Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/guest-writer/page/758/)
The Arsenal Center for the Arts released the following announcement:
Flash Art, the Arsenal Center for the Arts’ biannual art lottery fundraiser is returning for its third year! We will be kicking off the New Year with this exhibition in January 2016. The show will run from Jan. 7-Feb. 26, 2016, with an opening reception and ticket sales event on Jan.
Middlesex Sheriff’s Office K-9 Mik is one of 12 police and fire dogs featured in the 2016 Massachusetts Vest-a-Dog calendar, the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office announced. Massachusetts Vest-a-Dog is a non-profit, whose mission is to support police dogs and K-9 units by helping to provide bulletproof vests for K-9s, equipment, training, and dogs. “This is great recognition for Lt. Kelley and Mik,” said Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian. “They are an excellent team and a tremendous asset for the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office. I also want to thank Massachusetts Vest-a-Dog for their outstanding work and their continued support of our K-9 Unit.”
Mik, an 8-year-old German Shepherd certified in patrol duty and narcotics detection, has been partnered with Lt. Michael Kelley for seven years.
The Arsenal Center kicks off 2016 with an all ages day of fun! Come to the Arsenal Center for the Arts from 1-3 pm on Friday, Jan. 1, 2016 and ring in the New Year with music and art at First Day ACA! Young, old, and everyone in between will enjoy the catchy, pop-infused music of Karen K & the Jitterbugs, whose award-winning songs will have the audience dancing in their seats and asking for more. The whole family will laugh and gasp at the zany acrobatics of The Airborne Comedians, whose act includes 7 foot unicycles! And, as always at the Arsenal Center, we’ll have art projects like lantern making for kids, and more!
Dear Editor,
On March 1, 2016, “Super Tuesday,” Watertown voters of the Democratic Party will go to the polls to nominate a candidate for the U.S. Presidency and elect two State Committee members (one male and one female). I am respectfully requesting that the Democratic voters of Watertown consider David Kazis to the open seat to serve as the Democratic State Committeeman for the Second Suffolk and Middlesex Senate District. David Kazis is a proven hard working progressive Democrat and he is familiar with the needs of Watertown, including constituent’s economic discrimination concerns over the proposal to create a new Regional Mixed Use District and DCR’s plan to create a Greenway community path between Watertown and Cambridge. David worked at the Democratic National Committee in Washington, DC, under the leadership of Howard Dean in 2005, and also volunteered on several campaigns, including helping to elect Elizabeth Warren to the United States Senate in 2012. David is a strong proponent of transparency and would serve on the Party’s Statewide Board of Directors.
Letter to the Editor
I attended the council subcommittee meeting last week and came out upset. This is the most important issue this Council will face and three council members voted on amendments to present to the full nine member council for their vote at their regular council meeting. A recommendation for crucial amendments including zoning for this major development should not have been sent to a subcommittee as well-meaning the members are. First, I want to address the manner in which the Chair Councillor Steve Corbett so rudely ruled Deborah Peterson out of order as soon as she was beginning to present her statement. This is unacceptable and never should be condoned.
Watertown Savings Bank (WSB) has donated $5,000 to five local food pantries in Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, Waltham, and Watertown; and $5,000 to the New England Center and Home for Veterans (NECHV). The bank presented the donations at their recent Club 50 Holiday Parties in Waltham, on behalf of Club 50 members, according to the announcement from the bank. “The Bank and its more than 3,500 Club 50 members, are pleased to support these important organizations that give aid to those in need, and to those who have served our country,” said Club 50 Coordinator, Connie Braceland. WSB Club 50 members were thrilled to have a surprise, celebrity guest at their holiday parties this year as well. Boston’s own Livingston Taylor made a surprise appearance at the Dec.
Every year the H & K Insurance Agency has participated in the local Watertown, MA Toys for Tots drive, and this year was no exception, according to an announcement sent by H & K. Annually Toys for Tots distributes toys to over 469 million toys to children throughout the United States thanks to individual and community donations such as those provided by H & K Insurance. And while this year’s drive didn’t surpass last years as had been hoped, every donation helps make the holidays real for children everywhere. Like last year, CISR, CPIA, AAI Treasurer/General Manager Paul Perry and his wife, Daralyn Perry, CISR Commercial Lines Manager, have contributed heavily out of their own wallets, buying toys to stoke the fires of charity in both the office and the local community. The toys are then picked up by ServiceMaster by Gilmore, the associate company organizing the donations, who then offers the toys to the local Marines running the drive. “This year’s donations wasn’t as high as last year’s, which had help of a major contributor,” said Paul Perry of H & K. “But we’re already looking to next year and have plans in place with the office manager of the neighboring apartment complex to extend the drive to her tenants next year.
Due to the increase in drunk-driving-related fatalities around the holidays each year, the Watertown Police Department will join the 202 local law enforcement agencies and the Massachusetts State Police running extra patrols through the New Year as part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over mobilization, the Watertown Police announced. This campaign is funded by a federal grant administered through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Highway Safety Division (EOPSS/HSD). “When you make the choice to drive drunk, people get injured and killed,” said Sergeant David Sampson. “The safest way to get home is to never drink and drive. If you plan on drinking at a holiday party or at a restaurant, take a taxi or public transportation or hand the keys over to a sober friend.”
The National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2014 in Massachusetts, 133 people were killed in crashes that involved drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. Nationally, in December of 2013, there were 733 people killed in crashes involving at least one driver with a BAC of .08 or higher, and 23 of those deaths occurred on Christmas Day. Getting caught drunk behind the wheel is no small matter; you face jail time, fines, loss of driver’s license, towing fees, and other OUI expenses, totaling $10,000 on average.