As evidenced by this notice-less bulletin board in Wellesley Square, we’re used to slow summers around here. Summer of 2016 broke that mold. Let’s just say the news offered more than concerts at Town Hall and the newest flavors of ice cream on scoop. Check out the Top 10 Wellesley stories of Summer 2016.

Pokemon Go! invades Wellesley

For most people, the news that Wellesley’s youth are increasingly wandering the streets, faces buried in their smartphones doesn’t seem revolutionary. However, the advent of new app sensation Pokemon GO has caused a sudden shift in the behavioral patterns of millennials in Wellesley and beyond…

Macroburst whacks Wellesley, downs many trees

Dana Hall property damaged in macroburst — Dana Hall administrator’s home gets bashed by tree

A short and wicked late afternoon storm that blew through Wellesley on Tuesday, July 18 downed numerous trees, damaged homes and knocked out power in parts of town. One minute a friend and I were sitting in my family room sipping tea and commenting on the hail coming down outside (“Oh my, do you think those nasty flying ice chunks will chip the paint on the Subaru, dear?”). An hour later I stopped by that same friend’s house, not even a mile away, to survey her hard-hit home in the Cottage St. area…

Wellesley High School addresses allegations of racial and ethnic harassment

Against a backdrop of racial tension across the nation this summer, Wellesley finds itself addressing allegations of racial and ethnic harassment of its own involving high school students…

Wellesley Track & Field project facing delay

The Swellesley Report learned over the summer that the Wellesley High Track and Field project‘s completion will be delayed. The $3 million effort, which was undertaken in order to widen the field so that it could be used by more athletes and help alleviate the squeeze on other fields in town, and to rebuild a track that had seen better days, will not be ready for its original grand opening date of September 24…

Vacationing Wellesley Firefighter helps save a life on Cape Cod

Lt. Paul Delaney: Photo via Wellesley Public Media video

Lieutenant Paul Delaney says he was “in the right place at the right time and glad to help” while vacationing last week on an Eastham beach when he and a doctor performed CPR on a 40-year-old woman who had gone into cardiac arrest. Delaney also used a defibrillator, handed to him by a police officer, to revive the woman by the time a fire ambulance arrived on the scene…

Greed and goodwill at the Wellesley dump

Wellesley dump, Give and Take area

Every now and then we’ve heard the rumors: there are certain volunteers at the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility’s Reusables Area who are practically making a living by scooping up and spiriting away all the good stuff that gets dropped off before anyone else can get to it, and selling it on Craigslist, Ebay, and at flea markets. Over the summer, the hubbub ratcheted up a notch with a casual comment on a closed Facebook page: “Anyone else notice that there never seems to be anything decent at the dump’s Take-and-Leave anymore?” And the conversation and the accusations were off and running…

As of right now, you can visit the dump 7 days a week (but not 24 hours a day)

Old dump windshield stickers expire Sept. 1. Here’s how to get a new one