Around Town

Watertown Police Lend a Hand at the Special Olympics

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Four Watertown Police officers gave Special Olympics athletes the VIP treatment by giving them a police convoy and handing out awards. 
On June 6, the Watertown Police joined the Special Olympics Cruiser Convey that ended at Harvard University, said Capt. Raymond DuPuis, one of the participating officers. Once they got there, the group headed to the aquatics center to hand out medals to the athletes in the swimming competition, and the Lavietes Pavilion for they gymnastics.  

Around Town

Author to Speak About Book Chronicling Her Father’s Lynching

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Author Josephine Bolling McCall will speak about her book she wrote about the  true story Of her father’s lynching in the 1947, and what she learned when researching the book. The event will be on Wednesday, June 17 at 7 p.m. at First Parish Church, 35 Church Street, Watertown. Event organizers sent out the following information:
Just weeks before Christmas, 1947, Josephine Bolling was five years old and learned that her father, Elmore Bolling, just 39 and the father of seven was dead. Elmore Bolling was a leader in Lowndes County’s black community, had established himself as a man who volunteered to serve the less fortunate and had worked hard to build a small trucking business and provide for his family and others. In this moving and important book, THE PENALTY FOR SUCCESS: My Father Was Lynched In Lowndes County Alabama, the author tells the story of the murder of a black man in 1940s Lowndes County, Alabama.  It is a story that reveals the scheme to cover up a “lynching”.  Josephine Bolling McCall’s story of her father’s murder presents convincing evidence that he was lynched, although he was  not hanged, mutilated, or burned before a crowd of people.  Elmore Bolling was shot six times in the front of his body with a pistol and once in the back with a shotgun.

Police/Fire

Two Dead From Series of Overdoses in Watertown Over Weekend

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Police are investigating the deaths of two Watertown residents from drug overdoses over the weekend and a third who was treated in hospital. 

On Friday at 11:49 p.m., police received a call about a 25-year-old Watertown man who had fallen near 7-Eleven in Watertown Square, said Watertown Police Lt. Michael Lawn. “Officers found him unresponsive, administered (anti-overdose medicine) Narcan and took him to the hospital,” Lawn said. The second call came in at 1:02 a.m. on Saturday from Bradshaw Street for a possible overdose. A 22-year-old Watertown woman was taken to Mt. Auburn Hospital where she was pronounced dead, Lawn said.

Government

Are Shuttles Part of Watertown’s Transportation Future?

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With the MBTA service in Watertown not meeting residents’ and workers’ needs, and a growth boom underway people are looking for ways to improve transportation in town. 

One option often brought up is a local transportation management association (TMA), which could run shuttles and provide other transportation assistance. A forum about TMAs  held at the Watertown Free Public Library drew around 100 people. The event an initiative of the Watertown Public Transit Task Force which co-sponsored the event along with the Watertown Belmont Chamber of Commerce. In recent years large developments have been built on and near Pleasant Street, and more recently along Arsenal Street. To deal with the new homes and businesses, the town has explored creating a TMA to provide transit along these two corridors, said Assistant Town Manager and Director of Community Development and Planning Steve Magoon.

Charity

Watertown Woman Raising Money for Alzheimer’s Awareness

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Judy Johanson, of Watertown is rallying her team, This is Our Life, to raise funds and awareness for an Alzheimer’s Association event called The Longest Day on June 21, 2015. The Longest Day, focused on the summer solstice was created in recognition of the long days that are part of living with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the announcement from the Alzheimer’s Association. Johanson’s husband Steve was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s just prior to his 59th birthday. Judy and Steve had previously reached out to the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter when his mother was diagnosed in her late 70s. The family used many of the free support services offered to families such as care consultation to help manage care for Steve’s mother.

Police/Fire

Police Log: Man Busted for 3rd OUI Drugs, Man Allegedly Punched 64-Year-Old

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests
June 2, 11:44 a.m.: Police were called to a civil matter on Waverley Avenue and found that a woman had a warrant out for her. The 34-year-old Winchester woman was arrested on the warrant from Cambridge District Court for failure to pay a fine. June 3, 8:55 p.m.: Security at Target watched a woman who had been in the store for two hours, and then was seen near the doors looking around. She was spotted putting items under her shirt.

Real Estate

Check Out the Four Homes Sold This Week in Watertown

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A home on the Eastside of town sold this week, see details below. $852,225 – 62-64 Prentiss St., 3 unit, 14 total room, 6 total bedroom, 3 Family multi-family home

$625,000 – 7 Purvis St., 8 room, 3 bedroom, 1 full & 1 half bathroom, Colonial single-family home

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$365,000 – 76 Edenfield Ave. Unit 76, 6 room, 3 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

$597,500 – 25 Palmer St. 8 room, 4 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, Colonial single-family home

Schools

WHS Athletic Hall of Fame Announces Inductees for 2015!

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The Watertown High School Athletic Hall of Fame’s class of 2015 includes a pair of teams and half a dozen athletes – including four sisters! Inductees for this year’s celebration to be held at the Hellenic Cultural Center on Saturday Oct. 17, include six athletes and two teams.

For the first time in its distinguished history, the HOF will induct four talented sisters from the same family, including Bethany Rogers, ’95, Jane Rogers, ’98, Catherine Rogers, ’00, and Mary Rogers, ’03. As players and coaches, the fantastic foursome in field hockey contributed multiple All-Scholastic and MVP awards, 25 Middlesex League titles, 21 Div. II North Section titles, and 12 State Championships.