Hearing on tax rate
BERLIN
The tax bill on a home with the town's average assessed value of $443,900 will go up $52, if selectmen tomorrow accept the proposed new tax rate of $10.96 per $1,000 of assessed value. Assessor Diane Peterson will present a report showing that the owner of the average house would pay $4,865. The public hearing on the tax rate will begin at 8 p.m. in the selectmen's hearing room in the town offices on Linden Street. -- Jennifer Rosinski
BERLIN/BOYLSTON
SCHOOLS SEEK $6.7 MILLION -- The proposed budget for Tahanto Regional Middle/High School calls for an increase of $372,000, or 5.9 percent, to $6.7 million for next fiscal year. The largest increases are $132,00 for health insurance coverage, $90,030 for classroom teacher salaries, $67,910 for specialist teacher salaries, and $27,052 for special education tuitions, according to Superintendent Marcia Lukon's budget worksheet. The budget would add a special education teacher and a math teacher. Both towns must approve the budget. The school serves Berlin and Boylston students in grades 7-12.
-- Jennifer Rosinski
BOLTON
PROJECT MANAGER FOR LIBRARY -- Trustees are seeking a project manager for the Bolton Public Library's $7 million renovation, said Town Administrator Jodi Ross. The manager would oversee the process from start to finish, with design work to begin this spring and construction in the fall, Ross said.
-- Matt Gunderson
BOYLSTON
SELECTMEN REJECT PRICE DROP -- A housing development on town land off Sewall Street appears in jeopardy after selectmen rejected the developer's bid to reduce the purchase price. Horizon Partners LLC had planned to build 32 single-family homes on the property, but then learned that half the site is off limits because it is a habitat of the endangered wood turtle. The developer had originally agreed to pay $560,000, which they now want cut by half.
-- Matt Gunderson
FRAMINGHAM
QUESTION TOWN OFFICIALS -- The local chapter of the AARP organization is holding a open-ended forum tomorrow to give citizens a chance to question Framingham officials about town government issues. Dennis Giombetti, chairman of the Board of Selectmen; Peter Sellers, director of public works; Kathy Bartolini, planning and economic development director; and Michael Flynn, chief assessor, will be available to answer questions. The forum is set for 1 p.m. at the Callahan Senior Center, 535 Union Ave.
-- John C. Drake
CANDIDATES FORUM -- Candidates for the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and Keefe Tech School Committee will make their cases to voters tomorrow at a forum put together by the Framingham Townwide PTO. The forum is scheduled for 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Walsh Middle School auditorium, 301 Brook St. Candidates for two seats on the Board of Selectmen are incumbents Ginger Esty and Charles Sisitsky and challenger Christine Long, who is chairwoman of the Standing Committee on Public Works. Competing for two three-year seats on the School Committee are incumbent Cesar Monzon and challengers Steve Hakar and Adam Blumer. And four candidates are vying for three seats on the Keefe Tech School Committee. They are incumbents Larry Cooper, Linda Fobes, John Kahn and challenger Tom Leddy. Beverly Hugo is running uncontested to fill the School Committee seat vacated by Pam Richardson, who resigned after winning election as state representative.
-- John C. Drake
HUDSON
STUDENT HONORED -- Hudson High School senior Kyle Knoblock has been selected by Superintendent Sheldon Berman to receive the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Certificate of Academic Excellence, an honor given annually to one student. Knoblock, captain of the Hudson High Math League, coaches freshman teams and tutors math students outside of school. He is also president of the Service Learning Student Administration, vice president of the Asian-American Club, a member of the Environmental Club, and a track team member. He is a past student representative to the School Committee. Last summer he was one of 24 American students selected by the East-West Center's Partnership for Youth program to travel to Thailand to study the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami.-- Jennifer Rosinski
LINCOLN
TOWN FLAG COMPETITION -- Seven designs for a town flag will be presented to residents during a 7:30 p.m. meeting Wednesday in Bemis Hall. Posters with the proposed flag designs are on display at the Lincoln Public Library, Bemis Hall, the town offices, the Old Town Hall Exchange and at the Smith and Brooks schools. The designs are also posted on the town website, lincolntown.org. Officials are asking residents to cast a vote for their favorite by March 5, with a flag committee to deliver a final design to Town Meeting on March 24. -- Kristen Green
MARLBOROUGH
REVIEWING NOTICE ON SCHOOL CRIMES -- Mayor Nancy Stevens is reviewing how authorities notify the public about crimes involving minors in the schools. Police arrested a 15-year-old student on Feb. 6 on charges stemming from an investigation of assaults that allegedly occurred several weeks before. The mayor stated that she and other members of the School Committee were informed of the arrest the next day. "The Marlborough Public Schools and Police departments took all appropriate, allowable measures to ensure the safety of the victim and all students while these incidents were under investigation," she said in a news release.
-- Megan Woolhouse
MAYNARD
BUILDING COMMITTEE FORMED -- Acting on the urging of Police Chief James Corcoran , the selectmen named all 12 candidates that applied to the Public Safety Building Committee . The committee will be working on a tight time frame in an effort to get a debt exclusion question on the May 1 election ballot and before Town Meeting voters on May 21. One of the committee's principal tasks will be estimating the cost of upgrading the Summer Street building that will house just the fire department after police move out. Plans call for the old library to be renovated at a cost of $3.9 million to serve as the police station.
-- Melissa Beecher
NORTHBOROUGH/
SOUTHBOROUGH
REGIONAL SCHOOL BUDGET TALK -- The Northborough-Southborough Regional District School Committee has scheduled a public hearing on the Algonquin High School budget for tomorrow night. Administrators proposed a 12 percent budget increase over this year, but could cut the number by about 4 percent if no additional staff were added. The meeting, to begin at 7 at the school, will include an update on construction and a report from the technology director.-- Carolyn Kessel Stewart
SHREWSBURY
DRIVER MISSED COURT DATE -- Hopkinton resident Alison J. Voorhis has been ordered to appear in Westborough District Court tomorrow or face arrest in connection with a fatal car accident in Northborough last fall. Voorhis, who is accused of drunken driving in the collision, missed a pretrial conference Tuesday. Her lawyer, Angelo Catanzaro of Ashland, said she was in a treatment program. Voorhis, 47, is facing motor vehicle homicide, driving while under the influence of alcohol, and other charges in the Sept. 24 head-on collision that killed Evagelos V. Pashos , a 21-year-old Northeastern University senior and graduate of St. John's High School in Shrewsbury. Voorhis also has been named in a $1.5 million wrongful death lawsuit filed in Worcester Superior Court by the young driver's parents, Vasilios and Lisa Pashos.
-- Jennifer Rosinski
NEW DA REVIEWING SHOOTING -- Newly elected Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. is reviewing a case in which a police officer was shot by a homeowner while investigating a burglary. The incident occurred late last summer when Mark Ragsdale, a prominent Shrewsbury resident who owns car dealerships across Central Massachusetts, shot 25-year-old officer Stephen Rice in the abdomen as he investigated a burglar alarm call at Ragsdale's house on Farmington Drive. A grand jury declined to issue an indictment in the case against Ragsdale last fall under Early's predecessor, John Conte. Early, who took office last month, could decide to present the case to another grand jury. -- Megan Woolhouse
STOW
MOLD MONEY -- The mold that infested the police station in the fall has caused Police Chief Mark Trefry to seek a $10,000 reserve fund transfer from the town. In total, the cleanup and repair work has cost $35,000. The remaining sum has been picked up by the town's insurance, Trefry said. Workers are replacing duct work in the station, a job that should be done by the end of this month, he said. -- Matt Gunderson
SUDBURY
ZONING BYLAW HEARING -- A public hearing will be held Wednesday on an amendment to the zoning bylaw to be proposed at Town Meeting. The article, submitted by the building inspector, would expand the amount of time that temporary signs may be posted in Sudbury. The meeting is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. in Town Hall. Anyone who wants to comment on the proposal may speak at the hearing or submit written comments in advance. --Kristen Green
COLLEGE NIGHT FOR JUNIORS -- Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School juniors are encouraged to attend Junior Night with their parents on Thursday. A former admissions representative and financial aid officer will explain the college admission process during the 7 p.m. event in the Lincoln-Sudbury High auditorium. -- Kristen Green
WESTBOROUGH
$77.9 MILLION BUDGET PROPOSED -- The town would spend $3.9 million, or 5.2 percent, more in fiscal 2008 under a plan prepared by Town Coordinator Henry L. Danis Jr. The $77.9 million budget would leave the schools with $500,000 less than Superintendent Anne L. Towle has requested. Towle had sought $35.7 million. Two big factors driving up the town budget are health insurance, projected to increase 16 percent to $9.6 million, and the cost of sending students to Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, up 34 percent to $920,000 because of greater student enrollment and a drop in state funding. The Finance Committee will make final budget recommendations to Town Meeting.
-- Jennifer Rosinski 
