The weather on Friday, July 4, with scattered clouds and temperatures in the high 70s, couldn’t have been better as Harvard’s annual Fourth of July festivities got under way.

As many towns across the state struggle to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars they have already received as part of the national opioid settlements, Harvard’s Addiction Abatement Working Group, charged with seeking and evaluating abatement fund spending proposals, is making progress toward its goal of pooling a portion of its oversized share of the funds.

Last June the Press published an article titled “Unsettled: How Harvard landed an opioid settlement windfall while others got shortchanged.” The article outlined how the team of lawyers responsible for determining how much opioid settlement money each state, county, and town in the U.S. would receive used a questionable method to determine town allocations for several New England states..

Longtime resident Audrey Ball was the grand marshal in Harvard’s 2025 Fourth of July parade. Chairman Christopher Chalifoux said the committee all agreed that “Audrey is an outstanding example of the volunteerism that makes Harvard such a wonderful town to live in.” 

Police Chief James Babu was recently honored with an award from Open Sky Community Services for his ongoing work in supporting crisis intervention training for Harvard’s police officers.

A post concerning Harvard’s parade by local electrician and longtime resident Dave Woodsum on the social media site Nextdoor in late June sparked an explosion of commentary—120 posts as of Monday, July 7.

Ever since Superintendent of Schools Linda Dwight announced in May that she would be leaving the district in July 2026, School Committee members have been aware they have a year to choose a new superintendent. 

It’s been a good year for the self-funded Fourth of July Committee. “I tallied up our sales and donations and am pleased to report we made a little money this year,” committee member Molly Sinkewicz wrote..

The Devens Housing Working Group submitted its report to Gov. Maura Healey and the Legislature right on time, May 20, but work on its recommendations for increasing housing within Devens is just now getting underway.