Business

Hear from State Rep. Owens & Network at Watertown Business Coalition Event

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The Watertown Business Coalition provided the following information:

Join us in-person for our next October Coffee Connect on Jobs & Local Economy Discussion with State Rep. Steve Owens! You’ll have the opportunity to meet other business owners, community members and stakeholders in the Watertown community. This is a great way to reconnect after so many months online. WHEN: Wednesday, October 20, from 8:30-9:30 a.m.

WHERE: Hosted by City Works at Arsenal Yards! (91 Arsenal Yards Blvd., Watertown)

WHAT: We couldn’t be more excited to have State Rep. Steve Owens join us to lead a conversation on HIRING, the state of the economy and the jobs crunch.

Entertainment

Comics: See What Here’s Trouble & Small Saves Are Up to This Week

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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.”

DeMarco recently added “Here’s Trouble” to his cartooning lineup, inspired by drawings he did in the 1980s when he was in high school

District A

LETTER: East End Resident Endorses Candidate for District A Councilor

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Dear East End Neighbors,

I’m writing today to endorse Nicole Gardner for Watertown District A Town Councilor and encourage my fellow East End residents to cast their ballot for Nicole on November 2nd. Watertown is a changing, growing community, one that includes longtime residents concerned about the cost of living, population density, and increased traffic as well as young (and not so young) professionals in the life sciences industry who want to be a contributing part of a sustainable community. From speaking with her and learning about her background and record, my wife and I are convinced that Nicole has the breadth of experience and depth of understanding to bring people together so that we can address the challenges we face for the good of all. 

My wife and I have also benefited from and contributed to Buy Nothing Watertown, a community-based initiative led by Nicole that lets people share their belongings and skills for free. Giving useful items a new life by gifting them without charge has connected us with other Watertown residents in a spirit of cooperative engagement. This is one of the reasons we support Nicole’s candidacy for District A Town Councilor.

Elections

Watertown Dems, Progressive Watertown Hosting Candidate Forum for Town Election

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Charlie BreitroseWatertown residents cast their ballots at Watertown Town Hall in 2020. The following information was provided by the Democratic Town Committee:

On Sunday, October 17th at 1 p.m., the Watertown Democratic Town Committee and Progressive Watertown will co-host a series of candidate forums for upcoming town elections. The event will take place at Saltonstall Park, behind Watertown Town Hall. The approximate times for the start time of each forum are below. District A: 1:00

District B: 1:35

District D: 2:10

At-Large: 2:55

Library Trustee: 3:45

School Committee: 4:00

Business

New STEM Education Fund Will Provide Grants to Watertown Teachers, Funded by Local Companies, WCF & Life Science Cares

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Community Foundation and Life Science Cares Boston:

Life Science Cares Boston is collaborating with the Watertown Community Foundation and four Watertown-based life science companies to launch the Watertown STEM Education Fund, a special effort to fund science, technology, engineering & math programming in the Watertown Public Schools. Four corporate contributors — Arranta Bio, C4 Therapeutics, Forma Therapeutics & Landmark Bio — and Life Science Cares have committed a total of $15,000 in funding for teacher-driven requests for supplemental materials, books, equipment, special events and speakers, student programs and experimental school or district-wide initiatives. The fund builds on the Watertown Community Foundation’s annual school-based educational grants program and will increase total funding for the foundation’s grants this fall. “This exciting new partnership and funding commitment will expand our ability to support Watertown teachers through our annual education grant program. Each year we receive far more grant requests than we can fund, particularly in the area of science and technology. This STEM Fund will truly transform our grant giving capacity and provide teachers and our schools with more resources to support students in the classroom,” said Jan Singer, Watertown Community Foundation Executive Director.

Around Town

Watertown Girl Scouts’ Project to Protect the Charles River Earns a Bronze Award

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Girl Scout Troop 82131Watertown Girl Scouts from Troop 82131 earned the Bronze Award for their project to protect the Charles River. The following piece was provided by the leaders of Girl Scout Troop 82131:

Earlier this year, Girl Scout Troop 82131, made up of 12 Watertown girls (then fifth graders), teamed up to make a difference in Watertown, learn important leadership skills, and see how their seemingly small actions can make a big difference to their community. All their work together over a period of 18 months helped the girls earn the Girl Scout Bronze Award — the highest award a Junior can achieve. In thinking about what project they wanted to take on to earn their Bronze Award, the girls discovered a shared interest in protection of water resources, and taking care of the Charles River, an important recreation and nature area in our town. The girls started by working with an all-female team of water resources engineers from VHB, a local engineering firm, to learn about water pollution and how difficult it is to “depollute” water. They collected almost 30 pounds of trash along the Charles River, recruiting family and friends to help them in this effort. Next, they worked with the VHB engineers to learn about the science behind water filtration and built their own mini filters at home over zoom using materials provided by VHB. The troop then met with VHB in person to inspect the large-scale water filtration systems in place on the Charles River in Brighton. Finally, they worked with WCA-TV to produce a public service announcement educating the community and their peers about the importance of taking care of our natural water resources in town. 

Girl Scout Troop 82131The local Girl Scouts removed trash from a section of the Charles River.

Electric Buses

LETTER: Watertown Group Pushing for Faster Electrification of MBTA Buses

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Charlie BreitroseAn MBTA bus in Watertown. A new report calls on the MBTA to update the overhead wires and busses on Watertown’s 71 and 73 routes to InMotion charging as a first step to expanding this technology to other routes. The report “Bus Electrification Accelerating the Electrification of Bus Service in the Boston Metro Area” MBTAReport_Final2.pdf (sierraclub.org) by the Sierra Club, Transit Matters, and Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) along with 14 partner organizations calls the MBTA’s plans “too little too late.”

The MBTA current plan calls for the continued purchasing of hundreds of polluting diesel hybrid buses while gradually transitioning to overnight charging electric buses over the next two decades with full electrification by 2040. The report argues that depending solely on overnight charging short changes us and identifies two promising technologies — InMotion charging and EnRoute charging that should be part of the mix and an implementation rollout that would achieve full electrification by 2030, avoid hundreds of interim diesel hybrids, reduce emissions earlier, save money, serve environmental justice communities, and improve public health for all. It is convenient to use the upcoming Mt.

Elections

LETTER: Owner of Community Health Center Endorses Candidate for District A Councilor

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I have been a Watertown resident since 2005, raising my children while founding an expressive arts community center in Watertown, ARTrelief, with my wife. I’m writing today to enthusiastically endorse Nicole Gardner for District A Town Councilor and I encourage all my East End neighbors to cast their vote for her on election day, November 2nd. I first met Nicole Gardner through the Buy Nothing Watertown Project, which she has grown from a niche interest to a network of 2,500 residents across town. Nicole’s community-building energy, enthusiasm, and initiative helped me connect with my neighbors and get more involved around issues that matter to me, such as the environment and consumerism, as well as raising our children in a safe community where people know and look out for each other. In the time I have known her, Nicole has shown strong leadership abilities, not only in thinking about creating a diverse leadership team for Buy Nothing Watertown but also in her ability to motivate others in working towards a common vision.