Antique clothing show

Joanne Wheeler of Berlin will exhibit her collection of vintage dresses during a Berlin Art & Historical Society gathering at 8 p.m. March 29 in the 1870 Town Hall. Wheeler will discuss how she cares for and preserves the clothing, dating from 1875 to 1920. She also cares for the town's public collection of vintage clothes. The event is free, but donations to help cover the costs of storing the town's collection are encouraged. For details, contact Evy Dueck at 978-838-2738. - John Dyer

COMMITTEE VACANCY - Town officials are seeking a volunteer to fill a vacancy on the Advisory Committee. The board's primary responsibility is to make recommendations about warrant articles for Town Meeting, but it also reviews the annual town budget and capital requests. Interested residents can call the selectmen's secretary, Linda Day, at 978-779-2297. - Matt Gunderson

HILLSIDE PROJECT - The third and final phase of a window-restoration project at the historic John B. Gough Estate is underway. A total of 26 windows are being replaced in the national landmark, which is named for its most famous occupant, a temperance orator during the 1800s. The work is being organized by the Hillside Restoration Project, a local historical organization. - Matt Gunderson

SALUTE TO FRAMINGHAM DINNER - The Framingham High School Foundation will hold its 16th annual Salute to Framingham dinner on March 13. This year's recipients of the Salute to Framingham Award are retired teacher Roni Cronin, Mazie Foundation head Lowell Mazie, and Pat Walker, director of education at the Danforth Museum of Art, said Kathy Hauck, the program's coordinator. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased online at framinghamflyers.com or by calling 508-620-4963. All proceeds go to supporting extracurricular activities at the high school, said Hauck. The dinner starts at 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Sheraton Framingham Hotel, at 1657 Worcester Road (Route 9). - Tanya Perez Brennan

BILL FOR SENIOR CENTER RISING - The anticipated cost of the town's Senior Center renovation project has increased by about $540,000, according to Hudson's community development director, Michelle Ciccolo. Voters approved funding for the project with a debt-exclusion override of Proposition 2 1/2 last month. At the time, officials said the work would cost $4.4 million. Ciccolo said the town was applying for a state grant of about $630,000 that, if approved, would take care of the extra costs. She added that the project's total price could also change once builders respond to the town's request for bids. -John Dyer

TOWN MEETING WARRANT ONLINE - The final version of the warrant for the March 29 annual Town Meeting is available on the municipal website, www.lincolntown.org. There are 46 articles to be decided by voters, including the establishment of a town facilities energy performance standard, and repairs to the library, as well as the school district's fiscal year 2009 budget. - John M. Guilfoil

HUMANITARIAN AWARD NOMINATIONS - The mayor's office is accepting nominations for the city's Humanitarian of the Year, an award that will be presented during the Mayor's Charity Ball on April 5. According to an announcement by Mayor Nancy Stevens, nominees should exemplify "the spirit of volunteerism and charitable or community service." Nominations must be in writing. The deadline is March 21. - Lisa Kocian

POLICE STATION BIDS - The town has received approximately 100 bids from contractors wanting the job of building a new police station, said Town Administrator John Curran. The deadline to bid on the estimated $4 million project is March 14. The plan is to convert the former library on Main Street into the new station. Police Chief James Corcoran has said he hopes to move his department into its new quarters before the end of the year. - Matt Gunderson

PTO NEEDS CASH - The Algonquin Parent Teachers Organization has cut the number of annual $500 scholarships it gives to graduating seniors from five to four because too few parents are paying their membership dues, said copresident Sandy Pochapin. The $25 dues also cover social events that might be cut in the future if more members don't pay, she said. Around 1,250 families from Northborough and Southborough send children to Algonquin Regional High, but only 150 have paid their dues so far this school year, according to the PTO newsletter. For information, call Pochapin at 508-460-9443. - John Dyer

HEARING FOR SEX-OFFENDER BILL - State Representative Karyn Polito lobbied for her bill that would crack down on sex offenders during a hearing last week before the Legislature's Joint Judiciary Committee, where more than 40 similar bills were reviewed. Her bill, which would create mandatory minimum sentences for sex offenders whose victims are children, got its own hearing in November but has been stalled in committee since then, according to an announcement by Polito. Mandatory minimum sentences are in place in 42 states, and Polito, a Shrewsbury Republican, argues that Massachusetts should join that list. - Lisa Kocian

FINISHING TOUCHES ON FLAGG - The Southborough Historical Society is finishing construction work on the Flagg School, an 1860 schoolhouse in the town center that the society uses as a museum, said president David Falconi. Last year, Town Meeting approved spending $64,000 from the town's Community Preservation Act fund to fix the building's chimney and add a wheelchair ramp leading to the basement. While those projects are completed, Falconi said, crews are now installing displays to commemorate the tornado that struck the area in 1953, he said. The exhibition is slated to open in June. - John Dyer

CONSERVATION COMMISSION OPENING - The Conservation Commission has an open seat, and the Board of Selectmen is inviting residents to apply for the three-year term. The commission oversees wetlands and storm-water regulations, and the impact that proposed developments might have on natural resources. Many of the commission's duties require an understanding of complicated land-use issues, officials said. To be considered, residents should submit a letter of interest and a volunteer form - available at the Town House and on the town's website, southboroughtown.com - to selectmen by Tuesday. - John Dyer

SUMMER PROGRAM REGISTRATION - Summer may be months away, but registration for all park and recreation summer programs began last week. Programs include swimming, summer camps, archery, golf, dancing, yoga, soccer, and softball. The Park and Recreation Department recommends that residents register online at recreation.sudbury.ma.us for all summer programs. Residents also can register in person at the Atkinson Pool/Fairbank Community Center. - John M. Guilfoil

LOKER SCHOOL TO BE CONVERTED - The School Committee decided last week that the Loker School will be converted into a kindergarten-only facility in the fall, while Happy Hollow and Claypit Hill will remain grades 1-5 elementary schools. The decision comes after the town decided in January to revamp the configuration of the schools to save money. The change is projected to save $250,000 to $300,000 a year. School officials say funding for a principal, two teachers, a teacher's assistant, a librarian, and partial funding for a music teacher and guidance counselor could be cut. - John M. Guilfoil

PARKING FEES AT HIGH SCHOOL - The School Committee is considering reinstating parking fees for students who drive to the high school, according to the district's business director, Daniel Hendricks. The fee, which would be around $80 a year, would help the school district cover its mounting costs, Hendricks said. A few years ago, the school charged fees for student parking but abandoned the practice, he said. Hendricks said School Committee members will unveil their preliminary budget, which could include the fees, at their meeting Wednesday. - John Dyer

SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY FAIR - The school district will hold a student technology fair from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ashland High School. Students, including the Ashland Robotics Team, will be showcasing the role that technology has played in their school presentations, programs, and projects. Faculty members will demonstrate how technology is used in education and career choices, and parents and students can explore Web-based college- and career-counseling software. A keynote address on "The Fast Pace of Change in Technology" will be delivered by Paul Maier, senior vice president of sales at Siemens IT Solutions and Services Inc. There will also be a raffle for an iPod Nano, an iPod Shuffle, and three iTunes gift cards. - Rachel Lebeaux

BACKUP PLAN FOR LEGACY WITHDRAWN - Facing a possible one-year construction moratorium on its Legacy Farms project, Weston-based developer Boulder Capital has withdrawn a backup that would have used existing zoning to build houses and apartments on the 700-acre parcel. Boulder Capital had filed the plan to preserve an option if the May 5 Town Meeting rejects the mix of residential and commercial uses being worked out for Legacy Farms by the developer and town officials. But Boulder moved away from the backup plan last week after town officials responded with their own alternative proposal - the one-year moratorium - that they are considering placing on the Town Meeting warrant. Roy MacDowell Jr., Boulder Capital's president, said his company withdrew the plan because the town had concerns about it. Boulder wants to avoid a moratorium and is hopeful it will not go before Town Meeting, he said. The Planning Board will take up the moratorium proposal Tuesday and continue its discussion on a master plan for Legacy Farms on March 17. If the mixed-use plan is approved, the company would build 940 residential units and 450,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, and leave more than 500 acres undeveloped. - Michele Morgan Bolton and Lisa Kocian

VOTE NARROWS FIELD - Four candidates - Selectmen Carol Gloff and Charles Hughes and former selectmen John Connolly and John Moran - will face off March 25 for two seats on the board. They won their slots on the town election ballot in a runoff held Tuesday. Jeffrey Phillips, who ran unsuccessfully for town clerk last year, came in fifth and will not be in the runoff. Gloff had 1,607 votes; Hughes, 1,398; Connolly, 1,380; Moran, 1,030; and Phillips, 463. - Michele Morgan Bolton

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION - The Newton-based Silent Spring Institute received a $39,075 grant last week from the Environmental Protection Agency to continue its work in educating the general public, health professionals and community leaders about health threats from environmental pollution. The award was among a total of $114,000 in grants that the EPA's New England office distributed to environmental-education projects. - Rachana Rathi

TASTEFUL BENEFIT FOR SCHOOLS - The Waltham Education and Beyond Foundation's first fund-raising event will showcase the skills of the very students whose educations it hopes to enrich. Educate Your Palate, a wine-tasting social to be held Thursday at the Robert Treat Paine Estate, features a variety of wines from the Glendale Package Store matched by food prepared by Waltham High School's culinary arts team, as well as a photography exhibition by Waltham High students. The $75-per-person admission benefits the group's Excellence in Education grant program, which supports enrichment activities organized by teachers, staff, administrators and parents in the district. The grants range up to $1,000 for a single classroom project, and up to $5,000 for projects that would benefit a wider group of students. Tickets for Educate Your Palate can be purchased by contacting Deb Marcou at debmarcou@yahoo.com or 781-891-5044, or Kim Stanley at 781-647-7675. - Stephanie V. Siek

BOOK TO STAY IN SCHOOL LIBRARY - A novel by Alice Sebold will remain among the offerings in the John W. McDevitt Middle School's library, but with some restrictions on its access, after a parent requested that it be removed from its shelves. The decision to keep the book was made by a committee set up by the school to study the issue. The panel notified the School Committee of its decision last week. After the meeting, School Committee member Margaret Donnelly identified the book as "The Lovely Bones," and said the parent of a McDevitt student had complained that the book was too frightening for middle school students. The McDevitt committee voted, 5 to 1, to keep the book in the library, but in its faculty rather than student section. Students wishing to read it must ask permission from the librarian, who will determine whether the child is mature enough, said Donnelly. Sebold's book tells the story of a raped and murdered girl as she watches her loved ones' and her murderer's lives from heaven. - Stephanie V. Siek