Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/page/905/?fbclid=IwAR1wR7XDX4kAWceRgAR58782208Wrbk5xzMTVQ3WdQXYwcOSvVAKESaHMk0)
Members of the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet tribes traveled to take part in the celebration fo the 250th anniversary of the Treaty of Watertown (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
Hundreds packed a theater in Watertown on Saturday to celebrate an event that took place 250 years before. The town was the site of the signing of the United States’ first treaty with a foreign nation — the Treaty of Watertown. Descendants of the signers of the document from the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet tribes emphasized that the agreement that was forged as a wartime alliance also created friendships and provided rights and protections for the signers that are still important in 2026.
A pole struck by a vehicle lies on top of power lines on Main Street. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
A vehicle struck a utility pole on Main Street, snapping it in half and cutting off power for several hundred customers on Monday around noon.
Watertown City and State officials appeared before a joint committee at the State House on Jan. 27, 2026, to discuss the City’s Home Rule Petition. Pictured, from left, Steve Owens, George Proakis, John Lawn, Earl Smith, and Mark Sideris.
The City of Watertown’s effort to prevent a tax hike for residential property owners, which could be as high as 18%, cleared a major hurdle when it was approved the the House of Representatives on Beacon Hill.
Watertown residents will see an increase of 4.5% in both the water and sewer rates for the fiscal year that began on July 1, 2026, which is slightly higher than forecasted a year ago. However, the future increase could be significantly higher than projected due in part to an error made calculating future year revenues.
If you have not been to the Watertown Mall in a while, it will look a bit different inside with hand sanitizers in various locations and the massage chairs removed temporarily, but all the retailers in the center are open for business.
The following letter was provided by Gore Place:
Dear Members and Friends of Gore Place,I am very pleased to report that after more than four months of program closure, Gore Place will reopen in August with special outdoor programs and we hope you can join us! Read on for more information about these programs and much more:
Candleboats float on the Charles River in Watertown in memory of those who died in the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Watertown Citizens for Peace Justice and the Environment is holding a commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Sunday, August 9, the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki.
On Aug. 6 at 7 p.m., Watertown Public School officials will present their recommendation for how to reopen the public schools in the fall. They will choose between three options: in-person, remotely or a hybrid of both.
The historic facade of the Watertown Free Public Library.
The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:
WFPL reopened last week for browsing and checkouts only. To keep everyone safe, we’ve made a lot of changes inside the building. Our website has more information about what to expect. Please take a look before you visit: watertownlib.org/reopeningPR
Buses like this one on the 71 bus will get priority heading toward Harvard Square on Mt. Auburn Street in the new Cambridge-Watertown Bus Priority Pilot program.
The MBTA provided the following information:
The MBTA will host virtual meetings on Sunday, August 12, and Monday, August 13, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to present details on fall bus schedule details and changes. The virtual meeting on August 12 will be in Spanish and the virtual meeting on August 13 will be in English. These virtual meetings will be held on GoToWebinar, a video conferencing platform.
A rendering of what a new high school could look like if it’s built on the current site and the Phillips School site. In this option, 3D, a bridge would link the buildings on the third floor.
Many participants in a virtual forum on the Watertown High School project favored building a new high school on a combination of the current property and the site across the street where the Phillips School sits. They also spoke out against renovating the current school.
The track of Isaias, which will impact Eastern Massachusetts on Tuesday night.
The National Weather Service issued a Tropical Storm Warning for all of Southern New England, though the current forecast is that the brunt of Isaias will be felt in Western Massachusetts and/or Upstate New York.