Around Town

Watertown Veterans Day Ceremony to be Held Virtually

By |

Wednesday is Veterans Day, and in place of the annual breakfast a virtual ceremony will be held. The event will be broadcast on Watertown Cable. The Town of Watertown provided the following information:

The Watertown Veterans Day ceremony is being held virtually on Wednesday, November 11th to honor the service of all Veterans in the Watertown community. The virtual Veterans Day ceremony will include aseries of interviews with Veterans and other members of the community. WCA-TV plans to broadcast the event at 11:00 AM on the Public Channel (RCN 3) and (Comcast 9).

COVID-19

Watertown Middle School Moving to Hybrid Next Week

By |

Watertown Middle School

Students at Watertown Middle School will start to attend classes in-person two days a week next week with the beginning of hybrid learning. Superintendent Dede Galdston sent out an announcement Friday evening saying that hybrid learning would start at WMS on Thursday, Nov. 12 for half the students and Friday, Nov. 13 for the other half. The school has been teaching remotely since school started in late September.

Around Town

New COVID-19 Rules on Face Masks, Restaurants, Private Gatherings Start Friday

By |

Massachusetts residents face new regulations that include an evening stay-at-home advisory, tightens face covering rules, closes some businesses early, reduces size of requires earlier closing times for some businesses and reduces the allowed size of gatherings. Gov. Charlie Baker announced the changes to the COVID-19 rules this week. The stay-at-home advisory for “unnecessary activities” runs from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Face masks or coverings must be worn in all public places (even if it is possible to stay 6 feet apart)The businesses that must close by 9:30 p.m. include restaurants, movie theaters, indoor and outdoor events and youth and adult sports activitiesGatherings at private residences are limited to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors

Town Manager Michael Driscoll sent out the following information in his Weekly COVID-19 Update:

On Monday, the Baker-Polito Administration announced a series of targeted measures to disrupt the increasing trend of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Governor Baker announced these changes at a time where public health data has indicated that cases are rising, with cases up by 278 percent and hospitalizations up by 145 percent since Labor Day. These measures are meant to disrupt rising trends now, so the Commonwealth can keep the economy and schools open for residents and to prevent the need to roll back to Phase I or Phase II of the reopening plan.

Entertainment

NewRep Presenting 2 Original Plays in Virtual Series

By |

The following information was provided by NewRep Theatre:

New Repertory Theatre has commissioned two short plays to be performed live and virtually as part of the first installment of the new Showstopper Virtual Play Series, an evening of live theatre with a two-play in one-night package from the comfort and safety of your home. The Showstopper Virtual Play Series features [keyp-ing], written by Miranda ADEkoje, directed by Dawn M. Simmons, and A Very Herrera Holiday, written by Alexis Scheer, directed by Sarah Shin. Tickets are $30, and will be available for sale on November 4. More information about the Showstopper Virtual Play Series can be found at https://www.newrep.org/productions/showstopper-virtual-plays. The Showstopper Virtual Play Series will run from Nov.

Building for the Future

Good Reviews for 3-Story WHS Design, Call to Move Non-School Functions Out

By |

A drawing of what the new Watertown High School could look like. The illustration of option 3D-4 shows a three-story main academic building, and a faded image of how tall it would be if it were four stories. The three-story design for the new Watertown High School got good reviews from the School Building Committee and residents who tuned into the meeting Wednesday night. Also, there were calls for the District Administration offices and the Facilities Department to another location to free up room at WHS. The main academic building, proposed the property where the Phillips School and Senior Center now sit, was shortened by a story after concerns were raised about how big it would be compared to the surrounding neighborhood at a meeting in October.

Letters

LETTER: Watertown Schools Have Asbestos, Air Flow Problems

By |

Letter to Editor,

This past week, the Massachusetts Department of Education & Secondary Education (DESE) conducted an audit on the Watertown Public Schools and the District’s decision to delay opening the buildings for in-school/hybrid learning. At this moment, no details have been provided to Town residents as to what the audit yielded. Information requests to the DESE have been unanswered. All the details residents know (via a ZOOM call), is that Superintendent Galdston spoke to DESE Commissioner Riley (or an associate) and that the conversation was short with few questions (according to Galdston). So what were the DESE findings and why haven’t the Middle School and High School opened yet?

2020 Election

See How Watertown Voted for President, Senate and Ballot Questions

By |

Watertown voters came out in huge numbers for the 2020 Presidential Election, and heavily supported Joe Biden and other Democrats on the ballot. The voter turnout for the Nov. 3 election in Watertown was 76.09 percent, or 19,197 ballots cast. This was slightly higher than the 2016 election when 18,402 votes were cast, or 75.89, in an election which also featured the local ballot question on the Community Preservation Act. The Biden/Harris ticket got 14,885 votes locally (77.5 percent), while Donald Trump and Mike Pence received 3,795 votes (19.7 percent).

Around Town

Emmy Winning Movie Part of Education Program Co-Founded by Watertown Educator

By |

The Emmy-award winning documentary “Dawnland” was made by The Upstander Project, a group co-founded by Watertown’s Mishy Lesser. The film will be shown on PBS’s World Channel in November. A Watertown resident teamed with a local filmmaker to use documentary film and educational materials with the goal of dismantling hurtful and stereotypical ideas, as well as teaching people about the experiences and history of Native Americans that many do not learn in school. Mishy Lesser, an educator from Watertown, co-founded the Upstander Project with local filmmaker Adam Mazo. The project has made several films, including the Emmy-award winning Dawnland, which will be shown in November on PBS, including locally on the World Channel.