Charles River

LETTER: Resident Would Like to See Russo’s Redevelopment to Bring Life to that Part of Pleasant Street

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Watertown will miss Russo’s. Tony has been a friend to many of us (and our dogs) and has worked to implement Watertown Local First, the single use plastic bag ban (in the days before the pandemic), and supported green issues in town. He also has taken it upon himself to organize cleanups of the public space beside his property to the river. We are sorry to see him sell, but I am most concerned about the land use between Russo’s and the river. Watertown has an important role to play in saving our long riverfront for access by the public.

Around Town

Watertown Attorney Named to 2022 Best Lawyers: One to Watch in America

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Attorney Alexandra Mansfield from Watertown. The following announcement was provided by Mirick O’Connell:

Alexandra N. Mansfield, of Watertown, an associate in Mirick O’Connell’s Litigation Group, received a 2022 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America recognition in the fields of Commercial Litigation, Litigation — Construction, and Litigation — Intellectual Property. This is her first year on the Ones to Watch list. Alexandra focuses her practice on business litigation and has substantial experience in the areas of business, construction, and intellectual property disputes. Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch recognizes attorneys who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.

Daniel D'Amico

LETTER: Candidate Joins Race for Councilor At-Large to Represent the Town He Has Always Called Home

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Daniel D’Amico. My name is Daniel D’Amico, and I am excited to announce my candidacy for Watertown Town Councilor at-large. I would be humbled to serve as councilor for the town I have always called home. I grew up in the West End and now live near Coolidge Square. My parents were immigrants from Argentina and Italy, who chose Watertown to raise our family.

Around Town

MBTA Hosting Virtual Open House, Seeks Input to Improve Bus Service

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Charlie BreitroseAn MBTA bus in Watertown. The MBTA sent out the following announcement:

As a reminder, please join us at the Better Bus Project Virtual Open House this Thursday, August 26, at 6:00PM. The Better Bus Project hopes to improve the bus experience for riders in the near future and over the next several years. Short presentations will be given by project teams from across the MBTA, including the following:  

Bus Transit PriorityBus Network Redesign Bus Stop Accessibility Improvements Bus Operations Silver Line ExtensionBus Electrification and Facility Modernization Bus Stop E-Ink Signs

Afterwards participants can expect to join a breakout room of their choosing to learn more about an initiative. Here attendants can engage with the project team further by asking questions or participating in a discussion. We are excited to share our knowledge and enthusiasm about these initiatives with you!

Boston Federal Court

Watertown Father, 2 Sons Charged with Avoiding Taxes on Millions in Lottery Winnings

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The following announcement was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts:

A father and his two sons were charged yesterday in connection with a “ten-percenting” scheme in which they allegedly cashed winning Massachusetts state lottery tickets on behalf of the ticket holders to avoid taxes on the winnings.   

Ali Jaafar, 62, and Yousef Jaafar, 28, both of Watertown, and Mohamed Jaafar, 30, of Watertown and Waltham, and were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and multiple counts of filing false tax returns. According to the charging documents, the defendants conspired with others to purchase winning lottery tickets from the actual winners for cash, at a discount that was typically between 10-20 percent of each ticket’s value, thereby allowing the ticket holders to avoid reporting the winnings on their tax returns – a scheme commonly known as “ten-percenting.” The defendants and co-conspirators then allegedly presented the winning tickets to the Massachusetts Lottery Commission as their own and collected the full value of the tickets. It is also alleged that the defendants reported the ticket winnings as their own on their income tax returns and improperly offset the claimed winnings with purported gambling losses, thereby avoiding federal income taxes. 

Between 2011 and 2019, the defendants together cashed more than 13,000 lottery tickets and claimed more than $20,989,284 in Massachusetts lottery winnings. Based upon their submitted lottery claims, in 2019, Ali Jaafar was the top individual lottery ticket casher for Massachusetts. Mohamed Jaafar was the third highest individual ticket casher and Yousef Jaafar was the fourth highest individual ticket casher.

Around Town

LETTER: Loss of Russo’s Hurts, But Watertown Still Has Many Gems

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To the Editor:

Reports of culture’s demise in Watertown are greatly exaggerated. Is there a way for Watertown to avoid losing a gem like Russo’s, some have asked? (https://www.watertownmanews.com/2021/08/16/letter-is-there-a-way-for-watertown-to-avoid-losing-a-gem-like-russos/) The simple answer is no. There isn’t any one shop that can replace Russo’s in Watertown. That’s gone; like so many of gentrified Boston’s mainstays such as No Names, Durgin-Park, soon-to-be closed Kowloon, Circle Pizza, Jimmy’s Harborside, Anthony’s, and so many more.

Cartoon

Comics: Small Saves Gets Some TV Exposure & Some Kitty Love in Here’s Trouble

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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.

Homepage Featured

LETTER: ‘Thank You for Your Service’ from Watertown Veterans’ Services Officer

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I remember exactly where I was on 9-11-01. Similarly, I recall exactly where I was when I wastold I’d be going on my first deployment to Afghanistan. I was an aviation IT Marine who was chosen to teach the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) how to maintain HMMWVs and operatein convoys. 

I was 21, suddenly in charge of the training and support of over 100 ANA soldiers alongside fiveMarines and five interpreters. We accomplished a lot of great things on that deployment; weimproved the training and their fleet of vehicles; and even got a literacy program established tobuild create better ANA soldiers. In Marine Corps terms: we left things better than we foundthem; and we served to protect the service members to our left and our right.