UPDATE: Watertown Police & Watertown Schools Hosting First Listening Session on Thursday

UPDATE: Superintendent Dede Galdston announced Wednesday that the Oct. 21 Listening Session has been postponed, and the new date is to be determined. The Watertown Police Department and Watertown Public Schools will host the first of a series of listening sessions to allow people to share their experiences and speak with department leaders. The event will be held Thursday, Oct. 21, from 6:30-8 p.m, at the Watertown Boys & Girls Club, 25 Whites Ave., Watertown.

LETTER: Couple Supports Group of Candidates Running for Town Council

Letter to the Editor (for your consideration) 

My husband and I are looking for these things in candidates:

vision, kindness, empathy, strong sense of responsibility to the people, dedication to fighting global warming in major ways including decreasing diesel and the lung disease it causes, adding green spaces everywhere possible, equality and inclusion for all, careful planning of traffic flow so loud, speeding cars don’t alarm so many residents (and kill pets) so often, greatly decreasing industrial noise including that of leaf-blowers, banning gas-powered leaf-blowers (essential for fighting global warming) and encouraging use of quieter landscape equipment overall (even electric leaf-blowers can be extremely loud and irritating) and greatly reducing hours such people-torturing noise (and also construction noise) can be made. 

We also want to see town support of businesses and people who help to promote sense of community in very real ways, as in opening more coffee shops and cafes, allowing seating on the streets especially at those places, and adding trees, shrubs and flowering plants to those and other public areas that we need both to fight global warming and also (in the case of coffee shops) to slow the growing epidemic of isolation (and the anxiety and depression that often come from it) in American society. 

While we don’t know for sure if all of the following four town council candidates would support all of these things, we have talked with them, and feel they will come close to trying to bring greater wellbeing to most people in Watertown in these and other ways (and wellbeing is mostly what we’re talking about with the above list). The candidates are:

• Caroline Bays

• Tony Palomba

• Nicole Gardner

• Dan D’Amico

Sincerely,Susan Cooke and Victor Preston

LETTER: Pending Legislation Would Help Keep Watertown Green and Livable

Elizabeth ShawThis mature Watertown maple tree straddling a property line illustrates the issue addressed by House Bill 1849. By James Briand, Trees for Watertown

Watertown residents already feel the impact of climate change in warmer average temperature and stronger storms. Managing such change in the midst of rapid development requires an up to date and flexible regulatory framework. Three pending pieces of Massachusetts state legislation aim to address that need, by preserving mature trees that mitigate the impact of climate change today and by adding to the tree canopy to prepare Massachusetts for the future. The first bill, An Act To Update the Shade Tree Law (House Bill 2195), will update a 19th century law designed to protect trees bordering public roadways. Progressive in its day, the legislation became less effective as fines and obligations failed to keep pace with inflation and changing lifestyles.

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

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.

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

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

Watertown Dems, Progressive Watertown Hosting Candidate Forum for Town Election

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

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

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.