Archive for May, 2009

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Parents often find getting through to their teenage children difficult, but when Kathi Meyer talks about her pain and loss, kids can relate, they cry, and they “get it.”
    Meyer’s 17-year-old daughter, Taylor, drowned in a Norfolk swamp last fall after a night of drinking at a homecoming party in the woods.
    With photos of Taylor streaming behind her, Meyer addressed 100 parents and students in the Walpole High auditorium last Thursday night. She said Taylor’s story is no different than their own.
    “It’s just that she’s not here for one bad decision,” said Meyer, asking the younger audience members to picture her as their own mother up at a podium talking about their deaths.
    Speaking directly to the parents, Meyer said they can learn from her anguish: “I am experiencing every single one of your worst night-mares.”
    On Friday, Oct. 17, Taylor went over to her friend’s house where they hid from adults and drank alcohol bought for them by Taylor’s friend’s brother to celebrate homecoming.
    From there, the Plainville teen went to a house in Norfolk, …

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   After a very surprising regular season, in which they finished 13-5-1, the Walpole High girls’ lacrosse team discovered they have made history twice.

   First of all, they ended with the most regular-season wins ever by a WHS girls’ team with 13 – and a first-round win would give them the most one-season victories in team history – and second they have grabbed their first home game ever in the MIAA state tourney.

   With pairings coming out today, the Rebels find themselves seeded eighth in Division 2, set to host ninth-seeded Hingham Wednesday at Turco Field. The Harborwomen come into the tourney at 14-6, with their most impressive victory a 19-7 domination of Mansfield, a 15-2 entity, earlier in the year. More recently the Harborwomen faced unbeaten Bay State Conference champion Wellesley, losing to the Raiders 20-8. They also finished their season with a 13-7 loss to Mansfield in the rematch.

   Wellesley is the only common foe for the two first-round opponents, with each doing equally well agaisnt the top-ranked Bay State Herget power. The only other ranked team the Harborwomen have played is Duxbury …

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   The Walpole girls ran into a lacrosse buzz saw when they hosted and lost to unbeaten Wellesley last Thursday, 13-5, but they also were able to pick up another win Wednesday when they topped Milton, 17-9.
   The week left them at 12-5-1 with one game remaining and on the verge of doing something Walpole girls’ lacrosse has never done before: host a tourney game.
   The improved Wildcats dogged the Rebels throughout the first half but got left in the dust by a “Brady bunch” of goals – five by Michaela Brady.
   Again it was balanced scoring that led the Rebels, who had their 15th game in double figures and 11th with 15 or more goals. Sarah Buckley registered the other hat trick while Shelby Guisti added two more scores and set up three others. Playing sort of a point position, Buckley was able to set up teammates five times, most of them flashing through a defense that couldn’t keep up. Sophomore Cecelia Abely …

Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:

   The Walpole girls ran into a lacrosse buzz saw when they hosted and lost to unbeaten Wellesley last Thursday, 13-5, but they also were able to pick up another win Wednesday when they topped Milton, 17-9.
   The week left them at 12-5-1 with one game remaining and on the verge of doing something Walpole girls’ lacrosse has never done before: host a tourney game.
   The improved Wildcats dogged the Rebels throughout the first half but got left in the dust by a “Brady bunch” of goals – five by Michaela Brady.
   Again it was balanced scoring that led the Rebels, who had their 15th game in double figures and 11th with 15 or more goals. Sarah Buckley registered the other hat trick while Shelby Guisti added two more scores and set up three others. Playing sort of a point position, Buckley was able to set up teammates five times, most of them flashing through a defense that couldn’t keep up. Sophomore Cecelia Abely …

Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:

   If one asked Walpole High boys’ tennis Coach Shawn Gough at the beginning of the season, the chances of his squad reaching the postseason for the sixth straight time was at best a long shot, and everything had to go just right.
   During the season, the answer was more like “Doubles or nothing,” as the Rebels kept pulling out unexpected victories thanks to their talented doubles tandems.
   Now, with one regular season match left at press time, it’s a sure thing as a victory over struggling Norwood last Wednesday put the longest shot of Walpole High teams back in the state tourney. Splitting with powerful Framingham (5-0 loss) and Bay State Herget rival Milton (4-1 win), after the 5-0 whitewashing of the Mustangs the Rebels have a 10-7 record and assured once again that all six WHS teams are still competing after the regular season.
“In all ten of our wins we swept doubles,” offered Gough. “If we don’t win in doubles, it’s tough to win. That’s …

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With just 19 days left before the election, hopefuls met for the first time Monday night at Old Post Road Elementary School to challenge each other on school budget cuts, the economy, general experience and business development.

    Three residents are running for two spots on the School Committee while five are vying for two seats on the Board of Selectmen.

    Voters will go to the polls on Saturday, June 6.

    For the School Committee candidates, budget cuts and potential shortfalls were at the heart of every question asked by the hosts, the Westwood/Walpole League of Women Voters.

    Incumbents Dot Bergen and Brian Walsh defended the School Committee’s most recent $2.3 million worth of cuts as unavoidable, while challenger William Buckley cited a lack of creativity to generate revenue on the board’s part.

      Bergen said the cuts were a necessary response to the state’s crumbling economy, stressing that the committee had no alternative.

      "This budget season we were faced with many bad choices. We simply had no good choices," Bergen said.

      "Let me be perfectly clear, and I’ll say it twice," Walsh said, "I don’t like any cuts. I don’t like …