Around Town

LETTER: Mother, School Social Worker Announces Her Bid for School Committee

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Lisa Capoccia

Dear friends and members of the Watertown Community,

My name is Lisa Capoccia and I’m excited to share this announcement of my candidacy for the Watertown Public Schools (WPS) School Committee. My decision to pursue this seat is based on a strong desire to advance WPS efforts to be responsive to the changing and increasingly complex needs of its student population. This decision follows ten years (starting when my daughter began the Lowell pre-K) of collaborating and advocating on behalf of students, families, and staff in the district. I thoroughly enjoy this work which is rooted in my strong commitment to equity and belief in the impact public education has on our collective future. It compliments my current position as a school social worker/adjustment counselor in Newton Schools and past work in public health.

Around Town

Watertown Restaurant Using GoFundMe to Try to Stay Open

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Watertown’s Ritcey East has struggled since the pandemic, and owner Max Ritcey has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise enough money to keep the doors open at the Waverley Avenue restaurant. Ritcey said the restaurant has been down tens of thousand dollars behind each month, in part due to paying back COVID loans. The goal is to reach $30,000 by September, and fans have already stepped up to donate more than $22,000 in the first four days. See more information about the campaign at the Ritcey East GoFundMe page. Ritcey posted the following letter on the campaign page:

It’s very hard for me to share this but Ritceys is down on average 20k a month since the pandemic.

Around Town

Our History: The Sand Banks Cemetery Project

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An aerial view of Sand Banks Cemetery – Cottage Street comes in at the upper left corner and Mount Auburn Cemetery surrounds it on the other 3 sides. (Photo courtesy of Bill McEvoy)

This article is part of a series on local history provided by the Historical Society of Watertown. It was written by Joyce Kelly, Board member of the Historical Society of Watertown. Joyce writes articles for the newsletter and is the newsletter editor. This was published in our January 2016 newsletter, “The Town Crier.”

Almost single-handedly, Bill McEvoy has become a one-man “Friends of Sand Banks Cemetery.” Already a volunteer at Mount Auburn Cemetery researching historical data utilized by their docents for tours and talks, Bill became interested in the adjacent Mount Auburn Catholic Cemetery (also known as Sand Banks Cemetery and Cottage Street Cemetery) while researching local Civil War soldiers for programs at Mount Auburn commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War (1861-1865).

Around Town

MassBay Holding Info Sessions on Program for Residents 25+ to Get Associate Degrees, Certificates

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The following announcement was provided by MassBay Community College:

MassBay Community College is preparing for Governor Healey’s proposed MassReconnect program, which would enable Massachusetts residents who are 25 years of age and older without a college degree to obtain an associate degree or certificate for free at any Massachusetts public community college. If this budget item is passed, the direct costs of tuition, fees, books, and supplies will be covered for eligible students enrolled in an approved certificate or associate degree program who are taking at least six credits per semester. The MassReconnect proposal is currently before the Massachusetts legislature as part of the fiscal year 2024 budget process. If approved, students can begin attending college for free starting in the fall 2023 semester. Applications to MassBay for fall semester are due by Tuesday, August 29, 2023, classes begin on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

Around Town

Study Finds Watertown Multi-Family Complexes Have Many Empty Parking Spaces

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Courtesy of MAPC

A study of large large apartment complexes in Watertown found that nearly 40 percent off-street parking spots remain empty, even during peak parking times. The Perfect Fit Parking study conducted by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) looked a several communities in the Boston area. In 17 multi-family residential complexes in Watertown, 62 percent of the spaces were full. The Watertown complexes had 1.45 parking spaces per unit, and 0.99 spaces were utilized, according to the study’s summary. The study comes at a good time, Watertown Assistant City Manager Steve Magoon said in the MAPC’s announcement (read it below), with the draft Comprehensive Plan update recommending the the City review its parking requirements for new developments.