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. 

The Harvard Police Department rolled out a new fleet vehicle this month: a 2022 Harley Davidson Police Electra Glide motorcycle. MC1 (motorcycle one), as the department is calling it, hit the streets on Sept. 30.

The Devens Enterprise Commission has approved construction of six modular duplexes at Adams Circle in Devens, the first new housing at the former Army base in three years.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority voted this week to approve Harvard’s application for a grant to pay nearly half the cost of a new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system for the Bromfield School. 

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education took many school districts by surprise recently with a last-minute requirement for a new policy on career and technical education for students in middle school.

The ambitions of Harvard’s volunteer-driven boards and committees were on full display at the Oct. 15 all-boards meeting at the library, but overshadowing their goals for the coming fiscal year is a growing deficit that stretches far into the future.     

Harvard’s Emergency Medical Services took a major step up in recent months. Using a state grant that paid for additional training and equipment, Harvard EMS moved from the first level of licensure level to the middle level.

The Police Department was first up this year to present its capital requests for fiscal 2027 to the Capital Planning and Investment Committee. Police Chief James Babu explained his department’s needs. His requests total $102,000.

This is the time of year when drivers and deer pose the most danger to each other. According to the AAA Northeast, “Fall is by far the worst season for deer collisions.”

Among the $125 million in local earmarks released this week by Gov. Maura Healey is money for improvements to Fivesparks, the iconic former library—turned community arts collaborative—in the center of town.

Eric Ward, winner of the Oct. 8 special town election, will fill the fifth Select Board seat left empty by the resignation of Rich Maiore last spring. Ward received 58% of the votes cast, defeating his challenger Adam Wool 383 to 276.