Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/593/)
There are a pair of open houses in Watertown this weekend. $425,000 – 35 Pierce Road Unit 35, 5 room, 2 bed, 2 bath townhouse, Open Houses: Friday 11-12 Saturday 12-1:30 Sunday 11-12
$1,149,000 – 18-20 Beechwood Ave., 3 unit, 13 total room, 5 total bedroom, Open Houses: Friday 5-7 Saturday 1-3 Sunday 5-7
Sponsored by:
A disagreement got out of hand and a group of teens and young 20-somethings got into a massive fight, which sent two to the hospital. Four of those involved face criminal charges.
On March 19 at 2 a.m. a Watertown Police officer was flagged down on Belmont Street near St. Patrick’s Cemetery by a man who said he was jumped by a group of people who were seen running down Ralph Street. At the same time police received 911 calls reporting a fight in the same area. Four people in their late teens were located and they said that they had been attacked by another group of teens.
Markem-Imaje announced it will be creating a new global innovation center in Watertown which will focus on industrial laser marking and printing products and have 40 employees. The company is a subsidiary of Dover Corp. and will be moving into the recently remodeled building at 65 Grove St., according to Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon. The building was previously was home to GE Ionics. The company chose Watertown because of its close proximity to the top engineering talent in the universities and high-tech businesses in the Boston area, while still being close to another engineering hub – the New York metro area, and to the company’s United States headquarters in Keene, NH, according to an announcement about the move.
Watertown High School’s Jonna Kennedy will be playing in the Shriners All Star Hockey game for the second year in a row.
The goalie for the Raiders’ girls hockey team will be playing in the game at Canton Ice House at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, 2018. The High School All-Star Hockey game is sponsored by the Shriners and Mass High School Hockey Coaches Association. The game features the best high school senior boy and girls from Massachusetts. All proceeds benefit Shriners Hospital for Children. Kennedy has been the starting goalie for the Watertown High School ice hockey team since she was in eighth grade.
The latest episode of Inside Watertown features interviews with representatives from Live Well Watertown, the Watertown Senior Center, the Watertown Farmers Market and the Watertown Food Pantry. The locally produced cable show is hosted by Paul Airasian and Charlie Breitrose. This first segment of this month’s show features Stephanie Venizelos from Live Well Watertown, and Ashley Wagner from the Watertown Farmers Market. The second half of the show includes an interview with Watertown Director of Senior Services Anne-Marie Gagnon and Watertown Food Pantry Coordinator Kathy Cunningham. Episode 6 is now airing on Watertown Cable’s Public Channel (Comcast Channel 9, RCN Channel 13) on these days and times.
The list of Complete Street Projects in Watertown which Town officials hope to get state funding to complete was adopted by the Town Council on Tuesday night.
Complete Streets is a practice to make roadways accessible to as many users as possible, including drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and public transportation. The list includes 24 projects, with four that will be put forward for funding this year. The projects were narrowed down from more than 150 suggestions collected from the public and the Town at meetings in December and reported back their findings at a meeting in March. A list of at least 15 projects had to be submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) by April 1, and the list for the Construction Application for this year is due by May 1, according to the town’s consultants from Alta Planning + Design. The list includes a variety of projects, including construction of sections of the Community Path (a pedestrian and bike path through Watertown), improving crosswalks, making safe routes to school, improving pedestrian safety, and traffic calming on some roads.
A Middlesex County grand jury indicted a Chelsea man arrested on drug trafficking charges from an arrest in Watertown. London Cohen, 28, of Chelsea, was charged with trafficking fentanyl, trafficking over 18 grams of cocaine, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle after revocation of license as habitual traffic offender, and failure to stop for police, according to an announcement this week by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s Office. The indictments were handed down between January 18 and March 6, 2018. In April 2017, Cohen led police on a chase through Watertown which included Massachusetts State Police search dogs and a State Police helicopter. He had been the target of a drug sting by the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force after suspicious activity was reported on the Westside of Watertown.
The School Committee is considering options for school busing for next Fall when the start time of the high school and middle school move later. They seek to serve as many students without increasing school bus fees or adding greatly to the budget. The state requires students in grades K-6 living more than 2 miles from school to be bused for free by districts. Currently, Watertown buses students who live 1.5 miles or more from Hosmer School and sixth-graders living more than 2 miles from the Middle School for free. For students living closer, or seventh or eighth graders, the district offers busing for a fee of $300 (and a $475 family cap), with students living south of the Charles River going to Hosmer paying a discount rate of $200 (family cap of $320).