COVID-19

OP-ED: State Sen. Brownsberger on Updated Mask Guidelines

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State Sen. Will Brownsberger

This week, as the delta variant has spread, we’ve gotten new advice from the Centers for Disease Control, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. I’m personally going with the stronger CDC advice. New general advisory from DPH (July 30)

Today, in response to the emerging evidence of about the infectiousness of the Delta variant of the COVID virus, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued a new mask advisory. Masks remain mandatory in certain locations where risks of transmission are higher (including public transportation) and are newly advised in some additional circumstances. The mask rules page on the state’s website now includes the following summary.

Homepage Featured

Police Log: Suspect Seen on Video Going to Bathroom on Driveway, Fire Damages Home

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

None

Incidents

July 19, 12 p.m.: A woman wanted to cancel a flight she had booked on Priceline and contacted a number she found online. The person she thought was a customer service representative gave her a promotional offer to rebook the flight. She was told she would have to pay $300 in Target gift cards. The woman went to Target and bought the cards, and then contacted the number and gave the person the gift card numbers.

Election 2021

UPDATED: See Who Will be on the Watertown Town Election Ballot in November, Library Trustee Not Running

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Charlie Breitrose

(Originally posted July 28. Updated July 3o at 12:50 p.m.)

Town Clerk Janet Murphy certified the candidates for Watertown’s Town Election, to be held on Nov. 2, 2021. There will be six contested races in the Town Election: Councilor At-Large, Council Districts A, B and D, School Committee and Board of Library Trustees. Constance Henry announced July 30 that she will run for District D Councilor.

ARPA

Local Data Consultant Discovers Line in Federal Law that Cost Watertown Millions in Pandemic Relief

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CivilyticsWatertown’s Jared Knowles, president of Civilytics, discovered a line in the ARPA Pandemic relief act that cost Watertown millions in aid. A small data analysis firm discovered a five word section in the American Rescue Plan Act that cost communities such as Watertown millions in federal dollars compared to small towns in other states. Watertown-based Civilytics Consulting looks at a variety of data, including public financing, K-12 and higher education and public safety. While examining the ARPA funds found a surprising thing when they sent out their estimates for what states receive, said Jared Knowles, president of Civilytics. “One person called us and said ‘I’m getting told by our state we are getting a lot less than this,'” Knowles said.

23 Elm St.

Life Science Building in East Watertown Approved by Zoning Board

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Elm Street PartnersA rendering of the new life science lab building approved to be built at 23 Elm St. The building to the right is the Residence Inn by Marriott hotel. Months after it first appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeal, a three story life science lab building at 23 Elm Street got approval to be constructed on Wednesday night. The proposal first came before the ZBA in February, at a meeting where board members expressed their concerns about the amount of parking for the then 78,000 sq. ft.

Sports

Watertown Rower Will Row for the Gold After His Crew Qualified for the Olympic Final

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U.S. RowingWatertown’s Alexander Richards and the U.S. men’s eight boat qualified for the Olympic final. Team USA’s Men’s eight rowers, including Watertown’s own Alexander Richards, finished a close third late Tuesday night to book a spot in Thursday’s Olympic Final. Richards and the USA crew raced against Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Romania for spots in Thursday’s final at the Tokyo Olympics. The top four in the repechage race advanced to compete for medals. The Americans hit the 500 meter mark in third place, behind the Brits and New Zealand.

Election 2021

Candidate List for 2021 Watertown Election Taking Shape, Several Seek At-Large Council Seats

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Updated July 28 at 3 p.m.:

A late rush of candidates for the Town Election means that there will be enough people running for Councilor At-Large to fill the seats, and then some. There will be at least five contested races if all the candidates’ signatures are certified. Last Wednesday, only three people had put in papers to run for the four Councilor At-Large seats, but by the end of Tuesday — the last day to submit papers and signatures — there were seven people who had turned in papers to run, and a few more possible. The people who turned in their nomination papers with at least 100 signatures required to run are: Anthony Palomba, Caroline Bays, John Gannon, James Mello, Daniel D’Amico, Megan O’Halloran, and John Airasian. Three others have pulled papers but had not turned in the signatures as of early Tuesday afternoon.

Entertainment

New Rep Theatre Seeks to Raise $200,000 to Prevent Shutting Down Permanently

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Watertown-based New Repertory Theater needs an injection of money soon or will have to shut down permanently. The company, based at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, announced this week that it was suspending operations indefinitely, and unless the theater company can raise $200,000 over the next few months it will close permanently, Jo Trompet, chairman of New Rep’s board of directors, told the Boston Globe. Even before the pandemic, New Rep faced a budget deficit, which former-Artistic Director Michael Bobbitt said would take a number of years to make up. The COVID-19 restrictions meant the New Rep had to cancel about a season and a half of performances. The company also faces uncertainty about its primary performance space, the theater at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, which is undergoing upgrades.