West Harwich
LATEST NEWS
WLRP Langauge Classes & Additional Resources
This fall WLRP is offering a variety of classes tailored to different levels of learners, from beginners to more advanced speakers. Whether you’re just starting your journey or looking to build on existing skills, there is something for everyone. Classes will not only cover language mechanics but also immerse you in the cultural context that makes our language so unique and vibrant. Please keep an eye on your inbox or the Class and Event Schedule on the WLRP website for detailed information about class schedules and registration. As a reminder, eligibility for classes is for Mashpee, Aquinnah, Assonet and Herring Pond enrolled Tribal citizens and/or members of their household (Tribal or non-Tribal).
Big Wamp Breakfast September 5th
The Senior Travel Club will be having breakfast for sale at the Community and Government Center beginning at 9:30 AM. Breakfast is $10 and includes: ham or sausage, pancakes, eggs, home fries, baked beans, muffin, toast, or blueberry buckle, juice, and coffee. Please consider purchasing to support the Senior Travel Club.
Jenaya Perry Joins Mashpee Public Schools
Tribal member and former Powwow Princess Jenaya Perry has accepted a position as a paraprofessional at MMHS. Jenaya says she is excited to be a role model for the students in the same way that her teachers were when she was in school. Jenaya is the granddaughter of tribal elder Marlene Perry, a former teacher who worked with the Mashpee Public Schools for 20 years. Congratulations Jenaya! We hope to see more Wampanoag teachers in the school system for years to come.
Homeowners Assistance Fund Applications Open
The Homeowners Assistance Fund (H.A.F) program provides tribal members with a payment of up to $2,000 to assist with mortgage payments (current or arrears), utility payments, or property taxes. This service cannot pay applicants directly. This program is on a first-come, first-serve basis until all funds have been exhausted. Applicants can apply once every 12 months until the program ends on September 30th, 2026, or until funds are exhausted. H.A.F is open to all enrolled Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Members across the United States. The income for this program is based on 150% of median income. For a one-person household that would be a yearly income of $171,000. The application can be found on the tribal website. Please contact the Housing Department for additional information about this program.
Moving towards a preferred design for the new Lexington High School
LexObserver Columnist Gerry Yurkevicz will be providing regular updates and analysis related to the Lexington High School building project. Fall promises to be an active season for the Lexington High School Building Project (LHS). There will be numerous opportunities for residents to weigh-in with their thoughts on the estimated $600+ million project. The School Building Committee (SBC) will hold scores of meetings with community and stakeholder groups to obtain feedback on the project, which is projected to raise property taxes by 10-14%. The SBC is expected to vote on November 12 to determine the preferred design concept to be included in the Preferred Schematic Report (PSR) to be submitted for approval to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).
Mashpee Recieves Over $1M For Santuit Pond Resilience Treatments
Mashpee has been named the recipient of nearly $1.7 million for town landing improvements to increase resilience to harmful algal blooms in Santuit Pond. In a press release dated August 1, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced that it is awarding $52.4 million in grants to various communities in Massachusetts to bolster climate resiliency measures. It is the most funding ever awarded through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program (MVP). One of the awardees is Mashpee, which is set to receive $1,669,956 for increasing resilience to harmful algal blooms in Santuit Pond, something both the town and the Tribe have been working toward for a number of years.
Wampanoag Experience Powwow October 5th
The Wampanoag Experience Powwow, hosted at Round the Bend Farm, will take place on October 5th beginning at 10:00 AM. The event is being organized by tribal members Toodie Coombs, Kitty Hendricks, and Annawon Weeden. This year the powwow will focus on highlighting Native skills and practices, history, food, and...
Broadband Update Moved to October
The Broadband Task Force along with World Wide Technology LLC and their partner Fujitsu, will be providing an overview of the Mashpee Wampanoag Broadband project during the October General Membership Meeting. They plan on providing an update on the project and answer questions from the community. All community members who are interested in learning more about the project are encouraged to attend.
Runners are used to toughing it out. A warming climate can make that deadly
Carolyn Baker, clad in a neon pink top and matching sunglasses, smiled as she ran the Falmouth Road Race on the shore of Cape Cod, looking around for friends as she neared the end of a race she’d completed more than a dozen times before. Suddenly, Baker collapsed, as her exertion on a sunny August day sent her internal temperature soaring. As medical volunteers rushed to her aid by plunging her into a tub filled with ice water, they measured it at nearly 107 degrees (41.6 Celsius). For family members, the first sign of trouble was when their tracking app showed Baker moving backward on the course — as she was taken to the medical tent. Her husband, catching up with friends after finishing earlier, blurted “Oh my god,” after his daughter called to alert him, then rushed to the tent. The heatstroke that felled Baker last year is a deadly illness associated with extreme heat, and climate change is worsening the risk. In the continental U.S., the frequency of dangerously hot days is expected to grow by roughly one-third by mid-century.
Vineyard plan to tax $1M-plus real estate transactions gets a boost from Mass. House
The Massachusetts House advanced one of the most hot-button housing policies of the session on Thursday -- but only for six towns and at a session attended by fewer than 10 state representatives. The chamber gave initial approval to a bill sponsored by Rep. Dylan A. Fernandes’, D-Barnstable/Dukes/Nantucket, allowing Martha’s...
CBP Let a Man Whose Bag Tested Positive For a Highly Sensitive Homemade Explosive at Boston Logan Airport Leave the United States… He’s Now Wanted For Bomb-Making Activities
The Department of Homeland Security allowed a man whose checked-in luggage tested positive for a highly sensitive and dangerous homemade explosive at Boston Logan International Airport to get on an international flight to Paris. The man is now wanted by the FBI for bomb-making activities. Aram Brunson from Newton, Massachusetts,...
Take a look at the latest home sale prices in Plymouth
The housing market in Plymouth – as in most of Massachusetts – remains tight, with high prices and low inventory. But there are signs that conditions for prospective buyers are improving – at least slightly. Mortgage rates have already dropped in advance of an all but certain benchmark rate cut coming from the Federal Reserve in September. At the same time, price increases seem to be moderating. In a few instances, there have even been price cuts for Plymouth homes that have remained on the market for months.
Student Government Association President advises new Saints to embrace the experience
Politics has always fascinated Benjamin Harrison Paluk ‘25. In two years at Emmanuel College, he’s pursued that interest to the peak of student leadership and career connections at the State House. Looking ahead to the fall semester, the recently elected president of the Student Government Association (SGA) advised...
Further review of Milton Marketplace restaurant
The owners of Milton Marketplace will again go before the Planning Board to undergo further review of their plans to use a newly enclosed second floor patio and staircase spaces exclusively for a new restaurant. The Planning Board took the owners to task in a letter after members were surprised...
Once a student, now a teacher. Who's new, and who is back at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech
On Tuesday, Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School Principal Warley Williams welcomed about 20 new teachers to the school in his fourth school year, including some who rose through the ranks from teacher’s assistant to teacher positions following teacher retirements. “It’s really exciting to bring in some new staff,” he said. “We have one of our youngsters who was a student here who graduated in 2017 who is a teacher so that’s really exciting,”...
Inmates prepare lunch at the Fife and Drum: a unique and affordable dining experience
For most local residents, the herd of cows grazing in the pasture overlooking the Concord rotary is a familiar sight. However, motorists on Route 2 may not be aware that this property is part of the Northeastern Correctional Center (NECC), which is a minimum-security and pre-release facility that houses about 200 male prisoners. While it is part of the Massachusetts prison system, it is separate from the recently-closed Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord, which is located on the other side of the rotary.
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