John Osborn

Harvard's graduating class of 2026 was born in 2007 or 2008—almost exactly the years when the town's school-age population reached its highest recorded point of 1,376 children. Since then,the total number of school-age children living in Harvard—counting public, private, charter, and home-schooled students—has fallen by nearly 30 percent, to 966 in 2025. Every other town in this group has also declined from its own peak, though the timing and scale vary considerably.

Harvard's Select Board voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose a provision in the governor's economic development bill that would strip the towns of Harvard, Ayer and Shirley of their say in how Devens is governed.

Dawn Dunbar had been Harvard's assistant town administrator for six months when, following the resignation of Town Administrator Dan Nason in February, the Select Board asked her to step in as interim. On Tuesday, the board voted 5-0 to make the appointment permanent. She is the first woman to serve as Harvard's town administrator.

Dawn Dunbar's new office at Town Hall is easily twice the size of the one she occupied as Harvard's assistant town administrator. She is still settling in. On her desk sits a candy dish. On a shelf nearby, four large blue three-ring binders—their pages flagged with colored Post-it notes—hold the town charter, bylaws, and policies she wants within reach. “I like paper,” she said. “I like being able to reach for what I need.”

A provision in Gov. Maura Healey's economic development bill would remove Harvard, Ayer, and Shirley from any formal governing role over zoning changes at Devens, replacing their three-town approval process with a single meeting run by MassDevelopment. All three boards have responded. Two want it stopped. One wants answers.

The crisis shown on HBO’s ‘The Pitt’ is all too real in VA hospitals The Seattle Times

Harvard's town charter has no way to remove an elected official who has lost the public's confidence. That gap, and several other issues, are before a nine-member review committee working toward proposed changes for Town Meeting in the spring of 2027.

The town must cap the former Harvard landfill, and the work will force the Department of Public Works headquarters and the Transfer Station off their current site, Town Administrator Dawn Dunbar told the Select Board Tuesday night.

Jeremy and Ruby Haag eagerly awaited the start of the annual Fourth of July parade in a shady spot by the blinking light of Harvard's “downtown” crossroads. Standing there among myriad spectators, Jeremy Haag paused for a moment when asked what he hoped the town's celebration would look like in 50 years, when the United States of America will celebrate its 300th birthday. In answering, he did not talk about fireworks, floats, or even candy.

This report was updated July 9 at 10 p.m.The House voted 148-2 Wednesday night, July 8, to pass the $425 million, 82-page Mass Wins economic...