Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/863/)
Voters in District B will head to the polls Thursday in the preliminary election for the district Town Councilor. Residents of District B, which includes Precincts 4, 5 and 6, have the choice of four candidates. The top two move on to the town election on Nov. 3. Incumbent Cecilia Lenk faces three challengers – Lisa Feltner, Kevin MacDonald and Patty van Dinter.
A new class for girls who want to learn about computer coding begins soon at the Watertown Free Public Library.
The Watertown Public Library is hosting a free Girls Who Code Club starting Oct. 1 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This club serves girls in grades 6-12 and aims to inspire, educate, and equip them with computing skills for the 21st century, according to the announcement from the library. We meet for 2 hours each Thursday, and follow a curriculum published by the national Girls Who Code organization. Working in Scratch, JavaScript, AppInventor, and HTML/CSS, we build a range of projects from graphics to video games to artificial intelligence to cryptography. We also host guest speakers, go on field trips, and develop soft skills like collaborating and presenting your work.
If you haven’t you visited the Watertown Farmers Market this season, now is the time! If you are a regular, show up early!Visit the Live Well Watertown table on Thursday, Sept. 17, between 2-6 p.m., and pick up a FREE $5 voucher to spend on fresh, local food at the market, announced Live Well Watertown. Come early! Offer is limited to 400 vouchers.
Watertown elected officials began wading into what could be a thorny process to try to define what homes should look like in Watertown, in an effort to protect the town’s residential neighborhoods. After creating a set of guidelines and standards for what new developments can look like in commercial areas, Watertown brought back architectural designer David Gamble to create similar design guidelines for homes in town. He spoke at a recent meeting of the Town Council’s Economic Development and Planning Committee. To help get a feel for what the design guidelines should include, Gamble took three tours around Watertown’s residential neighborhoods. “I was amazed how much organic redevelopment has happened in the neighborhoods,” Gamble said.
The Watertown Cultural Council will host a celebration for the new mural in East Watertown. The WCC sent out the following announcement:
We will be celebrating the completion of the Coolidge Square Mural in a block party on Melendy Avenue on Saturday, Sept. 19 between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. We hope to celebrate with the artists, neighbors, and shoppers in the square. In addition to the mural, we have two painted utility boxes with matching designs and a dozen big painted cut-outs of flowers and fruits that will be hung around the square. This is a celebration of Coolidge Square as well as the mural.
The campaign to re-elect Susan Falkoff to Town Council at Large is hosting a campaign kickoff. Please join Susan and supporters for a fun and enlightening party to kick the campaign into high gear! Everyone is welcome. The event is on Sunday, Sept. 20, 3-5 p.m. at the home of Mark and Erneseta Kraczkiewicz, 77 Riverside St., Watertown.
With the arrival of cooler weather, thoughts are turning to the coming winter and avoiding a repetition of last year’s transportation woes, especially on the MBTA. The Baker Administration and the legislature did a lot of work on that issue this spring and summer and overall the results were good – a strong MBTA budget (with substantial investments in storm readiness) and new authority and tools for the Governor to make good on his pledge to fix the T.
But as important as it is to fix what we already have, meeting the transportation needs of our area will require much more. Rapid development, changing demographics, and climate change mean we need to think creatively about improvements that will make our transportation system a truly positive factor for our economy and communities. Last week saw important progress in that direction for two of Watertown’s key transportation corridors. First, the state put out to bid a study for the Mount Auburn Street/Fresh Pond Parkway area.
The League of Women Voters of Watertown recognizes that everyone is still enjoying the end of summer and perhaps worrying about the start of the new academic year. However, the town election season is also coming up. In particular, the citizens who live in District B have a chance to make their choices in the Preliminary Election on September 17, 2015. Please take note of the date because it is a Thursday rather than the usual Tuesday. We encourage all the voters in District B to exercise their privilege to vote in this election.
Raya Stern, President
League of Women Voters of Watertown
(Note, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday).