Table of Contents
As the calendar turns from one year to the next, Winchester News looks back at 2025 to see what captured our readers’ attention.
The following are the top 10 most read stories on our website for 2025:
1) Winchester soccer coach back on the pitch
Girls Soccer Coach Michelle Ross was back in September following her resignation before school started in August. Controversy arose after Ross selected eight freshmen for the 2025 varsity roster, an unusual move that included players from a team that won the state championship at the seventh and eighth grade level.
She resigned from her position as coach after allegations were made by parent and Select Board member Michael Bettencourt that she ousted some members of the varsity team to make room for younger players and bullied at least one player. Allegations that have since been determined to be unfounded.
After negotiations between Ross and Winchester school administrators, the beloved coach was back.
The team still managed to compile an 14-2-2 regular season record to secure another Middlesex League championship for the fourth straight year.
For the second straight year, the team also won the United Soccer Coaches Team Pinnacle Award after winning its Team Ethics Award in 2024. They were chosen for the same award this year after earning the coveted prize with just one yellow card in 20 games. It will be officially announced next year.
The Winchester girls also received the United Soccer Coaches Team Academics Award for the 2024-25 school year.
2) Winchester family wants neighborhood dog gone after son bitten
For the first time in years, the Select Board was tasked with deciding if a 5-year-old Labradoodle was dangerous following a complaint the dog bit a 6-year-old boy.
The Select Board in July, hearing testimony from both the child’s and dog’s families, as well as neighbors, and town officials.
Town counsel reminded the Select Board that if the dog was found to be dangerous then state statute said the board shall order one or more of seven specific measures which span mandatory leashing, confinement, muzzling, microchipping and in the most extreme cases, euthanasia. If, however, the dog is found to be a nuisance then the board can issue unspecified remedial actions.
This first hearing on July 9 caused many residents to take sides between the boy’s and the dog’s families.
See number 5 for the outcome of this case, which captured the town’s attention in the middle of the summer.
3) Winchester Board of Health suspends Gloria’s Pizzeria for violations*
The Winchester Board of Health temporarily closed down Gloria’s Pizzeria following a re-inspection for previous and continuing code violations.
Gloria’s owner Steven Beck attended a hearing May 30 with Health Department staff and Brian Winner, the town’s counsel, to discuss the ongoing issues facing the 920 Main St. business.
The town allowed the business to re-open after it met a set of conditions laid out in a letter, including payment for outstanding violations, finding a pest control operator and provide a deep cleaning of the establishment, among others.
Gloria’s was shut down again Oct. 6 when once again the Health Department issued a letter to close the establishment due to ongoing violations.
The business remained closed until Nov. 19 when it re-opened after meeting the town’s conditions.
In the meantime, residents were surprised to learn the business was possibly on the market for $750,000, including the furniture, fixtures and equipment.
Neither the owner nor the broker listed returned Winchester News’s inquiries about listing or a possible sale.
*NOTE: This headline should have named the Winchester Health Department, not the Board of Health, for the closure. The Health Department is responsible for inspections.
4) Location for Winchester High School graduation uncertain
While Winchester High School’s graduation ceremony is traditionally held at Knowlton Stadium with the high school gym as a backup in case of inclement weather, school officials were at a loss as to where the Class of 2025 would actually pick up their diplomas.
A construction project to overhaul the gym that was supposed to be wrapped in time for graduation hit a snag, causing officials in February to scramble to book a venue.
In the end, Symphony Hall in Boston was picked and the 300 members of the class graduated on Sunday, June 8.
With the gym project now completed, graduation ceremonies are expected to return to Knowlton Stadium.
5) Winchester Select Board deems dog a nuisance after biting young child
On July 16, the Select Board met once again to hear more testimony about what to do with the a dog named Jack, who bit a small child in May.
In the end, the board deemed the dog to be a “nuisance” and ordered the animal’s family to install a fence, post signage and issue a muzzle order.
The dog was also ordered to be crated if no one was home and would never be outside unattended and when off property would be leashed and with an adult.
Select Board Chair Michelle Prior also added the dog should be on a 3-foot leash when in public, be licensed and vaccinated annually, and not be allowed on the Vinson-Owen School property.
6) Newcomers win spots on Winchester Select Board, School Committee
It was the perfect Election Day — warm and sunny, with a steady stream of residents going into Winchester High School to cast their ballots. The March 22 townwide election drew only 2,933 votes, out of the town’s 17,073 registered voters.
In the Select Board race, where four candidates competed for two seats, one of which was left open when John Fallon decided to run, the winners were Paras Bhayani and incumbent Anthea Brady.
Three candidates vied for two School Committee seats. The day’s winners were Stefanie Mnayarji and incumbent Karen Maruyama Bolognese.
Uncontested races included Winchester’s new town moderator Philip Frattaroli, who replaced Heather von Mering.
George Nowell Jr. was seeking re-election to the Board of Assessors, Anne Marie Hill for Board of Health to replace Ruth Trimachi who chose not to run again, and David Coughlan for one of two available Library Board of Trustees seats.
Jack LeMenager won an open seat on the Planning Board being vacated by Diab Jerius, who chose not to run, after a successful write-in campaign.
Winchester residents will once again be heading to the polls on March 21, giving voters the opportunity to select officeholders for positions that guide municipal policy, oversee town departments and manage the budget.
7) Winchester officials review Washington/Swanton 40B project
In late May, town officials started the review of a proposed 40B apartment complex at the intersection of Washington and Swanton streets.
Developer Jay Melanson, of the Melanson Development Group (MDG), spoke before the Zoning Board of Appeals May 21 with a proposal for a mixed-use building with 60 rental units and commercial space, for 278-292 Washington St. and 12 and 16-20 Swanton St., the sites of abandoned commercial space.
The meeting continued with presentations on the project’s amenities for residents, design, landscaping, stormwater drainage and car and pedestrian traffic, all of which will still be dealt with individually in future meetings.
Former town manager Beth Rudolph, left, resigned in July but left Sept. 3. The town hired Stephen Delaney, center, as interim manager until a new permanent manager could be hired, but he announced he would leave by the end of 2025. The Select Board has offered Christopher Senior, right, a one-year contract with the town for the position. WINCHESTER NEWS STAFF PHOTOS/NELL ESCOBAR COAKLEY & WILL DOWD
8) Winchester Town Manager Beth Rudolph tenders resignation
Town Manager Beth Rudolph submitted her resignation on July 7, setting a cap on a career that began in the Town Hall engineering office and culminated in the top administrative post.
Rudolph’s departure marked the end of an era for Winchester’s municipal government. She joined the town in 2004 as assistant town engineer under Bob Conway, became town engineer in 2010, then served as interim town manager before being named permanent town manager in 2021.
Her final day was Sept. 3.
The Select Board in August appointed Stephen L. Delaney as interim town manager, hoping he would be able to lead Winchester until a new permanent administrator could be hired. However, Delaney in December announced he would be leaving Winchester by the end of 2025.
Town business will be managed by Comptroller Stacie Ward, Town Clerk MaryEllen Marshall and Assistant Town Manager Mark Twogood, who was scheduled to retire Jan. 2.
Meanwhile, the Select Board voted Dec. 22 to offer the position of town manager to Christopher Senior, following a prolonged debate over contract length and performance evaluation timelines that exposed divisions among members about the collapsed search process.
But that’s another story.
9) Winchester Washington-Swanton project increasing units, decreasing commercial space
Melanson Development Group (MDG) announced on Sept. 25 that it would increase the number of units in a proposed 40B apartment building at the intersection of Washington and Swanton streets from 60 to 64 units while shrinking its footprint by 2,300 square feet.
The site, located at 278-292 Washington St. and 12 and 16-20 Swanton St., once housed commercial space, including dry cleaners and a Mexican grill.
The new configuration will have 45 one-bedroom units, up from 37; 12 two-bedroom units, down from 17, and 7 three-bedroom units, up from 6.
There will be 85 parking spaces, with one-bedroom units receiving one space and larger units, two, with commercial spaces available for use by visitors after business hours.
In December, the town received a memo from Erica Guidoboni, of Toole Design, which was hired to conduct a Transportation Impact Assessment Peer Review.
The memo detailed several recommendations for the traffic and sidewalks around the property, including that sidewalks across all project driveways will be maintained as concrete and at a level elevation for pedestrians and that easements will be given to the town for public access and signal equipment foundations outside the public right-of-way, among others.
The ZBA will continue its public hearings in 2026.
10) OPINION: A Winchester second grader’s take on a townwide school closure
When Winchester’s school were closed townwide on Oct. 10 following an acid spill in a storage closet at the high school on Oct. 9, Aaron Schwom contacted Winchester News following a conversation with his second-grader, Noah.
Noah had some questions — and ideas about what the town could do the next time so that schools could remain open and students could still be safe.
Check out his ideas!
So what do you think were the most important stories for Winchester in 2025? What were your favorite photos? Send us your responses and your photos at editor@winchesternews.org.
Happy New Year!
