Police/Fire

Kids Can Join the Virtual Middlesex Sheriff’s Youth Public Safety Academy

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Fire, bicycle and water safety as well as physical fitness will be the focus of this year’s Virtual Youth Public Safety Academy (YPSA), the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office announced (preview video link). “We are excited to once again be able to offer a series of online lessons for youngsters living in our 54 cities and towns,” said Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian. “While we are disappointed we are not able to meet in person this summer, our YPSA staff and community partners have put together an outstanding set of public safety and health lessons for children and families.”

This year’s Virtual YPSA sessions will be available on the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels during the week of August 15–21. Each lesson will run between approximately 20-25 minutes in length. The first episode — recorded on site at the Wilmington Fire Department — will focus on fire and kitchen safety with a bonus feature on making homemade grilled cheese. It will be released on August 16. 

Episode number two – recorded in conjunction with the Cambridge Police Department and Middlesex District Attorney’s Office — will center on bicycle and water safety. It will premiere on August 18. The final episode will be focused on physical fitness and will be available on August 20. That lesson was recorded at Malden’s Macdonald in partnership with the Malden Recreation Department.

Entertainment

Comic Strips: a Naughty Kitty and Young Hockey Goalie Gets Playing Time

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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 B

LETTER: Candidate for District B Town Councilor Introduces Herself

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Watertown organizer, small business owner focusing on community conversations,granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, and parent of 2, running for Town Councilor for District B.

My name is Tiffany York and I am running for Watertown Councilor for District B. I am filled with many emotions as I step into this opportunity. I want to build off of the amazing work folks are doing here in Watertown and I want to represent District B with integrity and vulnerability. I realize many people in Watertown may not know who I am or what I am doing for our city or where I come from, so I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I started my relationship with Watertown in 2009, as I visited my now husband of 11 years, Eric. I remember the community we experienced in our building on Whites Ave., neighbors across the hall, new neighbors to laugh and cry with when a water leak affected three floors.

Letters

LETTER: Parent Urges School Committee to Mandate COVID Vaccinations

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Dear School Committee,

As far as I’m aware, Watertown has not yet announced a policy for COVID vaccination in schools. I’m writing today to urge you to adopt a mandate as many other jurisdictions are now doing. COVID vaccines are safe and effective, and are by far the most effective way to prevent COVID outbreaks in our schools and keep our teachers and students safe. I got vaccinated at the first opportunity and will get my children vaccinated as soon as they are eligible. 

Masks, ventilation, social distancing, and testing can help, but there is a limit to what ventilation can do, and in many ways masks, social distancing, and testing are far more burdensome than getting a vaccine because the vaccine is two doses at single points in time, whereas masks and social distancing restrict what people can do every single day. It seems incongruous to mandate the less effective, more burdensome intervention, while leaving the more effective, less burdensome intervention up to the individual.

Around Town

Watertown Residents Can Dispose of Medical Sharps at Upcoming Collection Event

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Health Department:

Household sharps collection will take place on Saturday, August 14, 2021 9:00 a.m. – noon at 149 Main Street, Watertown Town Hall Parking Lot at Rear of Building. Watertown Residents may bring the following items on collection days: Used Needles, syringes, and lancets, stored in sturdy puncture proof containers. Unused capped needles, syringes and lancets in original packaging. Unused EpiPen’s in original containers. Locked sharps containers.

Around Town

Court Finds Watertown Company Violated Fair Labor Standards, Retaliated Against Employee

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The following announcement was provided by the U.S. Department of Labor:

An employee who worked for two Massachusetts construction contractors was within his rights when he complained to his supervisor about not receiving overtime pay and requested the wages he was due. The two companies responded with a campaign of retaliation, pressuring the worker to withdraw his overtime complaint. They convinced other individuals to follow and threaten the worker’s family, and told other employees they might lose their jobs because the worker requested overtime pay that was legally due. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that the contractors’ actions violated the anti-retaliation provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The department’s Office of the Solicitor filed suit against the defendants and obtained a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in October of 2020.

Around Town

Watertown Church Welcomes New Priest, Returns to In-Person Services

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The Rev. Andrew Goldhor and former Good Shepherd Deacon the Rev. Ken Schmidt offer outdoor communion on Easter, April 4, while services were still being held remotely. The Church of the Good Shepherd provided the following piece:

On July 18th the Church of the Good Shepherd held its first in-person worship service since the pandemic began. The Reverend Andrew Goldhor officiated at the service, which included communion and was characterized by mask-wearing, socially distanced seating, and humming to hymns rather than singing. 

Rev. Goldhor, who prefers to be called Andrew, was appointed Priest-in-Change at Good Shepherd in October of 2020. He succeeds The Very Rev. Amy McCreath, who left Good Shepherd in 2018 to accept the position of Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. Andrew has been leading Zoom services at 10 am on Sundays since his arrival. Current in-person services are also streamed online and can be found at www.goodshepherdwatertown.org.

Daly Field

Former Watertown Athlete Named Manage of Daly Field Facilities for Simmons University

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The following piece came from Simmons University Athletics:

Simmons Director of Athletics Ali Kantor announces the hiring of Emily Sideris as the new Manager of Daly Field Facilities and Athletic Operations. 

In this role, Sideris will provide leadership and oversight of the athletic facilities and operation at Daly Field as well as coordinate scheduling facilities and events with the Simmons Athletic Department staff, other campus constituents and government agencies. Sideris will serve as the key point person for the Daly Field Stewardship Group. 

Sideris returns to Boston following a brief stint with the West Point Association of Graduates, where she gained valuable skills in fundraising and stewardship. Prior to her role in donor relations, Sideris spent the previous two years working in operations at Manhattanville College while receiving her Master’s Degree in Education. In her time at Manhattanville, she coordinated and oversaw all the facility operations, scheduling and field rentals as well as managed all game-day operations for the Valiants 18 varsity programs.

After graduating from Stonehill College with a degree in communication in 2014, she spent three years working promotional events for the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, New England Patriots and New England Revolution with CBS Radio’s promotions team. Additionally, Sideris coached middle and high school field hockey at The Rivers School. 

A native of Watertown, Massachusetts, Sideris played high school field hockey for the NFHCA Hall of Fame Head Coach Eileen Donahue, helping the Raiders to the State Championship in 2009.