Government

Town Council Approves Funding to Renovate North Fire Station

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The Town Council approved the funds needed to make some major renovations to the North Fire Station to modernize it for the firefighters who live and work there. 

The facility on Orchard Street, also known as Station 3, has five firefighters assigned to it, and runs the Watertown Fire Department’s Engine 1 an Rescue 1 ambulance. The Council approved $1.242 million for the renovations, which will replace or modernize the systems in the building, said Provisional Fire Chief Bob Quinn. “These are long overdue improvements to Station 3,” Quinn said. While there have been some work to the roof within the last couple years and to the floor in 1998, but Quinn said some of the systems are very old. “We will get rid of the old steam radiators and replace them with new heated fin tubes,” Quinn said.

Schools

SEPAC Awards Will Honor Those Who Work, Volunteer with Students with Special Needs

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The Watertown Special Education Parents Advisory Council (SEPAC) will once again honor those who have dedicated their time to help students with special needs in the Watertown Schools at the annual SEPAC Awards. The group formed in the late 1990s as a requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), but it was always a challenge to get parents to come out to meetings, said Michelle Fallon, Hosmer Elementary School Evaluation Team Chair and parent of a student who received special education services from the Watertown Public Schools. The SEPAC awards began as a way to bring more attention to the people who dedicate their time to help students with special needs in Watertown, as well as to get more participation in SEPAC events, said Fallon, who had created a similar awards program when she was a member of the Watertown Historical Commission. “We came up with the idea to give some awareness for some of these wonderful people  working with kids,” Fallon said. The awards go to people who work in the district’s special education program, but they also are given to parents of students with special needs and even students who have volunteered to work with students in the special ed program.

Basketball

A Pair of Watertown High School Coaches Named Honored by Boston Globe

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Watertown High School had not one but two coaches honored as coach of the year in their sports by the Boston Globe during the winter season. Watertown High School basketball coach Steve Harrington guided the Raiders to the school’s third State Championship, and his third as head coach. Harrington was named the Div. 3 boys basketball coach of the year by the Boston Globe. Having just completed his 24th season coaching Watertown, Harrington took the job when he was 24 years old.

All-Scholastic

Two Watertown Athletes Named to Boston Globe’s All-Scholastic Teams

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After stellar winter seasons two Watertown High School athletes made Boston area All-Scholastic teams, one in basketball and one in track. Senior John Korte led Watertown to its third State Championship in March. The center finished with 1,337 points in his career with the Raiders and averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds a game. He was named to both the Boston Globe’s boys basketball All-Scholastic team and the Boston Herald’s All-Scholastic team. Korte also was named the Most Valuable Player of the Middlesex League Freedom Division for the second straight year. He is an honor role student and plans to do a postgraduate year, during which he will play basketball, before heading to college.

Government

OP-ED: Criminal Justice Reforms About Lifting People Up, Not Locking Them Up

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(The following piece was submitted by State Sen. Will Brownsberger, who represents Watertown)

Last week, the legislature sent a broad reform of the criminal justice system to the Governor with a unanimous vote in the Senate and a near-unanimous vote in the House. The bill is about lightening up on the little guy – the person who has made some mistakes but wants to turn a corner and live right. If possible, we want to lift that person up instead of locking them up. And we want to cut away the web of bureaucratic entanglements that makes it hard for them to get back on their feet. For the most dangerous offenders though, the focus has to be on public protection and the bill also gives police and prosecutors a number of useful new tools.

Arrests

Police Log: Wanted Man Tracked Down in Shed, Unruly Patron Breaks Bottles & Computer Screen

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests
March 26, 5:34 a.m.: A man discovered that a male friend of his adult daughter was in his home, so the homeowner called police to have the man removed. Police knew that the man had a warrant for his arrest, but when they arrived he was gone. He was spotted a short time later walking down Worcester Street and when officers approached, the man ran away through back yards. Police got the assistance of a State Police search dog and tracked him down inside the shed of a home on Fitchburg Street.

Transportation

Bike Sharing Program Coming Soon to Watertown, Surrounding Towns

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Watertown is planning to contract with companies that will provide a bicycle sharing program similar to Hubway but without the docking stations and bring the bikes to Town as soon as this spring. 

Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon said the Town had been looking at working with Hubway, which provides bicycles that can be rented by the hour in Boston, Cambridge, Brookline and Somerville. However installing the docks would require the Town to invest thousands of dollars and find places in town to locate them. Then Watertown and other communities began receiving inquiries from other companies looking to do bicycle sharing, Magoon said. “About a year ago dockless systems came to municipalities and said we want to come into your community free of charge, and you don’t need a dock,” Magoon said. The bikes would have wheels that are locked and can be unlocked by people using the company’s app.