News Briefs

June Street Sweeping Starts Monday, June 26

The Town of Winthrop conducts Street Sweeping operations on the last full week of the month (last week with a Friday) through October between 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM on the day of a street’s trash collection.  If there is a holiday on the week sweeping would normally occur, sweeping is done a week early.

Town ordinance prohibits parking in a manner that impedes the street sweeper.  Violation of the street sweeping ordinance carries a $40.00 fine, and your vehicle can be towed.

The remaining 2023 street sweeping dates are:

May 22-26 (week of the 22nd) 

June 26-30 (week of the 26th) 

July  24-28 (week of the 24th)

Aug. 21-25 (week of the 21st)

Sep. 25-29 (week of the 25th)

Oct. 23-27 (week of the 23rd)

Post Offices Will Be Closed Memorial Day

In recognition of the sacrifice made by generations of service men and women in defense of our nation, Post Offices will be closed on Monday, May 29, for Memorial Day. There will be no mail delivery, other than guaranteed overnight parcels. Full retail and delivery services will resume on Tuesday, May 30.

Sharks Spotted in Atlantic

After a 12-foot white shark was spotted off Cape Cod over the weekend, New England Aquarium scientists are urging the public to report shark sightings and be aware of their surroundings as the holiday weekend approaches.

The shark was seen feeding on a seal off of Provincetown, MA, on Saturday. This is the time of year that scientists expect to see white sharks returning to the inshore waters off of Massachusetts, where the animals hunt seals into the fall months.

“Though white shark bites on humans are rare, the sighting serves as a reminder to beachgoers and boaters to be mindful of the presence of these ocean animals,” said John Chisholm, adjunct scientist in the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. “It’s important to be aware of sharks’ presence in shallow waters, to avoid areas where seals are present or schools of fish are visible, and to stay close to shore where rescuers can reach you if needed.”

As part of a partnership between the New England Aquarium and Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, Chisholm serves as the Citizen Science Coordinator for the Conservancy, documenting accounts of shark-seal interactions and verifying shark sighting reports made by the public through the Sharktivity app. Sharktivity provides information and push notifications on white shark sightings, detections, and movements to raise awareness and help people and sharks co-exist. The app sightings are input by researchers, safety officials, and others who upload photos and video, essentially crowdsourcing critical data on where sharks are spotted.

“There is a real public concern around beach safety, and we recognize the need to respond to that,” said Nick Whitney, senior scientist at the Aquarium and chair of the Anderson Cabot Center’s Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies program. “That’s why we’re excited to continue this partnership with the Conservancy to help provide accurate, timely information on shark sightings in the region.”

The New England Aquarium has a team of nine scientists who study shark species, from porbeagles and nurse sharks to sandbar and sand tiger sharks. Many shark species reside in Massachusetts waters. Aquarium researchers’ work focuses on monitoring of these animals using innovative tagging technologies including satellite, acoustic, accelerometer, and camera tags to track the sharks’ habitat use, life history, and impacts of bycatch during commercial and recreational fishing activities.