The town manager reported this week the town has a surplus of more than $180,000 in the trash fee account. In a March 26 memo to selectmen, Town Manager Charles J. Cristello released his annual report on the revenue and expenses of the trash and recycling program. “The overall surplus generated by the trash fee is now $182,638, which is [...]

The unemployment rate for Taunton and nearly every surrounding community dropped in October, the latest month for which data is available. Taunton’s unemployment rate has fallen back into single digits for the first time since this summer, coming in at 9.9 percent for October, according to state data released this week. Taunton’s rate of joblessness, while still higher than that [...]

Selectmen unanimously voted Monday to spend $50,000 in casino preplanning money to renovate a vacant school in order to finalize a lease with Massasoit Community College. The plan to bring a commuter college to the downtown has been long in the making. It was first proposed in 2006 for the vacant St. Luke’s Hospital, which was later rejected by the [...]

Sometimes it’s literally true that when one door closes, another opens. Greg Lessard is a local photographer who sells his work from a web site but also displayed some of his wares in the Middleborough Art Gallery downtown. After the art gallery closed last year, it was back to the web site for Greg’s photos – until his wife was [...]

The town recently bought 88 acres along Miller Street for $885,000 to protect the water supply along the Black Brook. Special town meeting in the fall  of 2009 voted to buy the forested property from Ernesto Caparrotta. Selectmen this week voted unanimously to sign the baseline document for the conservation restriction on the property, which shows what the property looks [...]

Commuter rail riders between Braintree and Middleboro should plan on longer trips this weekend because of track repair work. The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., which operates the service for the MBTA, will be repairing the tracks between the Braintree and Holbrook. The track bed in this area was washed out by the recent flooding, and temporary repairs are in [...]

Selectmen met to find out how the town became burdened with more than 100 private ways and what can be done about it. “We went through quite an event with the private ways and plowing,” said selectmen Chairman Patrick Rogers. In February,  a court ruled that the town could no longer plow private ways.  The ruling came in response to [...]

On Sunday, March 28, 2010 NJ Photo will be donating time, service and money to the First Annual Pet Faire and we are hoping that you will leash up your pets and join us and the Veterinary Emergency Funding Mission for a day in the sun. The mission of the Veterinary Emergency Funding Mission (VEFM) is to help out pet [...]

Brian Solis explains how the press release has evolved, and sheds some light on why it may be so difficult to kill off. Solis writes this from the perspective of a PR professional. He is Principal of FutureWorks, a PR and New Media agency in Silicon Valley and also blogs at PR 2.0. Press releases come in different flavors and [...]

Ben Quelle of Middleboro is challenging Representative Tom Calter as State representative in the 12th Plymouth District. Mr. Quelle is an Iraqi war veteran and earns a living as a medical salesman. He is running on the message of being a regular guy who wants to reduce taxes and the size of state government. Not a bad platform and you [...]