Around Town

Thanksgiving Food Drive Donations Being Accepted Items at Watertown Mall

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Mall:

The Watertown Mall will be hosting a Food Drive every Friday in November before Thanksgiving. On Fridays, between the hours of 10 AM – 11 AM and 3 PM – 4 PM the collection table will be set up inside the mall’s back hallway across from Carter’s and Target. The collected food will be donated to the Watertown Food Pantry. Items needed include, but are not limited to: canned goods, pasta/rice, coffee/tea, cooking oil, cold cereal/old fashioned oatmeal, non-perishable snacks for kids, etc. If you’d like to see a full list of the items needed please visit www.watertown-ma.gov/Watertown-Food-Pantry or also visit one of our mall informational pushcarts.

Around Town

Watertown Firefighters, Others Honored for Life Saving Actions

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Last week, the Watertown Fire Department honored several firefighters, police officers and others for their life-saving actions during medical emergencies. Normally, the Fire Department would present the awards at a public ceremony, Fire Chief Bob Quinn said. “It was our hope to present these at a more formal ceremony last March but COVID sidetracked us,” Quinn said. “We did individual presentations instead.” Revival of Person Not Breathing

View this post on Instagram Lieutenant C. Wheaton and Firefighters S. Gleason, J. Capello, D. Corsi, O. Winsor, M. Fidler, and R. Hoey were presented with the Watertown Fire Department Company Citation Award by Chief Quinn for their life saving actions at an incident in December of 2019.

Around Town

Town Council to Discuss FY2021 Property Taxes, See the Proposed Rate

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A lot of money was raised and spent on the 2015 Watertown Election. The average Watertown property tax bill would rise $65 a year in Fiscal Year 2021 under the tax rate proposed by the Town Assessor. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Town Council will be discussing the property tax rates for Fiscal Year 2021. The meeting will be held virtually and begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (see how to tune in and participate below).

Around Town

LETTER: COVID Mixed Messaging — Schools Running Hybrid, District Offers In-Person Childcare

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Editor,

Watertown Schools are now offering in-person child care for remote learning, for a fee. I thought the purpose of remote learning was to keep people at home to control the pandemic? I am on board with that. And this service is surely a valuable one for families that need it. But I find the fact that they are offering it for a fee a little outrageous.

Around Town

Watertown Veterans Day Ceremony to be Held Virtually

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Wednesday is Veterans Day, and in place of the annual breakfast a virtual ceremony will be held. The event will be broadcast on Watertown Cable. The Town of Watertown provided the following information:

The Watertown Veterans Day ceremony is being held virtually on Wednesday, November 11th to honor the service of all Veterans in the Watertown community. The virtual Veterans Day ceremony will include aseries of interviews with Veterans and other members of the community. WCA-TV plans to broadcast the event at 11:00 AM on the Public Channel (RCN 3) and (Comcast 9).

Around Town

New COVID-19 Rules on Face Masks, Restaurants, Private Gatherings Start Friday

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Massachusetts residents face new regulations that include an evening stay-at-home advisory, tightens face covering rules, closes some businesses early, reduces size of requires earlier closing times for some businesses and reduces the allowed size of gatherings. Gov. Charlie Baker announced the changes to the COVID-19 rules this week. The stay-at-home advisory for “unnecessary activities” runs from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Face masks or coverings must be worn in all public places (even if it is possible to stay 6 feet apart)The businesses that must close by 9:30 p.m. include restaurants, movie theaters, indoor and outdoor events and youth and adult sports activitiesGatherings at private residences are limited to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors

Town Manager Michael Driscoll sent out the following information in his Weekly COVID-19 Update:

On Monday, the Baker-Polito Administration announced a series of targeted measures to disrupt the increasing trend of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Governor Baker announced these changes at a time where public health data has indicated that cases are rising, with cases up by 278 percent and hospitalizations up by 145 percent since Labor Day. These measures are meant to disrupt rising trends now, so the Commonwealth can keep the economy and schools open for residents and to prevent the need to roll back to Phase I or Phase II of the reopening plan.

Around Town

Find Out What’s Going on with Watertown Rec. at the Open Forum Tonight

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The Watertown Recreation Department will be having an Open Forum on Thursday, Nov. 5 from 7-8 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually. The Recreation Department is offering this zoom meeting to give our residents an opportunity to listen to updates and ask questions regarding the following items:

• Fall Program Wrap Up• Winter Programming Opportunities – Looking for suggestions• Filippello Park (Grove) Field Lighting / Filippello Park (Arlington) Fence Update• Arsenal Park (Phase A) in Process• Recreation Department Looking For Staff• JAR Rink Re-Opening• Halloween Monstah Joyride – Thanks to Commanders Mansion and Others• David W. Hoffman Donations• Snow Shoveling Program• Social Media / Notify Me / Recreation Website

Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81986231121?pwd=RXFzZWxsRHVuRjRLUTFEbldtZDljQT09Meeting ID: 819 8623 1121Passcode: 380225

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