Patch Facts

5 Things To Know on March 18: Info Session for Kindergarten Parents

A great way to start the day with a quick look at the events and happenings in town.

Today is Monday, March 18. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham: 1. Sun: Monday is forecasted to be a sunny day – plain and simple. It should be cool, though, with a high temperature in the mid-30s. 2. Kindergarten: Parents who have enrolled their child in kindergarten next year in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District have an information session scheduled for Monday night.  It runs 7-8 p.m. at Buker Elementary School. 3. Officers: If you want to be a State Trooper, MBTA police officer or police officer in a community that is under civil service, Monday is the deadline to apply for the next exam. The exam is coming up on April 20 and you can apply online. Neither Hamilton or Wenham use civil service, but …

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Police Warn of National Grid Scam That Demands Payment, Threatens Shut-off

National Grid customers have recently been targeted by scammers that threaten payments and shut-off of electricity.

The Hamilton Police Department is warning National Grid customers about an utility bill scam that has emerged in recent days. National Grid said that its electric customers have received telephone calls from people claiming that they work for the company, demanding payment through a pre-paid card. The caller tells customers they have past due balances for electric accounts and threatens them that their service will immediately be shut-off for non-payment. ln some cases the caller also tells the customer that they may have a faulty meter that is dangerous and in need of replacing - at a high cost. National Grid reminds customers that the electric meter is the property of the company and customers are not responsible to replace it. National …

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Hamilton Parking Ban to Begin at Noon

Hamilton has enacted a parking ban starting midday on Friday.

Hamilton has enacted a parking ban that will go into place at noon on Friday. It was announced on Thursday evening at about 7:15 p.m. via a Connect-CTY phone and e-mail message. It is the first time that a townwide parking ban has been enacted since Town Meeting voters approved changing the winter parking rules in October 2011 to a bylaw that bans on-street parking in the winter only when a parking ban is announced based on a forecast for 4 inches or more of snow. The parking ban will remain "until the weather emergency has been lifted," the announcement said. The ban means that on-street parking is banned all over town, except by Fire Department, Police Department, Department of Public Works and "other public safety and public utility …

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Regional Dispatch Decision Reaches a Crossroads

The cost of emergency dispatch could increase by $180,000 if Hamilton stays on its own ion fiscal 2014.

The cost of emergency dispatch is “deeply critical” to any final decision on the fiscal 2014 Hamilton town budget, Finance Advisory Chairman John McWane told Selectmen on Monday night. Hamilton Selectmen are faced with the prospect of a $180,000 increase in costs to stay on its own and continue to offer emergency dispatch from the Hamilton Public Safety Building. Wenham has decided to leave the two-town dispatch center where it has been a member since the 1960s and join the Essex Regional Communications Center, which is under construction in Middleton. The new dispatch center is expected to begin operations this summer. Hamilton now needs to decide whether it wants to join the regional center, go it alone or try to partner with a different…

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Police Plan to 'Stuff a Cruiser' with Toys

Toys will be collected by the Hamilton Police Department to be donated to Boston Children's Hospital.

The Hamilton Police Department plans to stuff a police cruiser next month with toys for patients at Boston Children’s Hospital. The event is planned for Saturday, Dec. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the station, according to Police Chief Russell Stevens. The department asks that the donated toys be unwrapped. In addition to the effort to stuff the cruiser, Santa Claus will be there to meet children and hand out candy canes.

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Patch Facts

Five Things to Know on Nov. 21: School Gets Out Early

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 21. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham: 1. Clouds: Wednesday will be the cloudiest day in a while, but there is not expected to be any precipitation and temperatures will get close to 50 degrees. 2. School: Wednesday is a half day for students in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District, with the elementary schools getting out at 11:15 a.m. and Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School and Miles River Middle School being dismissed at 12:05 p.m. Lunch will not be served. 3. Facebook picture: Wednesday is the final day to have a say on which photo will show up on the top of the Hamilton-Wenham Patch Facebook page. Just leave a comment on the story that shows all of the entries. 4. Police …

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Letter to the Editor: First Responders to Collect Food for Acord on Saturday

For the 19th straight year, police officers, firefighters and dispatchers from Hamilton and Wenham will collect food on Saturday for the Acord Food Pantry.

To the Editor: On Saturday, Nov. 17, police officers, firefighters and dispatchers from Hamilton and Wenham will collect food for Acord Food Pantry. We have done this for 19 years and sincerely appreciate the response from the two communities. Acord needs our support during these difficult economic times. The clients are local people who may need some temporary help or may be some of our seniors whose Social Security check does not cover rising heat and medical costs. These people are our neighbors and Hamilton and Wenham have never failed to reach out and help. Please place your non-perishable, non-expired donation in your recycle box and have it out by 9 a.m. on Saturday. Acord composts all expired food items and recycles all the cans …

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More Than 300 Homes Without Power After Transformer Fire, Power Back by 11:30

Hundreds of homes in Hamilton and 1,500 homes in Essex have lost power on Thursday morning after a transformer fire on Essex Street.

A transformer fire along Essex Street in Hamilton has cut power to more than 300 Hamilton homes on Thursday morning. Another 1,500 homes in Essex are without power too. It happened at about 9:15 a.m. near the intersection of Essex Street and Echo Cove Road, just west of the Essex town line. Both the Hamilton Fire Department and Hamilton Police Department were called there. The outage affects 327 homes along Bridge, Essex and Sagamore streets and many of the side streets in the area, according to National Grid. As of 9:45 a.m., National Grid estimated that power would be restored by 11:30 a.m. A crew was already on scene evaluating the problem and beginning repairs by 10 a.m. For a short time, power was cut to Hamilton-Wenham Regional High …

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Police Chiefs: Safety Concerns Led to Decision to Reschedule Trick-or-Treat

In a Connect-CTY message to residents in Hamilton and Wenham, police chiefs in both town outlines their concerns about safety that led to the decision to reschedule Trick-or-Treating.

In separate phone messages to the residents of Hamilton and Wenham on Wednesday, Hamilton Police Chief Russ Stevens and Wenham Police Chief Tom Perkins both said concern about downed power lines and power outages was behind the decision to reschedule Trick-or-Treating. Instead of Halloween night, Trick-or-Treat will happen in Hamilton and Wenham at the same time on Saturday: 5-8 p.m. Trick-or-Treat faced a separate threat of postponement or rescheduling last week from an evening activity ban in Hamilton that barred any organized outdoor activity from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. because of concern about mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile Virus and Eastern equine encephalitis. But on Wednesday the Hamilton Board of Health lifted that ban in an …

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