Police Log: Fight Starts After Argument Over Blocked, Businesses Hit With Graffiti

The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

None

Incidents

Jan. 26, 7:53 a.m.: A man came into Watertown Towing and was upset about his car being towed. He spoke to an employee and got upset because they would not release the car because it was unregistered. He forcefully pushed past the employee and took a set of keys, but they were not his.

Library Seeks Residents to Take Part in Watertown Collective Memory Project

The Watertown Free Public Library is launching a project called the Watertown Collective Memory Project and you can be a part of it! The Watertown Collective Memory Project (WCMP) is “a yearlong initiative to build a digital collection of stories and photographs from Watertown’s recent history, up to the present day, that captures the full breadth and diversity of our community,” as Local History Librarian Caroline Littlewood described it. Though the project is led by Littlewood and other members of the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL), they are encouraging other local organizations to contribute and will be relying on volunteers to help run the project. The Historical Society of Watertown and Watertown Cable Access Television are both partners in the project as well. 

The WCMP first got started as part of a refurbishing of the WFPL’s digital history records and has since developed into a community-wide project to build a collaborative and accessible digital history of the town. For Littlewood especially, who started her position at the WFPL during the COVID-19 pandemic, this project has come to mean much more than uploading files.

Watertown Library Trustees Fill Open Seat with Candidate from 2021 Election

Maja Young was appointed to the Board of Library Trustees. The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:

On January 10, 2022 the Watertown Free Public Library Trustees and Town Council President Mark Sideris appointed Maja Young to fill the open seat on the Library Board of Trustees. She will serve for two years. A Watertown resident, Young explains that the Watertown Free Public Library has always been an important constant in her life:

“As a kid, I loved getting a giant pile of books from the Library to bring home. In high school, my friends and I studied, researched papers, used the computers, and socialized at the Library.

See Photos from the Opening of the New Hosmer School & Rededication

Charlie BreitroseParents and students head to the grand opening celebration of the new Hosmer School on Feb. 1, 2022. Watertown’s newest elementary school opened for the public to see Tuesday afternoon, and the bright and spacious three-story Hosmer School wowed those who roamed its halls and classrooms.

Superintendent Dede Galdston welcomed attendees who crowded the courtyard between the two wings of the Eastside school, and noted that it was just four months ago that the City opened another new school. “Many superintendents and city managers go through their entire career never opening a school and here we are opening the second in a year and a third on the way,” Galdston said, referring to Cunniff and Lowell schools. “And a new high school in the not too distant future.”

Watertown’s Shick House to be Remembered with Historic Marker

Watertown Free Public LibraryThe Shick House has been located on Grove Street since the 1800s. It was home to the owners of one of the few Jewish farmers in Massachusetts. Bob Bloomberg recalls the first time he got to look inside the Shick House. The house oozed history, but it was clear then, he said, that the home of the owners of one of the few Jewish-owned farms in Massachusetts was not in good shape. “I was in the house twice, the first time was about a year ago, and at that point we could go to the second floor,” said Bloomberg, a member of the Historical Society’s board who has researched the history of the house.

New Watertown News Commenting Policy: Full Names Required

Commenters will now be required to sign their full names on stories on the Watertown News site starting Feb. 1, 2022. Previously one comment was allowed anonymously. Commenters can also provide more information about themselves, such as what town, neighborhood or street they live on, or other pertinent information, but it is not required. If I cannot easily confirm a name you may be asked to provide more information, which will not be published.

Community Forum to be Held on Watertown High School Project This Week

Ai3 ArchitectsAn illustration of what the outside of the new Watertown High School will look like. A Community Forum to discuss the Watertown High School project will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m.

The meeting will be held virtually on Zoom, and will also be broadcast on Watertown Cable. The forum is the ninth one focused on the new WHS, according to the announcement from the School Building Committee. The most recent plan, which would cost an estimated $198 million, calls for the old school to be torn down and the new one constructed on the same site.