Seekonk News Notes – April

Seekonk High Senior Wins Jane Goodall Contest
Rachel Crafford, a senior at Seekonk High School, has won a regional essay contest sponsored by UMass Dartmouth. Crafford will have dinner with world renowned ethologist, anthropologist and conservationist Jane Goodall. Goodall is visiting UMass Dartmouth on April 7 and will be speaking on campus that evening. The university collaborated with local school districts to give students an opportunity to be involved in Goodall’s visit. Goodall is known for her landmark study of chimpanzee behavior in what is now Tanzania.

Seekonk Hires Two New Police Officers & Promotes Two Firefighters
Seekonk has two new police officers – Christopher Platt-Hanoian and Costantino Natale. They were recently sworn in as patrolmen. Platt-Hanoian is a graduate of Seekonk High School. He served five years in the Army. Natale has been a police officer in Little Compton, RI for 10 years. Natale served in the Air Force and the Army National Guard. Two members of the fire department received promotions. Fire Lt. Sandra Lowery was promoted to captain and firefighter Jeffrey Magill was promoted to lieutenant.

Seekonk Library to Hold Public Meeting on New Design Next Month
Residents will be able to review and discuss proposed new designs for the Seekonk Public Library on Wednesday, May 11. This is the final meeting in a series of public meetings regarding the library’s new design. At the town meeting on May 16, residents will be voting on the overall design and giving their approval to the board of selectmen and board of library trustees to apply for grants for the project. They are not requesting funding for the project. Funding for the project will be voted on at a future town meeting. For more information on the library facilities study, visit the website at www.seekonkpl.org.


Hit and Run Driver Pleads Guilty
The young man who was charged in the hit and run crash that killed Seekonk Assistant Town Clerk Karen McHugh in January 2015 pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court on March 30. Jacob Lacourse, 24, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 27. He faces a one-year minimum sentence and a maximum of ten years. McHugh, 51, was struck in front of her home on Arcade Avenue about 10 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2015. She was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital but she did not make it. Police spent months investigating the incident. Lacourse was apprehended in July after his father and girlfriend learned what happened and told police.