Around Town

LETTER: Progressive Watertown Endorses 2 Ballot Questions

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The following piece was submitted by Progressive Watertown:

There are the five state-wide ballot questions on the November 5, 2024 ballot. Question 1: Determining State Auditor’s Authority to Audit the Legislature

Question 2: Eliminating the use of the MCAS as a Graduation Requirement

Question 3: Unionization for Transportation Network Drivers (Uber and Lyft)

Question 4: Limited Legalization and Regulation of Certain Natural Psychedelic Substances (such as Psilocybin)

Question #5: Minimum Wage for Tipped Workers. Progressive Mass has endorsed all five ballot questions. Progressive Watertown, a chapter, has reviewed and endorsed Questions 2 and 5. Progressive Watertown did not review the other questions. 

Yes on 2 supports the elimination of the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement. It does not end the use of MCAS for evaluative purposes. Massachusetts is one of only 11 states still including a test as a high school graduation requirement.

Entertainment

Wicked Watertown: Pumpkin Carving, Stories by Flashlight & a Corn Maze & More Fun

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The Watertown Events staff announced Wicked Watertown at the Commander’s Mansion in October. See more details below:

Wicked Watertown is scheduled for Saturday, October 26, 2024 from 5-8 p.m. The event will take place outdoors and indoors on the Commander’s Mansion property. 

The outdoor guest experiences will all be free and open to the public, including:

games with Watertown Recreation staff

an inflatable corn maze

photo station with Natalie Nigito Photography

stories by flashlights with Watertown Free Public Library

pumpkin carving content – more details coming soon! There will also be indoor guided tours of the “Haunted Mansion” with an entry cost of $5 per person. Cash only and children under 3 years old enter for free. The first 45 minutes of tours will be aimed for younger children without a “scare” factor and more lighting. Beginning at 5:45pm, the Haunted Mansion will feature scarier elements, such as darker rooms, spooky music, jump scares, and other surprises. Enter if you dare! 

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Around Town

MassDOT Hosting Meeting About Plans for Newton Corner Mass Pike Interchange

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MassDOT’s study area at Newton Corner. The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

Massachusetts Department of Transportation is leading two exciting projects to transform Newton Corner. If you travel through the area on your way in/out of Watertown, you may be interested in learning more and providing input. Please let your voice be heard on how you use Newton Corner to connect to your public transit trips to improve your commute; the quality and safety of walking and cycling through; how you think overall safety and comfort can be addressed; how you best see sidewalks, parks, public space & destinations in the study area being used; and what your own long-term transit & commuting vision is for the area. The Newton Corner Improvements Project construction is starting!

Around Town

LETTER: MBTA Bus Barn Could Become a Street Car Museum

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The original letter was sent to City Council President Mark Sider, City Manager George Proakis and Assistant City Manager Steve Magoon:

By Clyde Younger

The newly identified UPS site represents an exceptional opportunity to exceed the number of Multi-Family Units planned for the Square. The property is an easy site to comply with the MBTA Law allowing ample land area. The Developer will have “By Right” an easier pathway of building the number of units outlined as the City’s goal.  

Lessening the density of the Square allows an intriguing use of the MBTA Lot, a/k/a “The Cow Barn.” Given its past history of service to the community the site could easily be converted into an Urban Transportation Museum. 

The history of urban transportation growth, as the country moved from an Agriculturally based economy to Industrial, would be of interest to our children as well as their parents and neighboring cities and towns. Visitors to Watertown would see the Square as a viable and lively destination point comprising an exemplary Library, Armenian Museum and diverse Merchants and Restaurants. 

Bringing people into the Square can only assist our small businesses become more profitable. Educators of School Districts may find the Museum of interest and conduct planned Field Trips to see the various modes of early, recent and future transit. Perhaps the Board Members may consider importing a San Francisco Cable Car, in addition to old Rail Cars we used. Mono-Rails and Chicago’s El may be of consideration, etc. Since Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers have simulated training. Using a similar tool the Museum would not be limited to a walk through for our children. 

There are two Street Car Museums in Massachusetts: 1. The National Streetcar Museum in Lowell and 2.

Around Town

Watertown Groups Hosting Screening of Film About Environmental Justice Advocate Stewart Udall

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The following announcement was provided by Race Reels, Progressive Watertown, and Watertown Faces Climate Change:

The film “Stewart Udall and the Politics of Beauty.” tells the inspiring story of Stewart L. Udall (1920-2010) and his legacy as an advocate of social and environmental justice. No American political figure is as relevant to the issues we face today as a nation – learning to work together, achieving racial and environmental justice, improving international relations, enhancing beauty and the arts, alleviating climate change and moving toward sustainability – as Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Udall was a pioneer in environmentalism; he was the first public official to speak out about global warming. He worked collaboratively with native communities and fought to win compensation for Navajo Indians and “downwinders” who got cancer from their exposure to radiation during the Cold War without being warned of the dangers. Today, in our now deeply partisan environment, the film reveals a time when Americans were not yet so polarized, when big ideas could still capture bipartisan attention, and when America awakened to the unfolding destruction of paradise and determined to stop it.

Business

Watertown Resident Named Woman to Watch by MassCPAs

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Tracy Noga

Watertown resident Tracy Noga, PhD, CPA, was selected as a 2024 Women to Watch Award winner by the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants (MassCPAs), the professional association of certified public accountants, representing over 11,500 members. The awards recognize women who have made outstanding contributions to the accounting profession, their communities, their firms or companies and to the development of women as leaders.  

Noga, professor and accounting department chair at Bentley University, is one of seven women selected to receive a 2024 Women to Watch Award. She is being honored in the Experienced Leader category, reserved for women with more than 15 years of experience in accounting. Awards are also presented in the Emerging Leader category, which is reserved for women with fewer than 15 years of experience in the profession. 

“MassCPAs is proud to recognize these exceptional women for their outstanding contributions to the accounting profession and their communities,” said Zach Donah, CAE, president and CEO of MassCPAs. “Tracy’s leadership and dedication have made a significant impact on our industry, and we’re excited to celebrate her achievements.” 

Noga brings over 25 years of diverse accounting experience to her role as a leader in academia and professional practice.

Entertainment

Library’s 4th Annual Watertown Zine Fest Spotlights DIY Creators

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Free Public Library:

On Saturday, October 19, the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL) will be a hive of activity during the Fourth Watertown Zine Fest, a day-long celebration of zine-making and do-it-yourself creativity. All are welcome, even if you don’t know what a zine is! For the uninitiated, here’s a quick primer: Zines are small, self-published works featuring original or repurposed content, often replicated by photocopier and/or shared online. Their subjects are as varied and diverse as their creators, covering everything from art and music to politics and personal stories. Because they cover so much ground, zines are hard to define!

Entertainment

Comics: Small Saves Looks for a Needle in a Stack of Hockey Gear

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James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”