Before we begin the new week in earnest, we're taking a look back at the week that was, and the stories that led the news with Taunton Daily Gazette readers.
Top stories this past week included:
Taunton Public Schools Superintendent John Cabral Thursday morning responded to concerns circulating on social media regarding a supposed threat to Taunton Schools. The threat was "determined to be a hoax" and that the threat, which had circulated on Snapchat, did not reference Taunton or any specific Taunton schools, Cabral said in a written statement.
In local sports: 25 Greater Taunton area boys cross country runners to watch this fall, 25 Greater Taunton area girls cross-country runners to watch this fall, 19 Greater Taunton area field hockey players to watch this fall, 25 Greater Taunton area golfers to watch this fall, and 28 Greater Taunton-area girls volleyball players to watch this fall.
The South Shore Charter Public School boys soccer program officially retired the jersey number worn with great distinction by Jason "JJ" Facey Jr. on Monday. Facey was, as athletic director J.P. Marcellus put it, the Jaguars' GOAT — a three-year captain who had 22 assists in just nine league games last fall as a playmaking midfielder and was the school's first athlete to sign an NCAA letter of intent. The 18-year-old Taunton resident died on Aug. 19, struck down by a previously undetected heart ailment after soccer practice at Framingham State University, where he was a freshman.
The Greater Taunton real estate report, featuring a Dighton home that sold for $565,000. The four-bedroom house on Gray Terrace was built in 1970, and features an updated kitchen with island seating, a fireplaced living room, and a bonus room that could be a fifth bedroom. Check out this property, as well as other recent top-sellers .
These were the Top 5 stories of the past week, according to Gazette readers:
Neighbors win, Taunton backs down, won't put TMLP substation on open land
Taunton's City Council voted to keep a parcel of land in north Taunton untouched and placed in conservation status because it represents the only buffer zone separating a neighborhood from the industrial park.
The parcel at 745 John Hancock Rd., owned by the city, was declared surplus and placed into the city’s Marketable Property Program in August 2023 by the Council's Committee on Public Property, with the intent to sell it for development.
Beginning last month, residents on Powderhorn Drive and adjacent streets started gathering in opposition.
Gazette Reporter Daniel Schemer has the story .
Neighbors win: Taunton backs down, won't put TMLP substation on open land. What happened?
Who is victim in Taunton homicide? Brockton 17-year-old who leaves behind 'unborn son'
Kareem Gendraw, who is accused of murdering 17-year-old Khamitri Cole in Taunton, was ordered held without bail at his arraignment Wednesday in Taunton District Court.
Gendraw pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder and carrying an illegal firearm.
According to the Bristol County County District Attorney's Office, Cole was a 17-year-old Brockton resident. Cole's mother created a gofundme to raise money for funeral expenses .
The GoFundMe says Cole "leaves behind his unborn son."
Read the story here , from Gazette Reporter Emma Rindlisbacher.
Who is victim in Taunton homicide?: Brockton 17-year-old who leaves behind 'unborn son'
Accusations of racism fly at Freetown-Lakeville school board, confidential info shared
Freetown-Lakeville school committee member Crystal Ng admitted to sharing confidential information outside of the committee.
And around the time her colleagues were asking questions about the confidential information, Ng accused other members of the committee of sexism and racism: accusations that her colleagues have strenuously denied.
“I am the one who forwarded that document,” Ng said during an Aug. 21 Freetown-Lakeville School Committee meeting.
Ng said at the meeting that she had forwarded the document to Margaret French, the chair of the Freetown Finance Committee .
Freetown-Lakeville School Committee: Accusations of racism fly at Freetown-Lakeville school board, confidential info shared
Who is Ralph Vitacco, the former NY cop who is Dighton's new town administrator?
A longtime official for the town of Sandwich, Ralph Vitacco, was selected by the Dighton Board of Selectmen on Sept. 16 to be Dighton's new town administrator.
Vitacco, a longtime official for the town of Sandwich, said he hopes to officially be assuming his new position by mid to late October .
He also worked for the New York City Police Department from 1986–1995, both as a patrol officer and as an analyst assigned to the Police Commissioner’s Office.
New Dighton town admin: Who is Ralph Vitacco, the former NY cop who is Dighton's new town administrator?
Dighton voters face stark choice: Debt exclusions or 'town services will be clobbered'
On Election Day, Nov. 5, Dighton residents will have not one but two Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusions to vote on: For the town’s share of the construction of the new Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical High School in Taunton; and the town’s share of the multi-million dollar renovations Bristol County Agricultural High School in Dighton has undergone in the last four years.
Interim Town Administrator James Purcell made it clear at a Sept. 16 public informational forum that voting "no" on the debt exclusions doesn’t mean the town’s off the hook. Dighton will be paying, no matter what.
The question the voters have is whether it will be for 30 years through an increase in property taxes, or through austere cuts to town services over the decades if the debt exclusions fail .
Dighton voters face stark choice: Debt exclusions or 'town services will be clobbered'
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Top stories: Taunton backs down on land parcel; Dighton to vote on debt exclusion
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