Seniors settling in

A short time after the doors officially opened at the town's first senior center, visitors seem to be more relaxed, according to Mary Beth Lawton, director of the Abington Council on Aging. "I think the seniors were, at first, a little overwhelmed to be in their own building," she said. "But they're adjusting and really enjoying it." The senior center opened April 3 at the former Flame of Fire Church at 441 Summer St. Built in 1998, the building features a 300-seat auditorium with a stage, commercial kitchen, and 140-seat dining room. Seniors can now enjoy activities at one place. "We used to hold line dancing at one church and lunches at another," said Lawton. "The first weekly lunch we had, which came on moving day, we served 28 seniors. A week later, we were up to 47 seniors. Everyone seems to be enjoying it. It's a great feeling to see that." The town bought the building in February for $1.8 million. It is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. - Robert Carroll

TREE NUMBERS RISE - Trees figure prominently in the townwide beautification effort, with plantings in three locations. On Hollingsworth Avenue, 30 linden trees were planted on the center island. The Potting Bench, a local gardening store, donated three linden trees for the center island of South Street in Braintree Highlands, and four Bradford pear trees for Penniman Park next to the Council on Aging building, according to a release from the Conservation Department. - Matt Carroll

T LAGS ON FINISH WORK - The trains are running, but the town is still waiting for the MBTA to finish work it promised related to the Greenbush commuter rail line. "They have to widen Route 3A at lower King Street - add an extra lane - and they have to finish our town parking lot," said Tom Gruber, the town's liaison for the Greenbush project. "There are also a few things that need to be corrected, like the guardrail that's in the wrong place on Rocky Lane so there's no room for the sidewalk. . . . Then there's a whole bunch of nit-picky things that have to be done." The town met with MBTA officials last month and were assured the work would be done this spring, Gruber said. "Of course, they also said they'd be here last fall. Seeing is believing," he said. - Johanna Seltz

BRING OUT YOUR HAZARDOUS WASTE - Duxbury residents may dispose of household hazardous waste products at a collection to be held by South Shore Recycling Cooperative on May 3 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Duxbury Middle School. Drain cleaners, moth balls, hazardous cleaners and polishes, poisons, oil-based paint and stain, photography chemicals, fiberglass resins, adhesives, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, pool chemicals, cesspool cleaners, wood preservatives, gasoline, and motor oil mixtures will be accepted. For a complete list, see the cooperative's website at ssrc.info. Residents may also exchange mercury thermometers for a free digital replacement at the middle school collection or at the Duxbury transfer station during its regular hours. - Robert Knox

SLOGAN HAS ZIP - As a small-business owner, Steve Avitabile realizes the value of marketing. The key, he says, is to get your message out quickly and make it catchy. "It's too long if it can't fit on a bumper sticker," he says. So when the Hanover Chamber of Commerce recently asked the public for a slogan geared toward coaxing consumers to buy in town, Avitabile, a lifelong Hanover resident, was quick to jump. His "Shop and dine in 02339" was the overwhelming winner on the chamber's Internet poll and now will be used by the chamber in various advertising schemes. "I just wanted it to be short and catchy and refer to where we live," said the owner of Avitabile's Fine Jewelers on Rockland Street. "I think it will help remind people what we have here in Hanover and help keep them in town." - Robert Carroll

FITTING CELEBRATION FOR TREE HONOR - The town takes its trees seriously. For the 20th year, Hingham has been named a "Tree City USA" by the National Arbor Day Foundation and National Association of State Foresters. The award recognizes the town's commitment to tree care and planting in 2007. To celebrate, the town's tree and park crew will plant a red spire pear tree, donated by the Hingham Garden Club, on Friday at 11 a.m. in the Iron Horse Park next to the town boat ramp on Hingham Harbor. The celebration continues at 1 p.m. with a rededication of the tulip tree planted at Veterans Memorial Park in Hingham Center, and recognition of the 20th anniversary of the dedication of the nearby ancient buttonwood tree. The town usually plants 40 to 60 street trees a year, according to tree warden Joseph Stigliani. This spring, the crew will dig in an extra 30 trees in Hingham Square and along Station Street. "We're putting in lindens, oaks, and red maples," Stigliani said. He said the hardwood trees are an attempt to replicate the historic streetscape. "We'd recommended a mix of flowering crabs and cherries, some smaller ornamental trees, but this is part of an overall plan, so we'll give it a try," he said. - Johanna Seltz

NEW LEADERSHIP - Paul Stigas is the new chairman of the Board of Selectmen. Former chairman Paul Currie is now vice chairman, and Richard McGaughey is clerk. The other members are Katherine Connolly and newly elected Matthew Moore. The board traditionally reorganizes after the annual election, according to Town Administrator Michael Yunits. - Franci Richardson Ellement

A FINE TIME TO BLOOM - The Fine Arts and Flowers Show will celebrate spring and art on the last weekend in April. "It's a mini Art in Bloom," said organizer Elizabeth Trubia, referring to the annual flower and art show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. "The Garden Club does floral arrangements to complement the art pieces." Trubia, a watercolorist who will have three paintings in the show, said she's expecting about 50 artists to participate. The free show will be held Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mary Jeannette Murray Bathhouse at Nantasket Beach. It is sponsored by the Hull Garden Club and the Hull Artists Studio Connection, an artists cooperative. More information is available at HullArtists.com or by calling 781-925-3637. - Johanna Seltz

POLICE DISPUTE GOES PUBLIC - Town officials are responding to a publicly distributed flier by the town police union that alleges Police Chief Joseph Rebello and Town Administrator Kevin Donovan are wasting money paying overtime for police supervisors while cutting back on patrols by patrolmen. The union flier also said complaints against the department have been filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Donovan has issued a statement saying the claims made by the union "could emanate from the fact that the union is in negotiations with the town" and has not had a contract since last June. Donovan also said the town has investigated the discrimination complaints filed by union officials and believes none of them has merit. Negotiations with the union on a new contract are ongoing, town officials said. - Robert Knox

IT PAYS TO CONSERVE - NStar has launched the "Marshfield Energy Challenge," a pilot program that aims to make the town more energy-efficient and reduce electricity costs. The $4 million initiative, cosponsored by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, will provide energy audits of homes and businesses, as well as discounts and incentives for solar panels, high-efficiency hot water heaters, and replacement windows, among other things. For more details, visit nstar.com/marshfield or call 866-626-4693. - Emily Sweeney

MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK ON GREEN DAY - Milton's Green Day will be held May 3 from 9 a.m. to noon. More than 30 groups, from schools, neighborhoods, churches, and service organizations have signed up. Organizers expect hundreds of volunteers to attend. The annual community cleanup day starts off with coffee and muffins at 8:30 a.m. in front of Town Hall. The Department of Public Works is sponsoring. Participants will receive free T-shirts and plenty of plastic bags. For more information, call the DPW at 617-898-4871 or to volunteer, e-mail miltongreenday@comcast.net. - Matt Carroll

SHARING A DOG'S LIFE - The Norwell Public Library and the James Library are inviting residents in town to take part in a shared reading experience. The libraries are jointly offering their fourth annual "Norwell Reads" program, an effort to get as many people as possible in the community to read the same book. This year's selected title is "Marley and Me" by John Grogan, a bestseller about a rambunctious yellow Labrador retriever. Copies are available for borrowing at the two libraries. Events related to the book and its theme will be held at the two libraries throughout the month of May. The kickoff is a pet show and expo at the public library on May 4 from 2 to 4 p.m. Anyone interested in entering their pet can pick up an application at the public library or download it from norwellpubliclibrary.org. The public library has also created a blog to allow participants to comment on the book, share information, and post tips on pet care. The blog will eventually be available for other library programs. - John Laidler

BUDGET DECISION NEARS - A proposed $51.8 million operating budget for fiscal 2009 is among the key items that will be considered by the annual Town Meeting that convenes Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the high school. The proposed budget is approximately 4 percent higher than the current budget, according to Town Administrator Edwin Thorne. Town Meeting will also consider a proposed wetlands protection bylaw developed by the Conservation Commission, and a bylaw proposed by Police Chief Michael Ohrenberger that would ban the sale or distribution of drug paraphernalia by any business or individual in the town. Voters will also consider the town's first appropriations from the fund created through its adoption in 2006 of the Community Preservation Act, the state law that allows cities and towns to levy a property tax surcharge to support open space, historic preservation, affordable housing, and recreation projects. The new Community Preservation Committee is recommending that the $256,000 that the fund is expected to generate this fiscal year be placed in the various accounts provided for under the law. The committee will then recommend specific projects at the fall session of Town Meeting, Thorne said. - John Laidler

TALKING ABOUT TRASH AND WATER RATES - The Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing Tuesday to consider proposed changes to the town's water and sewer rates for fiscal year 2008. The hearing will start at 7:15 p.m. in the Mayflower Room at Town Hall. Also this week is the first of four informational sessions the Department of Public Works plans to hold before the town's new "pay as you throw" trash disposal program launches on June 1. The first meeting, for residents of Cedarville and South Plymouth, will take place Wednesday in the Cedarville Community Room. The other sessions are: April 30 at Manomet Elementary School, for residents of Manomet and the Pinehills; May 7 at the Senior Center in Cordage Park, for residents from North Plymouth and downtown; and May 8 in the Otto Fellow Room at the Plymouth Public Library, for residents of West Plymouth and Chiltonville. All four sessions are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. - Emily Sweeney

CRACKED CAIRN TO BE FIXED - The Quincy City Council, at the urging of Ward 2 Councilor Daniel G. Raymondi and following the success of the HBO series on John Adams, has passed a resolution urging that the city restore a cairn that commemorates the spot where Abigail Adams watched the distant Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 with her young son, John Quincy, a future president. The Penn's Hill cairn, which is more than a century old, has developed large cracks. Raymondi said there are already signs that the popular series will increase tourism to Quincy, so that efforts should be taken to restore the cairn and to make the surrounding area easier for tourists to visit. - Matt Carroll

PANEL TO NAME NEW CHIEF COMPLETE - All five seats on a committee that will pick the new Quincy police chief are now filled, with the addition late last week of the president of Archbishop Williams High School and a retired Dedham District Court judge. The appointment of Carmen Mariano, who joined the administration of the Braintree school last summer, and Maurice Richardson, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester and a former presiding justice at the Dedham court, was announced by Norfolk County Sheriff Michael Bellotti. They join Cohasset Police Chief James Hussey and Milton Police Chief Richard Wells Jr., whose appointments were announced earlier. The fifth seat will be filled by Bellotti, who put together the committee and will oversee the selection process. The committee expects to have its first meeting this week. Bellotti was asked by Mayor Thomas Koch to make the pick, because the mayor's brother-in-law is one of the finalists. The three finalists are Captains Allan Gillan, 48; Paul Keenan, 49, the mayor's brother-in-law; and Michael Miller, 44. One of them will replace 61-year-old Chief Robert F. Crowley, who is retiring in June. - Matt Carroll

TROUBLE AT CLUB SPURS HEARING - Randolph selectmen may take disciplinary action against the Vault, a nightclub at 326 North Main St., following two incidents that required police attention. At the request of Police Chief Paul Porter, the board voted to hold a disciplinary hearing April 28, when selectmen may consider suspending the Vault's liquor license or imposing an earlier closing time. Police from Randolph and several other neighboring communities responded to the club March 30 when a man was stabbed, and a few weeks before that, police responded to a fight among a group of women. - David Connolly

UPSET IN SELECTMEN'S RACE - Voters ousted the chairman and vice chairman of the Board of Selectmen last week in an overwhelming call for change. Michael Johnson, a former member of the Finance Committee, topped the field of four candidates for the two seats on the board with 2,082 votes, and Deborah O'Brien, a member of the Planning Board, won the second seat with 1,486 votes. Louis Valanzola, the vice chairman, came in third with 1,274 votes, and chairman Mary A. Parsons received 841 votes. The town has 10,276 registered voters, and turnout was 30 percent. - Milton Valencia

IT'S TIME TO VOTE - The town election Saturday features two contests among ballot candidates and one among write-in contenders. Polling hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; all six precincts vote at the high school gym. Selectman Shawn Harris faces a challenge from School Committee member Maura C. Curran and Carol A. Perry, while James Alan Boynton and Robert B. Vogel are vying for an open seat on the Planning Board. Two write-in candidates, Herbert Kuendig and Patricia Brennan, are vying to complete the remaining two years of an alternate Planning Board seat vacated by a resignation. Both served previously on the Planning Board. There is no ballot candidate for the seat. Candidates are running unopposed for seven other seats. - John Laidler

CARNIVAL COMES TO TOWN - The town is holding a carnival next week to raise money for September's Weymouth Day activities. "It's an old-fashioned carnival, with fun for everyone," said Jeanne Savoy, the mayor's assistant. The event, which will be held at Weymouth High School during school vacation, opens Wednesday at 2 p.m. and Thursday through Sunday at noon. Free parking is available. The profits from the carnival will benefit Weymouth Day, the town celebration slated for Sept. 27. - Johanna Seltz