Education

Whittier Tech Seeks Land Option at Northern Essex Community College

By |

The Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School Committee will formally ask the state for an option on about 13.5 acres on the Northern Essex Community College campus in Haverhill as part of the process of potentially siting a new school building there. Angus G. Jennings, new Whittier Tech business manager, recommended Wednesday that Whittier Tech School Committee members take out an exclusive right to the land before any money is spent on hiring a project manager or architects. “You know we would hate to see the School Committee spend quite a bit of public money only to find this site is not going to happen,” Jennings explained. Jennings noted that while the trustees and administration at Northern Essex have been on board with a shared campus idea from the start, college trustees do not have the authority to commit the land. “As much as Northern Essex has been a great partner and very fully engaged and fully supportive, and on the front end of this idea, with all due respect, it’s not their land.

Education

Whittier Tech Considers Bringing Two Courses to Northern Essex

By |

A plan by Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School to add three new courses and expand enrollment by 80 students received the cold shoulder Wednesday from Whittier School Committee members. Principal and Assistant Superintendent Christopher Laganas, along with several of his administrators, gave an overview of the cost to add criminal justice, facility maintenance management and information support services networking and locate two of them at the Haverhill campus of Northern Essex Community College. Laganas estimated the cost to open the programs at $830,000. Haverhill would bear the highest cost at $304,000 with West Newbury’s share at the low end of $3,808. Groveland would pay $11,469; Merrimac, $13,574; and Amesbury, $13,587.

Haverhill

Haverhill’s Oldest Funeral Service Closes Upon Owner’s Retirement

By |

Haverhill lost its oldest funeral business, Dole Childs & Shaw Funeral Home and Cremation Service this summer with the retirement of owner David E. Shaw. The 148 Main St business was not only Haverhill’s first undertaking concern, it was also the first to expand to a space large enough to accommodate wakes and funerals, rather than just embalming and preparing the deceased for burial. Patrick J. Driscoll confirmed for WHAV his Driscoll Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Bradford has assumed outstanding business Shaw had booked by the time of his retirement. The funeral business itself was established in 1839 when two brothers-in-law, John P. Randall and Joseph H. Cummings, opened a furniture business that included the sale of burial coffins, according to the history on the company’s former website. The pair relocated their business, J. H. Cummings Furnishing Coffins, to a Main Street storefront in 1882 and then sold the business in 1886 to prominent banker George H. Dole and stable owner Fred G. Richards, who later was elected mayor of Haverhill.

Haverhill

Commission Warns Haverhill Developer’s Alcohol Permit in Jeopardy

By |

The Haverhill License Commission urged a Winter Street developer to accelerate opening of a grocery store he is building or risk losing a permit to sell beer and wine he was awarded in January of 2023. That’s because developer Juan Cepeda of Methuen is holding the last beer and wine package store license, officially called a Section 15 permit, available in Haverhill, explained License Commission Chairwoman Elizabeth LaLiberty. “Here’s why this is important. There are no more Section 15 licenses available in Haverhill at the moment, and you’ve been holding on to one for several years. So, we are eager for you to complete your business to move forward, but, in the meantime, if this falls behind schedule again, someone else can’t open,” LaLiberty said.

Haverhill

Keon’s 105 Bistro Secures Permits to Open Under New Ownership

By |

The Haverhill License Commission granted the new owners of Keon’s 105 Bistro licenses they need to reopen the Washington Street eatery this fall. Robert E. DeFrancesco appeared before the board introducing himself as the new chef and owner of the restaurant along with partners Kathleen and William Hector Vadeboncoeur. “My partners and I are looking to re-liven up Keon’s. Get it back into the community. I heard it closed in June.

Crime

Haverhill Man in Critical Condition with Stab Wounds, Alleged Assailant in Court

By |

A Haverhill man, Anthony Gonzalez, is in critical condition at Boston Medical Center with multiple stab wounds following an altercation Wednesday night with his former girlfriend’s new boyfriend. His alleged assailant, 28-year-old Jorge Luis Gonzalez, said to be of no relation, of 119 High St., Haverhill, was arraigned in Haverhill District Court Thursday following his arrest on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. While he was being booked at the Haverhill Police Station, a police report says, Jorge Gonzalez allegedly confessed to stabbing Anthony Gonzalez. He is being held in the Essex County House of Correction in Middleton without bail. Cesar A. Archilla entered a plea of not guilty.

Education

More Haverhill High AP Students Earning College Credits

By |

The number of Haverhill High School students who will receive college credits based on last spring’s advanced placement course exams is up 68.6%. High School Associate Principal Victoria Lu recently gave the news to Haverhill School Committee members. She said the school currently offers 27 AP classes that grant students college credit if they score at least a three on the AP exam. More than 320 high school students took AP exams following their successful completion of an AP course this spring, a 54% increase over the 2022 school year. Two new AP classes are being offered in the upcoming school year—AP Research and AP Business and Personal Finance, Lu added.

Education

Merrimack College Opens Two New Dormitories Using Novel Financing

By |

Merrimack College celebrated the opening of two new dormitories during a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday celebrating the addition of 540 on-site beds to the 220-acre North Andover campus. Merrimack President Christopher E. Hopey said the expansion is timely because the college welcomed its largest freshmen class in history, 1,250 students, just a few days earlier. Hopey said the new dorms, named Essex and Shawsheen, represent a place for students to feel welcomed and build a sense of community and they were financed through an innovative partnership with an investment firm, Collegiate Housing Foundation, and real estate development company, Greystar. Merrimack doesn’t actually own the dorms and instead is leasing the land to the Alabama investment firm that financed the $98 million construction project by selling tax-free bonds. “So, Shawsheen and Essex to us are more than just residence halls.