Around Town

New Rules for Commenting on Watertown News Stories

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Starting Monday, June 26, Watertown News will have new guidelines for commenting on stories on the site, with preference given to people signing their names to comments. Due to numerous complaints I have received from people in the community about people commenting anonymously or using a screen name, the rules for those who do not use their name will be different. I read comments before approving them to go on the site, but over the past year or so I feel some debates have gotten out of control. While I understand people may not want to use their own name, I also think it is not fair to allow people to make statements – especially directed at other commenters or people in the story – under the anonymity of a screen name. People will still be able to comment without their name, BUT, a person can only make one comment per story anonymously.

Around Town

CatholicTV One of Three Local Stations to Win Broadcast Awards

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Three local television stations – including one Watertown-based network – received top honors at today’s 52nd annual Gabriel Awards, presented at Laval University in Québec City, Canada, organizers announced. Watertown-based CatholicTV Network received “Religious Television Station of the Year” by the national Gabriel Awards. Also winning honors this year were Boston’s WCVB Channel 5 was named “Secular Station of the Year”; and New Hampshire’s WMUR Channel 9 received a Community Awareness and/or PSA – National or Local Release Gabriel Award for a New Hampshire Chronicle series entitled “Home at Last.” Both WCVB and WMUR are owned by Hearst Television. “The CatholicTV Network is deeply honored to be named Religious Television Station of the Year by the Catholic Academy,” said Bishop Robert Reed, President of CatholicTV and Auxiliary Bishop of Boston. “We are particularly proud to be recognized alongside of our neighbor, the award-winning WCVB Channel 5 in Boston, named 2017 Secular Television Station of the Year, for its outstanding programming and community service.

Around Town

Spots Still Available in Watertown Rec’s Pequossette Summer Program

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The Watertown Recreation Department’s Pequossette Summer Program begins on June 27, and it still has spots available. Children can sign up for one to eight weeks of the summer program, which runs through Aug. 18, and promotes “physical well being as well as a good sense of self-esteem,” said Pequossette Director Brian Donato in a letter about the summer camp. “Our leadership team believes that a diverse schedule keeps the children engaged and encourages them to try and learn new things and make connections with peers. It is our goal to create a family atmosphere in which your child can grow, develop, and create long lasting friendships with peers and positive relationships with our staff,” Donato wrote.

Around Town

Watertown Scouts Clear Invasive Plant from Community Path

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Watertown Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts teamed up last week to fight an invasion impacting gardens and open space across town. 

The Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 30 and Girl Scout Troop 63051 spread out along the Watertown Community Path – also known as the Watertown Greenway – to pull out as much Black Swallow Wort as they could in one evening. The vine that has shiny, waxy dark green leaves, has found its way into Watertown in recent years, said Eric Cordeiro, one of the Scout leaders. “I have lived in the East End for 17 years and never seen it until 3 or 4 years ago,” Cordeiro said. The Boy Scouts waded into the knee-deep grass to root out the invasive vines. Asked how they identify the plants, 16-year-old Nick Cordeiro said: “They have black, small flower.”

Around Town

Mental Illness Support Family Group Meeting This Week in Wellesley

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Mental Illness support group: NAMI Family Support Group is a free, structured, confidential peer-led support group for family members, caregivers and loved ones of individuals living with mental illness. A support group will be held on Wednesday, June 21, 7:30 – 9 p.m. in the Board Room of the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church at 207 Washington Street in Wellesley. This is organized by the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI).

Around Town

Watertown Housing Authority Director Named President of State Organization

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Watertown Housing Authority director Brian Costello will lead his fellow housing authority leaders having been elected the president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). Costello was elected selected in the annual MassNAHRO conference held earlier this month in Falmouth, according to the MassNAHRO. As president, he will lead more than 240 local housing authorities across the state. “It is a great honor to be elected President of MassNAHRO by my colleagues who work so hard every day to provide safe and decent affordable housing to eligible residents of Massachusetts,” Costello said in a statement. Costello joined the Watertown Housing Authority in 1983 as a resident manager and also served as the modernization coordinator, according to the announcement from MassNAHRO.

Around Town

Saturday’s Kayaking on the Charles Event Postponed

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The Recreation Department announced that the kayaking on the Charles River event has been postponed due to bad weather. 

The event, scheduled for Saturday, June 17, will be rescheduled for Sept. 16, 2017, according to Recreation Director Peter Centola. This will be the town’s second kayaking event.

Around Town

Watertown Continues to Fight Opioid Epidemic, Offer Hope for Recovery

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Beating addiction to opioids and heroin can be a very difficult road, but the message of speakers at the WATERtown Task Force on Substance Use Disorder is that you have to keep fighting and overcome the relapses to reach recovery. The epidemic of opioids in Watertown continues to be a problem, despite a decrease in the number of overdose deaths this year, said Watertown Police Lt. Dan Unsworth, said at the event hosted by the Taxiarchae-Archagels Greek Orthodox Church in Watertown. In 2014, there was one death linked to opiates, but that number jumped to 9 in 2015 and in 2016 it went down to 6, Unsworth said. “(The drop) is likely due to the good work of the detectives of the WPD and first responders having Narcan,” Unsworth said. The anti-overdose drug works by displacing the opioids in the brain that have stopped the person’s breathing, said Dr. Laura Kehoe, who specializes in substance use at Mass.