BOSTON—A former North Haverhill fuel seller has been indicted by a federal grand jury for his role in an $8 million fraud case.
John Pigsley, 54, and an accomplice have been charged for defrauding the company that operates the MBTA commuter rail system in Boston. Prosecutors allege that the pair engaged in a false invoicing scheme between 2014 and 2021.
BRADFORD—The Oxbow Unified Union School District finalized its annual meeting warrant on March 29.
The proposed budget for the district’s four schools in 2023-2024 is $18,396,315. It’s a 5.15% spending increase over the current year, but projections show tax rates increasing by 1.6% and .4% in Bradford and Newbury, respectively.
BURLINGTON—A federal judge has ruled a St. Johnsbury man charged with abducting and sexually assaulting a woman four years ago is entitled to see the terms of an out-of-court settlement with the former owners of a drug rehabilitation center in Bradford.
Everett A. Simpson, 45, said he wants access to the payment terms between the woman and Valley Vista, where he had escaped before the reported abduction and sexual assault in January 2019.
WOODSVILLE—The Haverhill Selectboard appointed Katie Williams as chair and Michael Graham as vice chair at a meeting on March 27.
The board held its first regular meeting since town meeting when Phil Blanchard and Joe Longacre were both elected to the board for the first time. The board has been without a chair since Fred Garofalo resigned in January. Vice chair Steve Robbins lost his bid for re-election last month.
WELLS RIVER—Canine support staff could soon be permanent fixtures at half a dozen area schools. Last month, several Orange East Supervisory Union staff and their dogs completed a training after Blue Mountain Union had trialed a therapy dog at its library.
NEWBURY—The Oxbow Unified Union School District will seek grant funding to purchase two new wood pellet boilers for Newbury Elementary School. During a school board meeting last week, the board approved moving forward with the grant application.
BRADFORD—Meeting on March 23, the first time since town meeting elections, the Bradford Selectboard unanimously voted Meroa Benjamin as chair. She takes over from Dan Perry III, who remains on the board as vice chair.
PIERMONT—Voters nixed an article that would have permitted students to attend any high school they can enter (provided their parents or guardians pay all tuition above the district’s cap) at the annual school district meeting on the evening of March 21.
The failure of article 4 on the annual meeting warrant, however, prompted the passage of article 5 which raised the tuition cap.
ORFORD—Residents from four towns in two states came together on March 21 at the Rivendell Academy gymnasium in Orford for the district’s first in-person annual meeting since 2019. The $14,748,296 operating budget was approved 134-111 in a paper ballot vote, but not before extensive discussion, and pointed criticism of the school board, on the proposal.
BRADFORD—After a nearly 20-year hiatus, the Expo returns to River Bend Career and Technical Center this weekend on March 31 from 3 to 8 p.m. and April 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Bradford.