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The reviews are in: Shrewsbury Town Meeting goes to electronic voting By Evan Walsh Managing Editor SHREWSBURY – In 2026, Shrewsbury Town Meeting officially entered the technology age. This year’s Town Meeting, held on May 18 at Oak Middle School, marked the first use of electronic voting in Shrewsbury history. As the town’s elected Town Meeting representatives entered the building, they were handed a “clicker” used to cast a vote. Each clicker, installed by Meridia Interactive Solutions, had two buttons — “yes” and “no.” When Moderator James Kane called for a vote,
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Vol. 52 | No. 22 | May 29, 2026
DoubleTree waitress, dartboard dominance
Northborough’s Greg Crippen signs with Pittsburgh Steelers
Whether serving lunch or shooting darts, Bette Cunningham is always on target
Northborough | 2 Westborough planning director resigns from role
westborough | 4 Remembering Spag Borgatti’s passing, 30 years later
Electronic Voting | 6
Dormant for years, former BJ’s headquarters site hits the market again By Leighah Beausoleil Assistant Editor WESTBOROUGH – A Westborough site that was once expected to become an expansive life-science campus may be sold. Economic Development Coordinator Lara Crawford announced that lots at 25 and 29 Research Drive have hit the market, again. The properties were purchased separately in 2023 by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., an affiliate of a California investment firm, for a total of $45.25 million. In August 2022, the town approved plans to transform the 68 acres of land, formerly home to BJ’s Wholesale Club headquarters (25 Research Drive) and Triboro Crane & Rigging Services (29 Research Drive). The applicant sought to demolish all the current structures on the site. Then, it wanted to construct four buildings — totaling 715,000 square feet — that would form an innovation campus, including life science, laboratory, office, research and development, and warehouse uses. However, since the applicant won BJ’s Site | 8
shrewsbury | 7
By Evan Walsh Managing Editor WESTBOROUGH – Bette Cunningham, a 65-year-old North Grafton resident, has had two knee replacement surgeries. One knee had to be completely redone — with all the metal taken out, then reinserted into her joint. Her strides are short. Every step forward brings Cunningham pain. And yet, despite the challenges, she’s an elite athlete. Someone at the top of her field. The latest 52-week rolling rankings published by the American Dart Organization list Cunningham as the 26th-best woman at the sport in America. Walking is sometimes a pain. But man, can she throw. “The pain is probably a 12 every day. If I fell right now, I couldn’t get up,” she told the Community Advocate, holding a custom-made pink-tailed dart. “But when I get on that line, I know what I’m doing. On any given day, anybody can win.” Cunningham is the first to admit that her ascendance in darts — a sport she hadn’t played until she was 50 — is “super crazy.” Alongside her husband, Ed, Cunningham visited various bars throughout Massachusetts for low-
stakes darts. One night, a league was short a player, so Cunningham — who could hardly hit the board — played substitute. Soon enough, she was competing in three leagues simultaneously. “It just kept happening. And I really took a liking to it,” she said. A former collegiate field hockey and softball player, Cunningham basked in the competitiveness of darts. The dexterity and coordination learned during her college years came in handy, too. At the beginning of her journey, Cunningham would sometimes prefer a movie to another night at the bar — but darts became almost all-consuming. There was hardly time for anything else. For a span of four years, she practiced two to six hours daily — including weekends, and sometimes after 8-hour shifts at work. Isolating herself, Cunningham followed a regimen that required repetition, consistency, and perfect form. When she started the sport, “nobody knew who [she] was.” Emerging from the training, she won the 2012 USA Darts Classic, besting dozens of younger women with far more experience. She was off to London for the World Masters. “When I go to these tournaments, I’m always one of the oldest people in the Bette | 6
Colonials top Saint John’s baseball to claim rivalry bragging rights
shrewsbury | 23
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