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KENT — With 400 voters in favor and 308 opposed, Kent residents adopted an ordinance regulating the sale of marijuana in town.
The ordinance bans recreational cannabis establishments but allows for medicinal dispensaries with P&Z approval. Regulations surrounding hemp cultivation and agriculture will be dealt with separately by P&Z as a zoning issue.
The decision comes near the end of a year-long moratorium on retail establishments in town, meaning P&Z has been unable to accept any applications regarding cannabis sales. The ordinance writes into town code that this prohibition will be permanent.
The results of a town survey were used to inform the ordinance. Of the approximately 500 respondents, 44% indicated disapproval of recreational marijuana retail in town, while 29% were in favor.
Subcommittee Chair and P&Z member Sarah Chase stated, “The data reflects a cautious but open-minded community.”
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Swearing in ceremony
Nov 12, 2025
Provided
Eric Epstein (D) being sworn in as the first selectman of Kent Saturday, Nov. 8, by Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz during an inaugural ceremony honoring all newly elected officials. Epstein succeeds Martin Lindenmayer, who stepped down after one term in office.
Norfolk elects new first selectman
Nov 12, 2025
NORFOLK — Selectman Henry Tirrell, a Democrat, was elected Norfolk’s first selectman with 402 votes in theNov. 4 election. Tirrell ran unopposed.
Tirrell, who will take office mid-November, has been working with outgoing First Selectman Matt Riiska, who decided to step down from the job after eight years in office.
Democrat Leo F. Colwell, Jr., who had served as a selectman for 14 years in the past and who has volunteered on many committees over the years, was returned to the post with his election as selectman with 383 votes. Alexandria “Sandy” Evans, a Republican, was reelected to a fourth term with 223 votes. She also has a strong record as a community volunteer and has been an EMT with the ambulance squad for more than two decades and currently is president of the Lions Club.
In other voting, Deborah M. Nelson was elected town clerk with 397 votes and Chelsea DeWitt was elected town treasurer with 402 votes.
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Former members of the United States armed forces warmly receive tokens of gratitude from Sharon Central School students during a Veterans Day ceremony held on Monday, Nov. 10.
Alec Linden
SHARON — Sharon Central School students took the lead in welcoming nine of Sharon’s military veterans to the school’s gymnasium for its annual Veterans Day assembly dedicated to honoring the community members who have served the nation.
After SCS pupils and staff filled the gym at 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, teacher Jill Pace offered a brief introduction before promptly turning the podium over the student council, whose members handled the morning’s proceedings. Overall, 12 members of the council — Amaira Rashid, Franklin Galvin, Chris Galvin, James Smith, Charlotte Olsen, Jack Flanagan, Sam Norbet, Jack Plouffe, Paige Bailey, Colin Bailey, Eivin Peterson and Guiseppe Socci — took turns leading the assembly through the Pledge of Allegiance, a brief history of the “Star Spangled Banner,” and several encomiums to the veterans in the room.
The servicemen were then called one by one to the stage to briefly share their stories, with several even fielding questions from the enthusiastic crowd of elementary and middle schoolers. Tate Begley shared that he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1994-1998 and was a military police officer on U.S. bases on the west coast.
“How did you become a veteran?” came a voice from the crowd when he opened the floor for questions. “By serving my country,” he replied.
Other questions were slightly less topical. “What’s your favorite food?” asked one student of John Perotti after he had finished explaining the meaning of his decoration from a year spent serving in the Vietnam War. “Burgers!” he replied enthusiastically.
Jim Hutchinson, Bob Loucks, Brian Kenney, Ray Aakjar, and Dave Peterson also detailed their time in service in places like Vietnam, Africa, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.
Robert Hock relayed that he had spent 1963 to 1965 in the Navy stationed in Turkey where he “never saw a ship.” Instead, he intercepted communications from communist countries in the Eastern Bloc.
The final veteran to take the podium was Justin Rios, whose daughter sat amongst her peers in the crowd. Rios has been in the Army for 14 years, and was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. He had a message to the students: “If you see a Vietnam veteran, let them know they’re welcome.”
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