Harvard’s Community Preservation Committee completed its funding recommendations for fiscal 2027 on Jan. 28, resolving two deferred requests and bringing the total package to approximately $1.3 million for voters to consider at the May 2 Annual Town Meeting.

A public hearing held Feb. 10 to collect suggestions for revising the Harvard Charter attracted only four members of the public, including two from the Press. The charter defines the roles and processes of town government and, by its own rules, must be evaluated every 10 years by a nine-member Charter Review Committee.

In its fall 2025 reader survey, the Harvard Press received a vote of confidence with 89% strongly agreeing the newspaper is “integral to the Harvard community” and 96% agreeing they’re satisfied with the quality of reporting.

Harvard’s Climate Initiative Committee confirmed a new date for its Repair Cafe at its meeting on Feb. 12. The event will be on Saturday, March 14, from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Harvard Senior Center, 16 Lancaster County Road.

Harvard’s Finance Committee voted Tuesday to recommend a $396,754 Proposition 2½ override to the Select Board, along with $267,000 in budget cuts split—albeit unevenly—between town departments and the schools.

For nearly three weeks, many Harvard residents have been gripped by the story of little Gizmo, a black, three-legged shih tzu who got out of a fenced enclosure on Jan. 20 and remained missing for 16 days.

It started with noises in the chimney. At first, Patrick Ellis thought the rustling sounds he heard that Saturday evening, Jan. 10, were bats. When he went down to the basement, however, something bigger than a bat swooped by him.

Plans for the new heating, ventilation, and cooling system at the Bromfield School have taken a step forward, as Superintendent Linda Dwight reported to the School Committee this week. 

There was good news for Harvard in the annual state budget that Gov. Maura Healey sent to the Legislature last week. The administration’s decision to appropriate more money to Massachusetts cities and towns in fiscal 2027 will, if the Legislature approves, provide Harvard more in state aid than forecast.

People around town are talking trash. The quiet decision of the General Store to discontinue stocking the town trash bags, used at the Transfer Station, has sparked conversations that made it all the way to the Select Board.

Harvard’s new director of public works experienced a trial-by-fire, or rather, ice, in his first few weeks on the job when the town had its largest snowstorm in over four years on Jan. 25 and 26. The official total for Harvard was 17 inches, a depth not seen since the January blizzard of 2022.

Music, theater, photography, history, art, and more—the Harvard Cultural Council’s recently announced list of grants has something for nearly everyone. The wide range of programs lives up to the council’s stated purpose: “to promote and support the vitality of the cultural resources within the Harvard community.”

When a bevy of black SUVs appeared on a local road earlier this month, several Harvard residents called police, expressing fears that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) had come to town. In fact, the vehicles were part of a Make-A-Wish Foundation project to take several children to a Celtics game.

Harvard homeowners could see their residential tax rate drop by nearly $4 per $1,000 of assessed value if the town resumed jurisdiction over its historical lands in Devens, according to financial projections unveiled Tuesday night by the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee.

With the snow piled high outside, Harvard’s May 5 Town Election seems remote. However, nomination papers for the town’s four elective boards are already available from the town clerk.

Harvard’s Community Preservation Committee voted last week to recommend the expenditure of $676,750 to support five town projects, ranging from a conservation restriction to new flooring for the town library, with decisions on two additional projects deferred to a Jan. 28 meeting.