Would cap school funding increases at 2.5 percent

DUDLEY – While local tax increases are capped at 2.5 percent annually, there is no such cap for Chapter 70 school funding, which can present communities with very high, unexpected budget increases. Last December Chairman Jonathan Ruda and the Dudley Board of Selectmen decided to do something about the problem of unfunded mandates, and now they have.

On March 29 State Representative Peter J. Durant (R-Spencer) filed a bill in the House that proposes to limit Chapter 70 increases to 2.5 percent, unless there is a ballot election override. The bill was co-sponsored by Representative Anne M. Gobi (D-Spencer), making it a bipartisan effort. State Senator Richard T. Moore had originally agreed to co-sponsor the bill, but withdrew.

Play at Leicester on April 22.

by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – The Shepherd Hill Rams have something that can take you a long way in high school baseball: pitching.

Despite the loss of senior hurler Victor Champagne, who is out of action due to illness, the Rams have a trio of starters who all have the ability to be very effective.

The Dudley Police Department announces a reserve officer entrance examination will be held on Saturday, June 15^th at the Dudley Municipal Complex.  The deadline to register for this examination is Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9 am.  Public Safety Consultants, LLC of Shrewsbury Massachusetts will be conducting the written examination.  There are no declared vacancies on the Dudley Police Reserve force at this time.  This examination will be used by the Dudley Police Evaluation Committee as a basis of hiring when reserve officer openings are authorized within a time period of up to two years.  Applications will only be accepted from the list of individuals who take and successfully pass this written exam.  Registration and job information is available at Public Safety Consultants’ web site:  http://publicsafetyllc.com/site.  Should anyone require additional information, please contact Chief Steven Wojnar at 508-949-8023 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – The Shepherd Hill lady Rams won their third straight game after a tough opening day loss to Millbury and look to have all their cylinders working in top form.

Junior Brenna Foley was outstanding on the mound on Tuesday (April 9), overpowering Northbridge with a 10-strike- out effort, allowing only four hits in a 5-0 shut out victory. The junior showed tremendous poise against a good team and looks primed and ready to make a big contribution.

Packard wins singles match

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – The Shepherd Hill girls’ tennis team lost their home opener to Eastern Mass powerhouse Weston 4-1 in less than perfect weather conditions on Saturday morning at Shepherd Hill.

The Rams’ number one singles player. sophomore Abbey Packard. was the lone winner for the Rams, winning her match 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 over Deniz Cataltepe, who was a singles player for Weston’s 2010 state championship team.

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – One of the reasons that the Shepherd Hill girls’ volleyball team became so successful, to the point where they put together an outstanding 15-4 playoff team this past season, was the dedication of the players to the program.

Senior co-captain Julie Priessler was one of those dedicated players who played four years of volleyball and has helped put the relatively new sport on the map for the Rams. 

What is even more impressive is that while she was excelling in volleyball and also being a key contributor on the girls’ varsity basketball team, Priessler maintained a high enough grade point average to rank her in the top five of her class.

DUDLEY - Nichols hosted the third annual Empowering Women in Business conference last Thursday afternoon and evening, as the almost 200 attendees in Davis Hall heard from the first woman mayor in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.   Admission to the event—co-hosted by the Hometown Bank and the Center for Women and Enterprise—was  free to all registrants.

In her keynote address Mayor Lisa Wong noted, “I had a passion and worked hard,” adding that achieving her office by age 28—and twice winning re-election—required moving from being elected “second most bashful” in high school to finding her voice and reaching her constituency, often on foot.

TA looking for 5% decrease

by Charles Kelleher Harris
Patriot correspondent

DUDLEY- The Board of Selectmen and the Finance Appropriation and Advisory Committee (FAA) met Thursday, March 21, to discuss the proposed budget for FY13-14.

Each town department was asked submit a budget to Town Administrator Peter Jankowski. Jankowski then reviewed them and made his recommended proposal. Jankowski said that he was trying to cut the budget by five percent overall.

At Thursday’s meeting, the Selectmen and FAA heard from several department heads about their proposals and where they intended to make necessary cuts.

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

DUDLEY – One of the first things you notice after talking to Shepherd Hill senior Brad Picard for a few minutes is that he is quick to give credit to others for any success he has experienced during his high school years, and that is not a bad trait at all.

Picard grew up in Dudley, where he has lived his entire life with parents Holly and Taze and his brother TJ, who is in the midst of his freshman year of college at American International College in Springfield.

By Beckey Harvey
Patriot correspondent

DUDLEY - The March 18 Board of Selectmen’s meeting opened with Fire Chief Dean Kochanowski, requesting that Mr. Dave Karalus, who was serving on the building committee and fire chief advisory committee, be replaced by Mr. Burt Davis.  Karalus submitted a letter of resignation last month.  Chairman Jonathan Ruda suggested that the committee approve the appointment of Davis and send a letter of thanks to Karalus for his service. 

The board switched up the order of the agenda so that the “rather lengthy public hearing” would not hold up a representative from Nichols College.   Multiple requests by the school, for alcohol permits, were taken care of in one motion.  Nichols college received seven separate, single-day licenses to serve “wine and malt” for functions they will be hosting.