Plymouth Independent

12/18/2025

In a 3-2 vote, the Select Board decides not to support modified e-bike regulations.

Plymouth electric bike riders can keep cycling freely after the Select Board Tuesday rejected proposed regulations that would have set conditions on the bikes’ use. The board voted 3-2 against submitting an e-bike bylaw to spring Town Meeting — even after proponents offered a watered-down versio...

12/18/2025

With tax revenues flattening, is Plymouth facing a looming budget crisis? Rising costs - including for health insurance and GLP-1 drugs - prompts mention of potential layoffs and maybe even an override.

Whenever discussion of a budget includes the mention of potential layoffs and an tax override, alarm bells sound. That’s what happened during Tuesday’s Select Board meeting, where members and Town Manager Derek Brindisi raised the specter of a Proposition 2 1/2 override and layoffs within one or...

12/17/2025

This Your Art Here submission is a photograph of Halfway Pond by Sam Cotter. He took it during the Dec. 14 snowfall.

12/17/2025

At long last, bye bye Bert’s: Nearly 13 years after it closed, and following months of delays, demolition of the decaying building gets underway.

The demolition of Bert’s, the abandoned restaurant at the beginning of Plymouth Beach, finally got under way Tuesday as a backhoe began ripping the structure apart. The razing came after months of delays. “It’s been an eyesore,” said Mike Shine, who owns a nearby cottage and used to have din...

12/16/2025

Sheriff says ICE detainees better off in Plymouth jail: In a letter to the Select Board, McDonald says it allows them to be closer to their families. More than 500 are being held here.

Responding to calls to stop housing ICE detainees at the jail off Long Pond Road, Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald Tuesday said the men are better off here than out of state — away from their families – as they confront possible deportation. In a letter to the Plymouth Select Board, McDon...

12/16/2025

Police seize crack, fentanyl worth up to $1 million: Six suspects, including a former downtown bar bouncer, face drug charges.

Plymouth drug detectives seized hundreds of grams of crack co***ne and a kilogram of fentanyl potentially worth more than $1 million in a series of drug busts last week. Four men are being held without bail, including a former bouncer at the Main Street Sports Bar & Grill, until hearings to decide w...

12/15/2025

This Your Art Here submission is a photograph from Helen Churchill. “The goal of this shot was to show the sun shining through the glass beads of my homemade tree,” she writes. “The shadow it cast was a happy accident that ‘makes’ the shot more than just a record of a crafty thing I made.”

12/15/2025

Holiday ‘crawl’ aims to give local businesses a boost: Plus, a ‘Hall-a-Day Stroll’ at Town Hall, a ‘Merry Afternoon’ at Plimoth Patuxet, a Celtic Christmas show at Memorial Hall, and many more happenings.

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. It’s a way to support local businesses while going on a...

12/12/2025

ZBA member wants to develop land near proposed North Plymouth condos: As a result, Tom Wallace will not vote on the controversial Pulte project.

It’s one of the most spectacular pieces of real estate in all of Plymouth, with beach frontage and expansive ocean views. It’s also just a few steps from where Pulte Homes wants to build a six-story 40b condominium project on Sandri Drive in North Plymouth.   It was on the market earlier this y...

12/11/2025

An architect’s take on Memorial Hall: We deserve better. A Band-Aid approach to the deteriorating venue will only waste money.

You’ve undoubtedly read the news that Plymouth’s aging Memorial Hall needs expensive emergency repairs just to deal with its latest water problems. A debate is underway on whether to spend a lot more money to renovate it or raze it. As both a “townie” who has enjoyed many memorable events in...

12/11/2025

At North Plymouth meeting, residents decry ICE tactics: Select Board says it will consider whether to adopt a policy regarding the agency’s presence in town.

Opinions on encounters between North Plymouth residents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dominated an emotionally charged Select Board session at Cold Spring Elementary School Tuesday evening. In all, 18 residents spoke about whether the board should take a formal position in resp...

12/09/2025

Our latest contribution to Your Art Here is an acrylic (gouache) on canvas from Eugene Skrzypczyk. “I was inspired when I saw a child walking in Brooklyn and reading a book as she walked,” he writes.