Around Town

Eastside Neighbors Holding Meeting to Discuss Proposed CVS

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Neighbors from East Watertown will gather to discuss the CVS proposed to go into Coolidge Square. The Coolidge Square Neighborhood Group send out the following announcement about the meeting:
The Coolidge Square Neighborhood Group has called a Community Meeting for Monday January 12 at 7 p.m.  The meeting is intended to discuss a neighborhood response to the proposal to build a 14,000 square foot CVS at the corner of Arlington and Mt. Auburn Streets that is presently under consideration by the Zoning Board of Appeal. The gathering is intended to provide residents with information and a forum to air their concerns.  Many residents feel that the project is out of scale with the rest of the Coolidge Square Business District and will generate too much traffic.

Police/Fire

Pickup Truck Drives Into Side of Watertown Home

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A Watertown resident got a nasty surprise when a full-sized pickup truck struck her house. At about 3:2o p.m. on Dec. 30, the pickup truck headed southbound on School Street crossed the center line, drove up on the sidewalk, clipped a utility pole, hit a bush and then struck the concrete wall on the side of a home, said Watertown Police Lt. Michael Lawn. “The driver had a medical issue causing him to temporarily loose control of the vehicle,” Lawn said. Resident Heidi Kennedy said that her teenage sons often play in the driveway right where the vehicle ended up.

High School

Watertown High Renovation Will Have to Wait

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The request to renovate – or replace – Watertown High School, will have to wait at least another year after school officials were told their project was passed over by the state. Last spring, the Watertown Public Schools submitted a Statement of Interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority requesting state support in renovating or rebuilding the high school. The letter was sent after the a report from an architectural consultant found that the high school was the town school in most need of repair. (See the consultant’s report here). The original part of the the building was built in 1924 and 1925 and there were additions in the 1950s and in 1979.

Boston Marathon Bombing

Marathon Bombing Trial Begins, Plea Deal Not Reached

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The trial of the accused Boston Marathon Bomber began Monday after attorneys failed to come to a plea agreement and Federal judges ruled the trial should go on in Boston. During the first few days of the week, a pool of 1,200 potential jurors from around Eastern Massachusetts will head to the Boston Federal Court to take part in the jury selection process, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The jurors will consider the fate of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the bombing at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon that killed three. He and his older brother Tamerlan also are suspects in the killing of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier. They were stopped in Watertown after a shootout with Watertown Police and law enforcement from other departments on April 19, 2013.

Sports

WHS Sports: Raiders Girls’ Basketball, Boys Hockey on a Roll

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Watertown’s girls’ basketball and boys’ hockey teams enjoyed a successful winter break by wracking up the wins. The Raiders girls’ basketball squad won the Bellingham Tournament holiday tournament with victories over Natick and Bellingham. Then the team came home and beat Wakefield 53-34 to improve to 6-0, according to the report in The Raider Times, WHS’s student newspaper. Watertown sits in first place in the Middlesex League Freedom Division with a 4-0 league record. Boys’ Hockey Unbeaten Streak
Watertown’s boys’ hockey team skated to a five game unbeaten streak, on the strength of two shutouts by senior goalie Anthony Busconi.

Development

UPDATED: Developers of Proposed East Watertown Hotel Holding Meeting

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Developers who plan to propose a hotel on Elm Street will host a community meeting to talk about the project and get feedback. Elm Hospitality LLC seeks to build a hotel with over 100 rooms on Elm Street, behind the Target at the Watertown Mall. See more information on the project here. The meeting about the proposal for 80 Elm Street – the former Atlantic Battery site, will be held on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at the auditorium at the Apartments at Coolidge School, 319 Arlington St. in Watertown.

Weather

Wintery Weather Walloping Watertown This Week

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Wind, snow and cold temperatures will hit Watertown this week, the National Weather Service warns. The NWS has issued a Wind Advisory through 7 p.m. Monday night. Winds will be around 20 mph with gusts up to 45 mph today, which could bring down small trees and branches and cause power outages. The area could get snow showers could come through between 1 and 2 p.m.

On Tuesday, there is a 40 percent chance of snow, with up to half an inch of accumulation. Then, temperatures will dip on Wednesday night with a low of negative 1 and a high on Thursday of 13 degrees.

Entertainment

Latest New Rep Production Borrows from WikiLeaks, Snowdon Affair

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The first play in the New Rep Black Box Festival tells a story that will be familiar to those who followed the saga of Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks and the NSA. Zayd Dohrn’s “Muckrakers” runs from Jan. 10-Feb 1 in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St. in Watertown. “In the second year of our Next Rep Black Box Festival, we continue to present adventurous, intimate plays that allow audiences to connect to works on a much more personal level,” says Artistic Director, Jim Petosa.