By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Owners of Scituate’s wind turbine say that federal charges against employees of its Chinese manufacturer won't significant affect the local turbine.

According to a June 27 release from the US Department of Justice, three employees from China's Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. are being charged with stealing trade secrets from AMSC, a United States-based company formerly known as American Superconductor Inc.

“Today, we announce charges against Sinovel and three individuals for stealing proprietary wind turbine technology from AMSC in order to produce their own turbines powered by stolen intellectual property,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, in a release.

Several turbines in the Boston area were manufactured by Sinovel, including Scituate and Falmouth turbines owned by Palmer Capital President Gordon Deane, and Charlestown’s turbine, owned by the MWRA.

The legal case could have ramifications for the local machines, including software currently being used.

Yet the operation of the local turbines is not at risk, Deane said.

“Under our contracts, yes. If there is any issue [with our technology or software, Sinovel] has to make it right. We’ve also had discussions with AMSC that they would be willing to step in and make it right as well,” Deane said in a phone interview.

Alterations could include replacing any software determined to be stolen. According to a release issued by Palmer Capital, an agreement is already in place with AMSC to replace software should it become necessary.

A timeline for that decision, to be made by the courts, is unclear.

“This is a legal action, and people could settle in three months or three years,” Deane said.

The development is only the latest dispute against Sinovel. According to the release from Palmer Capital, Sinovel has been involved in an ongoing dispute with AMSC since the fall of 2011.

“Scituate Wind, LLC first learned about the dispute only after it became public, which was after the turbine for Scituate was ordered,” the release said. “Scituate Wind was also not aware of any DOJ investigation at the time the turbine was ordered.”

Deane stressed that Scituate was not involved in the lawsuit, and was cooperating with the federal government as well as AMSC as the lawsuit evolved.

“This doesn’t effect operation of Fairhaven wind [or] Scituate wind,” Deane said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town correspondent

Crews plan to work through the weekend to repair Scituate's wind turbine, which stopped spinning after an electrical storm that may have damaged some components last Monday.

Samul Shah, owner and operator of Scituate's turbine afflidate, Solaya Energy LLC, said the only parts that appeared to be damaged were easily replaceable fuses. But work crews are examining each electrical system to ensure nothing else was damaged, he said, and the turbine is expected to resume operation sometime next week.

Shah did not know whether the 400-foot-tall turbine had been hit by lightning on Monday, but said it was a possibility.

Several residents near the turbine, however, strongly suspect that the turbine was hit by lightning.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

The blades on Scituate's 400-foot-tall wind turbine stopped spnning this week, following a lightning storm that may have damaged some of the electrical equipment inside the machine Monday night.

“I’m not 100 percent sure if it was caused by a fluctuation in the grid or if it was a lightning strike, but it’s very possible that it was hit by lightning,” said Sumul Shah, owner and operator for Scituate’s turbine affiliate, Solaya Energy LLC.

He said the damage was minor and the turbine would be back in operation in a day or two.

A computer chip inside the machine would indicate definitively whether the turbine was hit, Shah said. Those data are still being analyzed.

Yet for nearby residents, there wasn’t much question.

In a statement distributed by neighbors who have opposed the citing of Scituate's turbine, Moorland Road resident Seana Cahoon said she observed an amazing lightning show around the turbine, with bright bolts zig-zagging across the sky all around the tall structure.

“I couldn’t imagine that it hadn’t been struck given all that activity,” she said.

Michelle Banning, who lives on Gilson Road, even heard the sounds of a lightning strike.

“We heard a terrible crack/ground rumble somewhere close-by indicating a strike last night,” Banning said in an email Tuesday morning.

Shah conceded that it’s not out of the question that the machine might have been hit.

“It’s a 300-foot-tall pole made of metal. It’s likely to be hit by lightning. It's one of the taller structures [around],” Shah said.

Regardless of what caused the electrical shortage, Shah said the only parts of the machine damaged were the easily replaceable fuses.

Crews are going through each electrical system of the turbine to ensure nothing else was damaged before replacing any components, Shah said on Thursday.

“We don’t just want to pop in fuses,” Shah said. “If there are some other damages, it will damage [the fuses] again. So we’re going through each system and checking it out.”

Shah also said the repairs are covered under the turbine manufacturer’s warrenty.

"We have the parts, I haven’t seen any indication of any significant damage. I wouldn’t think it would be that costly," Shah said.

The machine was still off-line as of Thursday. Shah estimated it would be another day or two before things could be turned back on.

Yet all indications from the machine were that things worked exactly as anticipated during the storm, Shah said.

“The turbine has lightning protection built in, has receptors to receive it, grounders to ground it, and fuses to protect the electronic systems from getting damaged. At this point it looked like everything worked as it should have,” he said.

Spending on police per person, fiscal year 2012

By Matt Carroll, Boston Globe | June 27, 2013

Click here to see a larger, interactive version of this chart.
Additional town-by-town snapshots.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Scituate will increase sewer rates by 2 percent come July to help pay for increasing operating costs.

The increase will bring sewer costs up by an average of $11 a year, to $563.

“We need to ensure the sewer enterprise has sufficient revenues,” said the director of the Department of Public Works, Al Bangert, at a selectmen meeting on Tuesday, where selectmen approved the change.

According to Bangert, the additional revenue would produce an extra $43,000 a year for the town, money that would go toward operating costs as well as paying off debt.

Increasing wages from a new DPW contract, higher chemical costs, and higher supply costs also mandated that rates be raised, Bangert said.

Unlike other departments, which can use money from elsewhere in the town to cover expenses, the town’s sewer program can only operate off the revenues it produces.

While the account has $1.1 million in savings that could be dipped into, Bangert warned against using the money hap-hazardously.

“That’s savings for a [potential sewer plant] breakdown,” Bangert said.

Scituate hasn’t seen an increase in sewer rates since 2011, when the town increased rates by a hefty 10 percent.

The jump was to make up for lost time, officials said. Prior to 2011, the last increase occurred in 2004.

According to Bangert, residents should start to expect annual increases.

“We can get by on 2 percent every year or every other year,” Bangert said.

While costs are going up, officials noted that Scituate’s sewer costs are still the lowest compared with any coastal town on the South Shore.

Sewer costs are twice as high in Hingham and Cohasset compared with Scituate. In Marshfield, costs are a third higher.

“Scituate enjoys lowest sewer cost in coastal communities from Quincy to the Cape,” Bangert said.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass. announced Thursday that 51 Girl Scouts have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award-- the highest recognition a member of the organization can achieve.

The award recognizes a service project within a girl's community that creates change and becomes ongoing while also portraying a girl's organizational, leadership, and networking skills. To earn the award, girls must complete the Silver Award and a minimum of 80 hours of service, according to a press release.

The awards were given in a ceremony on June 19 at the Marlborough Holiday Inn.

Here is a list of the girls and an explanation of their projects:

Emily Allard, Stoneham
Allard's project, Lindenwood Cemetery Visitors Project, helped visitors easily locate the cemetery plots of their friends and family. She replaced the street signs and poles and created a detailed map of the cemetery near the entrance. Smaller paper maps are also available for visitors to take with them.

Claire Bagnani, Chestnut Hill
Bagnani’s project, Elder Youth Connection, helps senior citizens who are living alone or lacking support systems. Children of Brookline regularly spent time with the elderly and provided assistance by grocery shopping and running errands. The partnership between elder housing communities and the youth of Brookline formed a strong bond among the two communities. The program, titled SHOP, will continue this relationship between the senior citizens and high school students.

Andrea Bourke, Kingston (she moved to Maryland but remained in her Kingston GS troop through Skype and other technology)
The Chesapeake Bay is one of the unhealthiest waterways in the world, due to human habitation, development, deforestation, overfishing and nutrient pollution. Bourke's project, Save the Bay, aimed to promote awareness for this regional issue and brought about change by educating others on how they can affect the problem. She worked with a school that bordered the bay to create a rain garden designed to catch rainwater off the roof of the building closest to the bay. The garden was 800 square feet and contained native plants. Bourke also created posters and brochures to educate others on how to keep the bay clean. The EcoClub at the school will maintain the garden.

Meckila Britt, Ashland
Britt's project, One Skein of Yarn, helped bridge the gap between generations through knitting and crocheting. She managed a group of individuals, ages 10 to 101, who spent time together learning to knit and crochet. The group made hats, scarves, and mittens for the homeless. In December, they assembled their projects into gift baskets that were delivered to a local family shelter. They also provided a basket of home-baked goodies for the shelter staff. The group continues to meet and make additional items for other shelters.

Emily Buckley, Canton
Buckley's high school requires that each student complete 20 hours of community service. The only source of these opportunities is through the Career Center website, which was not maintained properly and needed to be updated with more current and diverse opportunities. Buckley's project, Career Center Website Rehabilitation, provides easy access to information on local nonprofit organizations, as well as organizations outside the community, offering students more diverse service opportunities to choose from. Members of the school's chapter of the National Honor Society will update the website annually.

Rachel Cabitt, Rowley
Cabitt's project, Painting History, combined art and history to educate the community about the town's history. She painted a mural in the town hall and held workshops in the library to share the historical aspects depicted in the mural. She then had participants express what they learned artistically.

Kathryn Chiffer, Topsfield
Chiffer's project, Project Lunchbox: Let's Eat!, educates elementary school students and their families about the link between healthy eating and positive school performance. She taught multi-generational nutrition and cooking classes, which included reading labels and understanding marketing strategies used by manufacturers. She maintains a blog to educate the wider community about the importance of healthy eating and writes a weekly column in her school's newsletter. Chiffer also convinced the school cafeteria to add one of her healthy recipes to the menu. Her school will continue to support her endeavors by applying for a grant to fund an expansion of her program.\

Arianne Chipman, Hingham
Chipman's project, Green Thumbs Gardening, teaches local elementary school students the value of growing local produce and supporting local farms. She helped them plant a garden that was maintained over summer break by students and their families. An autumn harvest was shared by the school community, allowing for cost savings on the school's produce. The school will be continuing this program.

Jennifer Crawford, North Reading
Crawford's project, Interfaith Leadership Summit, addresses religious intolerance. Through the summit and a video documentary, she educated local youth groups about different faiths and encouraged them to teach others what they learned. High school students from the area participated in workshops on diversity, acceptance, tolerance, religious pluralism and identities. Crawford's church youth group plans on making this an annual event.

Danielle Davies, Boxford
For over 15 years, the Boxford Town Library has been in poor condition, with limited storage and very little usable space for programs and activities. Davies' project, Boxford Library Rescue, gave the library a much needed update and reorganized the library's storage space. Davies worked with volunteers to clean out the library barn, providing the library with more storage and better access to materials stored there. In addition, they reorganized and repainted the current space, giving the library a fresh look and more space for community programs and events. The Friends of the Library have agreed to maintain the storage space.

Jessica Desmond, Chelmsford
Women and children are often victims of violence and do not know how to protect themselves. Desmond's project, A Fighting Chance, collaborated with self-defense instructors and local police officers to provide workshops on basic self-defense, while also educating participants on laws related to domestic violence and rape. She created a video to be used by her dojo, which has decided to run a six-week course on self-defense for women and girls.

Emily Doucette, Maynard
Doucette's project, Organizing for the Future of the Choral Program, organized her school's choral collection based on music type, artist, and title. Doucette created a log documenting resources and a new storage system that holds more music, and updated file cabinets with new paint. She also created a Guide to Being a Chorus Librarian to ensure that her new organized system would be maintained. She utilized Facebook and a blog to recruit volunteers.

Elizabeth Driver, Topsfield
Driver's project, Read, Reinforce, Reach Out, provided supplemental materials for classrooms with autistic students. She assembled binders containing literacy materials and activities that reinforce concepts taught in classroom books. Driver created two displays, one aimed at adults and the other toward children, at the local library to educate the public about autism. She also visited some elementary classrooms to emphasize the importance of understanding autism and inclusion.

Jazmin Eltoury, Quincy
Eltoury's project, Creating a Safe Environment for Youth in Town, provides the children in her community safe opportunities to participate in outdoor activities on a regular basis. She started a teen group that met regularly at the local sportsman club. She also created an instructional video to teach the fundamentals of archery and help parents get their children involved in archery and outdoor activities in a safe environment.

Claire Faddis, Boxford
Faddis' project, Water Conservation Education and Promotion, promotes water conservation through education. Faddis worked with second graders in her community, educating them about wasting water and the important role water plays in their daily lives through classroom activities. Students now conserve water by turning off the water when brushing their teeth and checking for leaking faucets. She also taught adults in the community about using rain barrels to capture water, which can be used to water gardens and lawns. She wrote numerous articles on rain barrel usage for the local paper and created a website which will continue the education process.

Caitlin Fitzmaurice, Scituate
Fitzmaurice's project, A Child's Sanctuary: Go Green for Marine Life, brings community awareness to marine biodiversity and teaches the community to protect this special habitat. She ran two events for families that held a number of interactive, fun and educational activities about marine life and the harmful effects humans can cause. She worked closely with NOAA/Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and trained their volunteers, who will continue to provide Fitzmaurice's workshops to the community.

Colleen Fitzpatrick, North Reading
Fitzpatrick's project, Parish Park Rededication and Cleanup, constructed a memorial garden in North Reading's Parish Park to honor the town's veterans. She, along with volunteers, created a beautiful, reflective space where townspeople can remember and appreciate the veterans. Upon completion, Fitzpatrick organized an event to honor the veterans and to dedicate the space to them.

Kiersten Flodman, Rowley
Flodman's project, Babies on the Go, gave access to developmental toys for families with new babies. She worked with community groups to gather supplies, make blankets, and assemble bags containing rattles, books, blankets and laminated cards explaining the importance of developmental play. Local physical and occupational therapists and service providers distributed the bags to their patients.

Alicia Healey, Canton
Healey's project, Mission Pet Safe, is an educational campaign for pet owners. The campaign addressed pet safety, including accidental poisoning, car accidents, proper restraint practices, pet first-aid kits and heat-related deaths from dogs left in cars. Healy, with the help of volunteers, created bookmarks, a traveling display, first-aid kits, brochures and puzzles for preschoolers. She gave presentations at the library and the middle school and high school. She also wrote an article for the newspaper, shared the information on global websites, and created a website and blog.

Emma Holland, Hingham
Holland's project, Sounds of the Past, involved working with fellow student musicians to compile and bring back historical 19th-century American music to the town's historical society. She researched, transcribed and learned the music with help from her fellow musicians. The group recorded the music, which is now available for use by the historical society and can be found on YouTube. They also held a live performance of the music for the local elementary school. To view her project blog, visit www.gssoundsofthepast.tumblr.com.

Caroline Hultin, Sudbury
Hultin's project, Up and Out for Gold 2012, addresses homelessness. She worked with Heading Home, a nonprofit that provides emergency, transitional, and permanent housing to low-income homeless and formerly homeless families. Hultin, with the help of volunteers, furnished and cleaned an apartment for a homeless family. She also recruited younger Girl Scout troops to collaborate with Heading Home to set up additional homes.

Anna Krah, Medfield
Krah’s project, Coexisting Cultures, expanded cultural education in her community. She created a Chinese Club at Medfield High School and introduced the plight of people in Nicaragua to children in the third grade. As a result of their experiences, high school students expressed greater interest in a Chinese exchange program and the third graders gained a better understanding of the global impact of community service.

Danielle Lapierre, Chelmsford
After being used by the community for years, the Lady of Fatima statue at St. Mary's Church has become overgrown and inaccessible. Lapierre's project, Create St. Mary Parish Marian Grotto, involved designing and building a beautiful grotto with the help of many volunteers. The newly transformed space is now a place where the community can meditate, reflect or pray. A dedicated group of parishioners will maintain the area and already plan to add a waterfall feature.

Katherine LaScaleia, Sudbury
LaScaleia’s project, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Reducing Idling in the Community of Sudbury, educates both youth and adults about the environmental, economic and health hazards of idling. She ran a bike rally to inspire children to ride their bikes while also teaching them about the dangers of idling. She used various methods to bring awareness, such as writing a series of articles for the newspaper on the hazards of idling and created a website where people can take a pledge to reduce their idling.

Whitney Ligonde, Dedham
Ligonde's project, Educational Inequality, organized high school students to tutor younger students one-on-one through the middle school's homework club. Working with school staff, she changed the policy that only National Honor Society students were allowed to tutor middle school students. She worked with the math department to train the tutors and develop a curriculum. Her high school will continue her work by making this an official club.

Christina Liotti, Danvers
Liotti's project, Seniors on the Move, aims to inspire senior citizens to become more active. With the new Danvers Rail Trail in mind, she created a club called Walk with the Seniors. Students from her school walked with seniors as a group, giving them a sense of security and the option of assistance if needed. Her high school has made this an official community service option for students.

Anne LoVerso, Southborough
LoVerso’s project, Childhood Health and Fitness through Circus Arts, addresses childhood obesity and the lack of childhood health and fitness. She worked with a local circus school to develop a static trapeze curriculum with step-by-step instructions for tricks, spotting, warm-up exercises and conditioning. She, along with a team of volunteers, held a workshop for 4th and 5th graders to share circus activities and provided information on healthy eating at a large community event. Her curriculum will be used by gym teachers in elementary schools. The National Honor Society has also agreed to hold a fitness booth at their opening day event.

Alison McDermott, Hingham
McDermott's project, Teens Teach Technology, helps senior citizens feel more comfortable with using technology. She and her peer volunteers provided workshops on Skype, Twitter and Facebook. The senior citizens are now able to connect with family overseas, reconnect with old classmates and share photos with loved ones. McDermott created a binder and PowerPoint presentation for future workshop leaders.

Samantha McGoldrick, North Reading
McGoldrick's project, Raised Beds for North Reading Food Pantry, involved creating and maintaining four raised garden beds behind the food pantry building. These gardens help supply the North Reading Food Pantry with fresh fruits and vegetables to serve families. The local garden club has agreed to care for the gardens and will donate plants to keep the project going.

Molly McGowan, Waltham
McGowan’s project, The Imagination Station, addresses the lack of imaginative play present in many children’s hospitals. For a hospital play room, she created a cabinet that is filled with imaginative play toys and that can be accessed 24/7 by children and their families. She worked closely with a Child Life Specialist to determine appropriate activities for hospitalized children of all ages. McGowan created a committee of volunteers who will maintain the imagination station.

Jessica Merritt, Pembroke
Merritt's project, Water Safety, brought community awareness to drowning and how it can be prevented. She created informative and interactive activity stations that included open water education and CPR demonstrations. In addition, she created a binder with all the information needed to continue this awareness program, which the town landing chairman has agreed to do.

Melissa Moody, Newton
Moody’s project, Wetlands: The Final Frontier, brought community awareness to the local wetlands. She worked with DCR officials and local volunteers to install informational posts throughout the Charles River Wetlands. Each post has a QR code that visitors can scan with their smart phones. The code directs them to a website (www.qbqtrail.org) with information about that particular part of the wetlands.

Katelin Oberlander, West Yarmouth
Oberlander's project, Mini Clinic for Field Hockey, gives younger girls a better understanding of field hockey before they enter high school. She held field hockey clinics where girls practiced the sport, learned to work as a team, enjoyed exercise and learned about proper nutrition to keep their bodies fueled.

Leda Olia, Newton
Olia’s project, Will Run for Fun, introduced elementary school children to long-distance running to promote enthusiasm for the sport at a younger age. She created an afterschool long-distance running program and employed high school volunteers. She also produced a handbook, which will be used by future volunteers to continue the program.

Ann Pastorello, Tewksbury
Pastorello's project, Operation Blanket, helps educate the community about animal shelters and animal adoption. She worked with local children and members of the senior center to create blankets and treats for cats at the MSPCA shelter. Pastorello created a PowerPoint presentation and flyer that she shared at various workshops. She also made a YouTube video demonstrating how to make the blankets.

Hannah Peternell, Westford
Peternell's project, New Student Protocol, creates a welcome program for new students at Westford Academy. She designed an infrastructure of support, such as welcome phone calls to new students, invitations to a new student orientation banquet and appointing peer counselors to show new students around, to help ease their transition into a new school. The program will be continued by the school's guidance staff and peer counselor group.

Samantha Rizzo, Canton
A can is recycled in 6 weeks, but takes hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill. Rizzo raised public awareness about the need to recycle through her project, Recycling Receptacles. She gave a presentation to her local Board of Selectmen to show why the town needed public recycling receptacles and explained the costs between different types of receptacles. She made a public service announcement on recycling, which will air annually on Canton Community Television. Rizzo also created recycling stickers to encourage the public to use the new receptacles.

Kristina Ryan, Burlington
Ryan's project, Heartbeat Awareness Program, addressed teen pregnancy and provided support systems for teen moms. Ryan partnered with Heartbeat Pregnancy Health Center, a nonprofit organization that provides free resources to pregnant teens such as free ultrasounds, prenatal and infant care, counseling, and items needed for the baby. Ryan gave community presentations to teens and their families about the health center and the resources available. She also collected supplies for the teens and newborns that the organization will distribute.

Meredith Scheiring, Hingham
Feeling inspired to help teens who are newly diagnosed with diabetes, Scheiring's project, Diabetes Domain, created a website for those with diabetes. On the site, people can share inspirational and personal stories, advice, regrets, words of encouragement and information on developing technology for diabetic care. The College Diabetes Network will maintain the website: diabetesdomain.wix.com/dd.

Kristen Shevlin, North Reading
Shevlin's project, Backyard Gardens, addresses the issue of limited access to healthy foods. She worked with members of the community to build raised-bed gardens. Some fruits and vegetables are for community consumption while others are donations to the local food pantry. She also provided healthy recipes for the food pantry to hand out to patrons. A younger Girl Scout troop will continue her project.

Charlotte Skolnick, Pembroke
Skolnick's project, Self-Guided Historical Tours of Pembroke, provides the community with an interactive experience of the town's rich and interesting sites. She worked closely with the Pembroke library staff to develop accurate descriptions of the historical sites. With a team of volunteers, she created two walking routes and three driving routes through town. Skolnick held a kickoff event to introduce the walking tours to her community.

Gabriella Smith, Andover
Smith's project, Rediscovering Haggetts Pond Through Modern Technology, promotes the trails surrounding Andover's Haggetts Pond. She used modern technology to make the trail's information more accessible and appealing. Using GPS and cartography software, Smith created a detailed map of the area. She worked with volunteers to develop an informational website about Haggetts Pond as well as a kiosk displaying a QR code that brings smart phone users to the website.

Eliza Lily Snow, Hingham
Snow's project, Middle School Circle Club, is a club for middle-school children, with and without disabilities, to interact and socialize in a safe, judgment-free environment. The bi-monthly club focuses on the importance of inclusion and acceptance. The Circle Club helped to strengthen friendships and inspired members to participate in the high school's Best Buddies program. Students from the Best Buddies program will continue the Circle Club at the middle school.

Amelia Steeger, Medfield
Steeger’s project, Cranes for Change, created environmental educational clubs at the local afterschool program for children in grades 2–6. She also set up a monthly group at her church to explore topics like chemicals in body care products, recycling and repurposing materials, and growing organic foods. She worked in conjunction with Medfield Green to sponsor a Forever Green Family Night Out. Each participant created a paper crane to symbolize their pledge to help the environment. This event will be continued by Girl Scouts working on their Sow What? Journey.

Jennifer Sullivan, Wakefield
Sullivan's project, Replacing Missing House Numbers, addresses the issue of house numbers not being visible to emergency personnel. With the help of volunteers, she checked approximately 5,000 houses in Wakefield and notified owners that their house numbers were missing or not easily visible from the street. Sullivan worked with the local fire chief to send letters informing residents of the safety issue. A local hardware store offered a discount on the purchase of new house numbers if residents showed the letter. The local fire department will continue her crusade.

Samantha Traficante, Kingston
Traficante's project, Kiosk and Signage Maintenance at Open Spaces, brought public awareness to Kingston's conservation properties. The properties were run down and vandalized, and Traficante worked with a team of volunteers to clean up the properties and repair information kiosks. She also created map boxes to hold site maps at each location.

Katerina Tsoutsouras, Rowley
Tsoutsouras' project, Loving Literature: Helping Children Develop a Love of Books and Reading, addresses illiteracy by finding ways to motivate children to read more. She scheduled weekly book club sessions at the Ipswich Library and United Methodist Church for children ages 5 to 8. Volunteers offered reading sessions for different skill levels and time for crafts to further engage the children. When parents were surveyed, they expressed that the children were more interested in reading at home in their free time after attending the sessions.

Emily Van Laarhoven, Southborough
Families with children who have special needs have trouble finding qualified babysitters. In order to have child care they have to hire a specialist at $25-30 an hour, or rely on older siblings. This is often detrimental to the family dynamic and creates additional strain both financially and mentally on parents. Van Laarhoven’s project, Training Course for Babysitting Kids with Special Needs, trained volunteers to recognize and understand specific special needs diagnoses, creating a pool of knowledgeable and skilled babysitters at a reasonable rate.

Stephanie Wasiuk, Maynard
Wasiuk’s project, Music for the Future, organized the high school band’s music into an easy-to-use system, making resources easily available to students. She restored over 200 boxes of organized material, made note of missing pieces, and documented the contents. She also created a how-to manual for the system and a shelving unit to track music being returned and ensure its proper storage.

Laura White, Reading
White's project, Spreading Shakespeare, helped people appreciate Shakespeare by exposing them to his work. With the assistance of volunteers dressed in costumes from the 1500s, she held workshops for teens at the library's Teen Summer Reading program and worked with younger children at Camp Rice Moody. She also helped middle school students put on a performance of Twelfth Night. A recording of the performance and how-to videos can be found on YouTube.

Anna Willms, Wellesley
Willms' project, Preparing Children for an Eye Examination, addresses children's fear and anxiety concerning eye exams. She created a video and booklet to educate children on what an eye exam entails. The video and booklet have been given to Mass Eye and Ear and Children's Hospital to help alleviate their young patients' fears.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Retiring Police Chief Brian Stewart will switch to an interim role starting in July as the town prepares to find a new chief.

Stewart, 65, submitted a letter of retirement to the town mid-June.

As is required by state law, Stewart received Town Meeting and state legislative approval last year to continue working past the age limit of 65 years; however, he did not seek the same approval this year.

“I’m on borrowed time. I turned 65 last July,” Stewart said. “It’s a difficult decision [to retire]. It’s been an honor, really, to be a Scituate police officer.”

According to Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi, Stewart will continue to run the department in the new interim role until a new chief takes over, most likely around mid-August.

“The staff appointments I make go through a thorough and comprehensive process. ... That’s what we will do here, because it’s an important position,” Vinchesi said.

Selectmen chairman Shawn Harris and vice chairman Tony Vegnani will both serve on a search committee along with the chief of police in Marshfield; the former executive director of the Massachusetts Police Association and retired chief of police in Longmeadow; the principal of the high school; president of the police union; and three at-large community members to be recommended by the Board of Selectmen.

The job has been posted in several locations, and applications are due by July 18.

In addition to minimum job requirements, the chosen applicant will be required to live in the town or willing to move within 15 miles of the town.

“I’ll be looking for someone who wants to make a commitment to us and become part of the community,” Vinchesi said.

According to Vinchesi, the search committee will review the resumes, interview several candidates, and recommend two to five finalists to the town administrator.

From there, an assessment center will put the finalists through a series of tests, and give a report to Vinchesi. She will then make the final decision.

“It’s the same process that I’ve used for all of my professional searches,” Vinchesi said, noting that the assessment center is the only new aspect. “There is always a panel that ensures a comprehensive and objective review.”

Though the town is already focused on finding a new chief, Vinchesi took a moment during Tuesday’s selectmen meeting to thank Stewart for his 11 years of service.

“We’ve enjoyed a mutually beneficial and collaborative working relationship, and I’m proud to call him my friend,” Vinchesi said.

Stewart, who has worked his entire 38-year career with the Scituate Police Department, said he is looking forward to doing work around the house and traveling with his soon-to-be-acquired free time.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

For "Female Performer of the Year" Sarah Blacker, 2012 was a whirlwind.

In addition to the New England Music Award win, Blacker has received numerous recognitions: airtime on NPR, awards for her music video, and nomination for a 2012 Boston Music Award.

Not to mention a feature on the MTV show Jersey Shore, performing with the likes of Sara Bareilles, and being named the winner of the Radio 92.9/Boch Subaru contest in 2010. Yet for the singer/songwriter, the most recent focus has been on the release of her third album.

Days before a performance at Radio Music Hall in Scituate, Blacker took a moment to reflect, always with an eye on what’s ahead.

Boston Globe: The last three years for you have been a whirlwind; what did it take to get to this point?

Sarah Blacker: I started out just by recording a CD. I was told you don’t have anything until you have a CD. So I made one, and from there I did a pretty heavy publicity campaign behind the first record and started touring the deep South and the East Coast and plugging away at the same markets on a regular basis

My favorite thing to do is perform, so most of what I’ve gotten from have come from live gigs…

It’s meeting people and building relationships with people in the industry who I enjoy having relationships with. It’s making friends -- I feel that’s an important part of building a career. And building a team

One of the first things that happened that helped me a lot was the Subaru competition. … Ernie Boch called me at 7 a.m., and all through New England my face and name was blasted on TV and radio a hundred times a day …

[It’s] just through meeting people, playing gigs, and putting out records, and trying to reach out to people on a human level, through social media or face-to-face and meeting people throughout the music scene.

BG: Every time you win another accolade or are featured in another way, does it surprise you? Like being featured on Jersey Shore?

SB: That was insane! I was out at a bar with friends, and another friend said I just heard your song on Jersey Shore. It was really surreal.

It’s incredible. I call them small victories. In an industry that can be discouraging for artists it’s incredible to have these little victories to build off of. It keeps you going …

I’m blown away and flattered [by it all]. I never expected any of this. To be considered in any way notable in New England, it’s pretty cool. There is so much talent here, so many incredible artists here.

BG: Talk to me a bit about your most recent album, Precious Little Things – how is it different from your first two?

SB: It represents my band, the people I’ve been playing with for the past two years. We know each other very well musically and recorded it pretty quickly.

It has a sort of live feel, but it’s my third album working with Sean McLaughlin. We know each other inside and out and I can say him colors and hand gestures and he knows what I’m talking about

I think it has the most consistent sonic picture out of any of the albums. We knew what we wanted it to sound like. I had an idea for the first, and more with the second … but [with this album, I said] these were my influences, and let's do it

We were experimental with microphone techniques. Sean would do things like putting a microphone into a PVC pipe or mic a wooden wall next to a wooden instrument. There is a lot of textural layers to this record. It’s fun to have a more lush sound to each song.

BG: What was the process of creating this most recent album? You mentioned recording techniques, but writing songs?

SB: Typically I’m ready and I already have the songs ... songs I’ve written over the past year. I put out an EP before this album, and some songs were on that EP but I wanted to record them with full band arrangements …

That as well as there is one single that WUVB has been spinning, called Shiver, and I wrote that after coming back from … [a] folk festival. I wanted to write a song that was about the process of moving paths, but I also wanted it to be a song people could sing. I designed the chorus with a lot of harmonies, which I like to do … but this was a straight up pop folk tune, and it’s been the favorite of people so far, so I think that has contributed to the likeability of it as well.

BG: What will you be performing from for your upcoming Scituate concert?

SB: We’ll be doing the whole new album as well as a combo of songs from the other album and a couple new covers as well. We have a good long set and a great opener, Sam Chase, and we’re going to do a band set and actually it will be my band as well as I’m performing with a new upright player, and we have a couple special guests. It will be fun, a rotating cast type of night.

BG: River Club is a smaller venue; which type of atmosphere do you enjoy performing in more – large or small venues?

SB: This room I think has the capacity of 400; it's bigger, a sit-down venue. They set it up for 300. But my favorite shows are typically intimate listening crowd.

I’ve done the bar thing and part of me likes it because it’s a challenge to wrangle an audience, but I really enjoy a communal listening room where not only is it quiet enough to interact, but you can see people’s faces and what they might need. I like to tell stories and talk to audience members, I enjoy the small intimidate rooms.

Sarah Blacker will perform June 21 at 8 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit
http://www.theriverclubmusichall.com/live/

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

A nine-year fight to save a Catholic church in Scituate may finally be reaching an end, as local parishioners prepare to file one final appeal to the highest Vatican court.

An appeal to a lower Vatican court was denied on June 13, but parishioners of St. Frances X. Cabrini, who have held vigil at the church since 2004, are still optimistic.

“We will honor a promise made at the inception of the vigil to use all recourse available,” said Jon Rogers, a spokesman for the parishioner group.

Rogers said the group was disappointed that an appeal to the Congressio of the Apostolic Signatura was denied, saying that other dioceses with similar appeals have had a 75 percent success rate.

The group has subsequently instructed its attorneys in Rome to file the final appeal to the Vatican Supreme Apostolic Court, the church’s Supreme Court equivalent.

The Supreme Apostolic Court consists of five to six judges and meets twice a year. Though the group is most likely to meet in November, Rogers said the court calendar may be too congested for the appeal to be put on the schedule, and the wait may be longer.

Church parishioners are seeking to reverse a 2011 decision by the Archdiocese of Boston to deconsecrate the church, which changes the building from a place of worship into a secular space.

Church law mandates that deconsecrating occurs before churches can be sold. The archdiocese has long sought to sell the church to consolidate, prompted by dwindling collections and minimal attendance.

Already, the church has sold off the rectory on the property in early 2012.

While the appeal process churns through another round, Rogers said the group will continue to maintain a presence at the site.

“Our struggle began over nine years ago, and we will stay steadfast on this journey,” he said. “The Friends of St. Frances will carry on with their peaceful and prayerful 24/7 vigil while exhausting every possible avenue of appeal. We have steadfast faith that right will triumph over wrong and this grave injustice.”

For church officials, the near-end of the appeal process is a welcome one.

“The archdiocese has been extremely patient and believes that we really are at the end of the line,” said Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. “This is not helpful for the wider church, for the community, for parish life.”

Donilon said it is understandable that parishioners have mourned the loss of their church, but that the vigil and obstinacy of the group show a lack of understanding for what the remainder of the church community is feeling and attempting to do.

“The vast majority impacted by the parish closings have moved on to welcoming parishes,” Donilon said. “They weren’t thrilled about it, dancing with joy on the streets; they were upset, but they understood or at least accept that in order to be actively participating in the church you need to be part of a parish.”

Donilon said that while the church hopes to resolve the disagreement peacefully, the standoff will end.

“We’re not going to allow it to go on forever,” Donilon said. “The next question is how will you end it, but we will work for a peaceful and prayerful resolution. ... But I don’t know what else we can say or do to help them get through this period."

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Scituate officials have decided to hold off on any major improvements at the Harbor Community Building, pending a decision on what to do with the aging structure.

Facilities manager Kevin Kelly suggested $175,000 of work for the building, previously known as Pier 44, at a meeting Tuesday night. While officials approved bathroom and roofing fixes, the carpet, sliding partitions, and other updates will have to wait.

“If some things were small money and we end up tearing it down in a year anyway [that’s ok], but I don’t want to put $50,000 into a single ticket item that’s not immediately necessary right now if we’re going to start over,” said Selectman Rick Murray after the meeting.

Scituate officials have been contemplating what to do with the building since they purchased it in 2010 with $1.8 million of the money given as mitigation for the Greenbush MBTA station.

In September 2012, selectmen decided to look into turning the building into a community center, charging a Feasibility Study Committee intent on understanding the building to investigate the cost of renovating the building or constructing a new building there.

With approximately $700,000 left in mitigation money, Murray said the town has the funds to do upgrades right away, but it doesn’t make sense if the building won’t be there for long.

Murray also noted that there are so many unknowns with the Master Plan, which would turn the Gates Middle School into a new town hall with other community assets.

“But we wanted to move ahead with some of the obvious things that would make it better right now,” Murray said.

According to Murray, the roof would be paid for with insurance coverage. The bathrooms would be repaired using existing mitigation funds. Murray wasn’t sure of the cost of either fixes, and Facilities Manager Kelly could not be reached for comment.

While the building will get some minor upgrades, the policy for using the building hasn’t changed. Town groups are still the only ones allowed to use the space.

“Particularly after storms, i'ts not in the best shape. We can’t look people in the eye and say, ‘How was your wedding reception?’ Not that that’s our intent, but … we’re using it to help out the people who need it right away and we want to put the minimal amount we need to put in and keep it in a nice enough fashion while we figure out what’s going on.”