Costumed kids and their parents had already begun to arrive for Harvard’s annual celebration of Halloween Friday, Oct. 31, before the town bell struck 5 o’clock, and the crowds grew as darkness fell.

In January the tax bills of most property owners will jump several percentage points to cover the rising cost of town government, including the Proposition 2 ½ override approved by voters last spring.

It’s been more than six months since the town has had a full-time Department of Public Works director. The position was filled by a contract employee during the summer, but that employee’s contract was temporary, and he will be leaving in a few weeks. 

Loaves & Fishes food pantry set aside its residence requirements and opened its doors to unpaid federal employees across the area. Many came from Devens, but others were from Hanscom Air Force Base or Minuteman National Park.

Harvard has applied for a state grant to help fund a major upgrade to the public library’s aging heating and cooling system, a project that would significantly reduce the building’s reliance on fossil fuels while also saving the town money.

The Select Board has begun its process of forming a Charter Review Committee, a panel tasked with examining Harvard’s governing document and recommending possible updates for a Town Meeting to consider.

Robert Rapant, the owner of a dog that had been declared dangerous at a Select Board hearing last August, died at his Mass. Ave. home Oct. 31.

The Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts has awarded the Harvard Press a $2,000 grant in support of the paper’s soon-to-be announced Fund for Community Journalism.

Depot Road residents are breathing easier this week, now that they have been assured they will not be charged betterment fees for the new line connecting Harvard’s municipal water supply to the Devens water system. 

Two recommendations from the Addiction Abatement Working Group to spend some of the town’s opioid addiction settlement funds on area programs met with Select Board approval at its Oct. 21 meeting.