Entertainment

New Rep Theatre Receives 2 Mass Cultural Council Grants

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New Repertory Theatre has received two grants from the Mass Cultural Council (MCC), a state agency: one for $75,000 through its Cultural Sector Fund for Organizations Pandemic Recovery Grant Program, and a $5,000 grant Universal Participation (UPI) Innovation Grant.  

The Pandemic Recovery grant is part of MCC’s historic $51 million public investment into the Commonwealth’s creative and cultural sector to organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2021 a $4 billion pandemic recovery package was approved by the Legislature and signed into law. This Act, Ch. 102 of 2021, directed Mass Cultural Council to develop and administer grant programs to assist cultural organizations and artists recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and operate more efficiently moving forward. Mass Cultural Council received $60.1 million in surplus state revenue funds to support this effort. These funds will provide critical support to offset significant losses incurred from necessary suspension of New Rep’s productions during the height of the pandemic. 

The UPI grant will enable access to artists from diverse communities to develop new works through New Rep’s Pipeline Project, which invests directly in local performing artists, writers and performance makers, providing concrete and tangible pathways at production at the professional level. The Pipeline Project embodies core principles of New Rep’s Renewal Vision, with a renewed commitment to diversity, equity, accessibility and accountability infusing every aspect of the company’s work as it seeks to build community collaborations and give voice to the interests of those communities.   

“The arts remain an essential way for us to strengthen our communities, and I am proud to support New Repertory Theatre in those efforts.

Around Town

Big Recycling Event: Styrofoam, Clothing, Mattresses, Dehumidifiers and More

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The City of Watertown will host a recycling event, along with paper shredding and a compost give away on March 25 in the parking lot of the Jewish Day School on Stanley Street. The Watertown Department of Public Works provided the following announcement:

Watertown Recycling Event

March 25th , 2023 10:00 AM-2:00 PM

Event will be held at 57 Stanley St. in the parking lot of the Jewish Day School. Please bring a Watertown ID or proof of residency. Mattress Recycling

HandUp, a mattress recycler, will be offering a discount on mattress and box spring recycling.

Business

Watertown Biotech Company Being Investigated for Breach of Fiduciary Duties

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The following piece came from Shareholders Foundation:

An investigation was announced over possible breaches of fiduciary duties by certain directors at SQZ Biotechnologies Company. Investors who purchased shares of SQZ Biotechnologies Company (NYSE: SQZ) have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779-1554. The investigation by a law firm concerns whether certain SQZ Biotechnologies directors breached their fiduciary duties and caused damage to the company and its shareholders.Watertown, MA based SQZ Biotechnologies Company, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops cell therapies for patients with cancer, autoimmune, infectious diseases, and other serious conditions. SQZ Biotechnologies Company reported that its annual Total Revenue rose from $20.99 million in 2020 to $27.09 million in 2021, and that its Net Loss increased from $50.52 million in 2020 to $68.74 million in 2021. On or around October 29, 2022, SQZ Biotechnologies Company conducted its initial public offering (“IPO”), selling 4,411,765 shares priced at $16.00 per share.

Around Town

Our History: A Look Back at the Charles River Through the Years

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Chuck DickinsonThe Charles River in Watertown. This article is part of a series on local history provided by the Historical Society of Watertown. It was written by Paul Brennan, former President and former Vice President of the Historical Society. It was published in our October 1998 newsletter, “The Town Crier.” THE CHARLES RIVER, LONG AGO

The Native American name for the Charles River was Quineboquin.

Entertainment

See What Small Saves is Up to in This Week’s Cartoon

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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.”

Around Town

LETTER: Former Councilor Shares Memories of Town Manager Michael Driscoll

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Greetings:

Today, we say farewell to a friend and colleague, Michael J. Driscoll. In happiness and sorrow; Michael offered his favorite traditional Irish blessing, from an ancient Celtic prayer. “May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

Entertainment

One Book, One Watertown Pick Inspires Free Music, Dance, & Discussion at Watertown Library

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:

In December, the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL) selected Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan for the City’s One Book, One Watertown community read. As usual, extra copies flew off the library shelves. Now, with a full month of free performances, discussions, and guest talks coming up, the Library is drawing on the themes of the book to ask the community to reflect and wonder, who is permitted to take up space? It’s a question that resonates on many levels. Big Girl is a lyrical coming-of-age story that traces the personal and artistic awakening of Malaya Clondon, set to the rich soundtrack of 1990s Harlem. While the world at large seeks to shrink her body, her Blackness, her queerness, her desires, and her neighborhood, Malaya dares to imagine space for her to be her full self.

Around Town

LETTER: Medicare Advantage Giving Seniors Worse Healthcare

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Dear, Editor

As I recently read a letter about the advantages of Medicare Advantage, I feel compelled to respond as to why it’s actually harmful to its participants. Medicare Advantage was brought about in 1997 under the neoliberal Clinton administration to basically privatize this public good under the misguided belief that the free market would actually be cheaper and more efficient. As most people know and history has proven, this is a poor way to run a healthcare program. One just has to look at the state of the American healthcare industry to realize how capricious, inefficient, and inane it all is. On average people who are enrolled on Medicare Advantage spend 3 percent more on healthcare while receiving far less care while the insurance companies shirk their responsibilities wherever they can to help fatten their profit margins.