Kim Kastens

Kim Kastens is a volunteer editor and writer for the Acton Exchange, and serves on the Acton News Initiative Board of Directors.

Northeast Massachusetts worsens to critical drought as rainfall and streamflow continue to decline

May 30, 2026

by Kim Kastens

On May 22, MA Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rebecca Tepper declared a Level 3: Critical Drought for the Northeast Drought Management Region, which includes Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk Counties. The designation follows years of below-average rainfall and declining streamflow across the state, signaling worsening drought conditions…

Earth Day tour of Boardwalk School campus highlights energy-saving features

May 9, 2026

by Kim Kastens

On Earth Day, April 22, approximately 30 curious townspeople toured energy-conserving elements of the Acton-Boxborough (AB) Boardwalk Campus, learning about the systems that make it possible for this building to consume far less energy than other schools of similar capacity, and thus emit less planet-warming carbon pollution. The…

Article 11: Establish an Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund

May 9, 2026

by Kim Kastens

As previously reported by the Acton Exchange, overuse, misuse/abuse and overdose deaths due to opioid use have led to significant medical, social, psychological, demographic and economic consequences across Massachusetts and the nation. According to data from the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, the Town of Acton…

UPDATE 2: May 6, 2026: Annual Town Meeting

May 2, 2026

Miriam LezakandKim Kastens

The May 9 edition of the Acton Exchange will carry detailed coverage of Town Meeting articles. The update below merely summarizes the outcome of each vote. Report from Day 2: May 5, Day 2 of 2026 Annual Town Meeting, opened with the presentation of the Joseph A. Lalli…

Voters at Water District Special District Meeting authorize $9.6 million budget

April 25, 2026

by Kim Kastens

On Wednesday, April 22, sixty-three voters filled the equipment garage at the Acton Water District [AWD, District] headquarters for a Special District Meeting, and voted decisively to approve a FY27 [fiscal year 2027] expense budget of $9,578,431. The Special District Meeting was necessary because, as reported by the…

UPDATED: Water District Commissioners set April 22 for Special District Meeting to vote on budget — probably with a higher price tag

April 11, 2026

by Kim Kastens

UPDATE April 15, 2026: At a joint meeting of the AWD Commissioners and FinCom on April 13, the Commissioners finalized the budget to be voted on at the Special District Meeting on April 22. The bottom line of the expenses budget is $9,568,431, and the details of the…

Q&A with 2026 candidates for Water District Commissioner

April 4, 2026

by Kim Kastens

This year, there are two candidates running for the position of Commissioner of the Acton Water District (AWD, the District): John Petersen and Stephen Stuntz. This post contains the candidates’ answers to questions prepared by the Green Acton Water Committee. The Acton Water District is an independent government…

Voters narrowly reject Water District budget, twice

March 21, 2026

by Kim Kastens

Voters packed the meeting room at the Public Safety Facility on March 18 for the Annual District Meeting for the Water Supply District of Acton (AWD, “District”). After praise for long-serving AWD official Ron Parenti and the recent completion of PFAS treatment facilities, the meeting took up an…

Water District posts warrant for Mar. 18 Annual District Meeting

March 7, 2026

Kim KastensandGreg Jarboe

Update: March 17, 2026. The Acton Water District has announced on their website that at the March 18 Annual District meeting, only Warrant articles 1-6 and 15-18 will be taken up. As explained in the main article below, articles 7-14 deal with transfers of surplus revenues (aka “free cash”). As the free cash certification…

Water District Board of Commissioners approves budget despite Water District Finance Committee concerns over rate equity

February 14, 2026

Greg JarboeandKim Kastens

At a joint meeting of the Acton Water District (AWD) Board of Commissioners (the Board) and the AWD Finance Committee (the FinCom) on February 9, the FinCom declined to make a recommendation on the proposed FY27 AWD budget, citing concerns about its disproportionate impact of costs on low-volume…

Umbrella Art Center showcases Marsha Wilcox’s astroimages in new and imaginative ways

January 31, 2026

by Kim Kastens

On the cold dark evening of January 28, a capacity crowd filled the main gallery of the Umbrella Arts Center (the Umbrella) in Concord for the opening of the Ancient Light exhibit, featuring the work of Acton astroimager Marsha Wilcox. As readers may recall from Wilcox’s exhibit at…

Acton now in Level 2: Significant Drought status

January 18, 2026

by Kim Kastens

On January 12, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rebecca Tepper declared that the Northeast Drought Management Region, which includes Acton, has worsened to a Level 2 – Significant Drought. “Continued snow and rainfall are needed to alleviate the drought that many regions in our state are…

Ancient Light exhibit of nebulae and galaxies opens at the library

September 13, 2025

by Kim Kastens

On September 9, the Acton Memorial Library’s gallery artist series departed from its usual earthly fare and welcomed Acton resident Marsha Wilcox to show and describe her stunning images of nebulae and galaxies, the current exhibit in the library’s gallery space. Nebulae are interstellar clouds of dust and…

Remembering Charlotte Sagoff, advocate for Earth and social justice

August 9, 2025

by Kim Kastens

At their meeting on July 27, the Water Committee of Green Acton welcomed the daughter and granddaughter of Charlotte Sagoff to share memories of their influential foremother. In the 1970s and 1980s, Sagoff campaigned successfully to get industrial pollution from the W.R. Grace facility in Acton cleaned up,…

Girl Scout Suravi Bhatia creates pathway through Acton’s environmental history

July 26, 2025

by Kim Kastens

As her Girl Scout Gold Award project, Suravi Bhatia has created a self-guided environment/climate history walk along the path behind the Red House, across the street from Town Hall. This reporter toured the walk with Bhatia on July 13. The walk comprises twelve illustrated panels, organized chronologically, from…

Acton sixth-grader wins first prize in Letters About Literature competition

June 7, 2025

by Kim Kastens

Sasha Kosmina, a sixth grader from Acton, was the first place winner in the Grade 4-6 category of the Letters About Literature competition. Sasha and the other winners were honored in a ceremony at the Massachusetts State House on May 20. The annual Letters About Literature competition is…

Q&A with candidates for AWD Commissioner

April 12, 2025

by Kim Kastens

This year, there are two candidates running for the position of Commissioner of the Acton Water District (AWD): John Petersen and Barry Rosen. This post contains the candidates’ answers to questions prepared by the Green Acton Water Committee. The Acton Water District is an independent government entity, separate…

SuAsCo Legislative Breakfast addresses bills that may impact Acton

April 5, 2025

by Kim Kastens

“SuAsCo,” the watershed drained by the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers, was the subject for representatives of environmental organizations from throughout the region. Attendees gathered with Massachusetts state legislators at Goodnow Library in Sudbury on Friday March 29, for a discussion of pending environmental and conservation legislation. Acton-relevant…

2025 Acton Water District Annual Meeting

March 22, 2025

by Kim Kastens

Approximately a dozen voters passed judgement on a dozen warrant articles, overseen by about a dozen staff and officials, at the Annual District Meeting of the Acton Water District (AWD) on March 19 at Acton Memorial Library. Voters approved a total budget of $8,030,202 for fiscal year 2026,…

A map of the New England coast. A yellow star shows off the coast of Maine and many little dots show where people reported feeling the quake. The dots extend from north of Portland to south of Providence, RI and west of Springfield, MA.

Earthquake felt in Acton

February 1, 2025

by Kim Kastens

On Monday, Jan. 27, at 10:22am EST, an earthquake shook the seafloor offshore York, Maine, sending out shock waves that were felt throughout New England, including in Acton. For the next two days, I asked every Actonian I met if they had felt the earthquake and I asked…