Latest Globelocal headlines

The School Committee rejected a proposal from high school principal Marc Talbot to make the award-winning, 137-member marching band optional.

The project involved replacing the 484 existing balcony seats with wider, more conformable seats. A high-end seating area with opera box seats also was added.

Police Chief Craig Davis is retiring after six years as chief and 34 years in municipal law enforcement.

Quincy’s annual Lunar New Year Festival continues to grow in popularity in the community, attracting more people every year.

The Vietnamese restaurant celebrates a second location in Newton Centre.

Read two views and vote in our informal online poll.

The 300 acres targeted for restoration serve as a key environmental buffer, protecting neighboring communities and valuable habitat, according to the Trustees of Reservations.

The Board of Selectmen recently agreed to seek an estimated $750,000 from Town Meeting in May for the $1.1 million project.

The Metrowest YMCA’s plans to build a new regional full-service branch took a major step forward when a local developer gifted land in Ashland for the facility.

Andover’s John Rex swept the weight throws for Bates at the Maine State Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Gather is on Route 27 in the Bryantville area of Pembroke with its many large lakes and rural feel.

Newton officials will hold an open house Sunday, Feb. 10, to kick off a planning effort for the MBTA’s Riverside Station.

Traditional Celtic and American folk music will fill the Old Sloop Coffeehouse at First Congregational Church in Rockport on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m.

The city of Newton will offer federal workers who were furloughed by the recent partial shutdown of the federal government an extension to pay their water, sewer, and storm-water bills.

Framingham State University recently announced plans to offer a fully online Master of Business Administration program aimed at working professionals who cannot easily travel to campus.

The project involves removing the existing high pressure sodium lamps in street lights throughout the city and replacing them with longer-lasting LED lamps.

The proposed creation of a new Innovation School in Somerville cleared another major hurdle when the Somerville Teachers Association last month voted to ratify an agreement regarding the plan.

Kakawa Chocolate House promotes the history and anthropology of chocolate through its “explosive” flavors.

Get your jam on at the “Valentines on Broadway” benefit concert for the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra.

The 44th annual Boston Science Fiction Film Festival kicks off Feb. 8 and runs through Feb. 18 at the historic Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square.

Lincoln’s Council on Aging, in partnership with a local senior housing facility, is undertaking a new initiative to prevent homelessness in town.

A familiar face in Lynnfield is moving on. After 44 years as superintendent of the Lynnfield Center Water District, Kenneth Burnham retired Jan. 2.

Overdose deaths are down in Weymouth — to 11 in 2018, from 38 the year before — thanks in part to a collaborative effort by the police, fire, school and public health departments, officials say.

Big Bear Cafe + Espresso Bar offers carefully crafted espresso drinks, teas, and something good to eat.

Gamers are invited to vanquish as many zombies as possible in a new virtual-reality arcade game in Kingston.

The Danforth at Framingham State University is set to begin holding art classes on Tuesday, Jan. 22, in newly renovated space.

The program began with 300 participating households and expanded to 600 by the spring of 2018.

Residents are invited to hear an update on the proposed high school building project at a community forum on Jan. 14.

The Pilgrim Festival Chorus in Plymouth is hosting open auditions on Mondays, Jan. 14, and Jan. 21.

The Lupoli Family School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts is expected to open in downtown Haverhill in 2019.

Watertown residents are invited to offer their ideas on how to improve parking in the town’s two primary retail centers.

Michael Kelleher starts work on Jan. 18, when Chief Roger Hatfield retires.

Six mayors who took office last January described their cities’ challenges, some first-year surprises, and their goals for the future. Meanwhile, what do more seasoned mayors foresee in 2019? We asked two of them as well.

The United Way of Greater Plymouth County distributed more than $12,000 in winterwear to children through its Warmer Winters Fund.

Luxury suites at Tyngsborough’s new Best Friends Pet Hotel include “Pet Chatz,” so that pet parents can Facetime their furry friends and give out treats through a mobile application.

Salem State University and North Shore Community College are working to ease the associate’s-to-bachelor’s transfer process.

Read two views and vote in our informal online poll.

MassDevelopment issued a $96.5 million bond to support the construction project that is being undertaken by the private liberal arts college for women.

Steven D. Trask formally assumed his role as Framingham’s new police chief in a ceremony on Dec. 17.

The Westwood Public Library is diving into the 1919 Boston Molasses Flood disaster with a series of free public events in January.

The Fire Department started the new year with a new fire chief: former deputy chief John Cadegan.

Claiming there are “grave inequities,” the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents is inviting area residents to hear more at a public forum in Malden on Tuesday, Jan. 8.

With the help of new funding, Lawrence General Hospital will be able to provide added assistance to pregnant women who are addicted to opiates.

The US Department of Homeland Security is providing the city with a $76,465 grant to help fund the purchase a shallow water patrol craft.

Read two views and vote in our informal online poll.

Cops for Kids with Cancer donated $5,000 to the Latorella family to help with medical expenses.

The president of Wellesley College was honored with the 2018 Social Justice Award by Eastern Bank earlier this month.

Renowned authors, scientists, and historians will lead presentations on the natural and human history of New England waters in an eight-part lecture series in Norwell.

“The Home Town Series” will be on display at the Great Ponds Gallery in the Lakeville Public Library from Jan. 3 until Feb. 7.

Deborah Jeffers, school nutrition director for the city of Salem, was presented the Community Leadership award by Root.