Ashburnham MA

Ashburnham MA Local News and Community Information

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• Ashburnham Dog Attack

  

  Ashburnham Woman Seriously Injured in Dog Attack

  Ashburnham officers observed a dog attack in progress on August 23, 2025 when responding to a report of a previous dog bite and forced entry into a residence with the assistance of the Ashburnham Fire Department.

  After entry was made to the residence, the dogs lunged at Officers and Paramedics, forcing officers to deploy tasers. When the taser was ineffective on one dog, that dog was shot by an officer.

  The female victim was transported to UMASS Hospital with serious injuries. The officers sustained minor injuries View an image of the complete Press Release from Ashburnham Chief of Police Chris Conrad, CLICK HERE.

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• Weather Center Upgrade

  

  Access the Greater Gardner Weather Center, CLICK HERE.

  Gardner Magazine Upgrades Greater Gardner Weather Center

  Gardner Magazine is pleased to announce that the Greater Gardner Weather Center has been upgraded. Here’s what you’ll find:

  1. Weather Forecasts from multiple sources including Forecast 7, Meteo Blue, Tomorrow Weather, Booked.net, Meteored, Weather Rx, and a detailed forecast from the National Weather Service.
  2. Fire Risk for multiple locations including Athol, Gardner, Ashburnham, Westminster, Fitchburg, and Worcester.
  3. Air Quality and Pollen Conditions
  4. Interactive Weather Map from Meteo Blue
  5. National Weather Service Map
  6. Worcester County Drought Conditions

  The Greater Gardner Weather Center can be found right here.

  

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• Zlotnik Interview 9-20-24

  

  2nd Worcester District – Consisting of the town of Ashburnham, the city of Gardner, and the towns of Templeton and Precincts 2, and 3, of the town of Winchendon, all in the county of Worcester.

  
  “I’d say the top-driving thing that got me into public office all those years ago was that I felt this community and the communities in this district, the ones I grew up in, needed help. They needed additional investment opportunities. They needed things to be built, quite frankly. And the state is the best entity positioned to do that” – Jon Zlotnik

  We have reached out to his opponent and offered a similar opportunity to do an interview.

  Exploring the 12 Year Record of Zlotnik’s Greatest Hits

  Gardner Magazine had the honor of speaking with State Representative Jonathan Zlotnik about his record. Voters are being asked to rehire Zlotnik in this Fall’s election. We spoke with Zlotnik about education, training, business, housing, veterans, local projects, infrastructure, recreation, civics and literacy, food insecurity, the homeless, and help for the disadvantaged. Representative Zlotnik had a few interesting stories to tell along the way including how the need for a stool helped get a new school.

  Listen on any device. CLICK PLAY.

  The job pays less than private industry, but Zlotnik does it to help the communities he represents. The State Representative interned at the State House both in high school and college.

  Interestingly, one of the first bills Zlotnik filed was to re-institute a Civics curriculum as well as a financial literacy curriculum at the high school level. Eventually, the legislature did take up the civics portion, providing incentives for schools.

  Zlotnik spoke about his involvement in the expansion of Mount Wachusett Community College. He spoke of fighting to get state funding for the On-Site Academy which provides for post-traumatic stress treatment for first responders and told a heartwarming story about it. Zlotnik explained his efforts on behalf of veterans in the area. The State Representative detailed and discussed the Wachusett Business Incubator program.

  With respect to area development, Jonathan Zlotnik provided some background on the Rear Main Street Project and the Underutilized Properties grants which affects Downtown Gardner. We spoke at length about the Gardner Elementary School and Zlotnik related a story about the hearing on the school when the State Treasurer heard enough to say the project was clearly needed.

  Zlotnik spoke of initiatives with respect to recreation including the bike path and the upcoming bridge across Route 140. He also spoke of the importance of actually getting out and talking with people. And, he detailed various projects which have brought in jobs.

  Representative Zlotnik spoke of big projects like the one affecting the water main of Winchendon and Ashburnham. He spoke of pulling communities together to better utilize Opioid settlement funds.

  Reach State Representative Jonathan Zlotnik via the following email: Jon.Zlotnik@mahouse.gov

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• Ashburnham Rescue

  

  Ashburnham Fire Department Trains with new Rescue Boat

  On August 11, 2024, The Ashburnham Fire Department posted pictures and this statement online, “AFD’s new rescue boat (2B1) on its maiden training run. Crews practiced navigation and multiple water rescues utilizing new equipment including throw ropes, flotation devices and onboarding victims from the water. More training to come to be able to deliver appropriate resources to Ashburnham and surrounding towns. Shout out to FF/Medic Mark Vitale for managing the purchase and leading the training for this new resource.”

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• AMLP Rates

  

  Many Electric Customers in Ashburnham to see Lower Rates

  Effective September 1, 2024, the Ashburnham Municipal Light Plant is separating the Customer Charge, Distribution Charge, and Purchased Power Charge. The result creates a small decrease in the monthly bill for many customers. For example the total bill for a residential customer using 750 kilowatt hours is currently $146.03 and would decrease to $135.22. Details are shown in the graphic. Details can be found at the AMLP website, CLICK HERE. A helpful rate calculator is also provided so any customer can input their information and make a custom comparison. Rate calculator, CLICK HERE.

  
  AMLP states on their website: “As a local non-profit, we are dedicated to ensuring our customers receive reliable power, affordable rates, and excellent customer service.”

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• Zlotnik 6-3-24

  

  The State Budget covers funding from the state to cover school lunches for all students, $6.68 billion for Chapter 70, and other public school funding programs including Circuit Breaker Special Education reimbursement and Charter School reimbursement, as well as Regional School Transportation reimbursement.

  State Representative Jonathan Zlotnik Provides Helpful Budget Information

  Jonathan Zlotnik represents the communities of Ashburnham, Gardner, Templeton, and Winchendon. The State Representative provided us with an overview of what can be expected from the new Fiscal Year Budget which starts July 1, 2024 or when approved. View complete overview, CLICK HERE.

  Community	Local Aid Transfers
  Ashburnham	$960,002 Unrestricted General Government Aid
  Ashburnham	$15,928,887 Chapter 70
  Gardner	$5,116,463 Unrestricted General Government Aid
  Gardner	$29,677,210 Chapter 70
  Templeton	$1,683,719 Unrestricted General Government Aid
  Templeton	$12,479,169 Chapter 70
  Winchendon	$960,002 Unrestricted General Government Aid
  Winchendon	$14,135,502 Chapter 70

  Other Local Funding Highlights

  • $150,000 to support civic engagement and community service activities at Mount Wachusett Community College
  • $1,500,000 for On-Site Academy, located in Westminster, to provide post traumatic incident stress counseling to first responders and corrections officers
  • $125,000 for the Operation of “Cathy’s House” in Winchendon by Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center for female veteran’s housing
  • $25,000 for GAAMHA in Gardner to support capital improvements to their residential substance use disorder facilities
  • $100,000 for the operation of the Gardner CAC
  • $50,000 for the operation of the Wachusett Business Incubator
  • $100,000 for Growing Places for the Operation of the North Central Food Processing Center

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• Ashburnham Election 2024

  Winning election were: Moderator: Richard Cook Jr., Select Board 3 year: Phil Papoojian, Select Board 1 year: Leo Janssens, Planning Board 3 year: Marshall Dennis, Board of Health 3 year: Thomas Flanagan. Complete List of all results, CLICK HERE.

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• Ashburnham Survey

  

  Ashburnham is conducting a Downtown Inititiative: Wayfinding and Branding Survey

  The Town of Ashburnham with the assistance of the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative (MDI), is working on branding the Downtown and creating a distinct visual identity for Main Street and the Village Center. These design elements will be incorporated into a revamped wayfinding system throughout Downtown. For this project we have joined forces with two consulting teams, Innes Associates and LANDAU Design+Technology..

  The Town sponsored a workshop on March 26, 2024 to discuss options for updating wayfinding signage throughout the Downtown. This survey is designed to get your input on these 5 types of wayfinding signage: Town Recognition, Downtown Recreational, Town Destination, Downtown Recognition, and Destination Directional. For much more information and to take the survey, CLICK HERE.

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• Ashburnham Sidewalks

  Ashburnham Police Department posted on Sunday March 17, 2024: “Just a reminder that construction will begin tomorrow, 3/18 from 7a-3p for the sidewalk renovation project in the downtown Main St area. Please use caution and seek alternative routes if possible. Thank you!”

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• Ashburnham Master Plan

  

  Ashburnham MA Working on Master Plan

  As shown by these photos we took on February 15, 2024, the town of Ashburnham is a beautiful community. However, it is planning for its future in a big way. The Town of Ashburnham MA is working on its Master Plan. It has published a worksheet which asks interested citizens to “Please list any important needs, goals, or objectives that will define the future you want for Ashburnham (for each chapter of the Master Plan) PRINTABLE PDF.

  Categories are: Services & Facilities, Circulation (Roadways and Transportation), Economic Development, Natural & Cultural Resources, Housing & Housing Production Plan, Land Use, and Open Space & Recreation.

  The Town of Ashburnham Released the 2022 Raw Data in a 147 page pdf, CLICK HERE.

  Here are pdfs of chapters being considered: Transportation —- Economic Development —- Services and Facilities —- Historical and Cultural —- Natural Resources —- Land Use — Master Plan Strategy

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Around the Community of Ashburnham MA

• Various Links to Various Content

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Here is something we are working on: A new and improved Greater Gardner MA Photo Gallery.

  

  

  
  All Sports Page features 8 categories of sports – Major League Baseball, NFL Football, NBA Basketball, National Hockey League, College Football, College Basketball, Professional Golf. CLICK HERE.

  

  
  Here are the State News pages on Gardner Magazine: — Massachusetts 1, — Massachusetts 2, — New Hampshire, — Connecticut, — Vermont, — Rhode Island, — and Maine. — Plus, California, — New York

  

  
  Here are the various news pages on various U.S. Topics including: Capitol Hill — , Lifestyle — , Financial — , Technology —, Showbiz —, Top U.S. Stories —, U.S. Debt Clock — , Economy —, United States News. —

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

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