Sports

Several Watertown Wrestlers Heading to State Meet With an Eye on Moving on to All-States

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Watertown senior Brady Gleason (in red) will be wrestling in the MIAA Div. 3 State Meet this weekend, and has hopes to qualify for All-States. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Intense practices, dedication, and good leadership have the Watertown High School wrestling team on the rise, and several Raiders hope to keep the momentum going at this weekend’s MIAA Div. 3 State Meet and beyond. Watertown High School’s wrestling team will hit the mats at the MIAA Div.

Around Town

Wada Hoppah Looks to Start Water Shuttle This Spring & Has Bigger Goals Beyond the Charles

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A drawing of the shuttle boat being designed for Wada Hoppah to take people from Watertown to Boston. (Courtesy of Wada Hoppah)

A small version of the Wada Hoppah electric water shuttle may be carrying passengers from Watertown to Boston and back this spring, and the man behind the effort has plans to create a whole e-boat building industry in the Boston area. Drew Rollert’s goal is to have the first shuttles sailing on the Charles River by the time of the Boston Calling music festival on Memorial Day weekend. “We’re gonna do a smaller version while we work on the bigger electric boat, because I’m just sick of not having anything and just waiting for the large thing,” Rollert said. “So we started building (the smaller boat).”

Around Town

Watertown Woman Turned Her Love of Chocolate Into a Business

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Amy Vachon, owner of Sotto Chocolate, runs the business out of her Watertown home. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Aromas rich with fruity and earthy tones fill the air each time Amy Vachon goes to work creating a batch of craft chocolate from beans she acquires from Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean. The Watertown resident began making her own chocolate in 2017, and Sotto Chocolate was officially registered as a business in 2020. She has converted a corner of her home near Watertown Square into a chocolate workshop. Regulars of the Watertown Farmers Market will recognize Sotto Chocolate.

Around Town

East Watertown Intersection to be Named for Armenian Immigrant and Artist Arshile Gorky

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Arshile Gorky painting at his sister Akabi’s house on Dexter Avenue in Watertown, c. 1922. (Unknown photographer. Collection of the Arshile Gorky Foundation). An intersection in East Watertown will be named in honor of an Armenian artist who made his home in Watertown for several years. On Tuesday, the City Council voted to name the intersection of Dexter Avenue and Hazel Street for Arshile Gorky.

Government

City Council Approves Seed Money for Willow Park Affordable Housing Development

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A rendering of the Willow Park Housing development. The first new public housing building in Watertown to be constructed in Watertown in decades took a significant step forward when the City Council approved spending Community Preservation Act funds on the project at Willow Park on Tuesday night. The development will create 138 units on the site of 60 that currently has units. On Tuesday, the Council approved the Community Preservation Committee’s recommendation to spend $4 million in CPA funds on the project. Councilors also approved money to cover the cost of the restoration of historic paintings that hang in the lobby of City Hall.