Sports

See the Watertown Athletes Who Made the Middlesex League All-Stars

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Eleven Watertown High School athletes from five teams made the Middlesex All-Stars during the 2020 Fall Season. Teams played shortened seasons this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and three fall sports — football, girls volleyball and girls swimming — were postponed. Girls Cross Country: Anna Lonergan

Field Hockey: Margaret Driscoll, Molly Driscoll, Elizabeth Loftus and Taylor Lambo

Golf: Nicolas Oteri

Boys Soccer: Nicholas Dipace, Caiden Kiani and Kenan Canca

Girls Soccer: Amanda Cosco and Jenna Petrie

Football and girls volleyball will be held during the MIAA’s Fall II Season, due to begin in February. Watertown school officials decided to not hold swimming this year because the program is a coop one with Arlington, which would have required students from both schools mixing each day, according to an Athletics Subcommittee report at the Watertown School Committee. Athletes can register now for the Winter Season, which includes boys and girls basketball and boys and girls hockey.

Sports

Three Watertown Soccer Players Make All-Stars, One Garners Eastern Mass Honors

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Watertown senior Nick DiPace made the Middlesex Boys Soccer All-Stars and the Eastern Mass. All-Star team. The Middlesex League boys soccer teams featured some of the top high school players in the State, and three Watertown Raiders made the All-Star list plus one also received Eastern Massachusetts honors. Watertown seniors Nicholas DiPace, Caiden Kiana and Kenan Canca made the 2020 Middlesex League Small School All-Star team. The Raiders finished 4-3-1 in the season that was shortened due to COVID-19.

Government

Town Council Puts Eversource On Notice About Double Poles in Watertown

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An example of a double utility pole on Main Street in Watertown from 2016

Tired of waiting for Eversource to take action needed to remove double utility poles in Watertown, the Town Council told the utility this week it will not consider requests for Eversource projects in Town until the poles are dealt with. Every few meetings, a utility comes to the Town Council for approval to do work in Watertown, typically putting in an underground trench for wires. Tuesday, Eversource had two such requests, but one councilor brought up his frustration about the lack of action on removing double poles, particularly one problematic one in his district. When a new utility pole is installed, the old one is attached to the new one until the wires are transferred to the new one. There is an order for which wires get moved first depending on where they are on the pole, and who owns the poles.

Around Town

Donations Sought for Watertown Mutual Aid’s Winter Coat Drive

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Mutual Aid Network:

Join us for the Winter Coat Drive on Saturday, Dec 12th, 12-3 p.m benefitting Watertown organizations and families. Please share the flyer with your friends and neighbors! We are accepting donations of:

NEW & LIKE NEW winter coats for children and adultsNEW hats, gloves, scarves for children and adultsNEW children’s pajamas

Government

Town, BB&N Agree to Share Fields at Filippello Park, New Ones School to Build on Grove Street

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The Town of Watertown and Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (BB&N) agreed to a field sharing plan where the school would get some use of Filippello Park, while the Town could use new athletic fields to be built by BB&N on Grove Street. Watertown residents will have access to new athletic fields to be built by Buckingham Browne & Nichols School on Grove Street, while the school will be able to use fields at next door Filippello Park as part of an agreement approved by the Town Council Tuesday night. Two full-sized athletic fields, a field house and parking for about 80 vehicles are planned for the 6.1 acres of land that BB&N plans to purchase from Mount Auburn Cemetery. The land directly abuts Filippello Park on the Grove Street side of the park in East Watertown. BB&N recently entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Schools

Schools Rolling Out Student COVID-19 Testing Week After Thanksgiving

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Watertown students will be able to be tested for COVID-19 for free starting the week after Thanksgiving, in an effort to keep schools open for in-person learning and to stop the spread of the virus in the school and broader community. Galdston told the School Committee about the district’s testing program on Monday, the same night that a piece on the Watertown Public Schools’ COVID-19 testing program (for which she was interviewed) aired on the NBC Nightly News. “In the 45 minute interview, that was cut to 30 seconds, we spent a lot of time talking about how Watertown has really gone above and beyond to keep our students and our staff safe,” Galdston said. “Here is just another safety net we have for all of our people within our community.” School Committee member Lily Rayman-Read, who teaches in the Cambridge Public Schools, said the NBC story caught the interest of educators in other communities.

Business

Fees for Liquor Licenses, Others in Watertown Waived for 2021

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Watertown Town Hall

The Licensing Board voted to waive fees for liquor licenses and other fees charged to do business in the Town of Watertown for all of 2021 in an effort to help them endure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday night, the Board heard a proposal to eliminate the annual fees for liquor licenses for restaurants, which is $2,700 for most. After a discussion, Licensing Board members decided that not just those, but also fees for other businesses should be removed for 2021. Other communities have already made changes to their liquor license fees, said David Doneski, the attorney that works with the Licensing Board. Newton and Needham approved a 50 percent reduction in fees, and Malden and Quincy waived the entire fee.

Police/Fire

Police Seek Suspect in Two Home Break-ins in Watertown

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Two Watertown homes were broken into on Saturday afternoon, and Watertown Police seek a suspect who might have been involved in other recent break-ins. The two break-ins took place on Avon and Sunnybank roads between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Nov. 21, according to a Watertown Police Department’s Twitter post. WPD is investigating 2 house breaks that occurred yesterday between 4-8pm on Avon Rd & Sunnybank Rd. Please report any unusual activity.