Haverhill’s new Acting Police Chief Wayne Tracy says his first few months at the helm have seen a focus on officer training and the introduction of three canines.

Tracy, who addressed listeners live as a recent guest on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program, says one of his goals for the department is making sure 90% of officers complete crisis intervention training.

“We’re actually are ahead of the curve on that. The state wants departments to have 20% of their department trained on that. We’re at 70%,” he says.

But Tracy notes that when the department brings on new officers, that percentage falls so the training has to be a priority.

The acting chief also says he is pleased the department has added three canines to its force for the first time—two trackers and one comfort dog. Rex was the first to be sworn in last fall and his specialty is locating bombs, Tracy notes. The second tracking dog is still in training and doesn’t yet have a name. This canine’s expertise will be sniffing out drugs. The third dog will be a comfort dog. Calling comfort dogs a “good community policing” tool, Tracy adds, he expects the pup will be as helpful to his officers as to the public at large.

Tracy was named to the position in October and is a 21-year veteran of the force. He grew up in the Acre section of Haverhill, graduating from Haverhill High School where he played hockey and football. After college at Southern New Hampshire University, he recalls he was working in a local pizza shop while waiting to take the state’s firefighter civil service exam. A friend suggested he take the police officer civil service test because it was scheduled sooner and the content of the exam is similar. To his surprise, he says, he passed the test and was offered a job.

While he once thought he might switch departments at some point, Tracy says he’s found his place in policing. He points out it’s his regular interactions with the community that gets him to work every day.

“Obviously any day you can help somebody, whether it is saving a life to that extreme or just giving them a hand, maybe helping somebody cross the street or something small like that. Those types of things make you feel good,” Tracy says.

Tracy notes he also is continuing his education as he is close to earning his master’s degree through an online program at the University of Mississippi.

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What’s better than a new playground at an elementary school? How about a new playground open to the entire community regardless of mobility issues?

The parents at Golden Hill Elementary School decided to expand their dreams of replacing the school’s current playground beyond their school community and launched an effort to build what they are calling the Haverhill Community Playground. While the play area will be off limits during the school day, it will be open after school gets out at 3:15 p.m. during the week, on weekends and during school vacations.

Organizer Brittany Safy, parent of a first grader and kindergartener at Golden Hill, is spearheading the effort. She and her team aim to raise $300,000 as well as get commitments of more than 1,000 volunteer hours to actually construct their dream play space in May.

Safy recently sat down with WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” host Win Damon and chatted about the playground’s design and objectives.

“We started with looking at the playground at Golden Hill and it serves its purpose, but it could serve a bigger purpose. It is a little—let’s just say it could use a facelift,” Safy said of the current playground adjacent to the school at 140 Boardman St.

Safy said she became familiar with what playgrounds could be during the COVID-19 pandemic when she found herself driving miles so her children could experience different play spaces.

“Our goal really is to create a playground that isn’t just your average playground. It’s something that is a destination playground, a place that maybe community members from surrounding towns come to,” she said.

On a visit to Carlisle, she discovered a playground she and her kids liked, so she inquired as to the designer. That led to a relationship with Play By Design, an Ithaca, N.Y., firm that helps communities design unique play areas, fundraise and then build them. The lead designer interviewed students at Golden Hill on a design day in December to find out what they wanted their new playground to include. From those ideas, the group decided the new space must have swings and a basketball court. It will also have two slides, three climbing towers, two obstacle courses and musical elements.

The current plan is to start construction Tuesday, May 26, and, with the help of community members, erect it by the end of the weekend on Sunday, May 31. Safy envisions teams of 10 people working four, eight and even 12-hour shifts to get it done.

“So members of the community, we’re going to need 180 volunteers a day, are going to build this playground in six days,” Safy said.

Making sure the playground is inclusive and welcoming to all children regardless of mobility issues means the play surface will be heavy rubber and the main climbing structure will have ramps wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. There will be several sensory panels as well as a quiet play area, Safy said.

“Some of the great things that are going to make this playground stand out and apart from neighboring playgrounds is that it is going to be fully ADA compliant,” Safy said.

Among the fundraising ideas so far is a tile project. For a price, anyone can decorate small pottery squares that will be used to enhance the playground’s entryway, Safy said. The group is also writing grants and seeking in-kind donations of materials.

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DiZoglio, a Methuen Democrat, has been locked in a three-year battle with legislative leaders and state Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell over her initiative to undertake an administrative audit of the legislature. Legislators opposing DiZoglio argue an audit of the Legislature by another state agency violates the separation of powers clause in the state Constitution. Instead, they propose hiring of an outside audit firm.

In a wide-ranging interview with WHAV host Win Damon, DiZoglio outlined her new strategy for breaking the deadlock with legislative leaders and the state’s top judge.

She asked the public to support a new ballot question she is supporting which would expand the state public records law to include the governor’s office and the legislature. If the petition passes in the state’s November general election, DiZoglio said the financial and contract records she is seeking would be available to the general public as well as the state auditor.

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After holding traditional classes for more than three decades, Urban College of Boston has moved entirely online, bringing its two-year degree and certificate programs to a larger student base.

Yves Salomon-Fernández, president of Urban College of Boston, recently explained the transition and its benefits on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program. She said students at Urban College Boston convinced the administration to move from in-classroom courses to virtual.

“Urban College has been around for about 35 years. About three years ago, students pretty much voted with their feet and told us they primarily wanted to be online. So, all of our programs are online and we can reach anyone in Massachusetts and elsewhere, but primarily in Massachusetts,” Salomon-Fernández said.

The school continues to maintain administrative offices in Chinatown.

Salomon-Fernández added new programs are available in several fields, both courses leading to a two-year associate degree and certificate programs that prepare students for so-called “middle skills” jobs that do not require a four-year college degree.

“We have got some exciting new programs coming up in business, in digital marketing, in project management, in paraprofessional studies, early childhood education. So, lots of options, something for everybody,” Salomon-Fernández said.

For those considering college later in life, she said they’ll be in good company. The average age of the student body is 34.

“We’re getting mostly adults. But I got to tell you, something happened to those kids who went to school during the pandemic, that a lot of them graduated and they said, ‘You know, I don’t know if I want to go away for school. I don’t know if I want to sign up for four years. I don’ t know if I’m ready.’ So, we are seeing some kids who also took some time off and they are working and they said, ‘You know, I can do this online thing,’” she said.

The president also noted the school is particularly attractive to non-English speakers because courses are offered in Mandarin, Haitian-Creole, Portuguese and Spanish. Students do need to be proficient in English to graduate, she said, adding the college provides tutoring and other supports to help students succeed.

“The goal is for you to master college level English for you to graduate because we are in America, after all, and we want people to be able to get jobs in their disciplines,” she said.

Salomon-Fernández is herself an immigrant as she arrived in the United States from Haiti at 12. She is a graduate of Boston Latin School and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her master’s degree is from the London School of Economics and her Ph.D. is from Boston College.

Originally founded in 1993 by Action for Boston Community Development, a Boston-based anti-poverty agency, Urban College Boston is a private, nonprofit college accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.

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The Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce moves next month from Harbor Place on Merrimack Street to a storied Washington Street storefront.

Greater Haverhill Chamber President and CEO Katie Cook appeared on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program Monday and said the business organization moves to the city’s retail heart about the middle of January.

“The Chamber should be storefront, down, usually accessible for individuals to pop in and ask questions about businesses. We’re excited for the opportunity,” she said.

In fact, the 29 Washington St. location once housed Kaleidoscope Gallery, a pottery shop founded in 1976 by urban pioneer Raymond F. Eason and his and his wife Mary-Ellen. They were among the first to see the potential rebirth of the street from manufacturing to retail uses.

The building was recently renovated by developer Jonathan Cody’s Atlantis Investments.

It’s the latest move for the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce that last moved in 2018 into two offices on the third-floor incubator space at Harbor Place. Then-Chamber President and CEO Dougan Sherwood brought the Chamber from the second floor at 80 Merrimack St., to help support the then-UMass Lowell Innovation Hub. Prior to Merrimack Street, the Chamber’s longtime home was 87 Winter St., where poet John Greenleaf Whittier went to high school when the brick building served as Haverhill Academy.

The new offices are between The Hill Downtown Tavern, just formerly known G’s, and Kwik Stop Convenience on the north side of Washington Street. Cook told WHAV, the Chamber will need a couple of weeks to get the location ready.

“Don’t judge us when we first get in there. We got to take some time to decorate and re-arrange our furniture, but we‘ll get it figured out.”

Cook also emphasized the “greater” in the Chamber’s name, noting surrounding towns are also very much part of the organization. She recently launched the Methuen Business Alliance and plans similar groups for Georgetown and Groveland.

“I’ve been trying to think of a way to let each community feel seen and connect to their business communities. I think we do a really great job here in Haverhill, but the rest of the communities feel a little ignored,” she explained.

Now, for example, the Methuen Business Alliance will launch Methuen Restaurant Week during the last week of January. Much like Haverhill’s Restaurant Week, it will showcase Methuen’s dining establishments with about 15 restaurants signup so far.

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Television personality Tom Bergeron returned to his roots Tuesday, sitting down at WHAV with photographer Kelly Giordano to tell audiences about a recent photo shoot that celebrated his broadcasting career and Haverhill roots.

Bergeron told WHAV “Win for Breakfast” host Win Damon that he found Giordano when he realized he needed an updated set of publicity photos. His niece, Ally Vallieres, convinced him Kelly Giordano and The Haverhill Studio were more than up to the task. Vallieres owns The Yoga Tree and Giordano is her near neighbor in downtown Haverhill.

“I think my last professional head shot—my hair was much darker. It’s been a while. And also I am not great with still photos typically as Kelly now knows. Like on the red carpet in Hollywood or something when you have a bunch of photographers yelling at you to smile at them and all that, I always look as if I am passing a kidney stone,” Bergeron joked.

Bergeron’s career was launched in 1972 at WHAV after he was mentored by his Haverhill High School public speaking instructor and WHAV News Director Edwin V. Johnson. Giordano, 38, who opened her photography space in 2024, said she was definitely up for the challenge of capturing Bergeron’s famous mug, but in a way that expressed his inner spirit.

“When I had him against my backdrop and he’s saying this, I said, ‘Wow, this is going to be fun for me’ because it was a chance to connect like I do with all my clients. And we really created some great material,” Giordano said.

But Giordano knew she needed to go beyond the common, staid headshot image to capture Bergeron’s playful side as well. She also understood that Bergeron wanted to ground the images in his hometown of Haverhill as he started his broadcast career at WHAV while a student at Haverhill High School.

“We’re like, this can’t be the corporate headshot. That’s just not Tom. Everyone knows what Tom looks like. We don’t need to tell that story. What we wanted to do was give him more of an editorial, elevated, authentic use of images he could use across media platforms but really tie his community roots to that,” Giordano said.

Bergeron said he had ideas about what he wanted, but was happy to allow Giordano to bring her own creative influences to their session.

“She had a wealth of ideas about how to do it and got props like the very microphone that she’s talking into that has the WHAV logo on it. So, it really was for me a wonderful way to, through her skill as a photographer, kind of pay tribute to my 50-plus year career,” Bergeron said.

He said he couldn’t be more pleased with the portfolio of pictures Giordano produced from their 90-minute photo session.

“What we did together was really focused on kind of celebrating, not only my broadcasting career, but its roots here in Haverhill because this is where I started when I was in high school,” Bergeron said.

Bergeron said he also came away with a new respect for the number of business owners, particularly younger women, who are making downtown Haverhill a thriving business and creative destination.

“You’re indicative, I think, of some real entrepreneurial spirit in Haverhill, particularly among young women like my niece, like you, like the gang at Stem. That whole area has really become very vibrant in downtown Haverhill,” Bergeron said.

Fellow Haverhill student Phil Primack stopped by to give Bergeron a black and white photograph of Bergeron taken when he studied mime at Northern Essex Community College. Bergeron is pictured in, what he describes as, an “unfortunate Abe Lincoln-type beard,” with two partners performing as part of the trio, “Vaudomime,” five decades ago.

Bergeron, longtime host of ABC-TV’s “Dancing with The Stars,” recently made an appearance—the first time in five years—as a guest judge for the 20th anniversary show. He also sp

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Santa Claus is getting ready to return to Haverhill later this month and bringing along some friends from the “Island of Misfit Toys,” the theme of the 61st Annual VFW Santa Parade.

During an appearance on WHAV’s morning show, parade Chairman Daniel Plourde discussed the theme, taken from the 1964 television special, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

“Yeah, the parade is coming up. It’s on the 23rd of November, Sunday afternoon at 1 o’clock. We leave from the Bradford Fire Station promptly at 1 and we go down Main Street, cross over the Merrimack River, turn left on Merrimack, turn right at the post office and end at the Boys and Girls Club at the corner of Emerson,” Plourde said.

Planning for the parade started in May and it costs about $50,000 to mount the parade each year—all covered by donations from both corporate sponsors and individual donors. Expenses include hiring the marching bands and other acts. More than 50 entries from high school marching bands across the region, floats from local organizations, antique cars and other performers will pass down the parade route, Plourde said.

“We’re doing very well so far. We have 20 plus floats, over 20 marching groups and about a dozen high school marching bands and other performing acts. So, we are in pretty good shape so far but there is always room for more,” Plourde said.

Floats and marching units set up at the Caleb Dustin Hunking School behind the Bradford Fire Station on the morning of the parade and are judged. Prizes are given in five categories, including Most Parade Spirit and Best Overall Float, Plourde said.

“Especially this year with it being the ‘Island of Misfit Toys,’ I expect to see some very creative things going down the street this year. It should be very entertaining,” Plourde said, noting this year’s theme is apt because the misfit toys debut as part of the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer animated movie which was released in 1964, the same year the Haverhill Santa Parade was launched.

Plourde said he expects every inch of space along the entire route will be filled with parade goers.

“Everyone has their favorite spots that some of them have been sitting in for generations. It’s always very entertaining for me to drive down Main Street the morning before the parade and see the chairs lined up marking territory,” Plourde said.

Some 50 people have volunteered as parade ambassadors and will be on hand dressed in red coats to assist on the day of the parade. The parade committee will also have its own float to collect donations. Those who wish to contribute before parade day may made donations at HaverhillSantaParade.com.

The parade was established by the late John T. Sullivan when he was commander of Haverhill’s VFW Lorraine Post 29. In addition to Plourde, other members of this year’s parade committee are Sullivan’s son, Thomas J. Sullivan, who serves as vice chair; Jessica Plourde, secretary; and Heather Powers, treasurer.

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Daniel R. Diodati, a fourth generation Hillie, is competing with Veronica A. Rodriguez, also a Haverhill native, to represent Ward 2 on the Haverhill City Council in January. The winner replaces Katrina Hobbs Everett who chose not to run again.

Diodati manages Berkshire Hathaway real estate offices in Haverhill. Rodriquez works for the Lawrence office of the state Department of Children and Families. Each recently appeared on WHAV’s morning show and answered six questions on challenging issues in the city. Here are their answers in the order their names appear on the ballot.

Why do you want to serve on City Council?

“With the skills that I have I really feel like I can contribute and I thought it was time to throw my hat in the ring. The reason is civic engagement being so low, it was time for someone like myself to step up and try to make a difference.” Diodati said.

“I love Haverhill first of all and, lately, it’s been in the news for some of the wrong things. I don’t think you can complain if you don’t try to make a difference so that’s why I want to serve,” Rodriguez said.

There is a perception Haverhill is building too much housing. Do you agree?

“I do think there could be a smarter way to develop residential housing if we really look at homeownership. Homeownership is super, super important in any community,” Diodati said.

“I think that we should fix the places that we have that are abandoned first. I think we need to get more creative because all that housing is going to bring a lot traffic, it is going to bring other problems. So, we need to maybe think outside of the box to help because we do have a housing crisis,” Rodriguez said.

What can the City Council do to promote more affordable housing?

“Between homeownership, development of new construction that is based on owner-occupied projects, mixed in with ADU (accessory dwelling unit) use, I think it is a great start. And, things are in motion to do that. I just hope to simplify things and make it a little bit better,” Diodati said.

“We do have a housing trust but there’s no money in it. I think maybe if some of these new developments, we should maybe make them pay into that so we do have some funds so we can think of some projects we can do for affordable housing,” Rodriguez said.

The death of Francis P. Gigliotti II while in police custody and the death of Officer Katelyn M. Tully have left the public looking for answers, especially in light of changes at the top of the police department. Do you think the public has the right to know more and how quickly and what types of information do you think is properly withheld?

“Just to have a little bit more transparency in the process and how it is messaged to the public whether it be through an actually press conference, not necessarily through just making social media posts, etc. If there is no news to report, then report that there is no news to report,” Diodati said.

“I think they did a good job informing the public. They put it out there right away. I do think that out of respect for her family, the cause of death and those types of things should be kept private just out of respect. I think they should be transparent. The public is what put them in. We pay for their jobs so we definitely need to know what’s going on. We need to know,” Rodriguez said.

Do you believe residential property taxes are too low, too high or about right?

“Too high. Because mindset is everything to me. And I do think we act upon on our thoughts. As long as we are controlling in our head that taxes are too high, we are going to work to keep them as low as possible,” Diodati said.

“When I am paying them, I think they are too high but when I compare them to other cities, they’re not so high.” Rodriguez said.

What specif

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