Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/265/)
The hours at some of the City of Watertown’s buildings will be impacted by the New Year’s holiday. Watertown City Hall, the Department of Public Works, and the Senior Center will close at noon on Thursday, Dec. 30, and will be closed Friday, Dec. 31. However, the Recycling Center will be open on Friday, Dec.
Watertown City Hall
The Watertown inauguration ceremony has been cancelled due to increasing cases of COVID-19, but the newly-elected officials will still be sworn-in on Jan. 3. City Council President Mark Sideris announced the cancellation on Tuesday. “It is with great regret and with an abundance of caution that we will be cancelling the inauguration that was scheduled for Jan. 3rd,” Sideris said in a statement.
Freda Stephen
Freda (Bedig) Stephen, 96 of Watertown, passed away at CareOne Lexington on December 27, after a recent illness. Freda grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Belmont High School. She worked at Farmer’s Insurance in Los Angeles until meeting her husband Dan Stephen. She married and relocated to Watertown and quickly became a proud Watertown resident. She always felt a closeness to her husband’s family and stayed in touch with them long after his death.
Charlie BreitroseThe public gathered outside the new Cunniff Elementary School. Elementary attendance zones will be studied by a new ad hoc committee. The attendance areas for Watertown’ three elementary schools may be redrawn by a new committee created to study the issue. Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee in December about the ad hoc committee to study the attendance zones. “As we complete (construction on) two elementary schools and are starting a third, it is the perfect time to look at attendance zones,” Galdston said.
Watertown author Kathleen Spivack won the Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest. Watertown resident Kathleen Spivak’s short story Moths, was chosen from around 900 entries as the winner of the 12th annual Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest. According to the magazine, Moths is a riveting account of a woman who clashes with her husband over the future of their special needs child. Spivack’s winning story was published online in the December issue of Gemini and she received a $1,000 award. A blind selection process is used in Gemini’s contest in which the judges do not see the authors’ names until the winning pieces are chosen. The award is a group decision where the editor, David Bright, and volunteer readers narrow down the list and then vote on the stories on the shortlist.
One property was sold in Watertown this week. $555,000 – 14 Angela Lane Unit K-1, Condo – Townhouse, 1,515 Living Area Sq. Ft., 6 Room, 2 Bedroom, 2 Full & 1 Half Bathroom
Residents should be sure to lock the doors and windows of their homes, Watertown Police said, after a pair of break-ins this week. On Friday, the Watertown Police Department put out messages on social media alerting the public to the incidents. The first one occurred on Lovell Road on Dec. 21, and police said entry was gained through a rear locked door sometime between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.
In the late hours of Dec. 23, a Common Street home was broken into.
Watertown TMAThe Watertown Connector started running the week of Labor Day. The shuttle goes down Pleasant Street to Watertown Square and then heads to Harvard Square. It is open to the general public. The City of Watertown wants to go green by seeking funds for two electric vehicles for the recently launched shuttle running from the Westside to Harvard Square. The Council recently signed a letter requesting a three-year grant through the Community Connections program run by MassDOT to lease two battery-powered vehicles to replace the one gas-powered shuttle currently being operated.