The Town Minute

04/27/2026

Sturbridge Annual Town Meeting Tonight (4/27) at 7PM - Tantasqua High School

The Select Board approved a $150,000 Route 20 pump station design study, approved the location of a new Liberty Elm on the Town Common, supported several final Special Town Meeting article amounts, and raised follow-up questions about ARPA-funded town plantings.

04/14/2026

Sturbridge election results (unofficial) are in.

Here are your winners from today’s Annual Town Election:

Board of Selectmen (2 seats)
Kadion Phillips
MaryLou Volpe

Assessor
Moira McGrath

Sturbridge School Committee (2 seats)
Mary Bridget Burns
Whitney Goodwin

Tantasqua School Committee (2 seats)
Edward P. Goodwin
Karen Kowal

Constable
Constantine Economos

Board of Health
3-year: Linda Cocalis
2-year: Sarah McGee

Recreation Committee (2 seats)
Krysta Crouse
Jeffrey Shapiro

Zoning Board of Appeals
Elizabeth Banks

Library Trustees (3 seats)
Sandra Gibson Quigley
Elissa Krochmalnyckyj
Jessica Colati

Turnout was 1,289 votes out of 7,873 registered voters (~16%).

Link to official document in comments

04/11/2026

Election Day is on Monday (4/13), and we put together candidate Q&As to help Sturbridge voters hear directly from the people running for local office.

This week, The Town Minute published Q&As for:
• Select Board
• School Committee
• Board of Health

If you want a faster, easier way to get up to speed before voting, these are a great place to start.

Links to each Q&A in the comments.

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04/07/2026

Sturbridge’s town election is Monday, April 13.

If you’re voting this year, here’s everything in one place — clear, consistent, and easy to read. Six questions, asked the same way to each candidate

School Committee Q&A → https://www.thetownminute.com/p/sturbridge-school-committee-q-a-what-the-candidates-say-before-election-day

Select Board Committee Q&A → dropped Monday (link in comments)

Board of Health Q&A → Drops Wednesday

All responses are published in full (or clearly labeled if a candidate did not submit responses), with links to source material where available.

The goal is simple: make it easier to understand what’s happening, what candidates are saying, and what decisions are ahead.

Three candidates are running. Here’s what Mary Bridget Burns, Amanda Hellyar, and Whitney Goodwin had to say. With the April 13 town election approaching, Sturbridge voters will choose two candidates for School Committee from a field of three: Mary Bridget Burns, Amanda Hellyar, and Whitney Goodwi...

04/06/2026

Sturbridge’s town election is Monday, April 13.

If you’re voting this year, here’s everything in one place — clear, consistent, and easy to read:

Select Board Q&A — six questions, asked the same way to each candidate → https://www.thetownminute.com/p/sturbridge-select-board-q-a-what-the-candidates-say-before-election-day -lou-volpe

School Committee Q&A → Drops Tuesday

Board of Health Q&A → Drops Wednesday

All responses are published in full (or clearly labeled if a candidate did not submit responses), with links to source material where available.

The goal is simple: make it easier to understand what’s happening, what candidates are saying, and what decisions are ahead.

Sturbridge Select Board Q&A: Three candidates answer voter questions before the April 13 election. Learn where Blanchard, Phillips, and Volpe stand on key issues.

04/06/2026

Sturbridge voters will choose up to two Select Board members on April 13.

MaryLou Volpe did not submit responses to The Town Minute’s Q&A by the publication deadline (it was a holiday weekend), but we’ve included a public statement from her campaign along with her remarks from the March forum.

Here’s an excerpt from MaryLou Volpe.

Read the full Select Board guide here: Link in comments

04/06/2026

Sturbridge voters will choose up to two Select Board members on April 13.

As part of The Town Minute’s Q&A, we asked each candidate the same six questions.

Here’s one excerpt from Kadion Phillips.

Read the full Select Board Q&A - Link in Comments

04/06/2026

Sturbridge voters will choose up to two Select Board members on April 13.

As part of The Town Minute’s Q&A, we asked each candidate the same six questions.

Here’s one excerpt from Charlie Blanchard.

Read the full Select Board Q&A - Link in Comments

04/02/2026

After The Town Minute’s summary of the Meet the Candidates event, which went out to subscribers on Tuesday, we're now putting together a Candidate Q&A series ahead of the April 13 election.

The event summary was meant to give residents a clear overview of who’s running and what was discussed that night. This next series is a deeper dive - giving candidates more room to speak directly about their goals, priorities, and how they’re thinking about the decisions ahead.

We’ve already started sending questions to candidates in the contested races, and assuming responses come in by the deadline, the plan is:

Monday: Select Board
Tuesday: School Committee
Wednesday: Board of Health

If you know someone running in a contested race who may not have seen this yet, feel free to forward this to them so they know they’re welcome to participate.

And if you know neighbors who want this kind of local election coverage, please forward this to them too so they can subscribe and get it sent right to their inbox.

Subscribe here:

The Town Minute, a civic digest focused on clear, unbiased summaries of local government in Sturbridge, MA.

03/30/2026

Sturbridge... big week for our community!

Over 3 days, we're publishing:

1. Sunday: FY27 budget breakdown

2. Monday: Finance Committee 3/26 meeting summary

3. Tuesday: Meet the Candidates voter guide

If you’ve ever felt like town government is important but too hard to keep up with, that’s exactly why I’m building The Town Minute.

Subscribe here and get everything sent directly to your inbox:
https://www.thetownminute.com/

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