Police/Fire

Watertown’s New Fire Chief Remembers Fallen Colleagues; Wants a Progressive, Safe Department

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Watertown’s new Fire Chief said he will continue the tradition of his predecessors and work to make the department progressive and well trained while ensuring members of the department are safe and healthy. He also remembered a pair of recently lost members of the Watertown Fire Department. Robert “Bob” Quinn officially became the Chief of the Watertown Fire Department Thursday afternoon, after being sworn in in front of a packed room in the Watertown Library’s Watertown Savings Bank Room. After being introduced by Town Manager Michael Driscoll and taking the oath from Town Clerk John Flynn, Quinn said: “It is certainly a very proud moment in my career becoming chief of this great Department. I look forward to serving the citizens of Watertown in this role.”

Football

Watertown High School Scores Season Opening Win Over Arlington Catholic

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Watertown High School opened the 2018 football season on a high note, scoring a touchdown on the first play, and triumphed over host Arlington Catholic Thursday night. 

The game, played at Hormel Stadium in Medford, was delayed by weather, but once the game started, the action began rolling, with senior running back Mange Camara scoring three times. Watertown junior running back Karim Monroe scored on a 64-yard run on the first play of the game, putting the Raiders up 7-0. The Cougars got within one point in the first quarter, but Camara answered by returning the kickoff for a touchdown to put the Raiders up 13-6 with 4:12 left. Arlington Catholic got within one at the end of the first quarter. Then Camara scored again, this time on a 74-yard run to put Watertown up 20-12 at half.

Around Town

Watertown Boys & Girls Club Reopening Soon, Hosting Grand Opening

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The Watertown Boys & Girls Club’s renovation is nearly complete and the club will soon reopen, and have a grand opening celebration. The Club will have an open house and grand opening on Saturday, Sept. 22 from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. The event will feature the Boston Red Sox World Series Trophy from 12-3 p.m. Attendees can see the trophy and pose for photos with it. The Watertown Boys & Girls Club will be opening its after-school drop-in program on Monday, Sept. 24.

Real Estate

Plenty of Open Houses to Check Out Around Watertown This Week

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Dozens of open houses around Watertown this week. $709,000 – 125 Coolidge Ave. Unit 111, 5 room, 2 bed, 2.5 bath mid-rise, Open Houses: Saturday 12-1:30 Sunday 12-1:30

$474,900 – 32 Whites Ave. Unit D43, 5 room, 2 bed, 2 bath mid-rise, Open House: Sunday 12-1:30

$505,000 – 57 Fayette St. Unit 0, 6 room, 2 bed, 1 bath 2 family, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2 Sunday 12-2

$529,900 – 40-42 Maplewood St.

Police/Fire

Accident Between School Bus, Car on Common Street Sends Two to Hospital

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A car and a mini-school bus collided, causing the car to roll over and sent two people to hospital. The accident occurred shortly before 9 a.m. on Wednesday when the vehicles got into an accident on the Common Street hill near Bellevue Road. The driver of the car had to be extricated by Watertown firefighters, and was taken to hospital with minor injuries. The school bus had one student aboard, a 17-year-old who was not from Watertown. The student also went to hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Elections

Group of Voters to Examine Nurse Staffing Ballot Measure at 4 Day Event in Watertown

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Citizens’ Initiative Review provided the following announcement:

The 2018 Citizens’ Initiative Review is coming to Watertown. From Wednesday, September 12 through Saturday, September 15, 20 Massachusetts voters will gather at the Watertown Public Library to produce a clear, reliable statement of essential information on Question 1, the ballot initiative on nurse staffing limits. Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) is an innovative project in civic engagement designed to help voters make informed decisions on complicated ballot questions. The 2018 CIR is being organized by the office of State Representative Jon Hecht (D-Watertown) and the Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, with guidance from a nonpartisan Advisory Board that includes former Governor Michael Dukakis, Representative Brad Hill (R-Ipswich), and leading academics and advocates in the field of voter education and civic engagement. The twenty citizen panelists who will gather in Watertown have been selected to reflect the state’s overall voting population in terms of age, gender, race/ethnicity, place of residence, party affiliation, and education.

Around Town

One-Woman Play, ‘Unveiled,’ Looks at Experiences of Muslim Women

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The sponsors of the event provided the following information:

On Saturday, September 15, 2018, Unveiled, a play written and acted by Rohina
Malik, will be performed at 2:00 pm at the First Parish of Watertown, 35 Church
Street, Watertown. The play depicts five Muslim women in a post-9/11 world who serve tea and uncover what lies beneath the veil. Malik says she was inspired to write the play
because of the current climate of hate towards Muslims.

Recognizing that Islamophobia is based on ignorance and ignorant assumptions, she performs a series of monologues delivered by five very different Muslim women. Her westernized characters range from a Moroccan-American lawyer to a West London rapper of South Asian origin, who all share their diverse experiences with intolerance. Although the 70 minute play touches on racism and hate crimes, it is also a tribute to love, Islam, and life.

Bob Quinn

Watertown’s Next Fire Chief Named by Town Manager

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{UPDATED Sept. 6 at 9:05 a.m.: The location fo the swearing in has been changed, see below}

Watertown’s next fire chief will be a familiar face — Bob Quinn — a 31 year veteran of the department who has served as provisional chief for the past 10 months. 

Town Manager Michael Driscoll announced that Quinn would be the new Fire Chief on Wednesday. He succeeds Mario Orangio, who retired in the summer of 2017 and died of cancer in November 2017. Quinn will be sworn in during ceremony at the Watertown Free Public Library on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. He said he was excited to be named chief. “I’m very excited to take on this responsibility for the Fire Department,” Quinn said.