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HOPKINTON INDEPENDENT Vol. 27 | No. 14 | July 1, 2026
Van Raalten named interim police chief By Mary Ellen Gambon Staff Writer
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PHOTO/WILLIAM DURFEE
he Select Board on June 16 took steps toward replacing current Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett by selecting a search committee for his successor and appointing Deputy Chief Scott van Raalten interim chief. Bennett was set to retire June 30, capping a 35-year career in law enforcement, nearly all of which has been spent in Hopkinton. “We are very excited and also cautious as to how we go about selecting our next chief of police,” said chair Shahidul Mannan. To ensure public involvement in the hiring process, the Select Board on May 5 discussed having a screening committee comprised of six residents and six Town Hall staff members, as well as Kizner and a School Committee member. Former chair Joe Clark championed this idea. He proposed using a municipal consulting firm in conjunction with a community process
VINTAGE VEHICLE
Jack LeDuc poses with his 1931 Ford Model A, featuring a fourcylinder flathead engine, during the inaugural Golden Pond Car Show held June 20 at the assisted living community on West Main Street.
Police Chief | 12
INSIDE
Year after FND diagnosis, local teen speaks at Harvard
COMMUNITY
By Mary Ellen Gambon Staff Writer
Planning underway for new-look July 4 parade
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Eli Marshall | 10
NEWS
PHOTO/TINA MARSHALL
ast May, Eli Marshall, then 12 years old, experienced one of the most exciting — and frightening — times in his life. As he prepared for a Memorial Day weekend baseball tournament, he began to experience sudden, uncontrollable twitches. “This time last year, things started getting weird,” he said in a recent interview with the Independent that included his mother, Tina Marshall. “It wasn’t like a sports injury where I felt a pop or a snap.” This May, Eli spoke at Harvard Medical School’s Pediatric Mind-Body
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Hopkinton’s Eli Marshall recently spoke at Harvard Medical School’s Pediatric MindBody Symposium about functional neurologic disorder. He was designated as a faculty member at that time.
Center School reuse project ‘looking good’
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SCHOOLS
Survey results mixed on schedule changes
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