Around Town

Tufts Health Plan Foundation Giving Out $2 Million in Grants

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Watertown-based Tufts Health Plan Foundation handed out $2 million in grants to a wide array of non-profit groups around Massachusetts, including a Watertown-based organization. The Tufts Health Plan Foundation recently announced its investments of more than $2 million in grants as part of its first cycle under the foundation’s new guidelines. These investments advance community efforts toward the World Health Organization’s standards for Age-friendly Communities and fall within the categories of Systems and Best Practices and a new President’s Leadership Fund. The foundation is moving to fewer, larger grants and multiple year investments. This year, 61 percent of grantees are new to the foundation and represent collaborative work among more than 250 organizations.

Around Town

Two Watertown Groups Formed to Support Addicts, Family Members

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Overcoming addiction to heroin and other opioids and be a long, frustrating odyssey, but Watertown residents have two places to turn for people who know about the journey to recovery. Heroin and opiates have become a growing problem in Watertown, with a recent spike of overdoses and deaths due to drugs. Eight people have died so far this year from drug overdoses. The two groups, both of which have spread the word on Facebook, have different focuses. One aims to help people battling addiction, while the other is a place for the family of addicts to lend support and help.

Around Town

Local Reporter Gets Award for Piece on Fire that Killed Fire Lt. Ed Walsh

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A radio report on the fire that killed two Boston firefighters, including Watertown native Ed Walsh, won a national award, and was made by a local man. 

WBUR’s Bruce Gellerman – who lives in Watertown – won first place in the PRNDI (Public Radio News Director Incorporated) Awards in the Nationally Edited Breaking News category. His story, “Two Boston Firefighters Die In Nine-Alarm Blaze,” chronicled the deadly Back Bay fire that killed Boston Fire Lt. Ed Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy in March 2014. Listen to the story by clicking here. While Walsh worked in Boston, he was laid to rest and honored in his hometown of Watertown with great fanfare. Thousands of firefighters gathered in Watertown, shutting down Main Street for the wake and funeral (see photos here). The PRNDI awards recognize excellent journalism produced in 2014 in new arts and sports feature categories as well as or multimedia, nationally edited, and student work.

Government

Town Councilor Welcomes Residents at Office Hours

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Town Councilor At Large Susan Falkoff will hold office hours where Watertown residents can come ask questions and make comments about the town’s government. The office hours will be held on Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main St., Watertown. If it is a wonderful summer evening, Susan will sit with you at a table out front of the library. Otherwise, she’ll be in the café. You can also check out the bluegrass band Southern Rail from Saltonstall Park with a concert that goes from 6:30 to 8 p.m. as part of the free Summer Concert Series.

Police/Fire

Pregnant Woman Struck by Car While Crossing Mt. Auburn St.

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A pregnant woman went to hospital after being struck by a car while crossing Mt. Auburn Street. 

The incident occurred in front of the St. James Armenian Church near School Street on June 24 shortly before 8 p.m., said Watertown Police Lt. Michael Lawn. “The 26-year-old female had just gotten off the bus and was crossing in the crosswalk when she was struck by a motor vehicle operated by a 19-year-old male from Waltham,” Lawn said. Watertown Firefighters and EMTs responded to the incident and treated the woman, said Deputy Fire Chief Bob Quinn.

Government

LETTER: Former Council President Reacts to Firefighter Contract Dispute

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Editor,

I am writing regarding the Bullet Points [see below for full text] presented by the Town Manager, on June 9, 2015, that was clearly crafted by Kopelman and Paige and accepted by eight of nine of the Watertown’s Town Council regarding the role of the Council. Clearly the Town Council is the duly elected appropriating body of the “City, Known as the Town of Watertown.” Interestingly, either by omission or deliberate, the Town Attorney, or should I bluntly state, The Manager’s Attorney fails to include in the Manager’s discourse that the Town Council is also the elected Policy Making Body for the Town. It is my impression that the Councilors may not be as knowledgeable of the Charter as one would expect and/or are shielding themselves behind a permeable shield that is easily penetrated. In the many years I served on the Council/School Committee, we provided policy guidance and direction to the Town Manager and School Superintendent on matters of collective bargaining with our valued public servants.

Entertainment

Summer Concert Series Returns with a Mix of Music from the ’40s to the ’80s

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The Watertown Summer Concert Series returns after a week off and features Eight to the Bar, which performs songs from the Forties all the way to the Eighties. 

The group from Connecticut celebrates 40 years in 2015, and the concert at Watertown’s Saltonstall Park will include a CD release party. The New Haven Advocate described Eight to the Bar’s music as being like “Listening to Eight to the Bar is a lot like driving along a time-warped highway precisely halfway between Count Basie’s Kansas City and Motown Records’ Detroit, where the car radio picks up everything from Take the A Train to I Want You Back.” They feature a colorful mix of Forties jive, Fifties melodrama, and through Eighties Motown. The band is also known for their outfits and choreography. Eight to the Bar’s saxaponist Collin Tilton played on Van Morrison’s platinum-selling Moondance album and also has performed with the Rolling Stones and Clarence Clemmons.

Government

Town Manager Appoints a Provisional Police Chief to Replace Deveau

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With Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau retiring, the Police Department will be led by an provisional Police Chief. Town Manager Michael Driscoll announced last week that he has appointed Capt. Raymond DuPuis to serve as provisional chief until a new one is appointed. DuPuis will start his new role on July 8. DuPuis has been in the department since 1983 and was in the same Police Academy class as Deveau. Currently, DuPuis is one of two captains on the Watertown Police Department and leads the bureau of field operations.He oversees the Patrol and Traffic Divisions as well as the Public Safety Dispatchers.