Category: Opinions and Analysis
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Carver is still waiting on its 2024 audit. Put a deadline in the town administrator’s contract.
Read More →: Carver is still waiting on its 2024 audit. Put a deadline in the town administrator’s contract.Carver · Opinion The Select Board takes up Glenn Cannon’s next contract behind closed doors Thursday. Its own records already list the work the town is waiting on, starting with…
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One Year of Hard Questions, 3 Million Views and Better Government: Thank You to The Herd
Read More →: One Year of Hard Questions, 3 Million Views and Better Government: Thank You to The HerdJohn Barrella – The G.O.A.T. News One year ago today, on Oct. 13, 2025, I started a Facebook page with a simple idea: the people who pay for local government…
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Lakeville forms a panel to explore buying 30 Howland Road as the owner’s rock-removal hearing slides to Nov. 10
Read More →: Lakeville forms a panel to explore buying 30 Howland Road as the owner’s rock-removal hearing slides to Nov. 10Lakeville · Select Board & Planning Board In back to back meetings, the Select Board created a nine-member committee to study a purchase and put a battery-storage bylaw on the…
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First the sand comes out, then the solar goes in. Carver’s Planning Board has had little to say about the first part.
Read More →: First the sand comes out, then the solar goes in. Carver’s Planning Board has had little to say about the first part.Carver · Planning Board The G.O.A.T. News reviewed four months of Carver Planning Board minutes against the Earth Removal Committee’s own records. The board is approving, and weighing, solar arrays…
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Middleborough’s school bus contract is running out, and the price is expected to go up
Read More →: Middleborough’s school bus contract is running out, and the price is expected to go upMiddleborough · School Committee · Budget The district’s contract with Five Star Bus runs out in June, and the School Committee’s budget subcommittee takes up the bid, and a consultant…
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$62 million South Wells water plant clears local permits, heads toward bidding
Read More →: $62 million South Wells water plant clears local permits, heads toward biddingMiddleborough · Planning Board · Water · Continuing coverage With a Planning Board waiver and a Select Board permit in hand, the town’s PFAS treatment plant moves on to a…
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Who was watching Middleborough’s money? Auditors are digging back to 2021 to find out.
Read More →: Who was watching Middleborough’s money? Auditors are digging back to 2021 to find out.Middleborough · Oversight · Town finances · Continuing coverage A string of departures since 2022, a restructured accounting office and a software switch came before an audit that is still…
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Middleborough gave REXA a 10-year tax break. The deal never required it to hire a single resident.
Read More →: Middleborough gave REXA a 10-year tax break. The deal never required it to hire a single resident.Middleborough · Oversight · REXA tax deal · Continuing coverage Middleborough will forgo part of REXA’s property taxes for a decade. The deal guarantees no jobs to residents, town documents…
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Lakeville said no three times. Next year’s school bill is already bigger.
Read More →: Lakeville said no three times. Next year’s school bill is already bigger.Lakeville · Opinion Voters turned down more money for Freetown-Lakeville schools three times in 10 weeks. The town’s own forecast says next year’s gap is bigger, and the people deciding…
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Middleborough brought Bob Nunes back for his numbers. His candor may be worth more.
Read More →: Middleborough brought Bob Nunes back for his numbers. His candor may be worth more.Joseph Perkins found the hole in March. Two weeks into his return, Nunes has explained one of the town’s money problems and been straight about the one that can’t be…
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Carver’s health plan bill keeps growing, and the employees $1M share is still unsettled
Read More →: Carver’s health plan bill keeps growing, and the employees $1M share is still unsettledCarver · Select Board Select Board minutes show the town asked State Auditor Diana DiZoglio to investigate its collapsed health insurance pool, moved $80,000 into its legal budget, and signed…
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Lakeville locks in $10 million for its new fire station and the first interest payment lands on December tax bills
Read More →: Lakeville locks in $10 million for its new fire station and the first interest payment lands on December tax billsLakeville · Select Board The Select Board also sent an eight-article fall town meeting warrant to town counsel, including citizen petitions to ban Flock license-plate cameras and to create a…
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When a town health plan goes broke, taxpayers pay. Employees may, too.
Read More →: When a town health plan goes broke, taxpayers pay. Employees may, too.Five southeastern Massachusetts towns are paying more than $6.9 million after a small municipal insurance pool collapsed. State law does little to stop the next one By John Barrella EDITORIAL…
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Auditor seeks Middleborough records back to fiscal 2021 after flagging material weaknesses
Read More →: Auditor seeks Middleborough records back to fiscal 2021 after flagging material weaknessesAudit costs climb $45,000 as interim manager seeks outside help; water and trash funds end year $682,000 short By John Barrella MIDDLEBOROUGH — The firm auditing Middleborough’s finances now wants…
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Wareham · Select Board Wareham catch-up: building-department complaints, an Onset eminent-domain session and an 18-article Town Meeting Residents, a Middleborough builder and a state representative brought complaints about the town’s…
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A 928,000-square-foot warehouse and the East Grove Street surf park go before Middleborough’s wetlands board Thursday
Read More →: A 928,000-square-foot warehouse and the East Grove Street surf park go before Middleborough’s wetlands board ThursdayThe Conservation Commission opens its first hearing on the Wareham Street warehouse and picks up the surf park review it began Aug. 6. Here is where each project stands, along…
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Build the South Wells plant. Then fix how we pay for it.
Read More →: Build the South Wells plant. Then fix how we pay for it.The town needs clean water and has a 2031 deadline. It also has a water fund in the red, $110 million in projected debt, and a rate plan that was…
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One town, three state reps, and a senator who says, ‘We’ll be back for sure’
Read More →: One town, three state reps, and a senator who says, ‘We’ll be back for sure’By John Barrella EDITORIAL – Quick question for Middleborough and beyond: do you know who represents you on Beacon Hill? It’s a harder question here in Middleborough than in most…
Latest Updates
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Carver is still waiting on its 2024 audit. Put a deadline in the town administrator’s contract.
Carver · Opinion The Select Board takes up Glenn Cannon’s next contract behind closed doors Thursday. Its own records…
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Lakeville forms a panel to explore buying 30 Howland Road as the owner’s rock-removal hearing slides to Nov. 10
Lakeville · Select Board & Planning Board In back to back meetings, the Select Board created a nine-member committee…
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First the sand comes out, then the solar goes in. Carver’s Planning Board has had little to say about the first part.
Carver · Planning Board The G.O.A.T. News reviewed four months of Carver Planning Board minutes against the Earth Removal…
