Around Town

CatholicTV to Show Christmas Masses from Around the U.S.

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Watertown-based CatholicTV Network provided the following information:

On Monday, Dec. 24 and Tuesday, Dec. 25, the CatholicTV Network will broadcast Christmas Masses from around the United States and the Vatican. Christmas Masses will air beginning on Monday, Dec. 24 with Mass from the Vatican presided over by Pope Francis at 8 p.m. The Mass with Pope Francis will rebroadcast on Christmas Day at 7 a.m. Pope Francis’ annual Christmas message, “Urbi et Orbi,” will air on Christmas Day at 6 a.m., 3:30 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Christmas Mass coverage continues at 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve with Mass from the Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Md.

Around Town

Tufts Health Plan Foundation Grants Give $1.2 million to Programs for Healthy Aging

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The following information came from Tufts Health Plan:

Tufts Health Plan Foundation today announced 11 new community investments of more than $1.2 million, reflecting the Foundation’s commitment to advancing policies and practices that support healthy aging. These investments are in addition to more than $2 million in previously announced work. 

“Advocating for public policy or systems change is essential to achieving social change at scale,” said Thomas P. O’Neill III, who chairs the Tufts Health Plan Foundation board of directors. “By supporting age-friendly efforts, the Foundation hopes to create communities that work for all generations.” 

Tufts Health Plan is the only regional funder exclusively focused on healthy aging. The new grants support efforts to engage and train older people as advocates on critical policy work, including addressing gaps in oral health, nutrition, housing, transportation, and community safety. 

“We are investing in initiatives that promote coalitions and bring together government, nonprofit organizations, and older people to create communities that are great places to grow up and grow old,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president for corporate citizenship at Tufts Health Plan. “Critical to any success is supporting older people as they lead and make their voices heard.” 

The new grants engage community organizations in three states.

Around Town

OP-ED: Steps to Stop Your Kids from Drinking, Using Drugs

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The following piece was signed by: Michael Lawn, Chief of Police, Laura Kurman, Senior Program Director, Wayside Multi-Service Center, Dede Galdston, Superintendent of Schools, and Larry Ramdin, Director of Public Health:

With the holiday season underway and the opening of retail marijuana shops in Massachusetts, adults are urged to pay special attention to teenagers’ behavior around alcohol and other drugs. The Watertown Youth Coalition’s (WYC) partner agencies, Wayside Multi-Service Center, and the Watertown Police, Schools and Health Departments remind adults that teen alcohol and marijuana use can lead to unsafe behaviors that put their health and safety at risk. After all, it is all our responsibility, as a community, to help teens make healthy decisions and stay safe. Underage substance use affects everyone in the community and delaying use has shown to be protective as every year a teen does not use alcohol, the odds of lifelong dependence decrease by 15 percent. In the most recent Watertown Youth Risk Behavior Survey, administered to middle and high school students last year, of those who reported drinking, most reportedgetting alcohol from older siblings /friends or from home without their parents’ knowledge.

Around Town

Watertown’s Winter Parking Ban Lifted — Temporarily

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Watertown residents and their guests will be able to park on the streets overnight beginning this weekend and running until after the New Year. 

As in years past, Watertown Police Chief Michael Lawn has announced the temporary lifting of the overnight parking ban during the holidays. 

The suspension of the parking ban begins Dec. 22, 2018 and resumes on Jan. 2, 2019. Lawn sent out the following announcement:

Around Town

CBS Pays Watertown’s Eliza Dushku a $9.5 Million Sexual Harassment Settlement

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Eliza Dushku received a $9.5 million settlement from CBS in a sexual harassment case. Here she speaks at a candlelight vigil in Watertown for those lost to addiction. Watertown-native Eliza Dushku received a $9.5 million settlement from CBS after she alleged her role on the network’s show “Bull” was cut after she confronted about inappropriate comments made to her by the show’s star. The settlement, was reached after Dushku reported that Michael Weatherly made a rape joke to her and commented to her about a threesome, reported in the New York Times. She alleges she confronted Weatherly about the comments and shortly afterward her role, which she had been told would be a full-time one, was written off the show.

Around Town

Find Out How to Enter the Watertown Holiday Lighting & Decoration Contest

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Enter your home into the Watertown Holiday Lighting & Decoration Contest. If you think your home has the best, most spectacular holiday display, enter the Watertown Holiday Lighting & Decoration Contest. The winner will receive a $250 gift card and $250 for your favorite Watertown charity or non-profit organization. Homes will be judged on the following criteria:

Unique design and creative use of lights and decorationsStoryline or themeDisplay and placement of decorations, animated objects, etc.Overall presentation

Judges will not enter the home or walk in the yard. It will be limited to whatever is viewable from the street and sidewalk of the home.

Around Town

Watertown Doctor, Man He Saved Attend Mount Auburn Hospital’s Party of the Year

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The following information came from Mount Auburn Hospital:

Jill and Michael Earley of Wellesley, and Dr. Michael Murphy, MD and Debra Murphy, of Watertown attended Mount Auburn Hospital’s Party of the Year. Earley came to the hospital in cardiac arrest and Dr. Murphy saved his life. 

The Party of the Year is Mount Auburn Hospital’s annual charity gala to promote good health in our community. Among those in attendance was a man who brought to the hospital having a heart attack and the doctor who saved him. 

When father and husband Michael Earley arrived at Mount Auburn Hospital on July 11 after collapsing on the basketball court, the outlook was grim. Earley had suffered cardiac arrest — something the staff in the Mount Auburn Hospital see nearly every day. In situations like this time, training, and skill are critical.