Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/885/)
Check out the dozens of open houses coming up this weekend in Watertown. $435,000 – 20 Hosmer St. Unit 1, 2 bed, 2 bath, Open Houses: Saturday 12-1:30 p.m. Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.
$599,000 – 94 Winsor Ave. Unit B, 3 bed, 3f 0h bath 2 family Open Houses: Saturday 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
$299,900 – 12 Green St. Unit 1, 2 bed, 1 bath 3 family Open House: Sunday 12-1:30 p.m.
$599,000 – 179 Fayette St.
Watertown Town Manager Michael Driscoll has been silent about the contract dispute with the Watertown Firefighters since the Town Council rejected the arbitration award in December, but this week he rebuked many of the contentions of the union and its supporters. Driscoll made his statement at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting. The Council voted 8-1 against supporting the award presented by a neutral arbitration panel, saying that it was unfair to other unions in town because it would give the firefighters larger raises than others had received. Tony Palomba voted for the agreement. Contract Numbers
The firefighters sought raises well in excess of other unions, Driscoll said, who said that the union wanted raises and other benefits that would have given an increase of 19 percent.
The man behind Kenmore Square’s Eastern Standard will be opening a new restaurant in Watertown’s Arsenal on the Charles this fall. The spot in the rear of the building which is home to the Arsenal Center for the Arts will be the new location of Garrett Harker’s new eatery, which will be called Branch Line. It will have an “urban rotisserie with a focused wine and beer program,” BostonInno reported. The restaurant will feature an outdoor seating area. Watertown native Andrew Holden, Eastern Standard’s general manager, will also be a partner in the new restaurant, according to Larry Beals, an architect working with Arsenal on the Charles-owner athenahealth’s redevelopment of the complex.
Wayside Youth & Family Services recently held a workshop for those interested in learning how to prevent drug overdoses from heroin and opiates, and how to administer and anti-overdose medication. During the event held on May 19, attendees learned ways to help friends and loved ones avoid overdoses. They also were trained on how to use Narcan, a drug that can stop a person from overdosing. The workshop follows a panel discussion about opioid addiction and how to get people into treatment, held at Watertown Middle School. (See more here).
A man reported being attacked by a suspect who tried to rob him as he walked along Mt. Auburn Street at night last week. The man told Watertown Police that he was walking along Mt. Auburn near Irma Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. on June 4, when he was attacked, said Watertown Police Lt. Michael Lawn. “The man said the suspect turned and said, ‘Give me some money,’ and punched him in the face,” Lawn said.
You can help contribute to a feature-length documentary film about the Boston Marathon Bombings and the shootout and manhunt in Watertown.
Break Thru Films will produce the documentary, known right now as the Boston Project, for HBO and seeks personal stories and footage taken by residents. “The film will be a sensitive and in-depth exploration into the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and the subsequent Watertown shootings, told through personal stories of the survivors and citizens of Boston,” said the announcement from Break Thru Films.
Filmmakers are working closely with local universities, running clubs, churches and other local groups, along with the Boston Globe. They hope to find unseen footage from the Marathon, during the bombing at the finish line, the days after the bombing and, of course, the Watertown Shootout, manhunt, lockdown and capture of the Boston Marathon Bombing suspect. The footage and photos can be in many forms.
“If you have any personal footage or artifacts (photos, video, recorded telephone/Skype/FaceTime calls, etc.) taken on personal devices of the Marathon and the 5 days following (set up; the race; bombings; aftermath; lockdown; Police and SWAT house searches, shootings or arrest in Watertown), please contact us at bostonproject@breakthrufilms.org,” the announcement said. Break Thru Films Producers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg have worked on award winning and nominated films including “Joan Rivers – A Piece of Work” (U.S. Documentary Prize for Best Editing at the Sundance Film Festival), “Knuckleball!”
If you have a musical instrument that you are not using, the Friends of Watertown Music can help you find a home. On Thursday, June 18, the group will be accepting musical instrument donations at Watertown Middle School, 68 Waverley Ave. “You can help by pulling that lonely saxophone or trumpet out of the back of the closet and bringing it to the Middle School next Thursday evening. All instruments for either the band or strings program will be accepted, and you will be given a receipt for your donation,” the Friends’ announcement said. Contact Friends of Watertown Music at hellowatertownmusic@gmail.com with questions or if you would like to help.
The timing of Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau’s retirement announcement, coming just weeks after the trial of the Boston Marathon Bomber wrapped up, was no coincidence. Deveau announced last week that he will retire after 14 years as chief and 32 years on the force. “I would have started to think about (retiring) if April 19 (2013) didn’t happen,” Deveau said. That day will loom large in the minds of all Watertown residents, but Deveau had as close a view to what happened as anyone who was not part of the shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers. After the firefight, which included homemade bombs, Deveau was part of the team making decisions during the subsequent manhunt and capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a boat on Franklin Street.