Business

See the Winners of the Watertown Savings Customer Choice Awards

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Watertown Savings Bank announced the winners of the Customer Choice Awards, and who will receive a share of the $85,000. Watertown Savings released the following announcement:

Voting in this year’s Customer Choice Awards reached a record high! We had just over 7,000 customers vote. Over 300 different organizations had votes, but only the non-profits that received at least 70 votes made the list of this year’s winners.  Click “full story” to see an alphabetical list of the winners. The awards night is scheduled for April 5.

Charity

Group Makes Valentine’s Cards for Operation American Soldier to Send to Troops

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Watertown’s Operation American Soldier received a big helping hand from a Cambridge group that made more than 300 Valentine’s Day cards to send to the troops. OAS co-founder Wendy Rocca welcomed the cards, which were made by Many Helping Hands 365. Operation American Soldier sends care packages to servicemen and servicewomen around the world, and the Valentine’s Day cards will go with them, Rocca said. “They made 3400+ cards for Valentine’s. Almost 300 for our Veterans and our troops,” Rocca said. “OAS will be sending a bunch with our packages.”

Real Estate

Four Watertown Homes Were Purchased This Week

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A town house a duplex and two condos in two-family homes sold this week in Watertown. $525,000 – 92 Cypress St. Unit 90, 7 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

$790,000 – 38-40 Whites Ave., 2 unit, 12 total room, 6 total bedroom, 2 Family – 2 Units Side by Side multi-family home

Sponsored by:

$630,000 – 263 Boylston St., 2 unit, 11 total room, 4 total bedroom, 2 Family – 2 Units Up/Down multi-family home

$670,000 – 259 Boylston St. 2 unit, 11 total room, 4 total bedroom, 2 Family – 2 Units Up/Down multi-family home

Real Estate

Several Watertown Properties Hosting Open Houses This Weekend

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The Watertown real estate market continues to add new properties in the depths of winter. $539,000 – 14 Brimmer St. Unit 14, 7 room, 2 bed, 2.5 bath 2/3 family, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

$849,000 – 9 Purvis St. Unit 9, 9 room, 4 bed, 2 full 2 half bath townhouse, Open Houses: Saturday 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$849,000 – 7 Purvis St. Unit 7, 9 room, 4 bed, 2 full 2 half bath townhouse, Open Houses: Saturday 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.

$479,900 – 9 George St.

Schools

Watertown Students Could Start to Learning Spanish in Kindergarten

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Watertown School officials are working toward starting a program that would start teaching all students Spanish beginning in kindergarten and eventually expanding the program through middle school and high school. On Monday, the School Committee heard a report from a group of 10 administrators and teachers about starting a FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools) program. Initially, the district would hire three teachers and all kindergarten students and those in classes of mixed Pre-K and K would get 30 minutes of Spanish instruction each day at school, said Adam Silverberg, world language curriculum coordinator for the Watertown Public Schools. “The benefit of starting at kindergarten is the young they start the better they are at acquiring language,” Silverberg said. It also lines up well with the curriculum, he said, because kindergarten is when students are learning numbers and letters and beginning to learn to read.

Weather

Significant Snow Storm Due to Hit Watertown Friday

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The National Weather Service has upgraded the amount of snowfall the Boston area will receive Friday, and the area could get 4-6 inches and will impact the morning commute. The storm will hit the South Coast of Massachusetts harder, but the Boston area will also get some snow. Watertown appears to be on the edge of the area under the Winter Storm Watch sent out from the National Weather Service. Rain will turn to snow between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., so the storm could impact your commute. WHDH Channel 7’s forecast calls for rain and heavy snow from late Thursday night through Friday afternoon.

Arrests

Police Catch Thief Trying to Break into Watertown Home

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Watertown Police arrested a 38-year-old man who they caught in the act of trying to break into a home on Adams Street. 

On Jan. 26 at 12:38 p.m., Police received a call from a resident who saw a man standing on the lower roof of a nearby home, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. “An officer in the area arrived and observed a man standing inside the screen door of the basement,” O’Connor said. “The suspect saw police and began to walk away.” Police stopped the man, and identified him as Edwin P. Lopez of Watertown.

Schools

Sixth Annual Watertown Spelling Bee Raises More than $10,000

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The sixth annual Town-wide Spelling Bee on Sunday was a big success, drawing dozens of children and raising thousands of dollars for the Watertown Education Foundation. Watertown’s spelling bee is unlike others, where individual students compete to see who is the best speller. In the Town-wide Spelling Bee three-person teams from Watertown’s three elementary schools showed off their spelling skills. The teams could be made up of students from different schools, but they had to be from the same grade. All teams received a prize, and the winner at each grade level got a special prize.