Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/page/249/?fbclid=IwAR1wR7XDX4kAWceRgAR58782208Wrbk5xzMTVQ3WdQXYwcOSvVAKESaHMk0)
Watertown’s Health Department has received more than 100 complaints about rodents since the beginning of the trash strike. At their meeting the Board of Health also heard about the start of the City’s body work regulations, and approved a life science company’s permit.
Watertown Police commended a 20-year-old man for helping a driver who was experiencing a medical emergency, and preventing any additional injuries and damage.
Watertown High School students will use an app to disable cellphones during class beginning in the fall of 2025. (Courtesy by City of Watertown)
Watertown High School plans to disable students’ cellphones during class using software that the school will be piloting during the 2025-26 school year. At Monday’s meeting the School Committee heard from parents who called one of the books on the recommended summer reading list “anti-Semitic.” The Committee also got more information on the changes to the Sexual and Sex-based Discrimination policy.
Photo by Charlie BreitroseWatertown City Hall
City officials recently reinforced that short-term rentals such as Airbnb and VRBO are not allowed in Watertown.
Edible Plants, Watertown’ a long-term interdisciplinary project that promotes awareness of our local environment through visual art and writing, will have a closing reception on Jan. 13, and will open at a new location on Jan. 26.
Photo by Charlie BreitroseThe Edmund Fowle House during a Treaty Day celebration.
Submitted by Joyce Kelly & Marilynne Roach, Historical Society of Watertown
In November 2022 Patrick Mulroy, builder, remodeler, historic preservationist, and owner of ReModern Builders, contacted the Historical Society. Recently moved to Church Street in Watertown and wishing to become personally and professionally involved in the community, he offered us a donation of skilled labor from his carpenters.
Inside a classroom at the KinderCare Learning Center at Arsenal Yards. (Courtesy of KinderCare)
The following announcement was provided by the KinderCare:
KinderCare Learning Centers is excited to announce the opening of a new child care center in Watertown. Arsenal Yards KinderCare is located at 501 Arsenal Street.
Wikimedia Commons / ChensiyuanMassachusetts State House.
With the Massachusetts State Senate State to soon be taking up legislation on guns and firearms, Sen. Will Brownsberger seeks input via an online survey.
Watertown residents will be required to clear snow and ice from sidewalks in front of their homes within 24 hours of the end of a storm after the City Council passed the amendment to the City’s Snow and Ice Removal Ordinance. Under the new rules, residents face a fine for repeatedly not clearing sidewalks, but those will not be levied during the current winter.
As part of a plan to reorganize Watertown’s municipal departments, the Health Department will be moving out of City Hall.
The following announcement was provided by the Community Preservation Committee:
The Community Preservation Program is approaching its fifth year of operation. Since the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) adopted the Community Preservation Act Five-year Plan 2021-2025, the CPC has conducted two complete funding rounds. This year, the CPC celebrated the completion of the program’s first two projects. Irving Park got revamped using $372,606 in outdoor recreation funds and the Edmund Fowle House saw its deteriorated wooden gutters replaced using $47,177 in historic preservation funds. While Irving Park is city-owned, the Fowle House Museum, listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, and built in 1772, is owned and operated by the Historical Society of Watertown.
The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.