Plymouth Independent

11/21/2025

Coughlin stepping down as Beth Israel Deaconess Plymouth president: He has been in charge at the hospital since 2016.

The top job is open at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth. Kevin Coughlin, president for the past nine years, will retire from that post early next year or after a successor is found. While the hospital made no public announcement of his planned departure, Coughlin has reportedly been telling f...

11/21/2025

After a year of frustration, a grieving father’s wish is granted. Without discussion, the Select Board OK’d memorial benches for Brent and Matthew Berkeley, both of whom died under tragic circumstances.

David Berkeley has spent nearly a year focused on one thing: Receiving permission from the town to install public benches in memory of his two late sons. On Tuesday, without discussion or fanfare, the Select Board voted 4-0 to approve memorial applications for benches in remembrance of Matthew Scott...

11/20/2025

Plymouth home sales ticked up in October: Nearly half of the deals were at or above the asking price.

With the approach of winter, home sales go into semi-hibernation. At least, that’s what has happened historically. But in recent years the market – like winter weather – has defied traditional patterns. With demand outstripping supply, prices rising, and many homeowners staying put because the...

11/20/2025

Plymouth Foundation unveils $500,000 improvement program for businesses: The nonprofit will subsidize facades, landscaping, painting, and other work.

The Plymouth Foundation is launching a façade improvement grant program for businesses downtown and along the waterfront. The private nonprofit foundation is committing $500,000 of its funds for the program and will make matching grants of up to $50,000 for applicants who seek to improve their prop...

11/19/2025

Fernandes seeks to halt venting of radioactive v***r at Pilgrim: He’s calling for a study of the practice by Holtec, which maintains the state has said is ‘allowable.’

State Senator Dylan Fernandes has introduced legislation that would prevent Holtec Decommissioning International from venting radioactive v***r at the former Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Manomet until state officials can evaluate the potential effect on Plymouth and surrounding communities. “We ...

11/19/2025

Plymouth contractor gets nine-month jail term: Steven Docchio pleaded guilty to bilking customers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A Plymouth home improvement contractor bilked Massachusetts homeowners out of more than $500,000, collecting deposits on swimming pools and other projects and never completing the work, Plymouth County allege. Steven Docchio, 59, was sentenced to nine months in jail Tuesday after pleading guilty to....

11/18/2025

Land bank seen as a way to rein in development: Meantime, the ZBA is urged to reject a permit for a controversial 163-unit condo project.

As town officials fight against a maligned 40b condominium project proposed for North Plymouth, they are working on a separate plan that would help them gain control over future development in Plymouth. A statehouse committee this week is scheduled to review the town’s land bank proposal, which To...

11/17/2025

Here’s what you need to know about Thanksgiving parade weekend. Plus, ‘Nuremberg’ at Plimoth Cinema, a new show at the Plymouth Center for the Arts, the National Day of Mourning, and much more.

You’re invited to submit a listing for this column: It’s easy. Email your information to [email protected] at least 10 days in advance. A good quality photo without type on the image – sent as a jpeg attachment – helps. People love a parade, even in November. Last year the Ame...

11/15/2025

Our latest Your Art Here submission is from frequent contributor Bob Warner. “I was up early to shoot photos at Whip’s Farm along Sandwich Road [on a recent] morning,” he writes. “Here’s one of the many images I captured as the sun was coming up.”

11/15/2025

How did a giant wind turbine blade end up in a bog? Questions remain more than week after the Nov. 7 incident. The town says it is not responsible for the safety of such installations.

A week after a blade from a 300-foot-tall wind turbine fell into a cranberry bog on Head of the Bay Road, RWE, the company that owns the project, says it’s already begun an “exhaustive” analysis of the incident with Spanish company Siemens Gamesa, which built and maintains the equipment.  “...

11/14/2025

What is the Plymouth Foundation all about? Here’s a primer on how the powerful private nonprofit came to be, and what it’s doing across town.

After nearly 25 years of working mostly behind the scenes, the Plymouth Foundation ran into a public buzzsaw on Hedges Pond Road last year.  Perhaps “chainsaw” is the better metaphor. The clear-cutting of trees across 30-plus rolling acres and the ongoing removal of sand and gravel to level the...

11/14/2025

The Plymouth Foundation mostly works out of the public eye. Its backers say that’s a good thing. The private nonprofit was created to promote development that benefits the town. Critics believe its secretive nature doesn’t allow residents to weigh in soon enough.

Should a private entity do the public’s business behind closed doors? The Plymouth Foundation was created in 2001 to straddle the worlds of public policy and private development. (Read a primer on how the foundation came to be and evolved.) But that approach is being questioned by some because of ...