Community gathers for menorah lighting northborough | 10
A Westborough bakery begins anew
Sherwood students compete in a spelling bee shrewsbury | 24
westborough | 12
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Vol. 49 | No. 1 | Jamuary 6, 2023
Town admin. cautions of ‘bunching up’ of capital projects
Fired up for American citizenship
By Laura Hayes Managing Editor
WESTBOROUGH - One of the newest members of the Westborough Fire Department is also one of America’s newest citizens. Emanuel Desouza, who joined the department as a full-time firefighter/EMT in September, took his citizenship oath on Nov. 29 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. “It was amazing,” he said of that day. “After all these struggles, it finally happened.”
NORTHBOROUGH - One of the greatest challenges for Northborough’s finances for the next five years is how the town will meet its capital needs. That’s according to Town Administrator John Coderre, who discussed the capital projects on the horizon — including the new fire station and an athletic complex — during the Financial Trend Monitoring Report on Dec. 15. “One of the big things folks are going to take away from this presentation this year is that we have building up some significant capital projects that are stacking up on us,” Coderre said. “And we need to do a good job of planning these out because they’re going to have some significant impacts.” Some of this was due to the panCapital projects | 14
By Maureen Sullivan Senior Reporter
Dreams of being a firefighter Desouza, who lives in Charlton with his family, was born in Brazil in 1991. He moved to the United States with his parents when he was three. “We came from a pretty poor region,” he said. “They were trying to gain a better life than in Brazil.” The family first settled in Somerville before moving to Medford when Desouza | 15
Emanuel Desouza shows his U.S. citizen certificate after the swearing-in ceremony at Mechanics Hall on Nov. 29.
Select Board approves phase two of ARPA funding By Caroline Gordon Reporter SHREWSBURY - A second round of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will soon be put to use by various Shrewsbury departments. During a Select Board meeting Dec. 20, the board unanimously approved phase
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two of ARPA funding. The funds will go toward several initiatives, including upgrades to sewer infrastructure and public safety initiatives.
Cricket comes to Westborough
Select Board reviews feedback from residents During the Select Board meeting,
sports | 25
ARPA | 7
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