Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/560/)
A statue and several headstones were damaged by a vandal at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Watertown. The damage was discovered on Tuesday evening at about 7 p.m., and Watertown Police are investigating. “It was reported by someone who frequents the cemetery,” said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. “The person called up reporting vandalism at the cemetery.”
Three Raiders scored in Watertown High School’s victory over Wilmington in the Div. 2 North Section field hockey semifinal on Tuesday, propelling the team into the North Final.
Senior Sydney Poulin and sophomore Allison Kennedy each scored in the first half of the game at Reading High School. In the second half junior Gabby Venezia finished off scoring in the 3-0 victory. With the win, second-seeded Watertown (19-1) moves on to the North Section final to take on top-seeded Manchester-Essex (19-0-1) at North Andover High School on Saturday at 11 a.m.
The team seeks its 10th-straight North title and its ninth-straight state title. The last time Watertown faced Manchester-Essex, in 2015, the section title was also on the line, and Raiders won 4-0.
Voters elected two newcomers and two incumbents in the race for Watertown Town Councilor At-Large on Tuesday.
First-time candidates Anthony Donato and Caroline Bays got the most votes, followed by incumbents Tony Palomba and Michael Dattoli in the six-way race for the four Councilor At-Large spots. Donato received 3,053 votes, or 23.32 percent of the vote. With 2,657 votes (20.30 percent), Bays got the second most votes, just 13 votes ahead of Palomba, who had 2,644 votes (20.20 percent). Dattoli received 2,337 and finished fourth. He got 17.85 percent of the vote.
Only one incumbent will return to the Watertown School Committee, as two newcomers won seats on the board in Tuesday’s election. First time candidate Amy Donohue took the most votes, with 2,549, which was 24.20 percent of the ballots. Incumbent John Portz took second with 2,101 votes (19.94 percent). In a narrow race for the third and final seat on the School Committee, newcomer Lily Rayman-Read received 1,691 votes (16.05 percent), just 26 more than incumbent Liz Yusem’s 1,665 (15.81 percent). Incumbent Guido Guidotti got 1,532 votes, or 14.54 percent, followed by Michael Shepard, who was on the School Committee for four years, but lost his re-election bid two years ago.
Former Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio died overnight, and the Watertown Fire Department is preparing to honor their leader later this week. News of Orangio’s passing spread over social media Tuesday morning. Orangio officially stepped down as Fire Chief in October, but had been battling pancreatic cancer for months. He was 51 years old. He grew up in Watertown and became a firefighter in 1989.
The Watertown boys soccer team defeated Bedford in overtime at Victory Field on Monday night to move on to the Div. 3 North Section semifinals. The fifth-seeded Raiders (13-6-1) found themselves behind in the first half of the Section quarterfinal when the 13th-seeded Buccaneers (7-11-2) scored just a few minutes into the game. Watertown’s Robert Danielian tied the score with a goal in the ninth minute. Danielian struck again late in the first half to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead.
Watertown’s Town Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7 and voters will be able to cast their ballots for Town Council, School Committee and Board of Library Trustees.
The 2017 election features numerous contested races, while other candidates have no opposition. Follow Watertown News on Election Night for the results. Town Council
The big race for Town Council is for Councilor At-Large. There are four seats being contested this year but only two incumbents seek re-election after Susan Falkoff and Aaron Dushku announced they would not run this year.
{Updated Nov. 7 at 8:50 a.m.: The reports for School Committee candidate Liz Yusem and Council Candidate David Stokes was left off the first version of the story.}
One candidate for Town Council raised nearly $17,000 and two others raised several thousand for their run this year according to campaign finance reports filed at the Watertown Town Clerk’s office. The Town Council drew some big bucks this year. Here are the candidates, from highest funds raised to lowest:
Anthony Donato raised $16,695 as of Oct. 30, and spent $5,997.06.