Business

Watertown Nutrition Outlet Offers Supplements at Affordable Prices

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For just over a year, the AMP Nutrition Outlet has been selling health and sports supplements on Arsenal Street. 

The store opened in the space where another supplement section of the UFood Grill that closed. The store offers sports drinks, energy bars, protein and vitamin powders and more, said Store Manager and Watertown resident Connor Grimes. “We are a lot cheaper (than the nutrition chains) and much more knowledgable,” Grimes said. “We order everything in the store and I don’t sell things that I wouldn’t use.” The store is just down the street from a few gyms and one of Watertown’s biggest employers.

Around Town

See Which Vendors Will be at the New Watertown Farmers Market

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Watertown’s first farmers market begins in June and there will be wide variety of vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat, seafood and more.The Farmers Market at Arsenal on the Charles will be held weekly from June 5 to Oct. 30 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine. It will be located in the Arsenal on the Charles, 311 Arsenal St. in Watertown, on Thornton Avenue, right next to the Arsenal Center for the Arts. “We’re so pleased to have this opportunity to open the Arsenal campus more fully to the Watertown community in such a vibrant way.

Around Town

Watertown Rotary, Middle Schoolers Help Feed the Hungry in Panama

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Members of the Rotary Club of Watertown joined with Watertown Middle School students on May 14 to pack up 10,000 meals for hungry children in Panama. The groups teamed with Stop Hunger Now program, which will send the meals to those who need them. The volunteers filled small bags with vitamins, rice, a soy protein mix and dehydrated vegetables, who then passed them to more volunteers who sealed the bags and put them in boxes. Marc Vermouth, New England Program Manager for Stop Hunger Now, told the volunteers that about 1 in 8 people in the world – 800 million people – are hungry today and 25,000 people die each day from hunger related causes. The ready to make meals will be sent to schools in Panama to provide two-pronged assistance.

Letters

Letter: Town Council Should Adopt Town Manager’s School Budget

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Everyone in Watertown wants strong schools. But the notion that the schools have not been well funded by the Town Manager and Town Council is not true. The basic premise put forward to substantiate that notion is that Watertown spends a lesser percent of its total budget on schools. That idea only masquerades the real reason. We spend less because we have far fewer students to educate.

Government

Shootout with Bombing Suspects has Negative Impact on Watertown’s Kids

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{NOTE: The story was been updated on June 10, 2014 with more current information on the special education costs the district has spent this year.}

Some children living in the area where Watertown Police faced the Boston Marathon Bombing suspects have had long-term negative effects, which can be seen in the special education budget in town schools, officials said Thursday. Watertown schools have had a spike in the number of students with mental health problems, which is mostly seen in students who live close to the area of the shoot out – Dexter Avenue and Laurel Street in the East End. “We have seen high anxiety, older kids not wanting to be home alone and a feeling of hopelessness,” said Arlene Shainker, interim special education director. When it gets out of hand and affects their school life students are evaluated and sometimes sent to off-campus programs, including even hospitalization, Shainker said. The Impact

This school year Watertown has had 22 students placed in new out of district programs to meet their special needs, Shainker said, while last school year they had two.

Development

Council Shooting to Approve Comprehensive Plan by Fall

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The Comprehensive Plan – the major planning document that will shape Watertown’s future – will likely be approved this fall. 

The Town C0uncil’s Economic Development and Planning Committee discussed how they want to unveil the latest draft and collect input from town officials, town residents and others this week. The whole process will likely stretch into the fall. The Comprehensive Plan not only covers zoning rules and development, it also has recommendations for public transportation, bicycle and pedestrian issues, parks, and open space. Councilor Susan Falkoff did not like the idea of having the draft go to town department heads before the general public got to see it. The subcommittee agreed that the document should be published online so all can take a look.

Police/Fire

Police Log: Stroller Thief Caught, String of Car Break Ins

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

May 5, 5:11 p.m.: Two women were stopped at Target for removing tags from a number of items, placing them in their pocket books and attempting to leave the store. The items were worth a combined $249.34. A 20-year-old woman from Waltham and a 21-year-old woman from Newton were arrested on one count each of shoplifting. May 7, 2:21 a.m.: An officer patrolling spotted a vehicle make a turn on at a no-turn-on-red intersection and stopped it.

Schools

Watertown Teens Will Debut Video on Healthy Decision Making

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For the past two years, students at Watertown High School have worked on the “I Am” campaign in an effort to avoid drinking and drugs, and to make healthy decisions. They will culminate their effort with a video which will be shown on May 19. More than 20 Watertown Youth Coalition Peer Leaders worked on the short film which promotes healthy decision making, and giving alternatives to risky behaviors such as underage drinking and other substance abuse. Through the “I Am” campaign these students have shared ways to maintain that identity both in real life and in the online. The Watertown Youth Coalition will show the film on Monday, May 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the Watertown Police Department Community Room, 552 Main St.