopkinton Ambulance. Above, Officer Phil Powers directs traffic at Main and Hayden Rowe Streets. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Friend of Man
June 16, 2011 — Lacking feet for standing, the dragonfly must grab onto twigs to remain flightless. They capture insects by bringing those two front legs nearly together and using the hairs on the interior of each front leg to act like a net. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Horribles Parade July 4, 2011, Noon Town Common
This years Grand Marshalls are Lily and Len Holden. Lily and Len have tirelessly volunteered their time to the Town for years and are well deserved of this honor.
The parade starts at Noon at the Town Common. It will continue up Hayden Rowe, down Grove Street to Pleasant Street, then along Main Street back to the Common. Floats should show up at the Common by 11:30. No need to register in advance - just show up and enjoy the fun. If you have any questions on the Horrible Parade, need ideas or assistance please call Colleen or Dan McIntyre at 508-435-3176. File photo. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Doe..., a [In This Case, Large] Female Deer
June 15, 2011 — While circling the area searching for the Spring Street bear this evening, the photographer spotted this beauty at a distance in an opening. The deer remained so motionless, the photographer was not immediately certain that it was not an archery target or a cardboard cutout. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Black Bear in Woodville Back Yard
June 15, 2011 — The Ryans got a surprise early this evening when they discovered a black bear, estimated by Hopkinton Police to be about 5 feet tall and between 225 and 250 pounds, on two legs eating from their bird feeder. "He was doing what bears do; looking for food," said Sgt. Michael Sutton, one of two police officers dispatched to the scene. "He looked healthy and didn't display any aggression," he said. "He wasn't that bothered by us," said Officer Peter Booth. "We walked out and he climbed over the stone wall and into the brush," he said. From the source: Buster the Bruin arrived in our backyard at 146 Spring Street in Hopkinton around 6:40 PM this evening to enjoy a meal of black seed sun flower seeds in our bird feeder. The bear stayed for about 40 minutes, long enough to be seen by two Hopkinton Police Officers.
Finally, the bear decided to leave the yard and head towards Upton. The bear casually walked away from the feeder under the watchful eyes of the Hopkinton Police Officers.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Boston CBP Officers Seize 19K in Undeclared Currency from Logan Passenger BOSTON – June 15, 2011 — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working at the Logan International Airport seized $19,307 from a Lebanese couple who arrived on a flight from Lebanon via Italy on June 13. The husband and wife declared $5,000 each; however, further inspection revealed an additional $9,307 of undeclared currency in their possession.
Throughout the inspection process opportunities to declare currency in excess of the $10,000 was given to the couple with no avail. Officers subsequently seized the combined amount of $19,307 as per 21 U.S.C. 5316 which requires international travelers to declare amounts exceeding $10,000 in U.S. dollars or the equivalent in foreign currency. Officers advised the passengers on the process to petition for the return of the undeclared currency then released $1,000 to the couple for humanitarian purposes.
CBP routinely conducts random currency compliance inspections of inbound and outbound travelers. Travelers who deliberately refuse to comply with federal currency reporting requirements run the risk of losing their currency and may potentially face criminal charges.
As a reminder to the traveling public, it is not a crime to carry more than $10,000, but it is a federal offense not to declare currency or monetary instruments totaling $10,000 or more to a CBP officer upon entry or exit from the U.S. or to conceal it with intent to evade reporting requirements. Failure to declare may result in seizure of the currency and/or arrest. An individual may petition for the return of currency seized by CBP officers, but the petitioner must prove that the source and intended use of the currency was legitimate.
International travelers are also encouraged to visit CBP’s travel website to learn more about the rules governing travel to and from the United States, including currency reporting requirements. For more information, please visit the CBP Travel website. (http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/) |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Board of Selectmen Appoints Library Trustees and Other Volunteer Positions Defers Discussion of Two Historic District Volunteers Pending Interviews Hockey rink idea moves forward
by Muriel Kramer June 15, 2011 — The seats on the Library Board of Trustees have been filled admittedly after more than a few twists in the process. Election results in May delivered a tie for the second and third place finishers, June Harris and Leda Arakelian; however, there was no provision for settling or resolving the tie officially. Because the second place finisher was to take the second three year term and the third place finisher was to take the first two year term, the Elections Commission’s advice was to declare a failure to elect for those two positions. File photo, above.
At the Board of Selectmen’s last meeting, the Chairman of the Town Republican Committee Ken Weismantel suggested a compromise position whereby one of the candidates might withdraw from consideration allowing the other to take one of the open seats “by election”; according to Town Counsel Ray Miyares, that idea was not supportable according to the Elections Commission.
According to Miyares, the next twist came when an unopened absentee ballot was discovered among the election materials. Once again the town sought direction from the Elections Commission and was told not to open the ballot without a court order; after receiving the court order, the ballot was opened in a public meeting on Monday. The lone vote cast for a Library Trustee on the ballot was for write-in candidate John Belger leaving the tie unresolved.
Before taking action on appointing anyone to the open seats, Selectman Brian Herr asked Town Counsel if there was any concern considering some officials, including Mrs. Arakelian, were sworn in by the Assistant Town Clerk at the Middle School immediately following election. Mr. Miyares answered, “No, that’s not a problem.” Swearing in is a necessary step but not sufficient to confer the elected position according to the law.
Chairman of the Board of Selectman, Todd Cestari also took the time to thank Mrs. Click, the Town Clerk, for her handling of the events. “Mrs. Click handled things well. Thank you very much, and thank you to June (Harris) for sticking with us as well and continuing your interest.” Offering her endorsement to Ms. Harris, Marie Eldridge, Library Trustee, said, “In my opinion June Harris has already demonstrated her commitment to the library.” Mrs. Harris has been active in the building committee’s efforts on the library expansion process. Mrs. Harris was then unanimously appointed to the second three year term by a vote of the combined boards; Harris will have to run again in May at Annual Town Election to serve out the remaining two years of that term.
Offering another twist in the process, Stanley Pulnik, a write-in candidate that received a few votes at the election, was on hand to advocate for consideration to be appointed. Mr. Pulnik applied for one of the positions but missed the Board of Selectmen’s deadline to be put on the agenda for last’s night’s meeting; after some discussion, the combined Boards chose to appoint Mr. Pulnik to the available two year seat. He will have to run again in May to serve out the second year of that term. Mrs. Arakelian opted not put her name forward to be considered for an appointment.
In other business, the Board heard from Demons Youth Hockey and the Parks and Recreation Board about their proposal to build a hockey rink on property set aside for recreational uses at Legacy Farms. Ken Driscoll, Chairman of Parks and Rec, joined Jack Bloomer, President of Demons Youth Hockey, to present the idea to the Board and get formal support to continue. “We are looking for the support of the selectmen to move forward,” according to Driscoll. The proposal is to build a rink at Legacy Farms at no cost to the tax payers of Hopkinton; according to Mr. Bloomer, the Demons will do all the financing and fundraising.
Highlighting the need, Bloomer noted that there are 25 to 35 different teams that don’t have a great situation, including horrible practice times and limited availability to get ice time. There are also missed opportunities—no girls hockey program, no figure skating and no open ice skating for interested residents. “We have a window of opportunity for Hopkinton to enhance its recreational profile and infrastructure through a Public/Private Partnership. Development of an arena at Legacy Farms provides opportunity, beyond just hockey, to benefit the community at no taxpayer expense.”
Driscoll emphasized the point that the Demons organization would be using a portion of the property that has been set aside for recreational uses, but they would also put in infrastructure that could be used for other recreational needs at the location.
Selectman Ben Palleiko commented on the process thus far applauding the “rigor of the effort”. According to Palleiko, the proposal comes with a business plan that shows detailed effort and diligence. He recommended that going forward the proponents “continue to ensure the financial model is bullet proof.” Palleiko also urged Driscoll to ensure community buy in and to work to ensure the master plan for the recreational parcel at Legacy Farms addresses the larger community’s needs.
The Board also took action to authorize the Town Treasurer, Maureen Dwinnell, to refinance the borrowing for the High School. The value of the premium that could be realized is about $921,000. According to Town Manager Norman Khumalo, that money would be deposited into the General Fund dedicated to debt service, and at the end of the fiscal year, the balance would revert to free cash to be certified and available for use in the future. There is also a potential savings in cost over time of the borrowing of about $774,000. Palleiko supported the refinancing effort noting that , “It is in fact an attractive opportunity.” Reporting that he had spent considerable time speaking to Mrs. Dwinnell and studying the proposal, he concluded that there was a genuine savings available. “This is a meaningful amount of money for us. We will have to be thoughtful about how we address the free cash as it becomes available to us.”
The Board also took action to re-appoint most of the town volunteers that have expressed interest in continuing with new terms; the candidates presented for reappointment had all expressed interest in continuing and had the support of their committee chairs. The Board made an exception for the two candidates from the Historic District Commission that are currently up for re-appointment, Michael Girardi and Austin Spang, choosing instead to invite those gentlemen in to discuss their re-appointments at the next meeting June 28th. Selectmen Palleiko led the effort to address those re-appointments separately understanding that our town is “critically based on the efforts of volunteers,” he took issue with the Historic District Commission’s handling of the vote on the library project earlier this year. Slamming their process as being “devoid of any attributes we’d like to see in a committee,” he continued that it was “neither fair, open or transparent.” The Board elected to offer Mr. Spang and Mr. Girardi the courtesy of an opportunity to appear before the Board to discuss the appointments. Interested residents are encouraged to consider current/future board openings.
*** HOPKINTON AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND BOARD |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
HPTA Budgets Over $165,000 for Hopkinton Schools Next Year All Classrooms at Elmwood, Hopkins and the Middle School will be "Smart!"
June 14, 2011 — At its June 6 General Meeting and End-of-Year Celebration, the HPTA Membership voted unanimously to approve a budget of over $165,000. This will complete our technology funding goal of making all classrooms at Elmwood, Hopkins and the Middle School “Smart” next year, which means they will each have either a SmartBoard or Epson Brightlink Interactive Projector. In addition HPTA membership has once again hit a record high at 643 members this year. See HopNews HD video from last year about technology at Elmwood School.
The largest portion of the budget is $82,579 for technology in the schools, which includes 2 Epson Projectors and 3 Smartboards for Elmwood School, 9 Epson Projectors for Hopkins School, 21 Epson Solos for the Middle School and an iPad cart for the High School. Parents will no longer have to keep their fingers crossed that their child will have classroom with Smart technology next year, finally all classrooms in grades 2-8 will all be “Smart.” Although Center School infrastructure cannot currently support SmartBoards in every room, the HPTA will continue to support Center School by funding Enrichment programs, Teacher Appreciation and Grade Level Activities.
The next largest portion of the HPTA budget is $52,900 for enrichment programs at the schools. Although next year’s enrichment programs are not finalized, previous programs have included Blake Snake Woman and Traveling Medicine Dog at Center School, High Touch High Tech at Elmwood, Poet Lyn Hoopes at Hopkins, Having Fun with Pyramids and Pharaohs at the Middle School and the Hispanic and French Lecture Series at the High School. Other large budget items include $11,000 for teacher professional development and $3,100 for college scholarships.
For three years in a row HPTA Membership has hit a record high, and a 5% increase from last year. At the end of the year membership is up to 643 members, which includes 589 family memberships and 54 teacher memberships. Membership is now open for the coming school year. Join now and your membership will be good throughout the entire 2011-12 school year. Dues are only $15 per family or $7.50 per teacher and entitle you to take part in our HPTAConnect Online Discussion Forum and Classfields Network on BigTent. You can connect with other families on a variety of topics over of the summer, while official HPTA communication channels are quiet. Register online at www.hptaonline.com.
As we reflect on the year and look forward to summer vacation, the HPTA would like to take a minute to thank our supportive community, including our members, our board members, our teachers and administrators and our hundreds of volunteers. Without their help we could not have exceeded our fundraising goal and made all classrooms at Elmwood, Hopkins and the Middle School “Smart” next year. Thank you Hopkinton! ~ Story contributed by the HPTA |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Host an International Student
Open your home to the experience of a lifetime! Host a German, Italian or Chinese student accepted to Hopkinton High School for the 2011-2012 semester or school year. Your life will be enriched in enormous and sometimes surprising ways and you'll be contributing to globalizing your family and your community. A stipend is provided. If you're interested, please contact Ann Northup, International Coordinator at 508-480-8513 or northupa@verizon.net. This program is sponsored by Educatius International, a non-profit international educational organization which, among other projects, connects international high school students with American secondary schools and families. www.educatius.org. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Clark and Lewis
June 14, 2011 — At each mention of "Lewis and Clark," the youngster playing Clark would interject, "Clark and Lewis," feigning a need for top billing in the Hopkins School's presentation of their yearly performance that mixes education with the performing arts at Hopkins School this morning. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Golden Sneakers Awarded
June 14, 2011 — Elmwood Second Grade Golden Sneaker award for running the most miles. They ran, on average, over 27 miles per student over a seven week period. They get to keep the golden sneaker in their classroom and they got golden shoelaces for themselves. In addition, as part of the Marathon Challenge, those students who ran 26.2 miles got medals. When they got to 13.1 miles, they got T-shirts. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Girl's Lax Wins Finals in Wellesley
June 13, 2011 — The Girls LAX won the Division 2 State Final today against Winchester in Wellesley and are seen above driving through Downtown with a police and fire escort and in the HD video below.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Found Ballot Changes Nothing Two residents apply for consideration as Library Trustee
June 6, 2011 — The suspense was palpable in the room as Town Clerk Ann Click at first chose the wrong box containing the absentee ballot that had gone uncounted in the last election. And the groans were audible when the results were read. The hope was that the ballot would contain a vote for only one of two Library Trustee candidates who were tied for one of two positions. Instead, the vote went to John Belger, the only vote, a write-in, that "John Doe" cast for Library Trustee. Leda Arakelian and June Harris, both Republicans, were on the ballot with two other candidates, Marie Eldridge and John McNamara, who were seated as was John Belger, a write-in candidate. The tie resulted in a "failure to elect." A meeting has been scheduled for Selectmen and the three trustees to jointly consider the two candidates who have submitted their names for interviews during Tuesday evening's meeting. June Harris, one of the tied candidates, has applied for one of the two positions. Ms. Harris is an attorney and a mother of two boys. Stanley Pulnick, a Downey Street resident whose wife works for the school department, is the other applicant. Leda Arakelian said she did not apply, because she is sticking to her position that she did not care to be appointed to a position she was elected to and sworn in for. "I worked too hard for that to happen," she said. Below, Leda Arakelian and Dick Temple, husband of June Harris, exchange some thoughts following the reading of the ballot.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Live Webcast at 5:00 pm of ballot opening, recorded below: |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Cat is Lost
Her name is Autumn she is a short hair, fully black female. Missing since Friday night, near Hayden Rowe, Hopkins School. Could be at EMC Park.If you do see her please call 508-435-6246.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
| All content on this site and linked pages within this domain and affiliate domains are ©2009 Hopkinton News and may not reproduced in any form without written permission. Learn more. | ||||||
 |
||||||
"The News Starts Here!"
The
Horribles Parade is on for July 4th.
This years’ theme is “Many Voices One Town”.
It’s not a surprise to anyone that there are no
shortages of opinions among the citizens of
Hopkinton. But at the end of the day we are all
one Town. Come celebrate our diversity and unity
by participating in this year’s parade. In past
years, individuals, families, neighborhoods and
clubs have creatively honored our history,
politics, patriotism, sports teams and family
spirit. 
The HPTA raised approximately
$140,000 this year from its fundraising efforts,
the remainder of the budget for next year will
come out of HPTA savings from previous years.
Our largest fundraiser this year was the annual
auction, which brought in $43,000 including both
the online auction and the Children’s Gallery
family fun event. The auction theme this year
was “Be Smart - Support our Schools,” which
could not have been more appropriate now that
all classrooms at Elmwood, Hopkins and the
Middle School will be “Smart” next year. The
next largest fundraiser was the Carnival, which,
although fairly new to the HPTA, brought in
$18,000. Square 1 Art also continues to be a
strong fundraiser, bringing in $12,000, which
was more than last year.
