Arrests

Man Busted After Attempting to Take Bike Out from Under Cyclist

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A Newton man faces criminal charges after he tried to grab the bicycle out from under a bicyclist riding down Pleasant Street just before midnight on March 31. 

Police were called to the area of Pleasant Street near Russo’s for a man wearing a mask, yelling and running in and out of traffic, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. A few minutes later an employee from Russo’s reported a man fitting the same description was in the store parking lot near the loading dock. “An officer located the person and was able to control the situation,” O’Connor said. He also spoke to a man who said the suspect attacked him. “The victim stated while he was riding his bicycle home on Pleasant Street the man jumped out in front of him and attempted to take his bicycle,” O’Connor said.

Real Estate

See This Week’s Watertown Open Houses

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Check out this week’s open house’s around Watertown. $699,000 – 107 Stoneleigh Road, 6 room, 3 bed, 1.5 bath cape, Open Houses: Saturday 12-1:30 p.m. Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$329,900 – 31 Aldrich Road Unit 1, 4 room, 2 bed, 1 bath mid-rise, Open Houses: Saturday 1-2:30 p.m. Sunday 1-2:30 p.m.

$499,900 – 3 Repton Place Unit 3112, 4 room, 2 bed, 2 bath mid-rise, Open House: Saturday 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday 12-2 p.m.

$989,900 – 56 Gleason St., 10 room, 5 bed, 3 bath colonial, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2 p.m. Sunday 12-2 p.m.

Sponsored by:

$719,000 – 111 Common St., 9 room, 3 bed, 1.5 bath colonial, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2:30
p.m. Sunday 12-2 p.m.

$499,000 – 56 Olcott St., 7 room, 3 bed, 1.5 bath colonial, Open Houses: Saturday 12-1:30 p.m. Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$379,000 – 160 Spruce St. Unit 160, 4 room, 2 bed, 1 bath 2/3 family, Open Houses: Saturday 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

Elections

Dems Choosing Delegates for National Convention, Including a Caucus in Watertown

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If you are interested in having a role in choosing the next President of the United States and participating in a caucus, this weekend could be your chance if you are a Democrat (Republicans will have to wait a few weeks). On Saturday, April 9, Massachusetts Democrats will be holding caucuses to choose who will go to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention to represent either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, and the Clinton representatives will be chosen in Watertown. The Congressional District Caucuses will be held across the state, with separate locations for each of the main Democratic candidates. For the Fifth Congressional District, the Clinton caucus will be held in the Watertown High School auditorium, 50 Columbia St. in Watertown, while the Sanders caucus will be at Malden High School, 77 Salem St.

Assistant Superintendent

Watertown’s New Assistant Superintendent Has Wide Range of Experience

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Watertown’s new Assistant Superintendent comes to Watertown from Marblehead, where she has been a principal, but she has a wide range of prior experience. Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald introduced Theresa McGuinness at Tuesday night’s School Committee meeting. McGuinness currently as principal of the Village School in Marblehead, where she has worked for the last four years. She said she looks forward to working in Watertown. “Let me say I am honored you selected me,” McGuiness said.

Around Town

See Which Town Will ‘Play’ Watertown in the Patriots Day Movie

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Filmmakers originally wanted to use the actual location of the shootout with the Boston Marathon Bombers in Watertown to recreate the action, but when that proved problematic they moved to … Rockland(?). The town in Plymouth County, outside Brockton, will be the site of the Watertown Shootout scenes in the film that stars Mark Wahlburg and J.K. Simmons. Wicked Local Braintree reported that shooting has already begun. When CBS Films announced the film would not be shot in Watertown, some in town speculated that the movie would be shot in Somerville, Boston or a few other communities, but Rockland never came up.

Around Town

Michael Schade Stepping Down from Community Foundation, New Directer Sought

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In the six years that the Watertown Community Foundation has been lead by Michael Schade, the non-profit has more than doubled the amount of grant money awarded and expanded the areas in which the money impacts. This week Schade announced he will be stepping down as executive director in June. “It has been an honor and privilege to partner with WCF’s dedicated volunteer Board of Directors on many endeavors to enhance the quality of life in Watertown,” Schade said. “Now, I am looking for the right opportunity to bring my management skills and creative experience to another organization or business in order to improve their results.”

Before becoming Executive Director, Schade spent 25 years designing and managing computer-based training programs and related projects for companies such as Xerox, General Motors, IBM, State Farm Insurance and Otis Elevator-Europe. He was also a public school teacher in Hawaii and Massachusetts.

Schools

School Budget Has Funds for Elementary Foreign Language Classes, None for Shrinking Class Sizes

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The budget presented to the Watertown School Committee Monday night calls for adding more than 20 new positions, including staff to start teaching foreign language at the elementary schools, but it did not have any funds to reduce class sizes in the elementary schools. The total request for Fiscal Year 2017 to the Town Manager and Town Council is $44.149 million, an increase of $2.69 million over the Fiscal 2016 request (the current school year). That is a 6.51 percent increase. The Foreign Language in the Elementary School, or FLES, program is one of the biggest additions. Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald said the district would hire three teachers to begin teaching kindergartners a foreign language (likely Spanish).