Perhaps even more than New Year’s Day, the beginning of a new school year is a time for fresh starts. Often both educators and students resolve to do better, try new ideas, and set new goals.

The Planning Board has added two key provisions to its proposed rural life preservation (RLP) bylaw: a special village center permit (VCP) to encourage commerce around Harvard’s town center, and accessory apartments as a permitted use on RLP properties.

A new walk-in refrigerator and freezer and a brand new floor in the Bromfield kitchen are putting a spring in Chef Paul Correnty’s step this week.

The state budget signed by Gov. Charlie Baker last month has some good news for Harvard. According to preliminary Department of Revenue estimates, the state reimbursement for Harvard students who choose to attend a charter school will be three times higher than the amount forecast this spring.

One of the town’s two drinking water wells is offline and will remain so until the source of its coliform contamination can be confirmed and corrected.

The man who murdered former Harvard resident Kim Dobbie in Lewiston, Maine, last summer has been sentenced to life in prison.

The Planning Board is working on a rural life preservation bylaw that would protect rural and agricultural properties from development by offering owners the chance to engage in commercial activity in exchange for preserving the property’s unique features.

As summer draws to a close, the softball field under construction on Ann Lees Road remains a field in dreams only.