Looking back at the past week in Hamilton and Wenham, here are the top stories.  1. Hamilton Selectmen Have No Immediate Plans for Trash Plan Revote The plan to change the way trash, recycling and organics are collected in Hamilton will not be revoted, two members of the Board of Selectmen who support the plan said last week. Town officials are developing educational materials that will be distributed late this year, in advance of the program rollout, likely in March. The plan calls for weekly collection of recyclable material and organics and biweekly collection of trash. The plan is …

Here’s a look at the top five stories in Hamilton and Wenham last week, Nov. 7-13. 1. Wenham Town Administrator is Finalist in Nahant The search committee that is looking for a new town administrator for Nahant announced this week that Jeff Chelgren, Wenham’s town administrator, is one of the three finalists for the position. Chelgren, along with the other two finalists - Lancaster Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco and Saugus Town Manager Andrew Bisignani – will be interviewed by the Nahant Board of Selectmen on Thursday night. 2. Generals Football and Girls’ Cross Country Are Champions …

Here's a look back at the past week in news in Hamilton and Wenham, with the top five stories. 1. Wenham Boil Water Order Lifted After five days, the boil water order was lifted last week in Wenham. The order was put in place on Tuesday afternoon following the discovery of E. Coli in the water. Two back-to-back tests that were completely clean were needed for the boil water order to be lifted and that came last Saturday and Sunday. The Water Department was still searching for what caused the contamination, which may never be known. 2. Generals Football Stays Undefeated The excitement builds …

After Hurricane Irene blew through on Sunday, the other top stories of the past week in Hamilton and Wenham included a top 10 ranking for the school district from Boston magazine and an ongoing discussion about whether both towns should hold Town Meeting on the same day. 1. Hurricane Irene When Hurricane Irene made it to the two towns, it was Tropical Storm Irene. The storm’s impact was limited mostly to some gusty winds and heavy rain. Several thousand electric customers lost power – some for longer than a day – and a home in Wenham was struck by a falling tree branch. Some roads were …

Each Sunday, Hamilton-Wenham Patch takes a look back at the week in local news. Here’s a look at some of the top stories on the two towns in the past week. 1. Two Committees Push For Taller, Narrower War Memorial Design The Wenham War Memorial Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning to discuss a new design – a design that neither the joint building committee nor Historical District Commission favors. Both committees last week voiced the same objections – that the design is too short and wide and few liked having an eagle and globe at the top of the monument. 2. War Memorial Committee …

Each Sunday, Hamilton-Wenham Patch takes a look back at the week in local news. Here’s a look at some of the top stories on the two towns in the past week. 1. New look and size selected for Wenham Town Hall sign Years of discussion and debate came to an end this week when the Historic District Commission and Town Hall and Police Station Building Committee reached agreement on the look and size of a new Wenham Town Hall sign. Right now, the large white sign with black writing simply says “Wenham Town Hall.” The new sign will be smaller and include the town seal at the top and say “erected 1855…

Here's a look back at the five most significant stories in Hamilton and Wenham in the past week. 1. Hamilton Selectmen vote to spend $10,000 on lawsuit challenging the state education funding method A nonprofit group called “Tax Reform for Education” is planning to sue the state government, challenging its method of collecting taxes used to fund education. The group is looking to collect $10,000 for 30 communities to launch the suit and received a commitment last Monday from the Hamilton Board of Selectmen. 2. Post offices escape closure list Even though Hamilton and Wenham – combined – have …

Last week was a very busy week - newswise - in Hamilton and Wenham. Here's a look at the top five stories: 1. Blanchard Resigns from Wenham War Memorial Committee One of the co-chairman of the Wenham War Memorial Committee resigned on Friday, the latest development in the years-running debate about constructing a war memorial in the town center. Bruce Blanchard said it may have been him that was getting in the way of a compromise on the design. Three town committees have been involved in coming up with the design and there has not been agreement on its shape, size and look. 2. Two Interim …

The past week in Hamilton and Wenham featured a variety of news stories. Here's a look at five stories that grabbed the attention of Hamilton-Wenham Patch readers. 1. Lawsuit to Challenge State Education Formula A lawsuit challenging the way the state government collects taxes and funds education is beginning to take shape in Hamilton and Wenham. The group putting together the case used “seed money” from the two towns last year to get the state’s top education attorney to review the case and give it his backing. Now the group is looking to add 30 or more towns to the case. 2. Dunkin Donuts to…

Here's a look back at the past week of news in Hamilton and Wenham, with some of the popular stories from Hamilton-Wenham Patch. Town of Hamilton Moves Money from Danversbank to Salem Five The sale of Danversbank to People’s United Bank of Connecticut last week caused the town of Hamilton to shop around for its banking options. It decided to move three accounts to Salem Five. Two Town Fourth Monday was a day of hot celebration at Patton Park for the Fourth of July. There was the bicycle parade and kids game plus barbecue food. It was a great day of hometown fun. Art Grows Here Preparations …

If you want to get a quick look at what was happening during the past week in Hamilton and Wenham, here’s a look at the top 5 stories. 1. Independence Day preparations The past week was spent largely looking ahead to the three-day holiday weekend, whether it was getting excited for the Two Town Fourth activities, nearby fireworks or getting ready for the big barbecue. And Patch had you covered. 2. Could a combined DPW work? The Boards of Selectmen from both towns plus the School Committee heard a presentation last week about from the Capital Management Committee about the possibility of …

Here's a look back at the top five stories in the past week in Hamilton and Wenham. Special Town Meeting in Hamilton Averted: The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee endorsed a $500,000 so-called “giveback” unanimously on Thursday night, a budget number equal to what Hamilton Town Meeting voters supported in May. That meant that a Special Town Meeting scheduled for Monday night was no longer needed and the 2012 school budget was approved. Wenham War Memorial: The War Memorial Committee and Town Hall-Police Station Building Committee met together on Thursday morning at the urging of the …

Before we dive into Monday, make sure you are all caught up with what happened in town this week. Here are your top 5 stories of the week: Miles River Students Pledge to Fight Bullying -- Hamilton and Wenham Middle School students took a stand against bullying. Way to go Miles River School students! The Generals' Season Comes To End -- The tennis team's playoff run came to a halt last weekend. Check out Patrick Roche's great photos and congratulations to the team on a great season!  Hamilton Starts Converting Old Firehouse into Affordable Residences -- Ground has broken on the site with the …

The week in review in Hamilton-Wenham news, May 30-June 5. 1. Hansbury building is torn down The main building on the so-called Hansbury property in downtown Hamilton was torn down on Thursday. The property has been eyed for redevelopment by town leaders in recent years and last fall Town Meeting voters approved creating an overlay zoning district along Willow Street, and includes the property, to allow some additional mixed uses. The property’s new owner said the building would need major work to be able to be used again and would not be part of any development plans, which still have not …

The Week in Review looks back at the top five stories in Hamilton and Wenham in the past week – May 23-29. 1. Three Incumbents Defeated Thursday’s election in Hamilton knocked out three incumbents who were seeking reelection – Selectman Bill Bowler and School Committee members Richard Boroff and Tess Leary. Roger Kuebel, Bill Dery and Sean Condon were all elected to the nine member School Committee. Jeff Hubbard defeated Bill Bowler for one of the five Selectmen’s seats. Hamilton voters also approved a Proposition 2-1/2 debt exclusion override to pay for the capping of the former landfill. 1…

Here's a look at the top five local stories in Hamilton and Wenham in the past week. 1. Dr. Buchanan Out as School Superintendent This story could take all five “top story” spots in the past week – the “mutual agreement” that School Superintendent Dr. Raleigh Buchanan reached with the School Committee. It has generated an unprecedented amount of interest, while many questions still remain. The agreement was reached on Thursday night after a nearly two-hour long executive session that Buchanan entered with the School Committee but did not return to the meeting. 2. Martins Reelected Wenham …

Here's a look back at the past week of news in Hamilton and Wenham and some of the top stories. 1. An incredibly destructive 8.9 earthquake hit Japan on Friday morning, setting off equally destructive tsunamis. The family of Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School teacher Bill Melville, who live in Japan, were OK. His brother-in-law had a six-hour commute to get home afterward because the trains in Tokyo were not running. 2. One of the four men indicted in 2009 in connection to an investigation into false EMT training records involving the Hamilton police pleaded guilty on Tuesday. Henry …

It was a week full of some big local stories, ranging from the evacuation of the high school on Monday when water leaked into the electrical room to a former local resident winning her own show on Oprah Winfrey’s TV network. All of Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School and Miles River Middle School was evacuated a little less than a half hour before school was regularly scheduled to end on Monday when water got into the electrical room at the high school. Schools returned to normal on Tuesday. Also on Monday, a Wenham firefighter received minor injuries when the fire truck he has just parked …

The temporary closure of a downtown Hamilton restaurant and a thunderstorm gust that knocked out power were among the stories of the past week in Hamilton and Wenham. On Friday night, a tree limb that fell on a branch on Essex Street during a relatively rare mid-winter thunderstorm that had gusts to 40 miles per hour knocked out power to more than 1,000 homes. Power was back on within two hours, but it was one of several widespread power outages to hit Hamilton this winter. At the high school, the seniors on both basketball teams were honored this week during the last home game. The boys’ …

The top story last week in Hamilton-Wenham, and most of eastern Massachusetts – in some cases – was the continued closure of the schools so snow could be removed from the roofs. The elementary schools were able to reopen on Wednesday and the middle and high school on Friday. But after the prolonged closure, it left the projected last day of school deep into June. For middle and high school students, it would have meant going to school until just before July 1. So then, on Thursday, the decision from the Hamilton-Wenham School Committee was to make up four of those days during February break, …