News
Underground electrical fire disrupts downtown
2+ hour, 16+ min ago (252+ words) An underground electrical fire required Needham public safety officials to close off the town center for more than two hours Saturday morning as Eversource crews worked to determine the cause of the problem. The fire department received a report at…...
Residents retrace militia's march to Arlington
2+ day, 19+ hour ago (522+ words) Light rain sprinkled a group of 26 hardy souls who marched shoulder to shoulder from Needham's Townsend Green toward Arlington Saturday, retracing the path that more than 200 Needham combatants took in 1775. Jackie Anderson Yee, who grew up in Needham and now…...
Town Meeting: Civil discourse in a time of rising political tension
2+ day, 19+ hour ago (782+ words) When Town Meeting time rolls around, Needham Town Moderator Michael Fee trusts Town Meeting Time, a publication of the Massachusetts Moderators Association, for meeting rules and processes. In Fee's case, however, the book is rarely needed or consulted: He's been…...
Library cuts the ribbon for new Teen Room
2+ day, 19+ hour ago (604+ words) Mini cupcakes, balloon clusters and oversized scissors signalled the grand opening of Needham Library's Teen Room on April 16. Minutes after the ribbon-cutting, teens were curling up in the quiet zone, grouping around study tables, browsing bookshelves and exclaiming over gaming…...
Marathon stories run the gamut from exercise to weather
1+ week, 3+ day ago (425+ words) Next Monday, 67 Needham residents from 18-71 years old plan to run the Boston Marathon. If they finish successfully, they will count themselves members of a very elite group: less than 0. 2% of the world population has completed a marathon." Many Needhamites have…...
Mertz's solid foundation builds Planning Board win
1+ week, 3+ day ago (251+ words) It was Mertz's second run at the seat. "I have to say it's a humbling experience to win an election. I lost before, so I'm grateful for the chance to work for the town and contribute. I'm very excited to…...
AI solutions come from Needham's youngest minds
2+ week, 2+ day ago (784+ words) Newman Elementary fourth-graders Ayansh Srivastava and Arunavya Satyam, together with Anay Kumar, a second-grader from Andover, make up "Bay State Brains" " a team of AI solution-seekers whose "Lost and Found" app won the 2026 Presidential AI Challenge State Championships. "It was…...
Planning Board race wrapup
2+ week, 2+ day ago (575+ words) needhamobserver. com This year's Planning Board Election offers two candidates " Oscar Mertz and Gary Lesanto " with deep planning/building backgrounds that complement each other but do not greatly overlap. Lesanto began as a single-family home builder and expanded into commercial…...
Select Board candidates talk budget strategy
2+ week, 2+ day ago (1096+ words) The three candidates running for the two available seats on the Select Board will be making their final efforts to reach voters over the weekend ahead of the April 14 town elections. The sole incumbent, Cathy Dowd, has served on the…...
Spengler, Soper, Greis hope to secure school committee seats
2+ week, 2+ day ago (258+ words) As election day draws closer, School Committee incumbents Matt Spengler and Michael Greis hope to defend their seats against challenger Lauren Soper. Soper's focus primarily lies with ensuring consistency across NPS classrooms, auditing the use of technology in school and…...