Development

LETTER: Former Town Councilor Worried About RMUD Proposal

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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.

Business

Watertown Savings Bank Donates $10,000 to Help Vets, Food Pantries

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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.

Charity

Watertown Insurance Agency Gets Record Haul for Toys for Tots

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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.

Police/Fire

Watertown Police Warn: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over

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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.

Friends of Watertown Music

Friends of Watertown Music Seeks Donations to Help the Town Schools

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The Friends of Watertown Music sent out the following announcement:

Dear Friends,

As you know, Friends of Watertown Music was formed in the summer of 2011 in response to severe budget cuts in the Watertown Public Schools music program.  Since then, through the generosity of our donors, we have awarded three major grants and several small grants totaling over $18,000 to the Watertown Public Schools in order to expand and enhance music instruction. 

As this year comes to a close, won’t you please consider joining us in our efforts to continue to enrich, sustain, and develop the music program in the Watertown Public Schools. We have five donor levels:  Soprano (up to $25), Alto ($50), Tenor ($75), Bass ($100) or Conductor ($250 or more) and your generous contribution will be acknowledged in our fifth Annual MusicFest program book. (Save the date:  April 8, 2016!) You can donate with PayPal or any credit card on our website:  http://watertownmusic.org/, or checks may be sent to Friends of Watertown Music, 43 Paul St., Watertown, MA 02472

Thank you all for your support,

Friends of Watertown Music

 

Highlights from 2015:

In September, Friends of Watertown Music presented a grant of $5830 to the Watertown Public Schools to fund a 0.1 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) increase in music instruction, allowing the Cunniff School to offer adaptive music at the elementary level, providing a more accessible experience and connection to music for all students. The district restored the Fine, Applied, and Performing Arts (FAPA) curriculum coordinator position for FY16.   With our 2015 grant, the department now has an additional 1.2 FTE positions for the 2015-16 school year. Friends of Watertown Music was awarded a grant of $2250 from the Watertown Community Foundation and purchased a new hanging cymbal, violin, viola, and elementary-sized string bass for students to play!

Obituaries

OBIT: Johanna Driscoll, 84, Attended St. Pat’s, Worked at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital

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A true daughter of the “old sod,” Johanna A. Sullivan Driscoll was born in South Boston to Michael Sullivan of County Cork and Nellie Millette of County Mayo on Aug. 9, 1931. After the usual school days, in the late forties she met the love of her life, Cornelius F. Driscoll now gone he was a strapping Irishman with all the charm, good looks and bravado that the Irish are famous for. He had a smile that made the young girls swoon and melt. In 1948 they married. Johanna, better known as “Joan” or “Joanie was a huge fan of Dean Martin, often listening to his music for hours on end.

Around Town

Watertown Group Rallies for Refugees, Collecting Items to Send to Camps

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On Saturday December 5, nearly every corner of Watertown Square was filled with signs and banners declaring commitment to refugees fleeing war and terror, according to an announcement from Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment. Judging by dozens of affirming honks and thumbs-ups, Watertown remains fiercely dedicated to welcoming refugees from around the globe. The vigil was organized by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment. The crowd later gathered on the delta, where Afghan refugee Rehina Heidari and Syrian asylee Amira Elamri spoke eloquently of the terrifying, brutal conditions under which they escaped their homelands to safety here. State Representative Jonathan Hecht reminded people how fortunate we are in Watertown to have our economy and culture so enriched by refugees of the Armenian Genocide.

9/11 Truth Group

Highlights of Boston 9/11 Truth Group’s Screening, Discussion in Watertown

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Gail Simmons of the Boston 9/11 Truth group wrote up this account of the recent film showing in Watertown, featuring the founder of AE911 Truth. On Nov. 19, Richard Gage, AIA, architect and founder of AE911 Truth, presented at the Watertown Library, his newest film “Firefighters, Architects & Engineers Expose 9/11 Myths” a collaboration with Erik Lawyer, a 14-year veteran of the Seattle Fire Department and founder of Firefighters for 9/11 Truth. Throughout the film, Gage and Lawyer provide compelling evidence proving the official narrative to be false. They present forensic evidence, video footage, eyewitness testimony and a compilation of scientific facts that include the collapse of a third, 47 story skyscraper, WTC7, at free fall acceleration, not hit by a plane, in a manner identical to a controlled demolition.