Around Town

Monthly Meeting Coming Up for Caregivers, Loved Ones of People with Mental Illness

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The following information was provided by NAMI:

The virtual NAMI Family Support Group will be held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm using zoom.us so the next one will be on Tuesday, July 14. We will offer this until we are able to meet in person again. This group is for caregivers of persons with mental illness. See namimass.org for information regarding peer groups for people themselves experiencing a mental illness.    

To get the information to enter this group, we need your email address. Please email us at info@naminw.org, and add your phone number in case we need to reach you.  

Government

OP-ED: Legislation Needed to Fight Systematic Racism

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The following was written by Progressive Massachusetts and is endorsed by Progressive Watertown:

The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, and Rayshard Brooks have served as a tragic reminder of the epidemic that is police brutality in the United States. 

Over the past few weeks (indeed, over the past few years), we keep seeing more and more video examples of how widespread, how dehumanizing, and how fatal police violence is and how disproportionately such violence is used against the Black community. Some say the current wave of protests is a historic turning point; we need to make it one. 

It is important to recognize that the graphic imagery of police brutality is just one of the many violent manifestations of systemic racism and white supremacy. The underfunding of schools in communities of color is a form of violence. The denial of health care access is a form of violence. Exclusionary housing policies are a form of violence.

Around Town

This Week’s Senior Center Online Events Include a Conversation, Tai Chi & Art

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Watertown Senior Center

The Watertown Council on Aging/Senior Center has been offering fitness, art and discussion programs via Zoom! Please call the Senior Center at (617) 972-6490 for program information and Zoom access. Link to Watertown Senior News: https://www.watertown-ma.gov/150/Activities-during-COVID-19. Page with links to Museums (July Issue) can be found here: https://www.watertown-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/29678/LinksToMuseums_July-2020

Week of July 6, 2020 – July 10, 2020

Monday, July 6 

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Chair Yoga with Diane

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM, Art Class with Dawn Scaltreto                                                            

Tuesday, July 7 

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Tai Chi and Meditation with MarieWednesday, July 89:30 AM Book Club Zoom 

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Exercise with Joanna

Thursday, July 9

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM, Conversation with Tom12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Discussion with the Museum of Russian Icons (Session 1 of 2) 

Friday, July 1012:00 PM – 1:00 PM, Seated Strength and Balance with Pearl1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, Sing with the Mellowtones and Anne Silverman 

For more information, call the Senior Center at (617) 972-6490. Although the building is closed to visitors, staff members are here to help with Zoom program access and any other service issues and assistance needs you may have, including taxi rides to local medical appointments, SHINE counseling and Case Worker assistance.

Cartoon

Small Saves Celebrates the Fourth of July in This Week’s Comic

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Cartoon by James Demarco

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

Library Fines Eliminated in Watertown, Current Fines Removed

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The Watertown Free Public Library will no longer be charging fines for late materials. The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:

The Watertown Free Public Library has abolished overdue fines for most materials. At their May 5 Board Meeting, the Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously to recommend Town Manager Michael Driscoll eliminate library fines. As a result, fine elimination was included in the FY21 budget which was approved by Town Council on June 29, 2020. 

Beginning July 1, fines will no longer be charged for items that are returned late. This applies to any Watertown or Minuteman Library Network (MLN) item checked out at the WFPL.

Around Town

This Week at the Watertown Library: Online Events, Curbside Pickup Poll & More

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The historic facade of the Watertown Free Public Library. The following information was provided by the Watertown Library:

This Wednesday at 7 PM, join us in welcoming Erik Edstrom for an author talk and Q&A session via Zoom. Edstrom’s memoir, Un-American: A Soldier’s Reckoning of Our Longest War, tells the story of his military service Afghanistan while probing his eventual disillusionment with the War on Terror. 

Also this week, Aimee is hosting Living Room Trivia via Zoom and our popular “read/watch” group will explore the world of My Antonia. Do you know a teen with a creative streak? Starting today, we’re offering free “take and make” project materials for students in grades 6-12, available for pickup at WFPL. Keep scrolling for a full list of virtual programs…

Letters

LETTER: Why We Need More Trees in Watertown

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The Washington Post yesterday included an article about how climate change is worsening right now during the pandemic. It is not stopping for us to fight the pandemic or for anything else. Despite a temporary clearing of smog, the writer says, “the romantic vision of nature “healing” itself was always an illusion … carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are the highest they’ve been in human history, and possibly higher than in the past 3 million years. The specter of man-made climate change looms all the more ominously over a planet in the grips of a viral pandemic.” The authors go on to talk about “giant plumes of Saharan dust that wafted over the Atlantic …

Elections

See Who Rep. Hecht Endorsed to Succeed Him in the State House

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Democratic activist and Democratic State Committee member Steve Owens is running for the State Representative seat that Jon Hecht will be leaving. State Representative Jonathan Hecht has endorsed Steve Owens in the raceto fill the 29th Middlesex seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, according to a statement released by the Steve Owens Campaign. The Representative is stepping down and not seeking re-election in this year’s primary. “I first met Steve Owens in 2005 when I was a Town Councilor in Watertown. We both worked on Deval Patrick’s Gubernatorial campaign where I got to see first-hand the type of leader Steve is.