Latest Globelocal headlines

Costly new projects in Belmont, Needham, and other towns could price some elderly out of their homes. Are there ways to ease the burden?

Three of the five US Presidential Scholar nominees for career and technical education student come from north of Boston.

The Needham Education Fund recently announced the recipients of 16 grants totaling $67,553.

A husband and wife team brings family and heritage to their Venezuelan and Middle-Eastern restaurant.

Read two views and vote in our informal online poll.

The change will mean that all the city’s kindergartners will follow the same school schedule as elementary students in grades 1 to 5.

The property, built in 1932, includes 9.4 acres and has 10 bedrooms, 11 baths, 13 fireplaces, and a private beach on 1,800 feet of waterfront.

The public hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17, in Weymouth Town Hall.

Stoughton selectmen will explain their plans for paying for a new public safety building at their Dec. 18 meeting, and they also hope to convince the public of the pressing need for the project.

The Bedford Planning Board recently gave a green light to a developer to construct a mixed-use commercial development.

Wellesley residents interested in running for a local office or as a Town Meeting member may take out nomination papers for the annual town election next spring, the town said in a statement.

The Boxborough Police Department recently was accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission.

A local hospital has found a way to relieve some of the stress children can experience going to the emergency room.

Somerville is holding a community meeting on Monday, Dec. 17, to tell residents about the remaining work that is set to be done at Lincoln Park.

The state Department of Transportation is preparing to launch a study into ways to improve public transportation in Lynn.

More than 1,000 Thanksgiving meal packages were distributed by Interfaith Social Services to families in Quincy, Weymouth, and Randolph over two days.

More than 30 Girl Scouts from Eastern Massachusetts were chosen to attend Michelle Obama’s book tour stop at TD Garden, including six from Lawrence.

Siemens Healthineers has cut the ribbon on a new factory and research and development facility for laboratory diagnostic devices at its East Walpole campus.

Read two views and vote in our informal online poll.

Newton electric customers will have the option to get some or all of their power from renewable sources through a green energy contract signed by the mayor.

Framingham residents head to the polls on Tuesday, Dec. 11, to take up a proposed tax increase for the construction of a new Fuller Middle School.

Ashland voters approved a land purchase that officials said will give the town control over much of the remaining portion of its Rail Transit District.

Stoneham will add four new firefighters with the help of new funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Andrea Locke and Jennifer Gilson recently graduated from the Municipal Police Training Committee’s Reading Police Academy.

The agreement also will include the Medford Recreation Department and expand programming at the Gene Mack Gym.

Safe Harbor Cohasset Coalition invites the public to a Dec. 13 forum in Cohasset that will zero in on the opioid epidemic on the South Shore and its impact on local families.

The Board of Selectmen is no more; moving forward, the elected officials will be known as the “Select Board.”

Read two views and vote in our informal online poll.

At the Ipswich Public Library, a manner magistrate from the New England School of Protocol will teach manners and social confidence to children in grades 3 to 5.

A doctor who treated Ebola in Liberia will read from his book on Sunday, Dec. 2, in Cohasset.

The city was awarded a $399,820 state Complete Streets grant to fund the construction near its new J. Henry Higgins Middle School.

Work began in May and was completed three weeks ahead of schedule in July.

The Georgetown, Groveland, and Newbury fire departments will split a $629,254 regional grant for new breathing apparatus.

Brookline Town Meeting members are scheduled to cast their votes Dec. 13 on proposals to fund design work for projects at the Driscoll and Baldwin schools.

Framingham recently invited recreational and medical marijuana businesses interested in locating in the city to apply for host agreements through a newly launched web page.

Members of the Hills Garden Club of Wellesley and town officials recently celebrated the completion of a project to build a landscape labyrinth at Elm Park.

Officials will try again to get town approval to build an artificial turf field at Hull High School at an estimated cost of $1.8 million.

Each nonperishable food item will erase $1 in fines, and all the goods will be donated to the Easton Food Pantry.

The old police station operated out of a 200-year-old building renovated in the 1930s, sharing the space with the Plymouth County Fourth District Court.

Read two views and vote in our informal online poll.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell was one-upped in true Oprah style.

A nonprofit committed to preventing homelessness in southern Massachusetts unveiled “Montello Welcome Home Again.”

Fotis’s passion for his homeland’s food is infectious: “I love to cook and spent my whole life in kitchens of many kinds,” he said.

Through Dec. 9, visitors can view over 65 decorated trees and a model train and holiday village collection at the 10th Annual Festival of Trees in Wellesley.

Within the next few weeks, the group will open a new restaurant – named Cove - at the Cohasset Harbor Inn.

Bird Park in Walpole is hosting a wintry hide-and-seek — the Bird Park Reindeer Quest, from Dec. 1 to Jan. 6 — when four wooden reindeer sculptures will hide in the 89-acre park.

Starting March 1, stores in Scituate will no longer be allowed to provide plastic bags at checkout.

Framingham recently granted Zagster a license to bring its Pace bike sharing service on a pilot basis to the city.

The project involved diverting storm-water runoff into two new retension basins at the intersection of Egerton and Herbert roads.

Residents who want to know more about marijuana can attend a public session with experts on the subject.