A yearlong attempt by the Fourth of July Committee to ban political and other speech that some bystanders might find offensive from the town’s annual parade came to an end last Thursday.

The town needs an additional $2.3 million for the project that will connect its town water system to the Devens water supply, leaving the Water Commission and the Select Board with few good options.

In about two years, if all goes well, the town’s public water will come from the treated wells in Devens. 

A 16-court badminton facility and two landscaping businesses are slated for the commercial district on Ayer Road.

The history of fires in Still River has left neighborhood residents with admiration for the Harvard firefighters who extinguished those blazes. But it has also left some residents reluctant to let the Fire Department burn a house in Still River as a training exercise.

• Volunteer opportunities: The town needs you
• Donations for library book sale
• Real estate taxes due
• Youth track clinic
• Transfer station stickers
• Styrofoam recycling
• Fish advisory
• Dinner for two, anywhere
• Hazardous waste collection
• Welcome bags for  new residents
• Conservation Commission seeks volunteers
• Register for Jimmy Fund walk
• Christmas pageant planning
• Share your opinions on arts funding
• Loaves & Fishes
• Devens noise report

Last week the Environmental Protection Agency set a nationwide standard for PFAS—more commonly known as “forever chemicals”—in drinking water. The latest tests on Harvard’s town water, supplied by two wells on Pond Road, passed all the new regulations, although one of the regulated substances passed by only three-hundredths of a milligram per liter.

Town Administrator Tim Bragan, set to retire July 1, has already left the building (see story), but the search for his replacement is just beginning.

Bids for the water main portion of the project to connect Harvard to the Devens public water system were opened April 16, and the news was not good.

Harvard firefighters provided aid last week when a truck burst into flames after crashing into a health center in Devens.

After a year of piloting a schedule with only four core curriculum subjects, Bromfield middle schoolers will once again have five core subjects next fall. 

At its April 8 meeting, the School Committee unanimously approved a contract for the 2024-25 school year with Whitsons Culinary Group, which has been supplying food to the Harvard schools since late last fall.

1996 Citizen of Note, founder of cancer support center, president of high-tech company

Town Administrator Tim Bragan, who is scheduled to retire July 1, told the Press last week that, beginning April 12, he would begin using the 320 hours of time off he has accrued over his 17-year career in Harvard.

• Trees for HCT members
• Pond Road closed Saturday
• Donations for library book sale
• Styrofoam recycling
• Fish advisory
• Welcome bags for new residents
• Share your opinions on arts funding
• April is Autism Awareness Month
• Townwide Cleanup
• Conservation Commission seeks volunteers
• Scholarship applications
• Christmas pageant planning
• Devens noise report
• Loaves & Fishes

Mathematics teacher, skilled photographer, longtime Harvard resident

Former resident, Historical Society president, snowmobiler, antique car lover

Harvard’s benefits-eligible municipal and school employees will soon be able to purchase dental and vision insurance at favorable rates through group policies offered by the town.

Nearly two years in development, a request for expressions of interest in consulting on a plan for the future governance of Devens was finally approved last month by the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee.

The Department of Public Works was first up to bat in this year’s budget season. Director Tim Kilhart came before the Finance Committee at its Oct. 24 meeting to discuss his requests, which were mostly for level services. But one request went above and beyond.