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.

In the years since the town qualified for the state’s Green Community program in 2010, it has received three grants to make its municipal buildings—primarily the Bromfield School—more energy efficient. Now, the state has upgraded Harvard to “climate leader” status, making it eligible for an even wider array of grants of up to $1.1 million.

The Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee will hold a public forum on Tuesday, Jan. 27, from 7:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Harvard Senior Center to present its findings on the future governance of Devens.

Changes at the town’s only park, Harvard Park on Lancaster County Road, are set to begin this spring with construction of a new bicycle track, while renovations to the park’s running track and playing field are scheduled to begin this summer.

The new Harvard Department of Public Works (DPW) director, Eric Ryder, had been on the job all of nine days at the time of this interview. He is the third director in the past two years, or the fourth, when counting the interim director who served for about six months.