Ashburnham News

The Community Journal, a weekly paper serving Ashburnham and Westminster for nearly a decade, announced this week it will cease publication, effective immediately.

Residents participated in a Master Plan public forum Thursday night to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that affect and influence the town, to begin shaping a 10-year vision for Westminster.

Officials from both Ashby and Ashburnham met Wednesday night at Town Hall to begin a series of discussions on whether regionalizing their dispatch services is a viable avenue to pursue.

While most people hope for nice weather on the weekend, Ashburnham's recently reformed Parks and Recreation Committee will be hoping for a cold front to come in Friday and Saturday.

Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District Superintendent Ralph Hicks announced at the School Committee meeting Tuesday night that he would like to reinstitute several positions that had previously been eliminated throughout the school district, as well as create some others.

The town's latest solar deal is on hold while officials in this town figure out to properly tax Worcester-based Investar LLC for panels the company is planning to place on three separate properties.

An Ashburnham woman arrested for drunken driving early Friday later exhibited severe mood swings during booking, according to court documents.

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / CONNOR GLEASON Oakmont's Katherine Leger looks to shoot while defended by Hudson's Chelsea Scovil Friday in Ashburnham.

Construction on the new J.R. Briggs school will not start as planned on Monday, as contractors work to slim down an extra $950,000 that was not originally budgeted into the $24.78 million project.

The number of people considering keeping goats is on the rise. Whether it's for a personal milk supply, weed control or meeting the growing demand for goat meat, North Country Sustainability Center Inc.

John Mickola has lived in the same house at 590 Jones Hill Road since he was born 64 years ago.

Five Overlook Middle School students, along with their teacher, Ruth Crowley, have been awarded a total of $10,000 as one of two Northeast middle school team winners in the 2011-2012 Air/Climate Lexus Eco Challenge through Scholastic.

Ashby residents could be hit with a 1-percent increase in all nonschool-related items in the fiscal 2013 budget, according to Town Administrator Doug Briggs.

Whenever possible, Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School is willing and able to lend a helping hand to its member communities.

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE file photo / CONNOR GLEASON Stan Herriott, manager of the Ashburnham Municipal Light Department, near several of the solar panels installed in 2008 outside the Ashburnham Municipal Light Department building in October 2010.

State Trooper Gregory Spahl, left, an investigator at the state fire marshal's office, and Gardner Fire Department investigator Timothy Tenney, right, work through the rubble at the scene of the Gardner fire.

We didn't get them to be eye candy. We got them because we wanted to see how music sounded when it was written.