Environment

Town Council Seeks to Have Town Move to 100% Renewable Energy

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Watertown Town Hall

In a move to respond to climate change, the Town Council voted to create a Climate and Energy Master Plan, and get the town to 100 percent renewable energy in the coming decades. A proposal for the Climate and Energy Master Plan was presented to a joint subcommittee at meetings in October and December by the Watertown Environment & Energy Efficiency Committee (also called W3EC). It seeks to prepare Watertown for the changing weather conditions, and take steps to reduce the town’s impact on climate change. The proposal states, in part:

“It is clear from projections that Watertown as a community will be increasingly affected by climate change. Significant impacts to daily life in Watertown are to be expected.

Around Town

Teens for Trees Surveys 3K Trees, Educate Public on Importance of Street Trees

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Watertown High School students Dylan Hickey, right, and Joe Lessard examine a tree in East Watertown as part of their internship with Teens for Trees. Last summer, a dozen Watertown teens walked over 2 million steps, examined more than 3,000 trees, and shared their knowledge of trees with about 300 people. The teens were part of the second year of Trees for Watertown’s Teens for Trees (TFT) program. The TFT final report was recently released. The goal of this year’s TFT group was to update the town’s street tree index, which was created in 2008.

Around Town

Registration Open for Watertown Recreation’s February Break Program

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Registration opened for the Watertown Recreation Department’s February Vacation Program from Feb. 19 to 22. The program is open to students in grades 1-8, and runs from Tuesday to Friday on the week of February Vacation at Watertown Middle School. The Recreation Department provided the following description: Children will be divided into groups by grades at the start of the program. They will participate in activities such as basketball, whiffle ball, floor hockey and indoor soccer, etc.

Around Town

Construction of Two Story Southside Garage Stopped, Neighbors Want to Appeal

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The disputed garage of the 73-75 Morse Street property is two stories high and stretches the length of two rear abutting properties and just five feet from the property line. Several residents spoke out against the large residential garage being constructed on Morse Street on the Southside of Watertown at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, and Town Council President Mark Sideris told them that construction has been halted on the building. The garage going up at 73-75 Morse Street was allowed to be built by the Town’s Planning Department to replace a condemned garage. The new building has a second story with what appears to be living quarters, and it sits just five feet from the property line of the neighbors backing up against the property. Judy Antonucci lives right behind the property and said she and her neighbors were never notified about the proposed garage, nor were they giving a chance to oppose it.

Police/Fire

Woman Tracks Down, Confronts Suspect Who Took Her Credit Cards at Target

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A woman who had her credit cards and jacket taken discovered the person who took them tried to charge items at Target and confronted her, leading to the suspect’s arrest. On Jan. 4, 2019, Watertown Police receive a call from the Target store in the Watertown Mall. When they arrived they found two women, one who said the other had taken her wallet and jacket from a gym locker, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. The victim, a 39-year-old Brighton woman, said several items were taken from her locker at Planet Fitness in Newton on Jan.

Around Town

Clock from Former East Branch Library Has a New Home

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The clock that used to hang in Watertown’s East Branch Library has been saved, and now hangs in the Main Library. A piece of Watertown history has found a home in a very appropriate place: the Local History Room of the Watertown Free Public Library. While the former East Branch Library has been sold to St. James Armenian Church, and will be torn down, the clock has been saved, noted District A Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis, who represents the East End. “Do you remember the “clock” that for decades hung at the East Branch Library?

Schools

Boston Bruins Players Drop by Perkins School for to Try Out a Different Sport

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Boston Bruins players, from left, Zdeno Chara, Ryan Donato and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, shake hands with students from Perkins School for the Blind after playing goal ball in the gym at the Watertown-based school. Three members of the Boston Bruins took some time away from the ice to join students from Perkins School for the Blind for a game of goal ball on Monday afternoon. NHL players Zdeno Chara, Ryan Donato and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson donned the black and gold jerseys with the famous spoked “B,” while students came dressed in their blue jerseys with “Perkins” across the front. The Bruins were greeted by the school’s cheerleading team, which got the crowd in the Perkins gym warmed up with a few numbers. Then it was time to strap on the goggles and play some goal ball.