Government

Mara Dolan Will Challenge Incumbent for Governor’s Council

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Mara Dolan entered he race for Governor’s Councilor District 3. The following announcement was provided by the Mara Dolan campaign:

Mara Dolan announced her campaign for Governor’s Council, challenging long-term incumbent Marilyn Devaney. The Governor’s Council confirms judges, Parole Board members, and commutations and pardons. Devaney has represented District 3 since 1999. District 3 runs from Boston south to Wellesley, north to Chelmsford, and west to Marlborough, with 31 cities and towns including Watertown, Arlington, Brookline, Burlington, Newton, Waltham, Woburn, and Boston’s Allston, Brighton, Back Bay, Fenway, Longwood, and South End neighborhoods.

Around Town

Watertown Residents Can Dispose of Christmas Trees for 2 Weeks

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Watertown residents will be able to put trees out to be collected on trash days for two weeks in January. The City sent out the following announcement:

Please be aware that Christmas trees will be collected on your trash day for two weeks from Monday, January 8 to Monday, January 22, 2024. 

Please make sure to remove all lights and ornaments, and do NOT put the tree in a bag. The city will only collect the tree itself.

Around Town

OBIT: Carol Lee Hattaway, 80, Member of Board for Many of Sons’ Activities, Worked with Seniors

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Carol Hattaway

Carol Lee Hattaway, 80 years old, passed away Saturday, November 18, 2023 at Heather Glen in Arden, North Carolina. She was the daughter of the late William J. and Jeannette (Butterfield) Coumans of Needham and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Carol was born February 1, 1943 in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania and graduated from Needham High School in 1961 and then Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont in 1963 where she began her career as an executive assistant and married her late husband Charles Leon Hattaway Jr., a Norwich University graduate, in 1964. Over the span of their 56-year marriage, they had lived in Massachusetts, New York, Maine, New Mexico, Sarasota, Florida, and Arden, North Carolina. Carol was very involved with raising her sons, Bradford and Douglas, supporting their numerous activities by participating on the governing boards of little league baseball, ice hockey, serving as a den mother in Cub Scouts, as well as, working within the Boy Scouts of America, their various community youth groups, Sunday school teaching, and school musical band.

Around Town

Recycle Electronics at Mount Auburn Cemetery Event

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Mount Auburn Cemetery will host an electronics recycling event on Saturday, Jan. 6. See the announcement below. SAVE THE DATE! Saturday, January 6, 10 am – 1 pm

Bring your old electronics over to Mount Auburn’s Preservation Services Building to recycle!  Enter at 24 Cottage St.

Around Town

LETTER: Finding a Temporary, Permanent Home for Watertown Main Street Post Office Should be a Priority

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Greetings:

I extend Happy New Year wishes for good health, peace and prosperity for one and all. Almost ten years ago; 02/03/2014, to be exact; Charlie Breitrose launched Watertown News. Watertown’s: “independent, locally owned news website” became a reality. Thank you, Charlie, for your many years of unbiased news coverage and open venue for citizen thought provoking interactions. Congratulations – Happy Tenth Anniversary!!!

Schools

High School Demolition Going Slower Than Anticipated, Work Continues This Week

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The remaining part of the old Watertown High School Building. (Courtesy of Vertex)

The following information was provided by project management firm Vertex:

The Watertown High School project team continues to be hard at work progressing the demolition of the existing high school and installing new foundations in preparation for our first steel deliveries in January. 

As you can see from the picture above taken from across Common Street at the corner of Spring Street, there continues to be structure remaining at that corner. Between recent challenging weather conditions, and a decision to use more “handwork” for demolition of areas closest to the cemetery and the street, we are progressing a little slower than we had hoped.  With that said, we have agreed that the Contractor can continue with onsite demolition Saturday 12/30/23 within normal working hours allowed by the City, which is 8 a.m.-4 p.m. 

There will not be any loading out of materials so the Community will still have the holiday reprieve from trucking. All normal trucking and construction activities will resume on Tuesday 1/2/24 at 7 a.m.

We appreciate your continued patience and support as we work together to bring the new Watertown High School to fruition.  There will be a lot of exciting updates to share with you in 2024!

Entertainment

Gore Place Hosting Virtual Visit with Edgar Allan Poe

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Literary historian Rob Velella will portray Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe rises for this special virtual event just in time for his birthday! The author was born in Boston in 1809, the same year that Christopher Gore was serving as governor of Massachusetts. Poe himself (portrayed by literary historian Rob Velella) returns from beyond the grave to read several of his works, both well-known and forgotten. Hear favorites such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” exclusively on this presentation!

Around Town

Watertown’s Unity Breakfast to be Broadcast Live on MLK Day

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The following information was provided by the Unity Breakfast organizers:

Each year, the residents of Watertown come together to celebrate civil rights and to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders by recommitting to foundational principles of racial, social and economic justice. 

This year’s Unity Breakfast will take place on Monday, January 15, 2024 at 10 a.m. The event will be broadcasted live from www.unitybreakfast.org. It will feature a keynote address from Dr. Charmain Jackson, a psychologist working to disrupt racial disparities in mental health along with remarks from Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. The honorary host is Dr. Ceronne Daly, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Watertown Public Schools.