Police/Fire

Police Log: Men Face Charges After Drug Deal Goes Awry, Woman Uses Stolen Plates

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests
May 6, 9 a.m.: Police received information that a man working at the Colonial GMC dealership was wanted on a warrant. The 30-year-old Jamaica Plain man was arrested on two warrants for larceny, one from Waltham District Court and one from Brighton District Court. May 9, 7:20 a.m.: An officer spotted a vehicle run a red light on Watertown Street at California Street. When the officer ran the registration the plates came back as stolen from Revere.

Government

Residents Concerned About How Possible Zoning Changes Would Impact Their Homes

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More than 100 residents came out Thursday night to hear about the Residential Design Guidelines, which many said they had only recently heard about. Town Council President Mark Sideris said he would make sure people are aware of proposed changes when they come out. The meeting was held by a resident’s group, Concerned Watertown Homeowners, which formed in response to the guidelines working their way through the town government. (See the town’s Residential Design Guideline webpage here.)

The Residential Design Guidelines were first proposed by a group of residents concerned by smaller homes are being torn down and replaced with much larger homes, often two-family homes. They worried about changing the character of Watertown’s neighborhoods.

Around Town

Marshall Home Fund Giving Out Nearly $60,000 in Grants to Area Groups

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The Marshall Home Fund (MHF) is pleased to announce the recipients of its annual program grant awards to benefit Watertown residents ages 55 and over. This spring, MHF will have disseminated a half million dollars in program and individual grants to agencies and organizations that serve older adults in the community. Please join MHF in celebration of this new and exciting milestone—the Program Grant Awards Ceremony is Thursday, May 19, 3:30 p.m. at the Watertown Public Library during which MHF will award nearly $60,000 to the following organizations:

Arsenal Center for the Arts: The Open Door Project will encourage a variety of art activities for older adults, including an allotment of concert tickets for the Senior Center and a new intergenerational partnership with the Watertown Children’s Theatre. Care Dimensions: Complementary Therapies for Watertown Hospice Patients will provide aromatherapy, art and music therapy, massage, and Reiki to improve the well-being of Watertown residents who are receiving hospice care. MetroWest Collaborative Development: The Ready Renter Program provides information and referrals to Watertown residents who are seeking affordable housing.

Real Estate

More Than 20 Open Houses This Weekend in Watertown

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Check out all the properties for sale around Watertown. These places are all having open houses. $850,000 – 144 Lovell Road, 10 room, 4 bed, 3 bath colonial, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2 Sunday 12-2

$464,500- 24 Franklin St. Unit 24, 4 room, 2 bed, 1 bath 2/3 family, Open Houses: Saturday 11-1 Sunday 11:30-1:30

$499,000 – 388 School St. Unit 388, 7 room, 2 bed, 1 bath 2/3 family, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2 Sunday 12-2

$629,500 – 379 School St, 10 room, 5 bed, 3 bath colonial, Open Houses: Saturday 1:30-3:30 Sunday 2-4

$499,000 – 32 Falmouth Road, 6 room, 3 bed, 1.5 bath cape, Open Houses: Saturday 12-1:30 Sunday 12-1:30

$349,900 – 3 Repton Cir.

Government

Council Statement: Senior Center Won’t Close; Some Worried About Center’s Focus

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No one can pin down where it came from, but rumors have flown recently that the Watertown Senior Center would be closing. Town Council President Mark Sideris made it clear Tuesday night that the center will not close. The Council’s Human Services subcommittee held a meeting in late March to gather information about what people want from the senior center and what qualities they want to see in the new executive director. The meeting ruffled some feathers, however, and some felt that there was an effort to change the mission of the Senior Center. Tuesday night, the report from the meeting was presented.

Entertainment

Final Tremedal Concert Features Folk Singer/Songwriter Joe Crookston

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The final Tremedal Concert for the season features multi-talented musician Joe Crookston. Crookston will perform Saturday, May 21 at 8 p.m. at the First Parish Church in Watertown, 35 Church St. in Watertown. Proceeds from the concert helps Tremedal help students from our Sister Community in El Salvador, Nueva Esperanza, attend high school and college. Tremedal wrote up the following information:

A songwriter, singer, guitarist, painter, fiddler, claw hammer banjo player, eco-village member and believer in all things possible. The magic and the musical world he creates will pull you in.

Around Town

Drug Overdoses Continue to Plague Watertown But Narcan Has Saved Many

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Heroin and opiate painkillers continue to be a problem in Watertown in 2016, but the anti-overdose medicine Narcan has helped save lives. 

Deaths due to overdose have been reported in Watertown for the past few years, but the problem escalated in 2015, with several deaths and scores of overdoses. Town officials hosted an event to bring attention to the crisis, which often begins with legally prescribed painkillers, and a candlelight vigil was put on by local citizen-run groups

This year, Watertown’s first responders have responded to dozens of drug overdoses, said Watertown Police Chief Michael Lawn. “It was a quiet time for a little while,” Lawn said. “There have been overdoses in other towns, too. Fitchburg had like 10 over (a recent) weekend.”

Police/Fire

2 Women Caught Running a Shoe Theft Ring at Marshalls

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Police busted two women who tried to return shoes at the Marshalls in the Arsenal Mall which they had taken from another location of the store. 

On the afternoon of May 5, security at Marshalls spotted two women in line, and bother were seen returning shoes for gift cards, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. One woman returned two pairs of shoes and got a gift card for $698, O’Connor said. The second woman, identified as Brianna Andrews of Dracut, returned two pieces of clothing and two pairs of shoes for a total of $372.97, which she received on a gift card. “When she was leaving she picked up three notebooks off the sales counter and concealed them in her pocketbook,” O’Connor said. “She tried to leave without paying but she was detained by security.”