Political Notice
Presidential Primary
March 6, 2012

Last day to register and change party enrollment for State Primary: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012
State Primary: Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Absentee Ballots are available For the Presidential Primary
Contact Town Clerk’s Office or http://www.hopkinton.org/clerk/forms.htm

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Everywhere a Sign...

January 31, 2012 — No matter what the sign says, it is there for a reason. Too many people apparently believe it is okay for them to violate the law at their convenience. The photographer of this photo was rear-ended yesterday by someone who thought he was going through the stop light like she was intending to do. That individual was about to ignore the red light, but that is only part of her standard operating procedure. She was a citizen of another country driving on our roads without a license, and the State Police Trooper who responded was very unhappy about it.

YOUR HOME

January 31, 2012 — Elmwood School conducted a second six-week session of Wee Deliver Postmaster installation today.  Above are the personnel selected and sworn in for the task who surround the newly installed Postmasters, Lulu Murphy, second row, center, in pink, and Cate Cestari to her left in white.
          The students learn to send a letter and receive a letter by dropping them in a Wee Deliver mailbox inside Elmwood School, Colella's and the Hopkinton Main Post Office. The first session, according to one parent, delivered 1,000 pieces of mail in a week. A video will be available Wednesday morning..

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<---- CLICK FOR FULL REPORT
January 31, 2012
5:01 pm A Fruit Street caller reports semi-automatic weapons being fired... 

3:01 pm An resident sent her boyfriend a text message threatening to harm herself... 

7:56 pm An alert neighbor in Pinecrest Village reported activity in a recently vacated unit... 

8:21 pm A caller thought it suspicious that people walking on Wilson Street were ducking onto the woods... 

8:24 am A business on Lumber Street reported a man  wearing a yellow raincoat was in the woods...  

READ ALL

SERVICE GUIDE

Crunch!!

January 30, 2012 — Sgt. Michael Sutton is calling in the license plates of the vehicles at the site of this 7:00 pm crash this evening at the intersection  of Pleasant and Main Streets, while one occupant was being evaluated in the ambulance, which is expected to transport the individual to the hospital. The intersection is the site of many crashes, and has been suggested for a traffic light by people involved in the Downtown revitalization discussions.

A New Hilltopper for February is Now Online

The Hilltopper, the newsletter for Hopkinton's senior citizens, is now online and available by clicking the blue button, always above. It is chock full of advice for seniors as well as schedules for free and low cost services, like tax preparation. drug coverage information and movie schedules. Please join other Hopkinton senior citizens who have a great place to go and learn, have fun or to just keep learning.

Recon Team

January 30, 2012 — Troopers from the Massachusetts State Police Accident Reconstruction Team responded to a truck vs passenger sedan collision at the intersection of West Main and Lumber Streets today that resulted in the injury to the driver and two passengers.

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Great Coach from Hopkinton

January 30, 2012 — Keefe Regional Technical School Boys Soccer Coach Kevin Kramer, a resident of Hopkinton, MA, has been named Coach of the Year by two local daily newspapers. Kramer has been coaching soccer at Keefe Tech for 17 years. He is also a Special Education Job Entry Training  Instructor at the School.

YOUR HOME

FREE MUSIC 

Hopkinton Historical Society will offer a free program on Popular Music of the ‘40’s and ‘50’s at 2pm on Sunday February 19. 2012. The meeting is open to the public and no reservation is required. 

John Root, a local musician and educator, has performed similar well-received programs in Hopkinton for several years.]. Popular Music of the ‘40’s & ‘50’s features a delightful repertoire of instrumental and vocal musical styles from two previous decades. Everyone is invited to sing along and to experience the range of feelings evoked by this music. 

John sings seldom-heard verses as well as the more familiar choruses of these songs, accompanying himself at the keyboard with authentic period piano arrangements. Lyrics of these songs offer insights about the customs and values of American popular culture at this time. 

Free refreshments will be available after the program to provide an opportunity to meet old and new friends. 

The program is co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Cultural Society and will be conducted at the Hopkinton Historical Society’s building at 168 Hayden Rowe ( Rt. 85 ) in Hopkinton. Contact Ray Gendreau ( 508.435.9865 ) with any questions

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The Race is On

Team Hoyt photo by Kathy Boyer of artist Dustin Neece and model Rick Hoyt. 

SERVICE GUIDE

Hopkinton Hockey Players Make Competition Finals
 

Goalie Dylan O’Leary and forward Owen Delaney, Demons youth hockey players from Hopkinton, have advanced to the finals of the New England mini one-on-one competition in the Boys 10 and Under group, held at the TD Boston Garden. The pair faces the Portland Jr. Pirates in the final round on Tuesday January 31 to be broadcast during the first intermission in the Bruins-Senators game, which starts at 7:00 p.m. on NESN. 

The Demons players advanced from the semi-final contest against the Portland Maine Gladiators that aired during the Bruins-Capitals game on January 24. A video of the event is at http://www.nesn.com/2012/01/demons-youth-hockey-advances-to-td-bank-mini-1-on-1-finals-with-win-over-maine-gladiators.html. 

The one-on-one competition uses the NHL overtime shootout format where each forward tries to score against the opposing goalie for three shots, with single-round elimination after that if needed. Delaney and O’Leary are among the 88 players from New England who qualified for the USA-Hockey competition.

Three Injured

January 30, 2012 — Three passengers, a man and a woman, as  well as an elderly woman, in the Volvo above were transported by one Ashland  two Hopkinton ambulances to UMass Worcester, following a collision between a Volvo and a large dump truck at the intersection of Lumber Street and West Main Street, according to Hopkinton Fire Dept. Lt, Carl Harris. The truck was apparently turning left onto Lumber Street, and was well into his turn when the collision occurred. The protocol for the transport was Advanced Life Support.

Town Talk is Back 

January 29, 2012 — After an especially taxing few hours of reading and responding to negative posts, and I mean really ignorant, inconsiderate stuff, stuff by haters, this writer decided to take some time off today and took the link off of Page One. Sometimes when we do that, it breaks the momentum of those trolls and they have to go elsewhere to vent. The hope is that when they come back, they will have mellowed a bit. 

In the meantime, a few posters found ways to get to the page without using the link and posted opinions; nothing wrong with that. But it means that anyone visiting today after an absence will have more to catch up on. 

It would be nice if people used the page to do more positive stuff, like congratulate an athlete or scholar, toast a teacher, or thank a public safety official. Those things do happen, but wouldn't it be nice to see more of it and less of the angry stuff. 

Deleting the bullying, name-calling, jealous, angry, mean and simply negative posts has become tiresome and time-consuming. People need to take a moment and ask themselves if they are revealing more about themselves than the person they are raging against.  

But then again, we have the regular posters who enlighten, entertain and offer insight. Welcome back.

Pac-Roc

January 29, 2012 — It looks a little like Fred Flintstone and his gang might have had a great time chiseling the original Pac-Man out of bedrock. But is actually some rocks on the Ledges Trail off of the main trail behind the headquarters at Hopkinton State Park. It is on the western side of Cedar Street, and so is not on the official trail map of the park.

        There is scat on the trail as well as evidence of beavers and otters, but none in front of the camera on this day.

Fast Response

January 29, 2012 — A bus driver collapsed at Hopkinton High School while awaiting passengers who were bound for Wachusett Mountain Ski Area this afternoon. The male bus driver, described by one public safety official as a senior citizen, was transported to a local hospital; another driver came to take his place.

        "Good thing it didn't happen while he was driving," said another public safety official.

SERVICE GUIDE

Neighborhood Love

January 28, 2012 — Hopkins School student ten year-old Allison Lundy died of brain cancer on January 20, 2012. In honor of her memory and her life, her entire neighborhood of upscale homes in Highland Park, each with unique architectural features, but cookie-cutter mailboxes, is sporting a ribbon of pink, Allie's favorite color, on each and every mailbox in the entire neighborhood, bar none.

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January 28, 2012 — Today the Hopkinton School Committee voted a budget of $34,085,238, which is an increase of $1,127,516, or 3.42%, over the FY12 budget. 

•  6 classrooms of Full Day Kindergarten and 4 sections of Half Day Kindergarten, each with a full time teaching assistant;

• Average class sizes of 20 students or less in all Kindergarten and 1st Grade class rooms;

• An additional classroom teacher in 4th grade and in 5th grade, resulting in average class sizes of 22 at each grade level;

• Reinstatement of the Middle School Drama Related Arts course;

• Funding for curriculum alignment to the new state mandated Common Core frameworks in Mathematics, including increased student and staff support as well as some textbooks;

• Support for Strategic Plan initiatives in foreign language (funded by the F-1 Visa program that allows foreign students to tuition into the district); and

• Needed maintenance at Center, Elmwood, Middle School, and High School, as well as the Special Education offices.

• Reduced technology requests;

• Reduced funding for supplies;

• Increased athletic fees at the Middle School and High School from $125/sport to $150/sport;

• Implemented a $25 activity fee for Middle School and High School non-athletic extracurricular activities (one annual fee/student covers as many clubs as the student participates in);

• Increased Full Day Kindergarten tuition from $3,700 to $4,000; and

•  Implemented a $100/student transportation fee to local daycare/afterschool program providers.

~ Press Release from the School Committee. File photo.

YOUR HOME

New Employee

January 28, 2012 — Hopkinton Drug President Dennis Katz introduced Compounding Pharmacist Danielle Petrie to the gathering at the Senior Center on Thursday. Ms. Petrie is a former employee who returned to be hired for the new position.

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There It Is

January 27, 2012 — The subject of this painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud at the Worcester Art Museum, Charles-Auguste D'Allonville, Marquis de Louville, appears to be admiring the floral arrangement designed by the Hopkinton Garden Club, but it is just coincidental.
      The project is called Flora in Winter and it is done by the Hopkinton garden club. Interpretive arrangers Jackie Potenzone and. Tee Johnson designed this one.  ~Contributed photo.

SERVICE GUIDE

Always on the Job

 January 27, 2012 — DPW employee Lou Mongiat helps pump out the basement of 28 Main Street where a water pipe broke this week.

MASS. STATE POLICE AND F.B.I. ANNOUNCE ARREST OF FUGITIVE HOMICIDE SUSPECT  

Today at 8:00 a.m., the F.B.I. Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force, Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section Members, Massachusetts State Police STOP Team, Massachusetts State Police K-9, U.S. Marshal Task Force Officers and Springfield Police Warrant Apprehension Officers arrested 25-year-old ESTEBAN RAMOS-CRUZ in front of 31 Rutledge Avenue in the South End of Springfield. ESTEBAN RAMOS-CRUZ was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. The charges include Murder in Aid of Racketeering, Use/Carry and Discharge of Firearm During Crime of Violence, Possession of Firearm in Furtherance of Crime of Violence, Narcotics Conspiracy and Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking Crime.  

RAMOS-CRUZ is wanted in connection with a homicide that occurred in Buffalo, New York. The F.B.I. Buffalo New York Field Division conducted the fugitive investigation. During the investigation, RAMOS-CRUZ was featured on America’s Most Wanted in an effort to locate him. After a nine month investigation by the F.B.I., information was developed that RAMOS-CRUZ was possibly hiding in the Springfield Massachusetts area. The F.B.I. Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force and Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section conducted a joint investigation. RAMOS-CRUZ was arrested without incident and booked at State Police Springfield pending arraignment in U.S. District Court in Springfield.  

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Outdoor Aviary

January 27, 2012 — In the waters north of the West Main Street causeway, this great blue heron perches, apparently on one leg, as mallards move quickly to duck, pun intended, behind the rocks to evade the camera. Warm weather and open water has kept these birds in the area.

YOUR HOME

Nature's Lenses

January 27, 2012 — As with any lens, these raindrops invert and reverse the light passing through it; the sky is on the bottom, and the trees are on the top. A camera lens acts in the same way, but a built-in mirror and prism correct the image before the photographer sees it through the viewfinder.

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The State of Pond Hockey

January 27, 2012 — Just days ago, this goal was part of a pick up game of pond hockey by some teens at Blood's Pond, but is put in drydock now for safekeeping in the hopes that the pond will freeze again before the winter is over

SERVICE GUIDE

Superintendent's School Department Budget Increases Nearly 4%
Would sustain reasonable class size, support for math, special needs, and more... 

by Muriel Kramer
January 27, 2012 — The School Committee is working to put the finishing touches on the budget that will be submitted to the Town Manager by February 1^st. They held a Public Hearing last night giving residents a chance to voice their concerns and priorities, chief among them – saving the Middle School Drama curriculum, minimizing class sizes and re-considering hiking numerous fees particularly for older students.  

The Superintendent of Schools, Jonathan Landman, recommended a budget that shows an increase of 3.95% over FY 12 in an attempt to minimize cuts and protect the district’s existing curricular and extracurricular programs. Considering the district’s fixed cost increases of $1,581,156, to maintain level services would necessitate a 4.8% increase. A level funded budget in keeping with the Selectmen’s budget message would mean cutting $1.3 million in services as well as roughly 25 jobs with corresponding increases in class sizes and elimination of services. 

According to Dr. Landman’s presentation materials, the recommended budget would mean sustaining reasonable class sizes, adding professional math support, enhancing support for children with special needs, aligning the grade 4-9 math program with the State’s Common Core, providing leadership to advance world language, enabling technology upgrades and expanding on-line course offerings. 

As part of the recommended budget, Landman recommends additional fees to offset some of the costs. He proposed raising full day kindergarten tuition from $3,700 to $4,000, parking fees from $210 to $250, bus fees from $210 to 250 and athletic fees from $125 to $200 per sport. Additionally parents of children traveling to daycare or after school programs may be charged a $100 fee for that bus service. 

Amy Ritterbusch and Laura Barry put forward a petition signed by over 100 parents in town specifically addressing increases in class sizes particularly for grades 4 and 5. The petition in part reads: 

We are writing to express concern that the Hopkinton Public School Budget for academic year 2012-2013 will not maintaining manageable class sizes for all elementary school students. Specifically, we are concerned about children entering 4th and 5th grade in the Fall of 2012, all of whom are projected to have class sizes of 24 or 25 students. 

As parents, we feel that class size directly impacts the quality of our children's education. It is evident that the both the members of the Hopkinton School Committee and School Administration share this belief by the fact that under the proposed budget, all classrooms from Kindergarten through Third Grade will have 23 or fewer students, and class size for Middle School students will range from 18 to 23 students. 

Two classes of students, however, will not be afforded these manageable class sizes. The Fourth Grade in 2012-2013 is projected to have 302 students and will likely be the largest class of students in the school district. In just 3 years, the number of students in this grade has exploded from 231 during Kindergarten to 298 in Third Grade. Despite this growth, school officials have added just one additional section in three years. Presently, this class is divided into 13 sections, with average class sizes of 24 students. The proposed budget for 2012-2013 maintains 13 sections, and average class sizes of 24 students, even for Integrated classrooms. We request that Hopkins School add another section for these students in order to reduce class size to 22 students. 

At the close of the Public Hearing, the School Committee discussed but did not formally vote on some of the adjustments that they will impose on the recommended budget before it goes forward to the Town. The School Committee meets again on Saturday in a working session to hopefully put the finishing touches on the budget. 

The three committee members present, representing a majority of the board, agreed that they were in support of maintaining the drama curriculum at the Middle School as well as adding a teacher in both fourth and fifth grade. Also on the table and seemingly an easy decision for the group was to preserve the $5-7,000 needed to maintain the clubs and extra-curriculars at the Middle School. “Some of these clubs were brought forward by students; to discourage that would be the wrong thing to do,” asserted School Committee member Troy Mick.

Raising fees was a tougher topic. School Committee member Scott Aghababian commented, “I am generally against raising fees.”

For his part, Mick has gone on record as wanting to establish a ten year plan to eliminate fees. And School Committee Chairwoman, Jean Bertschmann commented “As a parent, I don’t like fees either.” She further held that raising the athletic fees by $75 was not something she felt she could support, but an increase of $25 might not be unreasonable. One idea under consideration was brought forth by some speakers at the public hearing, that is to charge an activities fee of $25 for all students to reduce the impact of fees on parents of older students.

The School Committee meets again Saturday at 9:30 AM in the Middle School Library for a working session intended to finalize the proposed budget for FY 13.

Car Snaps Pole - Operator Arrested
Traffic Advisory (2:00 am)- East Main Street Closed
Could affect morning commute

UPDATE: EAST MAIN STREET IS OPEN

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January 27, 2012 — This vehicle snapped a telephone pole on East Main Street this morning, knocked the bottom a few feet, and landed, suspended, on top of the remaining stump. A 911 call at 12:36 am reported the driver trapped in the vehicle, but that was not the case. However, the pole was leaning dangerously, and wires were hanging low. Police shut the road down due to the hazard, while awaiting crews from NSTAR to replace the pole. The morning commute could be affected. The tow truck was told to return to the scene at 5:00 am.
        According to Hopkinton Police, the operator, Jeanne S. Murphy, 48, of Hayden Rowe Street, was arrested by Officer Linda Higgins and charged with OUI Liquor.

Crowd Turns Out in Holliston to Hear About Casino Bill

Above, Holliston Selectmen Chair Jay Marsden greets the gathering at the Adams Middle School auditorium in Holliston. 

January 26, 2012 — More than 160 people attended a forum on the casino bill that allows three casinos and a slot parlor to be located in Massachusetts. State Senator Karen Spilka and State Representative Carolyn Dykema addressed the gathering, and both said they although they voted against it, each tried to impact the legislation in a way that would protect those affected by it. Senator Spilka, who recently received the position of Assistant Majority Whip, assured attendees that she made sure she could get as many community safeguards as possible written into it.
        Three casinos will be located in each of three regions of the state; the Eastern, Southeastern and Western regions. The minimum capital investment a developer must pony up is $500 million. And whoever offers a larger investment would have a greater chance of being considered. Not done in a year after beginning? That comes with a $50 million fine.
         Although the head of the Gaming Commission, which is the state agency that will provide oversight for the casinos and slot parlors, has been appointed, the other members, according to Senator Spilka, may not be in place for up to another 18 months. She said there are protections for communities in the bill.
         Before an application for a casino will be accepted by the commission, a Memorandum of Understanding must be signed by the host community and the developer. The surrounding towns that might be affected must be identified by the developer and mitigation must be offered. In addition, a developer must pay for studies and legal costs of affected communities.
         Senator Spilka said that the geographical location will be another factor in deciding that a casino should not be located in one area that could be close to another in one of the other two regions.
         A show of hands demonstrated that the large majority of attendees were from Holliston, but Selectmen from surrounding towns, including Hopkinton's Selectman Brian Herr and Selectman Chair Todd Cestari, who have been working in concert with the others to develop strategies, were also in attendance.
          Although reactions from the crowd indicated a majority against locating a casino in Milford, the purpose of the meeting, Mr. Marsden said at the outset, was informational.

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